The Originals season 5 episode count officially revealed

While it may have been easy to assume the Originals season 5 episode count, it’s certainly nice to have that confirmed!

Responding to a post on Twitter, writer / executive story editor Carina MacKenzie confirmed that the fifth season (premiering on The CW at some point in 2018) will run for 13 episodes — the same length of time as season 4. While this may be a bummer for viewers hoping to get a little bit more of Joseph Morgan and the rest of the cast, it does make logical sense for a number of different reasons.

1. Flexibility – For The CW, they don’t know just yet what their future holds. There’s no telling whether or not Dynasty is going to be a hit on Wednesday night, and the same thing can be said for Valor — a series we’re admittedly a little worried about. The precise episode count on Jane the Virgin season 4 is also not entirely clear at the moment.

In keeping The Originals at 13 episodes, what the network is doing is giving them the freedom to launch in either January, February or March, while making room for other shows on the schedule, as well. The ratings for this show, while stable, are not fantastic; with that, they are also giving opportunities to other shows to deliver ratings. Whether or not that works remains to be seen, and is a risk as many things within the TV world ultimately are. If a new show tanks, at least The Originals is there as a backup.

2. A concise story – This proved to be a great benefit for the fourth season of the show — rather than having a couple of different arcs, this gave the writers an opportunity to tell a story with a strong central villain and cut out some of the unnecessary elements / filler stories. Season 4 was arguably the show’s strongest overall, with The Hollow serving as an excellent adversary and with the show making the most out of Summer Fontana as a young version of hope. The only decision right now we wonder about is aging up that character, mostly because Fontana worked so well in the role.

(Granted, you can also say that the events of The Originals season 4 finale necessitated the move, given that so many different members of the family were jettisoned off to other places. It will take a lot to bring everyone back together, and given that so many of the characters on this show are immortal, it probably does also make a certain degree of sense to play around a little bit more with that concept.

What else should you know

Filming for The Originals season 5 will take place later this year, with Julie Plec and Jeffrey Lieber serving as co-showrunners following the exit of the fantastic Michael Narducci. Hopefully, as the summer goes along, a good bit more about the story to come will be announced.

What do you want to see on The Originals season 5, and where do you stand on the episode-count debate? Be sure to share in the comments! (Photo: The CW.)