On this episode of The Originals, “A Walk on the Wild Side,” Marcel undergoes an initiation to become a member of The Strix. Klaus, Lucien and Freya join forces to locate something very precious to Lucien. Tristan’s sister arrives in New Orleans.
Every year The Strix celebrate how great they are, and once in a while, when they identify someone worthy of their attention, that person receives an invite. This time, it’s Marcel. Tristan calls Marcel personally, enticing Marcel with promises of power beyond his wildest dreams; power that extends beyond New Orleans.
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Hayley Learns About the Prophesy
Also on the guest list is Elijah. His invitation is delivered to St. Anne’s church/fight club via Hayley, who intercepted it while picking up Hope. She’s very interested in finding out more about The Strix. Elijah isn’t in a sharing mood, but Hayley reminds him she’s a member of the family and should be in the know.
At the Mikaelson compound, Klaus is trying to lay down some house rules with Freya. It seems she’s making up for lost time by engaging in numerous one-night stands. This doesn’t thrill her brother, who likes to keep close tabs on whomever enters his home and with good reason given someone or something is always trying to kill him.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Elijah and Hayley. Hayley has been made privy to a few things that she’s missed between being cursed and working out a bizarre shared custody arrangement with her baby daddy.
Hayley is aware that Tristan and Lucien are in town, and it’s unclear which one of Klaus’ long lost buddies he can trust, and which one is trying to kill him. Klaus assumes Elijah has also spilled the beans about the prophesy, but E had failed to get that far.
Klaus explains that Lucien has been trying to prove his good intentions by introducing Klaus to his seer, Alexis, who has shown him some rather dire visions of future doom, grim stuff really. Hayley questions whose doom they are discussing, because if it’s Klaus, she’s fairly certain the rest of the family will be okay with it.
Klaus says they are all on the chopping block, but there is an upside. This seer/witch claims her visions are constantly evolving, so Hayley just might get her wish. Hayley says she wants to meet the psychic witch.
Alexis Goes Missing
Klaus hunts down Lucien, who is enjoying all the debauchery the Quarter has to offer. Things are rowdier than usual it being Halloween and all. Klaus wants to see Alexis and find out if anything has snapped into focus regarding the threat against the Mikaelsons.
When they arrive at Lucien’s penthouse, Alexis is nowhere to be found and Lucien gets visibly upset. Alexis is a bit of a shut in. She doesn’t go out much, she’s far too sensitive. If she’s gone, it’s because someone took her.
Klaus calls upon Freya to help try and locate Alexis. Lucien has gotten himself quite worked up at the prospect of Tristan getting his hands on the seer. Klaus insinuates that Alexis is a bit free and easy when it comes to handing out prophesies, but Lucien swears Alexis would never reveal anything to Tristan.
Freya does a locator spell that shows Alexis to be at the Davilla Estate, which happens to be the current home base of The Strix. Lucien asks Klaus how they are supposed to fight their way into an entire secret society of ancient vampires. Luckily, Klaus has a plan.
The Strix Throw a Killer Party
Elijah decides to attend The Strix’s decadent costume bash, and Hayley accompanies him. The chemistry between the two is still palpable, even though Hayley had some very sexy, sweaty sex with hubby Jackson just a few days prior.
Their entrance causes quite a stir, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Hayley. Elijah explains that most of the attendees are part of his sire line. There was a time when Elijah wanted to assemble minds curious about the world and to improve it; an elite brotherhood devoted to a new, better civilization. He was forced to abandon them once he realized he had cultivated a legion of ego-maniacal sociopaths.
Also at the party is Marcel, and he’s being charmed by Aya. She lets Marcel know that The Strix are the top of the food chain, the smartest, the strongest, and they take what they want. Tristan has been the collector of extraordinary talent for the better part of a millennium. Tristan chooses the best of the best and helps them evolve, according to Aya. Were Marcel to join the Strix, he would be the first member sired from Klaus.
Aya tells Klaus The Strix believes Marcel could bridge the gap between the sire lines and put the war to bed.
While waiting for Tristan to make an appearance, Elijah and Hayley take to the dance floor, and who should they spy with their little eyes but Marcel. Marcel is a bit rattled. He obviously didn’t expect Elijah to be among the party goers. Elijah reveals to Hayley that they aren’t at just some party but rather an initiation.
Tristan decides to make his grand entrance. Tristan gives Marcel a special shout out, and then announces that before they divulge all of their secrets, Marcel has to determine his worth. Marcel is a bit put out and reminds Tristan that he is the one who came knocking on Marcel’s door.
Tristan’s response is to inform Marcel that throughout the course of the evening, someone has managed to take his daylight ring. Marcel has to deduce the identity of the thief and take back what is his. But this won’t be an easy feat, because despite their refinement, The Strix are a rather violent bunch. If victorious, Marcel becomes a member of the society, if he fails, he dies.
Marcel is faced with a rather daunting task and only a few hours to complete it. But before trying to best a vampire far older and far stronger than himself, he has a chat with Elijah. Elijah tells Marcel he could have warned him, had Marcel told Elijah the truth. Marcel says he didn’t tell Elijah he was coming to the party, but before he can finish his sentence, Elijah states because he wouldn’t have “allowed” it. That word doesn’t sit well with Marcel who makes it known to Elijah that he thought he’d earned the right to be considered an equal, but that isn’t how things work in the Mikaelson family. This led Marcel to believe it was time to consider his options.
Elijah tells Marcel that these “options” he describes are a death sentence. Elijah is convinced he will have to intervene, but Marcel tells him that he’s got the situation under control.
Marcel confronts Aya. He tells her that what he has built in New Orleans may seem small to her, but he and his fellow vamps abide by a simple code: they don’t kill each other. Aya responds that death is inevitable, even for vampires. By acknowledging that fact, it makes even the longest of lives more intoxicating.
The two begin to kiss, but it quickly becomes apparent that Marcel is using the opportunity to cop a feel to determine if Aya has his ring. She sees through his game and applauds his efforts. Aya makes it known that she does not have what he is looking for.
Tristan has turned his attention to Hayley. She is of interest to him because of her hybrid status. The only one among them whose survival is not reliant upon the Mikaelsons. She’s one of a kind.
The Kiss of Death
As if this party isn’t exciting enough, Klaus and Tristen bust in like a couple of drunken frat boys. They serve as a distraction while Freya goes to retrieve Alexis. There’s just one problem, Natalie isn’t interested in being rescued. Things have become clearer, possible outcomes stripped away, and the definitive picture of what is to come has emerged. Alexis watched Klaus be destroyed, and she knows exactly how it’s done.
Freya tries to play rough, but Alexis is one step ahead. Alexis is able to subdue Freya long enough to kiss her, and in doing so, gives Freya a peek at her own future, and it doesn’t look good. Natalie warns Freya that the family she was so desperate to find will be her undoing.
Freya decides that she’s had enough of this bitch witch and takes Alexis down the old-fashioned way. She punches her in the face and knocks her out cold.
Tristan and Klaus have the drunken buffoon act down pat. Elijah intervenes and kindly asks his brother to leave. We know Klaus wouldn’t back down if he wasn’t confident Frey had done her part, so he turns and leaves with little fuss and zero muss.
Marcel Proves His Worth
The time comes for Marcel to prove himself. It is revealed that Aya did take Marcel’s ring, but she did not keep it. She handed it off to a very nasty creature named Mohinder. Mohinder is a warrior of sorts and only drinks the blood of the vampires he kills.
Next comes the hard part. A fight ensues, and Marcel is definitely getting his ass handed to him until Mohinder decides to spoil his dinner by taking bite out of Marcel. Marcel has a bit of wolf venom in his blood, courtesy of Hayley.
Marcel knows The Strix wanted Mohinder dead. Aya mentioned the lethal vamp had trained her, and Marcel got an idea of what to expect after watching her take down his little posse the day they met. Aya also clued Marcel in on Mohinder’s feeding habits.
Whatever the reason for this sick little game, Marcel refuses to finish Mohinder off telling Tristan he can do his own dirty work. Tristan calmly approaches Mohinder and rips the vampire’s heart out of his chest. Not terribly creative but always effective.
Tristan assures Marcel that Mohinder had it coming, and the fact that Marcel refused to kill without cause demonstrates a rare integrity. Tristan returns Marcel’s ring and welcomes him to The Strix.
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She Didn’t See That Coming
Marcel’s glorious moment is short-lived though. He gets an earful from Klaus when he goes to see him for his blood. Marcel says his interest in The Strix is because of Klaus. Marcel doesn’t have the luxury of choosing a side. He was sired by Klaus.
Klaus agrees that whoever comes after him, comes after Marcel, but Klaus warns they could come through him as well. (I’m not going to lie, I’m not sure what the hell that means. Give me a week to sit with it, and I’ll get back to you.)
Alexis wakes up with a nasty shiner but in a much less bitchy mood. She apologizes to Lucien and once again confirms that she has seen Klaus’ demise. She offers Hayley and Elijah her arms, and as they feed, there are more visions but it’s a jumble. All of a sudden, Elijah and Hayley stop feeding, declaring Alexis has been poisoned, and the seer drops dead seconds later.
Elijah goes to see Tristan, who claims it was Lucien who killed Natalie. His promises that her visions would become more specific were bunk. Lucien’s accusations against Tristan rested solely on the seer. If she didn’t produce some detailed info, Lucien became less credible. Removing Natalie from the equation was Lucien’s next best play.
What nobody knows is that Aurora has arrived in town, and her first order of business was to kill Natalie.
The Originals airs Thursdays at 9pm 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.
