Klaus takes a box out of a wall safe at the Compound so he can take a look at some letters. He discusses them with Freya and Elijah, the latter of whom knows he went through a phase where he took letters from his victims after he killed them. That was before Klaus made so many enemies that the Mikaelsons had to go into hiding.
Klaus complains that with his sireline link broken, his enemies are free to come after him, since killing him won’t result in their own deaths anymore. He won’t have anyone to protect him (well, except family). Freya doesn’t think he should jump straight to paranoia, since it’s only been a few days since the link was broken. “It’s a default setting,” Elijah tells her. Klaus thinks it’s reasonable.
Elijah reminds him that they’ve destroyed all the remaining white oak, so there’s nothing to worry about. Klaus has learned his lesson, though. Elijah suggests that he talk to a therapist about his paranoia. Yeah, yeah, we all know who you mean, Elijah. As Klaus leaves the room, Freya asks Elijah if he’s really, completely, 100% sure all the white oak in the world is gone.
Cami’s working out at St. Anne’s, trying to ensure she can take on Aurora if she ever faces her again. Hayley told her that Klaus “condemned her to a fate worse than death,” but since Aurora’s not actually dead, Cami knows she could pop up again. If she does, she’ll probably go after Cami first. She’s upset that Klaus didn’t kill Aurora. Vincent asks if her real problem is fear that Aurora will come after her or worry that there’s a reason Klaus didn’t kill her. Klaus arrives, having apparently taken Elijah seriously when he advised him to get therapy. He promises to keep things professional.
Kol has been asleep since his resurrection, and Davina’s been hiding him in the attic. Even though he died a witch, the spell that brought him back returned him to his original body, so he’s a vampire again. Davina isn’t thrilled about that, since she’s heard how vicious he was when he was a vampire before. “You’re worth being good for,” he tells her. After some kissing, he asks her to make him a daylight ring so he can go out and see his family. Davina tells him that she thinks Klaus wants her dead.
Marcel’s vampires have just ended a marathon party at the loft to celebrate the sireline link being broken. Marcel tells Josh that they still need to deal with the Strix. Josh asks why Marcel can’t just lead them out of town. Marcel says they’re trickling out, so the crew can turn their focus back to regular New Orleans business. Well, not quite yet. A couple of Strix members arrive and announce that three upper-level members are missing. Marcel agrees to help find them.
Elijah finds Hayley at the Compound, looking at a list of names that she hides when he comes in. She’s home to see Hope after spending some time in the bayou, helping the Crescents out since their alpha is gone. She tells Elijah that Klaus isn’t wrong to be paranoid. Every time they think they’ve caught a break, someone dies. She asks Elijah to look after Hope as she heads back out.
Cami therapizes Klaus, urging him not to live in fear. Klaus remembers a time when Mikael was constantly lurking around. Klaus disappeared and told Elijah he’d gotten rid of their siblings’ bodies. He doesn’t want to be that person again, since he has more to lose now.
Cami announces that she can’t be Klaus’ therapist anymore. She can’t counsel him about paranoia when she has her own. She’s furious that Klaus didn’t kill Aurora for making Cami kill herself and turn. Klaus says he spared Aurora because of Cami – Aurora doesn’t deserve “the mercy of a quick death.” She deserves to suffer for taking what she did from Cami. Cami says she’s okay with who she is now; Klaus seems more concerned with what Aurora took from him.
On a street in the Quarter, Klaus spots someone watching him, but the man disappears as a car passes by. Klaus goes home and tells Elijah and Freya that the man was Gaspar Cortez. Freya guesses that there’s a letter connected to him in Klaus’ box of trophies. Klaus says that Cortez was part of a family of warlords he took out in the 17th century. Elijah recalls them burning their “pigsty” to the ground. Klaus is offended, since that “pigsty” was his favorite artists’ retreat, Belaga. He killed Cortez’s father for destroying it. And some of his brothers. And also his mistress, though that was an accident.
Anyway, Cortez became a vampire and started hunting Klaus. As Cortez asks a chauffeur to get rid of the bodies of some women he’s killed, Klaus tells his brother and sister that this is exactly what he was worried about: “Devils of all kinds, crawling out of their crevices” to come after him. He hears footsteps downstairs and says one of those devils is there now.
It’s Davina, who’s pretty brave to show up when she knows Klaus probably wants her dead. But she brought backup in the form of Kol. Elijah and Freya join them as Davina explains how she resurrected him. Kol thinks his siblings should thank her. Klaus approaches him, looking angry, but surprises him by giving him a hug. Elijah tells Kol that he hasn’t aged a day. Kol meets Freya, then asks where Rebekah is. Klaus won’t tell him until Davina leaves. She’s a distraction, and Kol needs to be made aware of all the threats to the family. Kol’s unhappy about that but Davina is fine with leaving. He promises that they’ll go out dancing that night.
Elijah meets up with Marcel at St. James Infirmary to ask him to get the Strix to make sure there’s no white oak left. Marcel says they can’t help, since those upper-level vampires are still missing, and he can’t ask the Strix to do anything before they’re found. They don’t have any leads on the MIA vampires, since there are tons of people in New Orleans who want the Strix gone. Elijah advises Marcel to find the person responsible for their disappearances before the Strix revolt and destroy the city. Okay, well, do you have any advice for how to do that? “Just do it” is motivational but not helpful in this instance.
Vincent is working out at St. Anne’s when a man delivers a note summoning him to Rousseau’s ASAP. When asked what’s going on and who sent the man, he stabs himself in the throat with a knife. Well, that was dramatic. Kol looks through Klaus’ letters, having apparently already been put to work helping the family with their problems. Klaus brings him a glass of fresh blood, but Kol wants to switch to bags. He asks for a refresher on who Cortez is, and Klaus tells him that his family destroyed Belaga. “That place was hideous,” Kol says. Elijah appreciates that someone agrees with him. “No taste, either of you,” Klaus complains. Kol says he knows how to find Klaus’ enemies, but he’ll need to teach Freya a spell to do it.
Vincent reports to Rousseau’s, where a dozen or so customers are hanging out in total silence. Cortez is there, and he explains that he likes it quiet when he eats. Vincent warns that he won’t stand for people being compelled to kill themselves. When he threatens Cortez, a couple of the customers put knives to other people’s throats. Cortez anticipated Vincent’s objection and wants to ensure that he listens. Cortez is in New Orleans to find something that was lost, and he needs Vincent to ask the ancestors to find it for him.
Another Strix member has disappeared, and Marcel isn’t happy. He asks Josh to get Davina to do him a favor. Josh wonders if the favor is for Marcel or for the Strix. He gets why Marcel joined them, but it doesn’t feel like he’s in there to infiltrate anymore. He’s just in there. Marcel notes that the only way to leave the Strix is to die, so he’s kind of stuck.
Josh follows through and gets Davina to agree to do a locator spell (though she’s only doing it because Josh asked). Josh calls Marcel an “absentee dad” but reminds Davina that he always comes through. She tells him that Kol spent the day with the Mikaelsons and is an Original again. Its was weird to see how well he fits in with his family. Josh tells her that it doesn’t matter what Kol is, just who he is. Davina says she’s still figuring out who that is. She does the locator spell, which lets her know that the missing Strix members are dead.
Kol and Freya do their own locator spell, mixing ashes from burnt letters with Klaus’ blood to show his enemies’ locations. Freya calls the enemies his “greatest hits.” Fortunately, only one is in town. Unfortunately, Cami has just entered his orbit after finding Vincent’s note, which he left behind at St. Anne’s. Somehow, Cortez knows she’s a vampire without her saying so or using any vampire abilities. This means he can’t compel her, but he has other ways to get her to do what he wants.
Vincent has been doing a spell to communicate with the ancestors, and it’s only when he comes out of it that he realizes Cami’s arrived at Rousseau’s. He tells Cortez to leave her out of this – he’ll still find Cortez the white oak. While the two of them are talking, Cami sneaks out her phone and texts Klaus that there’s a problem at Rousseau’s. Cortez catches her and knocks her out.
Vincent tells Cortez that the ancestors said Aurora hid some white oak, but they won’t tell him where. Cortez is just pleased to know it exists. Vincent says that the ancestors won’t help him, but Cortez is sure that if Vincent presses hard enough, they’ll tell him what they want to know.
Marcel meets up with Elijah in an alley where the missing Strix members’ bodies have been dumped. They were bitten by wolves, then torn apart. It can’t be a coincidence that they’re right around the corner from where Jackson died. Marcel warns that the other Strix are going to want revenge. Elijah tells him to burn the bodies. He’s figured out who the killer is – Hayley. He finds her just as she’s about to kill the most recent missing Strix member. Despite being caught, she kills the Strix vampire anyway.
Vincent talks to the ancestors again, and they’re clearly not happy that he won’t stop asking about the white oak. Cami regains consciousness and worries that he’ll end up dead. Instead, he ends up unconscious. Klaus arrives just then, armed with a stake and ready to kill Cortez. Cortez tells him that if Klaus kills him, the innocent customers will die, too. Instead, Klaus should wait with him for news about the white oak. “Either way, I win,” Cortez says.
He tells Klaus that if he’s allowed to leave, everyone in the bar will live. Klaus isn’t about to let Cortez go when he’s on the hunt for white oak. Cortez points out that if the humans massacre each other, Klaus won’t be able to keep it out of the news. But Klaus is still mad about Belaga, so he throws his stake into Cortez. He then zooms to the humans holding knives on their fellow customers and breaks their necks. Cami tries to save one with her blood, not wanting to accept that he’s dead. She gives Klaus a look of heartbreak, then leaves. Cortez is still alive, so Klaus breaks a chair and uses the leg to stake him, but not through the heart.
Elijah tries to reason with Hayley, who doesn’t see the point in letting the Strix live. He might think they can protect him from white oak, but Hayley doesn’t need their protection. The list she’s been looking at contains all the Strix members responsible for Jackson’s death. Elijah warns that the Strix will see this as an act of war. He begs her to think of Hope. Hayley tells him not to use her daughter to try to tame her. She’s taken risks for Elijah, and now she’s going to do right by Jackson.
Klaus clears out Rousseau’s, then goes back to Cortez for a chat. He demands to know how Cortez knew about the white oak. Cortez tells him there are tons of vampires who hate Klaus. They’ve stayed connected over the years, aided more recently by advancements in technology. What started as a rumor on a private message board is now confirmed. As Klaus’ enemies start moving toward New Orleans on the map from Kol and Freya’s spell, Cortez says that if Klaus kills him, he’ll die happy. The rest of Klaus’ sireline will destroy everything he loves, then kill him.
Klaus kills Cortez, then goes home. The blood dots on the map are inching closer to New Orleans. “In hindsight, could’ve been nicer to people,” Kol tells his brother, “or at least left fewer survivors.” Klaus notes that some of those enemies could be coming after Elijah to end the sireline war. Elijah replies that he has an army ready to protect him, while Klaus’ allies consist of only three people – Elijah, Freya, and Kol. Still, that’s one more person than he had yesterday! Don’t forget to thank Davina, Klaus.
Elijah says there’s another way. Freya guesses that he means that Klaus could run. Klaus corrects that a man like him, whose name alone used to spark fear in people, doesn’t run. He disappears. Call it what you want, it means not staying in New Orleans.
Klaus sends Cortez’s head to Marcel, and the Strix vampires who told him about their missing members say the truce between Klaus and Elijah’s lines must be over. Marcel pins the Strix members’ deaths on Cortez. A flashback shows Elijah taking out the rest of the vampires responsible for Jackson’s deaths. With Cortez dead, the remaining Strix will believe that they’re safe. But Marcel warns that since vampires are out looking for white oak so they can kill the Originals, this isn’t over.
Kol and Freya gather the ingredients for a spell they can use to help Klaus disappear. Freya’s impressed with Kol’s magical knowledge, but he knows she was already familiar with the extent of it. He remembers that they met 100 years ago. She was the only witch around who wasn’t charmed by him. He just figured it was because she liked women. Uh, actually…
Freya tells him that Rebekah kept her promise to fight for him before she was cursed. They’re all lucky that Davina didn’t give up on him. Kol acknowledges that she did right by him, and now he wants to do right by her. He’s going to write down the spell for Freya to do alone so he can go see his girlfriend.
Klaus finds Cami in the balcony at St. Anne’s and tells her that Cortez is dead. He apologizes for her having to see him kill three people to save a bunch more. Cami notes that she’s seen him kill before. She’s not the kind of person to fall apart over that anymore. She asks about what Klaus said earlier, about Aurora taking something from him. He says that Aurora turned Cami to try to drive them apart. While she sort of succeeded, his feelings for Cami haven’t changed. She tells him that her feelings for him have.
She’s been lying to herself and trying to hold on to the part of herself that cared about Klaus and hoped for his redemption. That was part of her humanity, and it’s gone. Klaus leaves without seeing how upset she is – way too upset to be telling the truth.
Kol goes to get Davina for their date, assuring her that he can take some time away from his family to be with her. At the Compound, Elijah gives Hayley her kill list. All the names are now crossed off. She burns the list, then tells Elijah she loves him and always has. Jackson knew that and loved her anyway. Now every time Hayley looks at Elijah, she feels like she’s hurting Jackson all over again. He died because of her, and out of respect for him, she has to let Elijah go. Elijah takes a moment to figure out what to say. Eventually he tells her that that seems like the right thing to do. That said, he tried to let her go and it didn’t work.
Instead of going out, Kol and Davina dance in the attic. She asks if he’s able to control his hunger now that he’s a vampire again. He says he can, but magic wasn’t what made him a better person. It was her. She tells him that if he ever gets the urge to do magic again, there’s something else they can do instead to give him the same feelings. Yes, it includes getting naked.
Vincent and Cami meet up in an outdoor café, where he asks why she told Klaus she no longer has feelings for him when she obviously does. She says that Klaus kills people all the time, for both rational and irrational reasons. He knows what happens when his enemies “are left to fester in their hatred.” Yet he didn’t kill Aurora. Vincent guesses that Cami believes that Klaus still loves her.
Cami says she used to think that Klaus could protect her from anyone. Then Aurora showed up. Vincent says Cami can protect herself. She replies that now she’ll have to. She’s positive that Aurora will get out and come after her. When that happens, Cami can’t let herself wonder which of them Klaus will choose over the other. Cami will just have to kill Aurora herself. After she leaves, Vincent gets a message from the ancestors – a vision of some floorboards with something wrapped up and hidden in them.
Freya finishes Kol’s spell, which will make any witch who tries to find Klaus with a locator spell think he’s in New Orleans. Elijah notes that despite all the “mischief” Kol has always gotten into, he’s pretty talented when it comes to magic. Klaus says goodbye to his brother and sister, then heads off to disappear. Over at St. Anne’s, Kol goes to get a midnight snack but finds he’s already emptied all the blood bags in his stash.
Klaus gives his siblings one last glance from the street outside the Compound, then gets in his car, where Hayley and Hope are waiting for him. Hayley’s decided to take Hope out of New Orleans before her father’s enemies start arriving. It’s not like Hayley has a reason to stay anyway. Freya jinxes things by saying that the Quarter will be quiet with Klaus gone. Elijah knows that’s not true.
Vincent goes to the shipyard where Aurora and Aya recently conspired and looks in some floorboards for the item from his vision. It’s a salt shaker with a surprise inside: a white oak bullet. Kol feeds on a local in the Quarter, then turns to see Finn approaching him. “There was never any hope for you, brother,” Finn says. “No self-control.” Hey, if they undagger Rebekah, we could have a full house of Mikaelsons!
Etc.: Elijah’s face when Klaus explains why he killed Cortez’s father is so funny: “Niklaus, why must you be so petty?”
Who wants to eat in silence? I don’t want to hear myself chew.
Was it supposed to be a mystery that Hayley was killing the Strix members? ‘Cause showing her with a list of names made it pretty obvious.
I want a look at the message boards vampires use to stay in touch with each other. You know they’re fascinating.
I wish they hadn’t killed Cortez here. He deserved more than one episode.
An Eternity of Misery 