[Rant] Keepers of the House – The Originals 4×04

Warnings: spoilers, inappropriate jokes, careless language, messing up the order of events, the usual stuff

• First, congrats to JoMo on a very successful episode. The Originals is getting better week by week, the storyline is intriguing and unpredictable, and frankly I don’t understand why some people are complaining it’s an uninteresting plot. Guess they’re just hard to please eh?

• The opening scene treats us to a nice view of Charles Michael Davis’s muscled back. I mean, the night view of Nola is pretty and all but I’m mildly distracted by another view…

• Just like Sofya’s attempt to distract Marcel from his distraught day, which is leaning towards success until…

• … Vincent comes bringing more bad news. Way to go, Vince.

• Last episode I thought poor Will was possessed by the blue light; turns out I was wrong and Will seems pretty willingly kidnap the kids. I’m getting vibes that this episode will be the last we see of him.

• Yeah, this is the last we see of Will. Our token human is gone. Looks like we’re not going to have a Matt Donovan in this show, are we?

• On the other hand, it’s pretty ironic and tragic that Klaus, who once saved Will from Lucien’s compulsion-induced suicidal depression, is the one to severe his mortal coil.

• In the French Quarter, Klaus, Elijah and Hayley are bringing Hope to the old Mikaelson compound to meet with Vincent. What a shame to see the once-beautiful compound become a ruin.

• Why are there so many crows gathering at the compound, waiting to be killed by mysterious force to form a circle around Hope?!

• Anw, Vincent’s mojo isn’t working and Hope’s condition appears to worsen. I wonder why the way the Hollow affects Hope is a bit different from the other kids: she dreams of and draws the Hollow; she doesn’t have to be present at the scene of the ritual, she has visions of other kids and premonition of her dad’s possession. Maybe it’s because she’s very special and the Hollow wants something different from her? Taking over her body and powers, perhaps?

• Anw it’s too early to say anything regarding the Hollow as we have just learned its name.

• Honestly I have no idea why Klaus has to clean up the bodies of dead crows. It’s not like this place can get anymore trashed, right?

Multitasking huh?

• So, not only witches are involved in this evil-mojo business but humans and wolves as well, just like Eva’s narration in the last episode stated. Now, here are some question that I hope will get the answer in later episodes: if this Hollow thing has been present in New Orleans soil since Vincent summoned it (he “gave it breath” right), how come it hasn’t been mentioned once during the course of seven years? And why is it suddenly and violently active now after having laid dormant for years? Whom can it affect? Witches, wolves and humans, but what about vampires? Can’t it reach vampires as well? And does it affect Nola-born individuals or any individuals standing on Nola soil?

• Wait a minute, the reason why the Hollow is suddenly active may be because the link with the Ancestors was severed. When Vincent summoned it, the link was weak due to the Harvest girls stuff, so that thing sneaked in and got to Eva. Then the link got stronger and so it laid dormant until Vincent and Davina planted that witch bomb to destroy the link. Plus, that bomb was created by Eva and who knows, maybe she made it under the Hollow’s influence since getting rid of the Ancestors was what it wanted. Without them, it’s easy for this wicked thing to brainwash Nola citizens.

• Well, that’s just my theory.

• Elijah is particularly handsome in all-dark suit. Like every time he wears all-dark suit, it’s expected his suit will be ruined.

• The scene where he blocks the bullets for Vincent and doesn’t even flinch is just too cool. I know he’s immune to bullets and all but it still looks so badass.

• Elijah’s having some badass quotes this episode. I wonder if the scriptwriter(s) is secretly his stan.

• “That’s quite the monster you got lurking in there. You want to see mine?”

• “I will violate everything sacred under the sun in the name of rescuing my niece.” This quote gives me both thrill and chill because it’s not bluff or boast, just bare truth. For his family Elijah’s willing to become the Devil himself.

• Nice to see Vincent and the Mikaelsons working peacefully together for the greater good.

• I actually feel kind of… sorry for Lara. I don’t think the show means to make viewers feel for her; she has like 5–7 minutes screen time and bamf, drop dead minus the gorgeous. Maybe it’s just me, maybe the actress is really that good that she makes me feel for the wolf girl although I’m not sure if I write her name right. Lara or Laura?

• But short-lived Lara dear makes two points before she’s off to wolf heaven. Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Marcel makes himself the king and claims to protect the city and its people and maintain peace and such, and he makes good to his words; still, it doesn’t change the fact that Nola isn’t his to rule. In this aspect he’s exactly like his ‘family’ (putting it in quotation marks because Marcel’s vehemently denying it), especially a certain Hybrid whose main concern used to be getting as much power as possible (now it’s just his little girl).
2. Another wolf blames Hayley for abandoning her pack and choosing the Mikaelsons, leading to the wolf pack disintegrating. So your alpha failed you, you felt bitter, but hello, you’re wolves, get yourselves a new alpha. Aren’t wolves good at that? Choosing the strongest wolf to be their alpha?

• Klaus and Hope’s bonding is getting better and better by the episode. He’s super determined to become the exact opposite of his abusive father, Mikael, and this is partly thanks to a certain brave bartender who was there to believe in the good in him and wouldn’t stop encouraging him to nurture it.

• Speaking of Mikael, it looks like we get to meet the Destroyer in the next episode.

• More Freya x Keelin vibes this episode. They’ll make a powerful couple with intriguing contradictions: the wolf and the witch, the young one and the ancient one, the scientist and the magic user, the lone one and the family protector.

Probably both

• Freya’s impressing Keelin again with her magic.

• Freya’s being the badass matriarch of the family and honestly, she’s the sister we want to have in our lives.

• Klaus’s worried look when Marcel gets dragged into the magic circle. Despite everything the Hybrid still cares about his first child. I’m hopeful that somewhere along the season Klaus and Marcel will mend fences and Hope will get to call Marcel “big bro”. That’ll be very cute (except the tiny fact that ‘big bro’ and auntie Bex screwed each other once upon a time).

• .. the Hollow gets to Marcel and Klaus. Nothing surprising because we’ve already been spoiled by the synopsis of the fifth episode. Of course Freya will save her little bro but let’s hope Marcel make it out in one piece too.

• That Klelijah moment where they casually share a drink. It’d have been perfect if Elijah didn’t look so depressed. I mean, I don’t think I have ever seen ‘disheveled’ him like this, his shirt dirtied and untucked and him drinking straight from the bottle. There’s no question he would have done the necessary evils if Vincent hadn’t found the loophole, and after that he would have been gnawed by the guilt; even if he hadn’t done it, he is still much troubled. So, to people who wonder how Elijah-stans can still stan him after what he’s done, here’s why: he will do whatever necessary to save his family, and to him it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, but he won’t feel any good from it; instead he’ll be burdened by its weight for as long as it takes for a new guilt to step in and takes the old guilt’s place, and the cycle repeats. That’s the tragedy of his character. If you think he is remorseless, we are clearly not watching the same show.

• Hayley’s armor-piercing question and her resolution for them to “do better” for the sake of Hope are much-needed for their relationship building. I’m all for a healthy, supportive and sympathetic relation where both partners are striving to help each other to become better.

• Finally an auntie-niece moment to end the rant on a lighter note. Imagine how wonderful and badass it’ll be if by the end of this season, auntie and niece will join hands (figuratively and literally) and use their awesome magic (maybe channel some energy from their family) to kick this vile Hollow thing’s ass all the way to oblivion.

Looking forward to the next episode… and Mikael’s appearance.

[Rant] Haunter of Ruins – The Originals 4×03

Warnings: spoilers, inappropriate jokes (it’s ranting; what do you expect?), careless language, messing up the order of the events

• ‘Tis a peaceful day of the Mikaelsons…

• The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, no squirrels are eaten and it’s a lovely day in… I’m sorry, where are the Mikaelsons?!

• In the middle of nowhere, right. Even Klaus says it out loud.

• Nice manor tho.

• The Mikaelsons sure are early risers… or they just don’t have the need to sleep after sleeping for 5 years.

• Nate just nailed Bratty Kol *thumbs up*.

• The way Elijah’s hands are frozen in the holding position for some seconds after Kol snatches the newspaper

• It may have happened a lot in the dream world.

• Klaus took the time to shower and groom himself properly. Gotta look dashing for his little girl.

• … but he forgets to groom his temper obviously. Perfect timing, bro (y).

• Hope’s looking intimidated and confused. I wonder if Hayley had ever taken her to the attic to ‘meet’ her aunts and uncles or just told Hope about them. But Hayley must have shown her pictures, no?

• Anw, first impression isn’t so good.

• Klaus’s looking so hurt he doesn’t dare follow his little her into the garden. Aw.

• Ooh, flashback and even better, it’s flashback of Vincent and Eva.

• Maisie’s beautiful af.

• Eva seems so nice and sweet I can hardly reconcile this Eva with the evil witch in the second season.

• So Sophie Deveraux had a gift of telling that a woman’s pregnant. That’s how she was able to tell Hayley was pregnant in the first season. Makes sense.

• Vincent’s gonna be a father. Considering we haven’t heard even one mention of his kid today we can safely assume it was either stillborn or got taken away. Anw, bad things happened.

• Oh, Will… How I miss thee. Thought he was offed by some rascal vampires in the last season finale. His status has been officially promoted to the show’s human token. Is it too much to ask the scriptwriters to please not kill him off?

• Seeing Eva and Will does give me hope that perhaps we can get to meet a few old faces (but not Caroline please), namely a certain crazy redhead and her equally crazy but devoting brother. Their fates were cliffhanging in the last episode and I’d prefer the writers tight up the loose ends. In other words, if they have to get rid of Tristan and Aurora then just kill them off and be done with it.

• Back to the Mikaelsons.

• Klaus’s bonding with Hope seems to go rather well, except that Hope’s drawing that creepy blue circle and later seeing it.

• Hope’s doing magic!!! Without Freya’s teaching her any spells yet!!

• The magic she uses to heal the butterfly is pretty much the same as Freya’s when she reunited with Finn in season 2.

• Kind of feel sorry for Keelin until she accuses Hayley of betraying her kind for a bunch of vampires. What has Hayley done that can be considered betraying her own kind, girl?

• But Freya sure is brutal when it comes to protecting her family. And she’s bit cranky as well. Very much like a pre-Hope Klaus.

• And Keeling nonchalantly reveals that she’s queer.

• I’m not the only one sensing Freya x Keelin vibes, right?

• And why Freya’s unhurt after she’s hit by Keelin’s car?? Weird.

• Meanwhile Kol and Rebekah are musing their life matters over a fresh corpse. Who’s gonna clean up after, I wonder.

• Pretty a foreshadowing of their leaving, which happens near the end of the episode. But it’s alright, they’ll come back soon enough, especially when trouble is brewing at home.

• I find it extremely refreshing that the enemy this time doesn’t seem to be the Mikaelsons’ result of centuries of mistreating others, or does it?

• Vincent’s recollection of how the book landed in his possession is creepy enough. So, was he possessed and unknowingly wrote it or it just copied the handwriting of its ‘owner’ for the sake of messing their mind?

• Why the serpents though? Is it some sort of ancient creatures/monsters?

• Whatever it is, let’s hope when it’s brought into the light, it won’t be a gargantuan disappointment like Cade aka the (lame) Devil.

• Aw, look at Klaus’s reaction when Hope surprises him with a gesture of affection. 1000-year-old Original hybrid, Big Bad Wolf, everyone’s nightmare, totally baffled. You’d better get used to them, man, ‘cuz you’ll be getting a lot of them from now.

• The blue light again.

• Nice to see the old Strix mansion. Less nice to see it become a sacrificial ground for some creepy-ass dude that may or may not make it through the episode.

• Creepy-ass dude whose name we may never know knocks down Marcel. Creepy-ass dude: 1, Marcel: 0

• Actually, make it 2 since Marcel’s a super vampire now.

• Creepy-ass dude may be creepy af but he’s one strong witch.

• Shouldn’t we be surprised that Hope’s among the kids targeted? No, we shouldn’t.

• Which leads us right back to the Mikaelsons’ mansion, and Hope’s nose-bleeding. Never a not-worrying sign for a witch.

• Can we just have a few seconds appreciating Hayley’s running out to her daughter in her underwear and Elijah’s shirt.

• The vampire-hybrid sex earlier is hot af, and I’m not even a Haylijah Not to mention the “I love you” confessions from both of them. Hard to get a screenshot of the bedroom scene tho as they keep vamp-speeding like that.

• Are they fighting for domination in bed?

• “She needs me. I need both of you. We’re a family.” Kudos for Hayley.

• So the family’s back to New Orleans. Freya’s probably staying home.

• The exorcism of Eva looks creepy enough.

• And then there’s Will, clearly possessed, slitting an officer’s throat and driving the children to God-know-where.

• Last but not least, Kol and Rebekah’s on their road trip (after taking a nice car from some random victim). Hope to see them again soon; they still have some bonding with their little niece to do.

Looking forward to the next episode.

[Rant] No Quarter – The Originals 4×02

Warnings: spoilers, inappropriate comments

• This is one hell of an episode – action-packed, thrilling and above all, sparkling with the familial love and solidarity of the Mikaelson clan. They’re truly the strongest when they fight for their family.

• It once again reinforces my belief (not that it needs any reinforcing) that The Originals has a superior team of writers than The Vampire Diaries It’s unfair if The Originals only has 4 seasons (Ms. Plec ‘kindly’ mentioned something about there will be no fifth season in an interview) while The Vampire Diaries managed to sprout 8 while it should have ended after the train wreck that was the fifth.

• Anw, back to this gem episode.

• I kinda feel sorry (but not too sorry) for the guy Kol ate…

• … or the entire bus they chowed down. “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole bus” taken very literally. Five years of no eating does takes it toll.

• Did Hayley grab a few bites of her own?

• Elijah’s shouting for Kol to eat less noisily like a big brother and Kol, actually hearing him or just coincidentally snapping his victim’s neck

• I have a feeling that Kol does enjoy the scream a bit more than considered healthy.

• Am I the only one to wonder why Elijah sort of cradles the dead body (presumably drained by him)?

• Proper family squabbles. How I miss these?

• Kol not so subtly reminds the producers not to kill him the friggin’ THIRD time.

• Elijah’s shutting down the arguments by his vow: “We’ll free Niklaus today. Even if I have to burn that city to the ground.” Determined big-brother Elijah is the best Elijah.

• See the brief proud look on Freya’s face?

• “If we can’t free him, we’ll sure avenge him”. Sorry, wrong quote.

• Anw, the vampire Avengers are advancing to New Orleans. Marcel’d better be beware.
• Somewhere in Nola, Josh’s having a new, very human and undoubtedly clueless about the supernatural world boyfriend. It won’t bode well for him in the long run. I hope he fares better than Aiden. If he doesn’t, well…

• Josh’s expression when seeing Elijah and Rebekah is similar to a person waking up to see two tigers lounging about in his home. His reaction is similar too – staying calm, no sudden movement so as not to provoke them while secretly trying to grab his phone and call 911…

• … which is what Josh does, and fails, because one of the ‘tiger’ has a “murderous hunger” that can’t be appeased with pizzas. Duh.

• And there’s Marbekah/Rebel argument in the graveyard. I’ve never doubted that Marcel genuinely loves Rebekah (even though he loathes her brothers to death) and Rebekah feels the same. I just love it even more that despite her love, Rebekah chooses her brothers over Marcel because that’s basically what the Mikaelsons and The Originals do, unlike The Vampire Diaries which tended to put way too much emphasis on romance. I cringe every time I read that Matt x Rebekah was cute and how big a waste to let that ship sink. To me it’s just a big, fat yuck that Rebekah had some affection and slept with the one that murdered her brother. And before someone kindly reminds me that Elijah was way too friendly with Elena, Kol’s murderer, I have to make myself clear that it grossed me as well.

• Well, let what happened in The Vampire Diaries stay in The Vampire Diaries.

• Sofya just has to interrupt Bex’s emotional speech, doesn’t she? Someone needs to remind her a certain Original absolutely hates backstabbing; she’ll pay back in one way or another.

• The family’s casually discussing murder in Josh’s presence like he’s thin air

• While the rest tries to find a way to break Klaus’s prison, Josh and Kol have a heart-to-heart conversation, or the closet thing to a heart-to-heart conversion, about losing someone they loved. It’d be quite a moment if it weren’t for Marcel’s text and Kol’s right back to threats of murders and destruction.

• Josh was lucky Davina really liked him though.

• Kol’s tearing through the vampire mooks like they are wet papers for Bex. Vampire mooks: 0, Originals: 1

• Someone has anger management issues.

• Hearing Elijah saying “brother” with both worry and relief lacing his tone is too much for my Klelijah

• Hayley’s offering her power for Freya to channel to break the boundary spell while Elijah standing watch. Teamwork in its finest form.

• Elijah’s facing Marcel alone to buy Freya some time despite Marcel’s hatred for him running the deepest

• Hayley’s stepping in to protect Elijah, claiming once again to be a Mikaelson

• … which of course enrages Marcel as the real reason for Marcel’s bitterness and wrath was because he felt he wasn’t treated as a Mikaelson.

• Behold, Klaus’s incredible feat of pulling out Papa Tunde’s blade by himself (plus his subconscious Cami’s help). Almost as good as Mikael, who plucked it out not long after getting stabbed and with no imaginary soulmate’s encouragement. Klaus’ll get better next time for sure.

• Klaus’s falling right into Elijah’s arms. Be still my Klelijah heart 

• Kolbekah moment followed by Klebekah hug followed by…

• The whole family standing united against Marcel. #squad_goals

• “That’s what family does. We fight for each other.” Kudos for Hayley.

• And “If you want to kill one of us, you’ll have to kill us all.” Kudos for Rebekah.

• Just to rub some salt onto the wound is Kol’s sassy remark…

• … definitely not a very wise move because, well, considering Marcel could kill them all, why feeds his wrath more?

• Actually, I believe it’s Marcel who was gonna lose if he and the Mikaelsons engaged in a full-out battle. Just think this strategy: Elijah, Rebekah and Hayley would fight Marcel (more like stalling him) while Kol and Klaus would protect Freya and probably let her channel them to cast some spell. Remember the sigil she’d created to trap Lucien last season? And Marcel, unbacked by the Ancestors, wouldn’t be able to fight it. Maybe not something of that scale since Freya’s pretty drained after freeing Klaus but a lesser spell to hinder Marcel’s movement would suffice, no?

• Anw, no fighting happens as Marcel decides to ‘show mercy’ because he isn’t like the Mikaelsons. Who’re you kiddin’ Marcel? Anyone surviving to this point of the show with them is just like them. He just needs a few situations to see that…

• … which the mysterious blue light and threat to the city would happily provide. Vincent’s up to some serious shit this season. Just don’t die along the way, ‘kay?

• Klaus’s watching Hope in her peaceful sleep instead of waking her

• Last but not least (more like saving the best for last), it’s Cami friggin’ O’Connell. I don’t care if she remains dead, I don’t care if she’s a figment of Klaus’s imagination, what matters is she is with Klaus in his darkest, loneliest hours to give him the strength to break his bondage. Klaus has conjured her to be his sole companion during his days of suffering, and more importantly, Klaus, having known Cami so well, has created this version of Cami that is very much similar to the original Cami; she isn’t afraid of his temper, and she challenges Klaus to face and triumph over his demons. She has literally become a part of Klaus per his promise: “I will carry you with me.” She has gained immortality inside his mind, where nothing or no one could lay a finger on her again. I admit, what she and Klaus have isn’t love. It transcends love to become something much greater, much more lasting. Love fades over time but once you let somebody get a spot in your mind, they’ll stay for as long as you live, and in Klaus’s case, possibly eternity. I’ve always felt Klaus and Cami’s relationship to lean more on spiritual side and this just proves it.

Overally, an excellent episode. Looking forward to Klaus and Hope’s first proper reunion next episode.

[Rant] Gather Up the Killers – The Originals 4×01

Warnings: spoilers galore, careless language, maybe inappropriate jokes

I watched the season premiere on Saturday and since then had been debating with myself whether to write a review for this spectacular opening of a new season. You see, last season I wrote a review for each episode and though it certainly had its fun, it was a bit tiring as well. Scratch it, much tiring. And being the lazy ass I am, I don’t really want to relive that ‘pain’. Still, my affection for this show is running strong and the newest episode definitely deserves some attention, so here is my thoughts (or rant):

• Ooh, New Orleans. How I miss thy sights. How long has it been? 10 months?

• Never realized I actually miss Vincent’s voice. Love the way the episode begins with his voice over on Nola scenes. My friend who watched with me thought his cadence was “poetic”, to use her word.

• So, they indeed have an anniversary for the fall of the Mikaelsons. Nola residents sure have a weird way to ‘pay respect’ to the founders of their city.

• Even better, a special event is held annually so that ‘tourists’ can witness the suffering of Klaus Mikaelson. What kind of tourists? Those with fangs, of course (and fancy cars that usually have a fresh, bleeding human corpse as accessory).

• This vampire looks familiar somehow. Oh, I remember her. Sofya. The one-episode guest star in the previous season. I did remark that she kinda looked like Bex; maybe someone heard that and decided to change her look. Now she’s a brunette. Her profession remains unchanged however.

• And now she’s working for Marcel and maybe hooking up with him. Beware, Marcellus, for Bex is coming back to town and she can be intensely jelly.

• On the other hand I don’t think we’re in need of a love-triangle subplot.

• But if they’re going that way then I guess it just have to roll with it.

• Oh Klaus. And his Fifty Shades in Chains. Who knows? It may be the title of the next instalment of the Fifty Shades of… Whatever.

• He even has a collar! Damn Marcel is kinky. Just not sexy-kinky.

• And that’s about 5 minutes into the season premiere perhaps?

• Hayley sure has a night cozy house in the middle of nowhere. I wonder how she got it, by compulsion or the Mikaelsons’ money.

• Guess not all the money has gone to Caroline Salvatore’s school. Ha-ha. (I’m being sarcastic btw.)

• Yeah, the romantic-but-morbid-but-still-romantic scene in the trailer.

• Look, look. Hope’s big girl now and she’s wearing that magic-restraining bracelet in the second season. Nice come back.

• That means she hasn’t used magic once in 5 years? Hope she’ll get the hang of it quickly when the bracelet’s taken off because Auntie Freya’s gonna teach her a lot of badass shit.

• Mary! Dear old same Mary who’s still salty with the Mikaelsons after all these years. Please don’t spread your saltiness to the little girl; they’re her family who all love her.

• … which is what Hayley is quick to reinforce. Hayley f*cking Mikaelson.

• Determined Hayley is the best Hayley. Glad last season she finally picked a side.

• I wonder who the witch to siphon Rebekah’s hex was. Could it be Valerie Tulle or another Siphoner (most likely vampire) that was way older than the Heretics? Has it been confirmed in The Vampire Diaries that Valerie and the twins are the only Siphoners left in this world??

• Josh… Not sure how I feel about thee… I mean thee are nice and all but…

• Hah, my guess is right!!! Marcel has removed Papa Tunde’s blade from Klaus.

• So, Klaus is like Marcel’s secret counselor or something?

• Alistair Dupence(?). Did I get his last name right? Oh well, whatever. Just another item in Klaus’s never-ending list of enemies.

• … who barges in the city and starts making demands. Hello, upgraded Original there. What makes you think he won’t play dirty and bite you somewhere nobody sees (double entendre very much intended).

• His accent is more memorable than his person actually.

• Srsly, after 5 years and he hasn’t found Hayley and Hope and the slumbering Mikaelsons? C’mon she hasn’t even left the country! Aren’t your resources a failure? I guess Hayley’s really good at covering her track and laying low but still…

• And he throws the gauntlet! Wonderful. Mano a mano. Man to man… except put Klaus in chains and starve him beforehand pretty please?

• That Hayley and Hope’s hug though.

• Hayley’s in a black dress. OK, I’m so used to seeing her in shirts, jeans, leather jacket and boots that this new look is… startling. Looks very good on her though. Don’t get me wrong, but she can wear that dress at both a funeral and a nightclub.

• I have a feeling she dresses to attract her prey’s attention…

• … who is Keelin, a wolf. Is this the bisexual wolf I’ve heard rumors about?

• Hayley doesn’t waste a second, doesn’t she? After five years she’s become very vigilant.

• Let’s see… dimly lit, pretty dirty place: check, bondage: check, crazy contraption that’s likely to cause pain: check and check. I wonder why this place reminds me so much of Saw.

• But Hayley doesn’t want to play; she’s in for business…

• … which is gathering Keelin’s venom and waking sleeping beauty Freya up.

• That Hayley and Freya’s hug.

• I guess Freya’s so accustomed to this sleeping-for-years-and-then-up-and-walking shit she doesn’t waste a moment for her stiff, lethargic muscles to flex and goes straight to work. That’s big sis for ya!

• Hayley VS Alistair’s lackeys. Hayley: 1, Alistair’s lackeys: 00000000 (can I add the zeros to infinity??)

• Her f*cking wolf form though. ♫♫♫♫ Who let the wolf out? ♫♫♫♫

• But the most gruesome awesome kill goes to…… Freya Mikaelson. Srsly brain melting? That’s a novelty.

• She probably has so much energy pent up in her. Poor that vamp dude. Next time buy a life insurance. That way your wife and kids will get compensation.

• Once again this show proves women are a force to be reckoned with.

• Klaus VS Alistair (plus crowd). Klaus: 0, Alistair: 1. Some ranting on Alistair’s part later… Klaus: 1, Allistair: 000000…

• See the similarities?

• I seriously think Klaus should expand his diet to vampire blood as well. I mean Alistair’s full of healthy blood; why doesn’t Klaus just sucks him dry? He’s been pretty starving, hasn’t he?

• “Meet…… your…… maker.”

• Too bad Marcel has to choose this very moment to be a dickwad. Why, Marcel, why?

• Marcel’s boast kinda gets on my nerves.

• “You want more?”

• Hayley’s making badass taunt while standing in her gloriously nude form. I’m fine. I’m so fine. Are all wolves natural naturalists?!

• Elijah’s really the expert in creepy killing. Is this a throwback to the pilot where he killed all those vamps who were ganging up on Sophie?

• Haylijah reunion.

• The kiss! I’m not a Haylijah shipper but still…

• Vincent mentions Cami and Klaus immediately shuts up his threats. “You stayed my hand and quelled my rage” indeed.

• Even better, Cami will make an appearance in the next episode!

• “When it comes to my family’s safety, I don’t negotiate.” Mikael’s beloved daughter speaking.

• “After all this time…” “Me too.” They really don’t need many words, don’t they?

• “A child after my own heart.” The moment they will get to meet Hope will be s-p-e-c-t-a-c-u-l-a-r!!!

• And now they’re going back for Klaus!

• Kinda agree with Klaus about Marcel’s not escaping his shadow and being weak. Kinda feel bad Klaus gets daggered for that. “Why’re you so hell-bent on proving him right, Marcel?” to parody Vincent’s words.

Overally, a good episode and a strong start for the season. Looking forward to the next episode.

Highlights from The Originals’ trailer (Season 4)

After a long long wait with only a couple of sporadic pics and tidbits of info to feed the fans (and almost nothing on the new faces), CW has finally released their first official trailer for the fourth season of The Originals. We original groupies seem to be the most patient fandom in the world. Anyway, here’s some highlights from the trailer:

• “This week marks five years…” Wait wait wait! Are they having an anniversary for the day the Mikaelsons fell?!

• Klaus’s exactly where he was left last season – in Marcel’s hand. Imprisoned and chained, he seems to have lost most of his former bravado and is quite broken, bordering on insanity.

• Papa Tunde’s blade appears to have been removed from his body. If it were still lodged inside him, he wouldn’t be able to sit, speak, scream, etc. as shown in the trailer.

• Or five years has tremendously steeled his tolerance of its pain?! That remains to be seen.

• Marcel seems to be in charge of Nola again. Old news.

• But where’re his followers (read: bitches)? Don’t see them in the trailer.

• Does that mean the king is alone on the throne??

• The downside of power.

• Vincent’s built up a community just like he said the last time we saw him. He’s also rebuilt Marcel’s gym into a church again. Like he said it last time. Man of his words he is.

• The Treme witch isn’t especially chummy with Marcel but he tolerates him.

• Nola’s in great danger, according to Vincent’s voice over, from unknown force. What is it, I wonder, because we can count on Marcel to defend the city from whatever supernatural threats and he’s hella strong now and mostly unkillable.

• Or, maybe Cade’s paying Nola a visit. You know Cade? The supposed-badass-Devil-that-comes-out-lame in the mother show, The Vampire Diaries.

• I’m doubtful whether Vincent’s quote “We managed to keep our monsters buried. Now we’ve got to make sure they stay buried” refers to the Mikaelsons at all although it’s sort of leading us to believe so. He could be talking about the new threat(s).

• Hayley’s full f*ucking wolf form. Like we’ve never seen her before. Up until now all we’ve got to see are her eyes turning gold (lots of time), her hand in mid-transformation into a paw and her wolf footprints.

• How could she turn so fast? In a blink of an eye and whoof, two legs into four. Doesn’t the transformation take a lot of bone-arranging and pain and screaming?!

• That reminds me: we’ve never seen Klaus’s full wolf form either. F*cking demand it in this season *banging pots and pans together*.

• Btw, whatever opponents she’s facing must be quite tough because she unhesitatingly wolfs out while she’s encountered pretty hardcore enemies in the past (Shen Min, Aya, upgraded Lucien, etc.) and not once has she turned completely and immediately.

• There’s Elijah in the box just like last time we saw him. His clothes seem different though. Maybe I’m wrong. It’s hard to see.

• Looks like Hayley’s visiting him. Kind of romantic. But morbid. But still romantic. And morbid. I could go on and on like this.

• All the siblings are stored in a dusty, cowebbed very The Originals-style attic(?!). Kind of reminds me of Davina’s attic.

• It’s hard to count the number of the coffins. I wonder if Aurora’s in there too. Anyone remembers Aurora de Martel? Redhead, funny laugh, pretty but not quite right in the head. Last time she was under Freya’s Sleeping Beauty spell. Did Hayley bring her with her when leaving Nola?

• Speaking of which, ain’t Elijah like the Sleeping Beauty now, patiently waiting for Wolf Princess Hayley’s magic kiss?

• Stop me before I turn it into a fanfic!!

• At this point, it’s not ‘highlights’ anymore; it’s rant!

• Freya, Kol, Rebekah and Hope aren’t in the trailer. C’mon, why not showing a few glimpses of the littlest wolf?

• Marcel’s upgraded face. Who’ll receive the ends of his teeth I wonder.

• Ooh, new faces.

• Marcel’s telling Klaus like the 36289th time that Nola is his. This shit is getting old. See the bored look on Klaus’s face?

• And no, Marcellus, Nola doesn’t belong to you or anyone.

• And the king that keeps saying that he’s a king is really not a king at all.

• Klaus’s screaming “CAMILLE!!!”. Anyone feels their insides they torn up just a little?

• Humpty f*cking Dumpty! Cami’s right beside him.

• “I’m here.”

• Don’t get your hopes up. She’s most likely Klaus’s hallucination/dream.

• Maybe she’s a ghost. Doesn’t matter.

• Does it look like he can’t see or hear her because he’s not looking at her as he screams?

• I’m having Evanescence’s My Immortal feels right now.

• It actually makes sense that Klaus screams out Camille’s name in the time of despair. His mental refuge. His last thread of sanity. His lighthouse in the ocean of pain.

• Klaus keeps his vow of carrying her with him.

• Yet that won’t stop some mean shippers from flinging rude comments at Cami’s appearance while at the same time demanding you-know-who to be brought to Nola, which is utterly irrelevant to The Originals’ plot.

• Maybe Valentine’s coming and they’re trying to sprinkle in a dash of romance (Haylijah & Klamille). Yet considering the back-stabbing, heart-ripping, pain-inducing, blood-splattering, tear-jerking, overall macabre nature of this show, their attempt at romance comes out pretty morbid.

• Well, they tried.

• “I’m trying to save my family.” MY family. Hayley’s officially a Mikaelson.

• Seriously, Hayley deserves a f*cking medal for carrying the family in the span of five years while protecting and taking care of Hope.

The Bloody Crown – The Originals Season Finale

Warnings: no warnings whatsoever unless you by odd chance haven’t watched the season finale…

…which was aired three weeks ago. I watched the episode right after its airing but delayed writing the review. Half of the blame fell on my chronic slothfulness and half fell on my recent obsession with a certain young actor. Anyway, what must be done cannot be postponed forever so here it is, my final episodic review for the third season of The Originals.

There’s just so many things to talk about in this episode – the beauty of the love between the Mikaelsons, most visibly in Klaus’s ultimate sacrifice, how Hayley has finally become a Mikaelson, how Marcel has turned into the new Klaus, albeit without the family part to help redeem himself, etc. – that I end up not having much to say about it. I remember sitting in front of my laptop, silently watching the 45 minutes of bittersweetness and being overwhelmed with emotions: sad, hurt, angry, moved and hopeful; but to put all those emotions into incoherent words is too difficult a task and I had decided right back then that I wouldn’t; each of us has our way of expressing our feelings towards the episode; still, one thing in common is that most of us are touched by the combined effort of the production crew and the actors. It’s in episodes like that the core of the entire series shines: Always and forever – Family above all.

Let us give a long, resounding applause to the characters for getting through the episode alive (though on the verge of death). There were many rumors and speculations circulated around the fandom and the idea of one more major death in the season finale was juggling by the producers themselves, so most of us would probably watch the episode with growing anxiety or fear for our favorite characters’ lives. Kol was the most popular guess since 1. Nate Buzolic has remained a guest star so far and 2. Kol died not once but twice already; third time’s a charm and what could stop the producers from repeating history? Rebekah was the second-most popular guess because Claire Holt, like Buzolic, has been a (special) guest star, who could leave the show on a sad but otherwise expected note. And then there were rumors the third major death would be Freya as she is the only mortal in a family of immortals and more often than not has fallen into the “squishy mage” trope. The fear gains a lot more ground when only a couple minutes into the episode, Kol and Elijah have been bitten by Marcel and Freya is poisoned (again). It would be three deaths in total and undoubtedly a devastating blow to the series in general, but thank goodness, the crisis is brilliantly averted by Freya’s spell and Klaus’s sacrifice (the second thing to thank dear late Aunt Dahlia after the fertility spell). In short, none of our beloved characters, including Marcel, has to say farewell and although they all have “fallen”, by family, friend, foe or all three, the Mikaelsons will definitely rise again, stronger and more united, to fight and take back what they have lost.

The gem of this show is that in the direst situation, the Mikaelson siblings will swipe aside their differences and conflicts to stand together as one. We see Rebekah stopping Marcel so that her brothers could retreat. We see Rebekah reinforce a truth that really needs no reinforcement (but still touching to hear), that she will always and forever choose her family. We see Rebekah and Klaus working together to turn the odds to their favor and emerging ‘victorious’ in terms that their plan succeeds and the whole family live to see another day. We see Klaus coming to his brother Elijah with a heartfelt confession: “I can’t do this without you”, and the latter, looking worse for wear, giving his younger sibling courage in a firm embrace. Klelijah shipper or non-Klelijah shipper, each of us feels the love and trust brimming between the brothers. It’s even more touching as they began the season with a deep “ravine” (to quote Daniel Gilles) between them and have incessantly antagonized each other. In the previous episode Klaus was even mad at Elijah for eliminating Marcel. Nonetheless, in the face of threat, they immediately prove that they are true family, bound by blood, a millennium-old lasting vow and above all, a love that has been many a time tried, abused, shredded and yet is not lost, never lost. Their love is both their damnation, as they have accumulated countless enemies in its name, and their salvation – their shining hope in the darkest hours. Romance comes and goes, ships sail and sink but the love between the Mikaelson siblings remains strong as always.

 

Such love explains Kol’s revolving attitude with Freya, whom he severely chastised in their last encounter; he even proclaimed to leave his siblings behind to live or to die on their own. His words were harsh, yet in the end he didn’t. Some might think Kol’s characterization has serious issues, but I believe he isn’t OOC at all. Kol has three things that he regards as important in his life: his magic, Davina and his family; now that he has lost his magic and Davina, he only has his siblings. Kol knows that even though they have hurt him in a way that requires a long time to make amends, they are the only ones he has in this world. He has no friends, his love is dead and if he lost them, he would not be able to go on with his life. So it’s understandable that the moment he hears Klaus’s enemies are gathering, he joins them. He may not forgive Freya (and Elijah) yet; however, it is not the time to start a civil war while their enemies are rallying outside their door. I admit the scenes between Kol and Freya are not very well handled – it would have been better if they had had a few more words instead of postponing the matter to the next season. Maybe, just maybe we will get to see it in the deleted cuts.

I’d like to talk a little about Marcel, the Beast and true antagonist of this season. What he’s done to the Mikaelsons is neither right nor wrong, just understandable given what they have done to him. And yet, somehow he has a delusion that by driving the Mikaelsons out of New Orleans, he is doing the whole city a huge favor. He isn’t, as Marcel proves to not be any better than his family; he is exactly like them: ruthless, calculating, hypocritical and above all, having little to no regard to human lives, or collateral damage. I’m glad there is at least one Vincent to call him out on his actions (but honestly how the hell could Vincent think someone raised by the Mikaelsons be any different from them? Vincent wasn’t in Nola during Marcel’s reign?!). On the surface, Marcel appears on the triumphant side – he’s utterly strong, he rules again and there’s no stronger creature to threaten him – and the Mikaelsons, the defeated. Nevertheless, their defeat brings them together and tightens their bond; each of the Mikaelsons is fearsome on their own right but their true power lies in family. As for Marcel, he is undeniably alone now: family lost, subordinates (the Strix) killed by his own hands and allies turned opponents while the bunch of rascals he has summoned are by no means allies or friends. So on the bloody throne the king sits by himself, vulnerable to attacks. I bet it won’t be long before Marcel realizes the kind of stand-alone-powerful is not the kind that lasts.

Highlights of the episode:

• Klaus’s apologizing to Hayley and placing his trust in her. Klaus, the megalomaniac, paranoid, control-freak Klaus apologizes and admits his mistakes. That’s one hell of character development.

• Klaus’s sacrifice so that his family get to live

• Klaus’s letter to Hope. Let’s hope he will be back with her before she learns to say “Papa”.

• Klaus’s unapologetic “I’m your maker”

• Hayley’s finally a Mikaelson. She’s made her choice and it’s with them.

• Where’s the sneak little peak of Hope’s powers as teased????

• Vincent’s “The King is dead. All hail the King.” Yusuf Gatewood delivers the sarcasm so well. His “Consequences be damned” also counts.

• Klaus’s look of horror as he witnesses his two brothers being bitten. Joseph Morgan doesn’t only act it, he lives it and makes us feel it.

• Freya’s utilizing the same spell that inhibited her to save her family

• “Don’t fear the Reaper.”

• Freya’s beautiful dream world

• Rebekah’s returning to her family and staying with them

• Elijah and Hayley’s moments

• Hayley’s chaste kiss to the slumbering Elijah

• I’m not the only one to mourn the destruction of the Mikaelson house, aren’t I?
• One word for Marcel’s gathered bunch: uncivil

—

Since it’s the season finale, which means I won’t get to see those endearing monsters until January (what the actual hell?!), I think I should do a sort-of summary of what I like and what I don’t about this season.

What I like:

• Freya is accepted and loved by the family she always yearned for and in turn, she’s fought with the ferocity of a tigress to protect her younger siblings. Any doubt of her character and commitment to her family at the end of season 2 has been wiped clean during the course of season three.

• How Hayley has finally been integrated into the Mikaelsons. It should have happened long ago as she was bearing a Mikaelson child and she’s proven to share a lot of similar traits with the Mikaelsons. It’s kind of annoying to see her swing back and forth between being ‘in’ and being ‘out’. She’s made her choice and that’s one of the greatest points of this season.

• Kol’s resurrection. After so much pressure from fans, the producers finally decided to bring their favorite Original back, played by none other than the original actor. Daniel Sharman was wonderful in his portrayal of Kol but it was Nate Buzolic that left such a profound impression with the fans – it’s impossible to forget his boyish rascal look as he casually swung the baseball bat… on Damon’s face. If we had to make a choice between them, Nate would probably win by a hairbreadth.

• Finn’s return, however brief it is. At least this time he dies in the arms of his siblings, surrounded by familial love as compared to his first, sudden and lonely death. This time, he makes peace with his family and has the chance to bid farewell before leaving. Bonus point: the touching funeral scene where Finn is mourned by all of them sans Rebekah.

• Character development of the Mikaelsons. They are a vivid example that living beings change as they live (though technically speaking most of them aren’t “living beings”). Even for thousand-year-old creatures, they are capable of development – to act out of what is expected of them. The most notable examples are Klaus and Elijah. Elijah has grown far out of the “Knight in shining armor” image others wrongly cut for him. He can be monstrous, he can be hypocritical and he is capable of destroying to serve his purpose. And instead of hurting his siblings, Klaus now puts them before himself. Still, despite the changes, the core of their characters: their devotion to their family remains the same.

• The general suspense hanging above the last episodes. The producers have played into our reassurance that main characters won’t die no matter what their predicament is, and then knocked the chair from under us. The grim prospect that anyone can perish heightens the anxiety and adds a more realistic touch to our already dark show (I’d find a show with a mature theme unrealistic if the heroes and heroines’ plot armor is too thick).

• The introduction of intriguing characters – the Trinity and Aya. It wouldn’t be boasting to say they produce enough material to run a spinoff show.

What I don’t:

• Though I appreciate the realistic sense that anyone can die, I’m still shaken by the loss of familiar faces. I guess once we’ve gotten used to seeing them in the show we will want them to stay whether we are their fans or not.

• The underdevelopment of potential minor characters. Season 3 cast some new faces and so far, only the Trinity and to some extent, Aya, are note-worthy. Will, who could have had a thicker plot considering his rocky experiences with the supernatural, is written pretty flat; he is kind of be there to aid when other characters need something done and as a result, has no plot of his own. The same goes for Van Nguyen, who also exists to serve a few purposes and then dies an obscure death. Let’s not mention Cortez, Sofya and Adrianne, who are all one-episode wonders.

• In contrast to characters whose plots are too thin, there are characters whose are too thick they end up being underdeveloped, such as Lucien, Aurora, Tristan and Aya. It would have been nice if we had been given a few glimpses of Lucien’s madness, how he and Klaus “painted the town red” back in the day, Tristan’s struggles with his sister’s problems and Aurora’s inner conflicts between her love for Tristan and her desire to be free from him. It would have been wonderful if we had gotten a peak of how the three young vampires survived Mikael or under what circumstance did Aya and Elijah meet. None of those happen and heck, we didn’t even get to see Tristan’s turning while the other two were shown! The producers and actors promised viewers a flashback-heavy season and it was a blatant lie: it has fewer flashback scenes than the previous seasons although the threading plot involves a lot of past affairs. Isn’t it a big sarcasm how the tag line is “Fight the past” while the past is obscure and generally crammed into dialogues instead of being focused?

• The Strix, big disappointment, period. They were introduced as the world’s oldest vampire society, which has been around for several centuries. They gave an impression they would be great element to the plot and yet, and yet they, save Tristan and Aya, were mostly faceless. After Aya’s death, they were reduced to mere sidekicks running amok in the background, waiting to be killed by Marcel in the season finale. I mean, what the hell?? An ancient vampire society completely, irredeemably wasted. The writers of The Originals have a major issue in writing here: they are capable of creating amazing, intriguing materials and instead of using them to their full potential, they just dumped them down the drain.

Give ‘Em Hell Kid – The Originals 3×21

Warnings: do we need warnings at this point? Disagreement welcomed but not hate

One thing we learn from reading fantasy novels and watching fantasy movies and shows is that prophecies have a nasty tendency: they will be fulfilled no matter how the subjects involved try to avert or change them; as a matter of fact, they have a way of subtly but actively manipulating their subjects into doing this little bit or that and helping or even speeding up the possible scenarios on their road to become reality. In short, they will definitely happen, otherwise they would be called complete nonsense spoken in poetical and mysterious way instead of “prophecies”. The third season’s twentieth episode is concrete evidence.

Following the devastating wake of Where Nothing Stays Buried which has ignited two civil wars going side by side, it’s fitting that Give ‘Em Hell Kid begins on a morbid note: we are cordially invited to Cami’s funeral which involves trumpets, carriages, street parade and a lethal amount of whiskey at the Russeud’s, and Davina’s funeral, which is held in the cemetery absolutely without fanfare and attended only by her few supernatural friends (where’s her family? Her mother was killed Marcel/Marcel’s loonies so…). This is one juxtaposition made between these two female regulars the fandom lost in the same episode. While Cami’s death somehow united our heroes against Lucien, Davina’s ripped apart what fragile alliance they had formed – now Marcel, Kol, Josh and Vincent are one team and seriously pissed and the rest are another team and burdened with guilt. The tear in their relationship needs much, much time to mend and yet, the plot decides it’s not the time to calm down and reflect on their acts (because it’s the eve of the grand finale duh!) and throws its last punch: the visions come visit again and this time, they’ve been upgraded so that the identity of the true Beast is revealed. Guess what? No other than the adopted son Klaus and Elijah had spent the better part of season 1 fighting against.

No rest for the wicked indeed.

That Marcel has turned out to be the prophesized doom of the Mikaelsons is not that big of a twist – the former vampire king of New Orleans has been on the list of suspects since the very beginning. When Lucien drank the serum and completed his transformation, Marcel’s possibility to become the final boss was overshadowed, but then Lucien was offed three episodes later, thus giving way for other characters to become the true Beast. At so late this point in the season, it would be dumb to introduce an entirely new face and cramp them into the big bad’s shoe, so the writers had to empower one of the old ones. Aurora was the other one who had taken the serum, but most of us agree dearest Rory is entertainingly psychotic and murderous, yet she’s very unlikely to be the ‘chosen one’, far from it even, and after what has happened to Davina, it isn’t difficult to envisage Marcel seeking vengeance on the Mikaelsons.

By the way, in hindsight, the Beast in Alexis’s visions kind of looked like Marcel, right?

At this point it’d be pointless to point the finger at a character and accuse them of setting the prophecy into motion; in my opinion each and every character plays a specific role in bringing together the necessary elements to its fulfillment. You could blame Freya and Elijah for not having destroyed the White Oak in the first place or for antagonizing Marcel by having thrown Davina to the Ancestors. It’s easy to put the blame on them as their roles seem prominent than others. Nevertheless, in hindsight, Vincent is not without responsibility. If Vincent had activated his witchy bomb sooner, like after he had been forced to cast the spell to create the serum, by which time he should have already been aware the Ancestors were villainous, things would be much different now. Lucien would have become a parking lot. Cami wouldn’t have been bitten and died. Kol would have been freed from the hex and wouldn’t have killed Davina. Elijah and Freya wouldn’t have had to sacrifice Davina. Davina would be alive and well and Marcel wouldn’t have become the Beast… Or had Davina not antagonized the Ancestors so much… Still, it’s too late to analyze who was at fault; what is important is how the heroes try with everything on their disposal to avert the crisis.

That said, desperate time calls for desperate means, and it’s quite obvious Elijah is so desperate now he’s willing to go down the darkest path possible. You could always argue that they had another choice when Elijah and Freya chose to damn Davina and perhaps there really was; still, what was running in their heads at that time was their siblings’ lives being severely threatened and there was little to think of something else other than that extreme method. It’s easy to say they had other choices when you’re sitting in front of the screen watching them instead of being them.

It confuses me how some fans seem to possess a notion that the Mikaelsons are “heroes”, that they value life and such. They started out as villains of TVD and becoming protagonists of TO doesn’t really change their nature as ruthless monsters who value their own blood over all others, who’ve made selfish choices and suffer the consequences later. One argument I’ve come across is that Klaus objected to Elijah and Freya’s sacrificial act (but his older siblings went out and did the atrocity anyway). Sure he did tell them to find another way, but that’s when he was safe and talking, Hayley was by his side and Rebekah was also safe wherever she was. A couple of minutes later, Klaus was helpless on his knees, Lucien had Hayley’s heart in his palm and they were lucky either Lucien was so obsessed with Klaus or he still had lingering feelings for Aurora he hadn’t gone for Rebekah first. So yeah, Klaus understood Elijah and Freya’s reason because had the situation been reversed, he would have done the exact same thing. Over the course of three seasons, Klaus has changed, arguably because of Cami, but when it comes to his family’s survival, no number of Cami’s sessions could have changed his beastly nature (isn’t that the recurring theme of this show?). And don’t get me started on Rebekah. I’ve also stumbled across some opinions claiming Rebekah would never want Davina dead just so she could live. Seriously I was so baffled I thought we weren’t watching the same show! Rebekah, from her introduction in TVD, has been as much a monster as her brothers. Who terrorized the Mystic Falls gang for fun? Who killed Elena so her family wouldn’t have to run for another century? Who returned to Nola and flung death threats to the witches? Yeah, she has a few humans she fancies, like Matt or Davina, whom she would protect instead of hurting, but when her family’s survival is concerned, she wouldn’t be the Rebekah we know and love if she didn’t choose her own blood and her own life over a girl she knew for a while. It’s just that Claire Holt isn’t a regular anymore so it’s pointless to have Rebekah make the kind of tough choice Elijah and Freya did because she wouldn’t be around long to deal with its aftermath.

Now, back to Marcel. Marcel was raised by the Mikaelsons like their child and whether he admits it or not, he has absorbed several traits of his adopted family: ruthlessness, cunningness, arrogance, to name a few. He understands their thinking, that’s for sure, and he’s fully aware how exclusive their list of ‘family’ is. Family above all; the saying has a cruel ring to it. Davina they never saw as a family, but Marcel is a complicated case as so far he’s been hovering along the thin line of ally and rival. Part of him has already been convinced that he would be on their kill list the moment he posed a threat to them and that’s why he took the serum when he was offered it, according to Vincent. Yet he didn’t off himself right on the spot. One could say he wanted to test the Mikaelsons, see if they cared for him as a member and then decide for himself. Obviously they failed his test and the result is the prophesied Beast’s coming to hunt them. Still, it’s also possible that he had already decided when he drank the serum, but due to the complex nature of his relationship to the Mikaelsons, he was hesitant in exacting his vengeance. What he needed was the final push so that his last attachment to them was severed. With his death by their hands Marcel was liberated from his bond to them, which at times has become his bondage, and he is now free to hate them and punish them as he wishes for harming Davina.

Marcel may have cut off his link to Klaus and Elijah but what I really want to see in the grand finale is how that affects his relationship with Rebekah, for whom he still has feelings. Would he loathe her too as she’d definitely stand by her siblings’ side?

One thing to say before I conclude this weekly review: Hayley. There’s been criticism on Hayley’s choice to comfort Elijah instead of lashing out at him, bring her previous words “I just can’t keep losing people” as accusation of her inconsistency. On the contrary I believe Hayley’s been written quite consistently in the last two episodes. It’s true she said those words and it’s also true she opposed to the very idea of sacrificing Davina. However, she understood it was thanks Elijah and Freya’s act that her heart remains in her chest now. Hayley is no saint and she’s as selfish as the Mikaelsons when her life is concerned; moreover she wants to live and see her daughter Hope grow up. She understood why Elijah and Freya gave up Davina’s chance of life and she understands why Elijah killed Marcel, someone she sees as a friend; she herself has seen the prophecy and its likely outcomes. Between her friend and her lover and her family, it’s clear she has made her choice. Even an outsider like Josh sees that. So she comforts Elijah when he comes to her and simply breaks (has Elijah ever gone on his knees and wept like that?) because he needs her and she loves him. I stopped shipping this couple centuries ago and still this scene has moved me with its beauty of love and kindness.

Highlights of the episode:

• Davina’s setting the bomb is simply epic! Even if we may never see Davina again, we’ll remember that she went out with a literal bang.

• Klaus and Marcel’s conversation on the bridge

• Will Kinney’s acceptance of the supernatural world seems a bit too rushed and unnatural to me, given how he hadn’t bought into Cami’s talk about vampires before. Either it’s a flaw in writing or our detective slash human token has some big skeleton in his closet.

• Kol’s unnecessary dick words to Freya. He’s mad and grieving all right, but to say that to his sister who has been fighting for her family at the expense of her wellbeing is just…

• Davina’s unnecessary bitch acts to Kol. There’s got to be another way, a better way to grasp your bf’s attention than spooking him and slitting his throat, right?

• Elijah’s getting down on his knees, Hayley’s comforting him and their making out after. Judging by the sadistic nature of our dear writers, something very bad will befall them in the season finale.

• The Ancestors’ connection to the living world is severed so does that means Nola witches’ magic are…… gone?? I remember in season 1 they did say something about the witches’ powers were linked to their Ancestors.

• I’m curious why Marcel bites Kol. Aren’t they kind of on one team?

• Can Rebekah save the day?

• Are the writers going to let Tristan and Aurora fade into history like that because as tension escalates between Marcel and the Mikaelsons, I see no slot for the de Martel sibling?

A Ghost Along the Mississippi – The Originals 3×10

Warnings: usual ranting tendency, improper jokes and spoilers the size of swelling Jupiter. Also, massive sympathy for a character you may wish to die a horrible death and little concern for a character you very much want to sympathize (but may or may not fail to).

“People want laughter when they see a show

The last thing they’re after is a litany of woes”

Keep It Gay  – THE PRODUCERS (2005)

Mel Brooks spoke the universal truth of shows and entertainment via a uniquely gay musical number in The Producers, one of his most successful works (which I strongly recommend you to store in your laptop − we’re gonna need a lot of comedy for future episodes, that’s for sure). Entertainment isn’t synonymous to tears, heartbreaks and major headaches, and yet somehow a number of show makers find it entirely justified to engineer plots and scenarios solely for the purpose of gorging their audience’s heart out (pun very much intended). And we, the viewers, despite our desire for pleasure, comfort and fun when we turn our TV on after a hard day’s work, cannot help but willingly subjecting ourselves to the emotional torments − the masochistic paradox of human nature. This is exactly what The Originals’ show makers aim to do with the show’s tenth episode, right after their torture of having us waiting for nearly two months with a humongous cliffhanger.

Perhaps with a tiny fraction of remorse for their loyal viewers’ wait, the show makers sought to resolve the issue of a blood-drenched, breathless Cami on Klaus’ bed quite early, and if I’m honest, a bit too early for my liking. But first, let’s enjoy about five minutes of peaceful philosophical discussion of death and life between Klaus and Cami, which is paralleled with a furious and wounded Klaus screaming like a madman and heavily trashing the room while his psychiatrist slash new, hard-earned Christmas girlfriend lies dead. Classic Klaus-ic grief and rage. But hey, people in his neighborhood need to sleep, too and they’ll sue if they are deprived of their resting time, Klaus probably reminds himself (what is he but a good-mannered hybrid?), and so all the noises stop as Klaus holds Cami in his arms (sobbing inside – him, not me!).

And then, Cami gasps back into life in a kind of anticlimactic manner. They could have delayed her revival a little longer, but I suppose they need her for the episode’s plot. Much as I do not want to link this to The Vampire Diaries, I have to admit Cami’s situation resembles Elena’s a great deal: from sudden death by the hand of an ancient vampire, much tears and some furniture destroyed to the swift revelation that they died with vampire blood in their system. What’s next? The scenario of ‘will she or won’t she’, of course. Again, similar to Elena, Cami struggles with the knowledge that she is mostly dead (but still slightly alive – I’ve gotten this phrase from Galavant), and is torn between wanting to live (who doesn’t?) and keeping her humanity. It doesn’t help that Klaus reacts like Damon did, trying to force her to consume blood. More shouting and argument ensue.

Well, I guess the similarities in their cases are inevitable as they’re both good-hearted human girls who got romantically tangled with bad supernatural beings, in shows that are sisters, no less.

Klamille seems to be a large focal point of this episode (and later episodes probably) as much screentime is devoted to them. Now I won’t say much about this couple partly because they’ve been discussed over and over on Tumblr and the likes and partly because I don’t ship them. True I’m fine with their romance and unlike some other viewers, I’m not annoyed when it takes up a hefty portion of the episode; that also means I won’t be so affected if it goes totally kaput, as Michael Narducci kind of implied in his interview. You know, in shows like The Originals, the villains have a tendency to do right while the heroes tend to do the exact opposite. Turning Cami may be Aurora’s wisest move yet, as she foresaw that a vampire Cami, with her altered personality and newfound powers, would inflict damage upon the fairytale beauty-and-the-beast relationship between human Cami and Klaus. Perhaps Aurora saw that human Cami resembled her former self: mostly sweet but always with a streak of darkness, and that Klaus would love the vampire a little less than he did the human. Personally I don’t think Cami will go entirely, helplessly dark (like Aurora, who no doubt went through centuries of shit) or become a Ripper but she will be darker than her human self for sure. Vampires are creatures of impulses and it’s in their nature as predators to kill – even those who try to be good and vegetarian vampires like Caroline and Stefan couldn’t help killing once in a while.

Well, whether Klaus will be taken aback by this new Cami or their romance will endure remains to be seen; for now I’m more worried about Will Kinney’s fate once our good cop slash human token returns to town after the holidays. Remember him? The tall, fairly fair cop who stalked and stole Cami’s laptop, got compelled the shit out of him by Lucien and almost snuffed his own life but for Klaus and Cami’s intervention? Cami and Vincent are the only two in New Orleans to give a damn about Will’s wellbeing and now, with Vincent’s being too busy with his new responsibilities and Cami’s concern for humans becoming a wee skewed, let’s again hope the actor’s popularity is good enough to last him until the season finale. We still need a human to represent us in this supernatural show, don’t we?

Speaking of couples, a great number of Haylijah shippers have a reason to cheer loudly when Tristan does you-know-what to you-know-who. Finally the unnecessary element in the unnecessary love triangle no-one is too enthusiastic about (this is an adult show, people, not a teeny one) is gone and this time, for good. Although I once wished that dear old annoying Jack would be destroyed, hopefully be one of the Trinity – Jack’s behavior wasn’t exactly likable since the wedding onwards, but when it really happens, I didn’t rejoice like I had thought I would; I was kind of upset even.  Don’t get me wrong − I don’t give a damn whether the wolf boy is breathing or not. What upsets me is that it’s Tristan who does the deed and thus, has earned a great amount of hate from fans (I was tremendously ignorant to the sheer number of Jack’s fans – where were they before?), which I feel isn’t very justified. Of course I won’t unreasonably deny Tristan’s act is not brutal and horrible because he’s my fave (swiftly took Elijah’s place in my list), yet is it fair to shower him with hate and calling him ‘beast’ or ‘monster’? He does what? Kills a werewolf who is his enemy (who killed a number of his subordinates in earlier episodes) in order to hurt a hybrid who is also his enemy. So, may I ask what is utterly wrong in torturing and terminating your foes? All is fair in love and war, and this is definitely war; given the chance, both Jackson and Hayley would do the same to him in a heartbeat. If you think his act of making Hayley watch is what earns him the prestigious title of ‘evil’ and thus should be heavily punished, please allow me to raise a little reminder that almost everyone in this show is more than qualified to be ‘evil’ – this is a villains’ show after all. Let’s list a few of their deeds:

• Marcel killed Jane-Anne Deveraux in front of Sophie and then denied her plea to get her sister buried.
• Klaus burned Gia alive in front of Elijah (one of the hardest scene to watch).
• Klaus broke Tyler’s neck in front of his friends. That’s Klaus for you.
• Elijah ripped Thierry’s heart out right in front of Marcel’s eyes.
• Rebekah got Genevieve infected with tuberculosis although they were friends.
• Davina hired a hybrid to kill a witch who threatened her, which results in a massacre.
• Hayley led 12 hybrids to their brutal slaughters and tore apart a dozen Versailles witches even though they never, ever crossed her.

from Galavant S02E01

So, may I ask why Tristan is condemned while basically everyone else in the show, maybe except Hope and human Cami, is no less devious? What makes it even more unfair is Hayley’s speech as she closes the door on Tristan. I see the writers intended for it to be epic and whatever, as they’ve been trying to boost Hayley to be a badass heroine; nevertheless, it turns out incredibly hypocritic: Hayley, of all the examples above, is the one who gets out of her crimes relatively clean – no-one has tried to get revenge on her, she hasn’t suffered any consequences and heck, she has never been called out for her acts. Favoritism much. Anyway, I’d say losing someone she loves may just be karma coming back to bite her.

Now, onto Jackson’s death. His death may have garnered a lot of sympathy from viewers and may even rescue him from the crappy heap of boring, tedious characters. Nonetheless, if the writers truly wished to redeem his characterization, they should have kept him in the show and given his personality more layers, more development instead of writing him off. I guess that would be impossible since the actor is leaving for another show.

Back to the Haylijah shipping business. Jack’s death may prove to be an even bigger obstacle for their romance than his life and frankly I’ve given up on this ship since mid-season 2, no big thanks to Jackson’s nuisance and Hayley’s inconsistency in her character. How many people are  writing her actually? She keeps flickering between declaring to be a member of the Mikaelsons in one episode and then claiming she has “never met anyone who was always just there for me [beside Jack]” in the next. Elijah and Rebekah just left her to live or die on their own and were never there for her, never showed her love? And even Klaus, who helped her during her transition to a hybrid. Klaus, of all people. Seriously, I wanted to laugh so hard hearing her say that. So, Haylijah is a no-no for me now and I believe it won’t happen very soon, as Hayley is busy grieving over Jackson’s death, blaming herself and maybe blaming the Mikaelsons, too. (What? She does have that tendency, doesn’t she?).

To Haylijah shippers, Jackson’s lingering presence may be summarized like this:

And if you have to leave

I We wish that you would just leave

‘Cause your presence still lingers here

And it won’t leave me us alone

My Immortal – Evernescence

If there is one occasion where I find it so difficult to appreciate and enjoy Cami’s, Freya’s and Vincent’s badassery, that is when Tristan is at the receiving end of it. Heartbreaking as this twist of event to his fans is, let’s hope this won’t be the last time we’ve seen Ollie’s face as Tristan. It’s only the tenth episode and there’s still a long way to go before his fate is sealed. Aurora, unlike Aya and The Strix, will never abandon Tristan; she will absolutely try to save him and Lucien may help her since he’s still in love with her after all these years (he did save her from the Mikaelsons, didn’t he?) – that guy’s love is truly, preciously admirable. Beside, locking a character in a box and maybe drowning them is not a very effective strategy/punishment. It’s been done too many times on The Vampire Diaries and it didn’t work. At all. They locked Katherine in the tomb – she got out after a few episodes. Bonnie fossilized Silas and then Stefan went to dump him in the lake – he got out after half an episode and put Stefan in his place. Stefan was drowning for months and none of his friends knew but Quetsiyah fished him out. Bonnie left Kai in the prison world and he found his way out, even bringing back some Heretics as souvenirs. Now, both Stefan and Damon were trapped in the Phoenix stone and Stefan was out already while Damon was on his way. So, yeah, locking/trapping/whatever is merely a means for suspense; Tristan will be out and up for vengeance (bonus: Michael Narducci did spoil that not killing Tristan “maybe a mistake”). Plus, since every magic spell has a loophole, there’s a chance that the Serratura has one, too. Something that is neither dead or alive can pass through, right? So Aurora  needs to find a witch who could put Tristan in that mostly-dead-but-slightly-alive state and she would pull him out via a rope (objects can pass through the barrier). Bonnie succeeded in putting Jeremy and Matt in that state and perhaps something similar could be devised for the sake of twist, too.

On a side, the Trinity and the Serratura might just be decoy antagonists; the real dangers lie in the mysterious weapon that can kill the Originals and the new faces coming to town (i.e. Cortez, Sofya and a blonde witch whose name I can’t remember). And if we are lucky, we’ll get to see the Trinity ally themselves with the Originals to fight the danger of extinction.

Highlights of the episode:

• Jackson’s arguably anticipated death. He’s been on the show far too long while we’ve lost Oliver, Aiden, Gia…

• The ultimate sinking of Jackson x Hayley ship, Jackson x Freya ship and Hayley x Tristan ship (it exists and some ship it). Should we nickname Tristan Ship-Wrecker?

• But he did waste his Daddy’s love rival, didn’t he?

• What happens to Tristan

• Sexy vampire Cami. This new vampire persona appears to be more attuned to Elijah than Klaus. Is it too early to hope for something between them two?

• Vincent’s showcasing his power. How many cars per season is the budget allowed to trash?

• Tristan’s obfuscatingly low IQ in this episode. Honestly who put such a dangerous thing in his pants pocket? I guess Aurora’s wellbeing has played a major part in Tristan’s intelligence. If she’s fine, he’s all calm, cool and smart; if she’s endangered, his IQ goes downhill.

• Elijah’s inspirational speech to his spawns

• Aya and The Strix’s betrayal. Oh my, it’s something I didn’t see coming. I thought she was loyal to him and they were sort of buddies/ partners in crime, but she discards him way too fast. Part of me hopes it’s just her pretending to preserve their members so that she can find a way to free him later; if not, well, let’s hope she earns the full wrath of Rebekah once the Original sister is out.

The Other Girl in New Orleans – The Originals 3×08

Warnings: spoilers and memes galore. This episode just inspired the meme-maker in me so much that I created a bunch.

Stefan needs to create a few more homemade bombs so I can have screencaps to comment on the oncoming episodes. This season is getting better and better each episode – I’m glad that JoMo’s tweet turns out to be truth rather than some empty promotion for the show.

Just a quick look-back of the last episode Out of The Easy: Thanksgiving party – some beatings – some necks snapped and at the end, Tristan got captive, a furious Aurora kidnapped an escaped Cami and Klaus was out to find her. Now I have to seriously wonder if The Other Girl in New Orleans picks up right after where we were left since the first scene begins in the morning while Out of The Easy ended at night. So… Cami got caught by Aurora, who is vindictive, extremely dangerous and likely to rips Cami’s throat any moment and Klaus waited until the morning to start the actual search? In those hours what was he doing? Having his beauty sleep, changing his clothes and maybe having his breakfast? It just doesn’t make sense to me. In fact, the time in this episode (and every other episode for that matter) is incredibly skewed. Let’s look at another example of this timely mess. Tristan got his neck snapped sometime in the night and the next time we see him, stripped of his tie, suit jacket (who undressed him by the way?) and bound to a chair, he is still unconscious. Just how long does it truly take for a vampire to regain consciousness after being knocked out? Aurora needed a few minutes to get up while Tristan must take a whole night? Or is it Tristan’s petty trick of pretending to be asleep in order to buy time?

Anyway, trick or not trick, Elijah has grown impatient with Sleeping (Beauty) Tristan and summons the Knight with Shining Fangs Hayley to give him a wake-up kiss to scream for…

Anyone remembers this quote?

Another instance of how the time is very messed up occurs with Klaus, Aurora and Cami. When Klaus gets Aurora’s little invitation to the church, we see the sun’s still out, meaning it’s probably around the afternoon. Nevertheless, it’s already in the evening when he comes to Cami’s rescue. Does it really take hours to get from Jackson Square to the church (St. Anne church?), even by walking, or did Klaus dally somewhere while his ‘special friend’ may be subjected to various horrible, unimaginable tortures?

Still, in terms of glorious nonsense, the above examples pale in comparison with this one. It’s daytime when Marcel comes and asks to discuss Tristan’s matter with Elijah (again, sun’s still out), and then, the scene skips to evening time, which means… Elijah and Marcel spend hours going around and around the compound and arguing but not reaching any conclusion? The Strix’s suicide rescue squad must have great patience to stay dormant while their boss is dying and Marcel is just wasting time.

However, those chips in time and logic don’t prevent me from me from enjoying this exciting and entertaining episode.

One thing I adore about The Other Girl in New Orleans is how the two relationships – Klaus and Cami and Hayley and Elijah – are highlighted. Bear in mind I’m neither Haylijah nor Klamille shipper (if you follow my blog you’ll definitely know I’m a Trilijah/Trislijah shipper and to a certain degree, a Klelijah shipper), but as I’ve said before, I have nothing against these two ships; in fact I rather enjoy the interactions between the characters. It seems the writers of the shows have had enough with all the antifans’ bashing and this is how they counteract all the hates. If it wasn’t clear in the last two seasons that Cami meant so much to Klaus (as if), it’s once again proven that Cami has a big and very special place in his Hybrid heart and she possibly ranks as high as his family in terms of significance. What makes this relationship so beautiful is its honesty and acceptance of each other’s light and dark sides: Klaus has never tried to appear as a nice guy in front of Cami and Cami’s has seen his many unspeakable acts; yet she chooses to put her trust in him, even when all seemed to go against him (season 2, when everyone but Cami believed Klaus murdered Aiden). How Cami accepts Klaus’s person makes an interesting parallel with Elijah’s compulsion of Aurora – to see Klaus as the monster that he is. And this is what Cami has done so far: seeing Klaus as the monster that he is, ruthless, wicked and willing to kill whenever it suits him. She accepts that monster nonetheless, and even better, she brings out the good in him, however feeble it is. I believe it’s really thanks to her that Klaus chose to fight with his brother instead of daggering him.

On the other hand, Klaus has no issue with Cami’s newly exposed dark side, either. Coincidentally, this week’s episode of American Horror Story: Hotel also explores the dark impulses of one of its major characters, beautifully portrayed in Detective John Lowe’s (the Detective Kinney of AHS) gradual descent into darkness. Similar to John, Cami experienced pleasure in the violence she inflicted on another, and thus it costs her great shame. Cami’s enjoyment of violence is not her problem alone, as I believe each and every one of us feels that impulse at least once or twice in our lifetime. Every now and then there’s someone whom we very much wish to hurt badly because they’ve done us, or our friends, family etc., wrong and we feel entirely justified in their suffering by our hands. However, many of us just don’t often act on such urge: self-control, moral, law and occasionally lack of necessary means are what keep our more beastly self at bay. Having lived more than a thousand years and being visited by that particular thirst on a daily basis, Klaus probably understands it better than most humans. So, when confronted by the probable fact that Cami’s light is eclipsed by her darkness, what does he do? He shrugs it off and half-jokes about having the guy killed. This act if acceptance, though simple, is undeniably sweet and it brings Cami the assurance that she needs to put her anxiety to rest.

Now, to the other couple that gets in the limelight this week: Haylijah. I’ve always had a mixed feeling about this pairing; sure, in season 1 I did ship them quite a bit. Things were all good and progressing until along came Jackson and his idea of a (useless, if I am to be honest) unification ritual. After Hayley and Jackson’s wedding, I sort of lost much of my hope for this ship – didn’t get excited with the scattered hints of romantic feelings between Elijah and Hayley since I’m not a big fan of the trope “marrying one and secretly in love with another”. That may lead to adultery real quick and adultery is my enormous YUCK! which I never want to see my noble stag fall into. But adultery may be the most unlikely scenario in The Originals; as stated many times by the show’s writers, Hayley’s loyal to Jackson and their marital vow and unless Jackson dies… oops, did I just say ‘die’… or decides that it’s time to abort this marriage then Haylijah still has a longggg way to go.

Despite what I just wrote above, there seem to be clues that Hayley’s gradually leaning to the Mikaelsons and personally, I think she’s better off with the Original family than with Jackson and the wolves. When she was most alone (the start of season 1), the Mikaelsons provided her with not only shelter, comfort but also protection, friendship, and love. Now that she’s a hybrid, with the Mikaelson’s blood flowing in her veins, it’s about time to pick a side. Vampires and werewolves don’t get along and probably never will and hybrids, being half-vampire, don’t mix in with the wolves either. Vampires and hybrids can sympathize with one another as they share the unique price of being dead once: heightened emotions and the regular need to snuff a living being’s life. Werewolves don’t have these and though Jackson let Hayley feed on him once or twice, he’ll never understand how she truly feels – to look around and see not wolves but moving blood bags. How long before Jackson begins to think that one day he may have to choose between Hayley and his pack? How long before he realizes that Hayley isn’t cut out for the domestic peaceful life he is building for them, and that Hayley, though she never says it out loud, craves the excitement and adrenaline rush that go hand in hand with the Mikaelsons’ lifestyle? Moreover, how long before he admits that he wants a child of his own instead of one that is his across-the-street neighbor’s? Hope’s birth, as Mikael said, is a very rare occurrence, a nature’s loophole, and it’s not a concrete proof that hybrids can procreate, and Hayley is much likely to be sterile like every other vampire.

Before I conclude this weekly rant, let’s talk a little more about Tristan’s torture, which is the most hilarious thing of this episode. Last week we had the failed interrogation of the year and this week we are treated to the failed torture of the year. Seriously, when I read or hear the word “torture”, I expect something “deliciously medieval”, like Game-of-Thrones medieval and “delightfully gruesome”, and Tristan’s torture is disappointedly neither. The level of violence in this sequence amounts to that of a rough foreplay, which I suspect Elijah and Tristan enjoy whenever they could spare some time from their hectic schedule. Sure wolf bites hurt a hell lot more than their usual vampire nibbles but Hayley bits him like, what, four times – believe me I did count the wounds on Tristan, unless she bites him in areas that cannot be shown without raising the rating. Freya’s spell sure looks a bit painful, yet exactly how much pain only Tristan knows: from an audience’s perspective, that spell weakens him but doesn’t leave a lot of damage. Speaking as someone who has (unfortunately) watched Gurotesuku (a Japanese torture porn in case you want to Google), enjoyed all seven installations of Saw and not missed a single episode of Game of Thrones, I can safely say the writers could have gotten more creative in making Tristan suffer and making it look more like torture and less like foreplay. Tristan is my babe and I don’t like seeing him hurt (maybe not so much) but at the same time I also want to see Elijah uphold his ‘promise’ of bloodshed.

Highlights of the episode:

• Klaus and Cami’s working in perfect tandem to lower Aurora’s guard so that Klaus can attack her when the timing is right. They didn’t have a word beforehand, merely working on their mutual and unwavering trust.

• Klaus and Cami’s lingering hug

• Despite not contributing much to the plot, Lucien still proves to be a valuable asset to the show. Looking at the various faces he makes in annoyance as well as hearing his “incessant chatter” is very much entertaining.

• Lucien and Aurora’s tiny scene near the end – like two little lost puppies

• Hayley and Tristan’s banter. Does Tristan threaten to pluck Hayley’s eyes to get even on Elijah because last episode Elijah threatened to pluck his? Those two should really stop with their lovers’ empty threats already.

• Elijah’s being very amused by his old ex and new ex’s ‘battle’. He seems to enjoy himself a little too much to be appropriate.

• Elijah’s lack of any immediate punishment for Tristan, who very casually claims that he wants to harm Hayley. Remember when Lucien talked shit about Hayley (calling her a “tramp”) and got deep-throated in the next instance? Your favoritism is showing, Elijah.

• Elijah’s threat to fetch the chainsaw. Really? He stores a chainsaw in the compound? For what?? Occasions like this?

• The entire ‘torture’ sequence. Is it just my twisted fangirl mind or Elijah really asks Freya and Hayley to help him loosen up Tristan to make it smooth and easy for the actual penetration done by Elijah later? I see what you did there, writers.

• Marcel deserves an Oscar nomination for his outstanding performance. Lucky for him, Elijah poses a large enough threat for Aya and Tristan that they don’t dare to go downstairs and check.

• Hayley’s not bothering to explain herself, merely jumping out of the window once she hears something wrong in the Mikaelsons’ house.

• Aya’s coming to Tristan’s rescue and Hayley’s helping Elijah. Don’t I just love it when the ladies save the men? Also, the parallel.

• Hayley’s subtle claim to be a member of the Mikaelson clan

• Elijah VS. The Strix’s suicide squad

• Original FINNNNNN!! Finally we can have Finn and Vincent separately. Christmas is really coming, isn’t it?

• No Jackson but we get Jackson’s Gram, which is not an improvement. Not to be disrespectful to elders but I see where Jackson gets that ungrateful streak. Since when the Mikaelsons have been reduced to only Klaus? What have Elijah, Rebekah and Freya taken from Hayley anyway? Do enlighten me, please.

#patiently_waiting_for_Bekah_and_Kol’s_return

#patiently_waiting_for_Tristan’s_episode_and_The_Strix’s_foundation

Out of the Easy – The Originals 3×07

Warnings: spoilers and badly made memes – the usual stuff you find on my half-assed episodic reviews.

Thanks to Thanksgiving, there was no new episode for a whole, long week (which was quite frustrating to a viewer living in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving), so I got a bit lazy and decided to postpone this episode’s thought for a week as well. That and I got very carried away by the crossover series between The Originals and Wasted on the Young (good movie, strongly recommended and Oliver Ackland [Tristan] is one of the leads, playing a shy, awkward teenager with a vindictive streak).

Source: fanpop.com

I’ve recently realized that I’ve subconsciously comparing The Vampire Diaries’ season 7 and The Originals’ season 3, especially episodes with similar themes, Thanksgiving, for instance. Perhaps it’s because I watched and grown to love TO first that I’m a little biased when it comes to personal opinions about the two shows, but if you asked me, I’d definitely say TO beat TVD this week. While I found myself rewatching Out of The Easy at least thrice (I rewatch every episode of season 3 by the way, much to my family’s chagrin), I watched Mommy Dearest for one time only – although the flashbacks of the Salvatores are quite touching, Enzo and Julian’s swordfight is a bore, Caroline’s pregnancy storyline is plain absurd and Lily’s change of heart is just too abrupt for me to actually feel anything for her sudden returned love for her sons. I understand that they’re trying to paint Julian as a charismatic villain; however, his charm is lost on me and watching him isn’t as entertaining as watching Kai or Silas.

Anyway, I should stop here. Must remind myself that I’m doing a review for TO, not TVD.

So, first, a brief summary of TO’s 3×07 – Out of the Easy: what you get when you bring an Original hybrid, an Original vampire and three ancient vampires, plus a roasted turkey to the same table. If you expect them to happily digest the turkey and everything yummy on the table and call it a successful dinner then perhaps we’re not watching the same show. In TO and TVD’s universe, “party” is synonymous to “disaster”, “mayhem” and very likely “(several) lives lost”. Remember that party in TVD’s season 3 where Klaus killed all remaining hybrids plus Tyler’s mom? That’s a perfect example of a “party” in this supernatural world. Although the Mikaelsons’ Thanksgiving dinner has neither heads chopped or a helpless middle-aged woman drowned, it’s in no way lacking of violence: threats fly, some beatings happen, and by the end of the dinner, someone gets his neck snapped. I once joked with a friend that the Mikaelsons’ problem-solving method was throwing a party, inviting their enemies and torturing/killing them. Simple enough. This is exactly how this Thanksgiving dinner is all about: first, the Mikaelson brothers invite Aurora, Lucien and Tristan, then they expose The Trinity’s alliance and finally, they demand their sister’s return. Despite their estrangement and rift between them, which was thankfully deepened by Aurora, Klaus and Elijah surprisingly, but not too unexpectedly, found a common voice in their plan. Klelijah fangirls everywhere rejoice once more to see the brothers brushing aside their odds and working together to save their family. Family is power after all – divided, they become vulnerable but together, they’re stronger than anything, or anyone for that matter, the writers want to throw at them for the sake of us viewers having something to watch every week. “I against my brother, my brother and I against the infidel,” to quote Vincent Griffith.

Sadly, as the golden rule of storytelling goes, a weak, easily defeated villain guarantees a yawning plot and a likely cancellation. The rule dictates that the villains must be formidable and the heroes must struggle to prevail, with heavy emphasis on struggle. No victory comes too easy. The Trinity proves to be such villains. In terms of intelligence, cunningness and experience, they are quite on par with the Mikaelsons – their survival of The Destroyer Mikael despite being infant vampires is vivid proof. Moreover, they have a huge added bonus of not only knowing very well but also having Klaus and Elijah’s mindsets for a century, thus perhaps making them dangerous enemies than the Mikaelson brothers’ previous ones. Francesca Guerra and her lackeys fell easily to their strategy, Finn, in spite of being their brother, hadn’t been with them for 900 years, and while Dahlia was powerful, she didn’t know them very well. The dinner with The Trinity might be lacking in terms of body count and bloodshed, yet it’s every bit intense as a mind game between the diners, parrying with words and each piece of information they have. Unfortunately for our heroes, Aurora, Lucien and Tristan seem to have the upper hand. The three of them worked well in the past, and they’re working well at the moment. Even when Lucien chooses to spill the information about Cami (out of jealousy, probably), his doing serves Aurora’s later plan well.

Then, Freya strides in, furious in her futile search for Rebekah, and shatters the stalemate. Having been distanced from her siblings for a millennium and despite having read their minds before, she isn’t acquainted to her brothers’ tactics and she practically doesn’t care about all the pleasantries either: to her it’s either returning Rebekah or an all-out war. The daughter of Mikael that she is. The Trinity have no idea how to handle Freya, their well-oiled system stutters and Aurora throws out the crucial piece that she and Tristan have been keeping even from Lucien: Rebekah is drown at the bottom of the ocean.

The very nightmare of the Mikaelson siblings, the reason for Elijah to turn his back from Klaus and help the Mystic Falls gang kill his brother. Things proceed very quickly from words to violence, as they drop their façade of civility and act on their original purpose when they invited their foes to their home: Tristan is effortlessly restrained by Elijah, Aurora gets her neck snapped and The Trinity are interrogated separatedly – Elijah and Klaus against Lucien and Tristan and Freya and Hayley against Aurora.

Now this is why I’m so fascinated with this show: it tears down the gender-appropriate illusion that society has been imposing on men and women. Here in this show, the women are as violent and vicious as the men, perhaps even more, and this is well illustrated in this interrogation parallel. While the guys pick up their earlier mind game, resulting in more conversations rifled with (sexual) tension, the girls opt for an entirely different approach. As Freya makes the room soundproof, she calls in Hayley, who insists on having a part in this homicidal dinner plan, and the two of them engage in a battle with Aurora. There, the actual bloodshed we viewers have been expecting from the beginning of the episode.

On a side note, I’m slightly disappointed that all Freya can do is giving Aurora minor headaches. Come on, how about making her scream – isn’t that reason for making the room soundproof? Strip her off her daylight ring and burn her one part at a time? Or the cool and unusual death she gave Cassie in season 2, by liquidifying the internal organs? Sure that wouldn’t kill Aurora but she’d be guaranteed one hell of a pain. Or how about setting her pretty face or limbs on fire? If Bonnie and the Heretics can ignite things with a simple “Incendia”, surely Freya can do the same and better. I guess the rating of this show (teen?) wouldn’t allow such obscene, but otherwise realistic, level of violence so we’re subject to the failed interrogation of the year and have to watch as Tristan and Aurora emerge with temporary triumph.

Latitude and longitude. Clever girl.

In the previous review, I predicted that Aurora and Lucien would sell Tristan to the Mikaelsons, basing my guess on the stills of episode 3×08. Well, I’m very glad that I was proven absolutely wrong. Like the Mikaelsons, Tristan and Aurora share a deep and profound bond (incestuous aspect aside). The saying “Family is power” applies to them as well and this is what earns them the advantage against their opponents. They are each other’s strength – working side by side, supporting each other – and at the same time, weakness. Aurora doesn’t faze one bit when threatened by Hayley’s threat of werewolf toxin, but when Tristan’s life may be endangered, she immediately loses her cool. She plays the ‘fun’ villain role from the beginning, cracking (somewhat blasphemous) jokes about Rebekah’s having “plenty company down there”, not at all afraid to anger Klaus; nonetheless, when Klaus takes her brother hostage, Aurora becomes immensely furious and vows to take vengeance. The extent of her fury remains to be seen in the next episode, yet it’s already predictable that she intends to make Cami suffer in order to spite Klaus. Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn indeed.

Now it all comes down to whether it’s Tristan or Cami can last longer.

Speaking of Cami, our token human, I’ve always liked Cami since the pilot episode and as the story progresses, I like her more and more – frankly I don’t see why people call her annoying and hate her. Because Klaus likes her and the Klaroline ship is utterly ruined? Please, Klaroline is so past tense and both parties have moved far on. As far as I know, she’s one hell of a strong woman though she has no super abilities. It’s easier for Freya, Hayley, Rebekah or even Davina to be strong and fierce because they have their powers, be it vampire, werewolf, hybrid or witch power. In contrast to the supernatural women in this show, Cami has only her head to save herself and damn, doesn’t she put her IQ to good use? This is probably the first time a normal human bests a vampire with no other aid than a beer bottle. Feel free to correct me but this is my very definition of “badass”. What Cami sorely lacks is just luck– she would have escaped had the timing not been so horrendous. Now there are rumors flying around that Cami may be turned in the few next episodes but I don’t believe that’s the case. As many have pointed put before, Cami is TO’s Matt Donovan and Matt still remains human after six seasons of going through various perils and deaths. On the other hand, I’d have no problem with vamp Cami: it’d put her less in the damsel in distress shoe nobody likes to see her in and maybe she’d even kick many asses.

Highlights of the episodes:

• The setting of the compound in this Thanksgiving dinner – wow!

• Elijah’s wearing something a bit lighter for a change

• Did Elijah just imply gay sex and possible threesome with Lucien and Tristan?

• Klaus’s reply to his brother’s shady suggestion is plain LOL.

• Elijah’s flinging threats at Tristan’s face. The Earth must be shifting on its axis for Klaus to be the one to curb Elijah’s threats. Seriously.

• … and Tristan’s not fighting back at all when Elijah pushes him to the wall though he’s only about ten years younger than Elijah as a vampire – Shen Min fought back and he was two-century younger. Is it just me or Tristan is incredibly submissive to Elijah? He may go sneaking behind Elijah’s back but in front of his sire, he utterly… behaves?!

• Not to mention Lucien’s being (kind of) submissive to Klaus too

In case you’re wondering, the two on the left are Mr. and Mrs. March – American Horror Story: Hotel

• A lot of gayness just got past the radar in this episode! Max Raabe’s cover of Supreme goes extremely well with this: “…all the handsome men are gay…”

• Cami’s disfingering that vampire Anton

• Aurora’s friend-zoning Lucien. Poor boy. A thousand years is a pretty long time.

• Davina’s being Regent no longer. I prefer her as a non-Regent witch – she’s way cooler when she doesn’t have political power messing with her head.

• Elijah’s calling Lucien “Lucy” (confirmed by Andrew Lees)

• Aurora and Tristan’s looking out for each other

• Marcel and Vincent’s looking out for Davina

• The Mikaelson siblings working together to save Rebekah. Thanks Elijah for still having trust in his brother’s loyalty to their family. Thanks Klaus for not betraying that trust and choosing to fight together with Elijah instead of doing as his old self would (his therapy sessions with Cami are of much merit).

• Lucien’s looking very sharp in that dark suit

• Jackson’s leaving the house =))). Why not leaving the show altogether? Has he finally realized the error of his way when he proposed to Hayley in season 2, that he wouldn’t get Andrea Labonair but Hayley Marshall Mikaelson? Like Marcel, Hayley is a Mikaelson in spite of her name; after all, the blood that is keeping her alive is the Mikaelson blood. Whether Jackson likes it or not, she won’t give up on that family – she’ll be there for them even when they aren’t beckoning her.

Here’s a bonus ^^