The Originals Review 3×14: “A Streetcar Named Desire”

An old friend arrives for a visit and ancient ties are severed for good on this week’s The Originals.

Last week on The Originals we were treated to the realization of a plot put together by the loose canon, Aurora (Rebecca Breeds). This week, we pick up where she left off and join up with Aya (Tracy Ifeachor) and her grand proposal to work with the crazy red-head for the united purpose of bringing down Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies.) An added bonus, we get a cross-over visit from The Vampire Diaries by way of Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) who arrives in New Orleans to seek help in ridding himself of a magical mark connected to the vampire hunter Rayna Cruz (Leslie-Anne Huff.)

The plot thickens when a heavy dose of magic is involved and we are given an in detail look at the inner psyche of Klaus and Elijah in an unexpected turn of event involving the Strix and their coven of witches in their quest to sever the sire line link on both of the brothers. We find out what became of Lucien (Andrew Lees) and his brief dalliance with Aurora and we are given a rare emotional moment between Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) and Stefan in the midst of the uncertain battle they’ve yet to fight.

This week’s episode was packed with emotional heart-string-jerking moments as well as it’s fair share of on the edge of your seat action and HOLY PICKLES it was darn good. Let’s take a closer look and dissect all this goodness, together.

White knights, fallen kings, and spurned queens.

The Strix manage to get the upper hand for once when they successfully lure Klaus and Elijah into their magical trap. In doing so, they also reunite Aurora and Tristan (Oliver Ackland) in a sort of mental wonderland. As strange as it all is, it presents a perfect opportunity for the old ‘friends’ to discuss grievances, lay out their devious plan, and allow us a view to get a look into the deeper psyche of the Original vampire brothers. As crazy as Aurora is, I give her merit in her twisted schemes. So far, they’ve all seemed to work in one way or another and have successfully caused more trouble than Klaus or Elijah had ever imagined she would be capable of. The team up of Aurora and Aya brings the object of their desired vengeance into the very web they carefully wove to bring their plan to a successful end. While incapacitated, the brothers are given the task to find the object within the room that represents them in order to break free of their mental prison before The Strix’s coven can finish the spell to sever the sire line links. The obvious choice becomes the chess pieces, the knights and kings in particular.

“But do you not also claim to be a king, darling? Oh yes, that’s more fitting. And yet the king is both the greatest and the weakest piece on the board. It flounders around once all it’s defenders dessert it. Much like what will happen to you when that sire link breaks. Once their chains fall, they’ll clamber for a piece of white oak to shove into your heart.” – Aurora

The interesting thing about Klaus is his anti-hero aspect. He does terrible things in the name of family and his own paranoia over survival and gaining power of those that would seek to destroy him. Through the ages, he has done many evil things, most of them to protect his Original siblings and himself. The noble part of his character is that he truly loves deeply when he chooses to care about a particular person and goes to great lengths to ensure their happiness and continued safety. This doesn’t always work out as we have seen countless times, due to his notorious nature and tendency to create conflicts with those around him. What is the most interesting is that he continues to see himself as the white knight, the protector of all, yet ends up hurting those that he holds dear more often than not.

Like it or not, all those that Klaus has cared for in the past and his own family do not always view him in the most flattering of lights but they always seem to come around and defend him in some way. Aurora does have a point, that those that Klaus holds dear may not be fighting for him because they love him, they fight for him because they feel obligated due to the nature of the sire link bond. Now that that bond was successfully torn away from him, it will be interesting to see what dear friends or even family rises up to attempt to end his reign for good.

Believe in me and I’ll believe in you.

There’s a certain sort of intrigue and warm fuzzies when it comes to Davina and Marcel (Charles Michael Davis). They’ve been at odds with one another, much like a father and daughter, and she even admits to him that he is her only family now. It’s nice to see that despite the different paths they’ve been set upon they remain loyal to one another. My heart bled for Marcel when he goes against what he had rallied for in the past and practically begged Davina not to go through with the spell to break the sire bond. Out of his fear of her failure and the fragility of his own life, he reveals to Davina the dangerous nature of Aya’s plan.

“You’ll always protect me no matter what. Even if I hate you for it. You deserve to be free of Klaus. We all do.” – Davina

Davina has only ever wanted to make Marcel proud of her. He protected her when no one else would, even if he had ulterior motives involved with his subsequent ruling of New Orleans at the time. But because he stepped up for her and continued to do so even after she left his care, a bond was created and it was one that she continued to honor up until Marcel went against her wishes and helped Hayley and Stefan take down the witches as Freya (Riley Voelkel) worked to free Klaus and Elijah from their magical trance. There’s no telling what Davina will do now that she sees that Marcel will protect her no matter what, but that his life is more important to him than taking a risk to believe in her success. As heartbreaking as that betrayal was, she showed her own bit of deviousness when she followed through with her spell, breaking the sire bond link upon Klaus and used the hemorrhaged energy from him to bring back his brother Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic) for good. The biggest question here is in what manner Kol was revived. Is he back to his Original status, a vampire? Or is he back as a human or witch as it were, in tact with all his previous powers to be used in whatever plans may lay in the future to deter the prophecy from fulfilling itself?

This is what I’m fighting for.

It was an absolute thrill to see Stefan Salvatore grace the streets of New Orleans and reunite with his old friend Klaus, even if it was for a life threatening reason. Thankfully, Freya was able to help him and he remained to aid in the battle against the Strix and their magical plot to end Klaus and Elijah’s lives. In fact, Stefan was for the most part a great in help in coming up with the plan to allow him and Hayley access to the Strix estate without arising suspicion. By Marcel driving into the manor with Hayley and Stefan inside the trunk, it gave ample opportunity for the old acquaintances to discuss their current positions in life and who they currently hold most dear.

“I never really understood the brotherly bond until I met Klaus and Elijah. They hurt each other more than anyone, but they’re vicious when it comes to protecting each other.” – Hayley

For Hayley, she holds her daughter Hope in the highest regard, but at the same time she holds a special spot for Klaus. It has nothing to do with sire bond link, because she has no sire, and everything to do with him being the father of her child. Though she may say that it’s purely looking after Hope and making sure she doesn’t grow up without a father, there’s more than that. Stefan makes a good point about it depending on the father. Just because you have one, doesn’t mean they should necessarily still be in your life. However, Hayley feels as if Klaus does right by his daughter and is prepared to look after his well being at the detriment to her own. Her views about their loyalty are extraordinary and correct. She knows that being part of the family means they are part of the ‘always and forever’ adage, even if she is only included as being Hope’s mother.

Stefan on the other hand has the sire link bond to defend. If Klaus had met his end, so would he and the one he now holds most dear, Caroline (Candice Accola). There’s a brief conversation here between Hayley and Stefan about her and Klaus’ past connection with Caroline that brought back old memories and may have induced a little fangirl squee out of me when mentioned. There’s no doubt that Caroline still holds a candle in Klaus’ heart, but there is no question that Stefan has the torch for the time being. It was great to see old relationships brought to light and connections acknowledged within The Vampire Diaries and The Originals universe.

Conclusion: The end of a legacy.

To lay things flat, The Strix was only partially successful in their mission as the sire link bond was only removed from Klaus and not Elijah. By that failure, Aya feels that she has ultimately failed and still seeks the solution to end her connection with Elijah whom she felt had ultimately wronged her and abandoned her. Hayley was quick to solve that problem by placing a stake through her heart right before Elijah’s eyes. Talk about harsh. By doing so, a legacy has ended, not only in her leadership of the Strix but also a past connection of Elijah’s that he held dear. The Strix will now be entirely under Marcel’s control, not only for show, but in absolution without Aya’s presence being among them.

More endings and possible new beginnings are presented with the removal of Klaus’ sire line. This leaves Klaus without his long line of dependent soldiers protecting him out of duty for their own lives. This being so, he is only left with those that truly value him as a friend to have his back. This may not be a good thing for him, as he’s so used to making enemies because they cannot kill him due to their lives being linked. I think this just adds more interest to Klaus’ character and allows for a vulnerability in him that we’ve never seen before. Gone is his invincibility factor and he will have to get used to the fact that almost none of his vampire progeny no longer owe him any sort of allegiance.

All in all, this episode was very well written and put together. Kudos to Diane Adamu-John and Beau DeMayo for putting together a plot line so juicy you would have to mop it up at least three times before absorbing all the goodness. The play on the chess pieces and representation of who exactly Klaus and Elijah were to Aya and Aurora was magnificently done. It was a riddle that seemed all too easy and obvious, but when the answer was revealed that it was not them at all who the pieces were to represent, but that the women they had scorned, it all fell together perfectly. I believe I cheered when Freya started grabbing those Queen pieces and bringing the brothers back to the here and now. Not only was the imagery beautiful, but the connection of all the characters involved was perfectly done. There were no extraneous reasons for anyone involved. All had their part, from Aya wanting to be rid of Elijah, to Aurora settling her grievances but also finding aid in retrieving her brother, to Davina seeking absolution with Marcel and gaining her chance to revive Kol, it all made perfect sense, and that’s extremely rare for an episode to tie things in with so much flare and satisfaction for the viewer.

I for one, am looking forward to next week’s episode of The Originals. There’s so many questions left to be answered all in the wake of the consequences this episode has brought. Bring it on!

Questions, Comments & Concerns

• What does this mean for Klaus now that his sire link is gone? He no longer has the protection of of the sire bond to those that would seek to end his life. How will he deal with being even more vulnerable than ever before?
• Will there be bad blood between Hayley and Elijah after what she did to Aya?
• Will Aurora remain and try to do away with Klaus now that the sire bond is obliterated?
• Sparks were flying between Lucien and Freya? Is there a potential love connection there?
• Is Kol really back for good? Is he human again or still a vampire? And will Davina be just as smitten with the true version of him?
• Will Klaus pay more attention to Hayley and be softer towards her due to Stefan’s kind request?