The Originals s01e01 Episode Script

Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe that we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood.
and while we may not choose our family, their bond can be our greatest strength, or our deepest regret.
This unfortunate truth has haunted me for as long as I can recall.
What do you make of that? No banner, no flag, floated out here from nowhere.
A miracle ship.
Why is it just sitting out there? 'suppose we ought to find out.
Where in hell is everyone? Deserted.
This makes everything in the hold legally forfeit.
Take what suits you.
What do you make of that? Open it up.
What the hell? Hello.
Lovely to see such a handsome face after a long journey.
Can I eat him, brother? I'd rather you didn't.
There's no need to be afraid.
He'll do exactly as I say.
He'll remember nothing.
I will remember nothing.
We've had a very long journey wherein which, unfortunately, we lost all of our crew.
Therefore, I would ask you to kindly transport our belongings to the shore.
What kind of hell demons are you? We're vampires, darling, the Original vampires Rebekah, Elijah, our brothers Kol and Finn May they rest in peace Are we saving the best for last? And our half-brother Niklaus.
Ignore him.
He's a beast.
Ah ha ha! We fled Europe and survived the seas.
Would you rather I arrive hungry on the shores of our new homeland? Niklaus, your manners are, as always, without equal.
Sir, would you be so good as to tell us where it is that we have landed? The French colony of Louisiana off the shores of a town they've named New Orleans.
I thank you so much.
Oh, I do recommend that you find yourself a little assistance for the luggage.
My sincere apologies.
This land is your land This land is my land So what brings you to The Big Easy? I used to live here.
Really? When? Oh, feels like I just moved here myself.
What brought you back? Well, my brother is here somewhere.
I'm afraid he might have gotten himself into a bit of a bind.
You say that like it's a common occurrence.
Well, he's complicated Defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental.
See, we don't share the same father.
Of course, that never bothered me, but my brother resents it deeply, never felt like he belonged.
All told, he has a long history of getting himself into trouble.
Well, I'm guessing you have a long history of getting him out of it.
What kind of bind is your brother in? He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him.
Wow, narcissistic and paranoid.
Sorry.
Bartender with a grad degree in psychology, total cliche.
Listen, Camille.
I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament.
She works here Jane-Anne Deveraux.
Any idea where I might find her? No, but I know someone who might.
Welcome to New Orleans and the crown jewel of the Crescent City: The French Quarter Jazz and jambalaya, romance and poetry, not to mention things that go bump in the night, monsters that feed off human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and, my personal favorite, the witches.
Here we have voodoo shop jardin gris.
Come in.
Browse for a hex.
Are you gonna continue following me, Elijah, or do you want to talk? You know who I am.
Original vampire, always wears a suit.
You and your family are famous amongst the witches, especially with your brother back in town.
Well, Niklaus is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him, someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux.
Well, if he's looking of Jane-Anne, he's a little late.
Are you telling me she's dead? Come on.
Her sister Sophie is gonna want to talk to you.
That's Jane-Anne? Killed in public for anyone to find.
Only people who come around here are the witches.
Now her sister has come to take her body.
Her spirit can't rest until it's been properly interred in the cemetery.
Please tell me that my brother had nothing to do with this.
No.
Jane-Anne died because she got caught doing magic.
What do you mean, she got caught doing magic? You want to know who killed Jane-Anne? You're about to get your first glimpse of Marcel in action.
The vampire Marcel? Things have changed since your family left, and Marcel has changed.
I'm asking you, stay hidden.
If Marcel finds out that a witch let the Originals back into town, my people will be slaughtered.
Well, well, well.
What have we here? I got to tell you, Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight.
Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson we're putting her to rest, Marcel.
Leave us alone.
I never said you could move the body.
Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason, send a message.
If anybody is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the quarter, and yet a little birdie informed me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious.
Oh, yeah.
While I have you, quick Q&A.
My old friend the hybrid Klaus, he just happened to show up out of the blue asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne.
Any idea why? I don't know.
Witches don't get involved in vampire business.
Mm, that would be pretty stupid, that's for sure.
Tell you what.
Go back to the restaurant.
Cook up some of that famous gumbo and keep those tourists happy.
Take the body.
What? No.
Stop.
Stop.
Marcel I'm gonna hold on to your sister's body in case maybe you remember why Klaus is here.
Marcel, please.
Her body won't be at peace.
Not my problem You mean to tell me, after all these years, Marcel is alive and well? Quite.
Our brother seems to have wandered into a war zone, and I haven't been able to find him.
Marcel, who Klaus sired and brought up beneath his own wing, now rules a menagerie of savage vampires running wild, killing in public for any human to come upon.
Witches are held in subjugation.
I doubt Niklaus had any idea what he was walking into.
Sorry.
What was that? I stopped paying attention at "our brother.
" Rebekah Our hateful, traitorous bastard of a brother negated any sympathy I once had for him by his repeated efforts to ensure neither you nor I know happiness outside of his own selfish universe.
Always and forever, Rebekah.
That is what we once swore to each other.
Consider this me calling take-backs.
Oh, you've called take-backs dozens of times over the centuries, and yet when our father found us and chased us from this very city I may be old, Elijah, but I'm hardly senile.
I know very well I stuck with Klaus, and not 3 years later, he stuck a silver dagger in my chest and sent me into a magical slumber for 90 years.
Do you know why? Because I had the audacity to try and live my life on my own without him.
Enough.
I believe our brother is in trouble.
So whatever is going on between Marcel and the witches, it's dire enough that they'd risk bringing an Original back to town.
The witches have lured him here.
I'd like to know why.
Oh, you got me into this, Jane.
Oh, give me the strength to finish it.
The doors work, you know.
You're doing magic? I'm praying to my dead sister.
Go ahead.
Pay your respects.
Don't make this a thing, Sophie.
The hybrid was looking for Jane-Anne.
Marcel wants to know why.
I'd say ask her yourself, but I guess you can't, see, because Marcel killed her.
I'm Elijah.
Have you heard of me? Yes.
So why don't you tell me what business your family has with my brother? This is sacred ground, which means vampires have to be invited in But since I'm desperate, come on in.
We can talk freely here.
Then I suggest you start talking.
What did your sister want with Niklaus? Isn't it obvious? We have a vampire problem, and we need help.
Marcel has an army backing him.
The witches have been trying to fight back.
We haven't had much luck until my sister Jane-Anne met a girl, a werewolf passing through the quarter from a small town in Virginia.
She had a special connection to your brother.
What kind of connection? Apparently, they spent some time together.
One thing led to another, and now this special werewolf girl, she's pregnant, and the father of the child she's carrying is your brother Klaus.
It's impossible.
Nothing is impossible, especially not when it comes to your brother.
Think about it.
They call him the hybrid, right? Bring her out.
Who the hell are you? Give us a moment, please.
So have they been holding you here against your will? They lured me out to the bayou and grabbed me.
Then they did all these weird, witchy tests, not that I understand how this could happen.
I mean, vampires are dead.
They can't have children.
Perhaps if you knew my brother's story, it might explain how this is possible.
Here.
If I may What are you doing? Relax.
If you open your mind to me, I can show you.
In the beginning, our family was human, Come on, Henry.
Our brothers are fighting again.
Although our mother dabbled in the dark arts, we were largely just a family trying to survive at a time when it was quite difficult to do so And, for better or worse, we were happy.
That is, however, until one night.
Our youngest brother was killed by our village's greatest threat.
Mother! Men that could transform themselves into wolves during the full moon.
Our family was devastated, none more than Niklaus.
Desperate to protect the rest of us, our father forced our mother to call upon her black magic in order to make us stronger.
Drink.
Drink.
Thus, the first vampires were born, but with this speed, this strength, this immortality came a terrible hunger.
No one felt this hunger more than Niklaus.
When he killed for the first time, he knew what he truly was.
Aah! Aah! Nicklaus! Aah! What is happening to me? No.
Don't.
Don't.
Father, no.
It hurts.
Aah! He's a beast, an abomination.
He wasn't just a vampire.
He was also a werewolf.
That's how the werewolf curse works, isn't activated until you take a life.
Niklaus was the result of an indiscretion our mother had hidden from us all, an affair with a werewolf like yourself.
Infuriated by this betrayal, my father forced our mother to cast a spell that would suppress Klaus' werewolf side, denying him any connection with his true self.
Ah Elijah, Elijah, hold him down.
Brother, please don't let them do this to me.
Do it now, boy! Now! Help me.
Your dad was a dick.
I'm Hayley, by the way.
You should probably know my name if you're gonna tell me your whole life story.
I mean, I know yours.
Your family is legendary.
Your brother is a notorious psycho who I slept with, classic me.
I cannot excuse his behavior, but you must understand that our father hunted him, hunted us for centuries.
Every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee, even here in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all.
Not long after Niklaus broke the spell which prevented him from becoming a hybrid, he defeated our father.
I thought this would make him happy, but he's angrier than ever.
I wonder if, perhaps, this baby will be a way from my brother to find happiness, a way to save him from himself.
I'm glad you feel that way because we need your help.
What, precisely, is it that you want? And what does it have to do with this young woman? We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town.
Klaus is the key.
Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire he learned from Klaus.
Marcel trusts him, looks up to him.
He won't see the betrayal coming.
Yes.
Well, as I'm sure you're aware, my brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do.
It's why I brought you here.
Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago.
Do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighborhood? Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family.
Sounds remarkably like blackmail.
Like I said, I'm desperate.
Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I? Evening, Elijah.
Niklaus.
What an entirely unwelcome surprise.
And what an entirely unsurprising welcome.
Come with me.
I'm not going anywhere till I find out who's conspiring against me.
I believe I just found that out for you.
No.
It's impossible.
I said the same thing myself.
This is a lie.
You're all lying.
Vampires cannot procreate.
But werewolves can.
Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf.
You're the Original hybrid, the first of your kind, and this pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes.
You've been with someone else.
Admit it! Hey, I've spent days held captive in a freaking alligator bayou because they think that I'm carrying some magical miracle baby.
Don't you think I would've fessed up if it wasn't yours? My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm this pregnancy.
Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are now controlled by us.
We can keep them safe, or we can kill them if you don't help us take down Marcel.
So help me, Hayley won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress.
Wait.
What? Enough of this.
If you want Marcel dead, he's dead.
I'll do to myself.
No.
We can't, not yet.
We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules.
How dare you command me, threaten me with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses? This is a pathetic deception.
I won't hear any more lies.
Niklaus Listen.
Kill her and the baby.
What do I care? Screw this.
I'm out of here.
No one touches the girl.
I will fix this.
Niklaus? It's a trick, Elijah.
No, brother.
It's a gift.
It's your chance.
It's our chance.
To what? To start over, take back everything we lost, everything that was taken from us.
Niklaus, our own parents came to despise us.
Our family was ruined.
We were ruined, and since then, all that you have ever wanted, all that we have ever wanted was a family.
I will not be manipulated.
So they're manipulating you.
So what? With them this girl and her child, your child live.
I'm gonna kill every last one of them.
And then what? Then you return to Mystic Falls to resume your life as the hated one, as the evil hybrid? Is it so important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name? People quake with fear because I have the power to make them afraid.
What will this child offer me? Will it guarantee me power? Family is power, Niklaus.
Love, loyalty, it's power.
This is what we swore to one another 1,000 years ago before life tore away what little humanity you had left, before ego, before anger, before paranoia created in this person before me someone I can barely even recognize as my own brother.
This is us, the Original family And we remain together always and forever.
I am asking you to stay here.
I will help you, and I will stand by you.
I will be your brother.
We will build a home here together.
So save this girl.
Save your child.
No.
Marcel and his vampires are out of control.
Something had to be done.
And the solution is to bring in more vampires? These aren't just any vampires, Agnes.
They're the Originals.
What makes you think you can control the hybrid? She can't.
Not entirely certain that I can, either, but now that your coven has drawn his ire, I have a question.
What prevents my brother from murdering you instead of cooperating? Ow! What the hell? The spell my sister performed, the one that got her killed, it didn't just confirm the pregnancy.
It linked me to Hayley.
So anything that happens to me happens to her, which means her life is in my hands.
Klaus may not care about his own child, but it's very clear what it already means to you.
If I have to hurt Hayley or worse to ensure that I have your attention, I will.
You dare threaten an Original? I have nothing to lose.
You have until midnight to get Klaus to change his mind.
Hey, man, where'd you run off to? Oh, someone put you in a mood.
What can I do? What you can do is, you can tell me what this thing is you have with the witches.
You know I owe you everything I got, but I'm afraid I have to draw the line on this one.
This is my business.
I control the witches in my town.
Let's just leave it at that.
Your town? Damn straight.
Ha! That's funny because when I left you were just a pathetic, little scrapper still trembling from the lashes of the whips of those who would you keep you do, and now look at you Master of your domain, prince of the city.
I'd like to know how.
Why? Jealous? Hey, man, I get it.
you helped build a backwater penal colony into something.
You started it, but then you left.
Actually, you ran from it.
I saw it through.
Look around.
Vampires rule this city now.
I got rid of the werewolves.
I even found a way to shut down the witches.
The blood never stops flowing, and the party never ends.
You want to pass on through? You want to stay a while? Great.
What's mine is yours, but it is mine My home, my family, my rules.
And if someone breaks those rules? They die.
Mercy is for the weak.
You taught me that, too, and I'm not the prince of the quarter, friend.
I'm the King! Show me some respect.
You're friend will be dead by the weekend, which means I've broken one of your rules, and yet I cannot be killed.
I am immortal.
Who has the power now, friend? He's willing to give up everything.
Come on, Elijah.
Does that really surprise you? I can already see it.
He's spiraling.
He's lashing out in blind rage.
You know, the last time I saw him like this, it lasted 200 years.
Then leave him to his temper tantrum and come home.
With any luck, this misadventure will allow us a reprieve from all of his insanity.
It was so close.
When he heard the baby's heartbeat, I could see it in his eyes.
He wanted it.
He could almost taste happiness, and now his temper has destroyed it.
Even if I was to return him to sanity, he just lost Marcel's trust.
So I'm almost out of time to get the girl.
Get her? Have you lost your mind? Are we running an orphanage now? Say what you will about Niklaus, but on my life, I'm not letting anything happen to that baby.
You find him, and then you call me.
Don't worry.
I know how to deal with Klaus.
Is that so? Please elaborate.
Elijah Mikaelson.
No.
I got it.
It's all good.
It's time we had a little chat.
Well, if you're gonna talk, talk.
I got things to do.
Oh, my, you have grown quite confident over the last century, haven't you? Me? I'd say it's you and your brother got cocky, come to my town like you own the place.
Well, we did own the place once.
We were all quite happy here, as I recall, but we could never control those pesky witches at the French quarter.
How do you do it? Hmm, brother asked me the same question.
I gave him the same answer.
It's my business.
Everything in the quarter is my business.
Klaus comes into town all nice and friendly.
Then he starts looking down his nose at what I done like it's some cheap knockoff of one of his dumb paintings.
Then he gets pissed off like a little bitch and bites one of my guys.
Well, I do apologize for Klaus' poor behavior.
I assume you know that that bite will kill your friend within a matter of days.
Of course, Niklaus' blood would cure him.
What? Yes.
Apparently, the blood of the hybrid will cure a werewolf bite, quite a handy, little thing when one needs leverage a negotiation.
What kind of negotiations we talking about? Return the body of the witch Jane-Anne, allow her people to put her to rest.
What do you care about the witches? Well, that's my business, now, isn't it? His time is up.
What are you gonna do now, Sophie? I'm gonna do what I said I was gonna do.
What, kill the girl? Kill yourself? Klaus does not care about the child.
I do And I bring proof of my intent to help you The body of your fallen friend, which I procured from Marcel himself.
Oh, Jane-Anne.
May she be granted peace.
Klaus will agree to your terms.
I just need a little more time.
You had your time.
It's passed.
Shut up, Agnes.
For now, accept the deal.
The girl and the child remain unharmed, or Klaus will kill you all And I will help him.
Have I not made clear my desire to be left alone? Oh, you demand to be left alone at least once a decade.
Your words have ceased to have impact.
Why must you keep harping on about the baby? That child will never be born.
In fact, Hayley is probably dead already.
You will not walk away from this.
Let me go.
I will not! Don't make me say it again.
I will not let you go.
I will never let go.
Even if I have to spend eternity saving you from your own stubborn, petulant, vile self, if I have to beat you as father used to beat you to remind you of your own humanity, to care about anything.
You're beyond pathetic, Elijah.
Who's more pathetic, the one who sees hope to make his family whole Or the coward who can only see the world through his own fear? I haven't cared about anything for centuries.
Why on earth do you? Because I failed you.
Because the first time our father laid a hand on you, I should've struck him dead, and I made a promise to you Always, forever family above all.
Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! You are a sentimental fool.
Perhaps.
I've lasted this long in spite of it, haven't I? The bond of family blesses us with an immeasurable power.
But we also must accept what comes with it.
It gives us a responsibility to love without condition Without apology.
We can never waiver from the power of that bond, even when it is tested.
The bond nourishes us, gives us strength.
Without that power, we have nothing.
This town was my home once, and in my absence, Marcel has got everything I ever wanted Power, loyalty, family.
I made him in my image, and he has bettered me.
I want what he has.
I want it back.
I want to be King.
So is that all this child means to you, a grab for power? What does it mean to you? I think this child can offer you the one thing that you've never believed you had.
And what's that? The unconditional love of family.
Tell Sophie Deveraux we have a deal.
You all right? Just dust.
This place is ancient.
Yes.
It should serve our purposes.
It's a sanctuary from our business in the quarter.
Right now, you're the most important person in this family.
You need a good home.
So I'm curious.
In all this time, has anyone asked you how you feel? About having a miracle baby with a psychotic one-night stand? About being a mother.
I I was abandoned when I was born, and my adoptive parents kicked me out the second that I turned into a wolf.
So I don't really know how I feel about being a mother because I never really had a good one.
I will always protect you.
You have my word on that.
And noble Elijah always keeps his word.
Is it done? As a matter of fact, yes.
Your underhanded deal worked quite well.
Marcel was only too happy to accept my blood, even as he accepted my heartfelt apologies.
His man Thierry yet lives, and I remain a welcome guest in the French Quarter.
My own concern now is this coven of impudent witches.
I believe them to be honorable.
They did release Hayley to me, though they haven't been entirely forthcoming.
Marcel obviously has something that they need.
They don't want him dead.
There must be a reason why.
I assume it's all quiet out there? The witches know better than to use magic.
They know I can sense it when they do.
What about the old ones? They're dangerous, and I don't want them to hurt you.
The Originals? Davina, as powerful as you are, they don't stand a chance.
In addition to the secret weapon he uses to control the witches, Marcel has assembled a small army of vampires.
Working together, we could destroy them from the inside.
And what of Rebekah? Has she stopped her pouting long enough to join the fun? She has made her disinterest quite clear.
One too many times daggered and shoved in a box, I gather, or perhaps she doesn't share your unwavering belief that I can be saved.
Rebekah may surprise us yet.
After all, we all swore the same vow.
I hope she stays far away because in my desire to reclaim this town, to steal from Marcel that which he holds most dear, I have realized one massive vulnerability, one weakness that Marcel could exploit.
And what is that? You.
Waah! Uh! Uh! Forgive me, my brother.
There is no power in love.
Mercy makes you weak.
Family makes you weak.
If I'm ever going to win this war, I have to do it alone.