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‘The Originals’ Season 3 Premiere Review: Does Always and Forever Have an Expiration Date?

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Season three of The Originals premiered last night and the Mikaelson vow of always and forever seems more fractured than ever.

For the Next Millennium” opened with a flashback to the France just after the Mikaelson siblings were turned into vampires and fled their parents. That vow kept them together in the past, but even then, cracks were showing when life on the run wore them down. Elijah stood out as the voice of reason and made sure no one left Klaus alone, but once we returned to present day, he wanted nothing to do with his brother.

A lot happened over the course of an hour, so much so that even after a second viewing, I’m still convinced there are probably things I missed during the episode. We met some new characters, saw our favorites in new circumstances and found danger lurking at every turn (as always). So let’s jump right into it and see what all of the characters were up to after the long hiatus.

Aurora – Starting off with one of the newest faces, we first meet Aurora in the flashback to France. We learn (from Lucien), she can be dangerous even to someone like Klaus. In present day, Lucien reminds Klaus that he and Aurora parted ways centuries earlier and then we see the lady at a spiritual retreat. She reads a letter and then kills the man who brought it to her (Harsh reaction, awesome present day introduction).

the-originals-301-millennium-02Cami – Our resident bartender has graduated to officially being a part-time therapist and Klaus is her patient. Cami decided to set some boundaries that our favorite hybrid wanted no part of, but Cami did her best to remain firm, even when Klaus asked her to be his date. Cami figured out Klaus was worried no one else would show up to support him so she suggested he think about that and then Cami joined Vincent on the hunt for a serial killer. The murders unnerved Cami (rightfully so since there’s not much humans can do against vamps) and she didn’t appreciate Klaus breaking into her house, even if he did come with a gift (aw). In the heat of the moment, Cami called Klaus a disappointment, triggered all of his emotional issues and tried to undo it once she realized she went too far.

Davina – Being the regent isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when the covens think she’s a vampire sympathizer and use magic to break her fingers (I know I’ve been watching this show too long when I wondered why Davina didn’t just kill her). Instead, Davina turned to Marcel for advice. He offered to help (with killing, obviously), but she didn’t want to go against her people. He warned her that she’d need to take a stand or they’d never stop coming after her so Davina decided to kidnap Hayley from the bayou. My guess is she wants to make a deal that involves the werewolves siding with the witches if she undoes the curse.

the-originals-301-millennium-01Elijah – He’s still too angry with Klaus to even think about being civil to him, let alone forgiving him. Elijah takes Hope to see her mother at every full moon and even prepared catering for the wolves (best guy ever). Unfortunately, some wolf hunters showed up and attempted to remove Elijah from the bayou. Of course I mean unfortunately for the hunters because once Elijah turned Hope’s stroller around, he proceeded to kill them and then waited for the next round of hunters to show up (BAMF). Things looked bad when another female wolf arrived in human form and warned Elijah if Hayley wasn’t with her daughter, she was probably dead. Then he found a truck filled with wolf bodies and started to think the worst.

Finn – The Original recipe version returned for the first time since season three of The Vampire Diaries. In the flashback, Finn attempted to order everyone else around and wanted to strike out on his own because he wanted to sleep in a bed and not look over his shoulder. In any other situation, I might be inclined to agree with this seemingly sane logic, but it’s Finn and he wanted to throw Klaus to his father’s mercy in order to save himself. AND he made a remark about burying Kol, which is just too soon after last season’s murder. That being said, I LOVED seeing all the Original siblings in their original bodies right after they became vampires so please give us more of these scenes.

Freya – As she wrote a letter to Rebekah (a nice nod to her being ancient enough to still believe in letter writing), Freya gave the audience a glimpse into what everyone’s been up to over the six months since the season finale. She’s stepped into Rebekah’s role as Hope’s primary female caregiver and the mediator for Klaus and Elijah’s stalemate. When she got a night to herself, Freya headed out to dance on the bar and actually enjoy herself for about five minutes before Elijah needed her to babysit Hope again so he could go murder some wolf hunters. I love that Freya traveled there with magic. How have witches not been doing this all along in this universe? It’s got to be one of the biggest perks of magic.

the-originals-301-millennium-06Hayley – Like the finale, we saw little of our werewolf queen in this episode. First, one brief, cute reunion with Hope and then the last scene when Davina lured Hayley out of the bayou and trapped her into being a captive audience. Here’s hoping Davina does her thing and keeps Hayley human after next week so we get more than one minute of her each episode.

Hope – The littlest Mikaelson remains adorable and pretty chill about her trips to the bayou and Auntie Freya’s drinking habits. Seriously though, can we talk about how big the twins got over the break? They’re the cutest.

Lucien – We first meet Lucien in the flashback where he’s hiding away after the Original siblings killed and ate his noble companions. He offers to teach them how to be the noble family and then shows up in present day New Orleans. He’s from Klaus’ sire line (who isn’t?) and he warns him that the three remaining sire lines are feuding and nervous after Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah had so many brushes with death lately. Klaus didn’t seem too impressed since he can’t be killed, but Lucien hinted there might be some white oak in the world after all. He then introduced Klaus to a psychic that warned of impending doom. Not only that, we learned that Lucien is connected to Kingmaker, the company that hired the wolf hunters, and he likes to carve a smile into his face – just like the bodies being left in the streets. I don’t think Lucien is the serial killer, but he obviously has tons of ulterior motives.

the-originals-301-millennium-03Klaus – Despite all of his chats with Cami, Klaus starts the episode on top of the world. He doesn’t care that his family hates him. He’s got his daughter and he assumes Elijah will come around eventually. He also seems to be bragging more than atoning during his sessions with Cami. We see a little of Klaus’ vulnerable side when he tries to get her to attend his art show, something he can finally have now that all the threats against him are gone. As always, Klaus takes new threats in stride, but he does let the psychic live so he must think there’s some truth to her predictions. The argument with Cami is the final straw for Klaus and he gives in to his dark impulses and not only murders, but tears apart the art critic who didn’t approve of his work. Oh, Klaus. One step forward and 10 steps back. We also need to take a moment to appreciate flashback Klaus and how important it was to have his family stand by him. I just wanted to hug him when he looked all nervous when Finn and Kol were suggesting everyone split up (Joseph Morgan is so talented).

Kol – As usual, flashback Kol had a lot of sarcastic comments and blood on his face (and we love him for being him). We didn’t get too much from him this episode other than watching him side with whoever he thought would serve his best interests. Again, classic Kol and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Having the five Originals reunited was the best.

Marcel – Vampire fight club is back! Now it’s held in what used to be St. Anne’s Church (RIP, Father Kieran). Marcel’s in charge of the Quarter again and rebuilding his vampire army. He’s also sparring with Elijah in the ring (more please) and my particular favorite Marcel mode: Daddy mode. I love the look he gets when he learns someone is messing with Davina – it’s basically like he’s already killing them and cleaning up the bodies in his mind before she even finishes talking. And he took it upon himself to remind Vincent (with his fists) that he should be mentoring Davina.

Rebekah – Anything that puts Claire Holt on my screen is my favorite thing. As always, Rebekah wanted to live among the humans and enjoy the nice things life had to offer. She also gets props for coming up with the idea to take the nobles’ place and move up in society by living in plain sight. She took a liking to Lucien’s pretty face right away and she played the part of the noblewoman by showing off her female assets in order to impress the host. Here’s hoping she gets to tear his head off by the time we’re finished with this flashback (not any time soon because it’s the best).

Tristian – We only had a brief glimpse of Aurora’s brother and all we know (from Lucien) is that he’s wicked (more, please).

Vincent – He’s still avoiding the witches (although we’ll see now that Marcel’s laid on a guilt trip/beating), but it turns out Vincent also helps the police when there are magical elements to cases. He fits in so well with Cami and Marcel and basically anyone that he’s onscreen with that it’s easy to forget that he used to be Finn.

Will – We didn’t learn too much about the police detective this week. So far, he seems pretty focused and matter-of-fact, but he’s also the one who called Vincent into consult on the case. I’m guessing that means he knows more about the supernatural than he lets on and I want to see more of him.

Mandy Treccia
Mandy Treccia has served as TVSource Magazine’s Executive Editor since 2016, formerly as Editorial Director from 2012-2016. She is an avid TV watcher and card carrying fan girl prone to sudden bursts of emotion, ranging from extreme excitement to blind rage during her favorite shows and has on more than once occasion considered having a paper bag on hand to get her through some tough TV moments. Her taste in TV tends to rival that of a thirteen-year-old girl, but she’s okay with that.

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