The Originals Review 3×08 “The Other Girl in New Orleans”

This week on The Originals: Aurora goes off the rails and The Strix mix things up all for Tristan.

This week’s episode of The Originals 3×08 “The Other Girl in New Orleans,” was all about highlighting the utter insanity and high emotions of one of our newest leading ladies, Aurora de Martel. (Rebecca Breeds) While we know she had kidnapped Camille (Leah Pipes), bitten her and stuffed her in a trunk and taken her to parts unknown, in order to have a bargaining chip to keep her brother Tristan (Oliver Ackland) from harm. What we didn’t know was just the amount of jealousy and utter and anger and insanity that was driving her motives.

RELATED | The Originals 3×08: Inside “The Other Girl in New Orleans”

This leaves Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Lucien (Andrew Lees)  on a wacky scavenger hunt in order to save the damsel in distress whilst the rest of the gang: Elijah (Daniel Gillies) , Freya (Riley Voelkel), and Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), are back at the HQ torturing the crap out of Tristan in order to discover the coordinates of their dear sister Rebekah’s (Claire Holt) watery grave. A bit of information is revealed from Tristan’s brain in the form of one word: Cepheus. All does not end well, when Marcel (Charles Michael Davis)  arrives by order of The Strix along with Aya (Tracy Ifeachor), to rescue Tristan. He seemingly betrays Elijah but is later revealed that he is a double agent, going along with his new masters in order to gain information for his soul allegiance with the originals. Eventually, Klaus puts a stop to Aurora’s tantrum suitable of a spoiled toddler and leaves her to nurse her broken heart whilst he sweeps in and saves Cami. Marcel is well on his way to being major intel on the doings of The Strix. At this point, it looks as if both information are set to lead the brothers on in interesting treasure hunt to retrieve their sister. Oh, and then there’s that random bit where Freya summons back Finn (Casper Zafer). But hey, we’ll get to the more minute details of that and more in a minute.

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Jealousy is a green-eyed monster or a red-headed vampire.

Things certainly start out on the wrong foot between Klaus’ old flame, Aurora and his current infatuation, Camille. There’s certainly no love lost between the two of them when Aurora sets her sights on doing away with the obstacle that taints her current goal to recapture Nick’s affections. However, Cami is not to be outwitted by the jealousy fueled centuries old vampire by sheer force. Throughout the episode, we are treated to a series of poignant conversations between the two characters and are given insightful inside information about the both of them. We see just how damaged and emotional Aurora can be and why her brother has taken pains to correct her behavior over the countless years. We are even informed that Aurora’s latest diagnosis to her mental state is bi-polar disorder. Whereas, in Cami’s case, we get a further glimpse into her ability to remain cool under pressure and analyze a situation with her psychological know-how.

“Maybe I’m looking for the ways in which we are alike. See, Nick’s been obsessed with me for centuries and now he’s infatuated with you… what do you think the overlap is between us?” – Aurora

We even get a glimpse of Cami’s darker side by the wheedling questions of borderline-insane, Aurora. She’s so focused on proving that Cami is not as good as she looks to be on the surface, but only succeeds in revealing Cami’s inherent heart of gold. Even her darkest secret and disgrace was fueled by sincere reasons and an attempt to do good for the sake of others. What is most interesting is that this is much like Klaus’s character in the fact that most of his evil undertakings have been for the most part or in the beginning, done for the sake of his family or the greater good. It’s an interesting piece of information that Cami leans towards the same behaviors and thus has more of an insightful understanding into the head of the Mikealson family that others do not. Aurora has to settle for being severely disappointed in that though Klaus admits that he loves her, his concern and admiration for Cami persists and continues to shine through. Cami is highlighted in this episode as being the human side and the spark of hope in humanity that Klaus still wishes to see in himself.

Hold my baby while I cut a bitch.

Meanwhile, Tristan is being tortured for information. Though Freya and Elijah contribute to much of the questioning and general set up, it is Hayley that delivers most of the physical hurt due to her hybrid status and venomous bite. It’s a wonder that with all her responsibilities she is able to be the deliverer of most of the Mikaelson clan’s dirty work while still delivering one of the most classic of mom lines ever.

“Don’t be such a baby or I”ll give you something to really cry about.” – Hayley

This is touched on briefly in the episode by the appearance of Mary, essentially Hope’s grandmother from The Crescent werewolf pack. She reminds Hayley that she’s now a wife and a mother and most importantly still a member of the pack by blood. While her efforts are noble and her loyalty to the Mikaelson family  is admirable, it is something that she may have to choose sides on in the future.

On the other side of the things, we have Tristan’s loyal organization, The Strix, working to save him and lay low some of their enemies in the process. We see Aya approach Marcel to call him to declare war against those that sired him in favor of their faction. Besides the use of the same-old overused special weapon against originals ploy, the premise is an interesting one. Marcel has shown in the past that he is loyal to a certain point. We know he values his own power and position, but we also know it takes a lot effort to turn him against those he considers family and loved ones. The proposed action of Marcel approaching the Mikaelsons as a friend and simply asking for Tristan with an ulterior motive of getting close and attacking the family is something that is almost laughable and unbelievable as it is played out. However, when it all comes down to it, Marcel keeps a visible loyalty to The Strix by leading their raid to retrieve Tristan but also coming to the rescue by healing Freya after Aya brutally and mortally stabs her. It just goes to show that Marcel is loyal as they come and while he may not be in the best and safest position in the midst of everything, he will do all that he can to continue his double-agent behavior to expose the inner workings of The Strix.

Nefarious Plots, Infatuations, and Family Reunions. Oh my!

We can’t help but wonder what Aurora will do next now that she has been set a peg lower by the target of her affections. It seems that Lucien is attempting to sweep up the pieces and perhaps restore his place in her mind as a romantic interest in spite of his brittle allegiance with Niklaus. Also, the main point of this episode and perhaps the pinnacle of interest is brought to light by Klaus’ heroic rescue of Cami within the church from the grasp of Aurora’s fledglings. The moment he offers her hand to the emotion filled embrace, it’s obvious that Klaus has an inkling of something more than friendship in his heart when it comes to Cami. That’s not to say that there is any romantic interest at this point, but it sure does make your heart ache when Klaus’ soft and protective side comes out in regard to the “lowly therapist.”

“Don’t kill anyone for me, please.” – Camille

“Whatever you want.” – Klaus

By the end of the episode, the brothers have succeeded in gaining the information they had sought both from Tristan and Aurora by use of force and a little bit of meddling in minds. There are devious plans ahead to further infiltrate The Strix and figure out the meaning of the ill begotten premonition that haunts them and above all rescue Rebekah and bring her back into the fold. And last but not least, Freya summons an unlikely but valuable member of the Mikaelson clan, Finn. It’s interesting reveal and

FINAL VERDICT: All’s well that ends well. Or does it?

While the plot of the eighth episode of The Originals third season, “The Other Girl in New Orleans” takes in around the subject of Aurora’s fixation on Klaus and general insanity. It does bring up the point and the question of just why is Camille so valuable to Klaus? In the midst of shady premonitions, missing family members and intricate games of lies and deceit amongst the vampire factions, we are given a more intimate view into as to what makes Cami tick and why it is of value to Niklaus. And boy did that whole situation play out. You could cut the unspoken romantic tension with a knife. Both Joseph Morgan and Leah Pipes did a superb job at displaying their characters’ deep regard for one another without actually having to state it. That in itself is acting at it’s finest. In the future, we hope to see this relationship progress, if not deepen on a platonic or romantic level.

There were some golden moments of dialogue in this episode, from swoon worthy to humorous in a kick-ass sort of way.  Michael Russo and Michael Narducci continue to give character to old favorites and layers of intrigue to others, giving food for the actors to play off. This episode also had heart. An underlying subplot was brought to the front by highlighting Aurora’s anger and jealousy regarding Cami. It talked about an issue that until now had remained something that was mentioned only in passing: Klaus’ high regard for Ms.O’Connell.

The real star in this episode directed by Kellie Cyrus, was the action and scenes used to forward the plot. While going back and forth between scenes that all relate to each other but nothing much is happening is a hard thing to do, somehow the editing and synchronization brought together a story with many layers that came off as seamless and easy to follow.

We’re left with a resolution to a plot that had been thickening from the get go, with the introduction of Aurora and Tristan, by allowing them to finally find the whereabouts of Rebekah, as well as throw into motion the importance of Marcel infiltrating the enemy. The cherry on top? Next week on The Originals we get to see Finn’s lovely face again and if all goes well, Rebekah’s in the mid-season finale.

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Questions, Comments & Concerns

• What feelings does Klaus really have for Cami? Do they extend beyond friendship? And if so, where will this lead them?
• And holy, wow! Was there some romantic tension in this episode for all the Klamille lovers out there!
• Hayley is not handling her multi-tasking responsibilities well. How will she manage to keep her marriage alive and her pack believing in her with juggling the responsibilities of being mother and a member of the all powerful Mikaelson clan?
• Marcel is getting in tight with The Strix. Is he successfully pulling the wool over Aya’s eyes regarding his true loyalties? Or are his loyalties slowly changing?
• Where will Aurora go from here? Will she give up so easily after being spurned? And where does this leave Lucien in his efforts to win her regards?
• Discovering the latitude and longitude of Rebekah’s whereabouts seemed a little too easy. There must be a catch somewhere once they find her.
• What’s up with the premonition? How close are they to solving what is to come?
• Seriously though, when will Klaus and Camille kiss already?

THE ORIGINALS MID-SEASON FINALE AIRS THURSDAY, DEC. 10 at 9|8c. on the CW