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The Originals aired its midseason finale last night and as always, we have a lot to say about it. “Reigning Pain in New Orleans” is still our favorite episode title so far, but as far as the episode itself goes, while it was enjoyable and entertaining, it did not feel like midseason finale material.
There was nothing that made us hold our breath or wonder how we’re supposed to make it six weeks until the next new episode. The writers planted a few seeds for the arcs we’re going to see next: Cami and Davina helping each other, Rebekah continuing to hold a secret over Marcel’s head, Klaus potentially having more family out there…but after four seasons of The Vampire Diaries, we were expecting a much more exciting fall finale.
But what’s done is done so let’s talk about the episode.
Elijah + Rebekah = WIN
We’ve seen plenty of Klaus and Rebekah over the years on TVD so it was fun to see Elijah and Rebekah sharing a lot of scenes in this episode. It was also excellent to get more of Rebekah’s snark as she bemoaned having to deal with the homeless werewolves. Another highlight was the two easily taking care of Hayley’s guards so they could rescue her. But the absolute best part of Rebekah and Elijah time was Rebekah teasing Elijah about Hayley. You guys, vampire brothers and sisters are just like the rest of us! So cute.
Hayley + Elijah = ALL THE FEELINGS
Every week we talk about how much we love this potential pairing and that’s because we fall harder and harder with each episode. Elijah was worried about Hayley’s safety, Hayley’s first reaction was to worry about his and then ask him to save her family. Elijah does so without hesitating and then goes back to share the good news with Hayley. They hug (fangirls melt). For a brief, glorious second, it feels like a kiss is actually going to happen and then Elijah says he has to go (fangirls wail in agony). These two are a bright spot in a dark setting and we’re convinced the writers are going to continue torturing us as we wait impatiently for them to make out.
Davina + Josh = ADORABLE
How can you not love these two? After Klaus insisted that Davina be brought to the compound for her safety, Davina and Josh were reunited. He’s terrified Klaus will know he betrayed him (thankfully Marcel is covering it nicely) and then Hayley tells Davina that Elijah killed Agnes so she’s not in as much danger as Marcel is telling her that she’s in. Davina doesn’t take well to be used (more on that later) and she promises Josh that she will kill anyone who tries to hurt him. Maybe they should get friendship necklaces to solidify just how cute they are.
Klaus + Marcel = DYNAMIC DUO
We have to give major props to the writers for all of the scenes these two shared. For most of the episode, we were Team Marcel. Klaus was being his absolute worst self and not listening to what Marcel had to say when he was trying to give him sound advice to keep the peace. We felt bad for Marcel for having to suck it up and not say anything while Klaus took everything that was his and more or less destroyed some of the pieces. But then there was a shift toward friendship after the humans took out some of the day-walkers. Marcel wanted revenge and Klaus let him take the lead. It makes sense for these two to be on the same side and it’s much more enjoyable than their fake niceties as they secretly plotted against one another in the past.
Klaus + Elijah + Rebekah = PROGRESS
At first, it didn’t seem like the Mikaelson siblings were going to get anywhere near the same page in this episode. Klaus was mad that they stopped his werewolf massacre and when Elijah explained that they found wolves that were connected to his real father, Klaus blew them off because he didn’t care. But then Elijah went to Klaus and he told him that he was sorry that he believed the worst about his intentions toward the baby and he knew he was wrong. Klaus didn’t rush to hug him or anything because he’s Klaus, but he did tell Elijah that he and Rebekah are welcome to move into their family home with him when they were ready Aw!). We all know it’s never going to be peace and tranquility for these three, but we’ll take the small steps as a win.
Rebekah + Marcel = REALLY?!?!?!
Last week, we went against our better instincts and started to think that maybe, just maybe, it was possible to believe that Marcel and Rebekah could work. But there’s a reason people should always trust their gut instincts when it comes to ships (and life or whatever). Rebekah warned Marcel to do as Klaus asks to make sure he stays alive and he heeded her warning. But once Klaus opened up and more or less asked him to be his queen (credit to my sister for that), Marcel told Rebekah that they needed to stop meeting in secret because his king wouldn’t like it. Naturally Rebekah was not amused that Marcel chose Klaus over her again, but she reminded him she knows something that could make Klaus want to kill him.
Okay, we’re mildly curious about that. What could be so terrible? Someone suggested that maybe Rebekah and Marcel got married (if so, she wasted no time moving on to Stefan). Another popular theory is that Marcel had something to do with Mikael finding them. This one seems more likely, but at the same time, why would Rebekah keep that a secret? Mikael wanted to kill her too…this could be interesting, but if they drag it out too long, the reveal is going to fall flat.
Klaus + Cami = REDUNDANT
We said this last week and it’s worth repeating. Cami is awesome when she’s outsmarting Klaus. How freaking great was that when she pulled the tape recorder out of her purse? It was also great when she let Klaus have it for messing with her head again in front of Marcel, but then it was right back to Klaus compelling her to forget and the cycle started all over again. There’s no denying that the characters have chemistry, even if (for us) it’s not the same in-your-face chemistry that Hayley and Elijah have. But we were never against the idea of Klaus and Cami…until it started to be the exact same scenes week in and week out.
Please stop hitting us over the head, writers. We get it. Cami is a tortured soul. She’s the human version of Klaus and he’s drawn to that for whatever reason. But seeing him confess to her, watching both of them cry and then Klaus erase everything from her mind, has long since gotten old. We are over it. And while we’re on the subject, it’s very, very hard to believe that even as compassionate as Cami is, that she’d warm up to Klaus so quickly. Her reaction to Klaus’ past was gross. Yes, it’s awful that he was tortured by his own father, but that doesn’t make it okay that he manipulates her and makes her think that she might be crazy. Maybe that wasn’t the message the scene was supposed to send, but that’s how it felt to us.
Cami + Davina = ?
There are possibilities here. It was great that Davina ran away, but we would have rather seen her go to Elijah. He’s proven that she can trust him. On the other hand, she knows how much he loves Klaus so maybe she made the right choice. Except what can Cami do to help her? Cami is awesome when she’s not around Klaus, but she’s just a human. Davina is stronger on her own. But it was a great way to get rid of Cami’s compulsion and we love Davina even more for being so casual about everything. ‘Oh, you’ve been compelled. Let me torture it out of your brain. This will hurt’. She did all that without batting an eyelash.
Overall, this was a good episode. We saw some dynamics shift and change, even if we’re not quite sure whether or not some of them were for the better yet. We’re looking forward to the second half of the season, but probably not as much as we would have been if there’d been a better cliffhanger (sorry, can’t let it go).
What do you guys think? Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!
No mention of Klaus/Hayley?