The Originals - "Sinners and Saints" - Review

Intro

Up to last week in terms of reviews now. Like, exactly a week.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Originals, Season 1, Episode 5: "Sinners and Saints." If you have not seen the episode, I recommend watching it before reading this review. I will spoil things.

The Originals - "Sinners and Saints" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Father Kieran - Played by Todd Stashwick. Human. Reverend of the church Davina lives in.
• Jane-Anne Deveraux - Played by Malaya Rivera Drew. Witch. Sophie's older sister. Deceased.
• Bastianna - Played by Shannon Eubanks. Witch. Deceased.
• Sean - Played by Matt Kabus. Human. Cami's twin brother. Father Keiran's nephew. Deceased.
• Monique Deveraux - Played by Yasmine Al-Bustami. Witch. Jane-Anne's daughter. Sophie's niece. Deceased.

Review:

Oh my, the exposition. Also, I got my wish. We got back story on Davina. It really wasn't what I was expecting, but it was cool nonetheless. It was interesting to get the story of what happened in New Orleans between the witches and the vampires from three different points of view. We as the viewers get the whole story, whereas the Mikaelsons and Hayley sort of have to piece it together. Although, it seems Elijah already did that.

I was surprised that the ban on magic was only eight months old. I'd been thinking it had lasted a lot longer, though it explained how Marcel ended up with Davina. Speaking of, Davina is less crazy than I'd thought she would be. I was kind of viewing her as a sort of Claudia from Interview With The Vampire rather than what she actually is. All that power didn't come to her naturally as well, which made me a bit more comfortable with her. I also like that her attachment to Marcel came because he saved her life.

I'm not sure what to think of the ritual or its aftermath. It's clear that Sophie thinks finishing the ritual will bring her niece back to life. It's clear Davina thinks she and the other girls will stay dead. I think the tie to the ancestral magic is an interesting concept. I also don't think the witches will loose their powers, just become incredibly weakened.

I thought the fight between Marcel and Klaus would have been fun to see play out. We got to see Klaus being a brat again for a bit there.

I liked that Elijah was able to connect to Davina more than anyone else. He's rather good at that, as we saw with his connection to Elena Gilbert. I think Elijah might have a thing for Hayley as well. It might even be mutual. I think I might be okay with that.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Davina is still super creepy. Her blood being really powerful is interesting.
• I'm currently siding with Davina here.
• I like that Rebekah views Hayley as family, even if she doesn't show it in a way that makes sense to Hayley.
• Everyone saying "The Harvest" kept reminding me of Buffy.

Housekeeping

Gonna have to stop the reviews here, I'm afraid. I've got chores to complete and then babysitting my nephew. I might decide to do some more reviewing after Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tonight, but don't get your hopes up. Ah well, at least I did three.

Love ya, Jessie

The Originals - "Girl in New Orleans" - Review

Intro

The second of three reviews I'm posting tonight... or at least planning to post tonight...

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Originals, Season 1, Episode 4: "Girl in New Orleans." If you have not seen it, I recommend doing so before reading this review. I spoil things.

The Originals - "Girl in New Orleans" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Camille "Cami" O'Connell - Played by Leah Pipes. Bartender. Human.
• Joshua "Josh" Rosza - Played by Steven Krueger. Vampire. A "nightwalker" under Klaus' control.
• Agnes - Played by Karen Kaia Livers. Witch.
• Diego - Played by Eka Darville. Vampire. One of Marcel's "daywalkers."
• Dr. Paige - Played by Andrea Powell. Gynecologist.
• Tim - Played by Shane Coffey. Human. Davina's childhood friend and crush.
• Father Kieran - Played by Todd Stashwick. Human. Reverend of the church Davina lives in.

Review:

It's official, I want Davina's back story. I want to know where she came from and why she's so attached to Marcel. This tiny glimpse into her past muddied the waters, as far as that goes. Also, Davina's naive/pure/creepy routine is driving me a little nuts.

I got kind of attached to Cami this episode. I like that she's so up front with Klaus. I like that she doesn't like what he's doing to her and insists on trying to make him stop. I'm not impressed that Klaus went against he wishes with her memory of her brother. She doesn't need to be entirely devoted to his little spy games. That's dumb.

I'm somewhat confused as to what Rebekah's up to baiting Marcel. This was the second time she's done the really close flirting thing and it's just weird. I understand they have a history, but seriously? What. The. Hell. Rebekah? That said, I'm really glad to see Rebekah honoring Elijah's wishes to protect Hayley.

Speaking of which, Elijah's apparently been invited into Davina's home or else has a lot more self-control than he displayed in Mystic Falls. Or he was the one that stopped Rebekah from entering Davina's home. It's all very confusing. I'm glad Elijah's back, though. He's my favorite Original next to Rebekah and always makes things more interesting.

As for Ms. Hayley, I'm impressed she fended off her attackers for as long as she did. That fight scene was fun. I am somewhat confused, though, as to the identity of "the Wolf." Is Hayley referring to the wolf she transforms into? Is she referring to the wolf that's been "drawn to her." Or do I just read entirely too much fiction where people refer to their "wolves" as such? I suppose time will tell with that.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Davina is creepy as fuck.
• Agnes is pulling her own shit. That's no good.
• God, Klaus. Really? You really just did that to her? You suck.

Love ya, Jessie

The Originals - "Tangled Up in Blue" - Review

Intro

It's weird not being on my computer at all until well into the afternoon... I did, however, go ahead and spend some of that time reviewing two episodes of The Originals and last week's episode of Arrow. Hopefully I'll be able to get those up before watching Arrow this evening, but I'm not sure...

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Originals, Season 1, Episode 3: "Tangled Up in Blue." If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do before reading my review. I spoil stuff.

The Originals - "Tangled Up in Blue" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Camille "Cami" O'Connell - Played by Leah Pipes. Bartender. Human.
• Thierry Vanchure - Played by Callard Harris. Vampire. One of Marcel's "daywalkers."
• Joshua "Josh" Rosza - Played by Steven Krueger. Vampire. A "nightwalker" under Klaus' control.
• Katie - Played by Alexandra Metz. Witch. Thierry's grilfriend. Deceased.
• Sabine - Played by Shannon Kane. Witch.
• Agnes - Played by Karen Kaia Livers. Witch.

Review:

The Originals wouldn't be a CW vampire show without some kind of vampire-run party or some kind of complicated plan. Of course we ended up killing two birds with one stone here.

Klaus and Rebekah show a knack for planning and pulling off complicated plans with no one the wiser. It was fun watching them set various parts of their plans in motion. It wasn't so fun finding out that Klaus, yet again, did something that served him and pretty much no one else. Well, I say that, but he did managed to get Marcel to agree to give Elijah back.

I felt absolutely no connection to either Katie or Thierry. Their death/incarceration meant nothing to me. It was kind of cool to Sophie was able to use Katie as a smokescreen, but since Klaus stepped in and put a stop to that, it was really for nothing. Davina's part in saving Marcel was really creepy.

I ended up disliking Marcel a bit more, mostly because he has too many rules for my liking. However, most of my dislike this episode was targeted toward Davina. She confuses me, at best.

I have no theories about Hayley's apparently demonic baby, though I found it weird she could spell what Sabine said perfectly. That's one of those TV things that really bugs me. But yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say about this episode.

Favorite Line:

"I can't believe you disposed of those vampires without me. You know how I love to set things on fire." - Rebekah

Love ya, Jessie

The Originals - "House of the Rising Son" - Review

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for The Originals, Season 1, Episode 2: "House of the Rising Son." If you have not seen it, you should go watch it before reading this review. I will be spoiling episode elements, as usual.

The Originals - "House of the Riding Son" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Camille "Cami" O'Connell - Played by Leah Pipes. Bartender. Human.
• Thierry - Played by Callard Harris. Vampire. One of Marcel's "daywalkers."

Review:

Well... I didn't hate this episode and I didn't hate Klaus so much in it. That's probably because now that Klaus doesn't have to be overshadowed by Damon, Elena, Stefan, and the rest of Mystic Falls, he can have some actual character development. In this episode, Klaus actually comes off a lot better, even when he appears to be being bratty. He has an actual plan for what to do about Marcel and for keeping Hayley safe to the best of his ability.

I very much enjoyed Rebekah in this episode. She's got all of that lovely spunk and is not taking crap from her brother. I find it very interesting, though, that she let Klaus manipulate her feelings for as long as he has. I was actually rather impressed with the initiative she showed in looking for Elijah. It was also fun to see her do some fighting and to see her bonding with Hayley. I did find it a bit weird that Rebekah seems to be doing the vulnerable soul-sharing thing with both Hayley and Sophie, especially considering she just met them both. It was fun to get that stuff on her, but the way it was done was weird, is all.

Hayley is still very much a wild card in my books. Yeah, she realized she doesn't want to kill her baby, but there hasn't really been much development besides that. I did like, however, that she stole the daggers for Rebekah. It was sweet. I can sort of see myself starting to ship the pair of them, except that won't ever happen so... it'd join my legion of "not happening" fan ships.

And now we come to Marcel. I really, really don't like him. I found it interesting that his history with Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah goes back as far as it does. I wouldn't have guessed that Klaus would take him in like he did. It was also a bit interesting that Marcel decided to be turned instead of choosing Rebekah. He had clearly decided on Rebekah beforehand, but apparently changed his mind. I found his protectiveness over Cami kind of sweet, but it's not enough to make me like him at all.

Pretty interesting episode, but not completely stellar as far as I'm concerned.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• I think it's really weird that the deaths of Finn, Kol, and Mikael were completely glossed over in this episode. They were Originals and they were killed, but I suppose lack of white oak stakes makes it rather hard to kill Rebekah and Klaus.
• Anyone want to mention that it's weird when vampires who help raise humans who then become vampires and/or old enough to date then end up dating and/or sleeping with each other? No? Just me?
• Davina is clearly psychotic. I wonder how Marcel ended up with her.

Favorite Line:

"Klaus, get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!" - Rebekah.

Love ya, Jessie

The Originals - "Always and Forever" - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen either The Vampire Diaries or The Originals, please leave the blog and return after you've watched them. It's more than likely there are spoilers for both series in the review below.

The Originals - "Always and Forever" - Review

Characters:

• Elijah Mikaelson - Played by Daniel Gillies. Oldest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Rebekah Mikaelson - Played by Claire Holt. Youngest of the surviving Mikaelsons. Original Vampire.
• Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson - Played by Joseph Morgan. Middle surviving Mikaelson. Original Hybrid.
• Marcel Gerard - Played by Charles Michael Davis. Ruler of New Orleans. Klaus' protege. Vampire.
• Davina Claire - Played by Danielle Campbell. Marcel's witch.
• Sophie Deveraux - Played by Daniella Pineda. Leader of the witches.
• Hayley Marshall - Played by Phoebe Tonkin. Werewolf. Carrying Klaus' child.
• Camille O'Connell - Played by Leah Pipes. Bartender. Human.
• Mikael - Played by Sebastian Roche. Father of the Mikaelson Clan. Deceased.

Review:

Despite having seen and not been impressed by the back-door pilot that aired as part of The Vampire Diaries, I was actually sold on The Originals watching it from Elijah's point of view. Of course, that then went careening over a cliff when Klaus daggered him at the end. So now I'm in this limbo of not knowing whether or not I actually want to watch The Originals. If you'd like to read my original, no pun intended, review, you can do so HERE.

I found Sophie a lot more interesting than I remembered. She actually seems to have a lot of backbone. Linking herself to Hayley, while a good move, is probably going to end up being a disadvantage in the long run, I think. I'm really hoping she stays as tough as she was this episode. If she caves, I will be dropping the show for good, seeing as the person who made The Originals interesting has been taken out of the picture by the most annoying character.

Elijah truly sold The Originals for me. I was always happy when he showed up in TVD. I think he's a lot more interesting than any of his brothers, especially Klaus. I'm extremely glad he's going to any lengths to keep his niece of nephew safe. I truly hope Elijah doesn't stay daggered long.

I enjoyed seeing Rebekah, even though we saw her earlier in TVD that evening being all gooey with Matt. "Always and Forever" is set months before that mess (See my TVD review HERE), so it was nice to see Rebekah sticking to her "Klaus is a brat" routine. As much as I'll be sort of sad to see her leave TVD, I think Rebekah will be much better served on The Originals.

My last thoughts are about Marcel and Davina. I really don't like Marcel. He's the kind of cocky villain that just makes me want to rip his head off. I'd love to know exactly what the relationship is between him and Davina. At this point it's sketchy and really creepy.

So... at this point, I'm gonna say that I'll watch the next couple episodes of The Originals before making a final verdict. "Always and Forever" was really well done, but the ending, as I said, drove it off a cliff for me.

Housekeeping

Just putting in a reminder about my watching and reviewing schedule. The entire thing can be viewed at the Fall Schedule page up there in the navigation bar.

The Originals will be moving to Tuesdays at 7, which is its actual time slot. I'm already watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Tuesdays at 7 so that's taking precedence.

The Vampire Diaries is on at the same time as Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Thursdays at 7. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland takes precedence because... well, because I say so.

I am planning to review both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals on Saturdays.

Love ya, Jessie

Thoughts On Upcoming Fall Shows

Okay so... first thing's first, I'm not going to be doing Initial Reactions for The Vampire Diaries this evening.

Secondly, my reviews for the season finales of the CW shows and the Grimm Season 2 penultimate episode will most likely be done on Friday. Tonight I have babysitting to do and I won't really have time to review anything today. Not to mention, I'd rather review things in a mindset that's not distracted by other things.

I would also like to take a little time to talk about a few shows I'm looking forward to this fall. First, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I've never really been a big fan of S.H.I.E.L.D. but Joss Whedon's at the helm of this things so... I excited. I seriously can't wait for this thing to come out. I know people are going ape-shit over Agent Coulson being in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but a) they need to get over themselves, b) this is the Marvel universe and people don't have to stay dead, c) there's this lovely thing called a prequel, d) why the heck would Coulson NOT be in it? I guess my point here is: I'm excited to see Coulson back and I don't have a problem with the fact that he is back.

• Official Site
• Wiki Page
• Trailer

Second show I'm really looking forward to: Once Upon a Time In Wonderland. I saw the trailer yesterday and it's just amazing. I love Once Upon a Time and I love Alice in Wonderland, despite that it was written by a guy who was high on LSD... so... yeah... getting more of a take on Wonderland from the perspective of the Once Upon a Time crew should be excellent.

• Official Site
• Wiki Page
• Trailer

Third show: Dracula. To those who read my blog on a regular basis, my fan-girl-y-ness over vampires should come as no surprise. I have read the original Dracula novel and though I didn't love it, reinterpretation is a big thing with vampire stuff so... yeah. Also, there's the fact that I only recently found out about Dracula and who was in it. Jonothan Rhys Meyers of Tudors fame is going to be playing Dracula. He's an awesome actor and I can't wait to see how he portrays the... well... King of Vampires, I suppose. The other actor I'm really excited about is Katie McGrath of Merlin fame. She was excellent as Morganna and I can't wait to see what she does with the otherwise annoying character of Lucy Westerna. I've got mixed feelings on Jessica De Gouw playing Mina Murray. It might mean her character on Arrow, The Huntress, won't be coming back, which is sad, because I kinda liked Helena.

• Official Site
• Wiki Page
• Trailer

I will also, of course, be watching The Originals, if only to see whether or not I like it. My thoughts on that can be seen: HERE.

But yeah... that's pretty much it for that. My TV-watching, initial reactions schedule-y thing is gonna get a bit of a shake-up this fall. I know for a fact that Once Upon a Time In Wonderland is gonna be on at the same time as The Vampire Diaries so... yeah...

Love ya, Jessie.

The Great Escapist - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen this week's episode of Supernatural, please leave the blog and return later. The following review will contain spoilers. I'm also going to be discussing a little bit about The Originals and then will be my usual "Housekeeping" section.

Supernatural - "The Great Escapist" - Review

I admit it, I was wrong. Kevin did not go crazy and just up and leave his boat. Crowley somehow managed to break the windows, steal Kevin, and fix everything before Sam and Dean got there.

This week, we had a lot of Crowley "directing" a pair of demons to play Sam and Dean in order to fool Kevin into giving up the location of the second half of the demon tablet. I will admit, I found it amusing when the demons were attempting to play Sam and Dean. They weren't horrible, but, as Crowley put it, they were too polite. Also, Sam and Dean haven't hung out at the boat hardly at all. Why they'd just decide to camp out there would have been beyond me, if I were Kevin. I did think it was quite clever the way Kevin tricked the "Sam" and "Dean" demons into a trap. I think it might have been interesting if, in fact, that's where he hid his half of the tablet. But since that half is pretty superfluous as of right now, we probably won't find out.

I thought Jared did a wonderful job acting sick and delirious. Sam was pretty hilarious in his weakened state. I'm not sure why exactly he'd "resonate" with "The Word" or whatever, but that was interesting, too. The resonating needed to be better explained. That said, I also really loved Metatron. I think it's weird that his name sounds like a Transformer, but he amused me. Yeah, Dean had some good points when he was yelling at Metatron about the hiding thing, but the way Metatron described storytelling was right up there with how I tend to think about it.

Naomi is making me hate her more and more. I would like to better understand her motivations, though. In my mind, there has to be something more to her wanting the tablet than just "Daddy Issues." That said, I thought it was horrifying, but clever, how she got Cas to stop hopping restaurants. It was nice having him back, too. I also thought where he hid the tablet was a) gross, b) clever, and c) uncomfortable.

I'm glad we're jumping back into plot-mode now. I can't wait to see how this "cure a demon" thing works out. It promises to be interesting.

The Vampire Diaries - The Originals Spinoff

Yes, I know, you probably already knew about this. I had no clue "The Originals" was a back-door pilot for The Originals, a Vampire Diaries spin-off. Frankly... I'm not interested.

The Originals is set to feature Klaus as the main character rather than a side character. I hate Klaus. I think I've made this hate pretty darn obvious. I also believe I made my hate for "The Originals" pretty darn obvious.

That said, I'll still probably tune in to watch a few episodes of The Originals before giving it the boot from my watch-list. Ya never know, I might end up liking it. After all, I did enjoy seeing Klaus put in his place by the witches last week. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes, through reviews or comments or something.

Housekeeping

I might or might not get last night's episode of The Vampire Diaries watched and review tonight. My possible babysitting thing might get in the way or I might just decide it can wait till tomorrow. If I do get it done tonight, it'll show up in it's own post.

Also, I made an update to the "Welcome/Mission Statement" post. If you'd like to read it, click "Read First" over in the sidebar.

Love ya, Jessie.