The Originals recap: 'Haunter of Ruins'

I remember the good old days when I used to dream about Caroline waltzing into New Orleans so she and Klaus could live happily ever after. He was a hybrid who ruled the world. She was the spunky vampire who could see right through his pomp and circumstance. Now The Originals writers are introducing child sacrifices into the mix. How did we get here?

Well, it all started with a weird journal that refuses to burn. That’s right, Vincent can’t seem to get rid of the “instruction manual” for some very dark magic that he just happened to write, but can’t remember penning back in the day. He gives the book to Marcel, asking Marcel to kill him if he ever comes looking for it. That’s clear as mud. Allow me to try and explain.

In a flashback, Vincent is married to Eva. We see that he is overjoyed to learn his wife is pregnant. She wants to leave New Orleans because Marcel hates most witches. Vincent wants to stay in his hometown. As luck would have it, this weirdo journal with the serpent sigil just happens to appear on Vincent’s table.

Vincent begins to practice the dark magic and gets pretty drunk on the power. Yet he doesn’t feel that it’s enough. Obviously Eva asks to get in on this power trip, but instead of sacrificing regular old albino snakes and goats, she chooses to go a step further and sacrifice a beloved pet bird. You see, she believe the sacrifice has to mean something. She soon advances to child sacrifices. Eva is cray.

In the current timeline, Vincent fills Marcel in on all of his marital history. Marcel wonders if Eva is back. She’s a child-stealing psychopath, right? Maybe she took Adam. Vincent warns Marcel that it’s more. The book and the mark equal darkness. It’s coming. Or better yet, it’s here.

Vincent is right. Not only is Adam gone, but there are three other kids who are missing. Rumor has it that something is going on at the once abandoned Strix mansion. Sounds like a perfect place to conduct a little dark magic. Vincent asks Will to sit this one out. He’d like for his friend to stay alive. I second that emotion.

While Vincent and Marcel investigate the mansion, the Mikaelson family gather on the front porch of the house to discuss next steps. Kol and Freya are ready to book it. Rebekah is quiet, Elijah watches Klaus, and their fearless leader loses his temper, demanding one day of peace with his daughter.

Hope steps out onto the front door just as her father spews the phrase, “THAT IS NOT A REQUEST,” to his siblings. She dutifully whispers “hello” and then goes to the garden. Klaus feels that his name has been tainted, but Hayley assures him that she has only spoken highly of him in front of their daughter. Hope knows that Klaus is a hybrid, is very old, and stops at nothing to protect his family.

Hayley: “You’re her fairy tale prince. Now you’re real. You have a lot to live up to.”

Klaus slowly approaches Hope in the garden, where his daughter paints. He couldn’t have asked for a better opening, yet he can’t manage to speak. Hope informs him that she knows he likes to paint. Without another word, she delicately hands him a blank piece of paper and invites him to join her with a sweet nod of her head. It’s a match made in heaven. Klaus’ smile is infectious.

Now that the other Mikaelsons have a free day where they aren’t running around or stuck in exile for five years, the siblings begin to think about what they want in life. Kol wants to grieve Davina by an ocean. Rebekah wants love. They leave town together to find sanctuary in Saint-Tropez. Rebekah has a sweet goodbye with Klaus. For once, she leaves on good terms with her brother.

The others are a different story. Hayley clearly wants Elijah. Elijah desires Hayley, and Freya wants more Malraux venom from Keelin, who is currently chained out back in the barn. Can Freya not stop working for one minute? Geez.

Remember, she needs the venom to make the antidote to cure Marcel’s bite. As she extracts it from Keelin, she’s curious as to why the werewolf isn’t healing. The answer isn’t simple. Keelin uses a lot of medical talk to explain that she basically figured out a way to suppress her werewolf traits by using medicine — not magic. File that away for a moment.

Back at the house, there’s a sweet moment when Hayley tells Elijah that other than Hope, he is the person who dominates her mind most. She knows she should be happy, but she’s upset that one of her kind is suffering in the barn. Elijah wants her life to be more. He doesn’t want her to lose herself. He encourages Hayley to let Keelin go.

Hayley does, and Freya is ticked — especially when Elijah backs Hayley. Freya pretends to be cool with it, but we all know that Keelin is a sitting duck. Freya finds her, gives her a witch’s headache, and then drags her back to the barn. Would she rather be hunted and killed? Or be living and breathing under the Mikaelsons’ rule? It’s her choice. P.S. Freya wants Keelin’s help to help her suppress Marcel’s traits and then kill him. Fun times!

Even though this episode is all about the drama, I found myself looking forward to the exchanges between Klaus and Hope. They share stories about Klaus’ childhood. She absentmindedly grabs his hand (so sweet), and they remark over a poor butterfly who has a broken wing. Hope slips off her anti-magic bracelet, asks her father not to tell her mother, and then fixes the butterfly.

Klaus couldn’t be more proud. When Hope admits to being scared of the magic she can’t control, Klaus reminds her that she is his daughter. And she is the greatest witch the world has ever seen. He will keep the bad guys away. Klaus picks her up to take her back inside, and we see Hope notice something in the woods. Is a blue floating orb-like mass considered a “bad guy?”

Speaking of bad guys, Elijah is convinced he is one. Hayley assures him that he isn’t. They both play the “you have a good heart” game that leads to a declaration of love. That leads to a passionate kiss, which leads to a romp in the sack. Is it just me, or do we need to see Elijah shirtless more often?

Over at the Strix mansion, a creepy dude drips blood into a dish while the four missing children stare on with weird, milky eyes. That’s the stuff nightmares are made of, and I don’t plan on falling asleep easily tonight. Thank you Julie Plec. Marcel runs in and Creepy Dude stabs him. Then Vincent stakes Creepy Dude.

Oddly, Creepy Dude is surprised, yet sort of excited to see Vincent. He lets us in on a little secret: The darkness wants Vincent there! I’m not sure how Creeper doesn’t die, but he’s with it enough to threaten to gouge out Vincent’s eyes. Thankfully Marcel is there to stake the guy again, just as Creeper gives Marcel a headache. The kids fall to the ground.

The scene cuts to Hope, walking up to Klaus. She tells him that something is wrong. She “sees” a bad man hurting kids. And she thinks he wants to hurt her, too.

Cut back to Creepy Dude telling Vincent, “You think that it only chose you? You freed it. You gave it breath. And now it must be fed.” At that news, Vincent cuts Creeper’s throat. He runs over to the kids. The darkness is draining the life from them.

Vincent works to reverse the spell just as Hope complains of feeling cold and dizzy. Klaus cries out for Hayley who runs in from her tryst with Elijah. Vincent’s spell works and all the kids wake up totally fine. The bad guy was using personal items to bind them to the spell. There’s just one problem: There are five personal items and only four kids. Marcel picks up a hairbrush and sees the Mikaelson crest on the back. He knows Hope is in danger.

Marcel puts the kids in an ambulance headed back for town, and Vincent tells him that they have to do a cleansing spell on Hope. Marcel concedes and lets Vincent send a message to Hayley. It looks like the Mikaelsons are headed back to New Orleans. As the brothers argue over who will go and who will stay, Hayley solves the problem with two sentences: “Hope needs her father, and I need both of you. Let’s go.”

There’s just one confusing part left. Marcel wants to know why Vincent feels responsible for all of this. Isn’t it Eva’s fault? Technically, yes, but it was Vincent who invited the magic in the first place. Although he tried to cleanse his wife, she fell victim to the demons. He has no idea what happened to the baby. That was a weird disclaimer to include in this particular dialogue. Could the darkness have something to do with the unborn child of Vincent and Eva?

Vincent heads back to the church with the voice of his wife ringing in his ears: “What lives in me lives in you. It’s still there. You got away because it let you. It needs you. It’s beating in the hearts of your people.”

And who might that be? Sadly, it’s our good friend Will. He’s a cold-hearted killer now who slays the throats of innocent ambulance drivers. He also steals children who have just been through a horrific experience. Poor Will. Sounds like someone’s going to need another compulsion from Klaus before all of this is said and done.