The second season premiere of The Originals is essentially a recap of the events that led to the decision to send Hope away from New Orleans under the ruse of her death.  It also sets up the new status quo, which is rather similar to the previous status quo.  That’s actually a nice change of pace; too often in the first season, The Originals would have alliance shift so often and quickly that comprehension was almost impossible.

 

Whether or not Hope is dead is a moot point; Klaus and Hayley are still suffering from the loss and the circumstances that led to her departure.  And those circumstances amount to the rise of the Guerrera werewolves and the subsequent decline of the Mikaelson “kingdom” in the Quarter.  Klaus takes his revenge by wiping out the wolves with the so-called “midnight rings”, which is a rather quick resolution to one of the major developments towards the end of the first season.  That said, it’s nice to see the old conflicts wiped clean so the threat of Esther and Mikael can rise to the forefront.

 

That emerging arc is a little odd.  Mikael is still played by the always-capable Sebastian Roche, but the rest of the Mikaelson family with Esther has returned in new bodies.  It’s going to take a little time to get used to who is in who and all that.  Still, considering that the series is called The Originals, it’s about time that the content actually live up to the title.  All the machinations in New Orleans were hard to care about when the various players were a mixed bag of all new potential threats.  I’m all for blazing new trails, but there’s a rich mythology in the Mikaelson family history to mine for drama, especially if it gives the series proper focus.

 

One thing that I’m dreading is the emergence of more love triangles, because there’s no way that won’t happen.  The seeds of a Klaus/Elijah/Hayley triangle are already there again, and who knows what’s happening with Marcel and Cami.  Klaus could be distracted by more than desire for power and family issues, I guess.  All that said, The Originals is still on more solid ground than its forebear, and that means this season could be when the torch is firmed passed.