1.1 Always and Forever Elijah was introduced on The Vampire Diaries a whole half a season before Klaus, so it’s fitting that he is the one, as before, to introduce viewers to the world of the Mikaelson family. It’s a long and complicated story, which I admit I hadn’t really appreciated for a while, and there’s a heck of a lot of exposition to get out of the way. This was probably one of the major reasons for bringing Elijah to the fore in this episode, since he’s always been a brilliantly captivating deliverer of exposition, and he just about copes with it. I don’t know if new viewers will be confused, but I think they got a good overview of the rules. An introductory flashback solidifies the idea that our protagonists are not brooding Twilight-vampires, but cold-blooded murderers and the most dysfunctional family of all time. This is the first brief glimpse of Rebekah, who was off snogging Matt on The Vampire Diaries this week, but her role in things will presumably be explained next week. From here, we follow Elijah around New Orleans as he pieces together the events we witnessed before the summer break – from Hayley’s miracle pregnancy to Marcel’s control of the witches. The episode could never have picked up where the previous episode left off, and a fresh perspective was welcome. Ignoring those quibbles, this episode obviously still contained the things I loved about the show in the first place. It’s a more adult take on the brother dynamic that made The Vampire Diaries so compelling in the first couple of seasons and, with Rebekah thrown into the mix, the family drama will be the best part of the show. Then there’s Marcel, who’s the most deliciously charismatic antagonist I’ve seen for a long time. The chemistry between him and Klaus is fantastic and, with a show like this, there are no rules as to which side our characters will be on from week to week. Also, people might complain that Klaus has been made too soft by the writers, but there are just as many fans who want to see him truly redeemed. The Originals is an odd show that never would have existed without The Vampire Diaries, and for that we should be grateful. There are currently no love triangles or teenage angst and, with its pairing on Tuesday nights with Supernatural, I’m hoping this gets really dark, really fast. There’s no reason it can’t, which is the beauty of it, as this is an organically grown idea from a show that’s been struggling for a couple of years. We don’t know what The Originals can be, and I’m very excited to get going. I just hope it doesn’t take long for someone to un-dagger Elijah. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
