The Originals recap: Where Nothing Stays Buried

There are many types of death on The Originals. Last week, Cami got a beautifully paced, drawn-out, emotional goodbye, complete with final farewells for every character. And this week, the show put its versatility on display with its expert handling of Davina’s death. Was it devastating? Absolutely. I will be hearing her screams in my head for weeks. But was it also a great, impactful story? Yes.

Act One: Marcel’s Mission

The episode starts as Marcel discovers Kol holding a dead Davina in his arms at the infirmary. After Marcel takes out his immediate anger on Kol, he gets an idea. “Witch spirits can be brought back from the dead, so that is exactly what we are going to do. We are going to bring her back.”

With that, we head to the compound, where Klaus still hasn’t brought himself to do anything with Cami’s body. At this point, he’s too focused on killing Lucien to deal with anything. As he puts it, there’s no time because “we’re at war.”

Downstairs, Vincent has discovered a spell to gather the serum Aurora took in her heart and extract it in order to destroy it. As for Freya, she thinks she’s found a way to kill Lucien. If Esther’s plan to kill the Originals was to reverse the spell she used to create them, then they just need to reverse the spell Vincent used to create Lucien. The twist? When Vincent performed that spell, he was nothing more than a conduit for the ancestors, which means they need a way to tap into the power of the ancestors.

But that will have to wait because Marcel calls Vincent for help with Davina. Vincent wants to consecrate Davina, but knowing they can’t send her to be with the ancestors — the very people who killed her — they realize they need Freya to help send Davina to a safe place. So just like that, Marcel and Kol head to ask for help.

Surprisingly, Klaus is fully willing to help. Freya quickly makes up a plan to draw Davina’s spirit to a circle where the ancestors can’t torment her, but in order to pull off that spell, Freya needs to channel an Original. And because of what the ancestors have done to him, it can’t be Kol. Just then, Freya’s early warning system goes off: Lucien is trying to draw Klaus out of the compound by going after Rebekah. And because Klaus is the only one who knows where Rebekah’s body is — he moved her so that not even Elijah knows her location — he has to be the one to leave the compound. And that means Freya will be channeling Elijah.

Act Two: Saving Davina

After Klaus asks Elijah to protect Kol from suffering the same loss he did, Klaus and Hayley hit the road to go retrieve Rebekah, who’s apparently buried in the bayou.

Once he gets the okay, Vincent begins consecrating Davina. And just as she starts being attacked by the ancestors, Freya successfully transports her to the circle in the middle of the compound.

When Davina mentions the green stone the ancestors tried to use to magically mark her, Kol knows exactly what she’s talking about. They tried to use it on him, but it wouldn’t work on his vampire soul. Its purpose? To shred a soul into pieces. If that happens to Davina, there will be no saving her. It’s the ancestor’s greatest punishment. But don’t worry, Kol promises to bring her back.

The only problem is that Freya has another idea. She can use Davina as a conduit to channel the energy of the ancestors. And if she does that, she’ll get the power she needs to reverse Lucien’s spell and make him killable again. But in doing so, she’ll break the circle that protects Davina, putting her at huge risk.

Elijah’s not a fan of risking Davina’s life, but Freya’s not sure they have a choice. And yet, when they call Klaus — the most evil of them all — he tells them to find another way. He recognizes that if they destroy Davina, they will lose Kol and Marcel and they can’t start turning on one another. It seems Cami might have rubbed off on Klaus after all. At least, that’s what Hayley’s thinking.

As Hayley and Klaus put Rebekah’s coffin in the back of the car, Klaus talks about the fact that there are a thousand things he forgot to say to Cami. And considering Elijah’s fragility at the moment, he urges Hayley not to make the same mistake. With this prophecy out there, it’s not smart to waste any time.

Back in the car, Hayley’s hesitant that Elijah still feels the same way after she’s spent so long pushing him away, but Klaus assures her that he does. And when he calls, she’s about to pick up the phone when Lucien crashes into their car. So just as Kol and Vincent capture Van Nguyen back at the compound, Elijah gets word that Lucien is in the bayou. Realizing they’ve run out of time, Freya and Elijah have a decision to make.

NEXT: Freya and Elijah make a decision that will change everything

Act Three: Family First

Standing with her surrogate father, Davina tells Marcel that this is not his fault. She’s not a kid anymore, and she made her own choices. “You didn’t let me down,” she assures him. “I just grew up.” She then thanks him for saving her the first time around, “and for everything else after.” She gets in one final “I love you, Marcel,” but just as he starts to say it back, Elijah pins him to a wall while Freya grabs hold of Davina. Elijah snaps Marcel’s neck as Freya uses Davina as a conduit to the ancestor’s magic. And in doing so, she allows the ancestors to get ahold of Davina and destroy her soul with the use of the green stone.

When Kol and Vincent make it back with Van Nyugen, they give it one last effort. Van Nguyen uses his power as regent to try to resurrect Davina, but when he tries, he simply can’t find her. “It’s like she wasn’t there at all,” he says. Davina’s gone.

Back in the bayou, Lucien is throwing Klaus through the walls of a house when Hayley wakes up and helps him. But things take a turn when Lucien gets his hand on Hayley’s heart. In order to spare Hayley’s life, Lucien tells Klaus to kneel before him. Klaus complies just long enough for Elijah to enter and save Hayley. Freya then uses the ancestor’s magic to strip Lucien of his magic. So as Elijah holds him, Klaus cuts his mouth open just as Lucien cut the mouths of his victims. Lucien gives one last warning that the Mikaelsons can’t outrun the prophecy before Klaus rips his heart out.

(Real talk: I know Lucien’s a villain but I am SO bummed he’s gone. Andrew Lees commanded the screen in that role. Plus, I love DMV jokes.)

Before they head back to the compound, they burn Lucien’s body, his death finally allowing Klaus to think about Cami’s wake. It should be held at Rousseau’s, he tells Hayley. Freya then catches him up on the difficult decision she and Elijah had to make.

Once home, Elijah and Klaus immediately find Marcel, who lists all of the things he’s done for this family this year alone: Joining the Strix, saving Hayley’s life, etc. But now, Marcel sees that the Trinity were right. “Anybody who’s not your family is nothing to you.” Elijah tries to explain that Marcel is family, but Marcel tells him that’s no longer the case. “Not anymore,” he says before he shoves Klaus away.

But he’s not the only one who’s done with the Mikaelsons. When Freya tries to go to Vincent, he informs her that she’s “just as much of a bloodsucker as the rest of them.” As for Kol, Davina’s death stops him from being the better version of himself, which makes it no surprise that he kills Van Nguyen.

Fractured by the emotional weight of the day, Elijah heads to one room while Klaus heads to another. In our Elijah Moment of the Week, Hayley finds Elijah and very simply rests her head on his shoulder as he kisses her forehead — one gesture saying so much. Meanwhile, Freya assures Klaus that he avenged Cami today. But as he points out, “And yet to do right by Camille we sacrificed someone she cared about.” Klaus tells his sister, “There is no victory to celebrate today. My demons won.” And although he did not create Lucien, he’s worried they’ve created an entirely new monster today.

Spoiler: They very well could have. When Vincent shows up at Marcel’s place, he sets the serum on the table. He successfully extracted it from Aurora’s heart. And now, he wants Marcel to drink it and become the thing the Mikaelson’s fear. In doing so, he can once again drive that family out of his town.

And Marcel doesn’t say no…

What did you think of the hour? Hit the comments with your thoughts or find me on Twitter @samhighfill. And be sure to check out Julie Plec’s blog, along with my chats with both Danielle Campbell and showrunner Michael Narducci about what just happened.