There’s Always a Bigger Baddie, The Originals “Wheel Inside the Wheel” 

It was bound to happen. We’ve got a new baddie to contend with on The Orignals. Not just a new baddie, but potentially also another Original sibling. Although, not a vampire Original. A witch Original? We have yet to find out. With 1,000 years of mythology in which to play, there’s no shortage of enemies and allies to the Mikaelson clan. Probably more enemies than allies, considering this family. As I called it back on “Alive and Kicking,” The Originals never makes you wait long for a bigger reveal of a new evil to battle. This week we got a chunk of Esther’s backstory and met Esther’s sister, who apparently is a more powerful witch than Esther could ever be. Here we go!

I’ll just skim over the highlights: Elijah has been chained up by Esther for a while, all the while she’s spilling his blood and chanting spells in his ear. She claims when he wakes, he’ll make his own choice as to which side to be on. Klaus, after battling Mikael last week, spent this week exchanging pleasantries with his mother in an effort to track down Elijah. Esther claims she is his salvation; he wants to rip her throat out, blah blah blah. Anyone else getting a little tired of Esther’s sermons? Meanwhile, Hayley goes on a mission to rescue Oliver and tracks down Jackson in order to do so. She meets Ansel (Lloyd Owen), a werewolf of few words and killer aim with a bow and arrow. Ansel and Hayley take on the traitor wolves to rescue Oliver. More on Ansel later.

Back to Esther’s story, which is going to have significant sway on where our Originals go from here. We learn that Esther was once upon a time a wife back in Norway who was infertile. Begging her witch sister for help, we meet Dahlia (Kristin Erickson), Esther’s sister with power Esther can’t begin to harness. Dahlia helps but with a price. Surprise! Dahlia makes Esther swear to hand over her firstborn and the firstborn of every generation to come. Whoops! Since the Original Family hasn’t had a second generation in a thousand years…..oh wait, that’s right. Baby Hope! Uh-oh. Unbeknownst to Klaus, his daughter Hope is sworn to his aunt Dahlia. So THAT’S why Esther was gunning for Klaus’s daughter. She was trying to save her from her great-aunt. But….wait. If she was going to save her from Dahlia, killing her was the way to do that? Perhaps Esther’s thought was by sacrificing Baby Hope, she could save the rest of her children from Dahlia. Aunt Wicked Witch made the condition if Esther didn’t hand over her firstborn, she would have to sacrifice all her children. Esther gave in and let Dahlia drag the firstborn Mikaelson, Freya, away in front of Finn. Claiming she died by plague, Freya’s “death” broke Mikael’s heart and turned him into the cruel monster we fear today.

So we get a new Mikaelson family member, eldest sister Freya. Other than the fact she is blond and blue-eyed, we don’t know what happened to her following her kidnapping by Dahlia. Did Dahlia tutor Freya up to be a good witch? One can hope that maybe ONE of the Mikaelson clan was safe from Esther and Mikael’s warped parenting. I’m looking forward to meeting her.

Speaking of meeting, Klaus was in for a shock when he came face to face with the father he thought was long dead. Turns out, Ansel is Klaus’s birth father, brought back from the dead by Esther four moons ago. Esther claims she did it so she could give Klaus the father he always wanted. Always thinking of her children, that one is, isn’t she? Ansel has been coaching Jackson out in the bayou on “the old ways” and has already made it clear he values wolf lives above all else. All we know about him is he was a good and well-respected leader, he’s got a tattoo on one arm and he’s been watching Klaus from the other side for a millennium. If he’s been watching for that long, you’d think he’d realize his son is pretty much the biggest jerk on the planet, but a father’s love can’t be swayed. Ansel didn’t get quite the reunion he had hoped for. Klaus’s knee-jerk reaction was to shun his father. There’s a lot of unfold there, especially once Mikael gets back in the mix. Considering it was Mikael who killed Ansel the first time around, I’m sure there’s no love lost there.

In other news, Cami has figured out that her mentor Vincent is actually Finn, thanks to Marcel. While a few weeks ago Cami was adamant about staying out of the fight, she’s had a change of heart. I’m thinking the soft and squishy moments she had with Klaus over the last few weeks had something to do with it. Cami swears to Marcel she’s gung ho to play double agent and keep Finn occupied.

Last but not least, we bid farewell to wolf Oliver. Held captive by Finn and Esther, he had until midnight to live. Even though Hayley rescued him with the help of Ansel, Ollie died a gruesome death in Jackson’s arms thanks to the witches. But not before redeeming some of that nasty he’s spewed since we met him. When face to face with the traitor wolves in the cemetery, Oliver pleaded with them to think about what they’re doing because wolves were not meant to be slaves to witches. His plea worked and the wolves let them pass unharmed. He made amends with Jackson, barely, before dying. So long, wolf friend. We’ll miss your hair. With Oliver’s death, it’ll light a fire under Jackson to get back into the fight and save his wolf brethren from the witchy control of Finn and Esther.

Klaus moment of the week

Klaus had some real breakthrough moments with Esther this week. Cami would be proud. He finally asked the questions he’d been dying to ask for centuries: Why did my father abandon me? Why didn’t he want me as part of his pack? Those fundamental questions have tormented Klaus since he learned he wasn’t Mikael’s son. Esther claimed she was the one who kept them apart but we’ll see how Klaus takes that when he gets to know Ansel.

The Originals airs Mondays at 8/7c on the CW.