While Elijah prides himself on not being driven by impulsive rage like his brother Klaus, Gillies says that his actions towards Elena in last week’s episode were so terrifying that it’s the reason he fled town at the end. “Elena came quite close to peril and closer to peril than he ever thought she would and there’s a disgrace in that. He can be vicious and can be strategic, but he’s never reckless and this was one of the few times on the show we’ve seen him be absolutely reckless in order to get what he needed. Sure, it was his life and the life of his brothers and sister, but placing Elena in the position of being a hostage was probably something he would change if he could go back or at least make certain she wasn’t in true danger.”