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The Originals: The Axeman's Letter

"You want a fight? So be it."

That was fun. I liked it a lot. A lot, a lot. Let's all take a second and hope that our beloved show has finally found its third season footing and that this episode wasn't some kind of freak accident.

You know, the kind of freak accident where you force your brother's girlfriend into revealing his deep, dark secret (because you don't know your own powers of persuasion) and it throws you into a fit of rage that causes you to force the same girl into breaking your beloved little bro's heart. Which, of course, sets him up to become the evil, maniacal genius-in-revenge that we've all come to know as Klaus. This show has a lovely penchant for a quiet setup that impresses me every time. Something will happen and then many episodes (and sometimes seasons) later it becomes wildly important again. Mommy dearest opening Elijah's red door rubbed some people the wrong way, because it reset Elijah's character. I tend to love it, though. He's been around for far too long to be perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, and it makes more sense to me that those mistakes are hidden in his subconscious than it does that he has stood beside Klaus for all that time keeping his hands perfectly clean.

This is one of those times that it would really benefit Team Mikaelson if Klaus weren't so revenge hungry. What Elijah did was wrong, but he tried to warn Klaus the second they got Aurora's calling card and even begged him not to brush it off. Klaus wanted nothing to do with it. Also, Elijah knew Klaus killed their mother and kept the secret for centuries when he could have told his siblings any one out of 500 times that Klaus flew off the handle. Unless that fact was put behind the door too with the knowledge of what he compelled Aurora to do. I'm a little fuzzy on what actually gets buried behind that thing. In any event, it should be interesting to see an actual rift play out between such powerhouse characters.

While Hayley was helping Davina accessorize and giving her pep talks, I kept wondering why. Witch put your ass on a leash, girl. Stop being so nice. Tell her to wear the ugly orange one. You know? But Hayley's kindness paid off. Davina saw the error in her ways, gave Hayley and her pack their freedom back, didn't hang the son of the woman she had murdered and vowed to forge a better tomorrow for the New Orleans covens of today. All by being herself. I'm pretty sure Michelle Tanner learned a similar lesson on Full House once. In all seriousness, though, I think we can all agree that Davina's leadership so far has been pretty pathetic. It was beyond time for her to course correct or get impeached. I do still have one tiny hang up. Davina orchestrated the murder of a fellow witch (not to mention human being). That's still murder, right? Which is still wrong, right? And as much as I love Hayley and am glad she's back to walking on two legs, she did make a choice to kill that witch. Witch murder is still murder, right? Which is wrong. Right?

Oh yea, Cami is in jail and Logan Echolls doesn't have the most astute detectiving skills. Hopefully Klaus isn't too busy trying to eliminate Elijah to compel his therapist out of lock-up. Of course, knowing him he might leave her there so she can't shame him for letting a centuries old romance come between family.

Interesting the the first person Elijah turned seems to possess so many of his qualities. Manipulative, cunning, full of himself, a fondness for impeccably tailored suits. Klaus has said that he and Lucian brought out the worst in each other when Luci was first turned. The two of them were both born into a lower situation than they think they deserve (bastard and servant), both of them have spent their lives trying to prove their worth and they both have a flair for the violent dramatics. Rebekah and Aurora are a little harder to compare since we still don't know a lot about Aurora. But what we do know is pretty spot on too, right? Spoiled romantics with a borderline obsession to gain the approval of their brothers. Plus, Rebekah finally breaking out on her own away from Klaus and Elijah has coincided pretty closely with Aurora finally breaking out of the temple/prison situation that her brother had her stashed away in. Is this as creepy as I think or am I grasping for straws where there aren't any??

If I'm right, it gets creepier. Aurora shares Rebekah's personality traits. Klaus might still be in love with Aurora. Ergo, Klaus is in love with his sister? *shudder* I'm done now.

I'm into the possibility of Tristan and Lucien working together for some nefarious goal that isn't a weird war of the blood lines. Mainly because I haven't been buying what they've been selling us so far. It never made sense. Hopefully this new plan will. When Aurora busted herself out of the temple she left her brother a message to not start the party without her. Is it possible that she is also in on the plan? She might have just successfully implemented the divide part of whatever the three of them have cooked up. While we're talking about the voicemail, why is Tristan so shocked when Elijah tells him that Aurora is in town? Good liar or needs to check his messages?

3 or 4 beds of lavender
Eh, 3.5

Bites and pieces

I can't tell if the actor playing Lucien is actually quite short or if the character's 'little man' complex is making me see things. As much as I liked this episode, I still can't stand him.

Klaus is getting ANOTHER love interest. Maybe. I guess Cami does have her hands full with the being behind bars and all. And Caroline is shacking up with Stefan now. But here's the thing, both of those almost-relationships have hardcore shippers that are still waiting for a pay out. Why throw another into the mix? The harbor is getting a smidge crowded. Is there room for another ship?

I think I actually like Aurora for him, though. GASP! You can thank Joseph Morgan for that. The guy can make me believe anything. I was all don't listen to her, Klaus, show him what Mikaelson solidarity looks like. Then he hit me with the "you're breaking my heart" line and I wanted to give him a hug. Gold acting stars.

The Axeman of New Orleans was a real serial killer that really sent a letter stating that for one night he wouldn't kill people in houses playing jazz music. I only know because American Horror Story: Coven created a fictionalized version of him so I've looked it up before. I don't think the festival is real, though.

Klaus: "What I am, I cannot answer. My family are the first. There is no name for it."
Do we already know where the term vampire came from if not from the Mikaelsons?

Aurora: "Rose are red, lavender is blue.
Come find me before I find you."
Klaus is right. This poem is terrible. Lavender is definitely purple. I get it, nothing rhymes with purple, but don't be lazy. You just wrote a lie. Tsk tsk.

Aurora: "I need to know. Where in the hell is Rebekah?"
I'm wondering the same thing, girl.

I guess Freya was on babysitting duty.

Vincent: "Everybody likes a charismatic killer. We know that better than most."
Cami: "Excuse me?"
Vincent: "You and Klaus. Me and my psycho ex-wife."
The look on Cami's face made me laugh out loud.

Hayley: "If you're gonna wear old lady choker scarves, you're gonna get old lady goats."

Elijah: "I have carried you for centuries, Niklaus. You want a fight? So be it."

4 comments:

  1. This was one of my favorite episodes, possibly ever. Most likely due to Joseph Morgan's amazing ability to summon man-tears. I didn't like Lucien when we first met him. Last episode, I liked Lucien. This episode, upon learning he's mostly likely deceiving Klaus by forming an alliance with Tristan, I'm back to not liking him. So far, I like Aurora, but.. we'll see. (I'm one of those Caroline/Klaus fans, but have accepted Cami and Stefan as current love interests) But then, Morgan can have chemistry with a popsicle.

    Great review :)

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  2. "Aurora shares Rebekah's personality traits. Klaus might still be in love with Aurora. Ergo, Klaus is in love with his sister?"

    For the same reason, I've been grossed out since season one by how closely Cami physically resembles Rebecca. They were wearing their hair the same toward the end of the first season, and the resemblance was appalling (especially since Marcelle was also sniffing after Cami at one point - yuck!)

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  3. I always thought that the way Klaus dominated and manipulated Rebekah felt borderline incestuous, especially in The Vampire Diaries and in season one of The Originals, but I never thought they'd do more than hint at it.

    I'm a lot more into Elijah than Klaus and I thought that Daniel Gillies was terrific in that final scene.

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  4. Klaus and Rebekah have always, as Billie Doux said, had a hint of the incestuous. Klaus killing Rebekah's lovers to keep her to himself, his tendency to be very possessive of her in general, the first time we ever saw them he grabbed her away from Stefan and physically pulled her close. Not to mention the fact that Klaus before Aurora has never had feelings for any girl that didn't have blue eyes and blonde hair like Rebekah does, and in Aurora's case she has Rebekah's personality instead. This undertone is one that the series has been playing with for a very long time.

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