The Originals Season 1, Episode 1: "Always and Forever" Recap/Review

(Blogger's note: I know this is super late, but the whole switching The Originals from Thursday to Tuesday, in addition to a week full of exams, totally fucked up my schedule. The next recap of the S01E02 of The Originals and S05E02 of The Vampire Diaries should both be up within the next few days, and then with any luck I should be all caught up!)

Did any of you guys watch the backdoor pilot of the Originals? (AKA "The Originals," Season 4, Episode 20 of the Vampire Diaries) The real pilot was more or less the same story, except this time, we saw the events from Elijah's perspective, rather than Klaus', which I thought was pretty cool. We got some new information as well, and we were introduced to a new character who already has me asking tons of questions. So, I'm just going to skip the chit-chat and get right into it!

In case you haven't watched The Vampire Diaries before, or haven't watched in a while, here's what you should probably about this family know before you start: the Originals are the first family of vampires, from which all vampires are descended. Their parents, Esther, a ridiculously powerful witch, and Mikael, a human, were originally (pun intended) wealthy landowners somewhere in Scandinavia. There, they had one child, who they ultimately lost to a plague early in his life. Esther's close friend and mentor, Ayana (an ancient witch ancestor of Bonnie Bennett) had a ~vision~ of a far off land, the New World, where everyone was strong and healthy, so they moved there-- specifically, to what is now Mystic Falls, Virginia. There, they had six more children; Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik. I'm sure we'll learn a lot more about their family, so I don't want to give away too much, but all you really need to know is that there are only three living (errrrr, undead, technically) members of the family in the present day: Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah, around whom the show will revolve. The three of them are all roughly 1,000 years old, plus however old they were when they were turned. That means LOTS of years for flashbacks, so get ready, folks. Vamanos!


Oh hey, more voiceovers! This time, it is voiced by the incredibly suave and sexy Elijah Mikaelson. There is a wooden paddle boat floating in the water in the shot, though I don't really understand the point of the imagery. "Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood. And while we may not choose our family, that bond can be our greatest strength, or our deepest regret. This unfortunate truth has haunted me for as long as I can recall."

The scene fades, and a subtitle tells us that we are on the Mississippi River, 300 years ago. Yay, Originals Flashbacks! My favorite. There is what appears to be an abandoned ship floating in the sea, where two men on the dock discuss what to make of it. The second man thinks it's a miracle ship, but they're confused as to why it's just floating there. They grab some friends and go onto the ship to investigate, and when they can't seem to find anyone who owns the ship, the first man declares it a deserted ship, and proclaims that anything found on the ship is theirs to take if they fancy it. The second guy is a little unnerved when he stumbles upon two black coffins. They open one of them to find Kol, wearing what looks like a little sailor suit, with one of the magical Original-neutralizing silver daggers sticking out of his heart. As you can imagine, both men are quite confused and scared about what they've just found.


A door swings open behind them, and one by one, the friends of the men seem to be plucked out of thin air and disappear. Eventually, only Man 2 is left, and he worriedly swings his lantern around to figure out what the fuck is happening to everyone. Of course, Rebekah is the one who is hanging out in the shadows, vamp-faced and dressed in 18th century finery, curled coif and all. Her eye veins dissipate and her fangs recede as she dabs the leftover blood from her face with a handkerchief and remarks on how lovely it is to see such a handsome face after their long journey. "Can I eat him, brother?" she coos to a shadowy figure in the corner. Elijah suddenly appears in similar finery, along with one of those long ponytails, and admits he would prefer if she didn't chow down on the man.


He zooms over to the last remaining sailor and compels him to stay calm, to do as he says, and to remember nothing afterwards. He explains, "We've had a very long journey, wherein which, unfortunately, we lost all of our crew. Therefore, I will ask you to transport our belongings to the shore." The man is literally like, "What kind of hell demons are you?" Rebekah replies that they're the Original vampires, natch, and introduces herself and Elijah to him. She introduces the daggered Kol and Finn as an afterthought, hilariously adding, "May they rest in peace." Hee!


Not to be outdone, Klaus makes his dramatic entrance, and asks if they're saving the best for last. Rebekah sighs and introduces him as her half-brother, "a beast." Klaus, who back then only had a regular vampire face, because he had yet to break his hybrid curse at this point, has just finished snacking on the man's friend, and carelessly drops him to the floor. He reminds his dearest sister that they just fled Europe and survived the seas, and suggests that it would be worse if he had arrived hungry to their new homeland. "Niklaus, your manners are, as always, without equal." Elijah says airily, before turning to the sailor. "Sir, would you be so good as to tell us where it is that we have landed?" he asks, always the gentleman.


The compelled man reveals that they are in the French colony of Louisiana, off the shore of the town just recently christened as New Orleans. Elijah thanks him kindly, and encourages the man to find some more people to help them with their luggage before apologizing for the inconvenience. God, Elijah really is the best. As the man leaves, he sees all his dead pals laying bloody across the the floor of the ship. Oops!


We're in the present, now (or close to it, at least-- if we're going by TVD's timeline, it should be spring of 2011) where we get a bunch of different cuts of various places in New Orleans, before we finally stop at Rousseau's Bar. You know, the one where Sophie makes awesome gumbo, and the blonde that Klaus took a fancy toward, Cami, works as a bartender. She makes Elijah a drink and ask him what brings him to the Big Easy. Elijah admits that he used to live here, and when she asks when, he claims, "It feels like a hundred years ago!" More like three hundred, but I'll forgive you for the lie of omission, Elijah. Cami informs him that she has also just moved here, and asks what brought him back.


Elijah confesses that he followed his brother, whom he believes may have stumbled into a little trouble, which Cami correctly assumes is a common occurrence. "Well... he's complicated. Defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental. See, we don't share the same father. Of course, that never bothered me, but my brother resents it deeply. Never felt like he belongs. All told, he has a long history of getting himself into trouble." As he speaks, we see flashbacks of Klaus becoming a true hybrid (TVD 2x21, "The Sun Also Rises") and then slaughtering all of his hybrid offspring with the Hunter's Sword (TVD 4x09 "O Come, All Ye Faithful.")

Cami (who, if you recall, is a psychology student) again correctly deduces that Elijah is the one with the long history of always bailing Klaus out, and asks about the kind of trouble he's in. For whatever reason, he tells her that Klaus is under the impression that there are people here conspiring against him, to which Cami again correctly proclaims Klaus to be both narcissistic and paranoid. Speak that truth, Camille!. I mean, when you're saying shit like that to actual humans, they're probably going to think that you're crazy, instead of the reality of the situation, which is that you're both crazy and a creature of the night who has reason to believe such things because that's just how all-powerful immortal beings think and behave. 

She apologizes for her bluntness, citing it as a side-effect of having a graduate degree in psychology, but Elijah just gives her a forgiving smile, as he totally agrees with that assessment of his little bro. He changes the topic of conversation to Jane-Anne Deveraux, and asks her if she knows where he could find her. Cami doesn't know where she is, but she knows someone who likely does, and sends him off to see her.

In the French Quarter, a beautiful tour guide named Sabine is showing around a bunch of tourists. Given the amount of melanin in her skin and her tour guide spiel, I think it's safe to say that she's a witch-- TVD/TO is nothing if not predictable in that particular way. "Welcome to New Orleans, and the crown jewel of the Crescent City, the French Quarter. Jazz and jambalaya, romance, poetry, not to mention things that go bump in the night. Monsters that feed off of human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite-- the witches. Here, we have the voodoo shop, Jardin Gris. Go on, browse for a hex!"



The tourists all file inside the shop, allowing Sabine some privacy so she can call Elijah out for following her. He's shocked that she knows who he is, but apparently he's just as famous as his brother in this town, and known as the Original vampire who is always in a suit. She reminds him his family is famous among the witches, particularly his homicidal maniac of a brother. Elijah briefly explains that Klaus came to town to find Jane-Anne, but Sabine informs him that he's too late-- she's dead. She then advises him to follow her so she can take him to Jane-Anne's sister, Sophie, who will want to talk to him.

They end up at the corner of Royal and St. Ann, where we saw Marcel murder Jane-Anne by slitting her throat with a tree branch in the backdoor pilot. There are a crowd of witches standing or kneeling around her, as well as some flowers and lit candles. The crowd of witches looks extremely depressed, and rightly so-- we've been told a lot in TVD that witches are extremely loyal to each other and look out for their own above anyone else, so it's no surprise that they're taking the loss of one of their magical sisters really hard. 

Sophie Deveraux, Jane-Anne's actual biological sister, is crying silently at her sister's side. Even Elijah, who is not opposed to murder when it suits him and whose brother is probably one of the most sadistic and violent creatures of in this universe, second only to Mikael, is actually legitimately shocked and disgusted that Jane-Anne was killed in public and left out in the street for any human to stumble upon. Sabine informs him that the only people who come around these parts are the witches, which was the point, and now Sophie has to come take her sister's body so that she can put it into their cemetery and her spirit can rest.


Elijah is like, "Please tell me that my brother had nothing to do with this," and for once, Klaus isn't a murder suspect. Sabine explains that Jane-Anne was killed for doing magic, a statement which Elijah cannot even begin to understand-- he was raised by a powerful witch herself, so he knows that witches are literally the architects of the supernatural and have created literally every supernatural creature from vampires to doppelgängers to the Brotherhood of the Five, not to mention that back in his day in New Orleans, the witches here were some of the most powerful of their kind. So, the idea that someone would ban the practice of magic by witches and punish those who break the rules with death is absolutely ludicrous to him. 

Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierces through the air, and Sabine mutters, "You wanna know who killed Jane-Anne? You're about to get your first glimpse of Marcel in action." Elijah, who seems to have history with Marcel, had no idea until now that he's not only alive, but in charge and behind Jane-Anne's murder, so he's like, "The vampire Marcel?" Sabine quickly levels with him: New Orleans changed after the Mikaelson siblings were forced to flee back in the early 1900s. She begs him to stay hidden, because if Marcel figures out that a witch lured Klaus and his siblings back to town, he will drown the Quarter in the blood of her kind, since he appears to be even more of a sociopath than his sire.

Elijah hops up to a balcony and watches as Marcel and his clique approaches Sophie, reveling in her sorrow. He points out that this corner isn't really a lucky spot for Deveraux witches today, and lets her know that they had to kill her to teach the witches a lesson. Sophie snaps at her to leave them alone, because they're trying to put her to rest, but Marcel ain't having it. "I never said you could move the body! Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason: to send a message. If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the Quarter! And yet, a little birdy informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious." 



While he has her there, he would like to know if she knows why his dear old friend Klaus, his recently-returned hybrid pal, was asking for her. "I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire business." Marcel agrees that that would be very dumb, and suggests she return to work and make some more delicious gumbo to keep the tourists happy. In the meantime, he's going to hold onto Jane-Anne's body until she remembers why Klaus wanted to talk to her. Sophie pleads that her sister's spirit won't be at peace, but Marcel cares not, and maintains that it's not his problem. He and his vampire buds/bodyguards saunter off with Jane-Anne's body, while Elijah watched from above in the balcony.

Elijah has called Rebekah to update her on what he's learned so far during his visit to Nawlins, though I'm not sure where Elijah currently is-- maybe the new Mikaelson Mansion/plantation house? Rebekah is drinking champagne in the bathtub, which apparently is a vampire's favorite thing to do. Man, I want a huge, awesome bathtub! As it turns out, Rebekah was under the impression that Marcel was dead, too, and is super shocked to hear otherwise. "Our brother seems to have wondered into a war zone, and I haven't been able to find him," Elijah explains. "Marcel, who Klaus sired and brought up beneath his own wing, now rules a menagerie of savage vampires running wild, killing in public for any human to come upon. Witches are held in subjugation. I doubt Niklaus had any idea what he was walking into." 



Rebekah is still pissed at Klaus, which is quite understandable, so she isn't really interested in any of this drama. "Our hateful, traitorous bastard of a brother, who's negated any sympathy I once had for him by his repeated efforts to ensure neither you nor I know happiness outside of his own selfish universe." I have a love/hate relationship with Klaus, but w o r d, bb. Elijah reminds them of their pact, "always and forever," but Rebekah hilariously calls take-backs, even after her older brother points out that she's called take-backs dozens of times over the roughly 1,000 years they have been alive. Elijah recalls aloud how sad they all were when Mikael chased them out of town nearly a century ago, hoping to try to change Rebekah's mind, but it's so not happening. 

In fact, Rebekah simply retorts that while she may be old, she's not senile; she knows that she has often forgiven Klaus for his insane mistakes, but she also remembers how, not three years after she forgave him for whatever happened while in the Big Easy before they were run out of New Orleans the last time they lived there, he daggered her again and locked her in a coffin for nearly a century, all because she had the nerve to choose Stefan over him (see: TVD 3x03 "The End of the Affair.") Elijah cuts her off and informs her that whatever Marcel's quarrel is with the witches, the witches were desperate enough to want to lure Klaus (and, indirectly, Elijah) back to the Quarter at their own peril. So, he's determined to find out what it is exactly that they want.


Back at Rousseau's, Sophie has succumbed to tears yet again, and walks out of the back door of the restaurant toward the alley, where someone has set up a small a small altar with burning candles. At the sight of it, she begins to sob, and talks aloud to her sister's spirit. "Oh, you got me into this Jane. Give me the strength to finish it." She's startled by a door slamming closed, and the soft *whooshing* noise that indicates vampires are zooping around. Eventually, two of Marcel's lackey-dudes hop into the alley, where they call her out for doing magic. She maintains that she's only praying to her dead sister, and snaps at them to go ahead and pay their respects. Vampire Goon #1 is all, "Don't make this a thing, Sophie. The hybrid was looking for Jane-Anne. Marcel wants to know why."



Sophie is 1000% done at this point, and deadpans, "I'd say ask her yourself, but I guess you can't, seeing as Marcel killed her." Vampire Goon #1 lunges at her to grab her, but suddenly disappears before he can touch her. The Vampire Goon #2 and Sophie look around, unnerved, until they hear something land on the ground nearby with a squish-- it's VG #1's heart. The VG #2 assumes that Sophie somehow magically gave his friend a heart-ectomy without actually touching him, so he growls at her before zooping in her direction, but just before he reaches her, he's grabbed by a dark shadowy-figure and thrown up against the wall of the building, where he is impaled on what looks like a wooden fence post with a wrought-iron decorative detail. Oh, Elijah, how I love you. He's not nearly as quick to murder as his little brother is, but when he does kill people, it's always a treat. He sighs and introduces himself, and asks if Sophie heard of him. When she confirms that she has, he kindly insists that he tell her what business her family has with his little brother.


Sophie brings him to the Lafayette Cemetery, where Elijah is surprised to find that he can't make it through the front gate when he tried to follow Sophie in. Sophie, who is only mildly amused, given the circumstances, explains that since the cemetery is on sacred ground, vampires have to be invited in. Unfortunately for her, she's pretty desperate for his help, so she reluctantly gives him a verbal invite so he can enter. Once inside, she assures him that they can speak freely there, due to the witchy mojo of the cemetery, which gives Elijah the opportunity to demand that Sophie gets right to the point of why her sister lured them back to New Orleans.


"Isn't it obvious? We have a vampire problem, and we need help. Marcel has an army backing him. The witches have been trying to fight back. We haven't had much luck, until my sister Jane-Anne met a girl. A werewolf passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia. She had a special connection to your brother." Elijah's like, "A what with who?" since the only connections Klaus typically has with people is the connection between his fangs and another's carotid artery. So, after a moment, Sophie is finally is just like, "They fucked on a table, duh. And now she's knocked up with your little brother's hellspawn." Our most handsome Original insists that that is impossible, just as we all did when we learned about this infernal plot-twist last spring, but Sophie reminds him that when it comes to Klaus, the Original Hybrid, nothing is impossible, and calls for her friends to bring Hayley out. The witches saunter over to them, with Hayley in tow, and stand in formation around her as she sputters, "Who the hell are you??" Elijah smiles kindly and asks the witches for a moment of privacy with the little werewolf.

The two are left alone to talk inside a mausoleum, where they are surrounded by lit candles. Elijah asks her if she's been held here against her will, and Hayley replies that she has. "They lured me out to the Bayou and grabbed me. And, they did all these...weird, witchy tests. Not that I understand how this could happen. I mean, vampires are dead. They can't have children!" Elijah can sympathize with her confusion, and suggests that she might better understand if she knew Klaus' story. He offers to show her with his vampire-Vulcan-mind-meld powers, so we get flashes of flashbacks that we've already seen in the backdoor pilot, but I will recap them again, with Elijah's voiceover, for those who are new to this universe.


"At the beginning, our family was human. A thousand years ago, now..." In the late 900s, Rebekah calls after her little brother Henrik to join her in watching Elijah and Klaus sword-fight. "Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were actually just a family trying to survive in a time when it was quite 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 village's greatest threat." We see a long-haired Klaus, carrying a dead, bloodied Henrik in his arms, calling out in anguish for his mother. "Men that could transform themselves into wolves during the 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." 

Mikael brings a servant girl into their home, slices her arm open, and forces Rebekah and the rest of his children to drink her blood to complete the vampire spell. "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." Still in the late 900s, Klaus accidentally kills a person from whom he was feeding and drops them onto the ground. "When he killed for the first time, we knew what he truly was." His bones start to shift, and Klaus begins to transform, though he doesn't understand what is happening at first. He screams, causing Mikael and Elijah run after him. Mikael is the first to realize what's up, and won't allow Elijah to go near his baby brother to help him. Klaus cries out that it hurts, but Mikael is furious to learn that Klaus is not actually his son, and spits, "He's a beast! An abomination!" Ouch.

Hayley quickly begins to understand how Klaus came to be who he is, since she knows better than anyone that killing someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is what activates the curse. Elijah nods, and admits that Klaus was the result of an affair that Esther had with a werewolf villager and subsequently hid from the family. "Infuriated by this betrayal, my father forced our mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus' werewolf side, denying him any connection with his true self." 

In flashback, Mikael binds Klaus to a wooden cross while Elijah stands and watches this all go down from a short distance, looking extremely troubled. Klaus squirms and shouts for his brother to help him, but Mikael insists that Elijah help him instead by holding Klaus down while he works to fully restrain him for the spell. Elijah doesn't seem to want to do it, because even in the Middle Ages, this would be pretty damn horrifying, but ultimately, Elijah reluctantly follows his dad's orders. 

"Your dad was a dick," Hayley declares in the present, which makes Elijah laugh, because even he knows that the girl ain't lying. She then formally introduces herself to him, figuring that he should probably know her name if she's going to hear their life story. She makes it known that she's aware of his identity, regardless of introduction, informing him that his family is still legendary, especially his brother, who she refers to as a "notorious psycho" whom she 100% honestly admits she still decided to bone, for some reason, despite knowing this fact.


Elijah apologizes for his brother's behavior, as he is wont to do, but confesses his own feelings about this entire situation-- their father hunted them for centuries, and they were forced to flee every time that they began to grow roots someplace as their own little family. Elijah has only ever wanted his entire family to be happy, and is disheartened by the fact that Klaus still hasn't allowed himself happiness, even now that he has eliminated the threats to their ability to have it-- namely, breaking his hybrid curse and killing Mikael. So, Elijah believes that this child could be a way for his brother to find happiness and save himself from his own self-sabotage. It's a nice sentiment, but that's a lot of pressure on Hayley, isn't it? Not to mention that a baby isn't and shouldn't be some kind of miracle bandaid for someone's extremely long-lived issues caused by trauma, either. I don't know, maybe this baby story line will grow on me, but for now, I'm not impressed.

Anyway, this is where Sophie joins them again, having overheard their conversation. "I'm glad you feel that way, because we need your help." Elijah very much wants to know what exactly they are expecting from his family, and what it has to do with Hayley. Sophie's goal is to run Marcel and his clan out of town, and believes that Klaus is the key-- Marcel learned everything he knows from Klaus, he trusts him, admires him, and thus won't expect Klaus to betray him in a million years. I'm not so sure about that plan of theirs, but what do I know? I just watch the show, and talk about it. Elijah brings up the slight obstacle that is the epic tantrums that Klaus tends to throw when people try to boss him around, but that's where Hayley comes into Sophie's plan, apparently.


"That's why I brought you here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. Do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighborhood? Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family." Elijah, who is no fool and knows a carefully-worded threat better than anyone, states the obvious: "That sounds remarkably like blackmail." Sophie admits that it totally is, but considering she's desperate, she really doesn't have much to lose. Elijah sighs and remarks that he's definitely got a lot on his to-do list in order to make this happen. 

Back in the French Quarter, Klaus is watching the sun set over the city from a balcony when Elijah zoops up to pitch his idea. Klaus: "What an entirely unwelcome surprise." Elijah: "And what an entirely unsurprising welcome." Hee! That line gets me every time. Elijah asks his younger bro to accompany him on an adventure, but since that sounds remarkably like bossing, Klaus isn't interested. He'd much rather figure out who is "conspiring against him," but Elijah is just like, "No need! I figured it out for you in all of like, five minutes, dumbass, and I only had to rip out two vampires' hearts to get it done." But, you know, much more elegantly and gentlemanly and Elijah-like.


Back at the cemetery, it seems that Klaus has been filled in on the particulars of the little sticky-wicket that he's in right now, but like every dude who has ever knocked someone up after a one-night stand, he just accuses the witches and Hayley of fucking with him. "This is a lie. You are all lying. Vampires cannot procreate." Sophie reminds him that he was made a vampire by magic, but was born a werewolf, and that the hellspawn he created is one of "nature's loopholes." Klaus is pissed, of course, and is so done with all of it, so he goes to the next fuckboy excuse by bellowing loudly that Hayley must have slept with someone else, and demands that she admit it in front of everyone.


Hayley's got a pretty legit alibi, though. "Hey! I've spent days held captive in a freaking alligator bayou because they think that I'm carrying some magical miracle baby. Don't you think I would've fessed up if it wasn't yours?" Sophie adds that since Jane-Anne died doing the spell that confirmed this magical, loophole-of-nature pregnancy, Hayley and the hellspawn's lives are now controlled by the witches; basically, if the Mikaelson Bros don't help her take down Marcel, they're gonna kill Hayley and her demon child, too. Hayley quite clearly wasn't informed of this aspect of the plan, and as you can imagine, isn't really big on dying, or having the child with whom she just found out she was pregnant being killed before Hayley has had a real chance to decide what she herself would like to do about it. Elijah doesn't understand why this plan has to be so complicated, and cuts them off. "Enough of this. If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself!" 



Excellent idea, my dearest Eli, but if you did that, there wouldn't be a show anymore, so instead, we have to go with Sophie's plan. I kind of get it, though-- it's not enough to just kill Marcel, or force him out of town. They need to either get all of Marcel's cronies to leave with him, or convert them to Klaus' side, since Klaus and his siblings would likely be filling the power vacuum in the event that they manage to get Marcel is out of the picture (although, something tells me the witches likely wouldn't let it get that far, in an ideal scenario, since they would have finally gotten out from under the vampires' grip and wouldn't be keen to replace their old vampire overlords with Originals, but one step at a time). 

So yeah, Sophie explains that she has very clear plans, and rules, which need to be followed, blah blah blah, which is totally stupid. Of all of the ways she could have handled this, that was the exact opposite way to go about it, because again-- Klaus and bossiness do not mix. Unless he's the one who is doing the bossing, that is. There's not coming off like a doormat, and then there's suicide, and the latter is what Sophie apparently seems to be going for, here.


Klaus yells at her for daring to threaten him with what she believes are his weaknesses, and shouts that he's done listening to lies. Elijah stops him mid-stomp-off, and orders him to listen to the baby's heartbeat. As we hear the steady beating, we zoom into Hayley's non-existent baby bump. He momentarily looks as though he's about to cry, but quickly swallows it down. He looks at Hayley and the witches, and growls. "Kill her, and the baby. What do I care?" He stomps off for good, and Hayley is so ready to bolt, but Elijah stops her. He demands that no one harm Hayley, and insists that he will fix it.


In the alley, Elijah catches up with his brother, who maintains that this is all just some made-up ploy to get his aid. Elijah disagrees, and calls it a gift, a chance for them to start over and be a legitimate family, as they've always wanted. Klaus petulantly snits, "I will not be manipulated!" but his elder brother is all, "Who cares if you're being manipulated? You'll have a child!" Klaus would prefer to just kill Hayley, the baby, and all of the witches for good measure, but Elijah has a great point-- what will he do after that? Go back to Mystic Falls and squabble with a bunch of teenagers (and wannabe-teenage vampires) again? "Is it that important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name?" As always, Klaus is more concerned about power, and doesn't see how this demon child will bring him any, but Elijah argues that family, love, and loyalty is the greatest power of all.

"This is what we worse to one another a thousand years ago, before life tore away what little humanity you had left. Before ego, before anger, before paranoia created in this person before me someone I can barely even recognize as my own brother." Elijah pleads with his brother to stay, and allow him to stand by him and help him build a home here. "Save this girl. Save your child." Klaus leans in and puts a hand on Elijah's neck, and you allllllmost think that Klaus was affected by this emotional plea and is about to concede, but this is Niklaus Mikaelson we're talking about, so of course he wasn't. He whispers, "No," into Elijah's ear, and immaturely stomps off once more. Klaus may be one of the oldest living things on Earth, but he sure acts like an angsty teenager like 95% of the time.


The witches are still congregated in the mausoleum, discussing the hot mess in which they're currently marinating, which is growing bigger and bigger each minute. Sophie reminds them that the vampires are out of control, and that they had to do something. Agnes, the witch whom Klaus accosted for Marcel's whereabouts in the backdoor pilot, is like, "And the solution is to bring in more vampires?" Sophie points out that they're the Original vampires, and the Original hybrid, all of whom are older than even the oldest of vampires in New Orleans and who literally can't be killed by any weapon anyone currently possesses, which means that Marcel has plenty of reason to fear them, but Agnes has a hard time believing that she can control Klaus. Duhhh, that's because she can't. No one can.


Elijah, who has just returned, agrees. "She can't. I'm not entirely certain that I can, either. But now that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question: what prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating?"  Good question, Eli. Sophie pulls out a needle and holds it up for everyone to see, before jabbing herself in the palm with it. Hayley groans in pain, and when she holds up her hand to inspect it, we see that her palm has a bloody pinprick in the exact same spot. "What the hell?" she shouts for the second time this evening. As it turns out, Jane-Anne, while doing her witchy pregnancy tests, also did a spell that linked Sophie to Hayley, like Bonnie did to herself and Katherine last season, so everything that happens to Sophie, happens to Hayley too-- as leverage, obviously.


Sophie wastes no time reminding Elijah that while Klaus might not have any warm and fuzzy feelings for his own devilspawn and his devilspawn's mama, but it's very clear that Elijah does; "If I have to hurt Hayley-- or worse-- to ensure I have your attention, I will." Elijah is pretty appalled at the fact that now she's threatening him, since he's the only one who has shown them any respect or sympathy whatsoever thus far, but, again, Sophie has nothing to lose, which wipes the smug smile off of his face. Sophie gives him until midnight to change Klaus' mind and get them on her side. Oh, honey. You're going about this all wrong. I get that desperate times call for desperate measures and whatnot, but come on! You've clearly given this all a ton of thought, so use your damn brain!

Anyway, Klaus is standing on yet another balcony, watching the vampires and human tourists partying and dancing. Marcel eventually joins him and asks where Klaus has been. He can tell by the look on his hybrid sire's face that he's in a mood, and, because he has a much better understanding of how Klaus works than Sophie and the witches, he immediately goes the ass-kisser route by asking what he can do to improve it. (However, Marcel, much like the vampire who created him, has a huge temper that is easily set off, so knowing the right way to handle Klaus only goes so far until he gets all caught up in his pride, you know?) 

Klaus is still salty about the fact that Marcel took his spot in the New Orleans hierarchy and growls that he wants to know Marcel's deal with the witches, but whatever it is, Marcel ain't talking. All he will say is that while he owes Klaus everything he has, he has to keep this secret close to the vest, and maintains that all Klaus needs to know is that he controls all of the magic in his town. Unfortunately, he made a poor choice of words, which he may as well have said in a loudspeaker, because it's all Klaus hears and immediately prickles his ego.


KLAUS:  "YOUR town? [...] That's funny, because when I left a hundred years ago, you were just a pathetic little scrapper, still trembling from the whips of those who would keep you down. And now look at you! Master of your domain, prince of the city. [beat] I'd like to know how."
MARCEL: "Why? Jealous? Hey man, I get it. Three hundred 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. 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 wanna pass on through? You wanna stay awhile? Great. What's mine is yours, but it's STILL. MINE. My home, my family, my rules."
KLAUS: "And if someone breaks those rules?"
MARCEL: "They die. Mercy is for the weak-- you taught me that, too. And I'm not the Prince of the Quarter, friend. I'm the KING. Show me some respect!"

As you're quite aware, anyone who says anything like "Show me some respect!" to Klaus is basically asking to have their spine removed via their mouth, and this time is no different. It seems Marcel should be thanking whatever history the two of them have that we will no doubt be learning about throughout the season, because instead of doing just that to him, Klaus glares at Marcel for a minute, and then suddenly vamp-runs over to Thierry and bites him in the neck. "Your friend will be dead by the weekend, which means I've broken one of your rules. And yet, I cannot be killed. Who has the power now, friend?" Oooh, sick burn. Marcel is super duper fine, but man, he's a dick. As much as I enjoy Klaus, I rarely ever root for him, but for some reason I do now. It's so crazy! These new seasons of TVD/TO have made me like characters I used to hate (or loved to hate.) Marcel and Klaus angry-stare at each other for a moment before Klaus smiles at the crowd and walks away, blood still dripping from his lips.


Elijah and Rebekah are having another confab about Klaus' current situation over the phone. Dear, naive Elijah is shocked that Klaus is willing to give up everything just to be a spiteful bastard, but Rebekah is more shocked that this surprises him, considering this is kind of Klaus' MO. Even still, after all of this, Elijah still has hope for him, and swears that when Klaus heard the demon child's heartbeat, he wanted it, but now he's got himself backed into a corner. He won't agree to help the witches purely out of spite, and even if he could be persuaded into changing his mind, he lost Marcel's trust for his little temper tantrum that resulted in biting one of his vampguards, so how the fuck can Klaus infiltrate the vampires from within now?


He frets that they're almost out of time to save Hayley and the baby, to which Rebekah can do nothing but scoff. "Have you lost your mind? Are we running an orphanage now?" I thought Rebekah liked babies, and wanted to have one herself? Is this just jealousy talking? Anyway, Elijah couldn't care less what Beks thinks or says about Klaus, but he swears that he will not allow any harm to come to Klaus and Hayley's devil baby.


Marcel is at some bar, possibly Rousseau's, or maybe the Pit, talking on his cell phone to what I assume is one of his cronies. He orders the caller to call him back the second they find Klaus and assures him that he knows how to deal with the hybrid. Elijah appears out of nowhere and is all, "Is that so? Please elaborate," which seems to annoy Marcel; he barely even lifts his head to look at him when he mutters, "Elijah Mikaelson." Marcel's clique of vampire bodyguards surround him and glare at our favorite Original, but Marcel wisely encourages them to back off. 

Elijah suggests that they have a little chat, though Marcel urges him to get to the point, because he's got shit to do. Eli chuckles patronizingly at how confident Marcel has become over the years, but Marcel thinks it is the Mikaelson siblings who have become cocky, since they just swanned into his town like they owned the place. "Well, we did own the place once. We were all quite happy here as I recall. But, we could never control those witches in the French Quarter. How do you do it?" Marcel chuckles smugly, since he sees right through Elijah, and admits that Klaus asked him the same question earlier. He reiterates what he told Klaus-- it's his business. "Everything in the Quarter is my business. Klaus comes into town all nice and friendly, then he starts looking down his nose at what I've done, like it's some cheap knock-off of one of his dumb paintings. Then, he gets pissed off like a little bitch and bites one of my guys."



For not the first or last time this evening, Elijah apologizes for his baby brother's impolite behavior, and then takes great pleasure in informing him that Klaus' blood can heal the bite of a werewolf or hybrid. When Elijah senses that this is new information to Marcel, he adds that it's pretty convenient when they need leverage. Marcel reluctantly asks him what he wants, so Elijah pitches his proposal: Marcel gives him Jane-Anne's body, so she can be put to rest, and in return, Klaus will heal Thierry. Marcel is understandably suspicious, and asks why on earth Elijah gives a fuck about some witches he doesn't even know, but Elijah turns Marcel's own words against him and smugs that that is his business, not Marcel's. He stares Marcel down and asks one last time if they have a deal, and man, I love what Elijah did with the limited material he had to work with. If anything, Klaus' temper-tantrum kind of gave him the upper-hand he needed, so for once, Klaus' immaturity actually got shit done! That may be a first.

But,  back to Elijah's play. It's obvious from the little we've seen of Marcel that his type of power is different from that of the Mikaelsons, and I'm not just talking about the status they were born with, here. Marcel is charismatic, he knows people, he's all about showmanship and wheeling-and-dealing, so I figure he's in the position he is in both due a little neck-snapping like his sire, but also out of the loyalty he has earned from the people who support him. Elijah holding the cure to Thierry's hybrid bite and asking for Jane-Anne's body in exchange is basically forcing Marcel to choose. What's more important-- the life of your loyal lieutenant, or having a little intel on what the witches are cooking up under your nose? And because loyalty seems to be Marcel's thing, he had to take the ego hit (and a possible future physical hit, if the witches have an attack in mind) in exchange for ensuring his dude is okay, though whether that is out of legit concern, appearances, or both still remains to be seen.

The witches are still in the mausoleum, and it's almost midnight, so they're understandably anxious about what's to come. Agnes points out that Elijah's time is up, and asks what she's going to do, so Sophie sighs and states that she is going to do what she said she would do-- she's going to kill herself to prove how serious they are about what they want. Ummm, wait a minute though-- how will Sophie killing herself and Hayley do anything but earn the ire of the Originals and the vampires? 

Elijah doesn't give a fuck about Sophie, and Klaus doesn't give a fuck about Sophie or Hayley or the baby, really, so basically all they'd be doing is pissing off Elijah and ensuring that Jane-Anne died in vain. Wonderful. Anyway, Sabine seems to agree, because she points out that she has a huge problem with this, but Agnes seems to agree with Sophie-- Klaus doesn't care about the child, so why should they? WHAT ABOUT SOPHIE'S LIFE, THOUGH? UGH. Thankfully, before Sophie can commit double-murder-suicide, Elijah enters the mausoleum and assures them that he does care about the child, and that he has brought them proof of his intent to help them with their vampire problem.


He explains that he has brought them Jane-Anne's body so her spirit may finally rest in peace, and informs them that he plans to give it to them in exchange for extra time to get Klaus on their side. Agnes snits that he had his chance, and now his time is up, but Sabine snaps at her to shut up and listen to him. Tell her, Sabine! She seems to be the only one in this place with any sense, to be honest. Elijah urges them to accept the deal, and makes his side quite clear-- Hayley and her demon child remain unharmed, or else Klaus will kill them all, with Elijah's assistance. Yikes!


Klaus is drinking scotch alone, right out of the bottle, at some unknown residence, when Elijah finally tracks him down again. Klaus sighs and mutters, "Have I not made clear my desire to be alone?" Elijah recalls that he's made this request at least once every ten years, since they were kids, so he's learned to just tune it out. Klaus is majorly annoyed at his elder brother's inability to let this shit go, and smashes the bottle against the floor in frustration. Dude! What a waste of perfectly good (and probably very expensive) booze! He doesn't get why Elijah insists on obsessing about his demon niece or nephew, and points out that the child won't survive, considering the fact that Hayley's probably already dead as they speak. Elijah grabs his baby bro in a headlock him as he shouts, "You will not walk away from this!"



Klaus demands that he let him go, but Elijah will do no such thing, and proceeds to clobber the shit out of him by throwing him on the ground. He grabs an iron rod from a fence and goes to hit Klaus with it. "Even if I have to spend eternity saving you from your own stubborn, petulant, vile self... Even if I have to beat you as father used to beat you, to remind you of your own humanity-- to care about anything." He hits Klaus again with the rod, and swings it backwards to take another shot. 

Unfortunately, he's not quick enough, and Klaus out-speeds him and takes the rod from him and beats him with it. He shoves his brother across the room, where he falls to the ground in a heap. How does Elijah still manage to look impeccable, even after he's had the shit kicked out of him? He seriously must be magic. Klaus pants and drops the rod to the ground, taking several steps toward Elijah to mutter, "You're beyond pathetic." Elijah figures that Klaus is the more pathetic one, of the two of them-- Elijah just wants his family to be whole again, but Klaus is the one who only sees the world through his own fear. Klaus maintains that he hasn't cared about anything in centuries, and doesn't understand why Elijah does. "Because I failed you," Elijah confesses. "Because the first time our father laid a hand on you, I should have struck him dead. I made a promise to you: always and forever, family above all." Klaus snits that he's a sentimental fool, but Elijah shrugs. "I've lasted this long in spite of it, haven't I?" Klaus considers that statement and thinks some thinky thoughts.


Since Elijah can't leave well enough alone, he yet again catches up with Klaus at a bench on the streets of the French Quarter. How does Elijah always know where he is? GPS? Anyway, Olafur Arnalds' "Sudden Throw" plays in the background while we get another Elijah voiceover. We cut to Mystic Falls, where Rebekah ignores a call from Elijah. Back in New Orleans, Sophie gives her sister the witchy version of last rites to put her soul at peace. "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 if it's tested. The bond nourishes us, gives us strength. Without that power, we are nothing."



Klaus admits his real problem with everything that is happening; New Orleans was his home once, one of the few, if not the only places he was ever truly happy. And once he left, Marcel rose up and gained everything that Klaus has ever wanted in life-- power, loyalty, family, etc. "I made him in my image, and he has bettered me. I want what he has. I want it back. I want to be king!" 

We cut to Marcel's house, where Thierry is laying in a bed, dying from his hybrid bite. 

Elijah asks if all this child means to him is a grab for power, so Klaus wonders aloud what the baby means for Elijah. He answers that it could give him the unconditional love for family, which he has never had in life. Klaus' eyes get a little glassy, and after a beat, he asks Eli to tell Sophie Deveraux that they have a deal. 

They have moved into some cute little plantation house in which to do their shady business though I don't know who owns it or how they acquired it. I'm guessing there was a lot of compulsion involved. Anyway, Hayley and Elijah pull a sheet off of a crib, and the resulting cloud of dust makes the little werewolf cough. She remarks that the house is ancient, but Elijah is sure that it will provide them what they need, namely a place far enough away from the Quarter where they can speak freely and plan their battles. He promises Hayley that she is currently the most important member of the Mikaelson family, and insists that as a woman who is with child, she needs a good home. He is curious if anyone has actually talked to Hayley about the baby and what she wants. Imagine that! A pregnant woman actually getting a say in what happens to her, her body, and her child! What a wacky concept.


Hayley informs him that she was (presumably) abandoned by her biological mother when she was born, and was then kicked out by her adopted mother after her first full moon, during which she shifted into a wolf and destroyed their house. So, she's not really sure how she feels about motherhood, because she has never really had someone who could actually show her what it means to be a good mother. Elijah feels very sympathetic towards her, due to his own mommy and daddy issues, and gives her his word that he will always protect her. Klaus, who has been eavesdropping in the doorway, snarks that Elijah always keeps his promises. 

Elijah asks him if their plan has been enacted, and Klaus confirms that his deal with Marcel worked out quite well-- Marcel was happy to accept his apology once Klaus gave him his blood to heal Thierry, and so Klaus remains a welcome guest in the French Quarter. Now, his only concern is "this coven of impudent witches." Elijah thinks they will keep their end of the bargain, since they did release Hayley to him in good faith, but he does has a suspicion that they're hiding something from them. Since they seem very eager to ensure that Marcel stays alive, despite the fact that they clearly hate him for being such a tyrant, Elijah has become suspicious that they need something from him. Still, Elijah has no idea what that could be, so it's clear they're not getting the full story.


Next stop on this tour of New Orleans is in an attic, where a canopy bed sits against one wall across from an easel and several canvases that are strewn around the room. A young brunette witch named Davina sits at a vanity and uses her magical powers to light and put out a candle with her hand, over and over again. Marcel swaggers into her room with a smile, and asks if they're having a quiet day today. She informs him that the witches know better than to use magic now, because they know that she can feel it when they do.

                                                                                
(via elenaseyes )
She is more concerned about the "old ones," though, because she thinks they're dangerous, and doesn't want them to hurt Marcel. He isn't a bit concerned though, because he believes Davina is so powerful that no one stands a chance against her. WHO IS THIS GIRL!? And how is she so strong if she's so young? And why is she so attached to Marcel when he's a vampire who is holding every other witch in subjugation? It's interesting that he seems to be cool with Davina because she's on his side, and thus, she's allowed to actually use her magic because he knows it's being used to protect him, rather than hurt him.


Back at the newest Mikaelson Manse, Elijah and Klaus are discussing the vampire situation and strategy. Eli points out that aside from the secret weapon Marcel uses to control the witches, he also has recruited a "small army" of vampires as his bodyguards and confidantes. He believes that together, they can destroy the clique from the inside. Klaus asks if their sister has decided to ditch Mystic Falls and join their fun, but anyone with half a brain knows just how uninterested she is in this entire situation. Klaus: "One too many times daggered and shoved in a box, I gather? Or perhaps she doesn't share your unwavering belief that I can be saved?" Elijah figures Rebekah could come around eventually, since she also swore to their familial vow of "always and forever." 

Klaus, on the other hand, hopes she stays where she is, because while he been brainstorming about their battle plans, he has identified one vulnerability of Klaus' that Marcel could possibly exploit. Elijah apparently didn't catch the foreshadowing when Klaus brought up the daggers, and is genuinely concerned when he asks what that could be. Even more embarrassingly, Elijah is completely stunned when Klaus pulls one of his trusty daggers out and stabs his brother in the heart with it. "Forgive me, my brother. There is no power in love. Mercy makes you weak. Family makes you weak. If I am going to win this war, I have to do it alone." NOOOO KLAUS YOU DUMBASS. Elijah is the only person who keeps you out of trouble most of the time! What the fuck is wrong with you?!


Next week: Hayley has to fight for her baby, Klaus learns more about the changes to the French Quarter since he's been gone, we get to see a little more Davina, and Rebekah graces us all with her presence. Finally! Hooray!

[screencaps via this KissThemGoodbye album!]

CLICK HERE to move on to the next episode recap of The Originals! :)

NOTES/SPECULATION:
-I am really digging this spin-off, tbh. It's like a darker, more adult version of The Vampire Diaries, which, as someone who is rapidly aging out of the supernatural teen drama demographic, I can totally appreciate. It's nice to not have to deal with school story lines or anything like that, since it's been eight years since that's been relevant to my life. It would actually be perfect if not for the baby thing, but it's possible that this story line might actually surprise us, too, so I'm going to reserve my judgment for now.

-Strangely enough, Hayley is growing on me. On TVD, she was manipulative and put our Scooby Gang members in danger, but in this show, we get to learn more about her past, and it's definitely making me more sympathetic to her character. She ends up coming off more as a Katherine Pierce-type villain who ultimately is a victim of her own upbringing and circumstances instead of a genuinely evil, self-serving villain, although the writers of both shows are experts at writing their villains as humanly as possible. Phoebe Tonkin is so crazy gorgeous, too, it's nuts, so on a shallow level I appreciate that. I also loved her on The Secret Circle, so I'm really excited to see what she does with this new material! Plus, IRL, she is best friends with Claire Holt (Rebekah) so I bet they're enjoying being able to work together now,

-I am so sad that Elijah is daggered. SO SAD. He is like, at least 75% of the reason why I love the Original Family and why I decided to watch this show in the first place, so I hope his coffin-nap ends sooner rather than later, agh.

-I need to know EVERYTHING about Davina like, RIGHT MEOW. How did she meet Marcel, and how did she come about helping him and taking his side? How is she so powerful? What kind of magic is she using? I always thought witches were the stick-together/take-care-of-our-own type, as I mentioned earlier, so it is surprising and intriguing that she is like it or not, contributing to the oppression of the witches in the French Quarter.

What are your thoughts about the season opener? Any plots that you especially like or hate? Let me know in the comments! :)




Comments

  1. WOW thanks so much for working hard on this I haven't had a chance to watch the series I am waiting till I can buy it on DVD but I am a huge Hayley fan so I can't wait to watch but thanks for the whole episode spoiler!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're very welcome! I am also a huuuuge fan of Hayley, so I'm glad I'm not alone! I just finished the recap for the finale, so now you'll be able to read the rest of the episodes, if you're interested.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, it's always nice to see that there are actually people reading my work, haha. :) Let me know what you think of the rest, if you get the chance!

    ReplyDelete

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