ALIVE AND KICKING

When The Originals premiered last year I wondered how long it would be before “all” of The Originals returned. You can’t have a show called The Originals, only to leave more than half of them on the cutting room floor. So it’s nice to see in season two the return of the twisted family dynamics of the Mikaelson clan. Oh how I’d pay money to watch an episode of them all in a bizarre version of a therapy session.

A LONG TIME AGO…

The episode begins back in the year 1702 in Cadiz, Spain where Kol has gone on a killing rampage. With Mikael on the loose, Klaus and Elijah fear Kol’s little spree will lead father right to them. But Kol in a bout of self-indulgence and gluttony doesn’t care. He wants to stay in Spain, become Mayor and continue doing what he’s doing. For whatever reason, Kol doesn’t quite fear his Father at this point. (Down the line, this clearly changes.) Elijah and Klaus team up to dagger him, leaving him with no choice. But Kol makes a promise before they do:

“The day will come when I’m not so easily subdued. And on that day I will make you suffer.”

It seems we’ve now reached that day…

Years later in 1821 (121 years – no wonder he wants his vengeance) New Orleans, Klaus decides to finally wake Kol up when he becomes jealous of the relationship between young Marcel and Elijah (who is teaching the boy piano and Shakespeare). Bored, Klaus announces: “If only there was someone I could share a bit of roguery.” It’s then he reveals that he has undaggered Kol, much to Elijah’s horror.

And in typical Kol fashion, it’s not long before he once again spirals out of control – but at least he’s entertaining. (Can original Kol return full time?) When Kol is told that Marcel is now a member of the family, Kol doesn’t react well. He takes Marcel and gives him a disturbing Shakespearean lesson. Kol forces Marcel to watch humans act out Shakespeare with a violent spin. The actors are forced to kill each other with Marcel watching in wide-eyed horror.

Klaus, upset with Kol once more, decides to dagger Kol yet again. From there, Elijah then pulls back from his relationship with Marcel so as to give Klaus a chance to bond with him instead. Will Elijah ever reveal to Marcel the real reason he suddenly became unkind to him in the past? Perhaps these two can become close for a second time, despite the tension between them in the present.

MARCEL AND ELIJAH

Elijah goes to see Marcel, discovering Marcel is building a vampire army. Elijah agrees to look the other way if Marcel helps him find the white oak stake, which has all their lives in peril. Marcel agrees and meets with Davina, who refuses to do a locator spell. From there, Elijah figures out that it is Davina who has the stake. Marcel and Elijah work together to figure out how to get it out of her hands.

THEY’RE BACK

Kol’s back for revenge, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to have fun in the process. As “Kaleb,” Kol is back as a witch instead of a vampire and he’s not wasting a single second. He flips up a girl’s dress with magic, steals an apple and then seductively watches Davina from a distance as he takes a bite of his “forbidden” fruit. Something tells me, he plans on more than just using Davina for information.

However, one wonders how long it will be in present day before he once again loses complete control over his desires. Somehow, I don’t think “mommy dearest” will be too pleased.

Meanwhile, as Davina’s trying to figure out an unlinking spell to save Marcel and Josh from Mikael, Kaleb (or Kol) asks her out for coffee.

While standing her up, Kol discovers that she is hiding something in the attic. He later apologizes to Davina and asks her out for dinner to find out what that is. She agrees. At dinner, he reveals much to Davina’s delight that he too is a witch. Not only that, he flirts and strokes her young ego about how he admires how she stood up to everyone. I think he means it.

Finn, under command of Esther, has a group of werewolves attack Davina to speed up the process much to Kol’s annoyance. Outnumbered, Davina uses her bracelet that keeps Mikael under her control to call out to him. He shows up ready to kill the wolves much to the intense surprise (and horror) of Kol.

Unfortunately during the fight, Davina’s bracelet falls off leaving Mikael free to first kill Davina and then resume his mission to kill his “bastard” son.

Just in time, however, Elijah shows up to save Davina. But with white oak stake in hand, Elijah almost dies in the process.

Davina finds her bracelet and puts it back on to stop him from staking Elijah. She once again has command over Mikael and sends him back to the attic.

Elsewhere, Klaus goes to pay the witch Cassie a visit to discuss her actions (which include making moonlight rings for wolves). He plans to intimidate her, but instead finds himself bested by this teenage witch. You know he’s lost the conversation when she calls him “Niklaus,” his full name leaving him unsettled. She then tells him a little bit about her plan to unite the witches and the wolves and to eliminate the vampires. This woman is crazy for sure since she’s the one who created vampires in the first place.

During their “talk,” Cassie offers him chamomile tea, which also happens to be Esther’s favorite (leaving Klaus more suspicious and unsettled). She then refers to vampires as a “plague,” sounding more and more like his mother. He tries to argue and warn her against her plans, but the more she talks, the more he starts to figure out who Cassie really is. By the end of the conversation, Esther tells him hypothetically what his mother would say to him for being so rude: “She would tell him to go to his room.” At this point, Klaus loses it knowing exactly who she is. But he regains his composure and keeps the discovery to himself (only to reveal it later to Elijah as they discuss which parent to kill first). Esther’s calm demeanor is unnerving to say the least.

“Goodnight Niklaus. We will speak again soon,” she says.

As her pack of wolves show back up, she lets Klaus go holding her cup of tea. “Goodnight Niklaus. We will speak again soon,” she says. And with that, Klaus leaves.

HAYLEY BECOMES QUEEN

Earlier in the day, Elijah returns home to find Hayley in a bathtub washing off the blood from her witch killing spree with Klaus. She flaunts her nakedness to Elijah, who pretends to be nonchalant by her lack of modesty and violent behavior.

She’s testing how far she can push him; almost embracing her own monstrosity. She can see past him and calls him out for being judgmental. She claims that she’s done no worse than anything Klaus has ever done. He reveals that he expects her to hold herself to a higher standard. Hayley is becoming more out of control and Elijah doesn’t know what to do about it.

Elijah once again turns to Klaus for help. There he finds Klaus reading The Art of War (haha) at the table and orders him to help Hayley. And the best way to help Hayley? Go to the Bayou.

Klaus and Hayley track her pack until they find them – including the traitorous Oliver. Hayley, in an impassioned speech, presents her plan to be their leader. But they’re hesitant since she’s now a hybrid. However, when she shows mercy for Oliver by stopping Klaus from killing him, the wolves begin to listen. Eventually (off screen), Hayley even convinces Oliver to be a spy for them as he goes undercover to figure out what Cassie is up to. The rest of the wolves join Hayley at the Mikaelson home. Even though Klaus and especially Elijah aren’t keen on the idea, as Hayley points out…it was that or they join Cassie.

CHOOSING SIDES

After the surprise attack at the restaurant, Kol throws himself at Finn, angry about the fight that almost killed him at the restaurant. It’s then we learn it was actually Esther’s plan. Kol calms down, but his demeanor has changed. As the three exchange notes, Kol keeps Davina’s secret about Mikael to himself. Kol may have used his mother to be able to come back with a body, but it seems he’s quickly changing sides.

At the end of the episode, Marcel works to convince Elijah to become vampire mentor to Gia. Marcel breaks her neck in front of Elijah, wanting Elijah to choose sides: Vampires or Werewolves.

At this point it becomes quite clear: Elijah is going to choose the vampires and team up with Marcel. Based on their past history, this could be a very interesting development.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

Kol: Shakespeare should be experienced in the flesh. In truth, these aren’t the finest actors but we are in the colonies.

(Kol explaining to a young Marcel his version of a Shakespearean performance.)

STANDOUT ROMANTIC MOMENT:

After Hayley invites her pack to stay at the Mikaelson home, Elijah watches her with a quiet intensity as she talks to Klaus and returns in his mind to a memory. He remembers pulling away from Marcel as a boy so Klaus would step up in his place. He felt it would make Klaus more selfless. While it created a permanent wedge between him and Marcel, Klaus did grow closer to him in the process. Does Elijah think he can accomplish the same with better results this time around with Hayley?

After Klaus walks away, Elijah attempts to walk past Hayley saying, “Well you two have your hands full.”

“Were you just leaving?” Hayley asks disappointed trying to catch him.

Elijah hesitantly turns around to face her and pauses before speaking:

“To be perfectly honest with you, the presence of all of them here is a little much…Perhaps it’s for the best. You should be with your kind.”

And just like that, Elijah brushes her off and walks away, which of course he believes is for the best.

By sacrificing his happiness, Elijah hopes he will be able to help make Hayley happier in the long run. Hopefully these two find their way back to each other soon.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS:

With Mikael now on the scene, how long before Kol switches sides? He may have centuries of pent up rage toward his siblings, but they may be the better option for survival in the long run. By keeping Mikael a secret from Esther, it seems Kol is either creating a new plan or he’s not really on board with his mother’s. Maybe both?

Then there’s the question of the actors. With most of these returning originals inhabiting new bodies, will the original actors also return in more than just flashback? It’d be nice to see the original actors play the characters in present day, even if “Kaleb” is fun to watch.

What did you think of the return of The Originals season 2 episode “Alive and Kicking?” Let me know in the comments!

Stay tuned for next week when I recap “Every Mother’s Son.”

Photo Credit: CW

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