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The Originals kicked off its final season touting seven years of peace and prosperity in the French Quarter.
By the end of the hour, blood rained down from the sky.
I, like Klaus, cannot resist a familiar refrain.
And the Mikaelsons bringing trouble everywhere they turn wasn’t the only bit of familiarity in “Where You Left Your Heart.”
The episode written by Marguerite MacIntyre (aka Sheriff Forbes) had a distinct Vampire Diaries vibe to it from the Salvatore school to Dorian to Caroline to Vincent taking a moment with his diary in the cemetery.
It punched me right in the feelings.
Photo Credit: The CW
By design, I’m sure, but I’m not complaining (mostly). I love nostalgia and callbacks and I’ve even come to begrudgingly love the show’s need to beat us over the head with exposition.
To be fair, a seven year time jump requires exposition in order to avoid devoting the entire hour to flashbacks.
Except, Klaus Mikaelson and rules don’t exactly go together.
He’s alternating his free time by murdering his way through Europe and popping into the jazz bar in France where Elijah’s been playing the piano since Marcel compelled away his memories. Normally, Klaus lurks and stalks from a distance, but he fancied a chat.
Unfortunately, two Mikaelsons in one room for too long triggered dying flowers and water turning to blood. And not just at the bar—Rebekah’s bath turned into a nightmare, Freya’s plants died, and the fountain at the compound also spewed blood.
Photo Credit: The CW
The end of times indeed, but we have to talk about Klaus and Elijah.
Kudos, as always, to Joseph Morgan and Daniel Gillies for once again hitting the perfect beats in the brothers’ ever-complicated interactions.
Morgan did most of the heavy lifting since Klaus was the one with the emotions while Elijah basically humored the stranger who wanted to share his burdens. It hurt to watch Klaus aching for his brother, who was in front of him, but as he said, farther away than ever.
Klaus continued on his murderous merry way, declaring himself Klaus the Mad, and ignoring frantic phone calls from Hayley, who had a Hope problem on her hands (more on that soon). Desperate for help, Hayley turned to Rebekah to get a handle on her brother. When Klaus ignored her, too, she called in reinforcements.
Remember what I said earlier about mostly not complaining? Rebekah calling Caroline to rein in Klaus is the definition of plot contrivance.
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Why wouldn’t Freya go after him? Or Hayley? Or Marcel? Even Davina showing up to slap him around would have made more sense than calling a woman he hasn’t seen in 15 years (and a woman Rebekah never liked, and vice versa, for that matter).
But the writers needed an excuse to bring Candice King onto the show.
And that part is fine. Caroline is one of my all-time favorite characters and I’m not complaining about seeing her again. I just wish they’d been more subtle about it.
For instance, Caroline is the head mistress at Hope’s school. Hope did something bad. Caroline recognizes the behavior of a girl acting out for her absentee father’s attention. Caroline decides to fix the situation herself and goes to find Klaus.
(See how easy that was?)
/rant
Photo Credit: The CW
Anyway, Caroline arrived at the latest scene of Klaus’ murders (she just happened to be in France for work—coughs—convenient—coughs).
And because she’s Caroline, she came equipped with cleaning supplies and a kickass lecture about why Klaus needs to drop his ‘blame everything on his dead father’ routine and step up for Hope.
Their chat also revealed Klaus’ true reason for his murderous rampage: he wanted to kill as many Mikaelson enemies as possible in order to protect Elijah’s new memory-free life.
My heart, you guys.
Of course he wasn’t the only one missing his big brother.
Photo Credit: The CW
Rebekah and Marcel have been together for the past seven years. When we first see them in their New York City apartment, Marcel is asking Rebekah to marry him with a sweet proposal that spans their complicated history.
She’s already crying before he’s finished—as he expected—but she doesn’t give him an answer, which he did not expect. He blames her family and she points out that New Orleans is never far from his mind.
So Marcel gives Rebekah an ultimatum: meet him at City Hall and tie the knot or they’re done. Rebekah sends a messenger his way and hops a flight to France to visit Elijah. Like Klaus, she tells her brother who doesn’t recognize her about her broken life.
Clearly none of us are surprised by this turn of events. Claire Holt is not a series regular and Marcel needs to go back to New Orleans if he’s going to be involved in the plot. It’s a disappointing turn of events because we’ve seen it so many times over the course of the show.
Photo Credit: The CW
Will this, the final season, end with Marcel and Rebekah finding happiness once again?
I hope so because I want Rebekah to be alive and happy when the series concludes, but at the same time, I don’t really have any desire to root for them to be together.
If they couldn’t make it work after seven straight years of uninterrupted together time, maybe that’s a sign that it’s not supposed to work.
Freya’s also having relationship issues. While she and Keelin have survived the seven years with their love intact, Keelin’s currently working in Lebanon and she wants her girlfriend to join her there. She’s tired of waiting for Freya to stop putting her family first.
It’s a fair point. And one Freya struggles with as she tried to decide whether to leave New Orleans. Freya’s always been a literal character; she doesn’t see gray areas. It’s part of what made her so cold (and deadly).
Photo Credit: The CW
So in Freya’s mind, she sees the choice as choosing herself rather than staying behind to keep working on a way to unite the family.
Keelin is correct. There’s nothing to stop Freya from researching and testing cures in Lebanon just as she does in New Orleans.
With a push from Vincent, Freya opted to choose love and planned to head out of town. But once again, family provided an obstacle when she attempted to tell Hope she was leaving only to hear about a new problem.
Guys, our magical miracle baby is a teenager.
Danielle Rose Russell did a fantastic job slipping into Hope, who is dealing with teenage problems like boys and school while also hiding her identity and longing for her family at the same time.
Hope used her blood to turn a werewolf friend into a hybrid. Her heart was in the right place; he was being bullied and she thought this would give him an advantage, but the act of kindness resulted in her getting suspended and possibly ruining the fragile truce between factions in the Quarter.
She’s definitely a Mikaelson.
Photo Credit: The CW
Phoebe Tonkin hit the perfect blend of exasperated, angry and loving mother in Hayley’s interactions with Hope.
She’s (rightfully) angry with Hope for doing something reckless, but she also understands why her daughter misses her dad.
I like that the bond between Hayley and Hope is clearly as strong as ever, but there’s an added strain to it.
Hope’s pushing her boundaries and she knows how powerful she is. Hayley does, too, and as much as she loves her, she also wants her to remember who’s in charge.
Serious question: did Hope stage what happened to Hayley? Hope took her chat with Uncle Kol to heart. And Hayley disappearing would certainly qualify as something blowing up in New Orleans.
Plus, it did the trick. Hope told Klaus her mother was missing and after the smallest of pauses, he told her that he was on his way. I’m not sure whether Hope is guilty or not, but I do think we’re supposed to wonder.
Either way, Klaus Mikaelson is coming home.
Miscellaneous Musings
-Between the Memorial Library and Caroline’s speech about being married and widowed on the same day, my Stefan Salvatore loving heart hurts
-Freya and Vincent being besties is everything I never knew I wanted. When he started unpacking her box so she wouldn’t leave? Hilarious.
-Hayley and Declan are cute (he didn’t seem all that upset when she punched him), but it’s clear her heart still lies with Elijah. It was plain as day when she said his name and then couldn’t get out anymore words
-Claire Holt’s always my favorite, but how great was the moment when she heard Elijah’s voice through the phone and Rebekah looked as if she’d been slapped before she crumbled?
-Klaus and Rebekah discussing how happy Elijah seemed was beautiful
-Hope referring to herself as the friendly neighborhood blood dealer was also hilarious
-Uncle Kol is a bad influence, but it’s nice to see that he has a bond with Hope
-That being said, remember in Season 4 when Vincent said the siblings couldn’t have any contact with Hope? He told Hayley to run because The Hollow would find a way to get to Hope if they had any idea where she was. It seems the writers forgot about that.
-Poor Poppy
-It doesn’t seem likely Henry will survive the season with so many enemies and his death is going to haunt Hope
-Greta seems more like an annoying coworker than proper villain material
-If all the episodes are as good as this one, I’m not going to be ready to say goodbye
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