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It seems only right that I should start this review off with an apology. The Originals aired its latest episode five days ago and normally this would have been written the day after, but I couldn’t seem to find the words to talk about “I Love You, Goodbye.” The episode hurt in a heartbreaking, completely devastating, why can fictional characters cause me this much pain kind of way. If you’d asked me Tuesday morning what I thought of the episode, I would have said that I hated it and never wanted to watch it again because I was so disappointed.
But a cooler head prevailed with time and after finally re-watching the episode last night, I decided that my initial impressions were very wrong (and I also missed a lot of things due to my emotional meltdowns). I did not hate this episode and despite the grief it caused me (or maybe because of it), I actually think it might be one of the most beautifully written episodes because there are so many little, important moments (and it still hurts like hell). So enough about me – let’s talk about The Originals.
The episode kicks off with Cami getting Hope the hell out of dodge after the house explodes. Juggling a crying baby and doing her best not to freak out, Cami plans to use the payphone again, but ends up dropping her change and when she hears a noise, she calmly threatens to gauge the person’s eyes out (how are there still people who don’t love her?), but that’s not necessary because it’s Elijah looking a little scorched (and hotter than ever). He ushers them into the car.
At some point off screen, Elijah makes a call to Hayley because Klaus finds her at the compound packing a bag so she can go get her daughter. He’s not on board with that plan and through some (traditional at this point) exposition dialogue, he reminds her that she’s marrying Jackson that day so they can build their army to keep Hope safe. I really love the dynamic in this scene because Hayley has no intention of backing down, but Klaus hits her with a reminder that “A queens does not run” and she still looks skeptical, but it stops her from leaving.
In the church attic, Josh is still recovering from Finn’s spell and feeling super guilty about almost hurting Aiden. Davina does her best to reassure him and then Kol arrives, hands Josh a bag of blood and sends him on his way (All Mikaelsons are super bad at sharing). Davina’s not too happy with Kol for leaving her out of his heroics, but he wants to make it up to her by finishing the dagger. Admittedly, this scene confused me because why would Kol want to help hurt Klaus after everything that went down last week? Of course that will be revealed soon enough.
Jackson and Aiden were in the bayou having a werewolf funeral for the alphas killed. Aiden pointed out the wolves would be looking for revenge and Jackson made it clear they would spread the word that it was the witches controlling the vampires so another war wouldn’t start. Then Klaus arrived with a bag of heads (the very bag Hayley had been packing). He explained that he’d killed the alphas that had refused to give up the moonlight rings and there’d be no witch sympathizers in his army. Jackson was quick to point out it wasn’t and would never be Klaus’ army. I think we all recognized that familiar twinkle Klaus got in his eye – the one that says, “I’ll be murdering you later.”
The next two scenes alternate between Freya and Finn’s badly burned body at the morgue and Kol and Davina in his clubhouse. Freya’s doing a spell to resurrect Finn, who was wearing her pendant, and the other two witches were putting the finishing touches on the anti-Klaus dagger. Once they finished, Kol and Davina took some time to make out until Kol’s nose started bleeding just as Finn was about to take a breath. I’m a little confused here – would Kol have been fine if Finn stayed dead? Or was this just a dramatic effect? Kol lied to Davina and told her he was fine and ordered her to hide the dagger. And this is probably the first time my heart broke in the episode – he knew he was dying and wanted to make sure he was leaving her with a way to protect herself from Klaus. After promising to dance with her at the wedding, Kol called Rebekah for help.
Rebekah let Hayley know she’d have to miss her wedding for witch business and offered the bride a dress from her personal wedding collection (sweet gesture, but that dress does not seem like something Rebekah would have chosen for herself). She also made it clear that Hayley would always be a Mikaelson. Hayley was touched, even if it did link her to a bunch of homicidal lunatics (ah, family). This was a lovely scene and further proof that Maisie Richardson-Sellers is a gift to us all in this role because like Claire Holt, she has chemistry with everyone.
Josh and Aiden reunite in an alley as Josh tries to apologize and Aiden practically knocks him down in his desperation to hug him. I might not love these two like I do anyone named Mikaelson, but this was a great moment. And then Aiden ruined it by trying to break up with Josh for his safety. While he was genuinely concerned, Josh believed that Aiden didn’t want to be seen with a dirty vampire when he was elevated to a VIP status in the pack (ouch).
Hayley and Jackson share some awkward ‘we’re about to have this fancy weird wedding ritual’ conversation and Klaus interrupts to let Hayley know she has a visitor. Elijah and Cami come in with Hope and at first, Hayley is concerned, but Klaus assures her he’s taken precautions and once the wedding is over, her pack will protect the baby. Hayley looks to Elijah for final reassurance and they exchange head nods before Hayley takes the baby and Klaus storms away looking displeased. While Hayley introduces Hope to Jackson, Elijah follows after his brother.
It turns out Klaus didn’t appreciate the connection between Hayley and Elijah as much as I did. He doesn’t want Elijah to try and dissuade Hayley from marrying Jackson because he’s in love with her. Elijah was not particularly amused by Klaus’ behavior and reminded him that family is always first with him. But Klaus’ demeanor rattled him and he began to wonder if Klaus was taking away Hayley’s choice. What I loved about this scene was the way the tension built and you could actually see all the progress slipping away on both sides. 1,000 years of dynamics do not just disappear after a few months of being on the same side (sadly).
Time for more heartbreak…after another failed spell, Kol admits to Rebekah that there’s no solution. She wants to know what happened to the brother who laughed death in the face. Kol pointed out that was easier before he’d actually died. Then he went on to say to that it would be even harder this time because he liked being a witch and not having the heightened emotions or the bloodlust – he was just him. Daniel Sharman, ladies and gentlemen. And he’s only getting started with the scenes in this episode that will break us to pieces.
Back at the compound, Hayley put on her wedding dress as she played with Hope. Elijah arrived because of course he has to be the first person to see her in the dress so it can really hit home how painful this is for everyone. At first, they’re both happy as he tells her she looks perfect and they take a moment to just stare at each other in that way that they have (you know, the one that makes fangirls want to jump off the nearest cliff) and then reality rears its head. Elijah wants to say it just once, but Hayley stops him. She tells him that she’s felt everything for him since she met him and she understands he’s not the kind of guy who can say how he feels, but Jackson is. She thinks she can be happy with him and she wants to be happy so she asks Elijah not to say it. And after a tear falls from his eye and destroys me, he walks away.
This is one of those scenes that made me really angry the first time I watched it and I know now that was my ‘Elijah fan above all else’ talking. It would have been selfish of him to tell Hayley he loves her right before she walks down the aisle with Jackson, a man she’s already told Elijah she doesn’t love. Hayley’s given Elijah so many opportunities to tell her not to marry Jackson and to be with him instead and Elijah didn’t take them because not only is he big on self-sacrificing, he doesn’t believe he’s the best option for Hayley. Besides, it’s the middle of season two. If Elijah and Hayley got together now, one of them would either have to die or something else would come up to keep them apart. This angst hurts, but it’s not the end, not even close.
Maybe it’s because I don’t pay that close of attention to the werewolf parts, but I’m not sure if it’s been established how close Jackson and Aiden are or why. Jackson mentioned having a “love is love” talk with Aiden when he was 17 as they discussed Josh and Aiden’s fears of him being caught in the crossfire. Jackson reminded him that they can’t worry about old werewolf vs. vampire grudges because they had real enemies and it was important to have something to fight for. I really liked this speech and each episode seems to elevate Jackson’s leader status. I’m guessing this won’t be a good thing when it comes to his long term survival, especially if he’s going to keep butting heads with Klaus. Hayley arrives to tie his tie and Jackson presents her with a necklace so she has something that’s just hers. Again, a very sweet gesture that also seems to further his certain death future.
Aiden chooses to sit with Josh rather than the werewolves and the wedding ceremony begins with Jackson taking Hayley’s hand to walk her down the aisle (cute, but Lois and Clark were much cuter on Smallville). With Klaus and Elijah watching from the balcony across from them, Hayley and Jackson complete the wedding rituals and seal their union with a kiss. That allows Hayley’s hybrid powers to spread to Jackson and the rest of the pack (the look of unease Marcel and Gia exchange is the best). Once the ceremony is over, Elijah follows Klaus outside and correctly deduces that Klaus plans to kill Jackson. Klaus doesn’t mind if Jackson has Hayley, but he does not believe he’s the right man to lead an army to protect his daughter and he’s not one of them – he’s mortal and mortals perish.
I was surprised and frankly, disappointed, that the wedding went off without a hitch. I thought for sure there’d be a twist and Jackson’s grandma would try to sacrifice Hayley or the ritual wouldn’t work. But all the wolves seemed happy and that made me unhappy because I’m here for the vampires. Of course now that I’ve gotten distance from my initial reactions, I realize that it needed to happen this way. The wolves needed to get this win because they are not the main characters (except for Hayley). And now there’s renewed tension between Klaus and Elijah and Elijah and Hayley and no doubt Klaus and Hayley as soon as he starts to quarrel with Jackson on a regular basis. This isn’t the end of the story. It’s only the middle.
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