Season four of
“The Vampire Diaries” utilized the characters known as the ‘original’ vampires
so much that they have spun off into their own narrative and television show
with season one of “The Originals.” This first season still interacts with the
timeline of “The Vampire Diaries” in season five, with supporting characters
able to bounce between the two shows as needed. Aside from the removal of a
majority of teenage melodrama from the narrative (except for the inevitable
romantic entanglements), “The Originals” shares a great deal with the show it
spawned from.
Like the earlier
seasons of “The Vampire Diaries,” we are given many flashback sequences to
allow us to see the origins of these veteran vampires as they arrive in
Lousiana and help in the building of the New
Orleans
Although the
occasional lovesick storyline understandably makes its way into the narrative,
there is a more violent edge to “The Originals.” The story quickly becomes
about a turf war between vampires, witches and werewolves. This leads to some
chess-like battles of wit, but sometimes it also just comes down to brutal
strength. Klaus becomes obsessed with regaining control of the French Quarter,
which has been taken over by his former friend and protégé, Marcel (Charles
Michael Davis), and this inevitably pulls his whole family into a scheme that
guarantees conflict.
Season one has
twenty-two episodes, all of which are contained on five DVDs and four Blu-ray
discs for this nine-disc dual-format edition. The set also comes with an
Ultraviolet digital HD copy of the season. The special features on both formats
include commentary with creator Julie Plec and director Chris Grismer, as well
as unaired scenes and five new featurettes. These include footage from a panel
at Comic-Con 2013 and another from PaleyFest 2014.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
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