The Originals review – 1×14: ‘Long Way Back From Hell’

Flashbacks, witches, and betrayals run the show as The Originals returns from hiatus. But after all the fall out, where does this leave the show for the future?

Let’s bitch it out…

As usual, my man Elijah (Daniel Gillies) saves the day. Does he ever get tired of saving everyone else I wonder? In the last episode before the Olympics break, Elijah had to choose whether to save annoying Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) and her convenient baby, his sister Rebekah (Claire Holt) or my other main man Klaus (Joseph Morgan). After choosing to keep the oh so annoying one in our lives for another little while, Elijah vows to find his siblings before any more harm comes to them. But seriously, at some point, he must stop to wonder if this is all there is to his eternal life: saving his siblings from each other, themselves or supernatural witches that are out to ruin their lives. Oh wait, I forgot about saving Hayley. Man, Elijah lives a noble life. You have to think that at some point, he’s going to want to do something for himself. (Though I’m thinking that will be about the time that Hayley finally gives birth to the devil spawn…. so never).

But I have to wonder why Celeste (Shannon Kane) bothered to give Elijah clues about where to find his siblings. I mean, from a show perspective, obviously it keeps him and Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) chasing their tails for the episode while her plan is coming together. However, in the story, it doesn’t make much sense. Why would she risk Elijah and Marcel coming to save the day before the truth about Rebekah is out? Ah well, doesn’t matter much anymore now that the truth is out.

So instead, I’m left wondering how there can be a show without Rebekah and Marcel. Clearly, they need to do as they’re told and run as far and fast as they can, or else Klaus (Joseph Morgan) will exact his revenge. So they must be gone for at least a few episodes ( and we should be used to that after all the breaks we had when the siblings were daggered in boxes at one point or another), but can the show really run on Klaus, Elijah and the annoying one? I guess we can spend a few episodes on Hayley’s werewolf fam, and give some screen time to the new wolves we met last episode. But can that really carry the show for awhile? Clearly, in my opinion, the less we see the annoying one, the better. So I’m worried for the next few episodes.

Mostly, I’m worried for my two main men. Klaus will clearly view what Elijah did as a betrayal, so we can expect some spiralling from our original hybrid as he deals with all the broken loyalties from the people he loves. Maybe he can take a quick jaunt back to Mystic Falls for a roll in the hay with Caroline (Candice Accola) to keep his spirits up. That’s my vote anyway.

Other Observations:

• So is Genevieve’s (Elyse Levesque) job now complete? Does that mean she will die like Papa Tunde (Owiso Odera) and one of the girls will return? Clearly for story purposes, Davina (Danielle Campbell) will be the last girl to return from the dead. Oh wait, perhaps in time for Marcel and Rebekah to return to the French Quarter? They should hire me to write these shows.
• Okay, so Hayley knocked out Celeste with a piece of lumber. Now what? Does she think she can stop a witch who has been around almost as long as the original family? What does she plan to do with this unconscious witch? She’s pregnant and not that strong to begin with, and she thinks she’s going to get answers or some kind of resolution to the curse on her werewolf buddies? Actually, I take it back. Maybe if she resolves that whole issue, she will run off with her arranged husband-to-be and leave us all alone. She can take the demon baby, the Mikaelsons’ have enough to deal with right now, thanks.

What did you think of ‘Long Way Back From Hell’? Do you share my concerns about where the show is now going? Do you have any other theories for upcoming storylines? What did you think of Elijah’s final act of the night to save his sister? Sound off below!

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