Marcel’s new crew is hanging out at his loft, enjoying some downtime between getting attacked by werewolves and getting attacked by witches. Gia is using her newly honed senses to win bets and make a little money. Josh checks to see if he has any messages on a dating app. Marcel asks how his social life is, and Josh confides that he’s been chatting with a guy he likes. He’s understandably worried about trying to date after becoming a vampire.
The party suddenly stops when a body gets flung through a window. Some werewolves follow, including Oliver and a guy named Aiden. Marcel reminds the wolves that they had a deal – the vampires stay out of the Quarter and everything’s fine. Aiden says that’s not good enough anymore. Marcel asks if the werewolves have made this decision or if Esther is behind it. He hopes the wolves’ moonlight rings are worth being on a leash. Aiden signals for a werewolf to bite a vampire, but when another moves to bite Josh, Aiden tells him to stop. He informs Marcel that he needs to clear out of Algiers. Next time, he’ll let the wolves do whatever they want to the vampires.
Cami voices over that New Orleans is a city of death. On top of floods and fires, the residents are violent toward each other. They’ve turned life into a big party (currently it’s to celebrate Halloween) to distract themselves from the fact that they’re all going to die. She’s talking to Finn, who she thinks is Vincent, her new adviser. He wants her to be more open about her life, since her future patients won’t open up to her if she doesn’t do the same. Really, he wants dirt on the people she spends time with.
Cami says that he was involved with a guy who was loyal and smart (and had “abs for days”), but she was his rebound and she knew things about him that made her decide to keep her distance. Finn asks if there are other guys she’s gotten close to. She says there’s another she didn’t get involved with, though he got under her skin. He had an abusive father and a manipulative mother, and he was cruel and angry, but he still had goodness deep inside. Cami found herself caring for him. Finn says she wanted to save him. “Some people don’t want to be saved,” she replies.
Elijah yells for Klaus at the Compound until Hayley tells him everyone there has supernatural hearing, so he can use an inside voice. And no, she doesn’t know where Klaus is, since she’s not his secretary. Elijah’s like, “Maybe hold off on sassing me until after we’ve defeated our enemies and aren’t under constant threat of attack.” She just sasses him more, reminding him how phones work. Also, she warns him not to hurt any werewolves under Esther’s control.
Cami calls Davina, who fell out of touch when she went into hiding after the werewolf confrontation at Rousseau’s. She took Mikael to a cabin, where he’s practicing for his next face-off with Klaus. Klaus has been eavesdropping on the call, and when it ends, he tells Cami that he’s also interested in where Davina’s been lately. He fills in some holes in the story Cami’s heard – she had no idea that Davina brought Mikael back from the dead and is controlling him. Thanks to his vamp hearing, Klaus has figured out that Davina and Mikael are at a cabin her family used to own. He wants Cami to take him there and convince Davina not to sic Mikael on him.
In the Lycée, Esther tries to do a spell with Kol, who’s distracted by checking his phone for messages from Davina. They attempt a locator spell, but Davina’s preemptively blocked them. Kol and Finn taunt each other over their respective failures with Davina and Cami. Esther shuts them up, reminding them that Davina probably has the indestructible stake. She orders Kol to find Davina and get it back.
Mikael was bitten during the fight at Rousseau’s, but he can apparently purge werewolf venom from his system through force of will. Davina warns him that since Elijah saw him at the bar, Klaus must know by now that he’s back. She’s keeping Mikael close until she figures out how to unlink Klaus from his sireline. Mikael warns her that her fear will keep her from getting what she wants. She says she’s not afraid, but he tells her she should be, since she’s weak. Maybe, but she’s also the one with the power here. She’s made sure her bracelet won’t fall off again. Mikael notes that her magic didn’t do her much good when the wolves attacked. It can only fight half her battles. She asks him to teach her how to be strong.
Marcel’s crew doesn’t want to follow the wolves’ orders and leave Algiers, but Marcel thinks this is a battle they should leave unfought. Gia asks him to show them how to fight the wolves. Josh knows they can’t beat a bunch of “super-wolves” with just one day of training. Elijah zooms in and snaps a couple of necks, demonstrating that these baby vamps know nothing about defending themselves. He tells them the first lesson is to always be on guard.
In the City of the Dead, Oliver and Aiden tell Finn that the vampires should be out of Algiers by tomorrow. Finn doesn’t trust that they’ll leave on their own, so the wolves will just have to increase their numbers for the next standoff. They’ll do that with some untriggered teen wolves. Tonight there’s a blood moon, which werewolves used to mark with a rite of passage. They would embrace their nature by killing humans to trigger their curses. Tonight, the teen wolves will make their first kills and become warriors. Aiden objects, but Finn says they can’t hide children from the war anymore. Anyone who isn’t with them is against them.
Mikael carves his clan’s crest into a wooden staff, telling Davina it’s to remind him that people carry the honor of their ancestors. He throws her a staff, and whens she says she wasn’t ready, he repeats Elijah’s first rule to the vampires: Always be on guard. He learned that from his father, who wasn’t any easier on him than Mikael was on his own children. “Mothers love their children. Fathers make them strong,” Mikael says. Unless you’re Esther, in which case you love your children until they become abominations, and then you try to kill them. Davina also has a different take on things, since her father left when she was born and her mother tried to sacrifice her.
They continue training and she hurts her ankle. Mikael won’t let that keep her from continuing – the ability to handle pain is the best weapon a warrior has. If Davina can master it, nothing will have power over her. Mikael orders her to continue, and he’s pleased when she obeys.
On the way to the cabin, Cami has made a pit stop at a bar. She left Klaus in the car, and he’s not happy about it. He thinks that now she wants to get him drunk and convince him to leave Mikael and Davina alone. Cami says she’s actually just going to listen to him like a good future psychiatrist. He could have gone after Davina himself, but he dragged Cami along, and he must have a reason. She wants to give him something he’s never had: someone who will listen to his side of things. He reluctantly sits down with her and she invites him to tell her more about his plans for Mikael.
After a day of painful training, Davina calls Kol and invites him to come join her at the cabin. Well, that was easy. At Marcel’s loft, Elijah is conducting a one-on-one training session with Gia while the other vampires train somewhere else. He explains that she’s his responsibility. Fighting, like music, has rhythm and meter, so he figured she would benefit from learning from a fellow musician. He teaches her using musical terms, and the fight turns into more of a dance. And that dance is kind of steamy, because you could cut the sexual tension in the room with a Devil’s Star.
When Gia gets Elijah up against a wall, he tells her to choose between the head and the heart to kill her opponent. She’s not sure she’ll be able to kill if it comes down to it, but he says she will if she wants to survive. She practices by grabbing his heart through his chest. Hayley walks in just then, and Gia and Elijah quickly separate. Aiden is also there, and Hayley asks Elijah to hear him out. He’s not there to fight – he’s there to ask for help.
Marcel, Josh, and Oliver join the group as Aiden tells the vampires that Esther and Finn want soldiers and aren’t giving werewolves a choice about enlisting. Elijah says that Finn has been merciless in the past, but this is bad even for him. Hayley asks Marcel to help get the untriggered wolves someplace safe. Oliver says they can stay with some werewolves in the bayou who haven’t pledged loyalty to Esther. Marcel asks why the wolves are willing to trust the vampires now after decades of animosity. Aiden reveals that one of the untriggered wolves is his brother, Nick, and Aiden isn’t going to let him be sent to war. That’s all it takes for Elijah to agree to help.
Klaus has been drinking for a while now and is spilling everything to Cami. He tells her how Esther wants to put all her kids in witches’ bodies. If they try to kill her, she’ll just jump into another body. Even if they managed to stop her from doing that, she would just rejoin the ancestors and haunt Klaus. But Mikael has the indestructible stake, so he needs to die first. Cami asks how Klaus plans to take him on, and he shows her that he’s brought the Tunde blade. He’s angry enough to re-kill the parents he’s already killed once.
He’s ready to go, but Cami stops him. She understands what he’s fighting, but not why. She tells him to ask her to dance. Klaus is confused, since she doesn’t actually want to dance. She tells him there’s more to life than pain. He needs to see that there are good things in the world. Cami gets him to dance with her and tells him, “There’s no real peace in revenge.” Klaus leans in to kiss her, but instead he twirls her. When she turns back around, he’s gone.
Kol flirts with Davina while he tends to her ankle at the cabin. He asks what she’s been up to, but he doesn’t think she trusts him enough to tell him. She asks if he trusts her, and he teases that he won’t let her seduce him. He says she can wait until she’s ready to tell him what she’s hiding.
Aiden updates the conspirators at the loft: The untriggered wolves are being held in the City of the Dead before being taken to St. Anne’s. Finn is meeting with some humans who haven’t yet agreed to be loyal to Esther. When the teen wolves kill them, they’ll not only trigger their curses, they’ll also send a message to anyone who opposes Finn and Esther. “Two birds, one bloodbath,” Aiden says. The conspirators will stage an attack to grab the untriggered wolves as they’re being taken to the church. Oliver objects to being one of their chaperones, since Esther and Finn are already a little suspicious of him. Elijah tells him this is the best way to help his people and make amends.
While Davina’s asleep, Kol searches the cabin for the indestructible stake. Just as he finds it, Mikael (who has no idea that “Kaleb” is his son) catches him and threatens to kill him. Kol has a better idea: He’ll free Mikael him from Davina’s control.
Back in the Quarter, Aiden, Oliver, and a few other werewolves lead the teen wolves through a big Halloween party to St. Anne’s. Gia starts a fight with someone, and when Marcel breaks the guy’s neck, Aiden sends the other wolf leaders to chase him. Oliver then takes the teen wolves in another direction. They hook up with Hayley and Josh and head through a passageway in Rousseau’s that’s left over from Prohibition.
Oliver meets up with Elijah in a parking garage as Gia finds the teen wolves. She tells them Marcel is getting a getaway car. Some wolves have followed Oliver, who tells them the untriggered wolves aren’t there. But the wolves aren’t looking for the teens – Esther sent them to get Elijah. Elijah says that he promised Hayley he would do his best not to kill any wolves. If they leave right now, he’ll keep that promise. If not, “the situation becomes irrefutably awkward.” The wolves don’t budge, so Elijah tells Oliver he should go because things are about to get messy. Oliver decides to stick around and help him.
As Marcel loads the teen wolves in an ambulance, Aiden arrives to see his brother off. He thanks Marcel and Hayley for their help, and Hayley says they’re all fighting for the same reason – they’re trying to protect their loved ones. In the parking garage, Elijah and Oliver have just finished killing all their attackers when Finn shows up. He gives Elijah a magic migraine and knocks Oliver out. Elijah moves to kill Finn, but he can’t do it before Esther joins them and stakes Elijah through the back.
Apparently Kol’s plan to free Mikael was just to take off Davina’s bracelet. He should have allowed for the possibility that she would wake up. He distracts her by telling her that she’s missed a bunch of texts. And they’re especially important ones, because Cami has been trying to warn her that Klaus is heading for the cabin. Davina enlists Kol for a cloaking spell that makes it look like there’s no one inside the cabin. But as Klaus is leaving, he sees one of Mikael’s staffs carved with his clan’s crest. He throws it through a window like a javelin (what’s with Klaus and Elijah throwing things through windows?).
While ducking out of the way of the staff, Davina accidentally hits her head on a table and knocks herself out. Klaus yells for her to send Mikael out so they can finish this. Mikael orders Kol to release him or die, so Kol does a spell to neutralize the bracelet. Mikael heads straight outside to fight Klaus, who plans to kill him again and enjoy it more this time. Mikael says he came all the way back from Hell for this moment. “Well, then I’d hate to keep you waiting,” Klaus replies.
They fight, each of them getting the upper hand at least once. Mikael thinks he has the advantage since he holds the only weapon that can kill Klaus, but Klaus has the element of surprise going here, and he wins by stabbing Mikael with the Tunde blade.
Cami finally shows up, worried about Davina, and Klaus tells her that considering Davina was going to unleash Mikael on him, she should feel lucky that she just has a bump on the head. Cami’s out of breath after running to the cabin, and Klaus jokes that if she dies of a heart attack, he’ll kill Davina on her behalf. Cami tells him that he’s not under any circumstances to hurt Davina. Klaus agrees and is surprised when she hugs him. She finally notices that Mikael is lying on the ground, and Klaus says he’s decided to keep the blade in him so he continues suffering.
At Rousseau’s, Josh waits for his dating-app crush, who’s 15 minutes late for their first meet-up. It’s Aiden! When they were at Marcel’s, they recognized each other from their pictures, but neither said anything. There’s a little tension there because one is a vampire and one is a werewolf, but they have something in common: They both feel alone. They agree to put aside their loyalties and the brewing war in the city and just be themselves for one night.
Hayley and Marcel share a drink at his loft, proud that they were able to work together. He points out that she’s a hybrid now, which makes her part vampire, so she’s welcome on his team. They did the right thing, but it’s going to cause problems for their factions. Hayley tells Gia that’s another lesson for her: “It always gets worse before it gets better.” (Music: “Smile,” Mikky Ekko) Gia’s upset that they left Elijah on his own, but Hayley assures her that he can take care of himself.
Klaus loads Mikael’s body into his car, unaware that Mikael is somehow strong enough to fight the effects of the Tunde blade. He reaches into his own chest and pulls it out. Meanwhile, Elijah finds himself chained up in a crypt in the City of the Dead. Esther tells him she wants them to be a family again, but for that to happen, he has to be “purified.” She walks away to let him think about what that means as the episode ends with a gut punch from the background music: “Smile, the worst is yet to come / We’ll be lucky if we ever see the sun.”
Etc.: Highlights from the dating app: Josh’s name is NolaYOLO19 (gag) and Aiden’s is MordorInTheFirst (heh). Under “things I’m good at,” Josh says, “I can kick super high and don’t even need to stretch first.” He also spends a lot of time thinking about the Loch Ness Monster.
I love that Cami apparently pulled up to a bar, told Klaus to stay in the car, and then had a little happy hour without him. Not only that, but he obeyed.
Elijah, critiquing Gia’s fighting skills: “As a devout feminist, I refuse to say you hit like a girl.” Heh.
Elijah is swayed to help the werewolves because Aiden wants to help his little brother. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that that brother’s name is Nick, which is similar to the name of Elijah’s own little brother, Niklaus.
Cami calls the Tunde blade “Papa Tunde’s mystical knife of ludicrous torment.” As someone who works in marketing, I have to admit, that’s some pretty good copy. Just $49.99, plus shipping and handling!
God help me but I wouldn’t be able to resist Kol’s charms. At least 50% of it is Daniel Sharman’s face and accent, though.
I hope the guy whose neck Marcel broke was supernatural and that Marcel didn’t kill some random innocent human while he was supposed to be saving baby wolves.
You can tell Hayley is fully in IDGAF mode because she calls Gia a “baby vamp” to her face.
An Eternity of Misery 