Emily Watches Too Much Television

Hooray, let's get ready for some quality Mikaelson sibling bonding time! In "The Brothers That Care Forgot," not only are Kol and Finn both still shackled with the cursed, magic-proof manacles that were procured by Cami via Father Kieran's secret apartment, but Rebekah, too, is back into the fold as well. Have I mentioned how much I missed Rebekah? Because she has been and always will be my favorite character in this show-- more than Elijah, more than Hayley, more than Davina, more than ANYONE. So, having her back has been wonderful, because Claire Holt is a phenomenal actress and Rebekah brings a balancing force to the boy's club that is the rest of her siblings. Anyway, since I'm still scrambling to catch up on these recaps before Teen Wolf starts, I'm just gonna cut to the chase, alright? Also, an update on scheduling and general housekeeping stuff before I begin-- I still have a Teen Wolf post-Season 4/pre-Season 5 write-up/meta thing that is almo...

Welp, it's time for Thanksgiving in May, because we're revisiting Friendsgiving at Whitmore College this week in my continued scramble to catch up on all of my recaps before Teen Wolf starts up again at the end of June. Can I do it? I have no idea, but with some finagling, I think it may be possible. But, we're here to talk about TVD right now, so lets get to it, shall we? In this episode, we got to learn a LOT about the Gemini Coven, including the fact that Kai and Jo, like Liv and Luke, are twins, which are extra special in their coven because they are the ones who become the leaders once they reach the age of 22. Of course, it's not so easy as simply being named the leader-- the twins have to perform a ritual called the Merge ceremony, in which the twins basically battle each other with magic until the stronger twin absorbs the magic of the weaker twin, killing the latter and doubling the strength of the former. Witch covens in this universe are kind of weird, do...

Welp, so long, Ansel! We hardly know ye. I was a little disappointed that Ansel was taken out so early in the game, but weirdly enough, I kind of understand Klaus' motives? The more people who know about Hope, the more people who could potentially spill the beans, either voluntarily or under coercion, and Klaus is NOT taking any more chances where his first-born daughter is concerned. With both Esther and Mikael wandering around town with the foulest of motives, Klaus doesn't really have a lot of options. Werewolves can't be compelled, so there was no way he could mind-wipe him, and Esther is surely powerful enough to get into his brain for answers if she knows they're there. Still, Ansel died so Elijah could LIVE, and our favorite noble Mikaelson brother is finally conscious again, woooo! FINALLY. Plus, we've got some amazing Koleb/Davina interactions, yet another perfect team-up of Marcel, Hayley, Cami, Josh, and Aiden in order to fuck with Finn, and some quality ...

Welp, as far as TVD episodes go, this one was NOT my favorite, and it's probably going to show in the recap. Sorry about that! I'll try my best to be impartial, but between boring Liam and the Damon/Elena drama heartache, the Tripp storyline, and Bonnie being psychologically and physically tortured by Kai, I was just not very impressed. On a positive note, I did think the dialogue was hilarious, so I will probably be doing a lot of transcription to make up for it. I'm gonna try to do this short-and-dirty style so we can all move onto the much better episodes that follow, but since I don't really have much control over my word vomit, I'm not sure how well that's gonna go. Okay, let's talk about "Do You Remember The First Time?" Previously, on The Vampire Diaries :  Damon and Bonnie died, but not really-- instead of moving on to the still-undefined afterlife following the destruction of the Other Side, they were sent to a mystical prison world tha...

I have been so excited to write this recap since "Wheel Inside the Wheel" aired, because OH MY GOD, ESTHER FLASHBACKS! I'm pretty sure the flashbacks to 972 AD are officially the oldest memories of the characters that we've ever seen, and it actually gave us a ton of insight into why Esther and Mikael are the way they are. I'm even starting to sympathize with Esther (although only a tiny bit), but still not so much Mikael, because even losing your beloved daughter doesn't justify being an abusive dick with a burning desire to kill his children in the most brutal ways possible. Also, we know the identity of the Mikaelsons' oldest sibling, Freya! But I need some input from the rest of you readers out there-- are Freya and Finn twins? Because I could have sworn they were twins (with Freya being the oldest, obviously, just like how Liv is the oldest between her and Luke in The Vampire Diaries ), but now that I've gone back to look, there isn't really ...

Alright kids, since I am so behind that I will literally be drowning in unfinished recaps until the end of my days,  to the point where my descendants will probably end up having to finish for me at this rate, I'm going to have to speed things along a bit. So, this recap is gonna be a sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants deal where it will (hopefully) be shorter and less detailed than usual, and probably a handful at least of the TVD recaps are probably going to be this way. Then again, since I can turn anything into a novel without really trying, who knows what's going to happen? Let's just get to it, yeah? Previously, on The Vampire Diaries :   Damon died in the explosion to sacrifice the rest of the Travelers and was unable to come back from the Other Side in the resurrection spell, so he and Bonnie got sucked into a prison dimension, leaving all of their loved ones behind. Elena was so distraught by their loss (and Damon's especially, since she's never had to ...

I know pretty much every introduction to my recaps of The Originals  ultimately turns into me talking about how amazing this season is going and how impressed by all the characters I am, but SERIOUSLY, THIS SEASON IS SO AMAZING AND THE CHARACTERS ARE SO GREAT. In "Red Door," we got to see Elijah's interactions with his mother, and got a LOT of insight into how he became known for being noble, impeccably dressed, and nearly always in control. And, the best part about all of these insights is that we 1) got flashbacks to the late 10th century/early 11th century Mystic Falls, which is always great-- the costuming is perfect and OG Esther is always delightful, and 2) WE FINALLY GET TO MEET TATIA. We first heard about Tatia in Season 3 of The Vampire Diaries, when Klaus mentioned her to Stefan and Damon to remark on "the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger." Tatia was a great love of both Klaus and Elijah, not unlike Stefan and Damon's love triangles with both ...