“You should see yourself, the murderous expression, the self-righteous posturing. You look like Father.” -Elijah
Tonight I bring you some devastating news… Rebekah has left the show. For those of you who are not in the know, this shit is real. It’s not another one of those dramatic, “I’m going to drive off like I’m leaving and disappear for three episodes until some convoluted plot device steers me back!” sort of things like we’ve seen in the past… Rebekah is actually gone, and by that I mean Claire Holt has left the show! This news has seriously ruined my night, Rebekah is easily my favorite original (sorry boys, you’re hot and all but…), but the biggest tragedy is that with our leading lady gone, this leaves room for Hayley or Cami to become the new female lead… Please Julie Plec don’t do it!!!
But in other related news, we finally get The Originals showdown we’ve been hoping for since this whole Rebekah betraying Klaus storyline was revealed. And despite long moments of quite reflecting with crickets that were literally chirping in the background, and the teenaged angst meets #teenwitchproblems plotline that newly resurrected Davina was going through, this was hands down one of the best episodes so far.
As a special farewell to our girl Rebekah, and also because this episode was really all about The Originals (it is the reason we’re all here after all) this recap is going to focus solely on the Mikaelson siblings!
Klaus, Rebekah & Elijah A+
First, it turns out it’s not just Klaus that has daddy issues, they all have daddy issues. Yes, poor Mikael gets all the blame for bad parenting. Did anyone pause for a moment to reflect on the fact that dear mommy was a lying, cheating little minx? Did anyone mention that she orchestrated an elaborate plan, not too long ago, to kill not one, or two but ALL of her children? Nope, not once was she mentioned to share the blame. Why are these three crazy kids, suffering from a fear of abandonment and a perpetual longing for family and love? Because of Mikael, of course!
Second, turns out, that while Psychology Girl, Cami has been getting all the credit for having an unspecified psych degree, the Mikaelsons have been little closet psychologists this entire time. Klaus successfully analyzed Elijah’s “mask of sophistication,” by telling him that deep down inside, Elijah is a monster just like him and is just terrified to let it all out. He even calls Elijah out on the fancy suits and handkerchiefs! Rebekah, successfully analyzed that everything Klaus is now is just out of his fear of losing the people he loves, and finally both of them came to the conclusion that their damaged childhood is what broke them.
Third, it only takes sixteen episodes for the three dysfunctional siblings to reached the exact same point it took the Salvatore Brothers three seasons to get to. At the end of the hour, they three finally admit that they love each other, despite their sibling rivalry. Klaus’s teary-eyed confession of love for his love for his family, for Rebekah and Elijah… it was just… where’s my box of tissues?
As much as I love Joseph Morgan, I’ve always felt that Klaus, who is meant to be a menacing, all-powerful villain, has always felt short when it came to being intimidating. Yes, I know he has his moments of murderous rage, but his melodramatic antics, has always made him seem a bit too cartoony. For me, Klaus was always just a high-strung, overgrown, entitled man-child with too high of expectations and too low of appreciation for his extremely patient siblings. But tonight, this side of Klaus that he reveals to Rebekah has made me love him for more than just his abs!
"Farewell to Storyville" A+
As sad as I am that this is Rebekah’s last episode, I have to say, she left on a high note. This week we saw everything about Rebekah that has made her a fan favorite all this time. Underneath the occasional bitchy-ness, her tendency to get blindsided by anything that takes on the appearance of a hot male specimen, Rebekah is actually a deep and complicated character that, because of her flaws, make her extremely relatable. No doubt the character added something to the show, and it won’t be the same without her, but at least with that last scene of her driving away from her brothers, free at last and smiling, we know she’s finally gotten what she wanted!
Extra Credit
- Klaus thinks Elijah is becoming more like him, but I disagree, Elijah has always had a powerful demeanor, and a natural ability to lead that Klaus lacked, and when Elijah showed the vampires who runs this town, what I saw was pure Elijah!
- Rebekah and Marcel never did it for me, thank god she dumped him before she took off.
Demerits
- Please don’t go Rebekah! I love you!!
- Boy, Father Kieran sure is a Debby downer when he’s cursed. Sure, being cursed sucks and all that, but geez…lighten up!