This is one of my all-time favorite series, possibly the favorite. The characters are incredibly well-written. That said, I found the final season disappointing. Here’s my breakdown of the entire series:
Season 1 – 8/10
A fantastic debut season.
The only reason it’s not a perfect 10 is because there were too many shifting allegiances and some imbalances in power dynamics that didn’t quite add up. Aside from that, it’s an outstanding start.
Season 2 – 10/10
In my opinion, this is the best season of any show, ever.
It resolved the minor issues from the first season and brought in all the heavy hitters. To me, the series never quite matched this season again.
Season 3 – 9/10
Another stellar season.
Although it started off a bit differently, it evolved beautifully. The final episodes elevated it to an exceptional level.
Season 4 – 9.5/10
This season took a different approach.
With only 13 episodes compared to the previous 23, the pacing and storytelling felt distinct. The season finale could have easily served as the series finale—it was perfect and made complete sense, deserving a 10/10 as an ending.
Season 5 – 7/10
By far the weakest season.
It featured a mix of underwhelming villains, remnants of a villain from Season 4, and several character deaths, some of which felt unnecessary or illogical. Overall, it lacked the sophistication of the earlier seasons and often left me thinking, This doesn’t make sense.
While the finale itself wasn’t bad, if Season 5 hadn’t existed, the Season 4 finale would have been the ideal ending for The Originals.
