'Always and forever'
The Originals revisited the past during its series premiere on Thursday, but was the retelling of the show's backdoor pilot (from Elijah's point of view) and the tease of a major cliffhanger ending enough to make you come back for a third helping?
Before you hit the comments with your thoughts, a brief refresher on the episode: The hour folds in quite a bit of footage from the previously aired pilot, which makes some scenes lag. Elijah also is saddled with playing Mr. Exposition for all the new viewers, which is understandable, but it unfortunately slows down the action for those who've seen the pilot. At least the recapping is done in an interesting fashion: Elijah uses his mental powers to "show" Hayley their family's troubled history.
Lest you think it is all a repeat, we do get some fresh flashbacks and introductions, including Hayley and Elijah's first meeting - "Your brother's a notorious psycho " who I slept with. Classic me." - and our first glimpse of the young witch Davina, who's helping Marcel control the other spellcasters. More new intel: Sophie is linked to Hayley, so there's no killing the witch without harming the baby.
There also is a fantastically played exchange between Klaus and Elijah, who tries to beat love into his brother.
"I will not let go," says Elijah as they fight. "I will never let go. Even if I have to spend eternity saving you from your own stubborn, petulant, vile self. If I have to beat you as Father did to remind you of your own humanity, to care about anything."
So why does he care so damn much about his awful brother? "Because I failed you," he replies. "Because the first time our father laid a hand on you, I should have struck him dead. Always and forever, family above all."
It's that family loyalty that ultimately leads to Elijah's downfall, as Klaus realizes that his brother is the one weakness Marcel can exploit. With that, he stakes him, announcing, "There is no power in love. Family makes you weak. If I am going to win this war, I have to do it alone."
Well, crap. Way to dangle the Elijah carrot, Originals. Here's hoping Rebekah shows up soon to unstake him.
A few more stray observations:
- Being the noble man that he is, Elijah makes a deal with Marcel to get back Jane Ann's body so she can rest in peace. During the brokering, Marcel remarks that Klaus is treating what he's done in New Orleans like "it's a cheap knockoff or one of his dumb paintings." Guess somebody's not a fan of snowflakes.
- A little bit of Hayley's backstory unfolds when Elijah asks her how she feels about being a mother. She doesn't know, since she never really had a good mom. She was abandoned as a baby, and her adoptive parents kicked her out as soon as she became a wolf.