When we first met Eva, Vincent's wife, she was already a serial killer of children and not at all stable. The Haunter of Ruins, takes us back to see how she became that way. Eva spent time trying to convince Vincent to leave New Orleans because of the threat Marcel posed when he ran the city the first time; however, Vincent was committed to staying because New Orleans is home. Even when Eva revealed her pregnancy, Vincent refused to leave and instead asked for time to find a way to keep Marcel out of the Treme, in order for their child to grow up being attached to his ancestors.
Things got bad when one day a book just showed up. Despite Vincent's best efforts which included sacrificing various animals, he couldn't get the power of the book to work for him. Eva, determined that as Vincent's partner and an equal that she would help out. As you may have guessed, this is why Eva started sacrificing children. Vincent tried every single cleansing spell that he knew but Eva had become a demon and was far beyond intervention. Eva however warned Vincent that he wasn't free from the being which pushed her in this direction and that a darkness lived inside of him. To this day, Vincent still doesn't know what happened to their unborn child. What he does know is that the book appeared out of nowhere, that it's written in his own handwriting though he has no memory of ever writing it and though he doused it gasoline, it refused to be destroyed.
When Marcel arrives at St. Anne's, Vincent asks Marcel to take the book and to kill him if he ever asks for it back. It seems that Vincent is absolutely convinced that the book is filled with dark magic. Marcel tries to justify the terror he unleashed on the Quarter by pointing out that he was trying to protect Davina. Yes, he's really sold himself on that lie. Getting a tight reign on power had nothing at all to do with it.
Vincent fires back with the fact that he was fighting for his unborn child. I'm totally #teamvincent on this one.
Detective Will Kinney (yeah I had to look up his damn name) shows up to report that there are other children missing. Kinney is determined to investigate and Vincent holds him off, claiming that he is trying to keep everyone safe. Kinney gives Marcel and Vincent 24 hours to figure shit out before the missing kids become public knowledge.
Vincent and Marcel head to the old Stryx house because it's no longer boarded up and people have reported seeing lights inside. When Marcel and Vincent arrive, they find a zealot inside working a spell and preparing to kill the kids. A battle breaks out and the zealot briefly gets the upper hand. The zealot tells Vincent that he's not the only one and that what he's unleashed cannot be stopped. Before the zealot can take out Vincent's eye, Marcel intervenes. The battle continues and finally ends when Vincent slits the zealot's throat. That's one bad guy down but unfortunately, the kids are still dying because their magic is being drained. Vincent is quick to notice that the spell is tied to the personal totems of the kids. Because he recognises the spell, Vincent is able to break it and all is good until they notice that there are more totems than kids. Marcel picks up the hairbrush and sees an M engraved on the back. You guessed it, M stands for Mikaelson.
Marcel is still in full on petty mode and Vincent has to talk him into allowing the Mikaelsons to come back to town so that he can break the spell on Hope because otherwise, she'll die. Vincent even goes as far as to argue that Hope is practically Marcel's sister. Marcel finally relents but makes Vincent promise to do this on the down low.
The kids are then transported by ambulance but before they can get to a hospital, the ambulance is stopped by none other than Will. When the EMT gets out, Will kills him and then steals the ambulance with the kids inside. So all this time, Will has been hiding his evil? It's too bad that I don't care enough about this character to give a damn.
Klaus's day begins just as rocky as Vincent's. Klaus argues with his siblings who want to get the hell out of dodge before Marcel can make good on his promise to kill them; however, Klaus is insistent that they are going to stay put at least for a day so that he can enjoy a reunion with his daughter. When Hope comes outside and see her father for the first time, she isn't exactly thrilled and decides to ask her mother if she can play in the garden. Klaus is immediately convinced that someone must have bad mouthed him to Hope and even goes as far as to blame Mary. Hayley ensures Klaus that no such thing happened and that she actually told Hope that Klaus is a hybrid who will do anything to protect his family and is very old. Hayley explains that there will be time enough for Hope to learn the truth about her father. Hayley adds that Hope is a gentle and shy person.
Klaus tries again to connect with this daughter. This time he goes to stand next to Hope, who is painting a picture. Klaus stands there trying to be non threatening and it's actually really cute, if you can ignore his horrible history. Hope finally invites him to paint with her and they bond over their love of painting.
While Klaus is getting reacquainted with his daughter, the other Mikaelson siblings have decisions to make. Hayley goes to see the werewolf they have trapped in the barn. Keelin is in rough shape and her wounds aren't healing. Keelin actually messed with her physiology to slow down her natural werewolf healing. Hayley is clearly feeling guilty for not releasing Keelin as promised and Keelin twists the knife by pointing out that Hayley is a shitty werewolf queen and has sold out her kind for vampires. This absolutely strikes a nerve with Hayley. Remember, Hayley was a werewolf before she was a vampire.
Kol is still moping about Davina, who'd better stay dead. Kol commiserates with Rebekah, who's sad that she hasn't found true love nor had a child of her own yet. They've both suffered for Klaus but now they are no longer bound to him which frees them to be able to follow their own hopes and dreams. I kind of pity the man who Rebekah gets involved with because it's only a matter of time before Klaus once again decides that his little sister is not allowed to have sex and kills him.
Hayley's next stop is to see Elijah. It's been five years and so the itch to get it on is strong between these two. This of course must come with both of them assuring each other that they're good people. If you have to work that hard to believe that you are good at heart, perhaps the opposite is true. Hayley talks about her concern with keeping Keelin locked up and Elijah naturally backs Hayley's play to free Keelin.
Hayley heads to the barn and undoes Keelin's restraints. Hayley warns Keelin that it's a good thing that the Mikaelson's want her alive but others are going to want her dead. Hayley suggests that Keelin not return to her old life. Keelin manages to take off just before Freya arrives to check on the amount of venom they've managed extract from Keelin. Freya is not impressed when she finds Keelin's gone and a small fight breaks out between Freya and Hayley. Marcel enters the barn and lays down the law, decreeing that Keelin is allowed to be free.
Rebekah decides to have a heart to heart with Klaus. Rebekah begins by dropping the news that Kol has taken off. Klaus is disappointed but not surprised by this news. Rebekah then reveals her wish to leave. Rebekah explains that she knows that she's Klaus's favourite sibling but there are things that she wants out of life. Rebekah promises to return and adds that this time they could part from each other without the use of banishment or a dagger. Klaus bestows his permission on Rebekah and the hug it out.
Now that Elijah and Hayley have assured each other that they are good people and proven it to themselves at least by letting Keelin go, it's time for sex. While Hayley and Elijah are having sex, Freya tracks down Keelin and drags her back to the barn to drain more venom from her. Things are strained between the two women until Freya hits upon an idea. If Keelin can slow down her own healing using science, perhaps they can find a way to neutralize or even kill Marcel. Didn't I tell you that The Originals wouldn't allow Marcel to be top dog for long.
Klaus is looking through Hope's drawings, when a frightened Hope enters the room. Hope says that she's not feeling well and is really cold. When Hope's nose begins to bleed, Klaus frantically calls out for Hayley. They end up having a family confab where Freya reveals that Hope isn't actually sick and that there's some kind of spell harming her. Before they can get too worked up, a note appears in Hayley's pocket from Vincent.
Now the Mikaelson's have to decide who is going to accompany Hope. Being #1 dad, there's no way that Klaus is staying home. Elijah tries to volunteer to take Hope, pointing out that Klaus is a daddy now and needs to stay safe. Klaus argues that Elijah should stay behind and comfort Hayley. It's Hayley however who ends the argument by declaring that they are all going because they are all Mikaelsons and she needs the both of them.
Just as with the last episode, there was a lot of conversation about what is and isn't Mikaelson. Does these people even realise who arrogant they are? I'm actually super annoyed by this. If being Mikaelsons is so great why do they have to work so hard to convince themselves that they are good people. For crying out loud the whole reason that Elijah is always so impeccably dressed is because he doesn't want to think about the blood on his hands. Then we have Hayley is practically pounding on her chest to declare her Mikaelson identity. Yes, she's done terribad things to free the Mikaelsons but since they are family, it's all okay. Cue Elijah declaring that she's a good person and therefore not a Mikaelson. The bottom line is that each every one of them is a horrible person.
As for Klaus and Hope, I found the moments they shared in this episode to be sweet and endearing. There's no doubt that he loves his child but we all know that it's only a matter of time before he fucks that up to because Klaus cannot stop himself from controlling the people he loves in the guise of protecting them. The fact that he never really faces any consequences for it, allows him to continue in this misguided approach to a relationship. I will however say that Joseph Morgan and Summer Fontana sold the hell out of these scenes.
As for Marcel, deciding to let Vincent help Hope, is yet another bid on his part to prove to himself that he's not like the Mikaelsons he so desperately wants to be a part of. So on one hand we have Hayley trying to convince herself that she is a Mikaelson and on the other, Marcel trying to convince himself that he isn't. I have to say that Vincent calling Hope, Marcel's sister was a particularly low blow. It also makes Marcel's ongoing romance with Rebekah feel just a little bit incestuous.
Vincent having a dark side is not at all surprising but I hope that they are not setting this up to kill his character off. We all know that Black witches have a short self life on this show and Vincent has been around for awhile. I have sort of come to view him as the token Bonnie of The Originals. I'm kind of hoping that it's Will who dies at the end of this because who really cares about this character anyway? I will however say that Will being revealed as evil comes as a big surprise to me.
