The Originals Review: 3×10 “A Ghost Along the Mississippi”

Heartbreak and second chances on this week’s The Originals lead to turmoil, revenge, and a shift in loyalties.

Welcome back and what a welcome it is! This week’s The Originals starts us out right where we left off in the lap of tragedy. But lo and behold, we’re given some hope by that tragedy being lessened somewhat by the immediate if not surprising revival of Camille (Leah Pipes). This turn of events seems to brighten the day for our upset antihero Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and turn a situation from uncontrollable and tragic, to manageable and possibly a good thing.

Elsewhere, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) and Jackson (Nathan Parsons) are taken hostage by The Strix under orders of their leader Tristan (Oliver Ackland) in retaliation for his previous torturing at the hands of the Mikaelsons. A true multi-tasker, Tristan also seeks the help of the new Regent of New Orleans, Mr. Vincent Griffith (Yusuf Gatewood) to activate the power of the ancient talisman and secret powerful weapon in order to be rid of the Original family once and for all.

Several lives are at stake and plans of revenge brewing on the horizon make this week’s episode a mix of intrigue and action.

I’m not dead!

Camille O’Connell has always been the shining beacon of virtue and sanity amidst the clan of vampires, werewolves, and witches and until now has managed to dodge through their battles unscathed. In this turn of events, we are given back her character by a hidden underlying plot of Aurora’s (Rebecca Breeds) but remain on edge as to whether or not she will choose to remain amongst the living as a vampire. It’s a hard decision and one that Klaus is loathed to give her, considering he had thought that she was lost to him forever by her unexpected demise.

“This is not about you. This is about me. I like who I am. I’ve spent my entire life being this exact version of sane and if I turn, if I become a vampire, I don’t know who I’ll be. I don’t know what I’ll be.” – Camille O’Connell

The giant question here in this episode is: will she choose to feed and live her life as a vampire? Klaus seems to assume that she would automatically choose to keep living under and circumstance. However, true to Cami’s character she initially chooses to die as the person she knows rather than find out what darkness would ensue.

It’s been hinted at from the start that the series that Cami is not what she seems. The discussion of her inner darkness is one that has been played with time and again but never really outright displayed. There was the mention of the act of violence she had done against a man who had threatened and attacked a fellow college student, but that’s really the only taste we had of this supposed evil Cami. Even so, that act was done of righteousness, which in turn is really most of what Klaus suffers from as well. Nefarious acts done out of the better good are sometimes not the greatest choice.

Cami manages to help the Mikaelson family in her altered non-living / non-dead state and it helps her tip the scale in the final decision she makes to feed and live her life as a vampire in the hope of battling for good with a new focus. Hopefully, her premonition of the darkness taking her over will not become a permanent reality and being the person that she was in her human life will give her extra strength to keep on the path she was formerly following.

A time for vengeance.

Chaining and torturing an ancient vampire with a lifelong vendetta against your family do not come without consequences. The consequence being here the capture and subsequent chaining up and torturing of Hayley and Jackson. Tristan is correct in assuming that the blow of retaining these two would be a grave one. It’s only moments after Jackson pours his heart out to Hayley that he literally loses it. All of this in retaliation for his brief stint in the French Quarter under the jaws of Hayley in order to get the information regarding Rebekah’s (Claire Holt) whereabouts.

“I’ve always loved you. When I first saw you, I broke. You broke me and nothing has ever been the same since. I just want you to know that it was real. Every moment. Every touch. Every word.” – Jackson Kenner

The loss of Jackson will cause ripples amongst the supernatural community being that he was the pack leader and sort of king of the territory amongst the werewolves of New Orleans. With him out of the way, there will no doubt be a territorial war sparked amongst the packs. General distrust of Hayley has always been prevalent due to her connections with the Original family and her status as a hybrid. We can only hope that the pack will trust Hayley as their leader for the time being, or that she will choose to step down now that the added benefit of hybrid powers of her union with Jackson is no longer existent with his death.

Either way, it looks like Hayley will have many choices to make in the upcoming days now that she has lost her husband and the leader of her pack. Also, the other intriguing point to this loss is that she would now be free to rekindle her relationship with Elijah (Daniel Gillies) though it would not be the smartest move under the circumstances to garner trust with her pack if she chooses to continue to lead. We may yet have to hold on to the longing looks they give one another and wait until another time for this repressed romance to ensue.

Laying down the law.

Ever the eye for an eye sort of folks, Tristan’s plan to draw the Mikaelson’s out by threatening Hayley’s life is soon brought to an end by Elijah and Klaus orchestrating a plot to take a hostage of their own. The constant back and forth between the two becomes ever more entangled when they take Aurora as leverage to retrieve Hayley from the hands of The Strix and Tristan.

Most of these actions rely heavily on the help of Vincent. Due to Vincent being forced into using his magic to activate the powers of the talisman for Tristan earlier in the episode under false pretenses, he is keen to help the Originals with their plan to bring Tristan to a stalemate and possible end. If there was ever an MVP for an episode, Vincent takes this one by far. His impressive powers as Regent of New Orleans seem to have increased and he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes is the correct decision while still remaining loyal to his ancestors. His character has evolved so much within the last few episodes, from starting as a mere puppet for Finn’s (Casper Zafer) soul, he has climbed to the top of his game and power and is as much as an agent for himself as he is for the witches of New Orleans.

“Before you rush headlong toward almost certain death. As your sire, I’d like to invite you all to employ just a little bit of common sense.” – Elijah Mikaelson

All said and done, Vincent aids Freya in the plan to trap Tristan within his own talisman. With a little loophole help from Cami, they are able to subdue him and use the talisman that was powered by Vincent to trap him in a shipping crate, scheduled to be dumped at the bottom of the ocean for an indefinite amount of time. The Mikaelson clan seems to have triumphed here, with only the slight snag of Aurora escaping their clutches while the witches were busy, presumably with Lucian’s help. It’s a bad day for The Strix as they are forced to retreat and turn their backs upon Tristan to save themselves and not waste the time and effort and the possible loss of their own lives for what Elijah puts as a “petty grievance.”

Conclusion: Leaderships and loyalties have shifted.

With Tristan exiled into a miserable fate of eternal drowning and darkness, The Strix are under the guidance of Aya for the time being. It will be interesting to see if she will take the position without question and lead them in other directions now that their previous leader is no longer in play. Elijah, being the head of their sire line would have an opportunity to try and seize the reigns from her hands but it remains to be seen if this is even an option that would be beneficial to anyone.

The witches of New Orleans have been somewhat on the sidelines for most of the action going on the recent episodes, but it looks as if they may have a larger presence rise up with the local werewolf pack losing its long-time leader and The Strix readjusting as well. It only goes to reason that they’ll have their turn in the spotlight and a possible return of Davina in the coming days. Though, this week’s episode did give us a delicious insight of just how much power Vincent has and dedication, as well as a spark of a decent character being a good friend to Camille in her time of need. I’m looking forward to seeing him in upcoming events and hope that he will continue to evolve and become much more of a force to be reckoned with.

The main subplot underlying all of this, the choice of Camille to become a vampire was an interesting one. I was delighted to see her return within the opening minutes, but at the same time was somewhat disappointed as it lessened the emotional shock we all received from the mid-season finale. The habit of most characters coming back from the dead and never being gone for good has almost become a stale mechanism in this series and others, so I was hoping that there would a greater struggle in Cami’s choice. I loved the verbal play between her and Klaus and the gentle guidance given by Elijah on the sidelines. It really highlighted the deep emotions that are present within their relationship with one another and brings up the theme of fear of losing loved ones to death that constantly plagues Klaus. Though in the end, Cami did decide to drink human blood and come to the dark side, it was somehow not as satisfying as I had presumed it would be.

My main worry is that they will immediately throw her character off the deep end and immediately kill minuscule steps Klaus and Cami had building in their relationship in seconds. What Klaus loves about Cami are her honesty, integrity, and the willingness to see past his darkness and bad behavior and constantly hold on to the light that resides deep within him. Without that being present, I’m thinking what was between the two of them will no longer exist and a the love that Klaus spared for her was attached to her humanity. Though really, I’m all for seeing a wild and out of control Cami rampage New Orleans against Klaus’ wishes.

Comments & Concerns

• How will vampirism effect Cami’s character? Will she give in to the darkness immediately or will she be able to keep her sanity in check and live a life of honesty and integrity as she hoped?
• Without Jackson, will the pack trust Hayley as their sole leader or will they ask her to step down and choose a replacement?
• Will Elijah attempt to take control of The Strix as their sire or will Aya fight for the position and remain in New Orleans?
• Willy Hayley and Elijah rekindle their relationship?
• What repercussions will be upon Vincent for dabbling in vampire business as the coven’s new Regent?
• Did Lucian really help Aurora escape? And if so, what will he be willing to do to for her and her deep-seated desire for revenge against Klaus?