I think I was way too concerned with how much of a role doppelgänger Tatia was going to play to really pay attention to this episode. Tatia’s presence wasn’t overwhelming per se, but I don’t think it added too much depth narrative-wise. Overall, it seemed like an overly forced attempt to integrate Nina Dobrev without laying the necessary groundwork for her character to make much of an impact. That’s not to say Tatia The Doppelgänger doesn’t play a pivotal role in the Mikaelson mythology, but it didn’t resonate onscreen as well as it should have. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of all the major events on the Mikaelson Family timeline, and there was definitely difficulty determining what took place when, and what role Tatia actually played. There was no mention of how she inherited her immortality or how she became intertwined with Klaus or how the relationship with Elijah flourished to the level of deep passion we are meant to believe.
The most poignant moment of the episode, as well as the most cruel deed Esther/Lenore did to Elijah, came at the very end when she put Elijah in a dream-like state where he was imagining Haley rescuing him. I, too, thought Haley rescuing Elijah was real, and it became an even more momentous event because Haley and Elijah finally embraced their feelings for one another and shared a moment of genuine passion – something audiences have been wanting to see for quite some time. To see it was all a ruse put on my Esther/Lenore was a devastatingly real example of how diabolical Esther Mikaelson is.
The reason behind Elijah’s capture is to remind him of his savagery, no matter how much Elijah tries to disguise it with noble politeness and stylish suits. The “Red Door” is meant to symbolize those acts of savage brutality Elijah has tried to forget or repress. By reminding Elijah of these actions, Esther/Lenore means to elicit extreme feelings of guilt so, in turn, Elijah will beg for “purification” – i.e., having Esther transform him into a mortal.
I’ve written at length how this season of The Originals is exploring Kenneth Burke’s guilt-purification-redemption cycle at length, and guilt is a necessary part of it. Burke talks about guilt in both Permanence and Change and Language as Symbolic Action, and states guilt occurs when people reject social hierarchies: “Those ‘Up’ are guilty of not being ‘Down,’ those ‘Down’ are certainly guilty of not being ‘Up’” in the most simplified explanation. But hierarchies exist everywhere – political systems, relationships, clubs, and, most notably in this case, families. Whereas my other discussions of guilt-purification-redemption have discussed scapegoating as the type of purification at play, Esther is trying to utilize mortification. For Burke, mortification involves the guilty accepting the blame publicly and asking for forgiveness. However, Esther trying to mortify Elijah by bringing repressed memories to the surface is an act of scapegoating in and of itself, where Esther can purge her own guilt of creating the immortal Mikaelson siblings by purifying a symbol of that guilt (i.e., Elijah).
Further exploring the guilt-purification-redemption cycle in this way is well done. However, the Tatia/mortification aspect of the storyline did not work as well as it was intended because the Tatia-Elijah relationship hasn’t been explored. Seeing her in a couple of flashbacks doesn’t properly set her up as a legitimate source of pain and discomfort for Elijah. On the other hand, audiences have had so much more time witnessing the Elijah-Haley dynamic, which is why the end of the episode evoked such sadness and grief rather than generating those same feelings the first half of the episode.
Despite how disappointing Elijah’s torture scenes were, the episode wasn’t an overall failure. The final fight scene between Klaus and Mikael was excellent, and it was great seeing Haley, Davina, and Marcel come to the rescue. Mikael has always had especially vile words for Klaus, and it’s generally geared toward how unimportant and weak he is. When Mikael stated how Klaus has no one in his life that he hasn’t forced to be there was especially vicious, yet everyone in that scene who essentially came to his rescue was a welcomed change of pace. Klaus is a difficult person to like – in theory, anyway – but to see the relationship and bonds he’s forged since he came to New Orleans, especially manifested in this scene, created a satisfying contrast. The characters and performances make this a great show, and they continue to get better every week.
I Have Notes 