TV REVIEW: The Originals “City Beneath the Sea”

By Erin Resnick

If television has taught us anything, it’s that every villain has a backstory. Most of the time these villains come from sympathetic backgrounds full of death, depression, or groups of Vikings trying to use you for your dark magic. Whatever the case may be, at some point villains usually enter a moral gray area where we find ourselves unsure of which side to root for. Monday’s episode of The Originals, entitled “City Beneath the Sea,” introduced us to Dahlia’s plight and her true desires to be the best witch-aunt she could possibly be.

Klaus being temporarily daggered didn’t stop Dahlia from making her intentions known as she pulled Klaus into her head, forcing him to watch what she had endured as a young witch. Vikings had slaughtered Dahlia and Esther’s family and friends, and the two were forced into a life of servitude. Dahlia took it upon herself to perform all the magic, letting Esther lead the most normal life possible, which included falling for a young Viking man named Mikael. It didn’t take long for the two lovebirds to make plans of marriage and a gaggle of children to hate.

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Freya pleaded with Elijah to bring back Hope, as she needed to use the baby as bait to lure in Dahlia and finally defeat her. Elijah was conflicted as he wanted to be finally rid of his evil aunt, but using his niece as bait was a horrible plan. Meanwhile, Rebekah and Marcel persuaded Vincent to help unlink Rebekah from Davina and the rest of the teen witches, but he was less than thrilled when it came to helping out in the fight against Dahlia. Cami decided that if Vincent wasn’t going to lend his helping witch hand then Davina was adequate enough to do the job.

Girl power reigned supreme as Davin, Cami, and Rebekah all worked together to figure out a way to throw Dahlia off their tracks. They settled on projection magic, storing Hope’s baby magic in an object. Unfortunately, the object needed a beating heart in order to truly fool Dahlia.

Dahlia finally confessed her motives to Klaus. She had never wanted to hurt or keep Freya hostage, but the first-born witch in every generation of their family was dangerously powerful. She had tried to hone in on Freya’s magic, but it was harder than she had expected. She promised Klaus a place in Hope’s life as her father if she was the true matriarch in the infant’s life and was able to channel her powerful magic while teaching her the ways of the witch. There was only one caveat: Hayley had to die. And with that offer, Dahlia reawakened Klaus.

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Out in the bayou, Jackson and Hayley were saying their last goodbyes to Aiden. Jackson knew what family meant to him and it was time for Hayley to decide between him and the pack or the Mikaelsons. Hayley didn’t have to spend much time mulling over the ultimatum as she knew in her heart Jackson and Hope were her family, her safest place away from Klaus’ enemies. Josh showed up for the wolf send off for Aiden, breaking hearts all over again for the future that never was for the couple.

Elijah had finally promised to bring Hope to Freya, but as she prepared the spell using Klaus’ paintings with Mikael’s ashes, he injected her with Hope’s blood, now making her the golem with Hope’s magic; Dahlia would now only be after Freya.

Vincent decided to offer Davina his spot as leader of all the Louisiana witches. He had had enough of the life and knew Davina was the best choice for the job. With her desires to resurrect Kol and a bevy of different forms of witchcraft to draw from, leading the witches was the perfect role for her.

Hayley left a voicemail for Elijah and Rebekah, Klaus overhearing as she decided that taking Hope out of the bayou and raising her outside of the Mikaelsons was her best option. Though Elijah and Rebekah understood her position in order to keep Hope as safe as possible, Klaus made his final move and appeared to Dahlia, ready to take her and deal and take down anyone – including Hayley and his siblings – that stood in his way.

Things we need to discuss:

– I guess there’s no hope of Aiden’s resurrection. As much as I want Kol back, I also would have loved for Davina to find a way to add Aiden onto that spell of hers.

– How far will Klaus go to take back Hope? Would he go through with murdering Hayley? I can easily see him eliminating Jackson (sorry, Jackson!) but the mother of his child?

– Is there a yearly Louisiana witches convention? I would like to see it and all the different forms of magic that exist.

– Who else is ready to see Cami do more than just go for coffee runs? Should she start charging for her time she has spent being everyone’s therapist?