The Originals Review: Episode 2×02 - Alive and Kicking

“The Originals” Brings Mikaelson Family Reunions!

In tonight’s episode of The Originals, we saw the return of the ever-beloved Mikaelson flashbacks, Hayley’s existential troubles transitioning into her continued steps forward to become a badass She-Wolf Queen, and Marcel continuing his work to rebuild an army from the ground up. Davina finds herself attacked by wolves sent by Ester and has to summon Mikael to handle them (kill, that means kill). Kol sees him, as does Elijah, and Klaus learns that Mummy Dearest is not quite so dead as she should be. By the end of the night, it’s evident we’re on the way to seeing one hell of a showdown. To top it all off, we were treated to the highly-anticipated return of Nathaniel Buzolic! Now let’s discuss!

There’s A She-Wolf In The Closet, Open Up And Set It Free

Last week, we noted how Phoebe Tonkin’s performance quality had been elevated to a level not seen throughout most of season one. This week, we saw more of that in Hayley’s story and character development. Hayley’s first scene showed the further building of tension between her and Elijah. Following a night out of witch-killing with Klaus, Hayley is found soaking in the tub by Elijah. They have a bit of an argument. She’s clearly acting out because of the pain she feels over the loss of her baby. Elijah seems to know this but it’s a little less clear if he can see that Hayley is painfully insecure about being a hybrid. She was only just beginning to find her way by learning about her roots and coming into her own as a wolf leader, only to undergo a violent physical transformation (not to mention childbirth and a slit throat). We can’t help but feel frustrated watching these two interact because Elijah’s rigid self-control is inadvertently hurting Hayley. When she stands up from the tub, it seems like she wants Elijah to “look” at her. Not as a sexual object, but in a way that will make her feel that he can still see her as being beautiful and desirable even though she is now a creature that thirsts for blood. Phoebe Tonkin provokes many emotions from us, as we route for Hayley to overcome her pain.

“She knows she can never live up to the pretty little picture you paint of her in your head. Your judgement only hurts her more.” ~ Klaus

The scenes in the woods with Klaus also continued the ongoing development of Klaus and Hayley’s relationship, another thing we didn’t see as much of in season one. He’s teaching her how to better understand how to use her abilities as a hybrid and the little smile from Klaus at his seeing her successfully use his advice on how to track was a nice touch from Joseph Morgan. Hayley finding her strength as a hybrid and as a leader of her people are a joy to watch, and something we look forward to seeing more of. But the heartbreaking part of Klaus and Hayley’s developing relationship is Elijah’s role in it. He pushed Klaus to help Hayley, believing it to be in both of their best interests, and in this episode, we learn that Elijah did something similar to Klaus with a young, still-human Marcel. When Elijah had begun showing Marcel some attention, Klaus grew insecure and de-daggered Kol, asking Elijah, “Why should I be alone?” At the episode’s conclusion, we learn that Marcel still has hurt feelings over Elijah’s apparent rejection of him all those years ago. With all those years to live, you’d think Elijah would have learned from experience but apparently not… or maybe just not yet. We’d hoped that Elijah would have taken Hayley’s words from last season to heart about taking what one wants, but perhaps this is just a lesson he’ll have to re-learn.

Welcome Back, ‘The Original’ Kol

We had our reservations about Daniel Sharman playing Kol. Though the revelation that Kaleb was Kol made for a juicy twist, it also meant that Daniel had to live up the brilliance of Nathaniel Buzolic’s portrayal. We were happy when the first flashback rolled up because the Mikaelson flashbacks always give us a deeper glimpse into the characters and their backstories, but we were elated when Nathaniel’s face popped up on the screen. There’s a great charm and mischievousness to Nathaniel’s Kol that brought an electric energy to the episode. His characterisation is downright devilish and though we know we should be mad at all the trouble he’s making, he’s just so much fun to watch!

“Look at my head. This isn’t gonna heal for weeks. I haven’t had a scar in a thousand years!” ~ Kaleb (Kol)

If there’s one downside to having Nathaniel back, it just shows how much weaker Daniel Sharman’s overall performance is. He was entirely outshined in this episode. Just because Kol is now in a human body doesn’t mean that the essence of who he is should disappear. The vibrancy of the character is largely lost in this present-day reincarnation. We’d like a bit more cheek in the delivery of his lines where he’s sassing his brother, Finn. However, there was one shining moment for the modern day Kol, which was when he complained about the cut on his forehead (seen quoted above). It was so unexpectedly funny and true to the character that we actually laughed out loud at hearing it. To not be simply complaining about his life having been put in danger, but to be concerned over his vanity, was an excellent choice from the episode writers, Michelle Paradise and Michael Narducci. Also, we were quite curious as to why Kol decided to keep his learning of Mikael’s being back and under Davina’s control a secret from his mother and brother. We’d guess he’s acting out of his own self-interest and perhaps looking to manipulate the control of Mikael out of Davina’s grasp but for now, we’ll just have to sit back and watch to learn what he’s truly up to.

Prepare For Battle, Brother

When Mikael was first shown to be back and under Davina’s control, and then Ester, Finn, and most recently Kol, were shown to be walking around New Orleans in new bodies, we expected it would be several episodes into the season before Elijah and Klaus would find out the rest of their family was back. But it was so much more exciting to have them learn about it this early on. From the look of shock on Elijah’s face to Mikael’s menacing greeting, and their confrontation in which Elijah nearly got killed with the White Oak stake, there was such suspense and intensity in the scene! When Elijah returns home, Klaus says that upon meeting Cassie, interacting with her, and looking deep into her eyes, he knows that it’s really their mother lurking in there. So Elijah drops the bomb that Mikael is back, under the control of Davina, and in possession of the stake. Klaus’ reaction was a bit surprising. We half-expected him to holler and break something. Instead, he responded with:

“Well then there’s only one question we need to ask, isn’t there? Which of our parents do we kill first?” ~ Klaus

This is a Klaus that has more focus and a touch more rationality in the formation and execution of plans to deal with his enemies. This makes him all the more dangerous, seeing as how he’s not lacking in brutality. To have the Mikaelsons engage in a strategic battle against one another is sure to bring out great action and strong performances from the actors involved. It would have been tiresome to watch endless scheming while Klaus and Elijah remained none the wiser to their family members being back. With the high standard set by the season one finale, we can’t even begin to imagine what the season two finale has in store with so much action having already happened in just two episodes.

FINAL VERDICT

Overall, this was another solid episode. Director Jeffrey Hunt did some great work with the flashback sequences, and the overall lighting and colour scheme of them helped to authenticate the setting, as it almost felt like looking at old portraits. Writers Michelle Paradise and Michael Narducci nicely paralleled the Elijah-Klaus-Marcel triangle from the past with the Elijah-Klaus-Haley triangle in the present. It gave a tremendous insight into Elijah’s character and motivations, which have often remained hidden deep beneath his carefully constructed exterior. There were so many subtle nuances in Daniel Gillies’ performance, which couldn’t have been easy as he had to communicate the entirety of the emotions elicited from a memory (which we the viewers were able to feel from watching a full scene), but maintain the restraint and control that is so much a part of Elijah. We’ve already talked about how much we enjoyed the return of Nathaniel Buzolic, but we’ll mention it again because his performance was just that good. If he’s not brought back for even more flashbacks, that will a terribly wasted opportunity. We’ve yet to see Joseph Morgan give a bad performance, and we’re particularly fond of those little micro-expressions of his, as they add a spark to Klaus. Just as Mikael was released, albeit briefly, so was Sebastian Roche. Mikael is the character we love to hate and Sebastian’s portrayal is entirely menacing, just how it should be. We can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Thoughts, Questions, Comments, Concerns…

• YAAAAAS, Nathaniel Buzolic is back to do Kol right! …but wait… was he always this dreamy? *_*
• This Haylijah tension just got TURNT. UP. *leaps into a cold shower*
• Elijah, you most definitely peeked at the booty. Let it be known that Elijah likes the booty.
• Do I spy a bit of grey hair on the side of Daniel Gillies’ head? Or is that just the lighting? A bit of dust?
• Look at Elijah playing detective on who has the White Oak stake! But oh, how it suits him…
• Phoebe’s Australian accent just popped out again. Why couldn’t they just make Hayley Australian? xD
• Okay, I may despise Mikael but Sebastian Roche is serving up all the badassery right now.
• Davina. How are you gonna have a bracelet THAT loose-fitting be what you’re depending on? SMH.
• Klaus unknowingly trash-talking his mother TO HIS MOTHER; someone bring me some oxygen, I’m laughing too hard!
• Come on, Hayley! Tell Elijah you don’t want him to leave!!
• Marcel, I see you peeping Gia. Look at you… trying to seduce me onto this ship.
• Awwwww, Marcel is SAD over ELIJAH! But Marcel, you just don’t know! Elijah! Tell him what was really going on!
• Meg Myers “Go” lyrics, “Talking, talking it hurts; I just wanted dessert; Or a better disaster; Leave me alone” is a perfect song for the Flashback return of Kol arguing with Elijah & Klaus.