The Originals - Recap: Everyone, Sacrifices Suck

Episode 5 of Season 1 of The Originals, “Sinners and Saints,” featured an hour’s worth of storytelling. As Davina (Danielle Campbell), Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), and Sophie (Daniella Pineda) revealed the tale of how this television series came to be, the Mikaelson family finally became aware of the truth regarding why they were actually lured to New Orleans. Meanwhile, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) did her own digging in an attempt to discover whether what is growing inside of her belly is a totally cute hybrid-wolf pup or an awful demonic spawn sent to devour all witches. You know, basic prenatal woes. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 1 Episode 5 of The Originals, “Sinners and Saints”!

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Perhaps it’s best to break up this week’s recap by time. Oh, never mind, I'm just going to type. Half of the episode took place eight months prior to the present day, a time when Davina was an entirely innocent teenage witch, Marcel was, eh, alright with the local coven, and Sophie Deveraux was a total lush. Sophie would begin the story in the Mikaelson living room, informing Rebekah (Claire Holt), Klaus (Joseph Morgan), and Hayley of the now infamous “Harvest.” The Harvest, a ritual performed by the witches once every three centuries, had always seemed like a complete myth, a ceremony only believed to be true by extremist witches like the breed that had attempted to do away with Hayley and her unborn baby during Episode 4. The Harvest is meant to reconnect the local witches with their dead ancestors, thus rejuvenating their power supply after three-hundred-years of a weakening link between the living and the witches of yesteryear and beyond.

Sophie, whose party girl persona was counteractively bred from a totally strict upbringing, had left the region for a time before deciding to return home in order to study in the culinary arts. Of course, we haven’t even witnessed her scrambling an egg. See, answers! Sophie’s sister, Jane Ann, would be the first to greet a half-in-the-bag Sophie upon her arrival home, but the warm welcome was short lived. Sophie, upon learning of the impending Harvest, snapped into a panic.  We’d witnessed the coven preparing several teenage witches for the possibility of being one of four chosen girls, a position of “honor” that each family hoped would befall their teen offering. In the daylight hours, the girls would kneel in a line before a quite scary alpha witch who’d prep them for the choosing. Sophie, the only seemingly sane adult witch to oppose the ritual, would disrupt the lecture and selection process in a fit of rage. Still, this would not prevent Davina and Sophie’s niece, Monique, from being two of the selected partakers.

The group in the present would inevitably end up divided. Klaus would be forced into accompanying Marcel on his mission to investigate the pile of witch parts left in the woods following what we’d assumed was a massacre-by-werewolf. Sophie, who’d been cluing us, along with the Mikaelsons, in on her story, would leap into another frenzy in the present. Jeez, Sophie was all over the place this week! If she couldn’t lay the dead witches to rest before sundown, her coven would lose their connection to the power of the deceased. Power, power, power… What do these witches even want with power if it’s not to fight off the vampires? It seems the vampires only take issue with the coven because of their abuse of power. Do they do magic tricks in a time of peace? In any case, Klaus would forbid the girls from venturing into the forest while he and Marcel were headed for the same location. Of course, these women don’t listen to anyone, so Sophie would end up accompanied by Rebekah and Hayley on her mission to pay her witchy respects; Hayley, looking for information regarding who’d saved her life from the same pile of dead witches, and Rebekah because, well, Scooby Doo never left Daphne out of an adventure just because she was of little importance. Nah, in actuality, super strong Rebekah would refuse to let a very pregnant Hayley go it alone, and she’d eventually phone Klaus in order to alert him to their presence in the area. Klaus, fearing that Marcel would cross paths with the ladies, would attempt to stall his former bestie at a dive bar where Marcel would continue to reveal details of the events that had transpired eight months prior.

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Also filling us in on her own perspective of the fateful events of the past, Davina chatted with a now very awake Elijah (Daniel Gillies), who’d been looking to connect with the girl in order to create a truce between the warring supernaturals. Davina was initially hesitant to trust even the most honorable of Originals, but she’d give Elijah the benefit of the doubt, curing his bit of grayscale skin with a mere drop of blood. Lunch! Elijah took what he could get, it seemed, and was more interested in hearing Davina’s intentions than gobbling her up anyway. Davina, who’d been clueless as to what the Harvest ritual actually required of the four chosen teens, was concerned over Sophie’s quite adamant objection to the ritual. Still, she remained in state of blissful ignorance until the inevitable bloody sacrificing would begin. As night fell on the cemetery, Davina would watch her friends enter a state of temporary “slumber.” Meaning, she watched a bunch of kooky old witches slice the throats of her buddies under the impression that a “Reaping” would occur some time later. The four girls were to be killed as an offering, then reborn when the connection with their ancestors was revived.

Before the ritual would take place, Sophie had run to the one person both witches and vampires seem to hold to a certain level of respect. Keaton the priest (Todd Stashwick), the link between the supernaturals and the humans, refused to allow the witches to continue with their ridiculous Harvest murders. One of the witches, peeved that Keaton had dared to even attempt to prevent their ritual, spitefully cursed his nephew, Shawn, causing his mind to slowly unravel as a distraction. Shawn, if you recall, is Cami’s twin, and the young man responsible for massacring his peers before slaughtering himself upon the altar of the church. Klaus would learn of this part of the story from Marcel, who’d inadvertently handed his unknown rival the key to Cami’s heart. Klaus, who hasn’t liked the witches of the French Quarter to begin with, now has the ultimate vendetta. Everybody hates the overzealous loons!

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Luckily for Davina, Marcel’s team would receive a tip from Keaton before he’d skip town, and while Marcel is no saint, he has a soft spot for children. Upon learning of the sacrificing of innocent girls, Marcel was happy to put an end to this Harvest, rescuing a screaming scrappy Davina in the nick of time. Admiring her strength, Marcel and Sophie in turn watched as the powers of the three dead girls flowed into Davina’s body, giving us an explanation as to why she’s so incredibly powerful today. In addition, we’d learn that something did indeed result from those sacrifices. Whether it was legitimately a “Harvest” or not is still up in the air, although, according to what she shared with Elijah, Davina isn’t interested in finding out. Devastated by the lies her family, including her own mother, had fed her in order to get her to comply with this ritual, Davina is now out for complete and utter revenge. Her intention is to bleed the witches’ power line dry as punishment, rendering them all perfectly human. Davina, realizing that power is unnecessary when you’re not battling in some frivolous war, would get along perfectly well as a normal teenage girl with a crush on an awesome fiddle player. You know, even taking into account all of the twisted revenge fantasies I'm sure Davina has going on while she's stuck in that dank attic, she's sure a youthful breath of fresh air on a show that seems significantly more adult than The Vampire Diaries.

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Davina and Elijah would come to bond, and the girl would eventually confide in Elijah that she, in truth, fears this new power burning inside of her, a gift she can no longer entirely control. Elijah, whose mother was a very powerful witch, still retains her grimoires, diaries containing all of her studies and spells. If she would agree to free Elijah, he’d share the knowledge with her.

Marcel’s vampire informant managed to stumble upon our trio of supernatural dames in the woods, and the sight of Rebekah was enough to scare him straight back to Marcel. Rebekah, quickly informing Klaus, would eventually “surprise” her brother and Marcel at the bar, allowing Klaus to nip the informant problem outside in the bud before word could get back to Marcel. Marcel, meanwhile, gave Rebekah the slip, alerting the siblings that he too had been stalling them. We’d come to learn that Marcel planned on moving Davina out of town now that her location had been compromised. Would Davina take Elijah up on his offer, though? Feigning some sort of supernatural sickness, Davina would convince Marcel to keep her stowed away in the church. Father Keaton, frustrated that his church would continue to be an arena in the vampire-witch war, made sure to angrily inform Marcel of his distaste for the vampire’s budding relationship with Cami, his niece. Thus, Marcel now knows of Cami’s ties to Shawn, the victim of the witch’s curse.

Klaus and Marcel finally came to blows this week as Episode 5 wound down. The desire to control Davina’s powers remains of the utmost importance, although Marcel has a certain affection for the girl. We’re led to believe that his familial love for her trumps his desire for power, but time will tell. Elijah inevitably made his presence known, breaking up the fight and, somewhat surprisingly, painting a smirk across Marcel’s face. He'll deal with Klaus!

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Hayley and Sophie tied things up over at the dumping ground for dead extremist witches, but the revelation that this Harvest we’d spent the episode reliving was, indeed, an actual working ritual did nothing to ease Hayley’s fears that she’s growing some sort of demon child inside of her. At home, Hayley would confide in Rebekah that the quest that had led her to New Orleans to begin with was the journey to find her family, and this new looming wolf ally could hold the key to answers. Rebekah, insulted that Hayley still considers herself a lone wolf, reminded her that she now has a family in the Mikaelsons. Well, at least in her. Once Elijah would arrive at home, he'd share a moment outside with Hayley that seemed like it was about to result in some romantic sparks. Of course, the massive slap across his face, a tiny punishment for not keeping his promises, put an end to that arc for this week. Still, could this be a new Originals couple?

Perhaps more importantly, Elijah did his own math to close out Episode 5. Having been the key to shutting down the Harvesting mid-ritual, Sophie had inevitably damned her niece to death as a non-believer. Devastated by her mistake, she vowed to do everything in her power to see the girl resurrected, even if it means slitting Davina’s throat herself. Jane Ann would inevitably sacrifice herself in the process of luring The Originals back to New Orleans, the perfect means of destroying Marcel’s vampire empire and winning back Davina’s young life. Sophie Deveraux is perhaps the most dangerous opponent of all.

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Oh, shoot… I forgot to tell you that Drunk Sophie from eight months prior spent a significant portion of her time boinking Marcel. It’s all fun, games, and sex until somebody requires a human sacrifice! Boo!

What did you think of The Originals Season 1 Episode 5, “Sinners and Saints”? Is Sophie the true enemy? Will Davina inevitably be forced to partake in the end of the ritual, or will Elijah aid her in her quest to cut the witches’ power? What’s in Hayley? What will come of Klaus’ relationship with Marcel? Are you happy that Elijah is back in fine fighting form?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Originals Season 1 Episode 5, “Sinners and Saints”!