New Orleans is getting a bit more crowded now that the curse has been lifted from the Crescent Wolves. Jackson has stepped up to fight for his pack’s place in the Quarter and Klaus has made an intriguing offer.
I spoke with Nathan Parsons (Jackson) on the phone about Jackson’s leadership, loyalty to his pack, Hayley, and the coming battle between the various factions. Read on for edited excerpts of our conversation.
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Jackson’s been aware of Hayley for years, but she’s just found out about him. What does he make of her now? Is she what he expected?
It’s tough. Jackson’s been watching her for years. And she’s been always in his eyes, been sort of this — she’s royalty. She’s the woman that he’s meant to be with that he’s supposed to bring into his family. Betrothals are kinda outdated at this point, but she is the last hope. There’s so much going on and it’s so frustrating because she is the last and brightest hope for us.
In the last episode, “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” there was a comment that he’s interested in her baby. Is he influenced by the fact that she’s pregnant?
Yes, I think to an extent. On a personal level, this child –a child is a beautiful thing, but it’s a child by a vampire and vampires for years have killed us, killed our family, they put a curse on us. And she goes and gets pregnant by one. It’s sort of infuriating, like how could you do that to you family.
But, we can’t blame her because she didn’t know anything about her family. And she didn’t know what it meant to be part of a pack. I think the interest in the child is — it’s going to be a hybrid too. And there’s also a way to connect with Klaus, Elijah and try to turn the wolf pack into where we belong on this thing. The child is an interesting little ruffle in what’s to come. I don’t know. When the thing gets born, what’s going to happen? When this little girl is born, does Hayley come back to us? Does she bring the baby back to us? Do we raise it? Is she going to stay with the vampires? What’s going to happen? I don’t know, but I’m very curious to find out.
Now that the wolves are trying to get back into the Quarter, which faction going forward will be the greatest threat to them?
At the moment, I’d say the vampires because they have the power. And they also have Klaus and Elijah and they can’t be killed. They are the greatest threat, but at the same time maybe because of this child, they’ll go easy on us. Maybe the witches will become a problem.
Elijah’s head is in the right place. I don’t know about Klaus. I don’t trust him. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Marcel is a problem. Our pack has hated him for years, he’s the one who cursed us. He’s the one who ordered us killed time and time again. As of right now, he’s the biggest enemy, but as a threat, I’d say is Elijah and Klaus.
Klaus made an offer to Jackson with the moonlight ring. Jackson didn’t seem to trust him, but is that something that will play out over the last few episodes of the season?
Yeah I think it will. Would you trust Klaus? He’s not the easiest guy to trust, but that is such a great way for us to get back into the power and the place in that city where we deserve to be. He’s dangling a carrot, but it’s a really enticing carrot and I don’t know how far Jackson would be willing to go.
It almost seems like Klaus is positioning himself to take Jackson’s leadership role away and take control of the werewolf pack. Is that something that would be possible in the world of the pack?
I would like to believe no, but he’s a hybrid. He knows something about werewolves. For Jackson, he doesn’t trust Klaus in terms of what’s best for his people. He’s not going to put that burden or responsibility on anyone else. He wants it, he needs it, he owns it. Jackson owns that responsibility to his family. And if someone tries to take that away, that’s almost the worst thing you could do to a werewolf is to take their pack away. Wolves are so rooted in their family, in that pack, that to have it ripped away and misused potentially harmed in any way that would just make you sick. I mean, if he tries it, that could be a problem.
Is there anyone Jackson can trust outside his pack?
No. Not at that moment. I think, Hayley. She’s not really part of the pack, but she’s supposed to be. She’s probably the closest to it. At the moment, his pack is all he has. And in his mind, he’s the only thing his pack has keeping them together and keeping them alive throughout all the trying times they’ve had and all of the crap that Marcel has put them through. He’s kept them alive and held them together. No, the pack is it for Jackson.
In the “The Big Uneasy,” Jackson is going to be a peacemaker between the werewolves and the vampires. Does he go into that believing a peace is truly possible?
I think he does. There’s some sort of connection that he has with Elijah, be it through Hayley, or just in terms of the responsibility that they both bear. Elijah’s family is probably more messed up than werewolf pack is, but he’s helped for a 1000 years. And he’s done that by being smart and thinking things through. Jackson is very similar in that regard. He’s held his pack together through all of the torment and all of the horrors that they’ve experienced by thinking it through and being rational. So maybe there’s a chance for Elijah and Jackson to find common ground and really, actually see eye-to-eye for a minute.
Anything else you want to tease about what’s coming up for Jackson?
Everything this season is spiraling towards really all out war between the witches, the humans, the vampires and the werewolves. And Jackson is working desperately to try and avoid that. It would be disastrous for his pack because they are so weakened at this point that he may be willing to, I don’t know, do some things that he would otherwise not do. They are backed into a wall right now. If war is going to happen, they’re not going to back down, but unless they get some kind of leverage they aren’t going to do well either. I think that’s the difficult position that Jackson’s being put in going forward.
The Originals airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET on the CW.
(Image courtesy of the CW.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
