The last episode ended with The Hollow infecting both Marcel and Klaus. Given how The Hollow used Eva, we know that it seeks power and that Marcel and Klaus are easily the two most powerful being in existence. Clearly, in these two, it has finally found the source of power its long craved to manifest itself in the physical world, at least that's what I think the Hollow wants because the writers haven't exactly made it clear exactly what The Hollow's end goal is.
This means that we are once again going to have a show down between Klaus and Marcel - let the humbling of Marcel begin. What? You didn't actually think that the writers would allow Marcel to have more power than Klaus and rule New Orleans did you? The Hollow begins by using Klaus and Marcel's weaknesses against them. For Klaus it begins when he has a memory of Mikael shaming him. I was surprised to find out much I've missed Sebastian Roché. I love Miakel's scenes with Klaus because of the epic drama they produce; however, this time, I found it lacking somehow. Maybe it's because with Mikael dead, he doesn't represent the threat that he once did and I for one am sick to death of Klaus's daddy issues.
Of course, Klaus is obsessed with idea of making sure that Hope is safe and to that end, he sends Elijah and Hayley to the bayou to wait for him there. Elijah wants to stay but Klaus makes it clear that he wants Elijah to keep Hope safe. Okay so off the two lovers go and Elijah even knowing where he's going is still wearing a suit but does however offer to change to shorts and sandals if Hayley wants to make a life there. Can anyone even picture Elijah wearing that?
For Marcel, The Hollow manifests as both Elijah and Klaus. This again felt rather repetitive. The entire season thus far has been about reminding Marcel that no matter what he does, he'll never be a Mikaelson and how the Mikaelson clan will be more than happy to put an end to him, if it means saving one of them. Their family first motto will never include Marcel. I really feel like I'm being hit on the head with a hammer at this point. How many times is The Originals going to remind us that Marcel is the dark stain on the Mikaelson's white sheets and that Klaus saved Marcel from slavery?
Freelin and Freya are still making eyes at each other. The writers just need to let these two kiss and declare them a couple already, enough with the damn teasing. Freelin and Freya are a bit hung over from celebrating the break through they made the night before - They've created a knife capable of killing Marcel. Now that their mission is done, it's time for Freelin to be on her way. It's clear that both women are reluctant for Freelin to leave but she does anyway.
Freya's next stop is to have a little chat with Klaus, who admits that The Hollow is haunting him and has taken on the form of Mikael. Klaus admits his belief that The Hollow's objective is for him to kill Marcel. Freya tries a cleansing and when that fails to work, she hands over the knife to Klaus, explaining that if someone needs to die that it shouldn't be him. Freya is the only Mikaelson I can forgive for their feelings towards Marcel because she was out of the picture for so long that she has no real connection to Marcel.
Elijah, Hayley and Hope are talking their little walk through the Bayou with Elijah fantasizing about wearing jean shorts and flip flops. Is anyone else have difficulty picturing this? They make their way to Mary's house and Mary is not impressed to see Elijah standing on her doorstep because she has a strict no vampire stance, Hayley notwithstanding. Elijah takes off to give the women a few minutes privacy and Hayley tells Mary all about the recent massacre and the sigil. Mary's face goes all squirrely and she pulls her dead husbands diary and reveals the sigil.
The true risk the Hollow poses presents itself when on his way to confront Marcel, Klaus, tired of being taunted by fake Mikael attempts to kill him and instead kills three civilians. The Hollow makes it clear that it can trick Klaus into killing anyone and that includes Freya but more importantly Hope. Marcel does his own battle with the Hollow and when he attempts to choke fake Elijah, he ends up attacking Sofya.
Even though she's armed her brother with a knife to kill Marcel, Freya isn't done trying to find a way to ensure that her family is safe. Freya decides to work on some concoction to figure out exactly what The Hollow wants from Klaus. This of course is when Keelin walks in. It's clear now that Keelin is totes into Freya but Freya is too concerned with Klaus to take much notice. Freya does her little spell thing and a blue orb appears and mesmerizes her. Keelin doesn't like the effect of the orb on Freya and is quick to break the spell. Freya is harmed in the process and reveals that The Hollow wants either Klaus or Marcel dead.
Unable to get in touch with Vincent, Marcel meets with Dominic. Dominic says that the Hollow was caught between life and some mystery place until Vincent woke it up. Dominic has some magical beads which he believes will put The Hollow in its place, if they are buried somewhere the creatures has already manifested and so it's off to the house where the children were sacrificed.
Hayley is still looking through the diary entries which make less and less sense the further in she goes. Hayley starts to wonder if The Hollow is what caused Mary's husband to kill her parents. Hayley leaves to talk things over with Elijah but they don't get very far because Elijah is called away by Freya, who wants back up to save Klaus.
Marcel is the first to arrive at the house but is quickly followed by Klaus. Marcel tries to explain that he's found a way to deal with The Hollow but Klaus is not having it. All Klaus can see is that Marcel is a threat to Hope and he won't allow anything to happen to his little princess. Marcel is certain that he has the upper hand because of his deadly venom but Klaus pulls out his Marcel killing knife. The fight is on but both men don't seem to really want to take each other out though Klaus does manage to stake Marcel.
Outside, Freya channels Elijah to break the binding locking them out of the house. Naturally, Elijah rushes to Klaus's side as The Hollow suggests that Klaus should kill his son. Klaus comes to his senses, drops the dagger and snaps Marcel's neck. The blue orb comes out to play and this time it comes with some black smoke. Freya however is ready for the orb and throws some shit at it screaming for it leave her family alone. The Hollow vanishes but since this is only episode five, we know that it's not gone for good.
Back at the rundown Mikaelson compound, Freya reveals that there's no trace of the Hollow magic in either Klaus and Marcel. This is good news. Freya then asks for her dagger back which surprises Klaus. Freya makes it clear that it was always only a loan and Klaus warns against amassing power. Despite his feelings, Klaus does end up handing over the knife. Klaus then confesses to Elijah that Marcel isn't alive because of some sense of mercy that he felt but because killing Marcel is what The Hollow wanted him to do.
Elijah goes all creepy uncle and pays a visit to Marcel who is now locked up in the same cage that he kept Klaus in for five years. Elijah believes that Klaus is a changed man thanks to Hope. Elijah explains that he once thought that Marcel would be the key to Klaus's redemption but now believes that the opposite just might be true. It seems that the only reason Elijah invested in Marcel was for the betterment of Klaus. Elijah is now quite certain that Marcel is Klaus's biggest weakness. Elijah makes it clear that if Marcel destroys Klaus's shot at redemption that he'll deliver him a new nightmare.
Keelin is happy to have Freya back and they both get their flirt on a little bit as Keelin cleans Freya's head wound. Freya apologies for everything she's done to Keelin, who accepts the apology because Freya acted on behalf of her family.
Dominic meets with Sofya in the haunted house. Yes, the two are in cahoots. The deal was that Klaus was supposed to die not that Marcel be locked up. Dominic however develops a backup plan when he finds Marcel's blood puddle. The Hollow creates a thorn out of Marcel's blood and Dominic explains that one scratch from the thorn will kill any original. This does not bode well.
Every single time I think that I cannot get more disgusted with The Originals treatment of Marcel, the writers up the ante. Over the years we've seen snippets of Marcel's youth and how both Elijah and Klaus took him under their wing. They educated him and taught him how to play music and seemingly cared for him. This week, we got the admission from Elijah that he only cared about Marcel to the degree that Marcel could save Klaus from himself. I don't understand how any writer could frame Marcel this way and not see the inherent racism of this. Marcel when viewed from this light, isn't actually a person, he's there to do emotional labour for White people.
I also take issue with the idea of Hope changing Klaus. I don't deny that Klaus loves Hope but the very idea that his numerous bad acts can be redeemed by being a loving father is absolutely ridiculous. No matter how much Klaus loves Hope he will always be a mass murderer and an abusive brother. To be clear, Klaus killed his own biological father, has killed just about ever man that Rebekah has loved, and routinely daggers his siblings when they refuse to just rubber stamp everything he says or does but suddenly he belongs on the redemption train because of the love of his little girl? No.
Hayley learned this week a little bit more about why her parents were killed. I suppose this is all going to circle back to her, thus reducing Klaus and Marcel to tools in The Hollows end game. I don't necessarily have a problem with that but I do resent the idea that Hayley needs to go into hiding every damn time there's a problem now that the Original siblings are awake. Hayley is the one who brought them back and she did this while having to care for Hope, so I see no reason for her to be sidelined.
Finally to Freya and Keelin. There's a huge part of me that wants them to get together so badly. It sort of reminded me of when I was waiting for Willow and Tara to kiss. I just kept thinking doooooooo it, dooooooooooo it. The chemistry between Freya and Keelin is great however I cannot let go of the fact that this is happening on The Originals and that Keelin is a WOC. None of this bodes well for their relationship at all. It also feels like a ratings grab a la Heros given that The Originals is struggling with ratings. I guess it comes down to the fact that I don't trust the writers no matter how desperately this kind of representation is needed on The Originals.
Every single time I think that I cannot get more disgusted with The Originals treatment of Marcel, the writers up the ante. Over the years we've seen snippets of Marcel's youth and how both Elijah and Klaus took him under their wing. They educated him and taught him how to play music and seemingly cared for him. This week, we got the admission from Elijah that he only cared about Marcel to the degree that Marcel could save Klaus from himself. I don't understand how any writer could frame Marcel this way and not see the inherent racism of this. Marcel when viewed from this light, isn't actually a person, he's there to do emotional labour for White people.
I also take issue with the idea of Hope changing Klaus. I don't deny that Klaus loves Hope but the very idea that his numerous bad acts can be redeemed by being a loving father is absolutely ridiculous. No matter how much Klaus loves Hope he will always be a mass murderer and an abusive brother. To be clear, Klaus killed his own biological father, has killed just about ever man that Rebekah has loved, and routinely daggers his siblings when they refuse to just rubber stamp everything he says or does but suddenly he belongs on the redemption train because of the love of his little girl? No.
Hayley learned this week a little bit more about why her parents were killed. I suppose this is all going to circle back to her, thus reducing Klaus and Marcel to tools in The Hollows end game. I don't necessarily have a problem with that but I do resent the idea that Hayley needs to go into hiding every damn time there's a problem now that the Original siblings are awake. Hayley is the one who brought them back and she did this while having to care for Hope, so I see no reason for her to be sidelined.
Finally to Freya and Keelin. There's a huge part of me that wants them to get together so badly. It sort of reminded me of when I was waiting for Willow and Tara to kiss. I just kept thinking doooooooo it, dooooooooooo it. The chemistry between Freya and Keelin is great however I cannot let go of the fact that this is happening on The Originals and that Keelin is a WOC. None of this bodes well for their relationship at all. It also feels like a ratings grab a la Heros given that The Originals is struggling with ratings. I guess it comes down to the fact that I don't trust the writers no matter how desperately this kind of representation is needed on The Originals.
