I will say, Klaus can be a very difficult hybrid to love.
At first, his visit to New Orleans seems like the usual vampire busy work. Find a witch, threaten her, discover who wants to kill you, blah blah blah. But on “The Vampire Diaries,” vampire busy work is never just that. Klaus quickly bumps into his old friend Marcel, a charming vampire who was once one of Klaus’ minions. That was 100 years ago, of course, and these days Marcel is the king of all he surveys. He’s somehow managed to make the witch community believe he controls the magic in town (which may be true or may be a bluff), has run out the werewolves, and has a steady stream of delicious tourists on which to dine. If Klaus were a nice guy, he’d be proud of his former lackey, who has so clearly made good (at least in vampire terms) on Bourbon Street.
Alas, Klaus is not a nice guy, as much as I want to believe that’s not the case.
For as many romantic beauty-and-the-beast turns as he has with Caroline, Klaus doesn’t tend to listen to the angel on his shoulder very often. Heck, the angel on his shoulder was probably killed and eaten as a snack a long time ago. Klaus doesn’t appreciate the idea that Marcel is the boss in these here parts, and immediately bristles when his old buddy puts a few of his people to work on keeping an eye on him. Even though it’s been positively ages, Marcel clearly hasn’t forgotten that Klaus is a tough cookie and a major threat, and he just may be better off finding out what the hell he’s up to.
But even Klaus doesn’t know what he’s up to, not yet. His brother Elijah, who is practically cuddly compared to his surviving siblings, also drops into town. Though he tells their sister Rebekah that he’s going to find out who’s making a move against Klaus then either stop them or help them depending on his mood, I don’t buy that for a second. Elijah can’t stop loving this man, and even when he does do not-good, very-bad things, they’re usually entirely excusable. When he finds Sophie, a witch being hassled by some of Marcel’s thugs, he makes quick work of them. So quick, in fact, it’s hard to really see what’s going on (sidebar: Since almost everyone has a daylight ring, is it possible to not shoot everything like a moody ’80s video?) except for the bloody head that bobbles along the pavement for a second or two. That Elijah, fighting the good fight in his own ghastly way!
What Elijah finds out is, of course, that Klaus got sexy werewolf Hayley preggers. Nooo, you say! But yeah, there’s a loophole in the balance or something, which accounts for why Sophie and her dearly departed sister Jane Ann (yeah, Marcel killed her with a scarf, so that happened) conspired to capture Hayley shortly after she showed up in town. Klaus doesn’t believe it! And then, he doesn’t care! Sophie wants him to destroy Marcel or the kid and the baby mama get it! So what! Elijah urges him to listen to the thumpa-thumpa coming from Hayley’s belly. Klaus still doesn’t care! Hayley looks hurt when her baby daddy calls her a boozy one-night stand, but Klaus has no problem telling Sophie to go ahead and kill her and the baby. Stoopid baby!
Yeah, this would be why it’s sometimes a little hard to love Klaus.
He stomps away from Elijah and Sophie and Hayley during their little daddy intervention, and it’s not that Klaus needs a moment to think about it. No, Elijah then tries, again, to spell everything out to Klaus in words he can understand. Doesn’t he remember that the one thing they’ve always wanted is a family? And this would be a family? Family is power, and Klaus loves power! I swear Elijah is one step away from barreling through Babys R Us, strapping on a Baby Bjorn and ovulating. Elijah wants this baby BAD, and I suspect he’d put together a killer nursery. “We will build a home here together! Save this girl, save this child,” he pleads. And, you know, kill Marcel and all his people. But that’s implied.
“No,” says Klaus.
So, it’s going to take a whole episode to get Klaus to come around about this damn baby. He fights with Marcel and bites one of his guys, just to make the point that he doesn’t like rules. He’s an Original, bitch! Marcel, who really doesn’t seem so awful though I’m sure I’m wrong about that, is backed into a corner. Klaus has broken one of his rules. But Klaus is immortal. Dammit! Really, Klaus is kind of a houseguest from hell, wandering around and admiring what Marcel has done with the place, then making him look bad in front of his friends.
He bumps into this nice blonde bartender, whom he previously handed $100 to amuse two of Marcel’s minions, and talks to her about a street artist. But in describing what she sees in the street artist, Camille (Cami to you, buster) basically describes Klaus to a T. “He’s angry, he’s dark, he doesn’t feel safe and doesn’t know what to do about it. Wishes he could control his demons and not let them control him. He’s lost. Alone.” We quickly learn that Cami was a psych major, and is probably standing in for Caroline when she’s too busy with “The Vampire Diaries” business to drop in.
So, Elijah visits Klaus AGAIN to check the daddy meter. Klaus still doesn’t really give a crap about his kid. No, he’s realizing that Marcel has done a lovely job of taking over New Orleans, and now he’s jealous and he wants it back. So there. He wants to be king of the mountain! And, well, okay, all kings have heirs. This is one step from saying he’ll let Hayley put his name on the birth certificate if she signs something relieving him of having to pay parental support.
Still, Klaus now has a mission (destroy Marcel). We also get updates on who is going to the spin-off and who is staying home. Rebekah thinks Klaus can go spin, so she’s a no for New Orleans. Klaus leaves a lovey-dovey message for Caroline, so she may drop by. Katherine tries to convince Elijah to run away with her instead of babysitting his stupid brother, but Elijah is an idiot and says he’s heading back to New Orleans.
Meanwhile, back in Mystic Falls, the Salvatores are trying to starve and torture Elena back into being the nice, sweet girl she used to be. Because that always works.
That being said, I’m looking forward to “The Originals.” The locations are gorgeous (all the style with none of the humidity!), but more importantly I think Marcel, Camille and Sophie are already intriguing characters I want to learn about. Marcel is a “let the good times roll” kind of guy, and we haven’t really had someone who’s this much fun. Damon is charming, but even he has a tendency to smolder.
Camille is sharp-witted and just might create an interesting Hayley-Klaus-Camille triangle (or even Caroline-Klaus-Camille). Even if she doesn’t, she will likely be a witty sounding board for Klaus. As for Sophie, it’s never a bad thing to have a witch around. Though Bonnie has become a punching bag on “The Vampire Diaries,” I think Sophie might have the same tricks up her sleeve but with a bigger attitude.
The good news is that Klaus has some viable characters with whom to either join forces or face off, and either way, I’m there. More importantly, I’ve missed Elijah and even, yes, Hayley. This mash-up of new and interesting with oldies-but-goodies sounds like a gumbo worthy of my time.
Even if Klaus can be kind of a jerk.
Are you going to watch “The Originals”? What do you think Klaus will be like as a baby daddy? Which new character are you most interested in?