I’ll be honest with you – I loved every episode of The Originals, until the series finale. I debated long and hard if I would ever admit that, because the truth is – people don’t like hearing that you don’t like something. I learned that with Shadowhunters, but at the same point – I have always been committed to telling the truth as I see it.
Over the years, with an influx of shows on television, I have often wondered what makes me choose to watch something over something else. I think with The Originals, it was because I was obsessed with Klaroline. I held out for them. But my dissatisfaction with the finale wasn’t because they didn’t get a happy ending. It was because – if we’re being 100% honest – Elijah and Klaus would have understood that one of them needed to be there for Hope and what they were doing was selfish.
But as I sit here and I think about what The Originals gave me over the years – I have to wonder is it okay to be that angry over what I consider to be the biggest cop out series finale I have ever seen? I think it is.
But I also think that once I put that aside, I know something really to be true and evident – that the show gave me many of memories that I will never be able to forget and that I will always treasure.
It taught me many things about life and I totally get that it wasn’t meant to be that way. This isn’t The Facts of Life. It’s a show about a family of vampires.
But to me it was always more than that. It was a show that gave me something. It went right into who I was and it pulled something out of me – FEELS. As it affected my heart, it also changed my outlook on so many things in life.
What can a television show about vampires teach you? Well…
There is loyalty, even when there is none.
Point blank – family can be assholes. Hell anyone in life can be an asshole. But as people we have a thing called loyalty and even as people are assholes we can take something from that. We can learn that in the good and the bad times you can be loyal. Turning on people isn’t okay. Loving someone through the good and bad times, being loyal is an important trait.
Now not to say that always happened in The Originals. Half the time people were stabbing each other in the back left and right. Half the time I trusted n one. But even in that – I saw something in each and everyone – that if shit got really tough, they would be there. Sure you had to get through some shit and you had to overlook it at times.
Let’s face it – shit can get complicated with other people in our lives. There is not always things to agreements. But loyalty is everything.
Family can get past anything.
You think that your life is complicated, well – you have no idea. The Mikaelson siblings did some really fucked up shit to each other. I mean I am thankful that my brother didn’t stake me and toss my ass in a coffin for 100 years. I’m thankful that my brother didn’t snap my neck every five seconds. There is redemption in family – hell in people in general.
But we have to look for it. We need to recognize that it can be there. We need to look and see that there is goodness in people. We can’t always think that the worst is what people are. The Mikaelson’s could have given up on Klaus. They had every reason to give up on him. But they didn’t. They believed in him no matter what it took.
And that is special. Family can get you past anything.
Love is simple even in it’s most complicated form
Love is a bitch. I mean even I admit that. I mean – well, I have never said anything different. But even though it’s a bitch, even though it’s a pain – the truth is love is simple. You feel it or you don’t. But when you do – you hold onto it with everything that you have.
Sacrifice is one of the greatest things we can do for others
I am not even talking about that atrocious ending. I am talking about the entire series. Sacrifice is something that everyone did on this show. But as they did it they always didn’t recognize it. I guess that you could say that the in the sacrifices, in the bad or good times – there is always a way to redemption. For the Mikaelson’s that came through sacrifice.
I guess the more that I think about it we all know that when we give of ourselves, when we all attempt to make the world a better place by being in it and giving to others, great things can happen. Sure we all still need to look out for ourselves first – I am not saying anything against that. But what I am saying is that there is a beauty in sacrifice. It doesn’t have to be the biggest thing, it doesn’t have to be the smallest thing. It just needs to be felt and given.
“Always and Forever” is more than just words
I don’t know about you, but the truth is – my family drives me insane. They are the people that I will never do right by, that will always criticize, who will always expect more – especially when I have nothing more to give.
But that’s ok. Because they are also the people that will be there when the chips are down. They will be there when someone else drives you insane – even if it means that they have to be around you when you are driving them insane. Always and Forever means family. It means sacrifice. It means loving beyond yourself.
And that is an admirable thing. One we all should embrace.
I have to say I will miss The Originals. It felt like home each and every week. I guess that’s a good thing. It means that I will watch Legacies for that nostalgia this fall.