By Last week's episode of The Originals was really great, so it was always going to be hard for 'Le Grand Guignol' to live up to that. It didn't quite manage it, spreading itself a little too thin in some ways. But there were still some pretty spectacular moments, keeping us hooked on all of the New Orleans action.
Not much actually developed in this episode - Klaus was ailing in bed for much of the episode, and a lot of the hour was spent in explanatory flashbacks. Neither of these are problems in themselves - the flashbacks, especially, were actually hugely entertaining - but it did sometimes feel like we were spending time on B-plots instead of advancing the main story.
This isn't entirely true, because it all feeds into the main event, but take the Hayley aside - while I adore Phoebe Tonkin and I'm a fan of Hayley ("help me or get out of my way"), I did feel exasperated that we spent yet more time on her effort to free her family of the curse. Admittedly, it was further proof of Celeste's smarts and thirst for revenge - helping Hayley to hurt Elijah - and it's always intriguing to explore Hayley and Elijah's slowly growing relationship.
But when you have an Original vampire determined to murder his Original sister, that's all you really want to focus on. And thankfully, most of the episode did remain focused on that, and in interesting ways. The fear in Rebekah's face as she fled with Marcel, only to be forced to return to revive Davina for a cloaking spell, was mesmerising. And thanks to Elijah, we got some meaty stuff with Cami and Klaus, as she urged him not to slay his sibling, and he told her in return exactly why she deserves it.
That's why this week's flashbacks were so heartbreaking. Klaus isn't always the most sympathetic of characters, but The Originals knows how to manipulate us, so as we return to 1919 we're seeing Klaus at his very best - accepting Rebekah and Marcel's relationship, working with opposing factions for the good of New Orleans (and booze), trying to save Rebekah when their father showed up, weeping over the fact that he thought he'd found a home, saying it was all his fault. Sure, Rebekah clearly has guilt about inviting "the monster that monsters are afraid of" back into town, but we can kind of understand why Klaus is taking this betrayal so badly.
After all, he complains that it's his father who took away the last shred of humanity he had - and to be fair, Mikael is horrendous. It's not that normal to crucify and stake your bastard son's loved ones, arrange them on a stage, compel the audience to laugh and then burn the whole theatre to the ground, now, is it? On the other hand, it does make for some pretty fantastic television.
Sure, the plot does move forward - Elijah finally murders Celeste, by striking a deal with Monique and stabbing the body-snatcher when she's forced into her own corpse; Davina comes back to life, saved when Celeste dies (and, by the way, I am so glad to have Davina back).
But the real focus this week - given that we end with Klaus coming face to face with Rebekah, and it took us all episode to get there - is the relationships between the characters. That of Klaus and his father. Elijah and his siblings (and Hayley). Rebekah and Marcel. And even Cami and Klaus, which is utterly captivating. The moment when she begs him not to murder his sister as someone who has lost a brother - and warns him not to become his father - is fantastically done and further proof of Leah Pipes' acting chops.
The end, though, is undeniably spectacular. Celeste might be dead and bloody in a tomb, but she left one parting gift, trapping any Originals that enter the cemetery there for the night. I don't know if this spell died with her - which is possibly how Rebekah will be saved - but for now, I don't care. It was enough to see Klaus advancing, brandishing the white oak stake, yelling - as Elijah stepped in with his fangs out to save his sister: "She's mine."
Joseph Morgan has always done anger well, anguish well, screaming well, monstrous well. And it's thrilling moments like these where he's at his best. While the episode itself could have done with a little fine-tuning and tightening up, there's no doubt that The Originals is on a very interesting track indeed. Even if he doesn't kill Rebekah, will Klaus ever be able to forgive her for being responsible for his transformation into a monster? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out.
Bites & Pieces
- One of my favourite things about The Originals is that being set in New Orleans, it can have some pretty spectacular music in there. The jazz in the opening scene was to die for.
- I adore how gruesome it is to remove Tunde's dagger. Bleugh.
- Cami's face when Elijah a) pulled out the aforementioned blade, b) asked her to feed Klaus and c) begged her to convince him not to murder his sister - yeah, that look was understandable.
- While I didn't really care about the werewolf storyline, Hayley wielding a gun and firing it whenever Celeste moved was pretty fabulous.
- "She has done what no-one else has managed to do to me for 1000 years. Rip my heart out."
- Mikael is pretty dang scary. "Niklaus is an abomination. You do not talk to abominations. You do not reason with them, or try to change them. You erase them."
- The conversation between Klaus and Mikael at the opera was pretty great, too: "I'm no longer the animal begging for scraps of your affection. I will die knowing my hatred of you was just."
- "Désolé."
What did you think of the episode? Let us know below!
