On the winter finale of The Originals, “Savior,” Rebekah returns to New Orleans, but she faces a new threat, Klaus and Cami help Kinney who is unraveling due to Lucien’s compulsion, The Strix attack Freya, and Vincent makes an important decision regarding his future.
With the aid of some very unsavory fishermen/treasure hunters/pirates, Elijah retrieves Rebekah from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. While being daggered is usually a painless affair, the stake The Strix used had a different effect. Rebekah was completely aware of her surrounds, able to see and feel and hear everything. And for a vampire who hasn’t eaten in weeks, that’s not a pleasant way to slumber.
The Search for a New Regent
Tristan, recovered from his time he was held hostage by the Mikaelsons, is back on track to take down the Originals. He tells Marcel The Strix need the witches to pick a new Regent, but Marcel says that with Davina being shunned and Josephine murdered, nobody is clamoring to take the job. Tristan makes it clear that The Strix aren’t big on waiting for things to happen as much as they are on making them happen. They want to install an ally in the position, but Marcel questions where the ancient order of vamps will find a witch willing to do their bidding. Tristan already has a candidate, Van Nguyen. He was the witch whose mother, Kara, was killed by Davina. He also helped take Davina down.
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Lucien’s Mind Games Threaten to Destroy Kinney
Cami leaves the comfy Mikaelson compound to meet up with Vincent. Apparently, Lucien’s compulsion of Detective Kinney is having the desired effect. Vincent tells Cami the cop started having blackouts, going MIA when he was supposed to be on duty, arrests and missing evidence he can’t explain and so on and so forth. So Kinney eventually lost his job and has gone into seclusion. He refuses to take Vincent’s phone calls, so Cami offers to make a house call.
She arrives at Kinney’s house only to be surprised by Klaus. There’s no way he’s letting his favorite therapist out of his sight as long as Aurora is still on the loose. Kinney refuses to answer the door, but the upside to hanging with a vamp is that super sense of hearing. Klaus hears the click of a gun and kicks open the door. Kinney was just about to blow his own head off before he was so rudely interrupted.
When Cami rushes in, Kinney turns the gun on her. Kinney is a mess and recites words Lucien said to the now ex-cop about how he is no match to fight the things that linger in the dark and all that crap.
Cami asks Klaus if there’s anything he can do. Although Klaus can not undo Lucien’s compulsion, he can water it down with a more upbeat one of his own. Kinney’s feelings of worthlessness is now tempered with the belief that he does matter.
Jackson is Drawn Into the Mikaelsons’ Drama
Things have been rough between Hayley and Jackson. Tired of Hayley always running to help the Mikaelsons any time they call, Jackson took off for the bayou to spend time with his “real family.” Hayley gave him his space, but with Christmas quickly approaching, she seeks him out, hoping to convince him to come home.
Jackson isn’t eager to return to the apartment Elijah procured for them or to the bedroom that faces Elijah’s library. Jackson questions if Hayley is in love with E, and she reminds Jackson he knew the deal when they got married.
But it’s been a year, and after being as loyal to Hayley as a lap dog. Jackson is feeling a bit pussy whipped. Hayley says her feelings for Elijah are “complicated,” but it doesn’t mean she loves Jackson any less. She chose Jackson and continues to do so every day. Can’t that be enough?
Hayley plays the crappy childhood card. She never had a good Christmas growing up, so she wants to make her first one with Hope special, and that includes Jackson being present and accounted for. Not out in the bayou humping a tree trunk. She swears that she will steer clear of the Mikaelsons at all costs if Jackson will just come home.
Jackson returns to New Orleans and immediately finds himself immersed in Mikaelson family business. As he’s unloading a Christmas tree, he notices a very determined-looking Freya heading down the street. He also sees that she’s being followed by some rather shady-looking gentleman. Freya enters a parking lot and finds herself under attack. She snaps one guy’s neck, no problem. But another large thug bests her pretty quickly. Tristan’s men no doubt. A third appears and takes the medallion from her.
Freya gets knocked cold, but Jackson comes to her rescue and takes out her attackers. He takes Freya home and immediately calls Hayley. Freya’s pretty banged up and needs some vamp blood.
The Strix Target the Mikaelson Sisters
Freya tells Jackson and Hayley that The Strix stole the medallion. It turns out she had a good reason for carrying it around. She was on her way to meet with a witch from the bloodline who built the lock, hoping there was a way to destroy it. Of course, there’s not. The only way to get rid of it is to use it. Freya says they need to get it back and lock something away, anything but her family.
As if the Mikaelson siblings don’t have enough problems, Elijah returns with Rebekah, but she’s not quite her old self. Aya’s stake was curse, and Beks is “infected.” There’s a mark on Rebekah’s arm, and Freya informs her sister that as the mark grows, she’ll go mad. But if we’ve learned anything from The Originals is that we all go a little mad sometimes.
Good thing Beks has a little sister who is a very powerful witch. The spell is carved on the stake, and Freya can reverse it. Well, she could if she didn’t pass out. Elijah sees a mark on Freya’s neck and realizes she’s been poisoned.
Elijah makes it his top priority to find a cure while Freya sends Hayley and Jackson to procure the objects she’ll need to cure Beks. Because Freya is so weak, she’ll have to channel Finn’s power. I had forgotten, or maybe I never realized, Finn’s soul/spirit was being held captive in a necklace around Freya’s neck. That’s where she drudged him up from recently.
You’ll have to excuse this oversight, but it is difficult to keep up with all the comings and goings and deaths and rebirths of the Original family.
Elijah calls Klaus for help. Klaus is convinced Lucien probably has the antidote, and he and Cami go off to fetch it.
Rebekah’s Curse Takes Hold
Hayley and Rebekah have a bit of a row over Hayley’s sometimes wavering allegiance to the Mikaelson clan. This is crazy Beks talking, not the buxom blonde we all adore. Rebekah also “scolds” Hayley for toying with Elijah’s emotions and accuses her for being the thing that tore her brothers apart. If the prophesy comes to pass, it will be because of Hayley.
Since nobody in the Mikaelson family knows how to use their words, Beks attacks Hayley, and the two go over a balcony and land in the courtyard below. Elijah intervenes, but Beks snaps his neck. As Rebekah sticks her hand into Hayley’s chest to rip our her heart, Klaus arrives to deal with his troubled little sister.
Klaus hands off the antidote to Hayley, and Jackson administers it Pulp Fiction style with a needle jammed into Freya’s chest. She immediately springs into action, and cures Rebekah.
Klaus Admits His True Feelings to Cami
It’s a Christmas miracle, and all the mess is cleaned up in time for the family to celebrate the holiday together. Even Jackson relents, and he and Hayley and Hope join in on all the wholesome blood-sucking fun.
Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus even engage in their tradition of making a wish and throwing it into a small but tasteful and elegant bonfire. With their enemies still plotting against them, Klaus believes it best everyone believe Beks is still safely tucked away, so once again, Rebekah will leave New Orleans.
Klaus and Cami have been giving each other longing glances all day, and Cami is really weak in the knees that Klaus helped out the disturbed former Detective Kinney. At long last, he basically declares his love for her. A whole lot of prose, and I have neither the room, the memory nor the time. Let’s just say that Klaus can be a sweet talker when he wants to. And, finally, the two share a kiss.
Vincent Becomes Regent
Marcel finds Vincent working out at the St. Anne’s gym, and he’s got a bone to pick with the former witch. Van Nguyen’s family lost their business, and he’s not able to put food the on the table for his sisters. Tristan gave Nguyen fifty thousand dollars, and tonight, the young witch will ascend to the Regency.
Marcel is pissed that Vincent refuses to step up to the plate and take the position that is rightfully his. Vincent points out that witch business isn’t Marcel’s business so he should back off. Marcel keeps pushing, and a bit of the power Vincent has been holding back slips out. All he really does it take out a bunch of light bulbs.
Vincent decides he’s going to take back the Regency, but Marcel probably isn’t going to like what he does with it.
As Marcel cleans up all the broken glass from Vincent’s tantrum, Tristan stops by with some news. It appears the ancestors have rejected Nguyen as Regent. Those damn dead witches. Tristan figures Marcel is a man in the know and asks who got the job instead. Marcel tells him it’s Vincent, and unlike Nguyen, he won’t be easily bought.
Vincent is in the cemetery pleading with the ancestors for guidance. Tristan arrives with some lackeys before the wax has even melted on the ritualistic candles. Vincent says that normal people may not be able to enforce justice on vampires, but he will.
Tristan is amused by a vigilante witch who doesn’t fear vampires, but he knows someone that does scare Vincent. It seems Tristan has gotten a hold of Freya’s necklace, the one with her brother Finn inside. If Vincent doesn’t play nice, Tristan will put Finn right back in his body.
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Part of the Prophecy is Fulfilled
As Klaus starts working his way towards third base with Cami, Elijah has a secret meeting with Rebekah. As she was on her way to the airport, she had an overwhelming urge to rip out the cab driver’s throat. It looks as if her curse remains securely in place.
Beks fears Freya won’t be able to find a cure before she goes completely off the rails, and Beks doesn’t really want to run anymore anyway. The best course of action is for Elijah to dagger her, stopping the curse from progressing and hide her body. Rebekah makes Elijah swear not to tell Nik. She feels her brother deserves at least a brief respite from misery.
When the year that the prophecy foretold is over, Elijah gets Freya to whip up a spell to cure Beks, and E can wake her up and throw one hell of a party. Elijah doesn’t want to do it, but Beks argues that maybe the only way to deal with the prophecy is to embrace it, control it. When she’s buried, the family part of the prophecy will be over. The remaining family members will be able to trust each other again.
Even though it breaks his heart, Elijah grants Rebekah’s request.
Things take an even darker turn when Klaus awakens next to Cami, only to discover her throat has been slit from ear to ear.
The Originals returns with new episodes on Fridays starting January 29 on The CW.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
