‘The Originals’ Review: ‘The Devil is Damned’

“Family is power” took on a whole new meaning during last night’s stellar episode of The Originals. When we last left off, Freya had sprung Rebekah from the witch asylum and the youngest Original sister headed straight to Klaus’ side. Finn had cursed Kol to die within days after taking away his ability to body jump and then while torturing Marcel, put two and two together and realized Hope was alive.

“The Devil is Damned” picked up with Finn plotting to track down Hope, only to get the surprise of his life when Freya stopped by to reunite with her brother. Meanwhile, Rebekah relayed Freya’s renewed existence to Klaus and Elijah (who did his best to keep his bickering siblings in line via speakerphone) and the trio wondered if Aunt Dahlia still lived as Klaus muttered to himself about the family making him want to murder people. To say a lot went down over the next hour would be a severe understatement so let’s skip the formalities and dive into the latest round of family dynamics.

As much as I love Marcel and Hayley and consider them both part of the family, their scenes felt like filler stuffed between intense scenes (Maybe they were there to give us a chance to calm our hearts and breathing before the next shock to our systems?). Anyway, the wolf rituals continued when other packs wanted to join the party and Finn sent Marcel to get Hayley’s blood, only for him to tell Hayley why he was there so they could come up with a way to stall. Finn sent the rest of the vampires to attack and Marcel and Hayley did their best to snap their necks so they could be unconscious instead of dead until the spell ended. These two make great partners.

Then we have Freya, the newest and oldest Mikaelson sibling. She explained to Finn that Dahlia gave her some form of immortality. She sleeps for a century at a time, then wakes for one year and then repeats the cycle over again. She’d run away from Dahlia, but warned their aunt was not only alive, she hunted. Freya immediately volunteered to help Finn once she learned Hope was still out there. It’s also worth noting that as Freya explained how she was still alive, she made a point of touching her necklace so it’s a safe bet the jewelry, like the daylight and moonlight rings, is probably a magical source of power.

But what’s Freya’s endgame? Will she be free if Hope takes her place as Dahlia’s new stolen firstborn? Or is Freya lying about running away from Dahlia? Maybe they’re still working together. I definitely need to know more about Freya’s immortality because it seems a little too convenient that her 100 year sleep ended when Rebekah landed in the witch prison. Who put Freya in there? I have so many questions and I hope the show won’t wait too long to give us answers. They’ve created a fascinating new character and the audience needs more than a few crumbs each episode.

Kol returned to the compound to face Klaus and Rebekah, but he didn’t give them much time to berate him before he dropped the news of his impending demise. Klaus remained skeptical, but Rebekah knew Kol was telling the truth. He also warned them that Finn was trying to torture a secret out of Marcel and a less than subtle worried glance between Rebekah and Klaus revealed there was a secret. Klaus was not ready to share, but he needed Kol to help them and prove his loyalty. Klaus wanted the spell Finn used to trap Kol and proceeded to enter Kol’s mind to find it, only to discover his brother’s treachery with the dagger.

The two came to blows (verbal and physical) and Kol returned to his clubhouse and broke down. That’s when Finn called and offered him a new deal: Klaus’ blood in exchange for his life. So Kol headed back to the compound, knocked Klaus around a bit only to hesitate and let Klaus get the upper hand once more. Klaus had Kol pinned to the wall and Kol told him to go ahead and finish it, but Klaus called him an idiot and said he was not going to kill him because he’s a Mikaelson and he’s his blood.

There’s absolutely no way to recap these scenes and give them the justice they deserve, even transcribing them word for word wouldn’t convey the emotions. There’s never enough praise for Joseph Morgan, but Daniel Sharman more than held his own in their scenes as well as the scene where he allowed all of Kol’s fears and vulnerability to seep through when he was alone in the tomb. His performance was heartbreaking. The siblings laid it all on the table: Kol’s anger and the pain he felt being left out and left behind time and time again over the years when all he wanted was to be part of the family. Klaus reminded him that he’d daggered all of them at one time or another and he’d done it for their own good. Sure, it doesn’t make sense to rational people, but I think we all know by now that Klaus does believe he’s always right and therefore the punishments he doles out to his siblings are deserved so they can learn from their mistakes. That’s just who he is.

And I have to give credit to Maisie Richardson-Sellers for her part in these scenes. I’m still in awe of how seamlessly she’s become Rebekah, which could not have been an easy task given how beloved the character is to the audience. Like Sharman (and Yusuf Gatewood), Sellers does not miss a single beat and I can believe these people have been together in one form or another for over 1,000 years. When Rebekah promised Kol that she would do whatever it takes to keep him alive and he promised he’d get her back in her body, even if it was the last thing he did, my heart broke into tiny pieces. No matter how much these siblings fight, they love each other and will come through when it counts (except Finn, but as Klaus said, he’s been dead to them for years).

Klaus, Kol and Rebekah realized Finn was 10 steps ahead of them and already on his way to Hope so they needed to find a way to rein in his power so Elijah would have a fighting chance to protect the baby. Since they couldn’t break the link with their parents, Kol wanted to add to it and overwhelm Finn with power so he’d be forced to let go. Klaus brought in the dark objects he’d collected over the years, including Papa Tunde’s blade and the white oak stake. That’s right: Klaus Mikaelson trusted Kol enough to hand him the white oak stake. And when that wasn’t enough, he told his siblings to channel his power and trusted Kol to have complete power over him in order to get things done. Again, there are not enough words in the English language to describe just how important this was or how much Klaus has grown as a character to get to this point (If you’re not proud of him, you’re watching the show wrong).

While all of this was happening, Elijah and Cami were continuing their babysitters/therapy club. Hope knocked some stuff off a table and ended up with a cut on her forehead and Cami realized the blood was a trigger for Elijah. She told him that sometimes regular therapy is not the best option and suggested he distract his mind instead by fixing up the house or she would take him fishing and share the story of how she lost her virginity. He chose the handyman job (Leah Pipes and Daniel Gillies are so fun together and they’re both great with the verbal sparring). So Cami took Hope out to run errands and Elijah took of his tie and got to work.

Then Finn arrived and started stabbing Elijah with things while he bragged about Freya being alive and how Dahlia would come for the baby. Finn wanted to deliver because he believed it was better for Hope to die than him. He left Elijah staked in the barn and then went in the house in search of Cami. Elijah got back up and followed his brother inside where they continued to throw things at each other and Finn managed to throw Elijah through a wall just as Kol and Rebekah finally got the upper hand. All three siblings screamed as the power overwhelmed them and knocked them to the ground. When Kol and Rebekah freed Klaus, he thanked them and assured Rebekah that he had no doubt Elijah would prevail (be right back – sobbing over Klaus’ complete faith in Elijah).

Of course that faith was justified because Elijah Mikaelson is, and has always been, a BAMF. Finn assumed Elijah was reliving his red door moment as he stared at the blood on his hands. Finn mocked his untidiness, boasted that he bested him and Elijah could add Hope to his list of victims because the baby never had a chance in his care. But Elijah calmly turned to the tables on Finn as only he can. He assured his brother his mind was clear, just like the gas that had seeped into every room of the house. He got to his feet, looked Finn in the eyes and told him he’d disgraced the family for the last time. Elijah said goodbye to his brother, slipped off his daylight ring and set himself on fire so he could watch Finn burn as the house exploded around them. Elijah calmly and deliberately killing his enemies will never go out of style.

Now there’s still one Mikaelson hero we need to discuss. Remember that cut on Hope’s forehead? Cami noticed it was healed when she used a payphone (ha!) to call Elijah and let him know she’d forgotten her cellphone. She assumed Elijah had healed it with vampire blood, but even as she said it, she studied Hope’s face like she didn’t quite believe it. Then as she drove back to the house, the computer in the car suddenly stopped working and it shut itself off (kudos to everyone involved in lacing these final scenes together. I stopped breathing right around the time Klaus got down on his knees until the end credits rolled). I definitely expected Freya to pop up and steal Hope (and possibly Cami), but instead, the house blew up as Cami watched in horror and then the car turned itself back on. Slowly, Cami turned in her seat to look at Hope.

Our magical miracle baby (and I say that with all the affection in the world) stopped the car to keep Cami away from the explosion (I assume she could either smell or magically sense the gas?). I wasn’t too surprised when Hope healed her cut, but I did not see the car thing coming. I loved everything about this twist and I cannot wait for Cami to share the news with the Original family. I’m also curious how they’re going to bring back Finn after the explosion (I’m guessing Freya will be involved) and if they will find a way to save Kol. As much as I loved his redemption, it worries me that it felt a little too final (do not take him from us, show).

Next week, it’s time for a werewolf wedding and I don’t think those are happy tears Hayley’s shedding.