The Originals Premiere: EP Explains Creepy Cliffhanger, Confirms a Death
At last, the Mikaelsons have returned! (Well, most of them, anyway.)
Friday’s season premiere of The Originals picked up five years after the family’s defeat, with King Marcel and Reverend Vincent working (somewhat uncomfortably) as one to prolong the city’s new era of peace. Unfortunately for Klaus, a key step in keeping that peace involves torturing him 24/7 in a dank, dirty basement.
Elsewhere, Hayley tracked down the final wolf pack member she needed to brew the Mikaelsons’ Wake-Up Juice™. Freya was the first to say good morning, followed by Elijah, the latter of whom celebrated by planting a long-overdue kiss on Hayley. (That whole werewolf fight sequence was actually pretty badass. I hope we see more of Hayley’s wild side this season.)
Now, let’s start with the question on everybody’s mind: What the heck was Hope drawing at the end of the episode, and why were those drawings also appearing all over New Orleans? (Sorry, I guess that was two questions. I’m apparently as good at math as I am at deciphering serpentine sigils.)
RELATEDThe Originals Season 4 Poster Sets Hope on a Dark, Dangerous Path
“It’s sort of the key to unraveling the whole mystery of the season,” executive producer Michael Narducci tells TVLine of the mysterious symbol, which he identifies as an “ouroboros, a serpent eating itself. Hope is starting to dream about that symbol, and now it’s appearing in the form of graffiti throughout the city.”
Below, Narducci answers more of our burning questions from the premiere:
TVLINE | Since we’re already talking about Hope, I have to ask: Where’d that red hair come from?
[Laughs] That is a good observation. You know, we weren’t setting out to cast an actress with red hair — we were looking for someone, and we saw a lot of young actresses, who could really portray some really emotional scenes, including the reunion with her father. She needs to be able to handle some of the darkest beats we’ve ever done on the show. … As for the red hair, if people refuse to believe there was ever red hair somewhere in this Viking bloodline, I’ll apologize for that.
TVLINE | One thing you don’t need to apologize for is that Hayley-Elijah reunion. Of course the first thing he’d do is put a jacket on her. Such a gentleman. … Is it crazy to think they might be able to stay happy and obstacle-free?
I think there are always going to be some obstacles, just in terms of there still being a threat posed to the family. There’s Marcel, and there’s a city full of witches that have enjoyed the freedoms that came with the Mikaelsons being absent. There’s also this seven-year-old person who is going to have her own perspective and her own feelings. Going forward, everyone has to say, “We’ve done whatever we want for the last thousand years, and it’s been great, but now there’s this kid.” It’s the height of selfishness and irresponsibility to not put her needs and concerns first. I’m not saying Hope is an obstacle to anyone’s happiness — far from it, since she’s the source of their inspiration and possibly their redemption — but she’s going to be the center of a lot of what’s going on moving forward.
TVLINE | It’s funny… For an episode of The Originals, there weren’t very many Originals in this one.
Well, it was definitely our intention not to have them all awake at the top of the episode. We really wanted it to feel like they’ve been asleep for five years. And if you think about it, there’s Hayley and Hope. They’re both part of the family, as is Marcel, really.
TVLINE | Oh, Marcel. Please tell me that somewhere, deep down, he’s feeling a little bad about what he’s doing to Klaus.
I think he probably is, maybe a little bit. But if you remember back to the Season 3 finale, Klaus basically stood there and watched while Elijah killed Marcel.
TVLINE | And is there any chance that Klaus isn’t going to straight-up murder Marcel as soon as he’s free?
Well, that’s assuming that revenge will be Klaus’ first priority once he becomes free, which it might not be. His first thought could be, “Let me go find my kid.” That’s also assuming that Marcel will be easy to kill. When he drank that serum at the end of last season, he became something we still don’t quite understand. He may not be so easy to take down.
TVLINE | I loved the references — including visuals! — to Cami and Davina. Will we see more of them?
These were both really important characters to the people of the city, and they’re both greatly missed. And have we seen the last of these characters? On a supernatural show, you can imagine there’s a possibility of seeing them again in some form or another. As you saw [in the Season 4 trailer], Klaus is going to be experiencing this terrible torment, and one of the moments of solace and relief that he gets is conjuring this memory of this person who meant so, so much to him. You’ll get that in the very next episode.
TVLINE | And what does our friend Alistair have in store next week? Just when I think this show has run out of fun accents…
[Laughs] I should nip this in the bud and tell you that was it for Alistair. Marcel’s thinking was: This guy is coming to my town and being really bossy. He wants Klaus, so I’ll very smartly give him exactly what he wants. I’ll also show him in a public form that when Klaus is gifted to someone, that gift bites back. Now all the other unsired vampires realize there’s no stopping Klaus, so they let Marcel keep him in check.
TVLINE | Oh, my bad. I guess I just assumed Marcel would give Alistair the cure for Klaus’ bite.
I think Marcel is definitely going to use Klaus’ blood to cure some of those other people… but Alistair is kaput.
Fellow humans, your thoughts on Friday’s premiere? Grade it below, then drop a comment with your full review.
Launch Gallery: <i>The Originals</i> Season 4 Photos
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