‘The Originals’ Review: ‘Le Grand Guignol’ Proves No Mikaelson Can Hide Forever

A lot went down on The Originals tonight and that’s saying something because this show has been on fire since it came back from its midseason hiatus. Each episode takes things to another level and “Le Grand Guignol” defied all of my expectations.

We finally got the backstory for that terrible night in 1919 when Mikael arrived. We got to see the Original siblings at their best in the past and at their worst in the present. We got to watch two witches get what was coming to them. But those things are just the tip of the emotional iceberg the episode brought us.

The opening scene was a flashback to the prohibition era with Klaus and Elijah celebrating the empire they had built. They had found a way to make peace with the werewolves, the witches and the humans. Everyone in the French Quarter revered Klaus and he was so happy that he was even willing to accept that Marcel and Rebekah were in love. He told his sister that they didn’t have to run anymore so he didn’t have to worry about her heart getting broken.

But all of that was going to change in the blink of an eye when Mikael came to town, thanks to the spell Genevieve had done for Marcel and Rebekah. The action alternated between 1919 and present day where Klaus was still suffering the effects of Papa Tunde’s blade. Elijah called Cami to keep an eye on him and feed him her vervain-laced blood so he’d recover at a slower rate. Elijah wanted to give Rebekah and Marcel time to get away and he had to find Celeste, who he assumed had kidnapped Hayley.

Of course viewers knew it was the other way around. Hayley and Eve were keeping Celeste in the bayou with the pack of werewolves to back them up while Hayley ordered Celeste to undo the curse. She was pretty accommodating about it and Hayley wanted to know why – Celeste explained that she liked her and wanted her to get away from the Original family before she was blinded by her feelings for Elijah and it ended up costing her life like it did for Celeste.

After making a deal with Monique, Elijah arrived and warned Hayley not to trust Celeste. But Hayley is not the type to back down and she told Elijah that once the next full moon came and went and they tested Celeste’s elixir, he was free to kill her. She warned him to help her or get out of her way and Elijah chose the latter, but he took the elixir and Celeste with him. He wanted to know the truth and Celeste admitted it was all part of her plan. Hayley would get her family back and she would leave with them and be happy and Elijah would end up alone (Ouch).

Hayley was surprised when Elijah came back (let’s all take a minute to swoon over his response that he’d always come back). He assured Hayley that Celeste was telling the truth and gave the elixir back to her. Hayley said she’d round up the wolves and stopped to give Elijah a long, lingering hug (I ship it so hard). Elijah gave her a kiss on the forehead before Hayley headed off with the wolves.

Celeste started to mock him, but Elijah wasn’t having any of that and HIS VAMPIRE FACE CAME OUT. Three years later and we finally got to see Elijah’s fangs right before he bit into Celeste’s neck!

Meanwhile, Marcel and Rebekah didn’t leave town like they planned because Marcel wanted to bring Davina back. They turned to Thierry for help (seriously?) and he got Genevieve and Bastianna to agree to a meeting. Sabine was busy and Thierry attempted to threaten them, but they were able to take him out in about three seconds (is he dead? Does it even matter since he’s so useless?). Marcel and Rebekah descended on the witches and Marcel took Bastianna’s head clean off (DAMN). Genevieve was faster and threatened to start them on fire so she was able to get away (I’m not even sorry because I want to keep her).

Marcel and Rebekah went to the cemetery and got Davina out of her grave, but they didn’t know which witch needed to die to bring her back. As they tried to leave, Rebekah was trapped by a boundary spell. Marcel didn’t want to go on without her, but she promised she’d find him and urged him to get Davina somewhere safe. As for the boundary spell, that was Celeste’s doing. She wanted a front row seat to watch the Originals tear each other apart so she explained to Elijah that they could enter the cemetery, but they couldn’t come out until the next moon rise.

He was understandably unamused and Celeste left him with one last threat: she was tired of Sabine’s body and was going to find someone else to inhabit and he’d never know if the next woman he got close to was really her. She killed Sabine and that’s when Monique showed up to let Elijah know he’d been right and she pointed him in the direction of where he could find Celeste. This is where it pays to think ahead, people. Monique did a spell that put Celeste back in her original body so she’d be able to tell if she betrayed the witches by stealing all the power they’d acquired. I think we all knew what Celeste would do.

She was understandably surprised to find herself in her original form. Elijah used Papa Tunde’s blade to stab her (and apologized in French as he did so). This was just such a cool scene. I’m so happy it was Elijah who got to kill her because after everything she put him through – he earned that. Unfortunately, as he walked through the dark cemetery, he came face to face with Rebekah and wasn’t happy that she hadn’t taken off for parts unknown. But as Rebekah pointed out – they both knew that wouldn’t be far enough.

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While all of this was happening, Klaus was slowly getting stronger as he shared memories with Cami (side note: how awesome is Cami now that she’s not under compulsion and doesn’t take any nonsense? I love her now). Klaus tells her about Mikael coming to town and first meeting with Marcel and then Elijah. Mikael ordered Elijah to choose a side and he picked Klaus (always and forever). That wasn’t what Mikael wanted to hear so he staked him, but not with the white oak stake because he was saving that for Klaus so Elijah was just temporarily sidelined.

For those of us that watched The Vampire Diaries, we already knew the difference between the white oak stakes. Mikael’s was a one-time use only thing and eventually Klaus used it on his father. But then another white oak stake was commissioned – one that could be used multiple times (RIP Kol). Klaus broke open a statue and pulled out that stake (boo!) and told Cami that it couldn’t be destroyed and then he headed out to kill his little sister.

Cami followed him and urged him to reconsider. She pulled a brave card by telling him that if he hunted down Rebekah and killed her, he was basically his father. But Klaus insisted that Mikael is the kind of monster that other monsters are afraid of and he continued his story of the night at that opera. Marcel and Elijah were both late and Rebekah went off to look for Marcel. That’s when Mikael came and sat down in the seat behind Klaus, poking him in the back with the stake.

Seriously, how good are Joseph Morgan and Sebastian Roche when they’re playing off each other? The fear in Klaus’ eyes and the disgusted way that Mikael spits out, ‘boy’ every time he addresses the bastard child that ruined his family in his eyes – there are not enough words to describe how incredible these scenes are to watch. And this one had a different twist than we’re used to seeing. Klaus was happy and he wasn’t going to let Mikael take that from him. He told him that even if he killed him, he’d been happy and people would remember that.

Mikael knew it too and that’s when he hit Klaus where it really hurt: he promised to stake him and then stick around New Orleans and make sure there’s not a single person left who remembers him. The opera began, but it wasn’t the show they’d expected to see. Instead, Marcel, Klaus’ werewolf girlfriend (who had a crescent moon birthmark, which explains how Klaus knew their history) and others were dying on stage. The audience had been compelled to enjoy the show.

Klaus tried to save Marcel and Rebekah attempted to help too, but Mikael overpowered both of them. As he began to feed on Marcel, Elijah showed up and told his siblings they needed to go and it was too late for Marcel (except it totally wasn’t. Mikael let him live and he proceeded to do exactly what Mikael wanted – erase every memory of Klaus from New Orleans – rude, Marcel).

As the opera house burned, the Mikaelson siblings stood on the street and watched. Elijah told Klaus and Rebekah to run and he’d hold off Mikael and find them eventually. They weren’t happy about splitting up and Rebekah tried to take the blame, but Klaus said it was his fault. They said their goodbyes to each other and fled New Orleans. It was really awesome to finally see this scene. Everything about it was beautiful and heartbreaking and just so perfect.

But things were about to get ugly in present day. Cami continued to beg Klaus not to do something he’d regret and he assured her that he’s not his father – he had no intention of tormenting Marcel and Rebekah. He was just going to kill them. Klaus sped off and headed for the cemetery (someone had called earlier and tipped him off about Marcel and Rebekah’s whereabouts). Once again, Klaus shouted Rebekah’s name in that terrifying voice and then he ordered Elijah to get away from her.

Elijah wasn’t having that. He still had Papa Tunde’s blade and he put his game face on (TWICE IN ONE EPISODE). Klaus had the white oak stake and his face transformed as well and so did Rebekah’s – holy OMFG, show. What are you trying to do to us? How do you just end an episode like that and expect us to calmly wait an entire week until the next one? And by the way – Davina woke up – just in case there wasn’t already a big enough cliffhanger. Is she going to be herself or is she going to have the same creepy mindset as Monique now?

Wow…that’s all I can say. I’ve already watched the episode twice and I still can’t really process all of it. This is definitely one of my favorites so far and I already think next week has a solid chance of blowing it out of the water because the three Originals trapped in the cemetery, threatening each other with torment and death? If that’s not must-see TV, I don’t know what is.

Now it’s your turn. Did you guys like the episode? Were you surprised to see two more witches fall? Do you think Hayley will choose the werewolves over the Originals? Will Elijah be able to calm Klaus down? Do you kind of wish Mikael was still alive? Can Klaus ever forgive Marcel? Should he? Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!