My favourite TV series: The Originals

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I'm an avid watcher of movies and series, and over the years, I really have seen some fantastic movies and series that have taught me so much about life. As a student of Literature, I've been groomed to see more than just the movies. I've been taught to see beyond the actors, the actions and the intrigues of movies and series. I've learned to always correlate movies to the real world to know more about the humours, fortunes and follies of mankind.

This is why the TV series, The Originals, is my favourite series up till date. Even though I've seen other equally great series such as Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul How To Get Away With Murder, Into The Badlands, The 100 and a whole bunch of others, The Originals has remained my best because of the lesson it teaches about life.

The Originals is a supernatural thriller written by American TV producer, writer and director, Julie Plec. Spatially, the series is set in the city of New Orleans, but cuts across varying temporal settings as it focuses on the lives of the very first vampires in the world, the immortal Mikaelson family which has been living for a thousand years. This family consists of Mikael, the father, Esther, a powerful witch who used her sorcery to fortify her children with vampire powers as a means of protection. The children include Elijah, Rebecca, Kol, Finn, Freya and the ruthless and most powerful of them all, Niklaus Mikaelson who is a hybrid. A hybrid, according to the series, is a person who has the powers of a vampire and a werewolf. Niklaus happens to be the illegitimate child of the extramarital affair between Esther and a werewolf named Ansel. Thus, when Esther uses her magic to create her children into the first vampires in the world, Niklaus automatically becomes an hybrid since he already has the blood of a werewolf.

The series tells of the struggles of the Mikaelson family as they are being embattled by fellow vampires and other age-long enemies which include witches, werewolves and humans that they have had disagreements with over the centuries. In essence, the Mikaelson family has been doomed to an eternity of conflicts with their foes as they come seeking revenge against the ruthless Vampire family, especially Niklaus who is known for his atrocities and viciousness and Elijah, the kind-hearted of all the Mikaelson who vows to always protect his family and his errant brother.

However, Niklaus begins to slowly change his ways when he finds love in a human named Camille. Finally, he changes for the better so as to protect his daughter, Hope Mikaelson, a tribrid (vampire+werewolf+witch) whom is favoured to restore the legacy of the Mikaelson family.

In the end, Niklaus sacrifices his immortality so as to save his daughter, Hope who has been cursed by a very powerful magic known as The Hollow. Elijah also decides to die with his brother seeing that the love of his life, Hayley, had been killed as a result of his own negligence while being hypnotised by magic.

One great lesson taught by the series is the importance of family and sacrifice. And that was chiefly exemplified in the character of Elijah Mikaelson.

Another lesson is the power of love and its ability to change the cruelest of hearts. This was exemplified by the character of Niklaus who begins to change for the better after he met Camille and his daughter, Hope.

The series really taught me a lot that if I decide to put into writing, I just might actually end up boring you. Anyway, immediately after watching the final episode of the series, I was inspired to write a short poem that subsumes the most important lesson I learnt from the series. I've posted the poem below:

Life isn't life without death

The very crown to all our accomplishments is a glorious end;

For a soldier to win a battle, it has to end

And life is the goriest of all battles;

I do want to live forever

But I don't think I want to fight forever.

What do you think the poem talks about? Kindly drop your thoughts in the comment box.