The Originals 2.17 “Exquisite Corpse”

Who doesn’t love a Surrealist reference for a show title? Especially considering we know this crew were around in the 1920s, quite colorfully so, and given Klaus’ penchant for making butt-hurt expressionist paintings.

Many great quotes and one-liners this episode, too. Freya to her mother, as she easily slips Klaus’ bonds: “Maybe the upgrade isn’t quite so advanced as he thinks.” Vampire mom to Klaus “Oh, honey, we’re a sad shadow of a family.” The Originals writers have built up a mythology that is a wonderfully rich resource at this point, positing our characters as virtual gods, a pantheon of mythical archetypes engaged in perpetual war.

All that’s needed are actors capable of carrying off the operatic Grand Guignol. Klaus, the perpetually petulant trickster, gets to nimbly dance by and manipulate his foes/siblings this week, all in the interest of protecting his child. He also steps in and makes himself vulnerable when needed, because Elijah leaves him no choice, and they both wish Rebekah to keep her present body. The two brothers bond with big sis Freya to break into Eva’s diseased mind.

Yes, this is a family of immortal body jumpers, and Finn, Kol and Rebekah are all on their second one at least. The show makes some ritual gestures to returning Rebekah to Clair Holt’s form, but as Maise Richardson-Sellers has made the character hers as well (expertly capturing the difference when Rebekah is in charge and when ruthless witch Eva Sinclair emerges), it’s easy to buy the explanation that keeping Eva’s body will save more lives.

Esther and Mikael (still off-screen somewhere thanks to Freya) are the devouring parents, and Rebekah and Elijah are Apollo and Artemis. Kol and Finn are out of the picture, and of course Dahlia is the looming ogre coming for the child. It’s interesting that when Hope is threatened, hybrid Hayley vamps out before she wolfs out now. Vincent turns out not to be a jerk in helping the group take down Eva, but the best sequence is the eerily green and strobe-lit construction site of her mind, where baby Rebekah has been chained in a box and Finn and Marcel must enter to release her and kill the demon. These sequences are truly spooky and dream-like, something the show has gotten better and better at doing.

The waking world is pretty great, too, thanks to the poise of Meg Foster as Josephine, an elder witch who seems much more complicated than just an antagonist for the vampires. We haven’t even seen her use her powers yet (beyond predicting a vaguely dire future for Hayley), and yet how could they surpass those magical icy blue eyes?

Dahlia so far seems the least interesting of threats being posed, but given the surprises relating to Freya this episode (not just her imperviousness to Klaus’ bonds, but the final way in which she deals with Esther), perhaps there are more surprises in store.