Here’s a fun fact about The
Originals: I can’t remember the last time they had an episode I didn’t like.
This is something I honestly never expected to say back when the show started.
We were just after The Vampire Diaries’ worst season to date, I couldn’t recall
a single thing from the utterly boring backdoor pilot, and as an avid
Klaus-hater I didn’t really look forward to watching a show centered entirely
around him. The only reason I even started the show is because the creators
promised TVD crossovers, and because I liked Elijah and Rebekah enough to want
to see more of them. So no one was more surprised than me when somewhere around
the middle of the season I found myself looking forward to it every week more
than I looked forward to TVD. Elijah and Hayley quickly became two of my
favourite characters ever, I became invested in the lives of minor characters
like Marcel, Cami or Davina, I even started to tolerate Klaus a little bit, and
the whole atmosphere and plot and mythology and just about everything on the
show was way better than season 5 of TVD. Now, it’s true that season 6 has been
fantastic so far and I thorougly enjoy the new episodes of the mother-show
again, but I still place The Originals just a little bit higher on my current
toplist, so much so that it’s usually the show that I look forward to the
second most every week, beaten only by my nr. 1 favourite show, Once Upon a
Time.
Taking all this into account,
it’s not very surprising that I absolutely loved this week’s episode as well.
It had pretty much everything that makes up a great episode for me: fast-paced
action, suspense, new additions to the show’s mythology, a little bit of
relationship drama, fantastic acting from multiple castmembers, and some truly brilliant
character moments. The episode also saw the end of the thankfully not too
long-lived Eva Sinclair storyline, for which I am very grateful because it not
only means that we got Rebekah back, but also that we can finally start
focusing on the whole Freya/Dahlia plot, which I assume is going to make up the
majority of the remaining five episodes of the season. Before this episode we
didn’t get to see much of Eva, apart from those brief moments when she
temporarily gained back the control of her body and went around town
terrorizing children, but this week she was back in full force, and I
thoroughly enjoyed every second of her presence. The credit for that, of
course, goes to the wonderful Maisie Richardson-Sellers, who not only owns her
role as the new Rebekah so much that at this point I would very much like her
to stay forever, but apparently also does a crazy-good performance in an evil
role as well. I looked her up after I finished watching the episode to see what
else could I watch her in, and according to IMDb this is her first ever major
role, which just makes her even more amazing in my eyes. I was thrilled to find
out, however, that she appears to have a role in Star Wars VII, so I’m probably
not exaggerating when I say that she is definitely an actress to look out for
in the future. I know I will.
But back to the episode. After
Josephine shed some light on Eva’s true purpose with the kidnapped children –
sacrificing a child from each of the nine covens of New Orleans to create a new
witch order and make herself its all-powerful leader, a ritual also known as
the Rite of Nines – our (anti-)heroes set out to stop her once and for all, and
rescue Davina and the other witch-kids in the process. The problem was, of
course, that they couldn’t harm her in any physical way, without also losing
Rebekah. This is where Freya came into the picture, being the only witch
powerful enough to do the necessary spell, which involved sending someone
inside Eva/Rebekah’s mind to kill the former and thus allow the latter to live.
Sounds simple enough, but matters were complicated by Vincent’s apparent
betrayal and Klaus’ refusal to be Freya’s anchor, aka the person who keeps her
from dying during the ritual while also allowing her to be privy to all the
secrets and plots-in-progress his mind has to offer. You can’t really blame
someone like Klaus for not being willing to do that, and thankfully Elijah worked
just as well as Freya’s anchor.
The whole Freya vs. Klaus business
was further complicated when he took his sister to the newly vampified Esther,
who I quite honestly completely forgot about… unlike Freya, who still blamed
her for her miserable life as Dahlia’s quasi-slave, and at the very end of the
episode finally got her revenge by killing her mother. Who knows if this is the
last we’ve ever seen of Esther – knowing this franchise, it probably isn’t-,
but I’m sure as hell not going to miss her. And it looks like we don’t need her
around as a villain any longer either, because Freya will do just fine in that role
for the rest of the season. Because someone whose ultimate goal is to turn his
family against Klaus simply because she knows he would never become her ally is
supposed to be seen as a villain on this show, right? Honestly, I don’t really
know what to think about this just yet. Her line of reasoning doesn’t make much
sense to me, and in any case I would like to think she would stand on the good
side once Dahlia inevitably arrives. The question of how big of a villain Freya
can be under the circumstances is still up in the air, but I’m very excited to
find out the answer.
In lighter news, Elijah and Gia seem
to be doing just fine together. I surprised even myself last week when I
realized how much I don’t mind, and, in fact, actually like them being
together. Seeing as I hardcore root for Hayley and Elijah to work things out,
get together and live happily ever after into eternity, this is a really weird
feeling for me… but Hayley is married to another dude at the moment and I
really like Gia, plus she and Elijah have insane chemistry together, and I can’t
help but go where the chemistry leads me. I liked the awkward moment when the
three of them were waiting for Josephine, and I absolutely loved the girls’
little talk later in the episode. If everything goes well and the writers don’t
ruin it suddenly in the next few episodes – and I trust them enough to think
that they won’t - I’m very much here for this particular love triangle (quadrangle
if you count Jackson, but let’s not).
Last but not least, I mentioned
Vincent’s „betrayal” in passing and I don’t think I need to elaborate on it, but
I still want to say one thing: I really like Vincent. After almost an entire
season of Finn wearing his face and doing terrible things while doing so, I
wasn’t really sure how I felt about him suddenly teaming up with the main
characters, but I warmed up to him extremely fast. I can’t tell you how
relieved I was when he knocked Eva over the head and thus cemented himself on
the good side, and I was literally on the edge of my seat when I thought he was
going to die inside Eva’s mind. But he didn’t, and I’m thrilled to welcome him as
the newest member of Team Good. First Rebekah 2.0, now Vincent - what a
wonderful season for the new actors on this show.
And what a wonderful episode all
around. Thank you, The Originals, for making me excited for Mondays week after
week.
Episode MVP: Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Rebekah Mikaelson/Eva
Sinclair
Quote of the episode:
"There's a saying in my
family: Kill a demon today, face the devil tomorrow. Yet even as you dance on
that demon's grave, you can't help but wonder, was that demon alone? Or do you
have other, deadlier ones to fight? And though you celebrate having won the
battle, have you really prepared for the war? So as we dress ourselves in the
armour needed for this new fight, we must first tend to our wounds, starting
with the deepest." – Rebekah Mikaelson
Random tidbits:
- Cami was absent again this week,
and I can’t help but wonder how much longer can they keep her around as the
only human in the main cast. Then again, I’ve had the same fears about Matt in
TVD for the past three or so seasons, and he seems to be doing just fine.
- Baby Hope with her little stuffed
wolf.
Enough said.
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