On this episode of The Originals, “I’ll See You in Hell or New Orleans,” Detective Kinney questions Lucien about the French Quarter murders, several vampires from the Mikaelsons’ past make their presence known, Marcel receives an offer that could reinstate him to his previous position of power and the story of the first vampire ever sired is told.
This week we get a little bit more backstory on Klaus’ relationship with Lucien. A flashback to the Court of Marseilles where the Mikaelson siblings are posing of the children as a counted, aided in their attempts to blend by Lucien.
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Klaus Betrays Lucien
Although Lucien is a humble servant, he has eyes for the lovely aristocratic Aurora, whose brother Tristan is apparently a serious asshole. For this reason, Lucien can only declare his love for Aurora via letters which he asks Klaus to deliver. Klaus doesn’t want to encourage the romance because he and his family have come to rely on Lucien.
Lucien tells Klaus that he and his siblings will be forced to leave soon because Kol is eating too many of the locals. Lucien says that he and Aurora can come with Klaus and company when they go.
Klaus told Lucien that Aurora would not accept his note, hoping to dissuade Lucien from pursuing it any further. This was a lie because Klaus was actually banging the Lady Aurora himself. And they weren’t super discreet about it either, because Lucien catches them getting hot and heavy in a hallway somewhere. I mean, they couldn’t have found someplace a little more off the beaten path? They’re living in a castle.
Aurora’s ladies in waiting report to the guards that she’s keeping company with a gentleman and the guards are alerted. Klaus wants to go toe-to-toe with Tristan, but Aurora loves her brother and pleads with him to go. Klaus escapes, but a devastated Lucien is crumpled up on the floor crying and must face Tristan’s wrath.
Elijah and Klaus Call a Truce
Back in the Quarter, Klaus has decided that Lucien poses a threat and must be killed. Elijah is down with the plan but wants to keep the old family friend around long enough to find out what he’s doing in New Orleans. Elijah is also intrigued about why Lucien would lie to Klaus about the wolf venom. Lucien lied to Klaus about the bite he received from Jackson because he had his own private stash of anti-venom.
Klaus is encouraged that his brother wants to work with him and questions Elijah if he’s finally forgiven him. Elijah says that he’ll consider it once Hayley does, Gia rises from the dead and hell freezes over. So that would be a “no.”
Lucien Declares His Innocence
Klaus and Elijah aren’t the only one interested in Lucien’s activities while he’s been in New Orleans. Detective Kinney brings the ancient vamp to the police station to answer a few questions.
Vincent and Cami are hanging out behind a one-way mirror. The interrogation yields no interesting results, but then again, it doesn’t last long either. Lucien knows that Cami is lurking around and compels Kinney to let them speak.
Lucien admits that he’s a nasty SOB but denies being the one responsible for these other killings. He also says that he, Cami and Vincent all have something in common. They are three souls caught in the orbit of the family Mikaelson, all alive to tell the tale and all with their fare share of scars.
It’s back to Marseilles, where Lucien is being savagely whipped. Klaus tries to intervene and pleads with Tristan to be lenient. Not only does Tristan refuse, but he lets Klaus know he’s onto him and his family.
Klaus has no choice but to relent, and then Tristan takes a knife and cuts Lucien’s face. It has the same distinct disfigurement suffered by the victims of the serial killer.
Needless to say, Lucien’s tale of woe only serves to confirm Cami and Vincent’s suspicions. They assume he’s killing young men of wealth and privilege as part of some revenge fantasy. But Lucien says that someone else is trying to make Lucien look guilty and cause bad blood between himself and Klaus.
Cami questions Lucien’s motives for telling her his story. She believes it’s because Lucien wants to make Klaus look bad in her eyes. Lucien thinks Cami as an ally and he can get Klaus to trust him. And while Cami thinks Lucien is holding a thousand year old grudge, Lucien assures her that time heals all wounds.
Secrets Revealed
Another flashback shows Klaus and Lucien discovering that Klaus’ blood has a healing quality. A fully-healed Lucien decides to take revenge on Tristan but is murdered by one of Tristan’s guards.
Klaus loses patience and decides to kill Tristan, but the sadistic Tristan has already figured out that the Mikaelson’s must be hiding from someone or something very nasty, and if any harm befalls him, he’s instructed riders to dispatch word throughout the countryside, convinced that whatever or whoever hunts them, will be alerted to their presence.
An Ancient Vampire Calls on Marcel
With a serial killer loose in the city, the vampires need to keep a low profile. Marcel tells a few of his most trusted cohorts that they’ll have to get their blood from hospitals and blood banks until things calm down. He’s confident that with Elijah and Klaus on the case, things will be resolved soon enough.
Enter a beautiful stranger. Her name is Aya, and she’s a fairly serious badass. She’s come with an offer. Marcel attacks, but she’s 300 years his senior. Since Marcel isn’t cooperating, Aya slashes his face with one of her impressive fingernails, and Marcel gets woozy and passes out.
More Visions
Elijah and Klaus arrive at Lucien’s penthouse, only to be informed by his little forecaster or fortune teller that Lucien is at the police station. She offers to give Elijah and Klaus another peek. A few things pop out, Lucien with Camille and Marcel. Klaus sends his brother to interrogate Marcel, and he’s off to prevent Lucien from sinking his teeth into his therapist.
The Strix
Marcel wakes up in an opulent mansion, and Aya has his full attention. Aya says she is part of an ancient order of vampires known as the Strix. They want to help Marcel regain his title as the “King of New Orleans.” It’s an intriguing offer, but their conversation is interrupted by Elijah, who found out from Josh that Marcel had been taken. Elijah and Aya go back a long way, in fact, he sired her.
Elijah dispenses with the pleasantries and puts his hand into Aya’s chest. He say he know shy she’s come. He’s interrupted by the entrance of Tristan.
Tristan tells Elijah that Lucien is very ambitious and wants to decimate Elijah’s sire line. The most economical way to do that would be to get rid of Elijah. But Tristan warns that it’s unlikely Lucien would do the deed himself. More likely, Lucien would convince Klaus it was in his best interests to murder his own brother.
Elijah informs Tristan that Klaus is on his way to kill Lucien, so, problem solved. But Tristan says Elijah must stop Klaus. Lucien’s little “seer” friend says that there is an object out there that can kill an Original, and it’s possible that it is already in Lucien’s possession. If he dies, they won’t be able to find out until another assassin finds it and tries to use it against them.
While the set up of this intricate storyline is condensed, to say the least, it rests entirely on the Mikaelsons ability to trust one another, and given how season 2 ended, the timing couldn’t be worse. Tristan and Lucien are delicious and duplicitous, and they are more intellectual adversaries than Mikael or Esther or Dahlia.
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The First Vampire Ever Sired
Klaus interrupts Vincent and Cami’s talk with Lucien. He wants to have a few words with his old friend, alone. Lucien swears that his only agenda is to protect Klaus, and their entire sire line. Klaus questions why Lucien would lie about the werewolf bite, and Lucien says he didn’t want to bother Nik with something he could cure himself. It’s obvious that the fact there’s another cure out there comes as a surprise to Klaus, but he doesn’t pursue it.
Another body is found, and since Lucien is present and accounted for, he’s free to leave. This also helps his argument that Tristan is trying to frame him as part of some diabolical plan to get to Klaus.
After leaving the station, Cami finds out that Lucien was the first vampire Klaus ever sired. (Now, here’s where I have to wag my finger at the writers. During the flashback when Klaus and Lucien discovered that Klaus’ blood had a healing quality, I never saw Lucien ingest it. Lucien stabbed Klaus after the severe beating he received from Tristan. Lucien was obviously still pissed about Aurora and not thrilled to be punished for Klaus’ indiscretion. The two struggled, so perhaps some blood flew into Lucien’s mouth, but he never drank it. In all of my years of watching The Vampire Diaries and The Originals combined, I’ve never known vampire blood to heal any other way than by ingestion.)
That being said, after Tristan’s guard killed Lucien, Elijah and Klaus were left to clean up the mess, and since Lucien had Klaus’ blood in his system, he woke up before they disposed of his body.
Klaus Tries to Make Amends
Elijah and Klaus compare notes and decide to let things play out a bit longer, perhaps figure out if there is another weapon that poses a threat after all.
Klaus finally apologizes for all his misdeeds: killing Gia, cursing Hayley, etc.. And he swears to Elijah that despite of what the prophesy has foretold, Elijah will not die by Klaus’ hand. Elijah doesn’t appear emotionally swayed by either Klaus’ apology or his promise.
Just in case I failed to cover anything in tonight’s opus-sized episode, here’s a few other tasty tidbits:
Elijah is suspicious that Marcel is in cahoots with Aya, and his distrust is not sitting well with Marcel. He may join forces with the Strix after all.
Tristan has had his sister stashed away in some remote monastery, kept under lock, key and heavy sedation. But while her brother has been away, Aurora has been at play, and she is on her way to New Orleans.
The Originals airs Thursdays at 8pm 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.
