‘The Originals’ Review: Murder and Mayhem Trump Peace Once More

Obviously we all knew the peace treaty the heads of the factions signed on The Originals was never going to work. There’s far too much unrest in the Quarter and how could there not be after centuries of supernatural creatures and humans battling each other for land and power?

“An Unblinking Death” crushed any chance of peace prevailing as all sides prepared for war after a vicious attack on the werewolves and a devastating loss to the human faction. A lot went down in this episode. We learned just how far a traitor was willing to go, we watched a friend betray another friend, we witnessed a surprising past connection, we said goodbye to two characters and we got to see different sides of our favorite Originals.

Let’s talk about the werewolves first since they’re usually the least interesting to me. I had higher hopes for this week since Elijah was once again part of their story. He was in the bayou to check on Hayley, but this time, he wanted a word with her and Jackson and Oliver to remind them why trusting Klaus wasn’t the brightest plan. But they were interrupted when a motorcyclist drove into the camp and attempted to blow everyone up and poison them with wolfsbane.

But that was only the first attack. Hayley asked Elijah to stay and help her people and then she headed out to see the vampire she believed was responsible (more on that later). As Elijah and Jackson tended to the victims, they talked about how it could have been worse and suddenly Elijah realized it was about to get there. His warning came too late as a more powerful explosion rocked the camp and this one was much more brutal. Eve was one of the people caught in it and we learned that she’d never triggered her werewolf curse and therefore, she couldn’t heal.

Elijah offered to give her some blood, but Oliver refused. I really thought Jackson was going to overrule him, but he was pretty traumatized by everything that was happening. This wasn’t the first time Oliver was the worst (never forget what he did to Rebekah), but we finally learned just how terrible he truly is. When Eve woke up, a panicked Oliver told her that he’d never meant for this to happen. It wasn’t the vampires that had attacked them after all, but one of their own along with some help from another faction. Oliver wanted to get people riled up to fight, but clearly hadn’t thought the plan through. If that wasn’t bad enough, he smothered Eve with a pillow to make sure that she never told anyone. Can we please start taking bets on who will finally take this guy out? I’m hoping for Hayley, but Elijah ripping his heart out would work too.

Hayley went to see Marcel and after roughing up Diego (you get a pass on this one, Mama Wolf), she found him at his new apartment and demanded answers. Marcel insisted that it wasn’t him and once he reminded her that he had a thing about not hurting kids, I knew he was telling the truth. Marcel never would have ordered an attack that could possibly hurt innocent children. He mentioned that the man on the bike had racked up some major casino debts so it looks like Francesca was behind the attack along with Oliver (ugh, I knew I didn’t like that woman). But that wasn’t the only story Marcel had for Hayley.

When she asked if he’d killed her parents, he told her about unrest between the werewolves, which confirmed my theory that it was most likely a power struggle that had led to their deaths. I’d assumed they’d given Hayley away to keep her safe, but it turns out that was Marcel’s doing. He rescued baby Andrea Hayley and gave her to Father Kieran so he could find people to take care of her. I’m not surprised the werewolves are shady, but the question remains whether or not Jackson is trustworthy. Eve was, but he’s still a mystery to me. Right now, it seems like he’s just as caught in the middle as Hayley, but time will tell.

Meanwhile, Cami was desperate to get through to Kieran. Josh was at her side trying to help since she didn’t want Marcel to risk Klaus’ wrath. But when Cami called a doctor to administer shock therapy, Marcel placed a call to Klaus himself and told him to go to Cami so she didn’t have to deal with this alone (Marcel scored some points in this episode. I swear this character drives me crazy. One week, I love him and the next I wish for his death…it’s a constant back and forth). The shock therapy worked for about half a second, but then Kieran’s heart started to fail. Klaus literally reached into his chest to massage it and warned Cami again that there wasn’t a lot of time.

Cami asked Klaus to give Kieran his blood, which was truly a horrible plan because there was no doubt in anyone’s minds that the priest absolutely did not want to be a vampire. But Klaus did as she asked, fed him blood and let him die. Cami asked him to stay with her a little longer and he agreed. Kieran woke up and the hex was gone and he was able to think clearly again as Klaus explained that he needed to feed or die. Kieran only had one option as far as he was concerned and Klaus and Cami had both known that, but she’d wanted to see her uncle one last time before he died. Cami’s heart was in the right place, but I think we all knew this was going to end in disaster.

Klaus paid a visit to Genevieve and she was insulted that he automatically blamed her and the witches for the attack on the werewolves. But he was also there because of Kieran and Gen made it clear that the hex was not gone. Back at the church, Kieran was hearing voices again and the mark returned to his hand. Instead of remaining in the attic to die, he was free to leave since the boundary spell was gone. He sought out Cami to kill her and began the scene that was my absolute favorite of the episode. Kieran forced Cami off the balcony, threw her around the church and was going to kill her as she lay broken and bleeding on the floor.

But Klaus came to the rescue, snapped Kieran’s neck and looked to Cami for permission before staking him. Once she gave the nod, he took care of it, told Kieran that he’d deserved better and gently eased his body to the floor. After taking a moment of sadness, Klaus picked Cami up and carried her out and home to her apartment. This time, he placed the call to Marcel, suspended his exile and asked him to come help Cami because when she’d woken up confused, she’d called out for Marcel (ouch). This entire sequence from the church to Klaus leaving Cami in Marcel’s arms was beautiful and heartbreaking and one of the best things I’ve seen on this show.

Hayley arrived back at the bayou and was surprised to see that Elijah was still there, standing in the trees as Oliver led a rallying cry. Elijah had to tell Hayley about the second explosion and warned her that people would listen to Oliver because he was the loudest as he took advantage of their pain and suffering. He told her to help Jackson and then he returned home to Klaus. Elijah gave his brother their mother’s spell book, poured them each a drink and told Klaus that he’d finally seen the depths of unrest and mayhem in the quarter and how the families were going to rise up and fight together. Elijah wanted to be on his brother’s side and offered a toast to their victory.

Aside from that perfect brotherly moment, what I loved most about Elijah and Klaus in this episode was that we got to see their softer sides without either of them feeling out of character. This episode was Hayley and Cami’s story and the Mikaelson brothers were there to provide support and friendship. They weren’t there to rip out hearts or make grand speeches – they were both symbols of strength and honor in dark moments. We see this side of Elijah more than Klaus, but we have seen Klaus’ humanity before and it’s always nice to see it again. There’s never been a question that these two are the center of the show, but this episode found a way to let them take a backseat and still manage to shine and it was handled perfectly.

This was a fantastic episode. The stakes (no pun intended) get raised higher and higher each week and the tension is officially off the charts at this point. It makes me really happy to see Elijah and Klaus on the same side, even if I know better than to think it will last that long. They both want to take care of the wolves for their own reasons, but now that Oliver has everyone’s ear, will the wolves let them? Then there are the humans. Cami should be the rightful leader, but Francesca is not going to let that happen.

Speaking of the humans, Kieran talked of an important key that he needed Cami to find. But Josh had stolen it at Marcel’s request. I’m trying not to be too mad about this because Josh felt really terrible about it and Marcel insisted it was for Cami’s protection because she wasn’t ready and other people would be looking for it. I believe Marcel wants to keep Cami safe so I’m cutting him some slack. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if whatever that key is for will help his cause.

If all that was not enough, it looks like next week’s episode brings the return of Mikael. At first, I assumed he would only be appearing in dream sequences, but it looks like it’s going to be a lot more real than that. Klaus confirms what those of us who watch The Vampire Diaries already knew: the spirit world is crumbling. And since Mikael died on TVD, it looks like he’s using that to find new ways to torment Klaus.

Check out the promo below and then hit the comments and share your thoughts and theories with us! Did you enjoy this episode? Which faction do you want to see fall? Whose deaths are you rotting for? How excited are you to see Mikael again? Will you miss Kieran or Eve?