TV’s Best Political Show Might Just Be The Originals. Yeah, the One With the Vampires – WIRED

Slide: 1 / of 1. Caption: Annette Brown/The CW

Political drama is all over TV lately, from the Beltway machinations of Scandal and Madame Secretary to tales of intrigue like The Americans and 24: Legacy to Sean Spicers press briefings. But the political soap opera Im most excited about these days isnt any of thoseits a spinoff of the teen drama The Vampire Diaries. Yes, really. The Originals might be a supernatural soap opera about stupidly good-looking bloodsuckers fighting in New Orleans, but its subtext-rich blend of municipal maneuvering and gothic family drama also makes it feel like something else: a vital American saga.

By now, though, Marcel is also a vampireand hes even more powerful than Klaus. At the start of Season 4, which began last week, he has his adoptive father chained up in a dungeon, and is telling anyone wholl listen that Klaus is his trophy. The relationship between Klaus and Marcel, fraught with guilt and paternalism, functions at times like a parable of race in America. Its not necessarily literalMarcels past as a slave features minimally on the show, evoked in mostly small, subtle waysbut after countless betrayals, Marcel has realized hell never really be accepted as a member of the aristocratic, selfish Mikaelson clan. (More literal: the Mikaelson clans dismay when Marcel was dating Klaus blonde sister Rebekah [Claire Holt].)

Klaus resentment and denial of Marcels power, which propels the entire narrative, goes back to the very beginning of the show. In the The Originals first episode, Klaus discovered that Marcel has set himself up as the King of New Orleansa city the Mikaelson scions helped found (before they left town, pursued by their evil father). Klaus wants to rule over the city again, but Marcel never lost touch with it; in fact, he helped nurture the city into the metropolis it became. Now, a slew of Europeanvampires have come New Orleans seeking vengeance on the imprisoned Klaus,adding a new layer of gentrification subtext to the shows makeup: The common refrain among the other vampires is that these visitors dont respect the rules that keep New Orleans from falling into bloody violence.

Over and over, in fact, we see how much hard work goes into keeping New Orleans from catching fire. The Originals has gone to great pains to depict New Orleans as an interplay of fragile alliances between various groups of witches, werewolves, and vampiresall held together by Marcels politicking as much as by his power. Where Klaus ruled by legacy, relying on tradition and imperiousness to issue directives from on high, Marcel builds loyalty. Worse than simply not deserving to rule, though, Klaus doesnt understand New Orleans: he hasnt been a part of it for decades. Its not just the Europeans who are the interlopers; its Klaus.

Cities are composed of communities as much as buildings, and The Originals acknowledgement of that is a huge part of what makes the show such addictive viewing. And, at a time when Donald Trump wants to portray metropolitan areas as terrifying, crime-filled placeswhile also engaging in race-baiting as his main rhetorical modeThe Originals serves up a heady stew of supernatural intrigue that forces viewers to contemplate just how rich, resilient, and great America really is. Not bad for a show about ridiculously good-looking bloodsuckers.

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TV's Best Political Show Might Just Be The Originals. Yeah, the One With the Vampires - WIRED

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero