The Originals Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Every Mother's Son

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On The Originals Season 2 Episode 3, Esther invited herself to dinner with Klaus and Elijah in the way only Esther can--via magical messenger birds and a platter of food mysteriously displayed in their atrium--which prompted me to ask myself one simple question.

Has there ever been a dinner party on The Vampire Diaries or The Originals where things went smoothly and no one died? At some point, people are going to get the hint and stop showing up for these things, you know?

Before we jump to the meat of this missive I'm about to write, let's fill in some holes in the story first.

Klaus and Elijah need a witch. Davina is out of commission, so Marcel instructs Gia to take Elijah to meet his friend Lenore. Lenore agrees to help Elijah with their soul branding spell provided he can get her an enchanted object and a python. Gia gets python duty while Elijah sends Klaus to Marcel to collect an old family heirloom.

A starling necklace which Esther used to keep Klaus weak while he was growing up so that he wouldn't kill someone, trigger his werewolf curse, and reveal her infidelity. Thanks, Mom.

Marcel, of course, has the necklace sitting on a box on a shelf in his loft. When he peaced out from the Compound, this was an item he thought to bring with him. Oh. Okay.

Gia steals a python because she has no idea how to compel someone to give her one. (Orrrr....spend money and buy one?)

Immediately after leaving Lenore's shop, Finncent strolls in and kidnaps the witch. Or we think he kidnapped her.

And that's where my dislike of Esther and where this seems to be headed go absolutely bananas. Bells and whistles sounding! Alarms! All of them! Blaring in my ears. 

There's no doubt about it that Esther is straight up evil. She's probably one of the most vile mothers on television right now.

When she first appeared on The Vampire Diaries Season 3, she said she wanted to heal her family. She really wanted to kill her children. 

Guess what she wants to do now!?! Heal her family. And somehow, she'll undoubtedly have to, yep, you guessed it, kill her children to do it. 

Presumably, her plan this time is to put them into mortal bodies as she's done with herself, Kol, and Finn. (Hey, they're all dead!) They would likely have to be the bodies of witches if what we've seen so far is any indication. Witches can still live for a very, very, very long time, so while this plan isn't quite as terrible as her first one, it isn't exactly nice either. 

Not to worry, though, because there's no way the brothers will ever go for it, no matter how much pain and misery she causes. She thinks Klaus will eventually beg for her to take away his troubles, but she sorely underestimates just what this recent revelation has done to Klaus.

Watching the flashbacks of the way Klaus and his mother seemed to care for each other once upon a time was a heartbreaking juxtaposition with the present-day scenes. He truly thought he was her favorite, as did Finn, when really, he was her favorite only because keeping him closest protected her secret. Though I suppose it could be said that Klaus was her favorite because he represented a child born from true love, but that's giving Esther too much credit.

So no, I'm not worried that her plan will work. In the end, it won't. That's not the story. She isn't our heroes. Or anti-heroes as the case often is.

What's going to bug the daylights out of me in the mean time will be watching her be so omniscient. Tonight was a prime example and in retrospect, it's souring the episode for me. (I'm trying SUPER hard not to let this get me down. Super, super hard.)

How on Earth could Esther have known Elijah would go to Lenore. Did Finncent visit Lenore before we saw him visit and tell her to draw Esther's spirit into her own body? Or did he tell her that when he visited after Elijah did, then tell her that Oliver would call Hayley, and she needed to play along? 

It seemed the entire rescue was a set-up that Esther knew would happen, like she orchestrated the entire thing start to finish, right down to Hayley being the one to show up with the talismans necessary for the spell so that she could plant the seed of doubt in Hayley's mind first. 

It's troublesome when one character has too much power and can't lose. (See also: Rowan Pope on Scandal.) What's her vulnerability? She must have one. Given the way she'd so easily dispatch them herself it isn't her children.

This just has me all confounded. If I have the choice between seeing either of the Original parents permanently raised, I'm going with Mikael if only because at least we know he can die.

To end on an upswing, let's talk about Hayley's attitude with Elijah!

HOT HOT HOT! You tell him, Hayley! 

Elijah's been a bit of an arrogant tool with her lately, not talking to her, or talking down to her, or ignoring her completely. After The Originals Season 2 Episode 2 we know that he's doing this so that Klaus can feel tethered to something bigger than himself. It keeps his humanity in check. But she doesn't know that.

She's not dealing so well with this rejection, and it's kind of a beautiful thing to watch. 

Marcel's plan to bring Elijah into his community is also beautiful, too. Marcel is right in that they need each other, all of the vampires in New Orleans. If they are to succeed in taking back their city, they will need power and numbers and, above all, as always, family.

What did you think of The Originals Season 2 Episode 2? Are you as peeved by Esther's omniscience as I am? Jump into the comments below and let's talk this out! And don't forget to watch The Originals online to relive your favorite moments!

And here's your first look at The Originals Season 2 Episode 4, "Live and Let Die."

Every Mother's Son Review

Editor Rating: 4.3 / 5.0
  • 4.3 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (47 Votes)

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.

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The Originals Season 2 Episode 3 Quotes

No, you don't get to ignore me for days and then suddenly act like you're concerned, Elijah. Just for once, would you please trust me that I say I will do something and it will get done?

Hayley

[to Klaus] Well, every good story needs a wicked witch. It'll be all the more satisfying when we melt her.

Hayley

The Originals Season 2 Episode 3 Music

  Song Artist
Powerline Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun iTunes
Song Begging For Thread Banks