TV REVIEW: The Originals “Wheel Inside the Wheel”

By Erin Resnick

The year was 2010. The second season of The Vampire Diaries was underway and viewers were just starting to understand the importance of Elena, Katherine, and the Petrova doppelganger line. No one knew all the crazy, twisted mythology that awaited us, but new stories meant new characters. Enter some crazy fool in a suit with flawless hair. His name was Elijah. He was something called an “Original” and for some reason everyone was afraid of anyone who held that title. What did he want? Why was he in town? What products did he use in the shower? I continued to watch in hope of gaining all these answers. And I did. I learned exactly who Elijah was, why he looked so darn flawless in a suit, and why he was so important to the vampire world. Elijah took my like of The Vampire Diaries and escalated it to a love that still rings true today as we kickback and watch the second season of The Originals. I never imagined that the vampire that couldn’t die and held the title of “honorable” would become my ultimate TV crush.

Which is why when anything awful happens to Elijah I want to stand up, shake the TV, and cry into oblivion. How dare you hurt this man! How dare you make him suffer! Why are you ruining his hair that took six hours in a bathroom to perfect? Instead of writing a 1,000 word essay on why Elijah Mikaelson is the best character on TV right now, I will just shorten it to say: When Elijah hurts, I hurt.

Monday’s episode of The Originals was another week of agony for Elijah as Klaus pledged his loyalty to finding his brother and destroying his delusional mother. But with every antagonist comes a backstory to make us sympathize with the enemy and this week was no exception.

A Viking-era Esther had been desperate to produce children. She had abandoned her practices as a witch, knowing she was not strong enough. Luckily, older sister Dahlia was a master of witchcraft and could grant Esther the gift of children. But this was dark magic and would require great sacrifice. Who cared, though? Esther was going to be able to have a family of her own to one-day treat like garbage.

Pictured: Joseph Morgan as Klaus — Photo: Tina Rowden/The CW

In the present day, Esther was still torturing an unconscious Elijah while Finncent was off to stalk Cami and interrupt her during Happy Hour, but not before condemning Oliver to death. Klaus was busy hanging out at the burned down house, ready to burn Esther’s actual body. He was interrupted, though, by a hallucinated version of Elijah wearing a nice shade of bubblegum lip-gloss. Esther stood before him, wanting to talk and reminisce about being a Viking some more, hoping she would open up her son’s eyes to her deluded way of thinking. Unfortunately for Esther, Klaus provided her with the tiny fact that Mikael had also returned to destroy his life.

Esther continued to recount her sob story of her first born, a girl named Freya, dying of the plague and how the birth of Klaus had restored hope for the Mikaelson’s. Because of this, Esther had refused Klaus’s biological father from any part of his life. Claiming she felt horrible, Esther offered Klaus the option of ruining another werewolf’s life by giving him a new vessel to be a true wolf. Klaus was having none of it and slut-shamed Esther for her life choices.

Over in the bayou, Hayley was getting in a light stroll when a stranger with a crossbow decided to attack. Thankfully, this stranger was the new best friend of a returned Jackson. Jackson had just returned from Bon Temps and had been skulking around when he met his new friend Ansel, a wolf that lived by more primitive ways.

Hayley, Marcel, and Cami were on a mission of their own. Hayley set off to rescue Ollie while Marcel confessed to Cami just exactly who her advisor was. She was to distract Finncent while they sought out Elijah and Oliver. Unfortunately, Cami was super awful at lying and playing it cool. Meanwhile, Marcel and Gia stood guard only to be attacked and bitten by a wolf.

Hayley was successful in retrieving a beaten and dying Ollie, but the wolves stood in their way. She pleaded with the pack, including newcomer Aiden (Hi, Aiden! I love you, Aiden!), to stand on their side, not Esther’s. Thankfully, they obliged. Hayley took Oliver back to the bayou (where Jackson was just chilling on the sidelines) only for him to die five minutes later. RIP Oliver.

Pictured: Sonja Sohn as Lenore — Photo: Richard Ducree/The CW

Esther had snapped Klaus’s neck in a fit of rage, only for him to dream of the night he found his biological father murdered. He awoke to Esther, who strangely ceded in telling him Elijah’s exact location. He quickly made his way over to the cemetery to find Jackson’s new friend fighting off the wolves. Klaus looked into Ansel’s eyes and saw the man from his dreams starring back at him. Ansel was his biological father brought back from the Other Side by Esther. Ansel looked at his son compassionately, but Klaus wanted no part in the reunion. The paternal damage had been done.

Klaus finally found Elijah, but was interrupted by Esther once again. This time Klaus had had enough. Esther had tried to murder his child and nothing she did would ever redeem her in his eyes. “I am my mothers son,” Klaus uttered with disgrace as he freed a still unconscious Elijah.

One last flashback revealed the truth behind Esther’s past and why Finn was so attached to his mother. Dahlia’s magic to help Esther reproduce had came with a deadly price: the life of the 1^st born Mikaelson of every generation. Freya had not died of plague, but instead had been taken by Dahlia. If Esther did not comply then Dahlia would return to destroy her entire family. Esther swore to take up Defense Against the Dark Arts once more to combat her evil sister.

Things we need to discuss:

• The Kol Mikaelson webisode (Presented by Walmart K-Mart Target): Kol was macking on Davina’s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. The End.
• Humanize Esther all you want, but she is no better than her sister.

• Does anyone else have a feeling that Elijah may awake as his 1,000-year-old witch-aunt?

• I’m glad Marcel keeps Klaus blood on tap these days.

• Klaus never did succeed in burning Esther’s body. Do I sense a reunion between Esther and Alice Evans coming on?

• Who else agrees that Mark Pellegrino should have played Ansel?

• The more I think about it and the more characters reference how they were chilling, watching on the Other Side, the more I’m scared to go take a shower right now. Also, was someone teaching English/linguistic lessons over there?

• GET WELL SOON, ELIJAH. I love you.