S1E6 “Fruit of the Poisoned Tree”

A Poisoned Tree by William Blake

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears:
And I stunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole.

When the night had veiled the pole:

In the morning glad I see,

My foe outstretched beneath a tree.

Klaus is reading A Poisoned Tree while Elijah is skimming through their mother’s grimoire. The poem in Klaus’ hands could refer to Marcel, and the treachery he has inflicted in his eyes. Or even Elijah, his favorite brother, with whom he recongnizes has gotten close to the mother of his unborn child.

The poem’s vengeful words accompanied by the trickle of a dead girls blood on the coffee table put Klaus in an unknowable mood moving forward. Rebekah voices her agrivation about the stains being made on the carpet while Elijah spots Hayley heading into the kitchen, he of course gets up and follows her.

Hayley is perusing through the refrigerator experiencing momnesia, complaining that there isn’t any milk in the house. It’s hilarious as she gets out chocolate and ice cream for breakfast and Elijah rather subtly puts it all back and makes her a healthy breakfast, with milk. 

“Oh, milk.” Says Hayley after just complaining about the witches trying to kill her. Elijah reassures her that they’ll find a way to sever the link between her and Sophie.

The dead girl who was once layed macabrely across the coffee table is now being dragged through the kitchen by Rebekah.

“Who do we have to kill?” Says Rebekah. 

“Probably no one… All right, potentially everyone.” Elijah says jokingly.

Hayley looks gleeful as she takes a bite of her healthy breakfast as we cut to the title sequence.

At Rousseau’s, Sophie is cooking and Sabine is trying to discuss the latest witch business. But out of nowhere, hooded figures bitch-slap and knock out Sabine, and also blow some pixie dust into Sophie’s face and seemingly kidnap her.

Great. On to the next scene, Rebekah is trying her best to scrub out the blood stains on the carpet, her and Klaus banter, and in the ironic context of the previous scene here’s his line:

“Nonsense. Elijah’s back. In his presence all problems turn to pixie dust and float away.”

Elijah takes offense to that comment being that, Klaus recently had him locked in a coffin. However, he announces the mission for the day: he and Klaus will bring Davina a unlinking spell to use on Hayley and Sophie, and Rebekah will stay at the plantation house and look after Hayley. I wish they would of piled there hands on top of each other and shouted something like “go team” or “1, 2, 3, Mikaelson!” But they didn’t. 

At the vampire bar with no name, Marcel is brooding with booze and Josh takes this as a opportunity to kiss some ass. Marcel informs Josh that there are vampires eighty years ahead of him so no daylight ring. Sorry Josh.

However, Marcel isn’t done with him quite yet. Forgive me, but I’m about to go on a little tangent on Marcel’s line:

“You know Klaus Mikaelson? I asked you to give him a lift home a couple times, to the Palace Royale Hotel, right?”

Okay firstly, I know that this isn’t particularly mind-blowing, however, I can’t help but think about this. In what situation or in what context does Marcel ask Josh to give Klaus a lift home? How does a 1,000 year old vampire not have his own car? (I’m sure he does but that’s besides the point) Or have the means to get himself safely home? But then I thought are Original vampires seen as vampire royalty? I mean, throughout history people have hated the monarchs for which the citizens have no choice but to accept, which could apply to the Original family. You never see Queen Elizabeth driving her self back home to the castle (I know she doesn’t really live in a castle). Does Klaus Mikaelson, and maybe the rest of the Original family, demand to be driven around? We’ve seen them drive before I’m sure, but maybe its in certain social situations where they might want a driver. The Mikaelson’s have a inflated sense of entitlement, for which we have no doubt, but I never thought about what that entails. How much are the Mikaelson’s (if at all), treated like royalty? Does it just extend to rides home? Does the apparent fear of the Mikaelson’s derive from, not only the countless murdered, or the great difficulty it takes for them to be killed, but also their status as vampire royalty? Vampires who are the Originals, who were the first to compel, to experience highted emotion, sound, smell, speed, strength, the first to crave blood, the first to suck the life out of a person, the first to deal with that guilt. There is a wisdom in that. Wisdom breeds respect, and generally, (not in the case of the current president) wisdom and respect are associated with leaders, and with royalty. Every vampire is originated from either (now) Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah. You are my ancestor, you are my creator, you are my… God? Therefore, if you need a ride home, I’ll be happy to oblige.

Or what I just said could be a bunch of crap, I mean Josh gives Klaus a ride to wherever because he doesn’t want to be killed. By either Marcel or Klaus. Which will be true among future vampire chauffeurs. But does Marcel order Josh to give Klaus a ride home for the same reason? I admit it’s complicated given the nature of Klaus’ relationship with Marcel and their propensity for scheming and manipulation.

Back to the episode, Marcel’s questions don’t stop there.

“Um, yeah, to the Palace Royale.”

“You see I stopped by his hotel, to say sorry about a argument we had. Turns out he lied about living there. Lied. Did you ever hear the phrase “uneasy is the head that wears the crown”?”

“Uh, “Lord of the Rings”?”

“No. Shakespeare.” Hilarious line reading. “When I was a kid, Klaus taught me to read with those plays, always about some king who gained the world but lost his soul, but now I get it. See, when it’s all said and done, and you look around at the empire you built, the only thing that matters is who you can trust.”

“There’s gotta be somebody, somewhere that you can trust, someone “to stick to you, through thick and thin— to the bitter end.” Sam and Frodo. “Fellowship of the Ring.””

“There is someone. We used to be best friends.”

Great scene between Josh and Marcel. So, Marcel is on to you, Klaus. And this episode is chalking itself up to be a game changer for the entire season.

There’s a quick cut of Elijah at Davina’s attic door with the grimoire in hand. Davina looks ecstatic to see he kept his promise.

Then there’s Cami, in a confessional with Father K. Who now we know is Cami’s uncle.

In the attic, Elijah doesn’t reveal that by doing the spell and by unknoting the rope, she’ll be unlinking Hayley and Sophie as well. She agrees to take one spell at a time from the grimoire, as long as it helps her learn control.

In the confessional, Cami’s upset that she’s not more upset about Sean. (Cami’s parents never get mentioned… sorry, another thought that I promise I won’t go on a tangent about… actually I might go on a tangent about it) Father K is like: that’s good your moving on continue doing so and don’t question it, but we know he knows about vampires and all their highjinks, so the advise is probably not the most honest. However, the despair and confusion Cami feels is completely heartbreaking. Losing someone in that way, while also dealing with that added on layer of mystery, being that he’s the one who inflicted his death (literally) and the fact he’s never acted in a way to suggest that he’ll be capable of such a thing. Cami studying psychology is probably the only catharsis she has right now. But with Klaus’ compulsion, a second catharsis is Marcel. Who has been blowing her off. And of whom Father K acts like he knows nothing about. As Cami leaves, we see Klaus up above watching. Great. So he’s listening to her private confessions too.

At the creepy cemetery, it appears that the witches were the hooded figures responsible for kidnapping Sophie. They chain her up but aren’t going to kill her on account of Agnes was there when she was born. They stick her with a needle. Needle is not the right word. They stick her with a abnormally long and thick syringe that makes me squirm if I think about it too much. The implication is that whatever is in the syringe causes abortions. Ah-oh.

At the plantation house, Hayley feels the stabbing sensation in her neck.

And at Rousseau’s, Elijah and Klaus find Sabine just now getting up from being knocked out. I guess they were closed for the day? Anyway, she tells them that the witches took Sophie. Fabulous. She pleads not to kill Agnes because she’s the only one who can do important spells. But since Elijah and Klaus are on to their hidden agenda, Elijah muses “like the Harvest Ritual?” Sabine’s thinking “Oh, shit” as Klaus attempts to communicate that they don’t care about Agnes or if the Harvest Ritual is completed. 

We cut to Marcel in the Garden, visiting Thierry. Thierry was Marcel’s best friend, and he needs to talk him about Klaus Mikaelson’s shadiness.

Rebekah is showing off her usual brand of apathetic sass while she makes sure Hayley’s getting something to eat. Hayley says she rather enjoys Rebekah’s bitchyness, when Rebekah then reveals she plans to leave as soon as possible. Thing to mention: Hayley is eating an apple. I find that rather clever of the writers or the props department because of the poem and the title of this episode. 

I understand Rebekah’s inclination to spend some time away from the madness. I mean, if I was a immortal vampire I would be traveling everywhere. Hayley starts feeling bad, and Rebekah notes that she’s burning up. That’s a bad sign.

Elijah and Klaus find Sophie and unchain her, and she tells them she was stuck by a needle that is meant to “kill a child still in utero by raising its blood temperature.” (Something that irked me was Elijah’s line following “its for a miscarriage” because God forbid we say abortion) They have until high tide to fix this. Sophie says Agnes used a simular object on Sean (she didn’t say Sean specifically I’m just summing it up). Klaus decides that Agnes should die, so where can he find her? Sophie’s not telling. And Elijah informs Sophie that they need to unlink her from Hayley, and they’re not in an alliance anymore. Sophie’s having a great day. 

At the Garden, Marcel gives Thierry some blood, and he’s not behind a wall anymore. Thierry tells him of his speculations of what really happened that night, and he is spot on. He also warns him to watch his back because someone is still being compelled. Which will be Josh. 

 At the church, Klaus interrupts a fake AA meeting.

“My name is Klaus, and you lot are the Faction— pillars of the community who maintain the city’s supernatural balance. I should know. I created this group, only in my day, it was a bunch of pirates and corrupt politicians. Looks like nothings changed.”

“One thing has,” Father K announces, “its exclusively human now. No vampires allowed, especially no Originals.”

“I haven’t come to join. I’ve come to ask this group to utilize its considerable resources to find a witch elder named Agnes. All I need is an address.”

“Why would we want to help you?”

“What if I’d told you Agnes was the answer to a question you’ve been asking since you ran screaming from this town, that she is the witch who hexed your nephew, Sean.”

“We’d need some time to discuss—”

“I DON’T HAVE TIME! Nor do I like being asked to wait.”

“You may have all the vampires cowering in fear but right now, you’re dealing with the humans, and unless you plan on killing all of us, I politely suggest you do as I say and give us time to discuss it.”

“You know what I like about you, Father? Is you’re aware of my reputation, and still you stand tall against me. Admirable. You have one hour.”

Klaus leaves and Father K wants the address not for Klaus, but for himself. Not the most priestly decision, but understandable.

Davina is trying and failing to unknot the rope, while Hayley is in bed at the plantation house, burning up. Elijah arrives with Sophie, and they send Rebekah off to get some herbs to help get the fever down.

At Katie’s shop Marcel interrupts Rebekah going through her things to find the herbs. He’s all inquisitive and flirty. But Rebekah has no time. She’s in and out in a jiffy.

Father K gets the address but Klaus stops him from leaving before he can talk to her. He wants Father K to bring Agnes here, and in exchange he’ll keep Cami safe. So he does.

Agnes is dragged in the church by some cops, and unfortunatly, Agnes says there isn’t a cure for dark objects. 

Elijah, Rebekah, and Sophie are working to slow the fever down in the backyard. Elijah takes her into the pool to cool off. Sophie says that holding her will slow the heart rate. Of course.

We cut back and forth between Hayley and Elijah in the pool and Davina attempting to break the link in the attic. In the nick of time, she unlinks Hayley and Sophie.

Elijah promises that he won’t let Klaus kill Agnes, and that he’ll be there shortly. After having changed in the plantation house, Rebekah tries to get Elijah to leave with her. But he doesn’t. Rebekah just wants to be free, and Elijah reminds her “you are free.” Its rather sweet, he wins some big brother points for that one.

Rebekah makes a stop at Marcel’s to say goodbye. He kisses her. She pushes him off. She kisses him. They have sex.

At the church, Klaus is waiting for Elijah to arrive.

“You’re a piece of work, Agnes. But guess what? I’m quite the piece of work myself. You know, I contemplated leaving bits of you artfully arranged outside your family’s tomb. I thought it would leave a fitting message. Don’t touch my family.”

At this point Klaus has her in a headlock ready to snap her neck when Elijah stops him. Elijah will forgive Klaus for daggering him in exchange for not making him break his word. Elijah rips out the hearts of three witches (?) standing by, and its then made clear that Agnes isn’t completely safe by his word.

“I swore you will not die by my brothers hand. I said nothing of my own. No one hurts my family and lives.” NECK SNAP “No one.”

Rebekah and Marcel are staring out the compound, post quoital. She eats a apple, and tries to get him to come with her. He won’t of course.

At the plantation house, Josh is at the door to warn Klaus that Marcel knows he’s been lying to him. Only Klaus isn’t there, and Hayley answers the door. Marcel witnesses this interaction and picks up an apple from a nearby tree. There’s a quick flashback to young Marcel throwing an apple at his slave driver.

There’s another knock at the door, Hayley answers, and its Marcel. Ah-oh.

Cami’s at Rousseau’s putting up chairs and cleaning up. So they weren’t closed today? Anyway Klaus shows up, and because they’re alone, she remembers about vampires and the promise Klaus made her. He tells her that the reason Sean killed those people and himself is because a witch hexed him. And that the witch is now dead. The implication being that he killed her, Cami slaps him.

“Forgive me if I’m a little surprised by your reaction.”

“How the hell am I supposed to react?! You just made me culpable in a revenge murder I never asked for!”

“I’ve been alive for a thousand years, and I can assure you, many have died for far less. Besides, now you can find comfort in the truth.”

“The truth? You compel me. You make me at peace with something that should be tearing me up inside! I don’t know how, but I will undo whatever the hell it is you’ve done to me! And when I do… you’re going to wish you never laid eyes on me.”

Cami is such a badass, I love it. And she’s right. No one should be stripped of there true feelings, or mind-controlled. Or murdered.

Outside Rousseau’s, Klaus is angrily walking away and Marcel shows up. Marcel gives Klaus permission to “date” Cami or whatever, and also reveals he’s been by his place. Not at the Palace Royale. His other place.

At the plantation house, Elijah can’t find Hayley so he calls Rebekah. She’s not with her either. Klaus enters the room and says “Marcel was here.”

The end.

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For keeping your promise and for letting Elijah keep his word.

#4 goes to… JOSH ROSZA!

For the Lord of the Rings references. 

#3 goes to… CAMI O’CONNELL!

For standing up for the truth and your values.

#2 goes to… MARCEL GERARD!

For uncovering Klaus’ true intentions.

#1 goes to… ELIJAH MIKAELSON!

For carefully selecting the words for which you make your promises.

“You’ll be astounded by the things I know.” -Elijah Mikaelson

S1E5 “Sinners and Saints”

We open in the attic, and partake in multiple shots of Elijah inspecting Davina’s throat, her pulsing veins, and doing his best not to feed. Elijah gives Davina a proposition, he’ll keep his brother in line while Davina breaks free from Marcel’s grasp so that there will be peace between the vampires and the witches.

Klaus meanwhile captures Sophie Deveraoux from Rousseau’s and brings her to the plantation house and demands an explanation on the attack on Hayley by the witches. Sabine’s vision was the cause, in that she prophesied that the baby will be death to all witches. Melodramatic, even for witches. 

Gather ’round kids! Because its story time, and Sophie has quite a tale. We flashback to Sophie dancing at Rousseau’s, partying, drinking, being an altogether party girl. She explains that Jane Anne was devoted to witch customs like her parents, but she wanted to rebel and travel, but she came back to work at Rousseau’s when she wanted to be a chef. In this flashback, Jane Anne walks in and tells Sophie that the elders are ready for the Harvest. What’s the Harvest? The audience, and Rebekah really want to know.

“Its a ritual our coven does every three centuries, so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors. They keep our ancestral power flowing.”

But apparently, most people in the coven thought the Harvest was just a myth. We flashback to young girls, dressed in white, kneeling in a line, getting there palms cut by a blade. Firstly, are you just going to ignore the potential diseases that can come from mixing blood? Secondly, what the hell is going on? A witch who’s cutting their palms repeats “to be reborn, we must sacrifice.” We see a familiar face among the girls; Davina. Sophie marches up and voices her outrage of the precedings, and shows special interest in a girl named Monique, who we later find out is her niece. 

Klaus gets a call from Marcel asking if he can meet up and help him find out who killed the witches in the bayou, because it looked like a werewolf but it wasn’t a full moon. But Sophie doesn’t want him to go because she needs to consecrate the witches remains so they don’t lose the link to their magic. As usual, anyone who wasn’t Klaus is overruled. Klaus leaves, and asks Sophie to save her story for later. 

At the church, Marcel shows up and Father Kieran isn’t happy that he’s had Davina locked up in the attic the whole time he was away (he took personal time after Sean). Marcel brushes him off and goes up to the attic and tells Davina that she’s moving out of there because too many people know where she is. Elijah and Davina are now alone, and she confides that Marcel is her family, and she relishes in the hurt that Marcel inflicts upon the witches, all because to complete the Harvest ritual (that she briefly explains to Elijah), she must die.

Meanwhile, Sophie, Hayley, and Rebekah decide to disobey Klaus and go get the witches remains from the bayou. Rebekah then calls Klaus and tells him to stall Marcel so they’ll have enough time to do it. Marcel and Klaus are at a roadside bar when Klaus prods him about Davina. Marcel humors him, and explains that eight months ago, the witches and vampires weren’t friendly, but they were far less hostile and murdery. In fact, Marcel and Sophie hooked up regularly and she told him of the Harvest.

They choose four girls for the Harvest, and its bestowed upon as a high honor. Monique and Davina were two chosen of four.

Marcel explains through flashbacks that Sophie went to Father Kieran to stop the Harvest, however, the witches retalliated on Father K by hexing Sean, solving the mystery of his spontanious murder spree.

In the attic, Elijah gets more contex from Davina about the Harvest. The witches told her the four chosen will be in a state of limbo as a offering, and will be brought back during the reaping. The reaping appears to have to happen at a certain time, if that doesn’t happen, and Davina isn’t sacrificed, she’ll be free. Free specifically of magic. The New Orleans witches will have their power slowly drain away. Davina also divulges that she want to be normal because she can’t always control her power, and she doesn’t want to hurt anybody. That’s when Elijah finds out about Sophie’s connection to Monique… which as Elijah concerned or intrigued. We’re not sure yet.

Back in the bayou, Hayley, Rebekah, and Sophie find the remains of the dead witches. The gore was completely lacking, I mean those bodies were in the swampy bayou for how long? 24 hours? They should be all bloated and disgusting. But I understand, who has time for that. And its gross. Anyway, they hear a noise.

Its Marcel’s informant. He runs away without saying first “an Original?” So he knows who Rebekah is and he’ll tell Marcel. Crap. When Rebekah calls Klaus, he tells her to come to the bar to distract Marcel so he can handle the situation. But while he waits for Rebekah to get there, Klaus wants to hear the rest of the story.

Yay! From Davina’s perspective, we finally get to see the Harvest! They were “lead out like princesses” at the creepy cemetery, wearing all white, continuing the tradition of eluding to virginal sacrifice. Apparently, they did everything that was needed before what they thought was a blood sacrifice. Sophie charges in, protesting but one witch has his hands over her mouth, restraining her so she couldn’t do anything to stop it. So as the first girl walks up to the altar, instead of a cut on the palm like the girls expected, her throat was slashed open. Chaos errupts! The girls have to be held back from running away as they scream for help. Davina’s own mother wouldn’t look at her. And the next girl was slaughtered. Its hard to watch as they are begging for their lives, but are continuously getting shoved forward. 

Marcel and his vampires come to the rescue as they swoop in and rip out the throats of opposing witches. Back in the present, Marcel explains that he found out every detail of the Harvest from Kieran, and that’s how he was able to intervine. The vampire ripped out the throat of the elder doing the Harvest, but one last one was able to quickly slit Monique’s throat.

Marcel see’s Davina fight for her life, and he saves her. The Harvest not being completed, and three girls dead, we see their power leaving their bodies and entering Davina. Making her the all powerful witch. So the ritual worked. Something happened, but we don’t know for certain that if the girls would come back to life as they said.

Klaus and Marcel are still drinking at a bar when Rebekah shows up to serve as a distraction. Klaus excuses himself to “use the loo.” Okay. So vampires have bodily functions just like humans? I know that’s not the sexiest thing to talk about but I do wonder. 

Marcel and Rebekah are left alone and we get a hint of a secret between Marcel and Rebekah that they both do not want coming to light. There’s major sexual tension.

The informant arrives outside the bar and Klaus is waiting for him. He snaps his neck. Problem solved.

While Elijah and Davina were talking he fixed Tim’s violin. As a good gesture we presume. Elijah voices his proposal once more with an added bonus: he will give her his mother’s grimoire to help her learn control. 

At the bar Rebekah and Klaus have lost Marcel. We find out that Marcel was stalling them as they wer stalling him so he can move Davina without being detected. As Marcel is taking Davina out of the church, she fakes a witchy magic attack so Marcel has to take her back to the attic. Its her way of accepting Elijah’s offer without Marcel being suspicious.

We get a flashback to Marcel first taking Davina to the attic, we get to see the special bond they formed quickly, and see how much Marcel cares for Davina.

In the present, Father K gets all worked up and demands that Marcel stay away from his niece. Whatever, sure, but who’s your niece? Cami? Shit.

At the bayou Sophie fills Hayley in on the Harvest ritual, and that Sophie now full heartedly believes in it.

Marcel walks in all pissed off at the compound to find Klaus standing on a ledge up above him. Words were said. A really cool sequence resulted as Klaus jumps from the ledge and ninja punches Marcel in the face. Elijah shows up. Klaus has a “oh shit” moment.

Rebekah and Hayley are back at the plantation house when Klaus walks in with Elijah. Happy reunion. Rebekah runs into her brothers arms, and he couldn’t be less interested as he sees Hayley walk into another room.

Elijah follows Hayley out on the back deck.

“You’re back.”

“I’m back.”

SLAPS HIS FACE

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Welcome home.”

Weird interaction with weird sexual tension.

In the study, Elijah explains the 411 to the rest of the gang. The war between the vampires and the witches isn’t over territory. Its over Davina. When Hayley rolled into town pregnant with Klaus’ baby Sophie saw it as a opportunity to use Klaus to find Davina and complete the Harvest. The witches power will be restored and Monique will come back to life. Supposedly. 

Boom! S1E5 is complete!

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… REBEKAH MIKAELSON!

For ruining a perfectly good pair of boots for Hayley.

#4 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For ninja punching Marcel.

#3 goes to… SOPHIE DEVERAOUX!

For doing anything you have to for family.

#2 goes to… ELIJAH MIKAELSON!

For having your patented necessary restraint.

#1 goes to… MARCEL GERARD!

For having a rule about kids.

“I will do what I want where I want. Got it?” -Marcel Gerard

S1E4 “Girl in New Orleans”

We do so love opening voice overs, and lucky for us in this episode everyone’s favorite hybrid will deliver his own patented “I’m misunderstood” monologue.

“Over the course of my life, I’ve encountered no shortage of those who would resume to speak of good and evil. Such terms mean nothing. People do what’s in their best interest, regardless of who gets hurt. Is it evil to take what one wants, to satisfy hunger, even in doing so will cause another suffering? What some will call evil, I believe to be an appropriate response to a harsh and unfair world.”

We then discover that Klaus wasn’t just monologuing into the abyss, he was talking to the brave bartender, Cami. Cami and Klaus are standing inside the plantation house, while Klaus is staring at the painting that they were both admiring in the pilot. Cami asks what she’s doing here, and Klaus explains, as vaguely as possible, that he one: enjoys her company and two: needs Cami to spy on Marcel. Cami objects, as any normal person would, and she makes it three whole episodes before the truth about vampires is revealed to her. Honestly Cami, I’m glad you lasted at least that long.

So yes, Klaus tells Cami about vampires and to keep her from being afraid, he compels her not to be, and to also report back anything on Marcel.

Meanwhile, in the attic, Davina the Teenage Witch is complaining to Marcel about not being able to find a way to kill an Original. Marcel however, has changed his intentions because Klaus saved his life so he wants to give Elijah back to Klaus. Davina is not happy to hear that and convinces Marcel to keep him a little longer, she’s also not done making demands. When Marcel refuses to let her go to the music festival tonight she boils his blood until he complies. Is this the moment we all fell in love with Davina? I think it is.

Back at Rousseau’s, Cami is cleaning up tables and doing her bartender thing when Klaus walks in. Their back and forth is rather interesting, so here’s the dialogue:

“Hello, Cami.” Says Klaus, as he saunters over to Cami’s side.

“How is it that when you come up to me now, and no else is around I suddenly remember that you just told me that you’re a vampire and you’re mind controlling me, and then you leave, and I go back to thinking that you’re just some hot guy with a cute accent and money to burn on your sprawling memoir?”

“Well, that’s how compulsion works, love.”

“Yeah, but what’s happening? Is it hypnosis, are my neurons being shut down somehow?”

“You’re always the curious scholar. Lets talk about Marcel,” says Klaus as he leads Cami into a booth. “You said you have a little information for me.”

“He’s bringing someone to the music festival tonight, a girl he’s mentoring. Apparently she’s going through a hard time, rebelling against authority, anger issues, that sort of thing. I guess with my psych degree he figured I could set her straight; but I said no.”

“I’m going to go ahead and insist you change your answer to yes.”

“You’re gonna force me to do this aren’t you? Why even bother with politeness?”

“Because I like you. I like the way your mind works. Under different circumstances, I think we might be friends. However, I don’t have the luxury of passing up tonight’s opportunity. You see, in addition to being Marcel’s rather potent secret weapon, this girl Davina is holding my brother captive. In other words,” Klaus quickly invades Cami’s personal space, compelling her, “the girl needs your help. Call Marcel, tell him you’ll be happy to oblige.”

At the plantation house, the witch Agnus offers to take Hayley to the super secret gynecologist out in the bayou. She reluctantly agrees, while Rebekah is in another room searching the internet for an attic with window shutters in New Orleans. Klaus walks in, and tells Rebekah he plans to get Davina on his side, and rob Marcel of his secret weapon.

At this random vampire bar, we find Josh adorably trying to get a daylight ring from Diego; and failing. Rebekah walks in asking if Marcel is seeing anyone else besides Cami, and as far as he knows, he isn’t. A ploy to get more information on Davina I’m sure.

The music festival begins, and Marcel and Davina meet up with Cami at Rousseau’s.

Meanwhile, at the bayou doctor Agnus drops Hayley off and makes a mysterious phone call alerting the audience that this is all a trap.

Rousseau’s is still hopping as we see Davina admiring the violin player, and Marcel and Cami talking at the bar. Marcel leaves them alone and Cami asks the name of “the hot guy with the fiddle.” Oh Cami, we should be friends. Davina reveals that his name is Tim, and they’ve known each other since they were ten.

We then find Rebekah at the church that houses Davina’s attic, trying to get information from Father Kieran (the priest at the church). She compels him, finds the attic, but cannot enter. All the sudden, we are transported with Rebekah what appears to another time in the past. Is the attic some kind of portal/time machine? No. Unfortunately, it was just Elijah entering her mind to tell her to leave him there because he has business to discuss with Davina. And also, look after Hayley and her unborn child, Rebekah promises to do so and leaves.

At the bayou doctor Hayley is finishing with her check up with a clean bill of health. The doctor starts acting sketchy and leaves the room while whispering to Agnus. The doctor comes back as Hayley responds to Rebekah’s text telling her she is at the bayou doctor. Hayley hears a wolf howling and looks out the window to see a car pull up, Hayley’s instincts are correct when she refuses the pills the doctor tries to give her when men start to show up at the clinic. The doctor tries to stab Hayley with a syringe but she fights back and locks the door to keep the men from coming in as she escapes through the window.

At the music festival Klaus compels Tim to go to the church and write Davina a note to meet him there. Klaus then finds Cami and compels her to give Davina the note. Cami and Davina arrive at the church to find Tim waiting. Cami gives them a moment while Davina and Tim reconnect. Tim talks of “the terrible stuff” that happened here, and we aren’t clued in yet on what that means, he also wonders why she stopped coming to school, and we don’t know why yet either. They flirt. It’s adorable.

Cami is up above listening to Tim play his violin (which I am sure is his signature move with the ladies) while also staring at a bloodied painting. Klaus approaches, they have another interesting conversation worthy of showcasing their dialogue.

“The boy has a gift. You can’t compel someone to play like that.”

“I know what you are. It’s crazy to me but at least it makes sense. But this massacre was just a pointless brutal thing. In your life, have you ever heard of anything like that? A good man, an aspiring priest just goes on a killing spree out of nowhere.”

“I’ve seen quite a lot in my time. The world is a pretty awful place, best to meet it on its own terms.”

“No. The world is not awful. People are not awful. They want to be good. Something makes them bad, something breaks them down, makes them snap. There are always signs, symptoms before someone has a psychotic break. The guy who did this had none of them. He didn’t drink, he didn’t do drugs.”

“You’re well informed on the matter… you knew him, didn’t you?”

“His name was Sean. He was my brother. My twin actually. I cant sleep, I dream about what happened, and I hate it. I hate that I couldn’t help him.”

“We all must stand alone against our demons.”

“What if someday his demons become mine too?”

“I have some business I should attend to, but before I do,” *compelling eye stare thing* “enjoy the music, put this out of your mind.”

Cami leaves and we transition back to the music festival where Father Kieran and Marcel have a frank discussion about The Originals returning and each other’s roles in the city.

Back at the church Klaus compels Tim to go count to 100,000 while he tries to get Davina on his side. It all starts to go down hill when Klaus threatens Tim, like we didn’t see that one coming. In a fit of rage, Davina busts open the windows and whooshes Tim and Klaus across the church.

In the woods, Hayley is running for her life against men with shotguns that appear to be doing Agnus’s bidding. Hayley is a badass pregnant lady as she’s snapping necks and jumping in the air and basically just kicking some ass. Rebekah finds Hayley in the woods and tells her to run when more of them were coming. Rebekah and Hayley are stabbed with arrows and collapse. Rebekah, I thought you were an Original? Shake it off.

Rebekah wakes and Hayley is no where to be found. Well, shit. Rebekah calls Klaus to inform him of their latest predicament and Klaus pushes Tim off a ledge in the church. Damn it, Klaus. We like Tim.

But Klaus being manipulative, heals Tim to get on Davina’s good graces. Klaus then whooshes away after he compels Tim to forget and leave. Seconds later, Marcel bursts into the church all concerned, but Davina’s rather perturbed and stalks back to her attic.

Klaus and Rebekah are at the bayou clinic trying to figure out who took Hayley. But not to worry! Hayley is walking back, and looks dazed and out of it. Klaus inspects her for injuries but there are none, Rebekah deduces that it was the result of the baby, being half vampire. Hayley says that there has been a wolf watching her and she thinks that’s how she escaped… it helped her. Rebekah wants to give Hayley some comfort so she tells her of Elijah’s message, to take care of her. That makes Hayley smile, and they go home.

Back at the vampire bar, Marcel is mad about them losing Cami and Davina today. Words were said. Necks were snapped. Rebekah walks in and is all seductive but Marcel resists her charms for Cami.

At Cami’s appartment, she and Klaus have another interesting conversation to be showcased.

“Klaus? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve had quite a night. I recall you mentioned something about nightmares and insomnia. I believe I can help. May I come in?”

“This is super weird. Come in… Wait. That’s right I told you what happened. I never tell anybody but I told you. And you said something about Sean standing alone against his demons. When he killed those men I thought he must be mentally ill, but what if it was demons? What if a vampire compelled him?”

“And if so, would you devote yourself to finding the guilty party? Would you sacrifice everything to find out the truth? To what end?”

“To what end? This is the entire reason I’m in New Orleans.”

“Cami, whatever lies on the other side of this mystery will only offer you pain. Nothing will bring your brother back. Your only hope for peace is to forget this.”

“No.”

“And move on.”

“No. Don’t compel me to forget this.”

“And if I allow you to remember, the knowledge will eat away at you. Your quest for truth will only put you in danger.”

“You don’t care about me! You just want me to be focused on Marcel. So I’ll be a good little spy for you.”

“I need your loyalty yes. And though it may appear selfish to you, the scope of my plan goes far beyond myself. Power aside, I’m trying to honor my brother.”

“What about my brother? My twin brother. We were bonded our whole lives, and I know, I know he didn’t just snap, and I need to know who did this and I need to make this right. No. Don’t take this away from me!”

“You will do nothing. Your brother was ill. He killed those people and himself, and it was a tragedy. All you can do is move on… Know that your brother is at peace and that you needn’t worry. I will find out what happened. And when I do, I will make sure whoever harmed your brother will suffer. And as for you, tonight, you will sleep. And you will dream of a world far better than this one, a world where there is no evil, no demons, and all people desire… only to be good.”

At this point, I think Klaus compelling Cami to not agonize over her brothers death was 50% Klaus being selfish and 50% Klaus thinking he’s doing the right thing for Cami, because he cares about her.

Back in the attic, Davina discovers Elijah is out of his coffin and is ready to talk.

There you have it, that was S1E4 of The Originals.

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… JOSH ROSZA!

For trying your best to adapt to life as a vampire.

#4 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For being who everyone thinks you are, and for being who everyone thinks your not.

#3 goes to… CAMI O’CONNELL!

For being devoted to your brother and the truth.

#2 goes to… HAYLEY MARSHALL!

For kicking ass while with child.

#1 goes to… DAVINA CLAIRE!

For mercilessly boiling the blood of your enemies.

“If anyone tries to hurt anyone I care about, I’ll kill them.” -Davina Claire

  

S1E3 “Tangled Up in Blue”

We begin with voice over from the dearly missed Elijah Mikaelson. Hayley is sitting on the floor of the plantation house reading through Elijah’s old diary, while we hear Elijah’s voice reading along with her. Its a nice parallel to Elena Gilbert when she does her classic beginning voice over diary entries in The Vampire Diaries.

The sequence is visually interesting, it cuts from Elijah’s accounts from the past in voice over to paralleling flashes of Rebekah ripping out hearts to Hayley watching Klaus burn bodies.

“August 1359. I have noticed a difference in my siblings. Are bond strains beneath the pressure of our life as vampires. Each day removes them further from the humanity we once possessed. My sweet sister Rebekah has grown quite indifferent to brutality. However, the true problem remains in my brother Niklaus. He continues to hide his loneliness with cruelty. Still, I cling to the hope that I, as their eldest brother, can lead them down the correct path, a path charged with a power of a family united… for if I fail, our family’s legacy will end in darkness.”

Upon reading this, Hayley is now more motivated than ever in getting Elijah back from Marcel. She charges into the room, holding Elijah’s diary close to her chest, and wants to know what the plan is. Plan A is to just ask for Elijah back. It’s so simple it just might work. To which Hayley asks, “what’s plan B?” And Klaus responds, in typical Klaus fashion, “war.”

We transition to Marcel’s compound as he’s getting a suit fitted and Thierry, his closest friend, assures Marcel that the tourists that went missing (Josh and the other girl), will not become a cause of concern by the humans because he had his guy at the docks be an eyewitness to watching both of them fall drunkingly in the Mississippi. Thierry has other qualms however, claiming that “ever since the Mikaelson’s rolled into town,” but doesn’t get to finish his thought when Klaus walks in. Marcel, the formidable host, asks what he could do for him, and Klaus enacts plan A. Thierry gets all worked up of course, so Marcel has to break them up and takes Klaus outside. Marcel gives a little exposition about Thierry’s past, according to Marcel he’s overprotective, loyal, and can play the trumpet. Marcel found him in the forties dying of a war wound, “he’ll kill for me and die for me.” But back to Elijah, the answer is no… but your coming to my party right? In this context it sounds very juvenile, but that’s basically what happens.

Being that vampires cannot hold regular 9 to 5 jobs, most are philanthropists. Giving your existence over to philanthropy is great and all, however, I always wondered about the mechanics of the economic survival of a vampire. Do vampires have a social security number (especially the super old ones)? How does one accumulate wealth through out time, without actually working? Is everyone at the IRS compelled?

But the reason I voiced my wonderings in this episode is because Marcel is holding a charity event at his compound.

Meanwhile, Rebekah calls for an update as Klaus is watching Josh pathetically stab someone in the abdomen. Rebekah and Klaus agree to plan B. Rebekah’s task is to “handle Sophie Deveraux,” while Klaus is trying to show Josh proper torture techniques to drain this nightwalker of vervain.

So, Rebekah takes Sophie to Katie’s shop for more plan B shenanigans.

Key piece of information: Katie; the witch that owns the shop of witchy things and who also sold out Hayley, is Thierry’s girlfriend. And when Rebekah informs Klaus of this scandalous detail, Klaus delights in the opportunity to be the manipulative puppet master he is.

Back at the plantation house, Rebekah and Klaus demand that Sophie be apart of plan B in order to get Elijah back. Sophie acts surprised to find out that Davina has been holding Elijah, but is otherwise hesitant to help in any sort of murderous Mikaelson scheme.

The plan, as they have layed out, is to have Sophie Deveraoux preform a locator spell to find Elijah by getting Katie to preform much powerful magic at the same time so Davina won’t sense it. Sophie inevitably agrees to the plan because Sophie’s sister Jane Ann was hiding out a cargo hold before she was captured, and Katie’s boyfriend Thierry manages the business at the docks making him the one who gave Jane Ann to Marcel.

Back at the compound, Klaus is planting seeds of distrust between Thierry and Marcel, claiming that he’s “fraternizing with the enemy.” Klaus then suggests that the nightwalkers that never returned could have been a trap set by the witches. Marcel doesn’t much care for this idea so…

“Maybe I’ll send a little message. Thierry! Take a team of nightwalkers to the cauldron tonight. Do a little rousting… oh and Thierry, make it nasty.”

Meanwhile, Rebekah is out at Rousseau’s talking to Cami, trying to get the scoop on her and Marcel. But Cami reveals that there is hardly anything to scoop. So, Rebekah invites Cami to Marcel’s charity event tonight, and she accepts. I sense another plan brewing.

Rebekah calls Klaus, giving the audience the explanation of how Katie is going to be motivated to preform such powerful magic to hide Sophie’s spell.

1. Have Klaus’s compelled nightwalker attack Katie while they’re rousting the cauldron
2. Resulting in Thierry killing said compelled nightwalker
3. Marcel punishing Thierry for breaking his rule of not killing vampires
4. Katie performs powerful magic to prevent said punishment of Thierry
5. Finding Elijah in all the chaos

Its rather brilliant.

 
Steps 1 and 2 of Klaus’ plan are being carried out as the coolest party is being held at Marcel’s compound. Everyone is wearing a fabulous costume and there seems to be Circus du Soleil up above the event. Needless to say, it’s defiantly the party of the year.

After Rebekah and Klaus take it all in, they’re both seemingly distracted by the same person. Cami gets her Cinderella moment as everyone takes in her beauty… especially Klaus.

“What’s she doing here?”

“What better way to distract Marcel than to put his very human, new girl in a room chock full of vampires?”

Rebekah zooms her way to Cami’s side to tell her how amazing she looks. Up above Marcel sees this interaction and looks unsettled. Marcel grills Rebekah about why Cami is here, and while Klaus is keeping Cami company, sassy Cami unleashes.

“The guy of hers Rebekah was talking about… I’m sensing that would be Marcel.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Ancient history.”

“I’m beginning to think your sister is a bit of a bitch.”

“Haha! It’s as though she invented the term.”

When Klaus leaves Cami to go speak to Rebekah, Marcel tries to explain to Cami why he didn’t invite her. However, Cami is really cool about it and insists that Marcel enjoy his party. 

“And leave you alone? Looking the way you do? The hell with that.”

Meanwhile, at the plantation house Hayley is taking a night stroll in the backyard near the swimming pool. But Sabine pops out of nowhere while Hayley spots a wolf watching her. Sabine claims the wolf is drawn to her because the baby is part vampire, part werewolf. To help Hayley, Sabine offers to find out whether the baby is a boy or girl.

Back at the party, Marcel and Cami are slow dancing to some Lana Del Rey while Rebekah and Klaus are creepily watching them. But Diego, one of Marcel’s trusted few, interrupts and informs him of the situation with Thierry. Marcel is doing his best to hide his anger from Cami, but is failing. That becomes clear when Marcel excuses himself to Cami and walks over to Thierry and grabs his throat to pull them out of the party. It looks like Klaus got the anger he was looking for.

Rebekah leaves to make sure Sophie will do the locator spell. And Sophie is comforting Katie in the creepy cemetery while suggesting that perhaps there is something Katie can do for Thierry… 

We then cut to Davina in her attic sensing that there is magic being done.

Back at the party, Marcel, Thierry, and other vampires are overhead the festivities arguing about Thierry’s rule breaking. No matter what Thierry says Marcel seems to become more livid. Then Josh comes over and shows Marcel the spell that’s used to make daylight rings was found at Katie’s shop. Which was the work of Klaus because he is compelling Josh. 

“Still my friend huh? That’s funny because it looks to me like that little witch of yours got her hands on a spell that I keep locked away.”

“Marcel, I’ve never seen that!”

“Shut up! I see on your hand you still have the daylight ring I gave you. So what would you need with a recipe for new ones? Unless you and Katie were going to go off and start a little kingdom of your own.”

“Marcel, no!”

“Here’s a lesson in friendship. Friends don’t lie to me, they don’t break my rules, and they don’t steal what is mine!” Marcel takes a beat to consider his options then, “for the crime of murdering one of his own, I sentence Thierry Vanchore to one hundred years in the garden.”

What’s the garden? We don’t know yet, but if Marcel is giving it as a punishment I doubt its a nice landscape filled with daisies and bunny rabbits.

Up next… Katie’s revenge! As Marcel and his vampires are escorting Thierry to the garden, Katie does her powerful witchy stuff to save him. At the same time, Sophie is off with Rebekah doing a locator spell to find Elijah. In a shocking turn of events, Klaus kills Katie before she can kill Marcel with a stake, resulting in the locator spell failing because they didn’t have enough time to do the spell.

Marcel gives his thanks to Klaus back at the compound. Marcel asks Klaus about Cami, and Klaus reassures him that she just saw an argument and its nothing that can’t be fixed. 

“You really like her, don’t you?”

“I like that she’s not apart of any of this. Sometimes its good to see the world the way the humans do.”

“I am sorry about Thierry you know. I can tell he was a good friend.”

“I made him what he was. Obviously my trust was misplaced.”

“Doesn’t make it easier.”

“You saved me tonight. I guess I owe you one. You asked for your brother back. Seems the least I can do.”

Looks like Klaus killed two birds with one stone. Now off to fix things with Cami. Klaus stops at Rousseau’s to convince Cami to give Marcel another chance. They have a little bit of a moment but Klaus decides to keep it professional, as he needs her to take down Marcel. So Klaus being Klaus, he compels Cami to remember that she had a great time with Marcel at his party, and feels badly that Marcel got into a fight with his friend.

At the plantation house Rebekah is less than pleased because she believes they have failed in the task of bringing Elijah back home. But Klaus is like au contraire, I got Marcel to trust me while also getting his word that he’ll bring Elijah back. But Rebekah is still mad because Sophie trusted him to follow the plan. 

Klaus goes to check on Hayley and tells her that Elijah will be coming back soon. She’s visibly happy by this news. As Klaus is turning away, she reveals that they’re having a girl. Yay! Where can we get pink balloons in the French Quarter?

Oh! Almost forgot! While Sabine was doing her witchy stuff to find out the sex of the baby she started having some witch attack and was saying words in a different language, this could be cause of concern for Hayley so she is trying to Google the translation but is coming up short.

As we end the episode we are gifted another Elijah voice over.

“There are moments when I doubt my family is capable of redemption… yet each time I am tempted to surrender, I see it, the glimmer of goodness that allows me to believe.”

There you have it! A very sexy and exciting episode of The Originals!

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… CAMI O’CONNELL!

For sticking to your principles and getting your Cinerella moment.

#4 goes to… SOPHIE DEVERAOUX!

For doing something when no one else is.

#3 goes to… MARCEL GERARD!

For being charming, sexy, and terrifying all in one episode. Lets be real, all in one scene.

#2 goes to… REBEKAH MIKAELSON!

For having Elijah’s back.

#1 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For always being one step ahead.

“Depends on what you mean, love. My plan for global domination. Or Rebekah’s plan to find love in a cruel cruel world.” -Klaus Mikaelson

S1E2 “House of the Rising Son”

We begin this episode by embarking on another tour through New Orleans. I’m starting to sense a running theme.

“The city of New Orleans,” exclaims all-powerful leader, Marcel Girard, “people of all stripes and flavors from all over the country come here to party on our streets. Some are just looking for fun, some are looking for something a little darker, more dangerous. So we invite them into our home, and give it to them. Then at the stroke of midnight, everything changes, and its time to feed.”

On screen we see one of Marcel’s classic raves being turned into dinner time for the vampires. Marcel is up above watching the chaos, while explaining his methods to Klaus. In walks Thierry, Marcel’s trusted advisor, to inform him of the latest situation. Apparently six nightwalkers were killed outside the Quarter, but who could have possibly done such a thing? We get a glimpse of Rebekah Mikaelson driving away in a lavish car, wiping blood off her cheek and smiling. Oh Rebekah, you look so cute right after murder.

Meanwhile, at the plantation house Rebekah drives up leaving another worried message for Elijah. Only, Elijah cannot call back because he is somewhere daggered in a box. That’s when Rebekah meets Hayley, she’s as charming as ever mistaking Hayley for the maid while screaming for Klaus to tell her where Elijah is.

As Rebekah is searching the house for Elijah, we are gifted flashbacks of when the Mikaelson’s once lived in the plantation house in 1820. We learn that Rebekah once loved the governors son, so naturally, Klaus killed him. We are given Rebekah’s perspective of events and through her eyes, you hate to admit, Klaus looks like a cruel and brutal brother, of whom deserves Rebekah’s ire.

“Well, he wasn’t good enough for you.” Explains Klaus.

“No one was ever good enough for me, Nik. You made sure of that. Now where’s Elijah?”

Klaus recieves a text from Marcel asking him to meet for drinks, queuing Klaus’ exit. Meanwhile, Rebekah enlists Hayley for help in the search for Elijah. This unlikely duo ventures down into the dusty cellar where the Mikaelson family coffins are on, how Hayley puts it, “stand-by.” However, this macabre sight hardly fazes Rebekah, and she concludes that Elijah’s coffin isn’t here.

“Where to next Rebekah?”

“To go vamp around Sophie Deveraoux and make her totally freak out, before I demand she help me find Elijah!”

“Awesome!”

Sophie brings Rebekah to the creepy cemetery, and informs her she can’t do magic without punishment from Marcel because he has a way to tell when a witch is doing magic, and the witches can’t leave because they practice ansestral magic. Because Rebekah has hit a roadblock, she tells Sophie how idiotic her plan is of bringing down Marcel at the hands of Klaus because “Klaus loved him like a son.”

Flashback 

“I was there the day they met. We were burying Emil, the governors only son. Or so we thought. Turns out the governor had another son, from a mother he owned.”

Klaus sees the boy, screaming in pain as the whip comes overtop of him another time. Angered by his torment, the boy retaliates by throwing an apple at his oppressor, which results in another blow. However, at this sight Klaus intervenes and kills the man and asks the boy for his name. Only the boy doesn’t have one, so Klaus names him Marcellus. After the “god of war.”

Returning back to present day, Klaus and Marcel are out drinking. Klaus notices that Marcel’s attention is elsewhere, and follows his gaze to the brave bartender, Cami. Klaus is wondering aloud why Marcel hasn’t just eaten her yet, but he’s wondering to himself how he could use this to his advantage. Marcel tries to change the subject to the tourists in transition, and Marcel assumes they were drunk and fell when the vampire blood was still in their system. But, as Cami is walking away to leave, Marcel is still clearly distracted by her, so he decides to help Marcel out by supplying the lamest line.

“Excuse me love? What’s that your studying?”

“Abnormal psychology.”

“Abnormal psychology. Well…” Klaus shuffles Cami to their table, “perhaps you could help me diagnose my friend over here. He’s been a little bit depressed. Can’t keep his mind of a girl, he says she’s a queen, fit for a king.” LAME. “I think he should just cut his losses and move on. What’s your professional opinion?”

Cami, playing along says, “be a nice guy. And maybe the opportunity will present itself one day.”

Marcel decides to jump in and ask Cami out, she says she’ll consider it.

Next we find Hayley, she’s at a witches shop looking for wolfsbane. Why would she want wolfsbane when it hurts werewolves? We get the answer when Hayley says she wants to kill a little wolf. The witch helps her, but when Hayley leaves she calls someone and tells them if you want to gain points, tell Marcel there is a werewolf in the Quarter. Mysterious. Not to mention problematic, being that a woman, needing help, goes to another woman thinking that she’ll understand, but instead rats her out. Shameful.

Meanwhile, Marcel takes Klaus to go see the two people in transition. Marcel makes a contest out of it. Seeing as he doesn’t want to turn them both I guess. Whoever picks up the coin will be a vampire, the other will die. There is a guy and a girl, of whom Marcel refers to as “cute dorky girl” and “gay best friend.” Marcel drops the coin and the girl snatches it up. The “gay best friend” is betrayed and hurt, while the “cute dorky girl” starts looking crazy and manic while she justifies her actions. Marcel snaps her neck.

“I have a thing about people betraying their friends.”

Woah. Subtext.

Marcel is taking a phone call and Klaus is escorting Josh (the gay best friend) into the car when you see Rebekah overhead watching.

Flashback

A young Marcel is fencing with Rebekah. It’s clear he has his first crush. How sweet.

Adult Marcel and Rebekah are now fencing. Marcel goes in for the kiss, but before he could Klaus walks in.

Back to the present, Marcel interrupts Rebekah’s memories and claims to not want to get in the middle of Mikaelson family drama.

Flashback

Marcel is trying, and failing, to convince Klaus that there’s nothing going on between him and Rebekah. However the conversation quickly takes a turn when Marcel asks why Klaus hasn’t turned him into a vampire yet. This is a side of Marcel we haven’t seen. We’ve seen confident Marcel. But never vulnerable.

We return to present day, and Rebekah asks Marcel if he is still afraid of Klaus.

“I’m afraid of no one.”

Then he vamps off.

We find Klaus at Rousseau’s, enjoying a drink, when Marcel storms in.

This whole interaction is fantastic:

“I know that face. Woman trouble.”

“Your a dick. You know that! Why didn’t you tell me your sister’s is back in town?

“I thought it more amusing for you to find out for yourself.”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Only, she’s grown considerably more insane in the last century.”

“Or, maybe, it was her who killed my guys.”

“Doubtful. Unless that biker bar is frequented by small-town high school quarterbacks, I can’t imagine she’d be interested.”

*Marcel’s phone rings*

*Thierry:* “Just got a tip. Someone saw a werewolf in Bienville Park.”

“Get a couple of nightwalkers to run it down. Bring me back its head.”

*Marcel hangs up*

“Well, I guess that solves the mystery of the murdered riff raff. I guess my sister’s in the clear.”

“About that. I don’t have time for Mikaelson family drama. You’re my guest. Keep your sister in line.”

“I’d have a greater chance of draining the Mississippi with a straw!”

Meanwhile, we find Hayley sitting alone in a park. She hasn’t taken the wolfsbane, she’s talking herself into it.

When a vampire vamps in out of nowhere, Hayley throws the wolfsbane/vervain combination into his face. Two other vampires show up, but not to worry, Rebekah swoops in and rips their hearts out.

At the plantation house, Klaus has stacked the dead vampires into a pile perturbed because they are supposed to be keeping a low profile. Rebekah starts accusing Klaus of not being proactive, so Klaus reveals his master plan.

1. Kill acouple of the people who still had vampire blood in their system from Marcel’s party, so they’ll turn into vampires and Klaus can compel them before they consume any vervain (which resulted in Josh)
2. Compel Josh
3. Compel Cami to go out with Marcel and report back what she finds out
4. Drain the vampire who is still alive of vervain so he could compel him to tell Marcel “his mates found religion and moved to Utah” to explain why he lost more vampires

Back in the house, Klaus demands why Hayley was out in the French Quarter in the first place, and her answer results in Klaus choking the life out of her. Rebekah stops him, and reminds him once again, that its okay to care. And all Elijah and Rebekah have ever wanted for him was to be happy. Feeling guilty, Klaus reveals that he gave Elijah to Marcel as a sign of good faith.

Out on the front porch, Rebekah and Hayley have a heart to heart.

Flashback

Marcel and Rebekah are caught kissing, so Klaus daggers Rebekah.

Hayley appreciates all of Rebekah’s help so Hayley gives Rebekah the daggers that she found under their coffins.

Meanwhile, Marcel and Cami are on a date! But it doesn’t last all of two seconds before Rebekah storms in demanding that Marcel release Elijah. Being that Rebekah did a lot of vampire stuff in front of Cami, Marcel compels her to forget and to go home. And Marcel takes Rebekah to the attic where he is holding the young and very powerful witch, Davina. Davina uses her magic to throw Rebekah out a window. Ouch.

Flashback

Rebekah is waking up from being daggered, and Klaus is sitting across from her.

“Well, its about time. I was bored waiting, but I did so want to see your face, and it is indeed priceless.”

“You bastard. What day is it?”

“Sunday.”

“I have been daggered for a whole week? Marcel, what have you done to him?”

“Its 1887, Rebekah. You’ve been daggered for 52 years.”

“What?”

“And don’t worry about Marcel, I presented him with a choice. He could choose to live out the rest of his human days with you, or I could turn him instead, as he’s always wanted, in exchange for giving you up.”

“No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Oh, but he did.”

In present day Rebekah is laying in what was her old room, but is now Marcel’s. Marcel threatens Rebekah telling her that was once hers and her brothers is now his. Oh, and by the way, don’t ever touch Cami again.

Back at the plantation house, Hayley is sleeping and Klaus is snooping through her things wondering if she took the poison. Hayley wakes up and assures him that she didn’t. When she was fighting off the vampires, she was protecting the baby as well as herself. Klaus respects her strength, and calls her once again his endearing nickname for her, “little wolf.” Oh, and he’ll make sure they’ll have proper air conditioning.

Rebekah storms in the house and informs Klaus that Marcel’s secret weapon is Davina the Teenage Witch. Only, she can’t remember where she was because she wiped her memory of the location. Both Klaus and Rebekah vow to do what ever it takes to get Elijah back.

There you have it, the second episode of The Originals!

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… HAYLEY MARSHALL!

For taking back your agency.

#4 goes to… MARCEL GIRARD!

For fencing, swimming, and kissing.

#3 goes to… DAVINA CLAIRE!

For being being badass Davina the Teenage Witch.

#2 goes to… KLAUS MIKAELSON!

For being the diabolical genius we all know and love.

#1 goes to… REBEKAH MIKAELSON!

For your conviction and perseverance.

“It’s okay to care. Its okay to want something. That’s all Elijah was trying to do, all he’s ever wanted for you, all we’ve ever wanted.” -Rebekah Mikaelson

S1E1 “Always and Forever”

This episode begins with voice over from our beloved Elijah Mikaelson. Elijah, the loyal and noble brother, is tasked to share his  perspective as we as viewers are reminded of the events that occurred during the backdoor pilot, while altogether assuming, we have never seen a episode of The Vampire Diaries.

“Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe, that we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood, and while we may not choose are family, that bond can be are greatest strength or our deepest regret. This unfortunate truth has haunted me for as long as I can recall.” Yep. That about sums Elijah up.

What we know of the series so far, is that a long time ago, the Mikaelson’s lived in New Orleans. How they’ve come and when, is answered in classic horror movie fashion.

About 300 years ago, acouple of gentlemen happened upon quite a sight. 

Lets go check out this creepy abandoned ship! Says one soon to be dead fellow.

That sounds perfectly reasonable and not at all life threatening!

Upon boarding, his other comrades began to be whooshed away while their screams echoed in the night.

Little to their dismay, it turned out the original family was on that ship. But what is the original family, you might ask? Well, Rebekah Mikaelson will tell you!

She gives the cliffnotes version: we are vampires, the original vampires, and the cast so far is, Elijah, my brother, and my other brothers in a box are Kol and Finn. Plus our half-brother Niklaus. There you have it! If you have never watched The Vampire Diaries then you can follow along from here.

Now in present day, it’s New Orleans like we all know and love. Elijah, in his classic attire of a flawlessly tailored suit, is found drinking at the bar Rousseau’s talking to the brave bartender, Cami. He begins to express to Cami the complications of having a brother like Klaus (being the murderous psychopath that he is), and that he has come to New Orleans out of obligation to help him. And Elijah continues to enlighten those who have never seen The Vampire Diaries by explaining the origin of Klaus Mikaelson.

“See, we don’t share the same father. Of course, that never bothered me, but my brother resents it deeply, he never felt like he belonged. All told, he has a long history of getting into trouble.” Yep. That about sums Klaus up.

Elijah then asks Cami where he can find the illusive Jane Anne Deveraoux. Cami points Elijah in the direction of a witch Sabine (of course, Cami doesn’t know that Sabine is a witch, because she is just a regular human). We first see Sabine taking on the role of the tour guide with the rad facial hair we saw in the backdoor pilot.

“Welcome to New Orleans, and the crown jewel of the Crescent City. The French Quarter– jazz and jambalaya, romance and poetry, not to mention the things that go bump in the night. Monsters that feed on human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite, the witches.”

Sabine recognizes Elijah as a original vampire and informs him that Jane Anne was killed by Marcel, and witches can no longer practice magic without punishment from the vampires. Elijah hides when Marcel and his crew take away the body of Jane Anne Deveraoux in order to convince Sophie, Jane Anne’s sister, to tell him why Klaus was looking for Jane Anne.

Elijah calls Rebekah to tell her about Marcel and his new position in New Orleans. But of course, he has to remind those who have never seen the backdoor pilot or The Vampire Diaries who Marcel is.

“Marcel, who Klaus sired and brought up beneath his own wing,” thank you Elijah, I almost forgot, “now rules a menagerie of savage vampires running wild, killing in public for any human to come upon, and witches are held in subjugation. I doubt Niklaus had any idea what he was walking into.” 

However, Rebekah has no sympathy for Klaus’s plight, seeing that he has daggered her repeatedly. Elijah reminds her of “always and forever,” and the fact that when there father chased them from the city she stuck by him. But it doesn’t work. 

Now we get to see what happened off screen during the backdoor pilot when Elijah was finding out why the witches lured Klaus into town. After Elijah finds Sophie, she takes him into the creepy cemetery and reveals Hayley, the werewolf girl who is impregnated by his brother.

“Oh, shit,” thought Elijah, “I didn’t see that one coming.”

Once Elijah and Hayley are alone together, Hayley voices her concern about how this can even be possible.

Well, I can show you Hayley! You see, as I vampire I can magically let you into my mind, I can share the thoughts and memories I want to show you. Know one knows why, but it can be quite useful when I’m reminding the audience of our troubled past.

“In the beginning, our family was human, 1,000 years ago now. Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were largely just a family trying to survive a time when it was difficult to do so… and, for better or worse, we were happy. That is, however, until one night. Our youngest brother was killed by our villages greatest threat. Men that could transform themselves into wolves during a full moon. Our family was devastated, none more than Niklaus. Desperate to protect the rest of us, our father forced our mother to call upon her black magic in order to make us stronger. Thus, the first vampires were born, but with this speed, this strength, this immortality came a terrible hunger. No one felt this hunger more than Niklaus. When he killed for the first time, he knew what he truly was. He wasn’t just a vampire [he was also a werewolf, the curse isn’t activated until you take a life], Niklaus was a result of a indiscretion our mother had hidden from us all, an affair with a werewolf like yourself. Infuriated by this betrayal, my father forced our mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus’ werewolf side, denying him of any connection with his true self.” Woah. That was a long story.

“Your dad was a dick. I’m Hayley, by the way. You should probably know my name if your going to tell me your whole life story. I mean, I know yours. Your family is legendary. Your brother is a notorious psycho, who I slept with, classic me.” Oh wait Hayley! There is more to tell!

“Our father hunted him, hunted us for centuries. Every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee. Even here in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long after Niklaus broke the spell which prevented him from becoming a hybrid, he defeated our father. I thought this would make him happy. He was angrier than ever. I wonder if perhaps this baby might be a way for my brother to find happiness, a way to save him from himself.”

Then Elijah makes eye contact with the camera and winks.

No! Just kidding. But he should. He fulfilled his job in just one conversation with Hayley.

Anyways… Elijah leaves to bring Klaus to the creepy cemetery to inform him of his child. But, being Klaus…

DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!

Elijah zooms off to convince his brother to help the witches so they can make a home for the child. He reminds his brother of “always and forever.” But it doesn’t work. 

“Oh, wait,” thought Elijah, “there is a fault in the witches logic that I have to go correct.” 

But when Elijah vamps back to the creepy cemetery, he finds out that Sophie is linked to Hayley. Which means no harm shall come to Sophie, or the baby and Hayley will suffer the same fate.

Meanwhile, Klaus is off at Marcel’s rave, getting Marcel pissed off and biting Thierry (Marcel’s right-hand man). However, we didn’t know in the backdoor pilot that Elijah was watching this incounter.

Now on to give Rebekah a update. Again, she couldn’t care less.

Ah, Marcel! We have been lacking in Marcel-Elijah interactions. Elijah and Marcel sit at a bar and negotiate. Klaus’s blood that would heal Thierry in exchange for Jane Anne Deveraoux’s body. Marcel agrees, and Elijah returns Jane Anne to Sophie as a sign of good faith.

Next we see drunken Klaus stumbling along a alleyway, and Elijah, again trying to convince him to care. However, Elijah gets rather frustrated with his brothers behavior and they have a vampiric-strengthened fight.

“You are beyond pathetic Elijah.”

“Well who is more pathetic, the one who seeks hope to make his family whole, or the coward who can only see the world through his own fear?” Wise words Elijah.

Elijah and Klaus come to an understanding after they talk and Elijah utters the words “always and forever.”

The next day, Hayley is released to Klaus and Elijah. For now, they are taking residence in an old plantation house. Elijah is kind to Hayley, and promises to always protect her. Do you feel the vibes through the screen? Because I do.

But there is still one lingering question, and its how does Marcel know when a witch is practicing magic? “Well, we’ll tell you!” Says The Originals writers from beyond our TVs. We see a young girl, in a attic practicing magic and talking to Marcel. We learn that she is the one who can sense it… its very Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

But now that Klaus has agreed to follow along with Sophie Deveraoux’s plan, what’s next? Well to Klaus, its time to dagger Elijah. I didn’t see that one coming.

And that was the official first episode of The Originals!

Power Rankings:

#5 goes to… The CITY OF NEW ORLEANS! 

For being a character all on its own.

#4 goes to… MARCEL GERARD!

For being badass.

#3 goes to… HAYLEY MARSHALL!

For being everyone’s favorite werewolf.

#2 goes to… SOPHIE DEVERAOUX!

For again, getting what you wanted and not taking no for an answer.

#1 goes to… ELIJAH MIKAELSON!

For believing in always and forever, and for inspiring us all.

To all those who haven’t made the list… until next time.

“The bond of family blesses us with an immeasurable power. But we also must accept what comes with it. It gives us a responsibility to love without condition… without apology. We can never waver from the power of that bond, even when its tested. The bond nourishes us, gives us strength. Without that power, we are nothing.” -Elijah Mikaelson

Backdoor Pilot “The Originals”

In regular backdoor pilot fashion, this The Vampire Diaries episode begins with very forced exposition explaining why we as viewers are leaving/escaping the wonderfully supernatural Mystic Falls and entering, what appears to be, a even more sadistic and cutthroat, New Orleans.

“Welcome to the dark side of New Orleans,” says the random tour guide with rad facial hair, “a supernatural playground where the living are easily lost and the dead stick around to play.” Spooky.

But what exactly are we doing here? Klaus Mikaelson recieved a tip from everyone’s favorite doppelgänger, Katherine, that a witch with the name of Jane Anne Deveroaux is conspiring against him. Conspiring? Very vague. Could it be a trap set by Katherine and this Jane Anne Deveroaux? Let’s keep watching to find out!

While Klaus is making his rounds of murderous threats, Rebekah and Elijah are arguing back in Mystic Falls. As per usual, Elijah wants to help Klaus, like the loyal brother that he is, and Rebekah wants Klaus to go to hell.

“Where are you going?” Says the particularly pouty Rebekah Mikaelson.

“To find out who’s making a move against are brother, and then… I’ll either stop them, or I’ll help them. Depending on my mood.” Oh, Elijah! You crack me up when you’re indecisive about when its appropiate to murder.

However, through the collective perspectives of Hayley Marshall, a sassy werewolf girl in search of her family, and Sophie and Jane Anne Deveroaux, we find out Hayley is pregnant.

Holy cow! Remember a few episodes back when Klaus and Hayley have a super steamy one-night stand while amongst bonding over their perpetual loneliness and sorrow? I do!

But how could this be? Well, being that Klaus is both vampire and werewolf, the original hybrid, he can in fact procreate. If you weren’t on the edge of your seat already, you are now.

But back to Klaus. During his interrogation of a French Quarter witch, Klaus finds out that a vampire in charge, Marcel, won’t let the witches practice magic. Klaus finds Marcel singing his little vampire heart out at a bar. My first impression of Marcel? Hot. Second? Exudes confidence.

Klaus and Marcel approach with caution, and you don’t know if they’re going to kill each other. But they don’t! It turns out, Klaus and Marcel are old friends, in fact, Klaus sired Marcel. We also learn that the Mikaelson’s helped build New Orleans but were run out of town for some reason. So the plot thickens!

What exactly is the deal with Marcel? “Well we can tell you!” Says The Originals writers from beyond our TV’s. Marcel has quite a little vampire community. He has night-walkers, vampires who thrive under Marcel’s rule, and the inner circle, which are those who get to bask in the sunlight with the help of mystical daylight rings. It’s as if Marcel has complete control over the supernatural in New Orleans, and Klaus is jealous. However, Klaus focuses on the task at hand and asks Marcel what he knows about Jane Anne Deveraoux. What coincidence! Marcel is scheduled to hold a weird criminal trial in the middle of the street accusing Jane Anne of practicing magic.

But unlike an actual court of law, Jane Anne is publicly executed.

“Was that convincing? I studied law back in the fifties.” Oh Marcel, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Rats! Klaus didn’t get to talk to her before Marcel cut her throat open. But there is still hope! Klaus tracks down the sister, Sophie, where she works at a bar called Rousseau’s. Unfortunately, Sophie is to scared to speak due to the night-walkers that are following Klaus. Damn it Marcel! You foil everything! Fed up, Klaus threatens the night-walkers and lavishly orders them some scotch and hands the bartender a $100 bill (which will be important later).

Meanwhile, Elijah vamps through an alleyway and demands that Sophie Deveraoux tell him what the hell is going on. Of course, he articulates this request in a more respectful and Elijah-like fashion. He also kills a couple night-walkers while doing it, but that’s neither here or there.

Marcel is throwing a rave in his house/mansion and Klaus crashes, giving off murderous glances while searching the wild party for Marcel. Marcel calms Klaus down and shows Klaus to a balcony overlooking the city. We quickly learn that Marcel is smart and calculating, could he be another Klaus?

“Mmmm, new blood.” Marcel, don’t do it.

“Bartender. Walking alone at night. She’s either brave or dumb.” Klaus don’t encourage him.

“Brave, I let her live, dumb, she’s dessert.” Marcel, don’t eat the nice bartender.

Marcel quickly vamps off to go flirt or drink the bartender from Rousseau’s, while Elijah vamps in to inform Klaus of what he has found out.

Elijah takes Klaus to a creepy cemetery where Sophie Deveraoux reveals she has been holding Hayley captive for leverage over Klaus.

But why would should I care? Wonders Klaus, looking back and forth between Hayley and Elijah.

Because she’s pregnant the and carrying your baby Klaus.

Well, shit.

DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!

Sophie Deveraoux reveals her evil plan. Jane Anne sacrificed herself in order to confirm the pregnancy, because the witches need help taking Marcel down. They need big bad Klaus Mikaelson. What better way to achieve that then by linking Klaus’s baby mama to Sophie, so that if any harm comes to her, the same harm happens to Hayley and the baby.

DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL!

Elijah is rather disappointed in his brother’s behavior, and expresses this child to be their best chance. At happiness. At a home. At family. However, Klaus doesn’t feel the same.

Klaus crashes, once again, Marcel’s rave and picks a fight with him. Seriously guys, just put in on the table and measure already.

“Now look at you! Master of your domain, prince of the city.” Klaus, could you have made a more obvious set up towards Marcel’s big monologue?

“Hey man, I get it. 300 years ago you helped build a backwater penal colony into something. You started it, but then you left. Actually, you ran from it. I saw it through. Look around. Vampires rule this city now. We don’t have to live in the shadows like rats. The locals know their place, they look the other way. I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing, and the party never ends! You want to pass on through? You want to stay awhile? Great. What’s mine is yours, but it is mine. My home, my family, my rules.” By the way, throughout this episode, every time Marcel says “rules” take a shot.

“And if someone breaks those rules?”

“They die. Mercy is for the weak, you taught me that, too. And I’m not prince of the quarter, friend. I’M THE KING!”

Well that does it. Klaus inflicts his fatal werewolf bite on one of Marcel’s inner circle, Thierry, and makes his grand exit.

Next commences the wonderful New Orleans nightlife montage. As Klaus is enjoying the festivities, he spots the brave bartender, she’s looking at a painter while he’s painting, and he approaches her. Her name tag says Camille, but she rejects that name because of the notion that its made for a grandma. We can call her Cami.

“And what do you suppose his story is?” Ask’s Klaus.

“He’s… angry. Dark. Doesn’t feel safe, and doesn’t know what to do about it. He wishes he can control his demons, instead of having his demons control him. He’s lost. Alone.” Hmmm… does this painters emotional state remind you of anyone else?

Cami apologizes for being a overzealous psych major, but Klaus reassures her, and whooshes away.

Klaus and Elijah meet up and Klaus admits that he wants what Marcel has. But Klaus? What are you going to do about the baby sized elephant in the room? To which he concludes, “every king needs a heir.” Not the most heartwarming, but we’ll take it, and so will Elijah.

Klaus now has a plan being put into action. Klaus gives Marcel his blood, which will heal Thierry, in order to get close to Marcel again. And it works. Now that Klaus is feeling all powerful again, he gives the lovely Caroline Forbes a call. But of course she never calls back. Ouch.

Rebekah doesn’t want to go to New Orleans, despite Elijah’s protests. She’s still upset apparently. Also it looks like the end of Elijah and Katherine. So sad.

And that was the amazingly epic backdoor pilot of The Originals!

Onto Power Rankings! Who are the top 5 characters that “slayed” this episode?

#5 goes to… SUPERNATURAL BABY!

Your heart beats strong, young one.

#4 goes to… Sophie Deveraoux!

Getting Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson into an alliance is no easy task.

#3 goes to… Elijah Mikaelson!

Kicking butt and taking names.

#2 goes to… Marcel!

Smooth talking, karaoke singing, king of New Orleans.

#1 goes to… Klaus Mikaelson!

You glorious bastard and all of your dysfunction.

To the characters that didn’t make it on this list, maybe next time.

Do you agree with my power rankings? What was your favorite part? Enlighten me in the comments!