The Originals - S5E1 - Where You Left Your Heart

Previously on The Originals

Torn Apart and Scattered                

When we last left our Original Family, each of the Mikaelson siblings had taken in a piece of The Hollow and as a result, they were forced to separate from each other and from Hope so she wouldn’t be corrupted by The Hollow’s power. Seven years later, Hope has been living at Mystic Falls Hogwarts and she’s peeved because Klaus stopped contacting her about five years ago. She’s so peeved that she sets a bunch of things in motion to bring her father back to town.

Like any short-sighted, teen witch-vampire-werewolf-hybrid she convinces herself that she’s helping a fellow werewolf, Henry, by giving him her blood so he can become a hybrid. Hope is suspended and sent back to New Orleans, but she’s also broken the always tenuous peace between the werewolves and the vampires since hybrids can kill vampires. She’s put a target on the back of this equally hormonal teen boy who can’t control his powers and he’s also sired to her so she has to take responsibility for him.

While Hayley tries to clean up her mess, Klaus is going around Europe eliminating all the Mikaelson enemies (basically every vampire ever) and dropping in occasionally on Elijah who has been compelled to forget his family and all the vows he made to them. The scenes of Klaus trying to reconnect with a brother who doesn’t remember him are heartbreaking, but punctuated by dying flowers and blood pouring from the taps whenever the siblings spend too much time around each other.

Except for Klaus and Elijah, the other siblings are relatively settled even though they’re still too caught up in each other’s lives. Kol and Davina are married and happy, Freya and Keelin are still together and Rebekah and Marcel are in New York together. Of course, all of this is about to crash. Keelin has been doing work in Lebanon and wants Freya to come with her when she goes back again but Freya has been running the Quarter with Vincent and trying to figure out a way to get The Hollow out of her siblings. Rebekah also won’t let herself be fully happy with Marcel because she’s too busy being the main conduit between Hayley and Klaus. When she can’t directly go to Klaus to get him to talk to Hope, she sends Caroline Forbes (*insert fangirl scream*).

It’s a pretty solid season opener that reestablishes The Originals and quickly fills us in on what the Mikaelsons have been up to in the past seven years and when the episode closes with blood raining down on the city of New Orleans, you know that we’ve dived right back into the supernatural tragedy that is the life of the Mikaelson siblings. 

The Good

• KLAROLINE! I’m going to be insufferable this season because I’m a huge Klaroline shipper and I feel like I deserve this after Julie Plec made me suffer when it came to Bonnie’s character on The Vampire Diaries. Having Caroline as an adult and mother and strong vampire on her own is exactly the foil that Klaus’s character needs. Give me all of it.
• While Hope is destined to be an intolerable teen (look at her father), the actress is endearing and sweetly naïve. Like Klaus, she’s mainly thinking about her pain, but she feels genuinely upset at what she’s done to Henry. And the actress also feels like the daughter of Phoebe Tonkin and Joseph Morgan.

The Bad

• Rebekah and Marcel. Unlike Freya, who does have some obligation to the Quarter and the supernatural community there, Rebekah has no real reason to hold back from Marcel. He knows all about her family, as a hybrid, he’s her supernatural equal, and he’s not stopping her from helping her family; he just doesn’t want to always come in second to them.
• I adore him, but he also needs to get a grip. He’s so busy constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope he finds a distraction from the Mikaelson drama (*waves in his direction*)
• Hayley has a new (human) boyfriend which means he’s the Feds or he’s being manipulated by someone. If we find out Klaus has been compelling this man to spy on Hayley, I’m going to lose it and also scream I called it.

This was such a solid episode and a great way to start the final season of a show. We’re clearly heading towards an ending and there are some great full circle moments (Klaus eating the heart, Caroline showing up) but it manages to feel fresh. The relationship between the siblings has always been the heart of The Originals so Klaus and Rebekah showing up to get advice from Elijah without him remembering them was beautifully scripted and acted. I have one more prediction for this season: Marcel dies and that’s what breaks his compulsion of Elijah. I don’t want it to happen, but there’s definitely going to be a major character death this season and the Mikaelsons have always managed to come out unscathed.