The Originals recap: Out of the Easy

Here’s the thing about ancient vampires: They’ve spent so much of their lives as immortal predators that they can’t but have a heightened sense of self. Translation: They have big egos. So when you put a group of them in one room — particularly when said group is made of up many different personal relationships and alliances — things get dramatic real quick.

This Thanksgiving dinner was the perfect example of how the addition of the Trinity has made this season so great. By both reflecting the Mikaelsons while also bringing out new aspects in each of them, they’ve upped the stakes in a number of ways. And quite frankly, they’re also just plain fun to watch.

Act One: Where’s Rebekah?

Still reeling from the loss of Rebekah, Elijah is intent on finding his sister…and fast. He sends Marcel to secure Davina so that Tristan and Lucien cannot use her to activate their handy weapon. As for him, well, he heads home to find out why Klaus isn’t answering his phone.

It doesn’t take long for Aurora to catch Elijah up on her whole I-have-Rebekah-now plan, but just as Elijah thinks his brother could be blinded by his feelings for Aurora, Elijah and Klaus devise a plan. They’re going to do what they do best: Throw a dinner party and turn everyone against one another! It’s their specialty: fancy manipulation.

So while Marcel tries and fails to get Davina to agree to leave town, the Mikaelsons send out invitations to each member of the Trinity. Lucien leaves Cami at home — he’s still waiting on the vervain to fully leave her system so that he can compel her — but she’s not alone. Nope, she has a threatening vampire nanny to keep her company (not to mention that witch’s slutty clothes).

All gathering at the compound, we quickly get our Elijah Moment of the Week when he walks down the stairs in what might be one of his best suits to date to welcome everyone to dinner. It takes about 30 seconds for Elijah to call Tristan and Lucien out on their alliance, shush Lucien, and smirk the sort of smirk that would make me confess to a murder I didn’t commit. Shall we begin?

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Act Two: What’s everyone thankful for?

What you need to know about a Mikaelson family Thanksgiving is that it has five key ingredients: Turkey, cranberry sauce, lies, deceit, and betrayal. (Oh and Klaus’ stuffing, which apparently has too many walnuts for Elijah’s liking.)

Getting right to it, Tristan tries to explain why he and Lucien pretended to be enemies, or futhermore, why the Strix keeps murdering people and stringing them up like puppets. And yet, as Elijah’s patience wears thin, he gets straight to the point, demanding Rebekah’s return along with the medallion that can supposedly trap the Mikaelsons.

But when the Trinity laughs off threats of compulsion and just about everything else, it takes the arrival of a very frustrated Freya — who’s trying and failing to locate Rebekah with a spell — to really get the ball rolling. The long lost Mikaelson sister finally gets Aurora to admit Rebekah’s location: She’s currently one-upping Stefan Salvatore by spending her days at the bottom of the ocean. (Although, Stefan was drowning over and over, so maybe he still wins?)

With that revelation, each Mikaelson picks a mini-Mikaelson to torture: Klaus gets Tristan, Elijah gets Lucien, and Freya gets Aurora (with a little help from Hayley). Tristan tries to talk Klaus into letting his siblings be sealed away just until the prophecy ends, while Lucien tries another tactic: making Elijah question Klaus. Meanwhile, it’s Freya and Hayley who are getting physical with their more classic torture techniques, at least until Aurora reveals that they need both her and Tristan to find Rebekah. Turns out, she knows the latitude of Rebekah’s location…and he knows the longitude.

NEXT: Which team is Lucien on?

Act Three: A sibling for a sibling

Taking a brief break from the Mikaelson madness, Marcel goes to Vincent to ask for help with Davina. He knows that if she doesn’t help the Trinity, they’re going to kill her. Thankfully, Vincent has an idea, though it’s not something Davina will recover from anytime soon: Vincent gets Davina to confess to killing all those witches, and through a bit of magic, he broadcasts her confession to all the covens. The result: She’s banished, losing her title, her connection to the ancestors, and any connection to the witches of New Orleans. Translation: She’s lonelier now than when she lived alone in that attic.

Back at the compound, we’ve reached the point in the evening where fake pleasantries really just don’t cut it anymore. (Some people call it dessert.)

Klaus finally decides on a course of action: He breaks Tristan’s neck and tells Aurora that either she brings Rebekah home or Tristan will die…slowly. The way he sees it, it’s a sibling for a sibling. As for Lucien, well, he’s going to take Klaus to Cami or “meet an end so cruel the devil will weep.”

However, by the time Klaus shows up at Lucien’s penthouse, Cami has rescued herself. Only, her rescue ended with her coming face-to-face with a very jealous and emotionally unstable Aurora. So yeah, Cami ends the episode in the trunk of a car.

The one upside to Klaus visiting Lucien’s apartment? Lucien seemingly hands over the medallion as proof of his loyalty. I’m not sure what Lucien’s up to, but I think he’s my favorite mini-Mikaelson regardless.

Klaus, still on the hunt for Cami, gets a call from Elijah, who promptly asks if Klaus loves Aurora. He side-steps the question, claiming his affections aren’t the point, but what is the point is this prophecy…which Elijah is remembering. The Thanksgiving table he’s currently looking at? He’s seen it before. Yeah, this can’t be a good sign.

Last but not least, we catch up with Jackson, who’s pissed that Hayley missed the Thanksgiving meal he prepared for their family. Coming to the realization that Hayley will always go running when the Mikaelsons call, he heads to the bayou to spend the rest of the holiday with his family.

So what we have now is a number of families divided, which is the exact opposite of what the holidays are all about. And yet, when a prophecy predicts your entire family’s demise, I think it’s to be expected that things are a little less than traditional. And honestly, watching these families bicker is too good to complain about.

What did you all think of the hour? Hit the comments with your thoughts, or find me on Twitter @samhighfill.

Don’t forget to check out Julie Plec’s blog for inside scoop on the hour and how The Originals and The Vampire Diaries sometimes overlap.