The Originals: Fruit of the Poisoned Tree – Review

Warning! Contains Spoilers!

Marcel has taken revenge on Klaus and raised the stakes in their power struggle.

This week’s episode of The Originals has revenge written all over it. Everyone has a score to settle and in carrying out their revenge, they poison fragile relationships and alliances. The ultimate revenge committed by Marcel, however, will be the turning point for the power struggle between him and Klaus.

As the episode opens, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies) are in the living room of their home, each reading a book. Rebekkah (Claire Holt) observes them and calls them, “the vampire book club”.

What happens next, cleverly sets the stage for what the episode will be about.
Klaus glances at what he is reading: ‘The Poison Tree’, the 1794 poem by William Blake in which the narrator’s repressed feelings of anger towards someone will eventually lead to murder. (Punctuation is as shown from the original poem. Source: Wikipedia).

Klaus looks angrily at Elijah as he narrates the poem:
“I was angry at my friend; I told my wrath. my wrath did end.”

The scene cuts to Marcel going inside the Palace Royale Hotel, as Klaus reads,
“I was angry with my foe; I told it not. my wrath did grow.”

Cut to Father Kieran (Todd Stashwick) in St. Anne’s church, holding some kind of meeting. Klaus continues to narrate:
“And I watered it in my fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles,
And it grew both day and night.”

Klaus looks at Haley (Phoebe Tonkin) as she passes through the room, then at Elijah, who gets up to follow her into the kitchen. Klaus finishes the poem:
“Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And into my garden stole.
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see,
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.”

In between them, lying on a coffee table, is a young, dead woman, who Klaus had made as a gift to Elijah. Elijah says he will forgive Klaus only if he changes his actions, not by accepting his “gifts”. In the kitchen, Haley (Phoebe Tokin) catches Elijah up on what has happened to her since he was gone.

Meanwhile, Sophie (Daniella Pineda) and Sabeen (Shannon Kane) are in Sophie’s shop, discussing how the witches are now against Sophie. Suddenly, two hooded figures appear and knock out Sabeen, blow some kind of powder into Sophie’s face rendering her unconscious, and kidnap her.

Back at the Mikaelson’ home, Rebekkah is busy cleaning the 200 year old carpet from the blood of the dead girl and sees Elijah take a page out of their mother’s spell book (or Grimmeoir as Elijah calls it). He tells her and Klaus that he promised Davina that he would help her control her magic in exchange for his freedom. Elijah says he thought he’d give her the unlinking spell, so the link between Sophie and Haley would be broken. This is Elijah’s revenge for Sophie lying to them about only wanting to get rid of Marcel, but falsely forming a contract with them so she could get Davina back.

Elijah gives the spell to Davina and promises her she can have one of her own choosing if she succeeds at this one.

Meanwhile, Josh (Steven Krueger) is questioned by Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) about where Klaus resides. Marcel discovers it’s not the Palace Royal Hotel and Josh lies that it is the place he had dropped Klaus off a couple of times. Marcel tells Josh he needs someone to trust, and realizes it’s Thierry (Callad Harris), his once best friend that he bricked up in The Garden for killing a fellow vampire.

At St. Anne’s church, Cami (Leah Pipes) visits her uncle, Father Kieran, to discuss her concern over not being upset about her twin brother’s murderous spree anymore and she feels she’s letting someone get away with his death. He tells her that only Sean (her brother) is responsible for what happened. (That’s about to change!)

It is Agnes (Karen Kaia Levers), the last Elder of the coven (and last witch who can do The Harvest ritual), that has kidnapped Sophie and she injects Sophie with a cursed needle that will kill Haley’s unborn child, as she and Sophie are linked. Haley starts to feel the effects of the spell, while Klaus and Elijah interrogate Sabeen about where to find Agnes.

Back at the Mikaelson’s, Rebekkah reveals to Haley that she’s leaving New Orleans now that she knows Elijah is safe (the only reason she came back, she says). She doesn’t want to stick around to clean up her brothers’ mess of dealing with Marcel. Haley suddenly begins to feel the effects of the spell and feels feverish.

Klaus and Elijah have found Sophie, who tells them that Agnes used a cursed object called ‘The Needle of Sorrows’ to inject her. She says cursed objects are the only way to use magic without Marcel knowing. This needle’s purpose is to kill an unborn child by rising up blood temperature. Elijah tells Sophie she needs to be unlinked from Haley and that their deal no longer stands.

Meanwhile, down in The Garden, Marcel releases Thierry (Callard Harris) from his brick prison to talk about Klaus. He wants to know what Klaus is hiding and asks Thierry to recount about the night he killed the vampire. Thierry is convinced that the vampire Max he killed was drained (Max had been missing) and compelled by Klaus and that the “evidence” of his betrayal was planted because after only a few minutes it was found in the darkness of the witch’s shop. He warns Marcel to watch his back.

At St. Anne’s church, Klaus barges in on a meeting Father Kieran is holding with the mayor and others (town government?). They go eye to eye about finding the witch, Agnes. When Kieran wants to know why should he find her, Klaus spills the secret that it was Agnes that hexed Sean, his nephew. He gives Kieran one hour to decide if he wants to help Klaus. After he leaves, Kieran orders the men to search cell phone records and anything else that will help them find Agnes, but not to divulge the information to Klaus. Father Kieran has his own revenge in mind, for Agnes. (Saw that coming!)

Elijah brings Sophie back to the house and she concocts a herb mixture to slow the fever down in Haley. Rebekkah is sent to retrieve the herbs and she bumps into Marcel who tries to trip her up on where she’s staying.

Father Kieran receives a text with the location of Agnes, but Klaus stops him before he can leave. He strikes a deal with Kieran to bring Agnes to the church to deal with her, and ensures Cami’s safety. When Agnes is brought to the church, Father Kieran tries to scare her and then Klaus threatens her with “things worse than death” if she doesn’t undo the curse on Haley. She said it can’t be undone and it’s only a matter of time before it works.

At the house, Elijah holds Haley in the swimming pool and takes Sophie’s herb remedy that together, will bring her heart rate and blood pressure down. (Right, a hot guy holding you in his arms will do that. Not!). As the situation reaches critical mass, Davina (Danielle Campbell) succeeds in the unlinking spell and Haley is saved. Elijah goes off to meet Klaus, and Elijah promises to Sophie that he won’t let Klaus won’t kill Agnes. Haley tells Sophie that if she tries to use her again to save the witches, she’ll kill her. (The revenge plots are piling up!) Rebekkah tells Elijah that she wants no part of him and Klaus’ plans, so she’s leaving.

At St. Anne’s church, Elijah finds Klaus has Agnes in a choke-hold, ready to snap her neck. Elijah asks him not to do it, and Klaus replies that he’s tired of doing things Elijah’s way. Elijah will give Klaus his forgiveness if Klaus doesn’t make him break his word to Sophie. Klaus relents and releases Agnes, pouting over his fun being spoiled. Then comes the best lines in the episode: “I swore you would not die by my brother’s hand. I said nothing about my own. No one hurts my family and lives. No one.” And he snaps Agnes’ neck.

Rebekkah and Marcel have a good-bye tryst. Rebekkah tries to get Marcel to leave New Orleans with her. But, of course, he refuses. He tries to get her to reveal where they are staying, but she won’t let on. She offers him an apple and he refuses, because it reminds him of things he’d rather forget (his past as a boy slave). After she leaves, he looks at the apple and it sparks an idea. Marcel follows Josh to the Mikaelson’s house. He hides behind the apple trees and he picks up an apple and remembers his days as a boy slave at this house (it was the Governor’s home, who was his father). When Josh leaves, Marcel knocks on the front door and is greeted by Haley.

Klaus goes to Cami and reveals what happened to Sean and that the witch who hexed him has been killed. She slaps him hard and he’s shocked. She angrily responds that he’s made her culpable in a revenge murder. She threatens that once she finds out what he’s done to her, he will wish he’d never laid eyes on her. (Another revenge threat to add to the pile).

Marcel bumps into Klaus leaving the bar after his confrontation with Cami. Marcel lets Klaus know he paid a visit to his house. Elijah returns to the house to find Haley missing; he calls Rebekkah who is on her way out of town and she tells him Haley is not with her. Klaus tells Elijah that Marcel was at the house. Marcel it appears, has kidnapped Haley.

Wow, so many revenge plots and threats, I lost count!
More questions for next time: Now that Marcel has Haley, will Klaus lose the power fight? Will Klaus and Elijah be able to rescue her? Will Davina rescue her or is her alliance with Marcel still strong? Or will she forge one with Elijah since she is now free from the ritual since Agnes was killed by him? Will Rebekkah turn around and come back to help? Will Cami do good on her threat to Klaus? How will Klaus handle her if he thinks she is now a liability?

What did you think of this week’s episode?

Original article posted by Linda – check them out!

Mirrored from Joseph Morgan Fan.