I was a bit leery when I first heard about a spinoff to The Vampire Diaries, considering that there was a growing sense that the parent series was already beginning to show its age.  My concerns were only increased after the backdoor pilot episode aired.  Setting up “the original vampire family” in New Orleans with supporting characters with problematic personalities was bad enough, but introducing the time bomb of a “baby plot” was cringe-inducing.  Would the spinoff be more of the same, or strike out in new directions?

Things were looking up with the very first episode, which set aside the unstable Klaus’ point of view in favor of the more cultured Elijah.  Soon after, the distaff member of the family, Rebekah, entered the picture and added even more to the mix.  As the various factions (human, vampire, werewolf, witch, etc.) were fleshed out, the story became more than just a question of how possessed Hayley the pregnant werewolf or held sway over the French Quarter.

The series was thrown an unexpected challenge by the premature departure of Claire Holt.  It’s unclear whether Holt had made it clear to the producers that she would be leaving mid-season before the series began filming, or if it was a relatively quick and unexpected turn of events.  Regardless, given that many fans felt that Rebekah was crucial to the character dynamics of the series, it was the biggest challenge to the spinoff’s future prospects.

What played to the series’ favor was the infamous accelerated plot pacing that keeps the The Vampire Diaries from getting mired in any plot thread for too long.  The departure of Rebekah became a catalyst for several season-ending elements that gave the series focus, and the return of Mikael and Esther to the mix makes The Originals more likely to live up to its title.  (Oh, and the resolution to the dreaded “baby plot” was about as fitting as could be!)

WHAT WORKED 

One of the benefits of taking a set of supporting characters from a successful series and giving them their own space is that they are familiar to the audience and the cast already knows the ins and outs of their characters’ psychologies.  Even when the writers seemed to be forcing characters to serve the plot, rather than the other way around, Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah were as true to form as one could reasonably expect.

Characters that were initially weak, such as Cami or Davina, ultimately were fleshed out and given far more substantial and meaningful roles.  Davina in particular went from being a generic pretty teen witch to a character with a much more substantial role in the progression of the season, to the point where her involvement in the second season is much anticipated.

Hayley progressed from a walking, talking plot device to one of the strongest supporting characters of the series.  Her relationship with Elijah helped give the endless rivalry between the main Mikaelson brothers more heft, especially when the interpersonal conflicts threatened to become overly repetitive.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

Much of the season was a delicate, endlessly shifting balance of power between Klaus and his progeny Marcel, vampires and witches, vampires and werewolves, and so on.  More than a few episodes would end with a seemingly substantial shift in the state of play, promising some interesting consequences to be explored, only to have that result undone by the end of the following episode.

While the speed of plot twists and resolutions has always been accelerated in the Vampire Diaries franchise, the effect on a series that was still trying to find itself was substantial.  Some may have enjoyed the notion of never knowing who might get the upper hand next, but for others, it made the series hard to follow and needlessly complex.  That it also called into question the motivations of characters from episode to episode made long-term development hard to track.

THE BEST EPISODES

1.11: “Apres Moi, Le Deluge”

One of the more shocking moments of the season, as a ritual sacrifice meant to end in resurrection ends in tragedy, as that power is used by Celeste to restore three allies to life instead.

1.21: “The Battle of New Orleans”

The season’s various brewing conflicts come to a head, with the outcome turning on the revelation that the leadership of the human faction is anything but.

THE WORST EPISODES

1.3: “Tangled Up in Blue”

One of the early stumbling points of the freshman season, where the pattern of ever-shifting alliances first came to light and muddied the narrative waters.

1.18: “The Big Uneasy”

Perhaps the most obvious example of how a major plot point in the previous episode was undone in the next, as Elijah’s efforts to create a peace accord are immediately rendered meaningless.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Originals may have been all over the narrative map in its first season, but the familiarity of the characters and the growing sense of direction in the final episodes kept the series from falling into a downward spiral.  All of the elements that help make The Vampire Diaries work have been successfully used on its spinoff, and if anything, the lessons learned in the first season look to be capitalized upon in the sophomore run.