This day begins with
some brief pretence from various people pretending to mourn Josh (even Declan
pretends sadness - when they’ve had like 5 minutes of screen time together),
but while Keelin and Freya briefly acknowledge, hey, people are dead they
decide they’re going to have a wedding. Today
Of course this is
doable because Klaus is willing to compel everyone to making it happen and is
actually like the best of all the Mikkaelson siblings over this. And well
everyone. Freya wants everyone involved in her wedding but no-one seems to be
willing to make it a priority. Elijah loses himself angsting about Hayley and
can’t pull it together for like an hour to be her best man. Vincent is leaving
the city because it’s all too hard and he can’t possibly delay his trip for a
bit.
I get that everyone
has massive emotional stuff going on at the moment but, given how much Freya
pretty much exists to serve already, it’d be nice if everyone spared her an
hour or so. It’d be kind of nice.
Rebekkah is
supportive and loving at least and then decides to talk kids… to which Freya is
clear that she absolutely, completely does not want kids ever ever ever ever.
Which is a problem because Keelin really really wants kids and discussing this
on the day of the wedding is super awkward. Freya lays down the law and then
decides they need to break up because she can’t give Keelin what she needs.
I would be far more
into this conflict if, y’know, we’d had any foreshadowing of it or Keelin and
Freya spent more than 5 seconds together. Freya is completely unable to spill
her grief to Keelin so tells sister Rebekkah about why she’s so anti-child:
Mikkaelsons are The Worst
Which, y’know she’s
not wrong… basically since Esther and Mikkel were the worst parents ever she’s
kind of worried that she will also be the worst parent ever. While Rebekkah
very sensibly points out that while they’re all damaged they’re not actually
broken and, if nothing else, the Mikkaelsons are (unhealthily) loyal.
Now accepting the
fact that she’s not inherently evil she goes to Keelin and they talk and it’s
all tearful but what I found most meaningful is that, in addition to professing
their love to each other, is that Freya promises that she will seriously
consider kids and be open to them. I like that a pep talk from Rebekkah hasn’t
just made her declare “ZOMG MY ISSUES ARE OVER!” she still has issues but she
recognises she can address them. She doesn’t promise she will have kids or will
want kids but she is open to the possibility
While this is going
on Elijah is having lots of flashbacks about Hayley, who came to see him in
france, pretending to be a woman called Andrea to check up on him. It’s sweet
and nice but he even mentions at the beginning that he and Antoinette are
together at this time and he is super hard core flirting with this American
tourist while Antoinette is out of town - not cool Elijah. I think this whole scene
is fanservice to fans who were way way way way more invested in Hayley/Elijah
than I was
Hope, meanwhile, is
super sad about killing someone, not willing to accept her massacre of the Nazi
vampires was necessarily a good thing - yes they needed killing but at the same
time they can’t pretend that’s WHY she killed them - she killed them to stop
the dark magic, a selfish motive. And already it’s coming back
Hope has a level of
self-analysis that her father, uncles and aunts are just completely lacking
So we get Davina come back to town to do some woo-woo, read Esther’s diaries (which are surprisingly not written in norse) and try to find a woo-woo solution with Hope’s tears. She fails terrible and concludes that Hope is definitely going to die. Angst angst woe angst Legacies has already been planned so, no, she’s not dying. Stop trying this. We’re not buying.
But angst angst. And
we have Declan, the character no-one needs, who has found his uncle’s old
diaries when he headed the human faction. And rather than decide that the
ramblings of this man are out of his mind, he’s decided to believe him and
believe that vampires et al are real! And he’s taking vervain so Marcel can’t
just compel him
Uh-huh he could just
be murdered. That would solve things. But instead Marcel knocks him out and
chains him up so he doesn’t go to the mayor, police et al and try to rally
humans against the supernatural. Not now Declan, the grown ups are talking
So wedding. And
Elijah finally arrives belatedly to decide to walk Freya down the aisle with
Klaus and I’m sure we have some nice vows - but instead of focusing on the
actual brides, we get an Elijah monologue drowning out the whole wedding and
even skipping the I dos!
Elijah, your sister
is getting married. For five minutes pay attention to her. Five minutes, man!
Think of how many weddings we’ve seen on television - how this is a major
cumulative character arc for so many and how important it’s presented - and
here we have a monologue drowning it out? Could there be greater evidence of
how casual and indifferent not just the characters but the writers are about
Freya and Keelin’s relationship?
So wedding happens
and we then have the party afterwards in which Hope makes a big speech about
how happy she is because no-one has told her that speeches at weddings should
be about the actually married people, and it’s all sad because she’s dying (no
she isn’t) and she will soon be dead (nope) and how tragic (boreeed).
And Marcel takes some
advice from Davina and decides to inform and educate Declan so he can represent
the human faction properly. Meh, I’d have murdered him.
And Klaus and Hope
are all family-like with the big spectre of “noooo she’s dying!!!!”
Let me be clear -
despite this I’m not forgiving the murder of Josh on top of both the massacre
and general awful treatment of LGBTQ people on this show. Keelin - a character
we’ve barely seen and whose defining relationship moment is being kidnapped,
and Freya, definitely a more prominent character than Josh but was only
revealed as Bisexual after the show was already slated to be cancelled -and
their relationship (which has been primarily banished to the plot box with
Keelin’s absence) getting married is good. But it in no way absolves the
bullshit that has come before it. This does not absolve this endless issue.
Having Freya and Keelin open this show basically saying “ignore these dead people,
focus on us” is not a trick I’m falling for. Add on to that, the frankly
insulting way Keelin and Freya’s wedding was glaring - no-one cared about these
characters or their relationship. Some writer has ticked “wedding” on a
checklist and they have put minimal effort into actually making it happen.
