The Originals 1.10 Review: Who Has the Power

This is a friendly reminder for all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Originals, titled ‘The Casket Girls’, this is where I suggest you do that before venturing ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Well, I have to say I’m becoming thoroughly disappointed in this series. I really thought I’d give it a chance, and it wasn’t bad for the first – say – five episodes, but now it’s really hitting a slump. Honestly, I’m really feeling like by splitting The Vampire Diaries into two series it hasn’t added anything to it, it’s merely carved out something integral to the original series.

There are a couple good things to this series, but they both have downsides to them. The first is that Leah Pipes is a phenomenal actress, her character is extremely well acted, but the problem is Cami is a TERRIBLE character. The girl adds next to nothing to the overall story, other than to give one more antagonist for Klaus to defeat. I mean, does she not think Klaus will kill her to keep her from spilling the vampire beans? I know she’s basically a placeholder for Caroline, but she isn’t Caroline, so I doubt he’ll have any qualms with killing her. At least the original Klaus wouldn’t.

The other good part this series has to it is the raw intensity it brings. There’s a definite overall draw to watch because there’s just so much power behind any individual scene, but then it goes and has the scene terribly written. Honestly, it makes no sense {insert me squeezing my head in frustration here}. Maybe I’m spending too much time on tumblr and am beginning to see just how much of a story-sucking vampire Julie Plec is, but this series is becoming terrible. About the only reason I’m sticking around is because I love Klaus, but even he is managing not to have enough of the story focused on him. I barely see Joseph Morgan on screen nowadays, and it was pitched as more of his show. That’d be like not seeing David Boreanaz on Angel, or Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There are other characters, but they are just convoluting the entire story and it’s making me angry.

All in all, this show just grows to frustrate me. I did like Rebekah this week, but all the other characters were moronic and head scratching. I don’t understand why they thought this could manage to be a good series. They should’ve just left the Originals on The Vampire Diaries, because they’ve merely taken that goodness away. This show hasn’t added ANYTHING other than make me strongly want to go to New Orleans. And I thought at least by getting to see more Elijah it would be a good thing.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Yeah. Or I got mystically cold-cocked by four witches.” – Cami provides an alternative explanation.

“Well isn’t this monumentally awkward?” – Elijah states.

I’m off to review Supernatural, then I think I’m going to go back to watching Gilmore Girls for an episode or two. Check back later.

The Originals 1.07 Review: We Fight For What We Believe In

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of The Originals, entitled ‘Bloodletting’, now would be a good time to go and do that. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Well, this week’s episode wasn’t a bad episode; I just don’t think it was anywhere near as good as the last two. First of all, they crossed Tyler over to this series, which, while it did illuminate the fact that the blood of Hayley and Klaus’s baby can create more hybrids, was a big mistake in my opinion. I lost interest in him over on The Originals a good season ago, why would they think crossing him over to this series would benefit it in any way? The people want Caroline on this series, not Tyler.

Another thing that bugged was more of the same with Klaus and his insecurities about nobody loving and wanting him around, so he basically has to go around threatening and seeking out vengeance. He wants people to fear him, and yet that tends to end in revolts. I was happy to have him and Elijah being on good terms, and for Rebekah and him to be on, more or less, decent terms as she left. Then they went and screwed that around this week by having Elijah lose faith in his brother’s actions so Klaus bit him, and to have Rebekah and Marcel start to work against Klaus. They’re screwing around with this story too much, when it was working with the Original family of vampires actually working together, with some slight jealousy on Klaus’s part seeing Elijah fawning over Hayley. So basically, this episode worked for about half of it, until they found Hayley, and Marcel and Rebekah got to talking in the garden.

One thing I did enjoy about this episode was Hayley’s willingness to fight. She did her best and actually managed to escape, right before Elijah and Klaus came in to save her. The fact that this girl wants to fight is something I can really find myself rooting for, definitely more so than I was on The Vampire Diaries. And also, I really enjoyed the scenes between Davina and the newbie vamp. They actually seemed like they could be friends. Although I was confused about the guy saying he liked boys. Wasn’t he the vampire that was changed when his girlfriend betrayed him? I’m a wee bit confused about that. Mind you, I prefer his friendship with Davina more being that he’s gay, because that means they’re definitely not going to push a romantic relationship between the two of them. For once a guy and girl can be actual friends without it leading to more.

There were a couple other things I was confused by in this episode. Did anyone else feel like Tyler’s character was completely different on this series than on the mothership? I just couldn’t understand a guy that had been somewhat happy with Caroline for a moment in last week’s TVD episode, could make a complete one-eighty into this character. Am I alone on this? Also, what was that whole business where Klaus bit Elijah and said he would soon have hallucinations? Will he still have hallucinations because of the bite and just not die? Because he said it wouldn’t kill him, and I didn’t think it could because he’s an Original, but then what was the point of Klaus biting him then?

Anyways, like I said, not as strong as the last couple of episodes this season, but it still had its moments. This series is still definitely a guilty pleasure in that I like it so much, much more than I expected to last season on TVD when this concept was introduced. I used to think the Originals needed to stay on The Vampire Diaries, particularly as such a gung ho Klaroline shipper, but they mostly seemed to be more actualized and ripe with story opportunities on their own series, and not distracted by the Delena/Stelena love triangle.

My rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“If I’m moving too fast for you Nicklaus, you’re welcome to wait in the car. Do be certain to leave the windows down.” – Elijah explains to Klaus.

“I’m a witch, I’m not Amish.” – Davina says.

“So did I, the last time I was in Cabo.” – Hayley tells Elijah, regarding the fact that everyone does unspeakable things.

Okay, I’m off to review Supernatural now. Stick around for more.

The Originals 1.04 Review: Where Allegiances Lie

For any that have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Originals, entitled ‘Girl in New Orleans’, I suggest you go and do so now. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

For a series that isn’t the greatest thing to grace television, I sure don’t like it when the episode is done. Perhaps the characters provide for interesting dilemmas, or maybe it’s how much I really do love New Orleans, but either way this series is growing on me. The writing’s not great, and the actors are a little too pretty but it is a decent series to spend an hour a week watching. I only wish The Vampire Diaries was this intriguing still.

The character of Cami was given a fair amount of backstory this week. I have to say that I am intrigued by the acts her brother committed. Might I add how beautifully shot that brief flashback was? I also enjoyed the performance from the priest in this episode. While I saw it coming that he would ingest vervain, how broken up he was about the murders was quite moving. Again, can I just say how much I enjoy Hayley on this series as opposed to The Vampire Diaries? She’s a much better character, and actress, playing against all of these other characters. The way she acted in this episode was wonderful, killing her actors, and then fainting into Klaus’s arm at the end. Still, I’m curious to know why they want her dead. We got to see more of Davina this week, and she’s a perplexing character. I definitely want to know more in reference to her abilities and her background, as well as how her and Elijah will interact with each other.

This series is something of a guilty pleasure, but I don’t mind that. The actors are pretty, I’m still intrigued by what is going to happen, and I look forward to the episodes and the music each week. Sure, I could write circles around these writers, and there’s only so long this story will be able to survive, but for now it’s a nice easy watch each week. Not great, but good.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Line:

“If I had a dollar for every mess my family’s gotten me into.” – Rebecca mutters.

Okay, I’m going to go take a break now. Check back in later for my review of Supernatural.

The Originals 1.03 Review: In War You Do What's Necessary

All those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of The Originals, entitled ‘Tangled up in Blue’, then I suggest you exit the screen now. As usual, this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

Aside from the usage of the same jingle that plagues The Vampire Diaries, this was a pretty good episode. The costumes, as always, were quite beautiful, and the way open lighting is used to their advantage is breathtaking. That and the aged sets of where they’ve surrounded themselves with, quite magnificent. It makes me crave to see that New Orleans horizon.

Despite this series being nowhere near the best show ever created, it is still a pleasant hour to spend. For some, it might be called a guilty pleasure, for me it’s my love of the city their in and the drama that can be wrought by beautiful people. Also, the acting isn’t too shabby, despite the writing not always being there, but the actors seem to play it to the best of their abilities. I do think that there’s a little bit of two steps forward, one step back, kind of storytelling; it’s a little harrowing to be honest. But I’ll continue to watch if not for my love of psychotic characters.

While the romances with the characters may not be working out quite well at the moment, it has been set up, at least to my eyes, so that it could work out in the future. Although Marcel has a thing for Cami, it’s very obvious that him and Rebecca would be better suited for each other. And while I’m still struggling to get over the fact that Klaus had feelings for Caroline and she seemed to be the only girl in a thousand years and he’s moving on rather quickly, he could work with Cami. Then there’s Hayley, whom Klaus has gotten pregnant, it’s easy to see the chemistry she has with Elijah, so that neatly wraps all of that in a bow. Although these pairings seem like where the writers are eventually leading to, it’s a little too neat, and makes for little wiggle room with future endeavours. Especially being that this is only the series first season.

Some things I liked about this episode were how well the actress plays Davina out to be so young. I completely believe she’s a fifteen-year-old girl, and almost stalled in her aging at that. Reminds me a bit of Kirsten Dunst’s character in Interview With a Vampire. Also, how much I’m beginning to like the Hayley character. Despite how cliché, unoriginal, and unbelievable it was to make her character pregnant, she’s a lot more interesting on this show, working with the characters she interacts with, rather than on The Vampire Diaries where she was fawning after Tyler. The third thing I was impressed by was how bad I felt for the vampire Thierry after he’d killed the other vampire. He did it to protect the witch he loved, but he still knew it was a terrible act to commit. The raw emotion I felt from the man actually made me feel bad for the guy, despite his being a villain in the series. Although, I suppose that all the characters in this series would be classified a villain by normal context.

However interesting this series is progressing to be, there are still a few questions that I have, including ones about continuity. They said in this episode that Elijah was the oldest brother, and he certainly acted like it, but I could’ve sworn Finn was the eldest brother. Am I miss remembering, or is this continuity issues? Also, what happens during the full moon when Hayley changes? It’s a painful process, and she’s not a hybrid so she can’t stop the change, so would that kill the baby? And if not, is the baby protected by magic? Is that what the witch realized and had spoken in the other language? And, was that other language not Latin? I could’ve sworn it was, but I’m not very versed in old languages other than Latin.

Anyways, I’m definitely intrigued by the mysteries in episodes to come. This not an award worthy series, but it is a decent show to spend a TV junkie like me’s time watching. Plus, if you hadn’t noticed already, I just love New Orleans.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“In the front, if we’re being specific.” Klaus clarifies where he stabbed Elijah.

“And one compelled minion does not an army make.” – Klaus tells his minion (I love the use of that word, it needs to be used more by people).

“You two chitchat, I need booze.” – Rebecca says to her brother and Cami.

“He was kind to me.” – Hayley tells Klaus, referring to Elijah, saying it in such a gentle way.

All right folks, that’ll be all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow for reviews of Nashville, Revolution, and American Horror Story: Coven. Otherwise, have a nice night.