‘The Originals’ Review: They’re Vampires; We Get It – Enough with the Exposition

Sooner or later, there was bound to be an episode of The Originals that wasn’t completely flawless. Even the best shows have their dull episodes or the episodes that viewers side-eye and wonder what the writers were smoking when they pieced it together. Unfortunately, “Tangled Up in Blue,” was that kind of episode, which sucks since it’s only the third of the new series.

But before people start wondering if I’ve lost my mind or if I’m ready to join the anti-Originals brigade, no; that is not happening. One bad episode does not take away a show’s potential or make me forget just how awesome last week’s episode was. I still have complete faith in this show and there were some good moments in the episode. Unfortunately, the bad far outweighed the good in my book.

Let’s start with the exposition. Most reviewers have been complaining about it since the backdoor pilot, but I didn’t mind it. I understood that they were creating a new show and hoping to draw non-Vampire Diaries fans into the series. Episode one was basically a new version of a pilot episode and all pilots are filled with exposition dialogue, but most people don’t notice because they’ve never met the characters before. People knew some of these characters so they were bored during those scenes – fair enough.

Bob Mahoney/The CW

Episode two had a lot of exposition too, but it still didn’t bother me. Rebekah was new to town and I didn’t have a problem with them using her entrance to tell the backstory of the Original family and Marcel to Hayley (and the viewers). But we’re in week three now and it’s safe to say that the same people have been watching so there was ZERO excuse for such heavy handed exposition in the opening scenes. I completely tuned it out and that led to a sour start to the episode for me.

I didn’t mind the voiceover from Elijah as Hayley read his journals and I drew hearts on my Hayley and Elijah fangirl card. It was cute that she missed him and I loved the scene where Klaus went to tell her that he was coming back (more on this later). I also enjoyed Klaus questioning why everyone likes Elijah better than him and Hayley’s response that he was kind to her. I am here for Hayley and Elijah, even if it is a one-sided reference for the time being.

So Rebekah and Klaus had this elaborate plan to find out where Marcel was keeping Elijah and it involved getting Sophie to do magic. Long story short: Marcel’s No.1 vamp Thierry was in love with a witch named Katie (the same one who ratted out Hayley last week). Klaus whispered some doubts in Marcel’s ear, which led to Marcel sending his vamps to terrorize the witches. Klaus used his pet vampire (the one he drained of vervain and compelled) to provoke Thierry into killing him, which is an ultimate sin in Marcel’s book. Sophie then convinced Katie that there was a way to stop Marcel from killing Thierry and she’d help her.

Bob Mahoney/The CW

While all of this was happening, Klaus and Rebekah headed to Marcel’s masquerade party and Rebekah had brought Cami as a bonus distraction for Marcel. Klaus was not amused and this brings me to another issue I have with the episode. Since when does Klaus care so much about Cami? Like seriously, show, explain this to me. He spent last week compelling her, but suddenly he’s jealous? And maybe it was supposed to be one of those ‘wah, Marcel gets everything’ snits, but that is not what it felt like. It felt like he was genuinely jealous and sad that he couldn’t have Cami to himself. Where is that emotion coming from?

It felt like he was jealous that Marcel was with the girl that he wanted and that’s just wrong because there was ZERO buildup for Klaus having any feelings for Cami. I’m not against Klaus being interested (there was definitely heat there), but maybe they should have spent a little less time explaining what compulsion is and more time showing us Klaus warming up to Cami as more than just a pawn. If this is going to be a love triangle, it needs a much more solid base to be believable. And side note: how are we supposed to root for either man when they’re both compelling her? Did the writers learn nothing from the Caroline and Damon debacle?

And while we’re on the subject of love triangles, why is Rebekah suddenly a lovelorn teenager over Marcel? He’s holding her brother hostage, he chose being a vampire over loving her and she’s going to lose her backbone every time he looks at her? I don’t care how much chemistry the actors have (and frankly, I’m not seeing it, but other people do), this story needs more of a buildup as well. Oh and the part where Cami called Rebekah a bitch? It might be true, but that’s another knock against Cami in my book (Granted that could be my irrational Rebekah love talking, but it is what it is).

So back to the plan: Katie comes charging down the street doing her witchy thing (it reminded me of when Bonnie would give the vamps migraines on TVD) and she was prepared to stake Marcel. While this was happening, Sophie was doing a locator spell to try and find Elijah. Davina was woken from her sleep and started drawing a picture of the witch doing magic (props for this, show; I was curious how she knew which witch was to blame when she probably doesn’t leave the attic much). Klaus killed Katie before she could stake Marcel and Rebekah stopped Sophie from continuing the spell because if she got caught, Hayley and the baby would die.

Bob Mahoney/The CW

Naturally, Marcel was super pleased with Klaus and I was too. Klaus’ layered plan was one of the few good things about the episode. This is the Klaus I remember from season two and three; the master who was always planning five or six moves ahead of everyone else. Marcel agreed to give Elijah back and then he sentenced Thierry to 100 years in the garden (at which point my sister asked if he was the one who buried Kathy Bates behind the house on Coven).

Klaus headed back to Casa Mikaelson and proceeded to get into a needless argument with Rebekah. I get that the Original family can’t be besties all the time because the show needs conflict, but this part was dumb. All Klaus had to do was tell her that he’d brokered his own deal for Elijah, but instead, she insulted him and he got mad because she didn’t trust him. Why should she trust you, Klaus? You’re constantly stabbing siblings with daggers! That was another strike against the episode because I wanted to see them on the same side for a little bit longer.

Before we get into the final thing that made my head explode with rage, let’s talk about the witches and Hayley. Sabine did some kind of trick to see whether Hayley was having a boy or a girl (How cute was Klaus’ face when Hayley told him that it was a girl?). Then we got to see what went down and it seemed like whatever is growing inside Hayley possessed Sabine and started spouting off in Latin (seriously, Hayley, I was ashamed of you for trying every other language first). Thanks to Tumblr, the loose translation is, “it will destroy all things.”

Clearly, Klaus and Hayley’s baby is going to be some massively powerful supernatural entity…like Davina, perhaps? If you frequent Tumblr, you may have seen this theory. While I still can’t figure out how the writers are going to manage to turn a baby into a teenage witch that wants to kill the Originals without completely ripping off the Angel/Connor plotline and angering everyone everywhere, I’m very much onboard with this idea. It’s hard not to wish for Davina’s death, she’s bratty and she hates all my favorite people, but the idea that she could be a Mikaelson is just too awesome to ignore.

However, at the moment, the little brat is insisting that Marcel not let Klaus have Elijah back, which means that he remains daggered in a box and I can’t help feeling like the show is screwing over all the Elijah fans. I get that Daniel Gillies is a busy man who has two jobs, but saying he’s been cast in a lead role and then showing us a glimpse of him in a coffin or wearing a mullet wig does not equal a lead role. I was willing to let this go if the show kept up the momentum that started last week, but since it has clearly failed, I am really angry.

How long is Elijah going to be daggered? Is every week going to be another case of ‘oops, we tried, but hey look at these shiny supporting characters?’ Or worse, ‘look at this vampire and this witch that we’ve met for two seconds and care about their Romeo and Juliet love story.’ No thank you, show, no thank you. I need Elijah back and I need him back now. I don’t even care if he’s still a prisoner and spends all his scenes with potential Baby Klayley. I just want to see him awake and alive and actually being part of the story instead of being a background prop. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.

Feel free to share your opinions in the comments or come talk to me on Tumblr or Twitter. I’m very curious to see how other people felt about this episode.