The Originals review – 1×09 : ‘Reigning Pain in New Orleans’

What do you get when you put two ego-centric kings together? War with the humans, war with the werewolves, and war with family. It’s another bloody episode of The Originals.

Let’s bitch it out…

For a second time in their love affair, Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) is choosing Klaus (Joseph Morgan) over his supposed love Rebekah (Claire Holt). I say “supposed love” for a few reasons. Firstly, their chemistry is non-existant and completely unbelievable. Second, he is choosing her brother, again. They can’t really be true love if he continually chooses Klaus over her, now can they? Actually, I take that back. He isn’t necessarily choosing Klaus so much as he is choosing power. He wants to stay king. He wants to keep ruling the city. And he will do whatever it takes, and choose whoever it takes, in order to continue being on top.

So what happens when you have two egomaniacs running a city? You end up with war, violence, and death. No big surprise there. I’m mostly surprised at how quickly Marcel jumps ship on his “true love” with Rebekah and joins the Klaus camp. I guess it ain’t easy being on top, and when you get there, you want to stay there.

One thing that I will never tire of when it comes to Klaus is how he can sanction the destruction of a whole group of people and just have no remorse. It’s just so ballsy. He doesn’t care that the werewolves are Hayley’s (Phoebe Tonkin) family and could mean something to her. All that matters is proving to his new kingdom that he is on their side and trying to win their loyalty. He even goes so far as to view this move as a favour to Hayley and a way of protecting her. Sigh. There’s a reason the guy has a baby mama that hates him already, a family that struggles to love him and a kingdom that he controls with fear. I just want so much better for you Klaus, but boy do you make it difficult.

In a move completely unlike him, Klaus actually shows some emotion and love when he gets a visit from his humble brother Elijah (Daniel Gillies). He can pretend all he wants, but Klaus loves Elijah and Rebekah. Their betrayals cut him deep, so when they do something kind for him to make amends, he isn’t sure how to react. Honestly, I expected him to lash out, as per usual. Whenever I think his heart is finally growing three sizes that day, a la Grinch, he does something completely destructive which serves to push the person away. For once, Klaus accepts Elijah’s apology and tries to embrace his family again. Which makes me wonder if he’s not up to something and trying to trick them. But for now, I’ll enjoy the emotional and poignant moment when Elijah tells Klaus how difficult it is to love him sometimes. I love sibling love.

Other Observations:

• Clearly we aren’t getting rid of Cami (Leah Pipes) that easily. Which is actually okay by me because she’s one of two women on the show that don’t annoy me (Rebekah being the other one obviously). She’s clever and Klaus needs a good woman who won’t back down on him as easily as he expects. Cami, you can stay.
• I absolutely love the cocky arrogance of the Originals when dealing with other vampires and werewolves. Its like they almost pity the others who don’t take them seriously. Its a nod to the real life Hollywood “don’t you know who I am?!” attitude, but after a thousand years, these guys have earned that right. And Gillies and Holt play it to perfection.
• Does anyone remember where Tyler (Michael Trevino) is? I seem to recall someone snapping his neck early in the last episode and we haven’t seen him since, have we? Probably because his character has gotten so boring, they couldn’t stand to keep him on the screen any longer. When a few of these current storylines peter out, they will trot out Tyler again and try their hardest to make him seem interesting. Once upon a time he had such potential.

What did you think of this episode? How do you think Cami will react when she has all her memories back? Where do you think we are headed with the new werewolves that are in Klaus’ bloodline? Sound off below!

The Originals airs on Tuesdays at 8pm EST on the CW.