‘The Originals’ Review: BAMF Elijah Mikaelson Takes Care of Family Business

Tonight’s episode of The Originals should have just been called, ‘Elijah Mikaelson, BAMF: Here to Get the Job Done.’ Elijah, you guys…forget professional pretense: he is the best. He’s been the best since the moment he showed up on The Vampire Diaries and he remains the best to this day. Deal with it.

“Fruit of the Poisoned Tree” continued the show’s tradition of getting better and better with each episode. So much happened this week on every front that it’s hard to believe the writers managed to pack it into one hour. But the great thing about this show is that it’s so good; so engaging, that you don’t feel like an hour has passed, even as we sit here constantly picking our jaws up off the floor.

The opening scene with the Mikaelson brothers reading as a dead girl bled out on their coffee table was awesome and so them; as was Rebekah’s annoyance that the girl was dripping blood on the heirloom rug and poor Hayley was just trying to have some breakfast while living in a house with vampires who are not good with shopping lists. Luckily, Elijah was there to help and make us all swoon as he laid out the next stage of the plan. Naturally, Klaus wasn’t happy about being told what to do, but he went along with it anyway.

Elijah wanted to use Davina to unlink Hayley and Sophie so the witches couldn’t use Sophie to torture Hayley anymore. Unfortunately, Agnes was a step ahead and had already kidnapped Sophie and injected her with something that would cause Hayley to have a miscarriage. While Elijah dealt with Sophie, Klaus headed to the church and interrupted Father Kieran’s council meeting (love that they have a council to deal with supernatural too).

But the best thing about the council was when Klaus pointed out that he’d started it years earlier and it had been made up of pirates and crooked politicians. Klaus had a deal for Father Kieran: he wouldn’t kill everyone if they tracked down Agnes. He also told the priest that she was the one responsible for his nephew’s massacre. At that point, Kieran wanted to kill Agnes himself, but he agreed to give Klaus some time with the witch first.

As Davina worked to use Esther’s spell to unravel the knot Elijah gave her (he didn’t mention the part about it tying Sophie and Hayley together), Elijah and Rebekah were working with Sophie to slow down what was happening to Hayley. Rebekah went to steal some herbs from the dead witch’s shop and then Elijah and Hayley got in the pool.

I’m not even going to pretend that I could tell you anything about this scene that does not involve high-pitched noises. Hayley and Elijah have so much chemistry. The looks they exchanged and the way he held her and told her to listen to his voice….

Um…what was I talking about? Right, Davina managed to unlink them and Sophie begged Elijah not to let Klaus kill Agnes because she was the last elder and the only one who can still do the powerful spells or some nonsense. Elijah gave her his word and then he called Klaus and told him to wait for him to get there. I think we all knew where this was going at this point, but the scene that followed…

Once again, I do not have the words to do it justice. At the church, Klaus had Agnes by the throat and Elijah came in and told Klaus that he could have his forgiveness if Klaus didn’t kill Agnes. Klaus thought about it for a moment, but then he bent to his brother’s will (aw, you guys!). So Elijah kept his word and didn’t let kill Agnes…but THEN he went on his own rampage, killed the people standing in the church and then Agnes, sneering that no one hurts his family and lives as Klaus stood in the background practically beaming with pride. It was the greatest thing ever.

Believe it or not, there are still other things to talk about because more happened in the episode besides Elijah making everyone’s pulse race. Marcel started to pick up on the fact that there was a traitor in his inner circle. After talking with Josh, he decided to go to the garden and have a chat with the one person he’s always trusted: Thierry. It was nice to see his pretty face again, but Marcel wasn’t ready to forgive and forget because that would make him look weak. Instead, he wanted answers.

Thierry told him everything that happened that night and how it was too easy. He was convinced the vampire he killed had been compelled and pointed out to Marcel that he’d been gone for a few days and Klaus could have drained him of vervain. But there was still someone else in the circle that was compelled too. This got Marcel’s mind going and seeing Rebekah in the magic shop only made him that much more suspicious.

Let’s talk about Rebekah for a moment. She’s not having the best time in New Orleans. She’s feeling like a servant girl and a nanny and all she wants is to be free from the family. She tells Elijah as much and even though it’s not what he wants, he tells his sister that she’s free and gives her a kiss on the cheek. This scene was so sad. Poor Rebekah only wants to be loved and have a home and it’s just so hard for her to find that.

Unfortunately, that leads to Rebekah making some bad choices. First, she goes to say goodbye to Marcel, which leads to the two of them having sex. I really wish I could enjoy these scenes, but the chemistry just isn’t there and it makes no sense for Rebekah to be so obsessed with someone who is trying to destroy her family. It’s a little better now that he’s not keeping Elijah prisoner, but it’s still not okay; not even a little. And it’s about to get worse…

As Rebekah is getting ready to leave, she randomly gives Marcel an apple and it reminds him of his childhood…when he was a slave at the plantation…you know…the one the Mikaelson family is currently calling home? I was wincing for my girl during these scenes. Sure enough, Marcel headed out there and first saw Josh at the door looking for Klaus and then he went and introduced himself to Hayley.

We have to switch gears really quick and talk about Cami. She didn’t have a ton to do in this episode, but once again, she had some great moments. She visited her brother’s grave and someone had vandalized it. She went to talk to her uncle and admitted she was more upset about Marcel blowing her off than her dead brother and that wasn’t right. After Elijah hotly murdered Agnes (shut up, I can celebrate fictional murder), Klaus went to see Cami and told her that a witch had hexed her brother.

She wasn’t surprised, but then when she heard the witch was dead, she slapped Klaus. Cami was furious at being dragged into a murder accessory role and she was even angrier that he’d taken away her purpose in life. She vowed to find a way to undo what he’d done to her. It was a great scene and it was so fun watching Cami stand up to Klaus. Is it wrong that it only made me ship them more? Whatever, I’m here for this.

Now, let’s get back to family business. Marcel found Klaus after he left Cami and made some comments about how he’d stopped by his place and Klaus admitted that he’d left the hotel and Marcel made it clear that he’d been at their home. Klaus mentioned something about having Marcel over once he talked to Elijah and the tension was so thick that I’m a little surprised everyone’s TVs survived.

Elijah returned home after a busy night of hotly murdering traitors (go ahead and judge me, you know I’m right) and went looking for his future girlfriend Hayley. But she was nowhere to be found so he called Rebekah, desperately asking his sister if Hayley was with her as she left town. Then Klaus came in and told Elijah that Marcel had been in the house. OMFG, Marcel took Hayley is basically what the looks on their faces said.

How good is this show, you guys? Seriously, every week tops the last and I love it so much. Dear CW, anytime you want to give us a full season order, we’re here, ready and waiting to celebrate. Love, The Originals’ fandom.

I’ve hit that point where I need to stop writing or this will be 800 pages long so it’s your turn. Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!