Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Originals, Season 5, Episode 12: The Tale of Two Wolves





We’re counting down to the last 2 episodes of Originals ever - but just when you thought Plec had finished, Legacies has been announced and is, sadly, a thing. This means we’re now all treated to a BACK DOOR PILOT

Yay.






So everyone is sad because Hope is dying. And, technically, I think it’s really well done. The acting is really good (and, while I have many many many many many oh-my-gods-so-many issues with The Originals the quality of the acting has never been one of them. Just about the whole cast is absolutely masters of their craft and, let’s face it, to sell this nonsense they have to be). And there’s some really moving scenes including Hope and Elijah spending all day together having fun, poking bullies, driving a Bentley and generally been really well connected. They seem to have got over the whole killing Hayley thing - and when Hope has a near death experience she has a nice moment with her mother’s ghost who carries a message to Elijah to help comfort his angst as well. Hope knows she’s dying and wonders if she should die because she, a three way Hybrid with extra Original zing, was never actually supposed to exist in the first place. It’s very real and full of genuine emotion including moments with Elijah reminding Hope what a terrible childhood they had and lots of understanding and connections

It’s sweet… but since we know that Hope is going to be the protagonist of the new spin off series so we know she’s not going to die which means no matter how hard they sell it, it kind of falls flat

This is also the chance to introduce other characters who are clearly going to be in the new series - Landon, a normal human waiter who is going to be (one of) Hope’s love interests (and I say one of because there is no way this new show isn’t going to have a million love triangles), Josie and Lizzie, Alaric and Caroline’s Gemini coven daughters and, of course, a return of Caroline and Alaric.

While Hope and Elijah are having an emotional time, Klaus refuses to accept his daughter is going to die and hatches a plan to save her - using Josie and Lizzie’s syphoner powers to drain the darkness out of Hope and put it into him. Caroline agrees because, as we see repeatedly, she and Klaus have always had a weird connection which completely ignores how he threatened and abused her so constantly. Alaric is not a fan and stakes Klaus because, as the books in the Library are clear, Klaus is still like the Worst person Ever. Though why they have Stefan’s journal I do not know - is the diary of a major serial killer really something you need in a school library?


Alaric comes round because Caroline convinces him (and makes a deal with her daughters for lessening the uniform rules for their help because they’re definitely not push overs) but mainly because Klaus says he’s not going to just jump in the ocean with all the darkness inside him - but he’s going to stake himself. With the White Oak stake. Yes, he’s kept one - all this time there’s actually been one lying around. Remember when they were freaking out over a child’s toy Klaus carved from the white oak? Well Klaus has always had this

Holy retconning!

Elijah hears of this and, of course, loses his ever loving mind and demands to be the one to be staked because he’s Elijah and he has THE BIGGEST martyr complex ever. Thery fight and Klaus wins because he’s the super hybrid guy. So on the night of Hope’s first change, the witches cast the spell and Klaus is the one to absorb all the dark magic. Elijah arrives too late

All he can do is watch as Klaus points the stake at his own chest

My prediction: Klaus + dark magic = too powerful to be staked. Though it is the end of Originals so maybe, maybe he will actually die for more angst now he’s not a main character


Elijah and Hope together makes me slightly sad that we had to have a whole season of Nazi vampires when we really could have had a quieter but, I think, more fulfilling season of The Originals having the whole family come together quietly work through their issues and generally be a family. We didn’t need the nazis. Elijah even makes a point this episode that they all said Hope would save the family. Well this is the last season, make it so. Make her the catalyst to bring the family together. Have them reconcile, have them be less dramatic for five minutes. That could have been a season. I wish it had been - imagine a season of Originals which didn’t rely on angst and melodrama but actually tried to address 4 seasons of Originals conflict with actual family unity.

I’m still waiting for them to actually justify why werewolves and vampires need a magic school or how, as we’re reminded by the whole Gemini witches thing, different branches of witches are going to be taught at the same school