1.16 Farewell To Storyville This episode, Farewell to Storyville, was entirely about setting this eventuality up without the seams showing and, though fans have been told that the decision to leave was entirely Holt’s, the show did an excellent job of making Rebekah’s final hour into something that brought us full-circle, even for those viewers who can’t imagine The Originals without its female lead. Her exit wasn’t just in keeping with what we’ve seen and heard of Rebekah during this first season, but what we’ve always wanted for her. As the girl who loved too easily, she’s now free to live and love to her heart’s content without the interference of her brother. But it is abrupt, and the bulk of the episode was a bit of a letdown in terms of the big, epic Mikaelson showdown we were promised last week. There was almost zero actually fighting, a lot of repeated conversations and arguments about how each of them have ruined the others’ lives and, without the final conclusion of Rebekah and Klaus deciding to part ways, it would have been a frustrating hour. But, with the final fifteen minutes seeing off one of the show’s strongest characters with relative grace, the flaws of the episode’s preceding two-thirds melt away and leave a very poignant, satisfying exit for Rebekah. What, I wonder, are Klaus and Elijah going to get up to now? What worries me here, however, is the potential for a love triangle to take over the narrative (as it also could with Cami, Klaus and Marcel), despite the animosity currently shared by Klaus and Hayley outside of their mutual best interests for the child. The Originals had a great thing going for it with the central trio and, with the familial element of the show now diminished to leave a Vampire Diaries-esque dynamic of just two brothers, there’s a danger of it losing some of its initial appeal. Klaus and Elijah are still complex and entertaining characters worthy of a central position on their own show, but Rebekah’s shoes aren’t easy ones to fill. We can only hope that the writers knew about her exit early on, and have set up the pieces accordingly. Though the episode, much like the show, was overly talky in some places, a few of the conversations addressed what long-time fans of these characters have wanted the show to address for a while. This isn’t just some ordinary family with issues about loving the same girl a la the Salvatores – they have genuine trauma in their past and several lifetimes to endure its lasting effects – and all of them, not just Klaus, bear the scars of what their parents did to them. Klaus’ problems might be the most violently obvious, but Rebekah’s desperate longing and Elijah’s concern for his siblings are also down to their shared experience as children. That is make makes them relatable – their problems aren’t extraordinary, they’re just magnified by immortality. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
