Hope’s lying in bed at the Compound, listening to the song “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” and having a flashback to a time she did a spell to visit Klaus via astral projection. Unfortunately, she picked a bad time to pop in, as he was in the middle of committing some murders. He barked at her to get out. As Hope falls asleep in the present, the petals on some flowers in her room start dropping off.
Klaus has arrived, and he and Freya see each other for the first time in seven years. He promises to leave town as soon as Hayley has been found. He notes that the city smells like blood. Freya tells him that hours after he and Elijah saw each other, it rained blood. Klaus asks for information on Hayley’s disappearance so he can get to finding her, then get out. Upstairs, Hope notices her flowers dying and runs to the courtyard. Klaus hears her coming and zooms out before she can get too close.
Marcel has also returned to New Orleans, and he and the Quarter’s vampires are at Rousseau’s, holding an Irish wake for Poppy. Josh says that when he dies, he doesn’t want drinking in his memory – he wants all sadness, all the time. Greta doesn’t think Marcel has done enough to honor Poppy, who was killed by “a jacked-up half-breed” with anger issues. Josh reminds her that Henry is only 15. Marcel says that Hayley and the Crescents will handle Henry. Greta complains that all they’re doing is building their Mardi Gras float and toasting the future. They’re protecting Henry.
Josh tells Marcel that Greta has been in town for a couple of years and isn’t normally a problem. Okay, but anyone who uses the phrase “half-breed” is someone you want to keep an eye on. Marcel doesn’t like her tone, and he knows that she could easily start a rebellion. Josh tells him that some vampires don’t consider him their king because he’s basically a hybrid now.
Klaus texts Marcel, who goes outside to talk to him. Hayley’s been missing for days now, and Klaus can’t follow every lead to find her, so he needs Marcel’s help. To his credit, Marcel is willing to do whatever he can.
Vincent meets up with Freya, who shares the news that Klaus is in town. Vincent’s like, “Welp, that explains the bloody rain.” She tells him that Hayley’s missing, so Klaus is just there long enough to find her. When this is over, Freya will also leave town so she can be with Keelin. She suggests that Vincent consult with a fortune teller named Ivy to find out what to do next. He thinks she’s joking, but apparently Ivy’s pretty skilled. (Freya also thinks she and Vincent would make a good couple.) Vincent tells Freya he’ll miss her when she leaves.
Roman shows up on Hope’s balcony, having found her address in Alaric’s files (which are in the same cabinet as his “emergency bourbon,” which I think is just regular bourbon to him). Hope forgets that she has to invite Roman in, since he’s a vampire. She realizes too late that she’s still in her pajamas. Roman is there to talk about Henry, whom everyone thinks is dead. Roman and his friends bullied Henry, so he feels guilty for seemingly driving Henry to suicide. Hope assures him that Henry’s not dead.
She tells Roman to turn away so she can change clothes, and also hide some things she doesn’t want him to see, like a stuffed animal. Roman says that Lizzie claims she saw Henry jump out a window. He couldn’t have survived a fall from that height. Hope replies that Lizzie also claims that Hope “exploded an orphanage” when she was eight. Roman heard that story, as well as one about Hope being a Romanian princess. She asks him to wait for her while she goes out to do something. Then she jokes that she exploded an orphan Romanian princess with her brain (but the princess deserved it).
Klaus thinks Declan had something to do with Hayley’s disappearance, but a compulsion-fueled chat with him reveals that Declan doesn’t know anything about the supernatural parts of Hayley’s life. He’s also slipped into the role of Hope’s father in Klaus’ absence. He put up a painting Hope did of him up in the kitchen of Rousseau’s, and he’s been helping Hayley teach her to drive. He asks where Klaus was all this time. Klaus calls Declan “utterly disposable,” vamps out, and bites him. Of course, that’s when Hope shows up. She uses magic to separate them.
Klaus compels Declan to go run an errand and forget meeting him. He won’t even look at Hope when he tells her to go home. She admits that she’s scared for Hayley. Both of them hear whispers, thanks to the Hollow, but Hope doesn’t care that they’re too close. She wants to help Klaus find Hayley. He threatens to have Freya keep her bound at the Compound if she doesn’t go home voluntarily. Behind them, a snake slithers through Declan’s produce. Ooh, a health code violation for Rousseau’s!
Marcel and some other vampires (including Josh and Greta) go to the bayou and ask the Crescent wolves where Hayley is. Lisina thinks she’s at the Compound with Hope. Marcel figured she’d come to see Henry, since she said she was going to teach him how to control himself. His vamp hearing picks up Henry’s heartbeat, but Lisina reminds him that he’s not invited into their cabin. Marcel threatens to burn it down to get Henry to come out. The king of New Orleans always gets what he wants. “Well, feel free to put a tariff on my tea,” Lisina snarks. She won’t let him get anywhere near Henry.
Vincent takes Freya’s advice and goes to talk to Ivy. He asks her to tell his fortune, but she knows he has more questions than the basic “will I get that great new job?” queries the tourists have. She can’t give him the answers he wants. She doesn’t believe in looking further in the future than anyone should. Endings aren’t written in advance, and she knows Vincent wants a glance at the end. He clarifies that he needs guidance because he’s feeling like things are about to fall apart, and he might be able to do something about it. As a snake slithers out of a nearby fountain, Keelin surprises Freya by returning from Lebanon early.
Henry’s feeling off, and he’s worried that he’ll hurt Lisina if she stays around him. He’s also worried that the Crescents won’t protect him. She reminds him that Hayley’s also a hybrid and is going to help him adjust. Henry says she won’t stand up for him again. He wants to run. Marcel and Josh are listening in from outside the cabin, and Josh warns him not to go anywhere.
He steps inside the cabin, reminding Lisina that she invited him in last summer, when he came to celebrate Aiden’s brother’s birthday. They were friends once. Henry asks Lisina not to let Josh take him. Josh calmly says that Henry killed someone who didn’t deserve it, and he can’t just go back to school like nothing happened. One of Marcel’s rules is that vampires don’t kill each other. Henry will be punished, but he’ll be allowed to live.
Lisina asks if he’ll be sent to the Garden. Marcel speaks up that his other rule is no harming kids, so Henry will only be punished for a few years. After he’s served his time, he’ll be allowed to join Marcel’s crew, which will put him under Marcel’s protection. Lisina looks to Josh, who nods to confirm that Marcel’s telling the truth. Lisina tells Henry that she’ll be there for him once he’s done his time. She invites Marcel in, and he immediately zooms off with Henry.
Roman snoops around the Compound, not caring that someone might see him. Hope returns and tells him to just ask what she knows he wants to ask. He’s spooked by the Viking grimoires and multiple weapons. Oh, and the redhead wrapped in a sheet in the parlor. (Aurora’s still under her sleep spell and no one knows what to do with her.) Roman promises that he can keep a secret – he’s already keeping a bunch of his own.
Hope reveals that her last name is really Mikaelson, a name Roman seems to find familiar. Her grandmother basically invented dark magic, her mother is the alpha of the Crescent werewolves, and her father is the infamous Klaus. As for Hope herself, she’s “the mythical tribrid freak show.”
Marcel and Josh take Henry to Josh’s loft for an interrogation before he starts his sentence in the Garden. Marcel asks why he doesn’t think Hayley will keep protecting him. When Henry doesn’t answer, the guys guess that he had something to do with her disappearance. Henry swears that he doesn’t know where she is, but he clearly knows something. And he has to be working with someone, since he’s too small to exert any control over an older hybrid. Henry remains quiet, but Marcel puts together that he’s keeping secrets for his sire, Hope.
Instead of being scared or freaked out by Hope’s revelations, Roman is sympathetic. He thinks she must be lonely after keeping her secrets for so long. Klaus arrives at the Compound and Hope sends Roman away before Klaus can see him. Klaus has heard from Marcel and Josh, it appears, and he demands to know what Hope did to Hayley.
Vincent takes Ivy to the bell tower, which she comments isn’t as great a spot as the botanical gardens, but is still okay. She guessed that he’d already picked out the location for their first date, though she claims she doesn’t read minds: “When I ask the earth a question, I can taste its truth on my tongue.” Vincent wants to know if Klaus is going to cause the collapse of New Orleans. Ivy consults her tarot cards by levitating her deck and letting it drop, leaving one card in the air. The card that remains is the empress, and Ivy says this isn’t about Klaus – it’s about Hope.
Hope admits that she had Henry grab Hayley so they could fake her kidnapping and get Klaus to come to New Orleans. Hope wrote her own sleeping spell and put her mother in a coffin. She won’t tell Klaus where Hayley is, since he’ll just leave town again. He reminds her that she’s in danger when they’re close to each other. As a reminder, some flowers between them die and a snake crawls out of their vase. Klaus says they could be putting other people in danger, too. Hope replies that she doesn’t care.
Freya can hear them fighting from her room, where she’s packing for her trip with Keelin. Freya says this is typical for a witch like Hope at her age; Freya’s own teenage tantrums involved her burning villages and making birds fall out of the sky. Keelin comments that she’ll keep that in mind in case they ever have a daughter. (Freya’s face: “Have a what?”) She’s excited for all the possibilities in their future, now that they’re leaving New Orleans. They both admit to feeling suffocated there and are happy to get a chance to breathe.
Klaus tells Hope that the child she used to be never would have come up with a stunt like this. I’m not sure how he would know, since he’s only ever spent a few months with her since she was a toddler. She tells him she read his memoirs (the ones he made Cami work on) and knows all about how he used to put his family members in coffins and use them as leverage. Why can’t she do the same?
Since Hope used one of his tricks against him, he uses another to get into her head and find out that she stashed Hayley at St. Anne’s. He reminds her how much danger she’s in with him around and says he’ll ask Hayley not to be too hard on her. Before he can leave, she magically seals him in the house. A snake crawls out of some flowers and the whispers pick up.
Marcel tells Josh to leave Hope out of things if the vampires ask about Hayley. Josh notes that even if they put Henry in the Garden, they’re just dealing with symptoms, not the disease. As long as Hope can make hybrids, she’s a problem. Marcel still won’t involve her. Josh has been the head of the vampire faction in his absence, and he’s gone seven years without losing anyone to the faction wars. As much as Marcel doesn’t want to admit it, Hope is “a Mikaelson on the brink” and they need to be ready for whatever she might do.
Hope asks why Klaus stopped contacting her. He says she knows why. “Sorry I interrupted your murder orgy,” she spits out, something we’ve all had to say to our fathers at one point or another. He admits that he stopped contacting her because it wasn’t enough for her and wasn’t doing her any good. She denies that he knows what’s good for her. She hears stories about his actions over the years from people at school, and she has to keep quiet and pretend she doesn’t know him when all she wants to do is scream. “Well, welcome to the bloody party!” Klaus yells. The whispers are getting louder, and there are more snakes in the courtyard.
Ivy tells Vincent that before Hope was born, Sabine warned that Hope would destroy everyone. Vincent says she was a charlatan, and he knows Hope, who’s just a kid. Ivy turns back to her cards, saying they’ll either confirm or deny that they have a problem. Vincent does a spell to set the cards on fire, then picks up one that doesn’t get burned. It’s the sun, which Ivy says is a sign of health and abundance. The next is temperance – peace. The chariot means success.
The cards suddenly go up in flames, and Ivy picks up more from the ashes of the deck. The hangman means a terrible sacrifice, the devil means bondage and slavery, and the tower means calamity along the lines of famine, fire, and flood. Sabine was right, and Hope will be the city’s downfall.
Klaus tells Hope that when he left seven years ago, he was protecting her. He’s horrified by what she saw when she astral-projected to him when she was nine. She says she saw a monster who looked like her father, the person who taught her how to mix paint and called her a princess. She didn’t know which version of him was real. She waited for him to apologize or explain or just say he loved her, but he didn’t come to her.
Klaus goes back to his favorite excuse, that his experience with his father warped how he sees father/child relationships. He was afraid of damaging Hope the way Mikael damaged him. “Perhaps I was always bound to leave you broken,” he says sadly. But that makes her think that he sees her as broken. Maybe she is, and maybe she would be better off if she’d never loved him. She breaks her spell keeping him in the house and tells him he can go. Klaus wants to make up with her, but the whispers and snakes are both increasing, and he knows he has to leave.
Marcel is bricking Henry up in the Garden when Hope comes down. She apologizes to Henry for getting him involved in her mess, then uses her sire bond to calm him. She promises that they’ll be friends when he gets out. Whenever he’s scared, he should close his eyes and sing.
Ivy feels bad that she didn’t give Vincent the reassurance he wanted. He notes that the snakes and blood are the result of the Mikaelsons just being in each other’s vicinity. He’s heard all sorts of versions of stories like this. Ivy is sure that New Orleans will eventually fall. But Vincent says that if Hope is strong enough to destroy the city, she’s also strong enough to start a revolution. He burns the tarot cards and says Hope might just need to “change her course.”
Marcel praises Hope for what she did for Henry. She says she’ll give herself a point. When she was a kid, she kept score, rewarding herself with points for being good and taking them away when she lost her temper or had a bad thought. Marcel doesn’t want her to put pressure on herself like that. Hope notes that her family sacrificed everything to save her. “I’m supposed to be worth it,” she says tearfully. “I mean, I’m supposed to be better, right?” But her father thinks she’s broken and she’s not sure he loves her anymore.
Marcel promises that even if Klaus doesn’t say it, he will love Hope, even the worst parts of her, “until the oceans are dust.” She’s worth every sacrifice. She’s good, and Marcel will eat anyone who disagrees. He hugs her, more for himself than for her.
Klaus and Freya go to the attic of St. Anne’s and find Hayley’s coffin open and empty. There’s blood and fur everywhere. Klaus goes home and tells Hope that Hayley’s gone again. Hope insists that her spell was flawless and was supposed to protect Hayley. He says the coffin was destroyed, so she fought whoever came after her. He takes the blame for the situation, since Hope acted out to get his attention, and he promises he’ll fix it. Hope will go back to school so Klaus can be sure she’s safe.
She starts choking and coughing, and a snake crawls up her throat and out of her mouth. She tells Klaus he has to leave. He promises again to find Hayley and return her to Hope. He adds that he loves her, then zooms off.
Freya does a locator spell in the attic but can’t find Hayley. She can only feel Hayley’s fear. She tells Keelin to leave town. She needs to travel and save people and breathe. Keelin refuses to leave Freya behind, but Freya doesn’t want Keelin to put her life on hold any longer. She can’t help her family if she feels the burden of Keelin giving up her life. Keelin wants to stay and be there for Freya, but Freya says that she can’t love Keelin and her family at the same time. She claims she wants Keelin to go, but she obviously doesn’t.
At Rousseau’s, Josh tries to reassure Lisina that Henry will be okay. Marcel arrives and tells the various supernatural beings who’ve gathered that they should celebrate together because justice has been served. As Henry shakily sings “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” to himself, Marcel says that when he’s completed his punishment, New Orleans will welcome him back to the fold. The lesson here is for everyone to serve New Orleans first and themselves second – that’s how they’ve kept the peace. Someone creeps into the Garden and removes a brick from Henry’s cell.
Hope meets up with Roman, who’s going to drive her back to Mystic Falls. He calls her Marshall, and when she reminds him that that’s not really her last name, he calls her Hope. They hear a scream from nearby and run to a crowd of people who are looking up at a balcony off the street. Henry is dead and his body is hanging by a noose.
Etc.: I don’t think Danielle Rose Russell (Hope) is as strong in the role here as she is in Legacies, but she has the awkward-teen-trying-to-be-cool-around-her-crush thing down pat. And she’s excellent in the emotional Hope/Klaus scenes.
Vincent in late season 4: “Freya, I don’t care about you or your family or anything that has ever even come in contact with a Mikaelson, and after I save Hope, I pray I never see any of your faces again.” Vincent now: “Freya, I don’t want you to go to Lebanon because we work so well together and I’ll miss you, but I also really want you to be happy.” If only we knew what went down between them over the seven years between these.
Lisina is awesome, and she’s criminally underused.
Aww, Josh is still in touch with Aiden’s brother. That’s so nice.
I love that the Mikaelsons have basically been treating Aurora like an old piece of furniture they don’t use. Like, they can’t really get rid of her, so they just stuffed her in an unused room in the house and go about their business.
An Eternity of Misery 