The Originals 1x12: Dance Back From the Grave
Lengthy and intensely spoilery commentary, mostly on Mikaelson family dynamics and shifting roles.
First of all: the race fail in this ep, argh. I do not understand how this can just keep happening, both on TVD and now on TOs. How is it possible the writers still haven't caught a clue at this late date?
But while I felt the Papa Tunde voodoo plot was entirely dispensable, I did really love one thing about this ep: the glimpse of backstory revealing that both Marcel and Rebekah plotted against Klaus far earlier than previously suspected, and that these two were the reason why Klaus was driven out of New Orleans in the first place.
Marcel
For Marcel's character, it's another interesting building block in the complex love-hate relationship between him and Klaus. Incidentally, I liked that Tunde repeatedly referred to Klaus as Marcel's father, and that Marcel accepted the term as accurate. It was already obvious, but even so I liked seeing Marcel acknowledge it when it was put so clearly into words.
Marcel did and does still love Klaus, I think, but the relationship between them has never been an equal one, and the problem with Klaus is that he hammers this home brutally at every opportunity. Klaus takes a stranglehold on people he loves and tends to choke all the life out of them; it's no wonder Marcel's anger and resentment prompt him to take extreme measures in order to fight free. No wonder, but still a betrayal.
Rebekah
Even more interesting was that Rebekah, when she learned of Marcel's plans, not only condoned them, but went one step further and used her inside knowledge of the one thing that she knew would terrify Klaus, and (though she didn't mention this) that posed a very real danger to his life, too. Mikael was the ultimate Klaus-destroying weapon, and she knew very well she was doing far more than chasing Klaus off. She was knowingly risking his life, perhaps even hoping he would be killed.
For me, this little bit of backstory throws many things that before appeared to be established fact on its ear, and has the potential to completely redefine the Mikaelson relationship dynamics.
Because the thing is: After this clandestine and very vicious action against Klaus, Rebekah continued to act the role of the steadfast, loyal and loving, yet eternally betrayed sister who is repeatedly disregarded and abused by Klaus. She repeatedly (first in TVD, then in TO) paints herself as the martyr-like innocent victim of Klaus' erratic violence, insisting that she herself has always been unwavering in her love and support for him despite everything. It is only now - she claims - that she has finally had enough; before, this has never happened.
But Rebekah is not being truthful. She has not been a loyal and steadfast martyr for almost a century. Instead, Rebekah has moved viciously against Klaus and made a formidable attempt on his life, although nobody in the family seems to have realized it. The "loving martyr" role is just that - a role she likes to play.*
* It's a good role to make herself seem harmless, to divert suspicion and attention from herself, and also to cause guilt and obligation in her brothers… plus, it makes for good drama, and like Klaus, Rebekah is an attention-craving drama queen. Personally, I also think she herself believes in the pretence most of the time. Thinking of herself as the poor, steadfastly loving, innocent victim who is entirely justified in whatever she chooses to do is certainly much nicer than acknowledging to herself that she is not all that different from Klaus.
The Fictional Martyr
There's no question that Rebekah already had plenty of legitimate cause to hate Klaus and plot against him when she used Mikael to drive him out of New Orleans. But now that it's clear she's been misrepresenting herself, who's to say she hasn't always hit back just as hard against Klaus, and it has just never come out because she's subtler than he is? Who's to say the loving martyr isn't a complete fiction from start to finish?
For example: Rebekah might well have maneuvered Klaus into the position of killing the Five in the hopes of driving him to find a way of killing himself. She was, after all, Alexander's lover, and so in an excellent position to learn what killing one of them would do to a vampire, as well as to send the hunters after her brothers at a time of her choosing. And while this plot did not succeed in killing Klaus, it did bestow over 52 years of horrible psychological torture on him.
After this week's episode, I could see Rebekah orchestrating any number of plots through the centuries, hitting Klaus brutally right where it hurts in a way nobody else ever managed… without ever even being suspected as the perpetrator.
I really love this twist because it puts the entire Mikaelson family dynamics into a new light. So far, Klaus has been given the sole blame for all that has gone wrong with this family, at least after the initial vampire spell; now, it's beginning to seem like there might be a good reason for his insecurity, paranoia and distrust. Not only Klaus' totally messed-up psyche, but the entire dysfunctional mess of a family makes so much more sense this way.
Elijah
As for Elijah, he's far from being the upright, virtuous moral counterbalance to Klaus that he is often seen as by other characters. In fact, several scenes in previous eps gave me the impression Elijah himself is vaguely amused by being mistaken as Mr. Ethics. In this ep, Elijah taking the lead in the Mikalesons' criminal dealings seemed like an attempt to underscore this.
Also, more and more I'm getting the feeling that Elijah is embarking on the "Redeeming Klaus Project" not out of love for Klaus, but because he needs to prove to himself that Klaus is not lost, that Elijah has not failed his family and that his family does still exist. I'm not entirely clear on his exact motivations yet, but to me it seems like what Elijah is really pursuing is his own redemption, dressed up as a quest to seek redemption for his brother.
In short:
The three remaining Mikaelsons all have their established roles; the erratic evil one, the loving put-upon one, and the mature ethical one. But none of these roles accurately reflect the people in question, and facades are starting to crumble.
I still really hope TPTB don't mess this up. My trust is shaky at best.
First of all: the race fail in this ep, argh. I do not understand how this can just keep happening, both on TVD and now on TOs. How is it possible the writers still haven't caught a clue at this late date?
But while I felt the Papa Tunde voodoo plot was entirely dispensable, I did really love one thing about this ep: the glimpse of backstory revealing that both Marcel and Rebekah plotted against Klaus far earlier than previously suspected, and that these two were the reason why Klaus was driven out of New Orleans in the first place.
Marcel
For Marcel's character, it's another interesting building block in the complex love-hate relationship between him and Klaus. Incidentally, I liked that Tunde repeatedly referred to Klaus as Marcel's father, and that Marcel accepted the term as accurate. It was already obvious, but even so I liked seeing Marcel acknowledge it when it was put so clearly into words.
Marcel did and does still love Klaus, I think, but the relationship between them has never been an equal one, and the problem with Klaus is that he hammers this home brutally at every opportunity. Klaus takes a stranglehold on people he loves and tends to choke all the life out of them; it's no wonder Marcel's anger and resentment prompt him to take extreme measures in order to fight free. No wonder, but still a betrayal.
Rebekah
Even more interesting was that Rebekah, when she learned of Marcel's plans, not only condoned them, but went one step further and used her inside knowledge of the one thing that she knew would terrify Klaus, and (though she didn't mention this) that posed a very real danger to his life, too. Mikael was the ultimate Klaus-destroying weapon, and she knew very well she was doing far more than chasing Klaus off. She was knowingly risking his life, perhaps even hoping he would be killed.
For me, this little bit of backstory throws many things that before appeared to be established fact on its ear, and has the potential to completely redefine the Mikaelson relationship dynamics.
Because the thing is: After this clandestine and very vicious action against Klaus, Rebekah continued to act the role of the steadfast, loyal and loving, yet eternally betrayed sister who is repeatedly disregarded and abused by Klaus. She repeatedly (first in TVD, then in TO) paints herself as the martyr-like innocent victim of Klaus' erratic violence, insisting that she herself has always been unwavering in her love and support for him despite everything. It is only now - she claims - that she has finally had enough; before, this has never happened.
But Rebekah is not being truthful. She has not been a loyal and steadfast martyr for almost a century. Instead, Rebekah has moved viciously against Klaus and made a formidable attempt on his life, although nobody in the family seems to have realized it. The "loving martyr" role is just that - a role she likes to play.*
* It's a good role to make herself seem harmless, to divert suspicion and attention from herself, and also to cause guilt and obligation in her brothers… plus, it makes for good drama, and like Klaus, Rebekah is an attention-craving drama queen. Personally, I also think she herself believes in the pretence most of the time. Thinking of herself as the poor, steadfastly loving, innocent victim who is entirely justified in whatever she chooses to do is certainly much nicer than acknowledging to herself that she is not all that different from Klaus.
The Fictional Martyr
There's no question that Rebekah already had plenty of legitimate cause to hate Klaus and plot against him when she used Mikael to drive him out of New Orleans. But now that it's clear she's been misrepresenting herself, who's to say she hasn't always hit back just as hard against Klaus, and it has just never come out because she's subtler than he is? Who's to say the loving martyr isn't a complete fiction from start to finish?
For example: Rebekah might well have maneuvered Klaus into the position of killing the Five in the hopes of driving him to find a way of killing himself. She was, after all, Alexander's lover, and so in an excellent position to learn what killing one of them would do to a vampire, as well as to send the hunters after her brothers at a time of her choosing. And while this plot did not succeed in killing Klaus, it did bestow over 52 years of horrible psychological torture on him.
After this week's episode, I could see Rebekah orchestrating any number of plots through the centuries, hitting Klaus brutally right where it hurts in a way nobody else ever managed… without ever even being suspected as the perpetrator.
I really love this twist because it puts the entire Mikaelson family dynamics into a new light. So far, Klaus has been given the sole blame for all that has gone wrong with this family, at least after the initial vampire spell; now, it's beginning to seem like there might be a good reason for his insecurity, paranoia and distrust. Not only Klaus' totally messed-up psyche, but the entire dysfunctional mess of a family makes so much more sense this way.
Elijah
As for Elijah, he's far from being the upright, virtuous moral counterbalance to Klaus that he is often seen as by other characters. In fact, several scenes in previous eps gave me the impression Elijah himself is vaguely amused by being mistaken as Mr. Ethics. In this ep, Elijah taking the lead in the Mikalesons' criminal dealings seemed like an attempt to underscore this.
Also, more and more I'm getting the feeling that Elijah is embarking on the "Redeeming Klaus Project" not out of love for Klaus, but because he needs to prove to himself that Klaus is not lost, that Elijah has not failed his family and that his family does still exist. I'm not entirely clear on his exact motivations yet, but to me it seems like what Elijah is really pursuing is his own redemption, dressed up as a quest to seek redemption for his brother.
In short:
The three remaining Mikaelsons all have their established roles; the erratic evil one, the loving put-upon one, and the mature ethical one. But none of these roles accurately reflect the people in question, and facades are starting to crumble.
I still really hope TPTB don't mess this up. My trust is shaky at best.