Lucien has taken Freya and Vincent into the woods after kidnapping Freya to get the last white oak bullet. She asks if this is his idea of a first date after all the time he’s spent flirting with her. He tells her to think of this as a date with destiny. Vincent is there to make sure Freya behaves herself. He’s snapped out of whatever the ancestors did to make him help kidnap Freya, and he’s not happy to be forced to go on this adventure. Lucien explains that he made a deal with the ancestors when he got to New Orleans: They would give him access to Vincent, and Lucien would get rid of the Originals. The deal was easy to make since the ancestors hate the Mikaelsons.
The hostages arrive at their destination, a clearing in the woods where there’s a boulder with a bowl on top of it. Lucien is disappointed that Freya and Vincent don’t realize the significance of their location. He’s brought them all the way to Mystic Falls, to the spot where Esther turned her children into vampires. Lucien wants to recreate the spell she used so he can upgrade himself. Freya isn’t willing to help, of course, but Lucien tells her that Vincent will be doing the spell. Freya’s just there because Lucien needs her blood.
Davina and Kol were supposed to meet Vincent at St. James Infirmary, but obviously Vincent isn’t there. Davina’s suspicious, both because he’s missing and because he wanted to meet in the one place where magic doesn’t work. She sees a tarot card – the death card – up on a shelf next to a tip jar and remembers that Vincent turned it over when he warned her about the Strix. She takes a closer look at the jar, which holds Vincent’s phone and a note saying to play a recording.
Vincent made the recording in the bar to keep the ancestors from interfering. He tells Davina that they’re forcing him to help Lucien. If Davina doesn’t do something, Freya will die. Kol and Davina take the recording to the Compound and play it for Finn and Elijah. Vincent says that he did a cloaking spell to hide himself, Freya, and Lucien, but there’s a loophole: Finn. Kol explains that Finn still has a connection to Vincent’s body from his time inhabiting it. Vincent puts some of his blood in a vial and tells Davina to find the thread between him and Finn.
Davina has never done something like this before and isn’t even sure it’s possible, but she’s willing to give it a try. Finn laments not taking a call from Freya, which gave Lucien a head start. He tells Davina to get to work. Kol blasts him for attacking Davina and complaining about being a vampire, then agreeing to be spelled. Kol, do you want him to help or not? Elijah decides to split up his brothers, but Kol’s unhappy about that, too – Finn and Elijah could have destroyed the white oak, and now they think they can fix the situation they’re responsible for. Davina calms Kol and asks for his help with her spell.
Klaus and Hayley are at a diner in the Appalachians, and they’ve just handed Hope off to Mary so they can deal with the newest Mikaelson threat without having to stop for snacks and diaper changes. They plan to pay a visit to some Kingmaker offices and look into Lucien’s recent activities. Klaus has just heard from his siblings that Lucien kidnapped Freya, and Elijah and Finn are going to have to work together to save her. Hayley says he’s free to go home and help, but she’s still going to follow up on the Kingmaker stuff. Klaus knows that Freya’s abduction and the wolves’ disappearances can’t be a coincidence, and he decides to stick with Hayley.
Lucien takes a bunch of Freya’s blood and adds a mystery liquid to it. He gives Vincent a copy of Esther’s Original-making spell, which a coven reverse-engineered. Vincent refuses to help, but the ancestors give him some magical pain to get him to change his mind.
Davina’s spell can’t find Vincent’s exact location, but it tells her he’s in Northern Virginia. “You’re bloody joking,” Kol and I both say, because from what we know of Mystic Falls, it’s not in that part of the state, and also because Kol has figured out where Lucien took his hostages. Davina wants to add an ingredient to boost the signal, but Kol snaps that it won’t help. She doesn’t appreciate his tone. He suggests a dark object he once made from a Tibetan singing bowl. He complains that he’ll have to steal it from “Klaus’ ex,” though. Davina harshly reminds him that Cami is her friend, and if he can’t play nice with her, he can have a timeout while Davina gets the object. Kol promises to behave.
While Vincent does the upgrade spell, Freya blasts Lucien for thinking he can just wake up one morning and become a superior vampire. He thinks he earned this. He thought of the Originals as gods until they compelled him and stole his life. He decided to become what he’s always been – their better. He’s engineered everything up until this moment. Freya guesses that he faked the prophecy, but Lucien says he just knew it was about him. “It is my rise that shall be their downfall,” he says.
Elijah and Finn speed to Mystic Falls, where they get delayed at some train tracks. Since when does Mystic Falls have active trains?? Finn complains about the town and the fact that they’re going with a plan Kol came up with. “900 years in a box, zero patience,” Elijah comments. Finn thinks this is all a joke to his brother. His time daggered was torturous. Buddy, your presence on this show is torturous.
Cami looks for Kol’s dark objects while bickering with him about who they rightfully belong to. She challenges him to find what he’s looking for and take it back from her. Cami, sweetie, you’re a baby vamp and Kol is 1,000 years old. He’ll squash you like a bug. Davina kicks Kol out, then apologizes to Cami on his behalf, blaming his behavior on his readjustment to being a vampire. Cami thinks there’s something more going on. Kol is acting like Kieran did after he was cursed. Davina denies that Kol could be cursed without her knowing, but she’s clearly not sure.
Finn and Elijah head into downtown Mystic Falls, waiting for an unspecificed sign that Kol’s attempt to strengthen the connection between Finn and Vincent has worked. Elijah remembers when the siblings fled from Mikael for the first time. They were basically children. Finn complains again about being daggered for 900 years, but Elijah says it’s because he was dangerous. Finn objects, since Kol and Klaus were the ones who liked going on killing sprees.
Elijah says Finn was poison. Finn argues that he anchored the siblings. Elijah replies that Finn hated his family and what they’d become. That threatened their survival. They kept him in his coffin to protect themselves. Finn yells that being in the coffin made him the way he was. He can’t stop thinking about that “black horizon” where his family abandoned and forgot him. Yeah, he emerged crazy and he still is, but it’s his siblings’ fault.
Klaus and Hayley are in Lexville, Tennessee, at a Kingmaker office that looks just like all the other Kingmaker offices they’ve already been to. She again offers him the option of going home to help his brothers find Freya, but Klaus wants to keep going. He might actually be having fun now, thanks to Hayley’s surprising love of singing in the car. He thinks they’re getting closer to figuring out Lucien’s game.
Finn and Elijah head to the alley next to the Grill – the exact spot where Matt killed Finn – as Finn suggests that they stop waiting for a sign from Kol and just tear through the town to find Freya. Speaking of Matt, he’s just found them. He’s not pleased that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls after he just kicked them all out. Vincent continues the spell in the woods, producing what looks like a narrow tornado of fire. Tristan fills a little jar with the resulting mixture.
In Lexville, Klaus greets the Kingmaker receptionist with, “We’re here for a spot of search and potentially destroy.” He compels her to tell him the off-limits areas in the building. She’s not compellable, though, and she hits a panic button that alerts a security team. They’re heavily armed, but Klaus and Hayley can take them (and they do). Once they’re past that obstacle, they kill some poor, probably low-level employee so they can steal his access card. It lets them into a lab where a bunch of people are hooked up to machinery and have masks over their faces. Hayley’s shocked to realize they’re alive. They’re werewolves, but there’s also a dead vampire in the lab.
Elijah tells Matt they “don’t have time to play” but he’ll let Rebekah know that Matt said hello. Matt recognizes Finn and acts like he forgot his name. He asks if Finn came back to get killed again. Elijah tells him that their sister, Freya (“yes, we have another”), was kidnapped. Matt has two choices: Let them do what the need to do or get disemboweled. Matt opts for a third choice: Stand his ground. He asks if Elijah really has the time to argue with him instead of finding Freya.
Kol walks Davina through the use of his dark object, putting his arms around her to help her get the movements right, like this is Ghost or something. It works and Finn is able to see where Vincent is. Lucien fills another jar with the upgrade serum, but Vincent blasts him with magic in an attempt to stop him. The ancestors just hit Vincent with their own magic and knock him out. Freya tries to protect him from Lucien, saying that no one has to die today. “Today is the beginning of an awful lot of death,” Lucien tells her. Hers will be the first.
Elijah, Finn, and Matt all arrive before Lucien can hurt Freya, and just in time to see Lucien down one of the jars of upgrade serum. He asks if either of the Originals can get to him before he kills Freya. They can’t, but Finn can zoom over to Matt and fire the gun he’s holding so his wooden bullets go through Freya and into Lucien. “Oh, you clever bastard,” Lucien says as he desiccates. Elijah and Finn rush to Freya so Elijah can heal her with his blood.
Klaus and Hayley free the werewolves from the lab, giving them blood to renew their strength. Klaus guesses that Lucien was taking their venom. He must have used it for a vaccine to cure werewolf bites. The vampire was his guinea pig. Hayley wonders why Lucien would test something if he already knew it worked.
Matt tells Freya that Lucien’s dead, but she doubts that. She thinks he wanted Elijah and Finn to kill him so he could “take the final step.” Indeed, Lucien’s alive, and when Matt shoots him, he barely flinches. Finn and Elijah try to fight him but can’t overpower him. Lucien’s been trying to decide whether to kill Klaus or Elijah first, and now he’s settled on Elijah. Finn steps in and Lucien bites him. Freya holds him off with a barrier spell, but that just excites Lucien, since he likes the hunt. Plus, he’s already waited 1,000 years to get revenge on the Mikaelsons; he can wait a little longer.
Kol and Davina get an update on Freya and where things stand with Lucien. Kol is mad that a supposed family friend has turned himself into something that could be the beast that the prophecy said would bring them down. Thanks for the recap, Kol. He takes out his aggression on a mirror.
Davina brings up the possibility that his anger is the result of a curse. He’s not himself. Kol asks which version of him he’s supposed to be – a vampire? A witch? A ghost? Well, I’m partial to the version of you in Kaleb’s body, but that’s just me. He thinks his real problem is that no one will leave him alone. He zooms out, leaving Davina shaken. She goes to the mirror he broke and touches some blood he left behind. She murmurs a spell and is disturbed by whatever the results are.
Klaus also hears from his siblings and tells Hayley that Freya’s safe but Finn’s in bad shape. Elijah wants Klaus to meet them at home and heal Finn. Hayley agrees, saying she can help the rest of the werewolves in the building and then burn it down. Klaus still wants to stick with her – Finn could use a little agony, and Klaus doesn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to commit arson. Hayley appreciates his help and likes how well they work together, but this is a good chance for Klaus to make Finn an ally.
Elijah and Freya drag Finn into the Compound as he rants about not wanting to be left there alone. He’s hallucinating and thinks he’s going to be put back in his coffin. Kol enters, completely unsympathetic, and comments that Lucien’s a hybrid now. Elijah says they’re not sure what he is. His werewolf venom works faster than normal werewolves’. Freya hopes that means it’ll work through Finn’s system faster. Kol notes that it could be more lethal, and if Klaus doesn’t get home in time, they might finally be rid of Finn.
Freya slaps Kol and asks what’s wrong with him. Elijah tells them both to behave. Klaus arrives just then, commenting that the sound of his siblings is familiar, though the teams are different now. He’s not exactly desperate to save Finn, but Elijah wants him to, so Klaus obliges.
The last werewolf Hayley and Klaus saved is still in the lab while she’s getting ready to set it on fire. She tells him she’ll take him back to the Crescent pack, but he’s not a Crescent. The wolves in the lab were from the seven packs (basically the Originals of the werewolf world). The vampire guinea pig withstood a bunch of rounds of venom injections and healings, but after the last one, they couldn’t save her.
Finn starts to recover, and he’s even grateful to Kol, since Davina came through for him. Finn got a look at “always and forever” today. Just then he starts coughing up blood. Despite drinking Klaus’ blood, his body is dying. Freya sends Elijah to get the pendant she kept Finn in before, but Kol says that won’t work this time, since Davina locked Finn into his body. Freya wants to at least try to transfer him, since there’s no ancestral well or Other Side for him to go to.
Klaus tells Kol to call Davina so she can undo what she did to Finn. Finn asks his siblings to stay with him, and they gather around him, seeming to accept that they can’t do anything for him. He slowly desiccates with his family by his side. Freya’s heartbroken, and even Kol is a little teary.
Sometime later, the remaining Mikaelsons take Finn’s ashes to a bridge to scatter them and say goodbye. Elijah admires how Finn fought against what he’d been turned into. Kol still hates him but also wants him to find peace. Freya considered Finn a gift as a child because he was her first friend. Today he gave her another gift by saving her and helping to unite their brothers (even though that probably won’t last). “Always and forever, brother, till forever ends,” she says. I’m not sure Freya knows what “forever” means. Klaus goes last because he always has to have the last word. He promises that they’ll avenge Finn.
Vincent meets Davina at St. James Infirmary, surprised both that she helped him today and that she wants to see him now. She asks for his help – Kol’s blood contains the ancestors’ magic, which means the spell Davina used to resurrect him was corrupted. They’re making him lose control in order to hurt her. Vincent says he used to respect the ancestors, but now he knows they just use people to get what they want, then toss them aside. Disobedience leads to shunning and death. They need to be stopped.
At the Compound, Klaus and Elijah discuss what they might be facing now that Lucien has upgraded himself. Hayley arrives and tells the two of them and Freya that Lucien’s research was an attempt to find a more lethal strain of werewolf venom. Freya guesses that’s what he used in his upgrade spell. Hayley and Klaus are descended from two of the original seven werewolf packs, but Lucien’s new strain uses venom from all seven. Not even Klaus’ blood can cure one of his bites.
Freya notes that Lucien still has another vial of the upgrade serum. She wonders if it’s because the spell will wear off and he’ll need to take another dose. Klaus has a different idea: Lucien got a vial for himself and a vial for Aurora. He and Elijah go to the tomb where Klaus bricked up Aurora, but she’s gone.
Etc.: Joseph Morgan (Klaus) directed this episode.
Another reason to hate time jumps: On The Vampire Diaries, it’s three years in the future. This episode falls in a time period that was skipped over there. It’s confusing.
I absolutely love how Davina has no patience for Kol’s yelling. She is a FREAKING TALENTED WITCH and she will NOT endure anyone RAISING THEIR VOICE at her. She deserves NOTHING BUT RESPECT and she knows it.
Klaus and Hayley working together and getting along is surprisingly entertaining. When the security guards arrive, she asks, “Shall we?” as if she’s inviting him to dance. He replies, “Ladies first.”
Elijah’s greeting to Matt: “Matthew Donovan. How adorable inconvenient.” Just when I think I can’t love Elijah any more than I already do…
Great news: We never have to see Finn again! Yay!
An Eternity of Misery 