Peacock Just Added the Greatest 5-Season Spin-Off of All Time

Published Oct 4, 2026, 9:21 PM EDT

Bradley is an experienced and award winning journalist and all around entertainment fanatic. He is a passionate film and TV fan and long time attendee of San Diego Comic Con. 

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At the height of its popularity, The CW network was known for sexy teen dramas starring a group of attractive young people dealing with typical teen angst. But it wasn't until The Vampire Diaries came along in 2009 that the network truly took off. Based on the book series by LJ Smith, the hit series introduced new talent to the TV world in the form of Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Candice King, among others, and ran for eight seasons, amassing legions of fans.

As such, The CW wanted much more beyond the confines of the series and ordered a spin-off series that premiered in 2013. That series was The Originals, which was recently added to Peacock for streamers and fans to enjoy. Running for five seasons and focusing on a dysfunctional family of the first vampires in existence, the series turned up the stakes, romance, and drama to eleven, making a rare spin-off that trumps the original series.

The Originals took a different look at the supernatural world.

Image Via Amazon Prime Video

In the established lore of The Vampire Diaries, vampires began with the Mikaelson family- Klaus (Joseph Morgan), Elijah (Daniel Gillies), and Rebekah (Claire Holt)- all of whom were transformed into vampires by their witch mother. As the series begins, Klaus is living in New Orleans with his protégé, Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), who is running the city's supernatural underground with an iron fist. All is thrown into chaos once Elijah arrives in town and discovers that a werewolf named Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) is pregnant with Klaus's child and is being used as a pawn in a scheme by witches to overthrow Marcel.

Unlike The Vampire Diaries, which began as a teenage romance with supernatural elements, The Originals is a family drama mixed with a supernatural gang war, which gives the show far higher stakes and darker undertones than its predecessor. The series is not afraid to kill off major characters early and in shocking fashion, creating a truly unpredictable experience that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats week after week.

The show's characters are complex and compelling.

Image Via CW

But a family drama lives or dies by the characters and The Originals has a cast that defies conventions. The Mikaelsons are by no means a perfect family unit- they are vicious killers who in any other show would be the villains, but the show puts them front and center and as it goes on, humanizes them to the point that the audience is deeply invested in their exploits. Beneath the violent exterior, the family is defined by tragedy and abuse by their parents, which comes to a head in the second season when their parents return from the dead, but are trying to move beyond their tragic upbringing by raising Klaus and Hayley's daughter.

The show also keeps the dynamics of the characters fresh by introducing a revolving door of new cast members every season. Characters like Freya (Riley Voelkel), the long-lost firstborn of the Mikaelson family, or Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood), a witch who gets caught in the middle of the gang war, were introduced in season two and became mainstays of the cast due to their popularity. They also added to the drama of the series by bringing with them their own laundry list of baggage and personal demons.

And while The Originals does feature romance storylines much like the show that preceded it, the darker edge of the series rears its ugly head there as well. Main romance storylines are interrupted by dramatic incidents, be it betrayals or even death, putting the conflict first rather than leaning into romantic plots, but the love stories of the show are still easy to get invested in.

Now that The Originals is streaming on Peacock, millions more can discover the compelling and intense world of the show. While darker and edgier than The Vampire Diaries, the successful spin-off is more rich, intriguing, and riveting than that iconic series, which is a tall task, but one that this show met in spades.