A Vampire Diaries spinoff, The Originals season 1, episode 1 “Always and Forever,” aired last night giving us a brand new look into the lives of the Original vampires. Check out our recap of the episode.
The season premiere of The Originals starts with a flashback to 300 years ago on the Mississippi River, where we find ourselves on a boat with Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus, the first and original vampires. Two of their brothers seem to be dead, as discovered by a couple of colonists, who go on the boat to find out what it’s doing there. Much to their dismay, they get attacked by Klaus and meet Elijah, who asks them where they are. Apparently they’ve just travelled to America for the first time, and have arrived in Louisiana right by New Orleans, which is where the next scene cuts to, but in the modern day.
Elijah, still looking young as ever, is at a bar in modern day Louisiana speaking to Cami, the bartender, explaining how Klaus is from a different father and how he thinks that people in New Orleans are plotting something against him, and tells Cami that he is looking for a specific woman: Jane Anne Deveraux.
Elijah finds a witch, who knows who he is because apparently the Original vampires are well known by the witch community in New Orleans. He finds out that the woman he’s looking for was killed for practicing magic, and that Marcel, a vampire, is responsible for it. Turns out that Marcel is king of this town, and has reign over what the witches can do and what they can’t. When Sophie, Jane Anne’s sister, comes to collect her body and put it in a cemetery so she can be at peace, Marcel takes it away from her and says that Sophie must cooperate in order to put her sister to rest.
Elijah then calls his sister, Rebekah, and informs them that Marcel, a vampire they both knew back when they came to New Orleans, is still alive and well and has a lot of power. Elijah tries to get Rebekah to come to New Orleans to help, but Rebekah is upset at Klaus because he staked her and kept her dead for 90 years, and claims that Klaus is a selfish animal and she wishes to have no relations with him. The witches have lured Klaus there to New Orleans and Elijah wants to know why.
Next is a scene we saw from the backdoor pilot on The Vampire Diaries, where poor Sophie is praying to her dead sister when she gets caught by two vampires. Oh no! But she gets saved by Elijah, who wants to know what business she has with Klaus.
Sophie explains that Marcel has an army backing him up, suppressing the witches and making them live in fear. So they do what any witch would do, and call the Originals to help them out in fighting back. The witches tried to fight on their own, but it wasn’t working –- that is, until Jane Anne found a girl that Klaus has slept with, a werewolf, and now that girl is pregnant. They claim it’s impossible because he’s a vampire, but nothing is impossible! We know that from Twilight, clearly. But Klaus is a hybrid — half vampire, half werewolf.
They show the girl, Hayley, explaining that the witches also lured her to New Orleans and grabbed her. Elijah then does this weird mind trick where he shows Haley how their family started. They were human thousands of years ago, their mother dabbling in the dark arts. They were happy back then, until their youngest brother was killed by werewolves. Desperate to protect the family, their father forced their mother to cast a spell to protect them from these beasts. But by becoming vampires, they also became hungry monsters. Klaus, after feeding for the first time, turned into a werewolf. Werewolves are cursed humans, and the curse activates when you take a life. So naturally, when Klaus killed for the first time, he transformed.
Apparently Klaus’s mother had an affair with a werewolf, and their father was infuriated by her betrayal. So what does he do? He forces her to put a spell on Klaus that would forever suppress his werewolf side.
Elijah then (kind of) explains that their father has been hunting them down for centuries, and whenever they found happiness they would have to flee -– even in New Orleans. Eventually Klaus got revenge on his father, and after he broke the spell that bound his werewolf abilities, he killed him. Maybe after all this family drama, the baby will bring Klaus some happiness.
Sophie then explains and blackmails the Originals. SNAP! She explains that Marcel drove out the werewolves decades ago, and that Klaus’ baby, Elijah’s niece/nephew, won’t survive if Marcel knew about it. So all Klaus needs to do to keep his air is help the witches get him out of town. Klaus helped Marcel become the vampire he is today, and Marcel looks up to Klaus, so Sophie thinks that he won’t see the betrayal coming, which is why she needs Klaus to do her bidding. But Klaus doesn’t like being told what to do, and Sophie is desperate enough to get the entire Original family back to town in order to help, even if that means blackmailing.
Cue more blackmailing! Elijah gets Klaus to come to the creepy cemetery where they’re keeping Haley and explains to him what’s going on, but he doesn’t believe them. Apparently the spell that Jane-Anne died for was one to confirm Haley’s pregnancy, which gives the witches control over Haley and the baby’s future…apparently. Sophie says that Haley won’t survive long enough to see her first maternity dress if Klaus doesn’t help them, and when Elijah said he’ll just kill Marcel, Sophie says no. Apparently they have a “plan” of action and there are rules, which Klaus does not like. But Elijah gets him to listen to the baby’s heartbeat in Haley’s tummy, and for a moment we think he’ll agree, but then he just says, “F**k you, bitches!” Well, not really, but essentially that’s what happens as he walks away and tells them to kill Haley.
In a heartwarming conversation, Elijah explains that this baby can bring back all the things the family lost, and bring them together. He explains that family is power, and that family should always remain together. Elijah will help Klaus build a home in New Orleans, but Klaus doesn’t fall for it.
In a meeting of witches, Sophie tells the rest of the coven why she brought more Originals. The spell that Jane-Anne performed not only confirmed the pregnancy but also linked Sophie to Haley, so that anything that happens to Sophie will also happen to Haley. It’s clear that if Klaus doesn’t care about the baby, at least Elijah does, and so she’s going to use this to her advantage to make him get Klaus to help.
In a meeting between Marcel and Klaus, Marcel says that New Orleans is his town, which sets Klaus off. He goes on a rant about how he made him the man he is, but Marcel explains that when Klaus ran away, he took over. Marcel explains that everything is his, and that he controls everything. He is the King of New Orleans, but Klaus does not like it. So what does Klaus do? He attacks one of Marcel’s family members, and confronts Marcel as someone who cannot be killed. Elijah saw all of it go down, and so calls Rebekah again, explaining what’s going on and that he will do anything to save this baby, emphasizing his love for family.
When Marcel says he knows how to deal with Klaus, Elijah comes in to talk to him. Marcel won’t explain how he controls the witches, but Elijah explains that the blood of a hybrid will cure the fatality of a werewolf bite. He bargains that Marcel needs to let the witches bury Jane-Anne, and gets her body for the witches to prove his loyalty to the witches. They give him more time to convince Klaus to help, yay!
Aw, and there’s a Titanic quote! “I will never let go,” says Elijah. …as he mercilessly beats Klaus into listening to him. Well, that’s one way to get someone to listen to you! Elijah explains that he feels terrible about how he helped their father bound Klaus centuries ago, and that he will forever pick his family from now on.
In one of the final scenes, Elijah finally convinces Klaus to help them get rid of Marcel, but not because he fears for the baby’s safety, but because he wants to be king, and he wants power. This child will give him more power, and after all, every king needs an heir.
Haley then tells us she was abandoned when she was born, and her adoptive parents kicked her out the second she turned into a werewolf. She doesn’t know how to feel about being a mother because she’s never really had one, but Elijah will be there. Klaus gave Marcel his blood to cure his friend, and now Marcel is back on his side…or so it seems. Elijah then points out that they don’t want Marcel dead, and there must be a reason why. We wonder what that must be.
Apparently Marcel has a witch looking out for him, someone who doesn’t want him hurt. Who is this girl?! We’ll have to wait to find out.
In the final twist, Klaus stakes Elijah because in Klaus’ eyes, family is weakness, and love can be his weakness. When will Elijah come back? We’re hoping soon, because someone has to balance our Klaus’ ridiculous evilness!
Check out the preview for next week’s episode of The Originals, “House of the Rising Sun”:
