The Originals, after five episodes
Nov. 5th, 2013 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthSo I’ve been rewatching The Originals, and as I consider five episodes to be the right amount of time to get the pulse of a new show so I think I should write up some thoughts.
I didn’t rewatch the TVD or director’s cut of the pilot, just the 1x01 version. I do consider that to be the best version of the story but there are elements from the earlier cuts that are lacking here. Cami’s interaction with Klaus over paintings, the meat of the conversation between Elijah and Klaus on the bench, Elijah dealing with Sofie to get Hayley free. And there’s a few things that are hard to fit in, after all apparently Elijah made a run back to Mystic Falls to talk to Rebekah in person to convince her to join them and break up with Katherine at the same time he must have been arranging to open up the old governor’s house for them. And none of the versions of this story give Rebekah enough to do in my opinion.
For all I consider it the best version of the story, it feels a little uneven; the seams from sewing together Klaus’s story and Elijah’s definitely show. And there are moments when one is clearly supposed to have seen Klaus’s side of things first. The scenes with Klaus tend to be joined in progress, not because things have already been explain in this story but because those scenes have been out there for months so you should have seen them. Klaus also really comes across as an annoying burden on the story and Elijah; I do think that was probably slightly intentional, for us to see Elijah struggling with the burden of holding the family together, but I think a lot of it just comes from the structural issues I’ve already noted. It jack-knifes around to make room for Klaus and his issues.
Still, only in this version do you get the awkwardest best line ever: “Even if I have to beat you like father used to in order to teach you the importance of family.” That line just says so much that I love about this show and family.
The second episode could be considered yet another pilot for the show as it really starts the game moving rather than just establishing the players and the board as the pilot focused on. And it gets moving nicely with pretty good moments for most of the main characters. There’s plot movement, and a lot of motivations and relationships that get examined in this story and yet it doesn’t feel overcrowded.
It’s a little unfair to make the comparison, but TVD took a fair bit longer to get things moving. This show did have a leg up with a large chunk of the cast being established characters in a new setting instead of wholly new characters that need establishment. I am a little curious how this would play to someone who didn’t watch TVD, I don’t feel like it moved too quickly, but I already know and love the show’s core characters so it’s only needed to prove the new ones to me, and that took a little longer to get moving so it’s not completely off TVD’s early schedule of growth.
So far, the third episode is my least favorite. And it’s only slightly because it’s the one with basically no Elijah. Because the plot is focused around getting Elijah back the episode so when the episode both fails to deliver that and changes “intended” focus at the end, the whole thing ends up feeling really static. Yes it’s a masterwork in breathing life into Klaus as a character again, and long overdue; but after the energy ramped up so quickly in 1x02 this one didn’t quite carry it forward. And between 1x02 and 1x04 it ends up feeling a touch pointless and a waste within the story of TO.
It’s a touch ironic then that this is the one episode so far without flashbacks (a little playing around with time within the narrative though) and the least amount of info dups about backstory. The story that was the most focused on the present feels like it did the least to move the story forward. It’s an important episode in establishing things about the present, particularly with how Marcel runs his kingdom, but it’s a little stuck in the present I guess.
The forth episode is an episode that the show really needed to have and it’s good they didn’t wait any longer to do it. And I’m not talking about getting Elijah out of the coffin; although letting that go on longer would have meant more cock-teasing like 1x03 so it did need to happen. Cami and especially Davina needed to be fleshed out people to continue being big characters in the show. In the end Cami remains a mind-whammied pawn in the game, but she needed to be an actual character inside all that. Davina is a powerful piece in this game; maybe being played, maybe her own player, but she *had* to be a character beyond that for this plot to have any drama in it.
Also, it’s an important episode for cementing Hayley as part of the family. Hayley herself has still not had a real character focused episode (I suspect we’re due) and as I’ve discussed before I think that’s because the writers view her as an established character since she was on TVD last season; but she never really had much in the way of character stamping the way the three leads did so it would be nice if they got around to that now. But this does remind us that she’s capable of holding her own and does a lot to fold her into the family. In spite of the fact that’s she’s in this position because she’s carrying Klaus’s kid, I like the idea that that makes her family but not anyone’s love interest. (grumble)
One thing about this episode and the next one, the Originals treat Davina as a child. A powerful and capable child, but a child. Klaus talks down to her as a little girl, and Elijah...respects yet condescends to her as an adult talking to a child. And yet she’s at most three years younger than the Mystic Falls crew, and *maybe* two years younger than they were when Klaus and Elijah entered their lives. And yet Caroline is viewed not a child but a suitable romantic partner, and I don’t even think Klaus talks down to Jeremy the way he does Davina; he talks down to everyone of course, but it’s more out of disdain than thinking of them as children. As Elijah has considerably less interaction with any of them besides Elena it’s harder to say, and in that case you run into my shipping preferences that I’m trying really hard to keep out of this for now; but on TVD he condescends to everyone about equally *except* to Elena once they get to know each other, so it’s hard to read much into it when he might have done so. As far as Rebekah, she’s supposed to be eternally 17 right? And yet she always refers to Davina as a child when she’s 16 (at least, she might have been 16 in the flashbacks in which case she could easily be 17 by now); which she really didn’t do with the MF crew.
Okay, episode five. Upon rewatch, it has some noticeable plot holes and yet it’s probably my favorite episode so far, largely for the obvious reason. But it’s the first true game *changer* of the series, the previous ones being largely about escalation rather than changing the board...or at least revealing that they were never playing on the board they/we thought they were. Since I don’t have any more context for this than I did when I wrote my reaction post (and I further addressed my Originals’ attitude toward Davina above) I’m not sure I have much to say.
Just that Elijah’s awesomeand totally wants to call Elena as soon as he hears about the sacrifice aspect...not that he didn’t earlier.
One thing I was ruminating on as I rewatched it that Klaus still isn’t someone the show insists we root for, and yet his characterization makes so much more sense here that he becomes more sympathetic. And there’s a lot of interconnected reasons for that, pretty much stemming from the fact that this is his/the Original family’s story. But where Elijah and Rebekah had made peace with the TVD world, Klaus never could. Both shows are very family focused, and Klaus could never be part of the family on TVD, while obviously he is here.
And because of the pack morality of TVD, the fact that the ‘in family’ and ‘not in family’ groups didn’t destroy each other long ago never worked. Klaus was not the uncomfortable but respectful ally that Elijah was, or the all-too-like-the-family presence of Rebekah. He was the enemy the show made no effort to redeem (the show doesn’t really do redemption); the obstacle to be distracted, conned or bribed; on rare occasion the alliance of convenience; but he could never be part of the family.
Here, because Klaus is part of the family his characterization is put in the same context as everyone else’s. Family above all, family is power, something to strive for and protect. It’s not meant as a “good” motivator any more than it is for anyone else, but it puts him on the same playing field where he just could not be on TVD. We see him not as the Other, because in this context no one sees him as an outsider; not his brother, sister, surrogate son, baby momma, or anyone that views him through the people surrounding him. He’s Klaus, he may be judged wanting, but he’s judged as family here.
Now that I’ve probably just talked around in circles, it’s basically time for bed.
I didn’t rewatch the TVD or director’s cut of the pilot, just the 1x01 version. I do consider that to be the best version of the story but there are elements from the earlier cuts that are lacking here. Cami’s interaction with Klaus over paintings, the meat of the conversation between Elijah and Klaus on the bench, Elijah dealing with Sofie to get Hayley free. And there’s a few things that are hard to fit in, after all apparently Elijah made a run back to Mystic Falls to talk to Rebekah in person to convince her to join them and break up with Katherine at the same time he must have been arranging to open up the old governor’s house for them. And none of the versions of this story give Rebekah enough to do in my opinion.
For all I consider it the best version of the story, it feels a little uneven; the seams from sewing together Klaus’s story and Elijah’s definitely show. And there are moments when one is clearly supposed to have seen Klaus’s side of things first. The scenes with Klaus tend to be joined in progress, not because things have already been explain in this story but because those scenes have been out there for months so you should have seen them. Klaus also really comes across as an annoying burden on the story and Elijah; I do think that was probably slightly intentional, for us to see Elijah struggling with the burden of holding the family together, but I think a lot of it just comes from the structural issues I’ve already noted. It jack-knifes around to make room for Klaus and his issues.
Still, only in this version do you get the awkwardest best line ever: “Even if I have to beat you like father used to in order to teach you the importance of family.” That line just says so much that I love about this show and family.
The second episode could be considered yet another pilot for the show as it really starts the game moving rather than just establishing the players and the board as the pilot focused on. And it gets moving nicely with pretty good moments for most of the main characters. There’s plot movement, and a lot of motivations and relationships that get examined in this story and yet it doesn’t feel overcrowded.
It’s a little unfair to make the comparison, but TVD took a fair bit longer to get things moving. This show did have a leg up with a large chunk of the cast being established characters in a new setting instead of wholly new characters that need establishment. I am a little curious how this would play to someone who didn’t watch TVD, I don’t feel like it moved too quickly, but I already know and love the show’s core characters so it’s only needed to prove the new ones to me, and that took a little longer to get moving so it’s not completely off TVD’s early schedule of growth.
So far, the third episode is my least favorite. And it’s only slightly because it’s the one with basically no Elijah. Because the plot is focused around getting Elijah back the episode so when the episode both fails to deliver that and changes “intended” focus at the end, the whole thing ends up feeling really static. Yes it’s a masterwork in breathing life into Klaus as a character again, and long overdue; but after the energy ramped up so quickly in 1x02 this one didn’t quite carry it forward. And between 1x02 and 1x04 it ends up feeling a touch pointless and a waste within the story of TO.
It’s a touch ironic then that this is the one episode so far without flashbacks (a little playing around with time within the narrative though) and the least amount of info dups about backstory. The story that was the most focused on the present feels like it did the least to move the story forward. It’s an important episode in establishing things about the present, particularly with how Marcel runs his kingdom, but it’s a little stuck in the present I guess.
The forth episode is an episode that the show really needed to have and it’s good they didn’t wait any longer to do it. And I’m not talking about getting Elijah out of the coffin; although letting that go on longer would have meant more cock-teasing like 1x03 so it did need to happen. Cami and especially Davina needed to be fleshed out people to continue being big characters in the show. In the end Cami remains a mind-whammied pawn in the game, but she needed to be an actual character inside all that. Davina is a powerful piece in this game; maybe being played, maybe her own player, but she *had* to be a character beyond that for this plot to have any drama in it.
Also, it’s an important episode for cementing Hayley as part of the family. Hayley herself has still not had a real character focused episode (I suspect we’re due) and as I’ve discussed before I think that’s because the writers view her as an established character since she was on TVD last season; but she never really had much in the way of character stamping the way the three leads did so it would be nice if they got around to that now. But this does remind us that she’s capable of holding her own and does a lot to fold her into the family. In spite of the fact that’s she’s in this position because she’s carrying Klaus’s kid, I like the idea that that makes her family but not anyone’s love interest. (grumble)
One thing about this episode and the next one, the Originals treat Davina as a child. A powerful and capable child, but a child. Klaus talks down to her as a little girl, and Elijah...respects yet condescends to her as an adult talking to a child. And yet she’s at most three years younger than the Mystic Falls crew, and *maybe* two years younger than they were when Klaus and Elijah entered their lives. And yet Caroline is viewed not a child but a suitable romantic partner, and I don’t even think Klaus talks down to Jeremy the way he does Davina; he talks down to everyone of course, but it’s more out of disdain than thinking of them as children. As Elijah has considerably less interaction with any of them besides Elena it’s harder to say, and in that case you run into my shipping preferences that I’m trying really hard to keep out of this for now; but on TVD he condescends to everyone about equally *except* to Elena once they get to know each other, so it’s hard to read much into it when he might have done so. As far as Rebekah, she’s supposed to be eternally 17 right? And yet she always refers to Davina as a child when she’s 16 (at least, she might have been 16 in the flashbacks in which case she could easily be 17 by now); which she really didn’t do with the MF crew.
Okay, episode five. Upon rewatch, it has some noticeable plot holes and yet it’s probably my favorite episode so far, largely for the obvious reason. But it’s the first true game *changer* of the series, the previous ones being largely about escalation rather than changing the board...or at least revealing that they were never playing on the board they/we thought they were. Since I don’t have any more context for this than I did when I wrote my reaction post (and I further addressed my Originals’ attitude toward Davina above) I’m not sure I have much to say.
Just that Elijah’s awesome
One thing I was ruminating on as I rewatched it that Klaus still isn’t someone the show insists we root for, and yet his characterization makes so much more sense here that he becomes more sympathetic. And there’s a lot of interconnected reasons for that, pretty much stemming from the fact that this is his/the Original family’s story. But where Elijah and Rebekah had made peace with the TVD world, Klaus never could. Both shows are very family focused, and Klaus could never be part of the family on TVD, while obviously he is here.
And because of the pack morality of TVD, the fact that the ‘in family’ and ‘not in family’ groups didn’t destroy each other long ago never worked. Klaus was not the uncomfortable but respectful ally that Elijah was, or the all-too-like-the-family presence of Rebekah. He was the enemy the show made no effort to redeem (the show doesn’t really do redemption); the obstacle to be distracted, conned or bribed; on rare occasion the alliance of convenience; but he could never be part of the family.
Here, because Klaus is part of the family his characterization is put in the same context as everyone else’s. Family above all, family is power, something to strive for and protect. It’s not meant as a “good” motivator any more than it is for anyone else, but it puts him on the same playing field where he just could not be on TVD. We see him not as the Other, because in this context no one sees him as an outsider; not his brother, sister, surrogate son, baby momma, or anyone that views him through the people surrounding him. He’s Klaus, he may be judged wanting, but he’s judged as family here.
Now that I’ve probably just talked around in circles, it’s basically time for bed.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-05 01:35 pm (UTC)I wholeheartedly agree with this. Klaus is still the bad guy, still obsessed with power and willing to betray and manipulate everyone. Yet because Elijah and Rebekah love him, the audience loves him. It's a joy to watch.
I loved Klaus even on TVD, but I agree that he couldn't go on being the eternal adversary. He basically ran out of story after Bonnie dessciated him at the end of Season 3. It was either death or spin-off. I'm so glad we got spin-off. :)
no subject
Date: 2013-11-05 11:57 pm (UTC)