The Vampire Horror Mystery Spinoff Series On Prime Better Than The Original
If you’re like me and you can’t imagine ever watching The Vampire Diaries, but you’re a huge fan of all things supernatural, you might want to give the spinoff, The Originals, a chance. It’s streaming on Prime for members now, and it’s worth checking out the first few episodes.
My much younger brother watched The Vampire Diaries, and no matter how many times I walked in on various scenes from the show, it never pulled me in. I grew up on Anne Rice, for Pete’s sake. I ridiculed Twilight. I was not going to watch The Vampire Diaries. But he convinced me to give The Originals a chance, telling me it was much different from The Vampire Diaries, much more mature and engaging. And you know what? He was right.
The Originals Is A Spin-Off Of The Vampire Diaries
The concept for The Originals began in The Vampire Diaries, but the similarities stop there. The CW series stars actors still relatively unknown today, which is surprising because they all did an excellent job of portraying what could become trite and overdone material, which, in my opinion, is what happened with TVD.
In The Originals, we meet Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah, the Mikaelson siblings who were turned into vampires a thousand years ago by their mother, a witch, in order to save their lives. They became the original vampires in this reality.
Follows Supernatural History
The Originals does a lot of bouncing around in time, but when we enter the present day, we meet the siblings in their large New Orleans mansion, where they are struggling to maintain control of the supernatural community. We meet a werewolf, Hayley Marshall, who arrives early in the show to announce she is pregnant with Klaus’ baby after the two had a one night stand. We also meet Marcel Gerard, who was sired by Klaus a couple hundred years ago after Klaus rescued him from slavery.
Heavy On Vampire Politics And Romance
There are a lot of politics in the show between who holds the most power in the city of New Orleans — the vampires, the werewolves, or the witches — and how that power should be wielded. At first, “the originals” are just returning to their mansion in the city, and Marcel has control, but Klaus quickly takes that control back. Of course, conflict ensues. Add to this the fact that Marcel and Klaus’ sister, Rebekah, have a romantic past and the added drama that Klaus’ brother, Elijah, is madly in love with Hayley, and you have a full-blown adult soap opera.
Streaming On Amazon Prime
REVIEW SCORE
Delightfully, it’s an easy watch, and it doesn’t get too soapy thanks to the murder, mayhem, and warring among and between clans in The Originals. The series lasted for five riveting seasons and still holds 84 percent positive reviews. Among supernatural series, while I enjoyed it, I really did not like the way they wrapped up the last season. Oh, and I’ve heard terrible things about the spinoff, Legacies, so I haven’t even bothered.
But if you’re looking for something fun to binge one weekend, The Originals is definitely worth a watch on Amazon Prime. The chemistry among the characters is constantly buzzing, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the storylines are thoroughly enjoyable. I might just have to go watch it again.
