Finn does a locator spell in the bell tower of St. Louis Cathedral but only succeeds in setting his maps on fire. Freya joins him and convinces him that she’s his long-lost sister by reminding him of how they climbed trees together as children. She’s happy to see him again but he’s mostly confused.
At the Compound, Rebekah critiques a painting of herself (in her regular body), complaining that Klaus didn’t capture her chin properly. Elijah’s on the phone from the Arkansas hideout and would like to keep things on topic. That topic is Freya, though Rebekah isn’t 100 percent sure that’s who she really is. Klaus wants to know how she’s still alive and whether Dahlia is, too. Elijah reminds them that their priority is continuing to protect Hope. Klaus suggests killing Jackson, but Elijah is confident that he won’t betray them. Rebekah’s annoyed that she was away when Hayley got engaged.
In the bayou, Hayley asks Jackson why people keep leaving them brooms. He explains the werewolf tradition of jumping the broom when you just couldn’t wait to be legally married before you had sex. Does that mean the pack wants them to hook up? Weird. Go get hobbies, guys. Jackson reveals that he made Hope a crib. He’d started when Hayley was pregnant, then stopped when he thought Hope was dead. Now that Hayley’s told him she’s alive, he’s finished it. He doesn’t seem upset at all that she kept that secret.
Jackson says that some packs from outside Louisiana want to come to his and Hayley’s wedding so they can get her hybrid powers. If they recognize Jackson as their alpha, they’ll be considered part of his pack and reap the same benefits as the other wolves. He’s happy that they’re going to build an even bigger army than they thought, with tons of protectors for Hope.
Back at the Compound, Klaus tells Rebekah that according to Aiden, Finn has Marcel. “This family makes me want to murder people,” Klaus complains. Kol shows up just then and manages to stop Rebekah from hitting him for what he did to her. He tells his brother and sister that Finn trapped him in his current body and cursed him to die. Klaus doesn’t buy that story. Kol tells Rebekah he won’t apologize for what he did to her, since she deserved it, but he doesn’t deserve to die, especially not at his brother’s hands. Klaus accuses him of pulling a con. Kol says it’s the con he hates the most: the truth.
Rebekah decides that Kol is being honest – it’s not like him to lie once he’s been busted. Klaus still doesn’t want to help him, but Kol warns that Finn is trying to get a secret about him out of Marcel. Klaus and Rebekah play dumb, and Kol hopes they’re truly clueless because Finn is going to do whatever it takes to get Marcel to spill what they’re hiding.
Freya tells Finn that Dahlia cast a spell on her that keeps her asleep for 100 years and lets her wake up for a single year at a time (which explains why Freya, who’s 1,000 years old, looks about 25). Dahlia considered it the next best thing to immortality. Freya came to learn that she was lying. Finn asks if Dahlia’s still alive. Freya confirms that she is, though she escaped from Dahlia a long time ago and has been hiding from her, since Dahlia likes to punish betrayal with death.
Freya claims that she’s the only person Dahlia holds a grudge against, but Finn brings up her firstborn curse. Freya knows about it but sees no reason to worry, since there are no children in the family. Finn tells her that Klaus had a daughter. He knows from Esther that they’re in for terror if Hope is alive, so he’s been trying to find her, but he hasn’t had any luck. Freya says she found Finn, so maybe he just needs her help to find Hope. She cups a caterpillar in her hands, telling Finn that sometimes you have to let something die so something else can live. She opens her hands and releases a butterfly.
Marcel wakes up in the cathedral’s attic, surrounded by his unconscious crew. He promises Gia that they’ll get through whatever Finn has planned for them together. Uh, not if she’s unconscious, you won’t. Finn enlists him for a job, staking a vampire and magically removing another’s heart when Marcel refuses. Marcel changes his mind before Finn can hurt Gia. All Finn needs is for Marcel to bring him some of Hayley’s blood.
Elijah makes breakfast in the hideout while Cami plays with Hope. He rushes to the baby when he hears her crying – she pulled on a tablecloth and something fell on her, giving her a little scratch on her forehead. The sight of the blood gives Elijah a red door flashback, though he’s able to bring himself out of it.
Back at the Compound, Kol asks the secret Finn wants to get out of Marcel. Klaus says he hasn’t earned the right to know it yet. Kol doesn’t have enough power to find Finn with a locator spell, since he’s channeling Esther and Mikael. Klaus tells him to bring Davina in, but Kol doesn’t want her to know about his curse. He asks for more time to do the spell himself.
Klaus wonders if Kol knows the spell Finn used to trap him in his current body. Maybe they can use it on Finn and then just kill him. He offers to pull it out of Kol’s memory but Kol refuses to let anyone in his mind. Klaus says he’s not asking permission. He does a head-dive on his brother and sees him telling Davina about the dagger that will kill Klaus.
Cami psychoanalyzes Elijah, saying that blood is a trigger for him. It’s great that he was able to pull himself back to reality but it’s still a problem. He needs treatment like anyone else with PTSD. She suggests that he stay busy for now, like by doing little fixer-upper projects around the property. Elijah’s not sure about that so Cami offers to take him fishing and tell him about the summer she lost her virginity. Elijah’s like, “Nope! Get me a tool belt!”
Hayley looks on happily as Jackson plays with some kids from the pack. She catches Marcel spying on her and confronts him. He tells her that Finn wants her blood, probably for a spell to find Hope. He must have put the pieces together. Marcel doesn’t want to give Finn anything to help him, but he also can’t risk his crew’s lives. Hayley decides that their best move is to call Klaus.
Klaus is currently yelling at Kol, who’s upset that he’s not in Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah’s inner circle. If Klaus wants to find Finn, he’s on his own. Kol gives Klaus and Rebekah magic migraines, then leaves. Rebekah warns Klaus that his temper will be the end of him some day. Hayley calls Klaus as Kol goes to the Claire tomb, crying over his impending death and the fact that his family doesn’t care. Finn calls with an offer that Kol can’t resist: Finn will heal him if Kol brings him some of Klaus’ blood.
Klaus tries to get in touch with Elijah, who’s starting his repair jobs around the property. Rebekah is sure that Hope is safe under the cloaking spell, but Klaus points out that Esther’s starlings found Rebekah. Kol returns, throws some kind of magical dust in Rebekah’s face to knock her out, and makes Klaus bleed out of his mouth. “Oh, you’re angry, are you?” Kol taunts. “Well, join the party – I’ve been here a thousand years!”
He tells Klaus he was building the dagger to protect himself against Klaus. Kol isn’t the bad guy in this chapter of their family’s saga: “I’m the wronged. I’m the dead but never mourned.” Klaus got everything he wanted while Kol got a family who doesn’t care about him. Klaus attacks him, growling that they’ve all suffered and been wronged. Kol challenges Klaus to kill him but Klaus lets him go. They’re still brothers. Yeah, Klaus daggers his siblings, but it’s always been for their own good. Kol needs to stop whining that he’s been unloved or singled out. They’re still blood, and Klaus needs him by his side.
Kol asks what that means, since Klaus talks about family but keeps secrets from some of them. Klaus says again that Kol hasn’t earned a spot in the inner circle, but it’s not too late to prove himself worthy of the honor. Kol makes a good move in that direction by telling Klaus that Finn wants his blood. If Klaus tells him why, Kol will tell him where Finn is.
Klaus asks if Kol is really willing to risk his life to help. Kol knows that Finn lied and can’t reverse the curse on him, so he’s dead no matter what. He’s not going to let Finn get what he wants. Klaus says that Finn has been dead to him for a long time, and tonight he’s going to make that official. If Kol helps, Klaus will tell him everything. Kol gives Klaus Finn’s location and lets Klaus go into his head to get the spell to keep Finn from jumping into another body.
Hayley finds Jackson at a ritual Mary’s doing with some other wolves and asks to have some of his blood so they can stall Finn. The ritual is for the wolves to renounce their alpha status and bind themselves to Jackson and the Crescent pack. Meanwhile, Klaus, Kol, and Rebekah go to the bell tower but Finn isn’t there. Kol finds a runic tile with the symbol for “baby” and figures out that Hope is alive. Rebekah realizes that Finn has known her location all along and sent them on a wild goose chase to keep them out of his way.
Elijah hasn’t gotten any of Klaus’ messages because he didn’t take his phone with him while he was doing his chores. By the time he takes one of Klaus’ calls, it’s too late for a warning about Finn – he’s already at the hideout. Cami also doesn’t have her phone with her, so she calls Elijah from a pay phone at a farmer’s market to let him know that she and Hope are about to head home. She checks the Band-Aid covering Hope’s scratch and sees that the wound has completely healed. She guesses that Elijah gave Hope some of his blood.
Klaus is worried when Cami doesn’t answer his phone, but Rebekah says Elijah will protect both of them. Klaus decides that they should sever Finn’s link to Mikael and Esther so he can’t use them to power his magic. Kol can’t do that but he has another idea. He’ll need to move fast because Elijah’s on his own going up against Finn. Finn says he found Elijah with help from their sister – but not Rebekah. He wants to hand Hope over to Dahlia so she doesn’t act on her threat to kill all the Mikaelsons.
Hayley reports to Marcel that Finn manipulated them all to distract them while he went after Hope. Hayley wants to go to her but she’s six hours away and Finn’s already there. Marcel reminds her that Elijah is there to protect Hope. Hayley needs to stay in the bayou and help Jackson build the werewolf army that will continue to keep Hope safe. Meanwhile, Marcel’s crew wakes up in the back of a van that’s been left in the bayou. They’re hungry and they smell blood.
Finn tells Elijah that what he’s doing is for his family members who can still be saved. Klaus and Elijah aren’t on that list. He uses magic to stake Elijah with a shovel and temporarily kill him. Kol takes Rebekah to the City of the Dead, planning to overload Finn’s power. Witches can only channel so much magic before they start disintegrating from the inside. If they overload Finn, he’ll either die or release the power and body jump, but at least that body will be hundreds of miles away from Hope. Rebekah appreciates how helpful Kol is being. He promises to get her back into her real body if it’s the last thing he does. Klaus joins them with some dark objects he’s collected over the years (half of which he actually stole from Kol). He also hands over the indestructible stake, willing to let Kol kill him if it means saving Hope.
The wolves are finishing up their ritual when Marcel’s vampires find them. Jackson tries to reason with Gia, but Finn has spelled the vampires to attack the wolves. Hayley stops Jackson from staking anyone as Marcel starts breaking necks, hoping to keep the vampires from hurting the werewolves until Finn’s spell on them breaks. The wolves head to Mary’s house to hide out until they come up with a better plan.
Finn enters the hideout and calls out for Cami, thinking she’s hiding there. Elijah hears and pulls the shovel out of himself. Kol and Rebekah try the spell to overpower Finn but don’t have quite enough magic. Klaus tells them to channel him. He’s going to give Kol the chance to prove he’s trustworthy by using the Tunde blade to put him down.
Elijah throws a stake into Finn from the doorway of the hideout, then saunters in casually. Kol and Rebekah’s spell starts working, but it gives Finn a power boost, allowing him to toss Elijah around like he’s nothing. He throws Finn through a wall, breaking a gas pipe. The sight of his own blood sends Elijah into red-door mode. Finn starts feeling the effects of Kol and Rebekah’s spell, but the power makes them collapse. Fortunately, they break Finn’s spell on the vampires in the bayou, who also collapse. Kol and Rebekah are pleased with their success, and she promises to find a way to keep him from dying.
Hayley regroups with Jackson, telling him she’s sure Elijah will protect Hope but attacks like Finn’s will keep happening. They need their army sooner rather than later. Kol and Rebekah revive Klaus and tell him that Finn’s back to his normal strength. Klaus remembers one of Elijah’s favorite sayings: “Family is power.” He, like Hayley, is confident that Elijah will keep Hope safe.
As Cami and Hope drive back to the hideout, Finn finds Elijah with blood all over his hands. He knows Elijah hates messes and asks if he’s reliving his memories of Tatia or anyone else who’s died because of him. Hope will be one of Elijah’s victims since Elijah didn’t have the will to defeat Finn. The Mikaelsons shouldn’t have left Hope in his care.
Cami’s car suddenly comes to a stop as she’s pulling up the long driveway. It’s as if it’s turned itself off. Inside, Elijah tells Finn that his mind is clear – just like the gas that’s filled the house while Finn has been giving a villain monologue. “You have disgraced this family for the last time,” Elijah tells him. He pulls off his daylight ring and sticks his hand out into the sun. “Goodbye, brother,” he says as his hand catches on fire, igniting the gas.
In the car, Cami watches in horror as the house explodes. Just then, the engine starts. Cami looks at Hope in the backseat, but the baby gives no indication that she’s responsible for saving them.
Etc.: Am I going to Hell for using the name of a hymn as a title for this episode? Wait, don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.
Jackson is great and all but he’s not a realistic character. No one is that wonderful and beloved. I think they went overboard with his positive qualities because otherwise Hayley would have no reason to choose him over Elijah.
I sincerely hope that Cami didn’t provide the Band-Aid they put over Hope’s scratch because it’s much funnier to think that one of the Mikaelsons bought bandages with cupcakes on them.
Interesting detail: Marcel is able to enter Mary’s house without being invited. My guess is that back in the ’90s, when there were werewolf/vampire peace negotiations, he was invited in before Mary’s husband turned on him.
I’ll give the show “Hope is magical and knows she and Cami shouldn’t go in the house because Finn is there,” but I draw the line at “Hope knows that making the car stop working will save her and Cami.” Magical or not, she’s still only a few months old.
Elijah’s trick with the ring and his hand might be the coolest thing that ever happens on this show, and it’s definitely the coolest thing he ever does.
I would love to see Elijah approaching Cami and Hope after this and just casually asking what they bought at the farmer’s market. “Camille, you have a magnificent eye for choosing produce. Unfortunately, it seems we’ll have to delay preparing dinner because the kitchen is, shall we say, unusable at the moment.”
An Eternity of Misery 