Because a dark force Vincent let loose in an effort to deal with Marcel's first attempt at leadership of New Orleans, Hope and several children are actively in danger. The Originals are set to return to the city to help to find a cure for Hope. Since the entire first family has sworn to keep Hope safe not matter what, this means a return to New Orleans with Marcel's express permission.
As much as Freya is worried about what's going on with Hope, she also sees this as the perfect opportunity to sneak into Marcel's abode and steal a sample of his venom. To do this, Freya ropes in Keelin. Is it me, or does anyone else think that the writers are going to make Freya and Keelin a couple? There's a part of me that really wants to see that and another part of me is screaming against it because Freya had no problem torturing Keelin to benefit her family.
Will is playing out his little part in the drama. Having taken control of the ambulance containing the kids, they are driven to an area where a group of people have gathered to prepare for a ritual. This doesn't bode well of the kids. Will is given a token with a serpent sigil on it to help him deal what's to come. Yes, they are predicting that Vincent is going to be a problem.
After getting assurances from the Originals that they'll leave town as soon as he heals Hope, Vincent gets to work. After Vincent finishes his spell, Hope sits up claiming to be just fine. Hope moves to see Klaus but birds start dropping from the ceiling. The dead crows form a circle around Hope. It's suitably creepy. Having Vincent just magically cure Hope would have been just too easy and so predictably, Hope's fever returns.
Elijah heads to offer his services to Vincent in the hope of curing Hope. Vincent is very reluctant to working with Elijah because he sees through Elijah's impeccable grooming to the monster beneath.
Hayley interrupts Marcel's speech to the witches and it's a good thing because despite their missing children, they don't see Marcel as someone they can trust. Who can really blame the witches considering how many of them Marcel killed in his first rule of the quarter? Hayley appeals to the witches as a fellow mother and explains that her child is in danger. Hayley's softer approach is enough for a witch to offer of up the name of a werewolf - Laura.
It's time to head into the bayou in search of Laura, who seems to be just waiting for them arrive, standing by the river holding a knife. Laura is quick to tell Hayley that the kids are as good as dead. It seems that Laura is upset because she didn't know that the Hollow would be involving children. The wolves turned to the Hollow in order to wrest control of the city from Marcel. It's Laura's contention that New Orleans belongs to all of the supernaturals and not just the vampires. The wolves decision perfect sense given that Hayley abandoned the pack and spent five years trying to wake up the Original family. Laura accuses Hayley of dumping the pack in favour of being part of the Mikaelsons and she's not wrong there. Hayley means nothing to the wolves and so consequently the fate of Hope is unimportant. Laura knows that the Hollow needs sacrifices in order to grow stronger and so she promptly stabs herself in the throat with a knife.
Klaus, who's been left on babysitter duty for a change is trying to make Hope as comfortable as he can. It's nice to see the softer side of Klaus; however, the question is how long before he does something despicable in the name of protecting Hope? We shouldn't forget even for one moment while watching these tender scenes between Hope and Klaus exactly what kind of vampire Klaus is. There's a reason so many in the supernatural world want to see Klaus dead. Klaus promises Hope beignets and trips around the world when she gets better. Hope continues to struggle and so Klaus takes off the jewelry that stops her from performing magic. Hope opens her eyes and warns Klaus not to look at the blue lights.
Although Freya is supposed to be headed over to the mansion to help Klaus deal with Hope, Freya decides to take the opportunity to steal Marcel's venom. To encourage Keelin's help, Freya gives her a moonlight ring to give her the ability to have control over her wolf form. Keelin is excited but of course there's a catch, the ring acts like a leash. When they get there, Freya and Keelin have trouble opening the safe. After promising to meet up with Freya, Keelin stays behind to work on the safe because her super duper wolf hearing will allow her to hear the tumblers turning. It's enough to make me wonder why more werewolves aren't thieves?
Vincent has hit upon a starting place in their search for the missing children. Vincent burns some ashes of a bad dude that he had previously killed in the hopes of getting a clue about what is going on. Yes, it's as random as it sounds. Even though Hope is in jeopardy, Elijah at this point isn't overly impressed with the threat that they are facing. Vincent points out that the Hollow takes everything dark inside a person that they want to suppress and makes them do those acts. This is why partnering with Elijah is not as good as it seems on the surface. We all know that no matter how neat Elijah's clothing is that he's got a shit ton of buried darkness. In the smoke, Vincent sees Will.
Vincent invites Will to have a drink with him but it doesn't take long for things to fall apart. It seems that Vincent was sent specifically to find Vincent and he pulls out a gun and takes aim. It's Elijah who steps in front of Vincent and gets shot in his stead. Elijah grabs Will by throat and asks him if he wants to see his monster. Okay, I'm loving Elijah's snark this episode. With Will subdued, Elijah tries to read his mind and gets nowhere. Vincent starts to do a spell, repeatedly telling Elijah that he cannot simply kill Will. Will pulls out the token he was given which knocks both Elijah and Vincent off their feet and escapes. What Will didn't know is that Vincent put a tracking spell on him. That's some fast thinking on the part of Vincent.
Now that they have a location, Vincent and Marcel meet up with all of the Mikaelson's, with the exception of Freya, who's back into her role of supernatural babysitter. In order to cover more ground, they agree to split up. Marcel is insistent that Klaus go with him, unwilling to let Klaus out of his eyesight. Separately, they make their way to some weird alter which the followers of the Hollow have gathered. Will stands with the others as they prepare to start the ritual. That's the signal that the Originals need to start the attack. It's Vincent who sets about grabbing the kids who've been wrapped up like mummies.
The battle is absolutely in favour of the Originals until Will pulls out his trusty pendant. A rope comes out of the pendant and drags Marcel back to him. Klaus grabs Will by the neck, only to be told that he's incapable of stopping what's coming. Klaus snaps Will's neck in response, though Vincent screams out no. Marcel and Klaus are promptly surrounded by a ring of fire that no one can break through. Klaus and Marcel's mind travel elsewhere and they are shown a blue light. Klaus remembers Hope's warning and tries to encourage Marcel to avert his eyes from the light.
Vincent puts two and two together and realises that this has all be a set up from the get go. Vincent grabs the hand of one of the kids he saved and Elijah's in the other. Vincent says a spell and Hayley stabs Elijah in the chest, thus disrupting the spell which is holding Marcel and Klaus prisoner. I know that this was meant to be a serious moment in the episode but I really found myself laughing. Daniel Gillies looked absolutely ridiculous and I couldn't help but wonder how many takes it took to film this scene? Gillies had to be laughing at the sheer absurdity of what he was tasked with doing.
Now that the link is broken, Hope wakes up much to the relief of Freya. The kids are all returned to their families. When next we see Freya, she's meeting with Keelin, who has returned with the venom. Keelin makes a point of saying that she keeps her promises and that with all of the people looking to use her since the Mikaelsons have so many enemies, sticking with the family for now seems to be the smart decision. Keelin is rewarded with Freya taking the spell off of her ring. It's clear that there's some tension building between these two.
After everything he's been through, Vincent decides that a drink is in order. They may have been temporarily successful but it's not lost on Vincent that even this victory cost him the loss of a friend. Marcel wants to celebrate their victory today but Vincent isn't convinced that they've ended anything. Vincent questions if there is anything Marcel is withholding and Marcel fails to bring up the blue light. Vincent points out that Marcel could be under the influence of the Hollow even now. Vincent leaves the bottle with Marcel and heads out on his own. Marcel lifts his glass to take a drink and he notices something blue. When Marcel turns his head, he sees himself in a broken mirror with a blue light coming from it. The serpent sigil reappears. It looks like Vincent was right all along.
Hope wakes up to find a plate full of beignets that her father promised her. Hope grabs a beignet and then goes skipping through the compound looking for Klaus. When Hope does finally find Klaus, he's standing on a balcony but when he turns towards her, Klaus's eyes turn a shade of bright blue. A frightened Hope wakes up alone in her bed.
Well, we're four episodes into this season and we know virtually nothing about the big bad except that it's tied to Hope and Vincent somehow and encourages people to give into their baser instincts. That's a scary prospect with The Originals in town because each one of them has a bloody and violent history. From the glowing eyes, it's clear that Marcel and Klaus have been infected.
I know I mentioned it several times in this recap but am I really reading the situation with Freya and Keelin wrong? Given how The Originals treated its only other same sex couple, this might not end well for Keelin especially because Keelin is a WOC. I also don't like that their relationship began with Freya essentially torturing Keelin to gain access to her venom. This is not a good starting place at all. We'll just have to watch closely to see how this all develops.
The best scenes of this episode all involved Elijah. I loved his snarkyness throughout, including asking Will if he wanted to see his monster. It was a great line. I even loved his honesty, admitting that he would have killed those children if it meant saving Hope. As much as Hayley suggested that they needed to stop always putting their family first because she feels guilt over abandoning the werewolves, y'all know damn well that she would have made the same decision to save her daughter and then simply wallowed in guilt afterwards. Hayley is in denial about a lot of things at this point. Finally, Gillies acting throughout the stabbing scene just had me rolling with laughter. I don't know how he did that seriously because it looked absolutely ridiculous.
Marcel and Klaus snarking and Marcel's resentment is getting really old at this point. I'm glad that Marcel has no evil intent towards Hope, because Hope is only a child but it's clear that he's jealous of her, even if he won't admit it to anyone. I am further irritated by knowing that at some point this season Marcel is going to be de-powered making all of these conversations with Klaus about his feelings moot at best. They really need to come up with something new for Marcel to do or send his character off into the wider world.
