The Originals - Review of Episode 1.14 & 1.15 - Long Way Back From Hell & Le Grand Guignol

Due to illness, I wasn’t able to post my review for “Long Way Back From Hell” last week. So I decided to combine it with this week’s episode.

Not a lot happened in “Long Way Back From Hell”. Just a few important things. Genevieve used Rebekah’s own mind to torment her and liked Klaus to her so he could see her deception. Monique sent Elijah on a wild goose chase and Hayley kidnaps Celeste. The episode revolved mostly around flashbacks from Rebekah’s perspective, set at a hospital. Things get a little more intense in “Le Grand Guignol” which had flashbacks from Mikael’s arrival in New Orleans. In an effort to hide from Klaus, Rebekah and Marcel try to resurrect Davina so she can perform a cloaking spell. They succeed with Thierry’s help by killing Bastiana, however I think it was Elijah killing Celeste that did the trick. After Elijah stabbed him with the witch knife, Klaus is nursed back to health by Cami, who fails to get through to him. The episode ends with a face-off between the three siblings. 

Best effect: I wanted to give a special mention to the mirrors in “Long Way Back From Hell”. As a vidder, it’s something that immediately stood out to me. It literally made both Genevieve and Klaus two-faced.

Best fangs appearance: If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time Elijah’s fangs have made an appearance. The reason we’ve never seen them is because Elijah doesn’t lose his temper so easily. But Celeste knows exactly which buttons to push. He flashed them not once, but twice in “Le Grand Guignol”, more on the second time later. 

Best couple: I’ve come to notice Marcel and Rebekah aren’t the most popular couple on this show where fans are concerned. I myself like them, but have never been crazy about Marcel. However I like that he stood by Rebekah these past two episodes. Klaus kills anyone who betrays him, although he’s a little more forgiving when it comes to his family (not this week), and Marcel knows this. And yet he refused to leave Rebekah’s side knowing full well it would get him killed. Even in “Le Grand Guignol”, the only reason he leaves her in the cemetery is because Rebekah told him to get Davina to safety. Had she not been in his arms, I guarantee, there’s no way he would have left. 

Best flashback: So many amazing flashbacks these past two weeks. I of course had to go with the theatre fire and everything that came with it. It’s great to see Mikael again, since he’s such an important part of their history. Makes me wish they’d be able to get a hold of the actress who played Esther since there’s still so much I want to see from the early days. The fire itself is something that has been talked about all season, it’s the reason the Originals left New Orleans. But the actual scene itself is even more gruesome than I had expected. Each character on this show has been shown to have at least some redeeming qualities, even Klaus. And yet when it comes to Mikael, we’ve only ever seen him as the big bad. As far as we know, there’s only one reason for his hatred for Klaus: pride. He’s the product of his wife’s infidelity and for that reason he wants him dead. He may say that it’s about the fact that he’s a ‘monster’, but thanks to the curse Esther put on him, the werewolf side is suppressed, and yet he still hunts him. But from the conversation between Mikael and Klaus we see that it’s mostly psychological torture. He hates him so much, he wants to erase Klaus’ existence from history. We know from flashbacks on ‘The Vampire Diaries’ that not long after, Rebekah and Klaus showed up in Chicago without Elijah. But we never really knew why he wasn’t with them. Well now we do. He sacrificed himself for his siblings, offering to stall Mikael so they could get away. His goodbye to his siblings was heartbreaking. Undoubtedly he knew there was a chance his father would kill him. It’s sad to see what’s happened to the bond between the three of them. The parallel of Klaus walking in the cemetery and Mikael in the streets was nicely done. It showed that Klaus, even though he denies it, has become what he hates the most: his father. 

Best fight scene: Klaus versus Rebekah. The Original siblings don’t go up against each other very often, but when they do it’s epic. I actually expected Rebekah to try and reason with him, but instead she fought back. It also surprised me to see Elijah swoop in and stab Klaus with the knife. He could have stabbed him with anything else. But I guess if he really wanted to slow Klaus down, the knife was the best option. 

Best return: Davina is back. Her return was relatively small, no dramatic lights and stuff. But I love the fact that Marcel was right there when she woke up. No word on the other girl that was resurrected. Or the one that wasn’t. I like Genevieve and want her to stay, but I do feel bad for the girl who won’t get resurrected because of it. 

Best death: Ding dong, the witch is dead. I’m referring to Celeste here. Although I’d like to give an honorable mention to Bastiana, who I despised almost as much. Much to her own surprise, Monique turned on her by putting a spell on her that would bring her back to her old body if she killed herself, which she did. Although I do wonder what was up with her powers this week. Hayley managed to hold her hostage, although I probably wouldn’t have tried anything either if a dozen angry wolves were surrounding me. But she should have easily been able to fight off Elijah, at least from what we’ve seen in the past few episodes. Oh well, good riddance. 

Best cliffhanger: Well in 2 episodes there can only be 2 cliffhanger. But I found the most memorable one, the cliffhanger from “Le Grand Guignol”. All three Original siblings, ready to attack. It actually made me scream “No, don’t end it there.” at my screen. 

Most surprising chemistry: I did not expect to see chemistry between Klaus and Genevieve. I can’t imagine Celeste was very happy with Genevieve easing Klaus’ pain. I felt bad for Genevieve in the flashbacks. She really did get screwed over. I hope she and Klaus can become friends or something. He could use someone in his corner. Although I’d rather they just both forgive Rebekah. 

Favorite character: Cami wins this one for me. You’d think that as a human, it would be at least a little scary to be taking care of a starving Original vampire. But Cami showed no fear. She even tried to reason with him. She’s grown a lot this season, and it’s kind of nice having a human who can stand her own in a world of vampires. 

Favorite scene: My favorite scene would have to be Hayley knocking out Celeste. I actually cheered. I feel bad not choosing Hayley is my favorite character because she kicked ass. She stood up for her family, even against Elijah. 

Best quotes: Hayley: “Hey there, witch bitch.” 

Cami: “So be a good little boy and get back into bed.” Klaus: “If I had a quid for every time a woman has tried that line on me…” Cami: ”You’d have like, no money.” 

Hayley: “Careful Sabine, or Celeste, or whatever you like to call yourself. Sudden moves make me jumpy and homicidal.” 

Hayley: “So help me or get out of my way.” 

I promise to post the next one in time, won’t let school, illness or my own incessant need to postpone everything stop me. So check in again next week and let me know in the comments what you thought of both episodes. Also since this review is a lot bigger than usual, if you see any spelling mistakes, please point them out so I can change them.

About the Author - Belle333Black

Jamie Coudeville (Belle333Black) writes reviews for The Originals. She's 19, lives in Belgium and her favorite shows are The Originals, Vampire Diaries, Orphan Black, Nikita, ...