The Originals: The Complete Second Season

This moody The Vampire Diaries spin-off, a New Orleans-set supernatural drama focusing on the first vampires in America, has all the elements that have become central to the youth-focused programming of the WB: beautiful brooding actors and actresses in stylish outfits and photo-shoot lighting; melodramatic storylines filled with complicated love affairs, long-held grudges, and familial betrayals; and a sense of gravity that makes everything seem serious and grim. The Originals is probably the most humorless of the bunch. The heroes are ageless vampire siblings in a centuries-old vampire clan who, following centuries of bad blood, make a pact to protect one another. Their enemies are not just werewolves and witches but also their own father, mother, and aunt, who want the hybrid child of vamp/werewolf hybrid Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan) and werewolf Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin). Elijah (Daniel Gillies) helps protect the baby (who could make any vampire or werewolf far more powerful with its blood). That is the basic plot for a series featuring supernatural twists and turns within what is essentially a young adult goth soap opera. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2014-15 second season, extras include the web series The Originals: The Awakening, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a 2014 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Optional. (S. Axmaker)