It’s been a week, and I’m still reeling from that finale. The Originals should really be proud of themselves. That was a very well done season ender to what has proven to be a great first season. This show knows it’s strengths, much like its parent series “The Vampire Diaries” and that’s just told tell the story, show the story play out in every painstaking detail.
No doubt that The Originals loves following the same formula that its parent series, The Vampire Diaries, does. It has loads of twists and turns, characters backstabbing one another and changing loyalties on a whim, lots of mind bending mythology and plenty of angst to burden just about anyone living in the French Quarter, let alone our main protagonists (who are often antagonists as well). It’s the characters that set The Originals apart, and this premise isn’t formed on the basis of a love triangle. At it’s core, it’s about family. Always and Forever. That foundation alone gives The Originals a lot more bite (pardon the pun).
Klaus and Elijah are 1,000 year old vampires that have supposedly see it all, but this is the highest the stakes have ever been for them. The birth of Klaus’ child, the miracle baby. Past threats have been harrowing (since someone always has it in their heads they must kill an original), but nothing compares to this threat. This is the whole ballgame. Their legacy. When the stakes are that high, the losses are much greater . “From The Cradle to a Grave” brilliantly depicted through an intensely emotional story what that kind of threat and potential loss does to this family. It’s devastating, it’s heartbreaking, and thanks to these brilliant actors and the fluid writing we felt every ounce of that pain. I’m still wrecked!
I adore the affinity Hayley has earned in both Klaus and Elijah’s lives. To Klaus, she will forever be the mother of his child. That earns a certainly loyalty reserved for no other being. He has a soft spot, but it’s not a romantic kind of love. It’s an appreciation for the most special gift he’s ever gotten in his life. That makes her family and she always will be. That’s a pretty sharp contrast to Elijah, who has gotten romantically involved. It’s refreshing to see that Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah isn’t a love triangle. It’s a family watching out for one another at all costs. Hayley took a while to grow on me this season and like Klaus I was crushed over her death. The scene of Elijah and Klaus holding Hayley’s corpse at the altar of the church was exquisite, all taking place to Hayley’s sentimental words to her unborn child in a letter. She was their martyr for their miracle child and her sacrifice brought all of us to tears.
Or at least the werewolf part of her was martyred. Hayley’s resurrection made perfect sense. Her death if it stuck would have actually violated canon. She had vampire blood in her veins thanks to the baby, and her baby’s blood is all that was needed to complete her transition. It’s only the second hybrid in existence that we know of (if you yell Tyler Lockwood at me I advise watching The Vampire Diaries’ finale). Well, maybe the baby is too. I’m trying to figure out what exactly the child is (witch, werewolf and vampire?)
Hayley wasn’t the only hero though. There’s another family member too, one that also came through in a surprising way. Marcel has been at odds with Klaus and Elijah all season, and long before then, but he wasn’t thinking of himself as he was dying from Klaus’ werewolf bite. He was thinking of his guys who were suffering the same fate. Marcel certainly inspired Davina to do extraordinary things. What a cool visual to see her pull every drop of Klaus’ blood on the car and pavement after his fight was Marcel into a cup to save both of them, even if it turned out it was only enough for one. For Marcel the choice was clear, Josh would get the blood.
I do love how Marcel has turned out to be very loyal and moral, choosing to take down baby killing witches instead of others. It just goes to prove that massacre he was part of a few weeks ago was very out of character. He’s formed some valuable alliances with Cami and Davina, and how cool was it to see Marcel get to throw the star that he found in Kieran’s private arsenal? In yet another cool visual (they must have saved a lot of the budget for the finale), the star that delivers a thousand cuts on impact shredded the evil Monique Deveraux as she was ready to kill the baby. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bitch witch.
There were enough emotional dingers in this episode to keep the water works going all hour. I was very touched by Klaus and Elijah lost in the graveyard, which had been cloaked to hide the witches and their upcoming baby sacrifice from Dad and Uncle Elijah. Poor Uncle Elijah. He was overcome with grief and angry at Klaus, but that’s because Hayley was dead. We find out this type of heartbreak is exactly why he doesn’t let people in. Klaus tried to comfort with the thoughts of him meeting his niece, which was a great reminder of their priorities. The baby is all that matters. That made the reunion with resurrected Hayley all that more special, even if she was on a vendetta.
My tears kept flowing when Marcel’s good deed does pay off. He took the baby and zoomed off to the compound in hopes Klaus would follow and heal his guys. Sadly, they were already dead (it was Mikael that killed them, right?). A dying Marcel, holding the child, is regretful, blaming all this on the day he led Michael to town all those years ago. He apologizes profusely to Klaus, but he’s already earned Klaus’ forgiveness. He saved his baby girl. Klaus feeds him his blood to heal him and then Dad holds his baby girl for the first time. It’s beautiful. This 1,000 year old vampire hybrid has just found the love of his life. The best part is Marcel has earned his redemption and is back in the fold where he should be.
Just in case we got any sort of inkling that the Mikaelson’s are a normal family though, we get a nice brutal reminder they are anything but. First, Davina, tired of Klaus’ tyranny while watching Marcel die, chose to resurrect Mikael. Once Marcel was out of the woods though she decided to keep him on ice for later, whenever she needs him, and used a binding spell to keep him to the church attic. He still wants to kill Klaus and all, but that has to wait. In the meantime Genevieve was captured by Hayley and Elijah and before she was taken out by the pissed off ancestors, she revealed the force behind the baby’s sacrifice. Consecrating their mother Esther into the ground wasn’t such a bright idea after all, because her power became part of the witch collective in New Orleans and she was the one that ordered the baby dead. Yes, this a whacked family dynamic.
This show had one more tearful surprise in store, for the core Mikaelson siblings are truly devoted to one another. Out of all the satisfying events, I found this one to be the most satisfying. The power trio and a baby are back at the compound figuring out their next move. Esther will never stop trying to kill this baby and others won’t either. There’s only one thing to do, send her away and make people believe she’s dead. Marcel found a stillborn baby and delivered it to Oliver to show that the miracle baby is dead. Cami found out and had a tearful meeting with Klaus, who ended their friendship because he’s poison and she’s beautiful (awww). Elijah and Hayley played perfectly the role grieving parents in the town square while Klaus took his baby daughter to the person who shall raise her and keep her safe for now. Yes, it can only be one person. Rebekah is back!
Rebekah earned this moment of trust, touched to see Klaus coming to her and vowing to not let him down. Klaus confided that he doesn’t trust anyone more than her and now she’s finally gotten her lifelong moment of redemption. Everything about this meeting is so sweet and lovely and I’m thrilled to see Rebekah back again but I’m doing okay until Rebekah asks what the baby’s name is. “Hope,” Klaus answers tearfully. Yep, I lose it. So perfect.
While we’re drying our eyes though there has to be a setup for season two, right? The “WTF” Cliffhanger?. Since Genevieve was dead, the fourth Harvest girl was supposed to rise, right? It looked like she did, except this didn’t seem to be her. This person, along with a young man calling her mother, went to Esther’s grave and put a rose on it. So could this be Esther and Finn? TBD S2.
Stray thoughts:
A fan girl side note, can I say how freaking happy Josh didn’t die. I so had him in the death pool, even though the mere thought broke my heart. I’m extremely happy to be wrong.
I’m just so glad to see Sebastian Roche working again. I don’t see how Mikael’s story can have any longevity, but can we hope the spell brought Kol back too? Pretty please???
Thank you so much The Originals for an exciting, wildly entertaining first season. The show moves to Mondays at 8pm next season and there’s so much to work with.
