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The Originals: Alive and Kicking

"New Orleans is a vicious place. Your enemies are everywhere."

I take back everything I've ever said about this show. The writing, the acting, the directing. It's all embarrassingly terrible.

Just kidding. I really had no idea what to write up there, because all I really want to do is give Kol a hug. His mother gave him a bloody nose. With her mind. As parenting techniques go, the Mikaelsons' could use some serious overhaul.

This week was a lot to do with Kol and Marcel (they even knew each other way back when) and getting some back story on them, but Kol's story was repetitive and boring. I get the need to drive home the fact that he is left with some shoddy choices in the way of family alliances, and he certainly won no points with me standing up Davina, but I just can't dislike someone when his mother is being mean to him. Esther doesn't have his back, as she is clearly a loon and Klaus and Elijah literally stabbed him in the back. Probably more than once. Davina might be the only way for him to turn. Unless he is secretly Mikael's favorite, he really should have bought her that coffee. Cheers to Kol for standing up to his mom as best he could.

Speaking of Esther's terrible parenting, she and Klaus had a little tea party, and there aren't enough gold acting stars in the universe to give Joseph Morgan what he deserves for that scene. I almost fell out of my chair when she started talking about sending him to his room. At one point Klaus was sort of positioned with his mother in front of him to the right and dozens of werewolves to the left. He told her that he could kill them all, and it's true. It was like he was bragging, "Look Mom, see how strong and powerful I am?", but there were tears in his eyes and trepidation in his actions. If it were anyone else, even Mikael, I think he would've attacked right then and there. Was anyone else screaming not to drink the tea??? Also, while I'm giving out gold stars. Daniel Gillies deserves some too for the scene when Klaus and Elijah exchange stories about their parental run-ins, but Elijah pissed me off so I'm not giving him any.

Marcel's backstory had a lot more heart than Kol's, and served a dual purpose as a way to explain Elijah's moronic behavior towards Hayley. Marcel was just a young impressionable child that was raised by a family of often sadistic and always petty vampires. Maybe it's lucky he isn't running around setting various people and places on fire. I'm not sure if it's enough to make him likeable to everyone, but if your heart didn't break for him when Elijah expressed his boredom, then you probably aren't human. Elijah left the innocent little warrior to be looked after by Klaus, so that his brother wouldn't get his feelings hurt. And since that worked soooo well before, he decides to throw Hayley away in the same fashion.

Last week, Hayley talked about how killing Francesca did not help her to feel any better. This week Klaus told her that when thinking about Hope hurts him too much, it makes him feel better to know that he will have revenge. I think it might actually make him feel better, and not in a sick serial killer kind of way. In a justice kind of way. I had never thought about it that way before. Probably because I still see him as a villain that, for now, just happens to be aligned with the characters I love.

Marcel did find a true friend in Davina. I am loving her new found confidence. After everything that she has been through, and survived, it makes sense that she would have more confidence. Too bad she hasn't had time to work on her poker face. Elijah saw right through her. It didn't take much for that bracelet to fall off, though. She should think about duct tape. We all knew it would happen sooner or later so I guess that's why I laughed.

3.5 out 4 ill-fitting spelled bracelets. Not only did Elijah cost Daniel Gillies gold acting stars, he also cost this rating 1/2 a point.

Bites and pieces

Hayley's bloody paw prints turned foot prints were cool.

It seems unfair that Mikael got to come back in his own body while Esther, Finn and Kol have to sulk around in loaners.

Are we supposed to have forgotten Oliver's hand in all the backstabby death last season (including killing a member of his own pack), because I haven't. Does anyone believe he will turn on the witches?

Is it weird that Esther, a witch that had an affair with a werewolf, is talking about how well the two factions get along? To. Her. Son. A product of that affair. Or is it just me?

I wonder if Kol actually did practice witchcraft before he became a vampire or if he was just sweet talking Davina.

Kol reminds me a lot of Damon. Anyone else?

Finn. What a Momma's boy. On this show, I doubt he's going to stay so one-dimensional. I just wish they would get on with it, because he's seriously annoying me.

Cami must've been cramming for mid-terms or writing a term paper or something.

Klaus: "I find it amusing that you think you have a choice."
Kol: "No! I swear, the day will come that I'm not so easily subdued, and you will regret this!"
Klaus: "Perhaps, but today is not that day."

Hayley: "I'm a hybrid now. I have a werewolf temper to go with my new appetite, and the witches that tried to kill my baby... they're worth nothing more than food."

Kol: "Uh. Not creepy at all. Watching me on a date."

Klaus: "Which of our parents do we kill first?"

Kol: "Look at my head! This isn't going to heal for weeks. I haven't had a scar for a thousand years!"
This was BY FAR my favorite line, but I just couldn't justify using it as the leading quote.

4 comments:

  1. Honestly, I was a fan of this episode's Elijah and Kol scenes.
    The Elijah scenes in a way reduced my "liking" of him, but on the other hand made him even more interesting to me. Daniel Gillies has said in past interviews that he believes Elijah's devotion to Klaus is a sickness, supporting him through all of the atrocities Klaus has committed. I think the flashbacks were one of the first examples in the show where it really got through to me how sick and twisted even the most stable original is after 1000 years of being a vampire, even going so far as to help dagger his own brother twice for Klaus.
    And while I've never particularly liked the character of Kol, I thought his flashbacks in this episode were an interesting new look at him. They made me sympathise with him more. If the behaviour Klaus and Elijah and Esther showed towards him is something that's been going on for 1000 years, no wonder he places such a high degree of importance on freedom and has such a strong aversion to rules. These aspects of his personality before always seemed to just kind of be there to make him this cool bad boy vampire to me.
    As for Finn, I do hope you're right. I think he has the potential to be an interesting character but his time on screen in "The Vampire Diaries" was fairly limited and so far his portrayal in "The Originals" has been rather one-dimensional.

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  2. Okay, Laure, you made me LOL three times.

    (1) Was anyone else screaming not to drink the tea??? I was! But I guess it was just chamomile, which is bad enough.

    (2) She should think about duct tape. Yeah, I was thinking she should have taped it to herself *and* hidden it. It was just waiting to fall off.

    (3) It seems unfair that Mikael got to come back in his own body while Esther, Finn and Kol have to sulk around in loaners. Yes. Especially Kol, who is played by an actor I like now.

    I think I like Elijah more, not less, for sacrificing baby Marcellus' and Hayley's good will for Klaus' sake. But I like Elijah. He's my favorite character on this show.

    Super fun episode and terrific review, Laure.

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  3. Another solid episode and review!

    OneOnOne, I like your insight on Kol and his desire for freedom. Combine that desire with the fact that he didn't tell Esther that Mikael was Davina's secret weapon, and it appears to me that Kol is our latest wildcard.

    At the end of the episode, when Elijah walked away from Hayley, I so much wanted her to zoom in front of him (we haven't seen her use her vamp superspeed yet, have we?) and call him on his bullish*t.

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  4. Oops. Forgot something.

    I also really enjoyed Marcel's move to include Elijah in the vamp community by putting him into the position of mentoring Gia. I think it was a smart call on Marcel's part, and I look forward to seeing that mentor-mentee relationship--it could be very good for Elijah's growth and/or well being.

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