Klaus is hosting a dinner for Marcel and some of his crew at his new/old home, the Compound. He toasts to immortality, then babbles about how vampires and their heightened emotions. Hayley’s also in attendance and is probably wondering if there’s anything on the menu other than human blood.
Marcel remembers talking to Rebekah in the Garden about how he needs to pretend to be loyal to Klaus now. Marcel doesn’t think Klaus will trust him now that he knows about the plan to stick him in the Garden. But Rebekah thinks Klaus wants Marcel’s allegiance more than anything. If Marcel fakes it, Klaus will go along. If Marcel gives Klaus a reason to doubt him, Klaus will strike. Marcel needs to be careful and focus on staying alive.
Marcel raises a glass along with Klaus in the present, while Diego remembers talking to Marcel about their new king. Marcel promises that this isn’t the end of his reign, and the crew just needs to follow his lead. So Diego raises a glass as well, and the other guests follow suit. Well, not Hayley. Klaus tells his guests that he wants them to know they haven’t been defeated. This dinner is to celebrate the community Marcel has built over the past 100 years.
Diego asks about Hayley. She’s sitting right there, dude. Klaus confirms the rumor that she’s pregnant with his child and says he knows the crew will treat her with the respect she deserves. He’s not going to use the baby’s blood to create hybrids. “Father of the year,” Hayley snarks. Klaus doesn’t think anyone has been swayed, so he comes up with a new tack for convincing him that there will be no hybrids other than himself: You can’t make hybrids without werewolves, so he wants the crew to kill the ones in the bayou. Hayley’s not happy about that.
The next day, Rebekah oversees the movers who are taking Klaus’ things from Mikaelson Mansion to the Compound. She can’t believe that he’s mad about the one time in a million they believed the worst about him and were wrong. Elijah announces that he’s going to make sure Hayley isn’t paying for his and Rebekah’s mistakes. He doesn’t trust that she’s safe with Klaus.
Klaus does another memoir session with Cami, telling her about how he bit Elijah and left him in the bayou. She doesn’t know why he still needs her help if he’s running the Quarter again. Listen, the man still needs therapy. Just humor him. Marcel shows up, and Klaus and Cami explain how she knows their secrets but has been compelled to forget everything when she’s not around Klaus. Marcel guesses that Klaus also compelled her to go out with Marcel. Klaus clarifies that he compelled Cami to give Marcel a chance. If she developed feelings for him, that was on her own. “And for the record, the level of awkwardness we’re all experiencing is entirely genuine,” he adds. Heh.
Cami shows Klaus the picture she found of him and Marcel from 1919. She’s angry with him for messing with her mind and making her doubt her sanity. He compels her to forget about the picture and everything she knows about vampires.
Hayley tries to sneak out of the Compound, but Diego stops her. Elijah appears and knocks him out. Hayley warns that his men are watching her, but Elijah casually says they don’t need to worry. That’s because Rebekah’s also there, and she’s knocking out the rest of Hayley’s bodyguards. Hayley assures the Mikaelsons that she’s safe and under Klaus’ protection. However, she wants them to save the werewolves from the crew. Rebekah doesn’t care about them, but Hayley doesn’t want to lose the family she’s finally found after years of looking.
Marcel tells Klaus that the human faction has called a meeting. Klaus isn’t interested in dealing with them, but Marcel has found that working with them helps keep things in the Quarter peaceful. Klaus would rather reminisce about the night the picture from 1919 was taken. They were at an opera house that subsequently burned. It was the end of an era.
Now they’re facing a new one, so Klaus wants to make some confessions. First, he set up Thierry. Second, the stuff with Cami, which Marcel already knows about. Third, Klaus has been compelling Josh from the beginning, though he guesses Marcel knows that, too, since he had Josh lead him into a trap. Fourth, Klaus wants to move Davina into the Compound. Marcel doesn’t think that’s a good idea, since his last attempt to relocate her didn’t go well. Klaus reveals that she tricked Marcel into letting her stay put so she could stay in touch with Elijah and get spells from Esther’s grimoires. Marcel thanks Klaus for his honesty.
Cami goes home and finds a note she left herself: “Believe nothing Klaus tells you.” Another note tells her to look in the inside pocket of her bag. She finds a recorder, which captured her whole memoir session with Klaus. So now Cami knows about vampires again.
At St. Anne’s, Marcel tries to convince Davina that moving to the Compound will be great. He busts her for her deal with Elijah and chastises her for lying when he’s trying to protect her. She needs to stay with Marcel and Klaus so the witches can’t find her. Klaus joins them and tries to connect with Davina over her interest in art. Davina is devoted to Marcel, and Marcel is devoted to Klaus, so Klaus is sure that Davina wants what’s best for all of them.
Downstairs, the human faction has gathered for their meeting with Klaus and Marcel. Kieran mediates, saying the humans want assurance that the baby won’t mean additional danger for the locals. The police chief says they’re fine with the “freaks” doing whatever they want as long as the tourist dollars keep flowing.
Kieran reminds Klaus and Marcel of the rules: No one can feed on locals, and they need to keep a low profile. There’s been peace in the past, so he’s sure it can be maintained. But if the vampires cross the line, they’ll have to answer to the humans. Klaus is never going to be submissive to the human faction, so he presents his own rules: They’ll take whatever scraps Klaus gives them and be grateful. If they’re not, well, there are plenty of places in the bayou to bury their bodies. (Klaus doesn’t say that, but I think we can all safely assume it’s what he’s thinking.)
Speaking of the bayou, the vampires are there, looking for wolves to kill. Elijah and Rebekah arrive and tell them to find a new place to hunt. The clan they’re after needs to be left alone. Diego backs down and the vampires leave, but Elijah has more business to conduct. He senses Eve nearby and goes to talk to her. Eve says to tell Hayley that she appreciates her concern, but the werewolves can look out for themselves just fine. No one finds them if they don’t want to be. “Well, we found you, so…,” Rebekah says. Heh. Eve has a reason for that, though – she has something for the Mikaelsons.
Klaus and Marcel have a post-meeting drink at the Pit, one of them pleased with how things went with the humans and the other…not so much. The police chief calls Klaus to tell him the humans have made a decision about his terms. Suddenly the windows shatter from the outside. The sun is out, so the vampires without daylight rings catch fire. Bullets fly through the windows.
After the chaos has died down, Marcel takes in the aftermath, which includes some charred skeletons. He tells Klaus the crew is his now, so he’s responsible for their deaths. They need to mean something to Klaus or no one will follow him. Klaus is happy to see Marcel lashing out instead of just being submissive. Admittedly, Klaus underestimated the human faction. Now that they’ve struck first, he wants to know how Marcel would respond in his place. “Let’s go kill them all,” Marcel replies.
Eve shows Rebekah and Elijah a map of the area and says werewolves are coming all over to catch a glimpse of Hayley and her miracle pregnancy. Eve is worried that they don’t know the area well enough to hide from vampires. Rebekah doesn’t care, but Eve thinks she should.
Davina goes looking for Josh at the Compound; he’s hoping to leave before Klaus finds him, but he has to wait until the sun goes down. She assures him that he can trust Marcel. If Klaus tries to hurt Josh, Davina will hurt him. Hayley interrupts, saying that if Davina could actually hurt Klaus, she would have done it already. Davina IDs Hayley, though she thinks Hayley is Klaus’ wife, a concept that makes Hayley recoil. She knows all about Davina and Josh, and she wants to team up with them so they can look out for each other.
Cami summons Kieran to her apartment, where she’s gathered books on vampires. She plays the recording for him and says she doesn’t remember the conversation it captured. She thinks Klaus is using mind control to erase her memories. Kieran takes a call informing him of the attack on the Pit and rushes off. He meets the human faction at Rousseau’s and complains that they acted without his knowledge. They’re going to end up starting a war. The mayor and police chief laugh off his concerns.
The chief says this is the last time Kieran calls a meeting. Kieran’s confused, since he thought one of the other humans called the meeting. Klaus arrives and says he was the organizer. He regrets not listening to Marcel before their earlier meeting. That won’t happen again. He calls in Marcel, who kills the police chief.
After the rest of the faction is dead (Klaus plans to explain all the deaths with a cover story about a boat accident and explosion) and the vampires have satisfied their appetites, they turn to Kieran. Marcel thinks he’s more useful alive than dead. Plus, he doesn’t want Cami to lose someone else she cares about. Klaus agrees to let Kieran live, telling him to rebuild the human faction. Then they’ll reopen negotiations.
Back in the bayou, Elijah and Rebekah find a campsite where some werewolves have been staying, though no wolves are there now. Rebekah thinks Elijah’s only looking for them to impress Hayley. He denies that, but he doesn’t have any other explanation for what he’s doing. I think Rebekah thinks it’s cute. And as annoyed as Elijah pretends to be about her bugging him about having a crush, I think he enjoys it a little.
They hear yelling, and suddenly the vampires run to the campsite, chasing a werewolf (still in human form). Elijah grabs Diego and jokes that they have to stop meeting like this or people will start to talk. He tells the vampires to leave or become the victims of two ticked-off Originals. The vampires go, and Elijah and Rebekah are left with the werewolf, Cary.
Klaus and Marcel return to the Compound, pleased with their show of unity. Klaus knows Marcel is faking his friendship, but once upon a time, it was real. Marcel says he pledged loyalty, not friendship. That second one has to be earned. Klaus accepts that and admits that he had no choice but to dethrone Marcel – the witches threatened to kill the baby if he didn’t. Mikael’s hatred of Klaus and Marcel’s hatred of his father made Klaus decide to be different with his own child.
Marcel confirms that all of Klaus’ actions since returning to New Orleans were out of his control. Does that mean Marcel should just let them go? Klaus admits to being jealous of what Marcel created without him. Marcel says he didn’t get everything on his own. Klaus freed him from his father and taught him that a man can only be defined by himself. Marcel asks what’s next. Klaus says Marcel has his community’s respect, so Klaus can’t be in charge without Marcel’s help. He wants them to rule together, as friends and equals – as brothers. Well, of course Marcel isn’t going to say no to that!
Hayley finds Klaus later and blasts him for ordering her family’s deaths. He notes that her family hasn’t done her any good. They abandoned her. Now she can do the same to them. Hayley thinks they had reasons for leaving her. Klaus says he has reasons, too – without the werewolves around, the vampires won’t want to come after Hayley. This is for her protection. Hayley asks if that protection extends beyond the baby’s birth. Nope, doesn’t look like it! She vows to get revenge on Klaus for this move, since he can’t do anything to her while she’s carrying his child.
She goes to Davina’s new room, where Davina’s looking through her boxes for Tim’s violin. She thinks she left it in the attic, but she doesn’t want to risk going back to get it since the witches are after her. Hayley knows about that and tells her that Agnes is dead. That means there are no more elders in the coven, so Davina’s safe. Davina doesn’t believe this – Marcel would have told her if she were safe. Hayley must want something from her, like everyone else. Actually, she does: She wants Davina to find a loophole in the curse that keeps the bayou werewolves from being human when there’s no full moon. But Hayley would just ask for that instead of lying to get what she wants, which is why she’s different from Marcel.
Josh has decided to hide out in Davina’s old room, now that she’s moved. He found Tim’s violin and brings it to her at the Compound as Hayley leaves the room. He asks Davina why she was there. Davina tells him about Agnes, and Josh confirms that she’s dead. Now Davina knows there’s no reason for Marcel to keep her locked away. She announces that she doesn’t want to be a puppet anymore and asks Josh to help her get out of there.
Rebekah and Elijah come home from the bayou and are greeted by an angry Klaus, who doesn’t appreciate them interfering with his orders. Elijah tosses him a ring he got from Cary. Esther had one just like it. Cary said his pack has a legend about a chief who fathered a child with a witch – a child who was both wolf and vampire. Rebekah clarifies that the werewolves they saved are from Klaus’ biological father’s family line.
Elijah says Klaus needs to stop putting his ambitions ahead of their family. He should come home to them. But Klaus sees the Compound as his home, which he’s taken back along with the city he used to rule. Elijah can’t believe he’s boasting about his victory while keeping Hayley prisoner. Klaus notes that for Elijah, everything always comes down to Hayley. Klaus doesn’t need any more family, so he doesn’t care about the wolves in the bayou.
He goes to St. Anne’s, where Kieran is praying for the humans Klaus and Marcel killed. Klaus says he has something for Kieran to do that will offer people protection. He wants to call off his orders for the vampires to kill the werewolves, but he can’t make it look like he’s protecting the wolves. Kieran says he can fix it for him, but he wants something from Klaus. It’s time for Cami to leave town.
Cami’s listening to her recording when Klaus lets himself into her apartment. He tells her she’s looking for truths she doesn’t want to find. She needs to leave. She calls him a coward and says it’s not about her. He’s been keeping her around so someone would see who he really is, and now he’s scared. Klaus says that knowing even a little about who he is would break her. Cami challenges him to show her. He starts to leave, but she grabs his arm and pulls him back.
He opens his mind to her and lets her see his first werewolf transformation and Mikael’s reaction. But instead of being scared of Klaus, she feels bad for him because of what he’s been through. Klaus doesn’t want her to get involved in the dangers of his life, so he compels her to leave town and forget everything she just learned: “Forget me.” He tells her she has no reason to stay in New Orleans.
In the Garden, Marcel tells Rebekah that they can’t keep meeting in secret. This is all about survival. Rebekah knows he’s lying. He’s choosing Klaus over her, and he’ll only be rewarded with misery. Marcel argues that he has a crew to look out for. Klaus is going to help him do that. Marcel has Klaus and Davina, and he can’t give up the chance to have them on his side.
Rebekah asks if Marcel has forgotten what happened in 1919, the secret she could tell Klaus that would turn him against Marcel forever. He should keep that in mind when he’s with his new “family.”
While Mikaelson Mansion was in a quiet part of town, the Compound is right in the Quarter, with a great view from the balcony. Hayley’s enjoying it when Elijah arrives to assure her that the wolves are all safe. She thanks him with a hug. He reminds her to keep her birthmark covered, and she promises she will. They’re inches away from kissing, but they both chicken out.
Elijah goes to Klaus next so he can apologize for accusing Klaus of having ulterior motives for the baby. Klaus appreciates that Elijah sucked it up to say he was sorry, and that his brother continues to love him. As a reward, Elijah and Rebekah are allowed to move into the Compound if they ever want to move back into their family home.
Cami’s packing her apartment when Davina shows up, desperate to talk to someone she can trust. Cami doesn’t remember ever meeting Davina, who quickly realizes that Cami was compelled to forget her. She apologizes in advance for a painful experience, then undoes Cami’s compulsion.
Etc.: I love how Marcel suggests that Klaus handle the human faction with diplomacy, as if Klaus knows what that word means.
Speaking of diplomacy, calling your opponents “freaks” probably isn’t the way to achieve it.
It’s adorable that even 1,000-year-old immortal vampires tease their siblings about their crushes.
After Klaus tells Marcel that he used Thierry, he says Marcel should let him out of the Garden. Marcel doesn’t. I think he realizes it’s a trap. Thierry has always been anti-Klaus, and by keeping him imprisoned, Marcel sends the message to Klaus that he’s on his side.
An Eternity of Misery 