The Originals – Episode 1.07 – Bloodletting - Review

Episode 1.07 – Bloodletting , or as I like to call it: Slow Down the Mythology, Please! 

Welcome to this week’s review of The Originals. Here are the highlights:

• Marcel didn’t steal the baby mama, the one who did was…Tyler Lockwood(!!?!)
• Not much of a Fight Club even though the previews made it look like that.
• Exposition up yo trees
• Hybrid mythology you need a manual to understand
• A lot of people inflicting a lot of pain on other people
• Davina hitting it off with a guy who bats for the other team
• Rebekah hitting it off with the enemy
• Elijah hitting it off with ‘family’
• Klaus hitting it off with no one and getting crotchety about it
• No Cami
• Lots of woods and daylight

We start off with what I thought would be yet another display of The Originals’ badass-ness in a group fight. I was sorely disappointed when all they did was sit around drinking scotch and talking to a witch. At least her Google Blood Map found Hayley somewhere in the woods.

Hayley, as it turns out, is kidnapped by a cast member from another show. Now I've got to admit, I didn’t watch The Vampire Diaries up to the current season. After watching two seasons of it, and a little bit of season three, the runaway centipede plot annoyed me so much I quit. When Tyler showed up I knew who and what he was, but I had no idea what had happened to him last on the other show. The flashes of memory we got as Klaus and Elijah exposition their heads off among the trees didn’t help. 

Tyler tells Hayley that Klaus’ only reason for keeping her, and the baby, around is to use the baby’s blood to create an army of hybrids. To prove his point he takes some of her blood and injects it into some dude who does the usual tossing and turning before he turns into a hybrid. This made me wonder, if that’s Klaus’ only intention for keeping Hayley around, why hasn’t he already bled her to use it for his army? Why wait for the baby to be born when the combined blood of the mother and child does the same thing as exhibited? This is why I didn’t like The Vampire Diaries. I enjoy a certain level of suspension of disbelief. But when the mythology gets so complicated it starts shooting holes in itself I back off.

Back at the church Davina is tasked with removing Klaus’ curse from Josh, the newly made vampire who dreams of boys and a daylight ring. I like how, on this show, daylight rings are luxury items that have to be earned. I wasn’t a fan of the idea of a special ring that allowed vampires to walk in daylight. It removed one of the most interesting limitations of the immortal beings and made being a vampire all advantage and no loss. Making them hard to get and a way for Marcel to control his followers gives them a purpose beyond just a convenient accessory for the writers to have their vamps enjoy the sun.

In the woods Tyler decides he gave Hayley and the audience enough explanation for his murderous intentions and he goes to kill her. Why he felt the need to prove himself to her is beyond me. Did he think if he explained it well she would bare her throat and beg him to slice it? All he did was sabotage his own plan by giving the other side time to catch up with him, the same way it happens in every classic action movie when the villain slows down the action to explain his ideas for world domination instead of just killing the good guys right there.

I wanted to write a bit about Rebekah and Marcel continuing their sizzling salsa but I really have not much to say. They’re both hot and have a lot of chemistry, but I don’t see any future for their relationship even though I enjoy it. I hate to think Marcel may use this to take advantage of Rebekah against Klaus. I hope his feelings for her are genuine but I doubt it.

The best scene of the episode is when Klaus and Elijah rescue Hayley and Hayley tells Klaus about Tyler’s accusations. The look on Klaus’ face is beyond betrayed and just like that, all the jealousy and hurt he had been harbouring spills out. He calls Elijah noble, citing how everyone likes and trusts him while they call Klaus “liar” and “manipulator.” This is a great scene that shows Klaus’s insecurities, how his violence is a way for him to get what Elijah so easily gets through chivalry and charm and how much it frustrates Klaus as he always falls short. Once again, to prove this point, he falls back to old habit and attacks Elijah, going literally for the jugular. If he couldn’t have his brother’s fame he would make sure Elijah doesn’t get to enjoy it.

And so it looks like we’re in for some Elijah hurt/Hayley comfort in the next episode, like we had the reverse in the last. The show seems to really work on pushing this relationship. Like Marcel and Rebekah I enjoy the chemistry but see no future for it. Hayley is carrying Klaus’ child, which means Klaus will always be a part of her life. I don’t see how she and Elijah could have a peaceful, happy relationship with that factor in place until I have a look at the “Vampire/Werewolf/Hybrid Child Custody Agreement,” if one exists.

Next Week: Elijah hurts prettily and Marcel goes to war.   

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.  

Tessa

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