The Originals - Recap: The Monster That Monsters are Afraid Of
The Originals pitted brother against sister tonight in an episode that brought a very familiar face back from the grave.
Episode 15 opened with a flashback to 1919, a time when Klaus had managed to build the city of New Orleans into a diverse and progressive kingdom of people of all backgrounds and wacky supernatural origins. Klaus Mikaelson, peacemaker!? Elijah was certainly adamant in giving credit to his bro. Klaus even managed to swallow his pride and personally toast to Rebekah and Marcel’s covert romance, a relationship he brought into the light for the first time ever in the haze of his happiness. Klaus had finally built his family a home. Surprise! Mikael, the monster that monsters are afraid of whom we know as the Original family father, was on his way to town to transform his wife’s bastard son into a pile of steaming ashes.
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Most of Klaus’ flashback tale was experience through a storytelling session with Cami (Leah Pipes) in the present day. Elijah had enlisted Cami’s help in babysitting Klaus following the removal of the dagger from Hell from his chest. Cami is one of the only breathing creatures that Klaus actually respects, so Elijah assumed her presence would work wonders in quashing his blind rage. Plus, her veins are laced with vervain, so her blood would serve to feed the weakened Klaus without empowering him.
Everyone but Elijah seemed to realize that Rebekah and Marcel wouldn’t actually head out on the road. They know the way Klaus operates at this point. It wouldn’t matter if they could end up across the world. They’d have to spend the rest of eternity running from his hatred. The only way to avoid Klaus forever is to disappear. Thus, they returned to New Orleans promptly in order to seek out the remaining witches resurrected by Sabine’s spell. If they could eliminate the one connected to Davina (Danielle Campbell), they could resurrect the little witch, and she could magically cloak them from Klaus. Rebekah and Marcel sought out Thierry for assistance. I mean, I’d thought this guy left town and ran far away after Klaus gave the vampires the option to jump ship a few episodes back. In any case, Thierry always had a good rapport with the witches thanks to his lost lover. Thus, he could easily help his old friend to pull one over on Bastiana and Genevieve by creating a phony alliance proposal against the Originals. Then again, Marcel was responsible for locking his old buddy up in The Garden for a couple of weeks due to one of Klaus’ unfortunate stunts. Could Rebekah and Marcel trust Thierry?
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Meanwhile, Sabine woke up tied to a tree deep in the bayou. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Hayley, under the watchful eyes of her family wolf pack, demanded that Sabine reverse the curse she’d previously put on her bloodline under Marcel’s orders. Also, it’s important to note that this pack was furious with Sabine for using their lives in the game to get Elijah to choose which loved one to save. Remember the plantation fire? Still, this whole ordeal went fairly well and was handled in a snap. Sabine had no issue with Hayley or these wolves, and she gladly performed the required ritual to enchant some special puppy chow for the next full moon. Could Hayley trust the potion gifted to her by Sabine? Elijah certainly didn’t seem to think so. Arriving in a flash and disappearing with the potion and Sabine in another, Elijah quickly learned the devastating truth. Sabine, the woman formerly known as Celeste, simply wants to ruin his existence. She wants to destroy his family not win him back, so why would she take out Hayley and innocent wolves in the process? She gave Hayley this special mix of herbs to free her from Elijah’s family. If he chose to smash the jar, she’d never forgive him. If he handed it over to her, she’d inevitably end up choosing her pack over him. In the end, I think we always knew Elijah would give Hayley the choice, and she was certainly ecstatic.
Back in 1919, Mikael rolled into New Orleans about six months following Genevieve’s spell that called him forward. Whoa, what a long delivery time! In any case, he quickly but covertly apprehended Marcel and began to set his plan into motion. As Klaus continued to fill Cami in during our time spent in the present during Episode 15, we learned that Elijah had always chosen to protect his brother from his father. I think the idea here is that the one time Elijah chose not to do so, the moment way back in the day when Mikael whipped Klaus upon learning of his true biological father while Elijah sat by idly, was the last time Elijah ever betrayed his brother. In 1919, Elijah nearly took a white oak stake to the heart himself in his quest to drive his father to leave. For those of you who don’t know, the white oak stake is the only weapon around that is capable of permanently killing an Original. Mikael had one back then. Klaus has a new one in the present, much to Cami’s shock, and he plans to use it on Rebekah as punishment for her crime.
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The most powerful scene back in 1919 was probably the moment in which Mikael first approached Klaus. While Klaus waited solo in a box at the opera, Mikael came up from behind. Throughout the entire scene, the two didn’t make eye contact. Instead, Klaus continued to look ahead with a mix of courage and fear as Mikael explained that he planned not only to kill his former son but to erase his existence from history completely. As it turned out, the entire theater was compelled to watch a bound Marcel suffer on stage as part of Mikael’s bloody display of all of Klaus’ allies. Before long, Klaus was joined by Rebekah and Elijah on stage in his effort to rescue his friend, but the three were no match for their father. The chaotic theater began to catch fire and eventually burst into flames. Marcel, who was securely tied for torture in this sadistic scene, seemingly couldn’t be saved. The Mikaelson children escaped to the outskirts of town in a hurry, only to watch the heart of their city, their home, burn to the ground from afar.
In the present, the attack with Thierry was partially successful. Marcel ripped Bastiana’s head from her shoulders in one fell swoop, but Genevieve overpowered the three of them and escaped with her life. The couple scurried off to the cemetery to discover whether or not Davina stirred back to life, but the death of Bastiana was to no avail. Well, I’m sure it felt good!
Elijah had made off with Sabine and the two shared another moment in the cemetery. This is where things got interesting. Sabine reminded Elijah that her spirit always lives on. She can simply do away with the body she currently inhabits in favor of someone new and exciting. Basically, Elijah will never know if a woman he loves in the future is Celeste or an actual true love. Personally, I was still a little confused as to how the whole “body jump” spell worked, but I digress. Eventually, the trap was revealed. Sabine had baited Elijah into taking her to the cemetery. The location was enchanted by a lunar spell, binding all Originals inside the quarters from leaving before the next moon. Rebekah, of course, had attempted to help Marcel swipe Davina’s corpse, rendering her trapped as well.
Cami attempted to convince Klaus not to essentially become his father. Just as Mikael had hunted him to no end, he planned to do the same to Rebekah. Though, to Klaus, a quick death is equal to mercy. Episode 15 ended with two shocking moments. First, Celeste decided that she’d grown tired of being "Sabine," jamming a broken shard of glass into her throat with one jab. Seriously, what a way to go. In any case, Monique Deveraux revealed herself at this point. Elijah had previously offered her a little wager in an effort to convince her of Celeste’s selfishness. She listened in on the entire scheme, realizing that Celeste never planned on returning her power to the coven, but instead, on simply jumping into a hot new body with it. Monique had performed one of Elijah's mother's spells that ensured that Celeste’s negative intentions would be punished. Celeste, the actual Celeste, awoke in her original form inside one of the mausoleums. There, she begged Elijah to show her mercy, though he merely stabbed her with the blade that had plagued Klaus prior, killing her. From afar, Davina awoke under Marcel’s protective watch. I was still confused as to why Celeste had a heavy accent in one body and absolutely none in the other.
Finally, Klaus arrived in the cemetery, white oak stake in hand, ready to destroy Rebekah.
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What did you think of The Originals Season 1 Episode 15, “Le Grand Guignol”? How will this be resolved? Now that there are still a few episodes left, will we be introduced to a new villain?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of The Originals Season 1 Episode 15, “Le Grand Guignol”!