The Originals - S5E8 - The Kindness of Strangers

Previously on The Originals, “God’s Gonna Trouble the Water”

Scavenger Hunt (for Your Life)

Chambre de chasse translates to “hunting room” and that’s where the all Mikaelson siblings — Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Freya, and Kol — find themselves. This room is a magical representation of their home and all of them are stuck there until they can hunt down the keys to unlock each of their locks. Because the chambre de chasse is representational magic, the location of each of the keys is personal to them and to the creator of this maze. Freya convinces them that the spell caster must be Vincent and that he is trying to make sure the siblings stay away from each other for the sake of New Orleans, but when Marcel shows up, he tells them that the person who sent them there is Hope.

Hope is attempting to get all the Mikaelsons together so she can pull the Hollow out of them. And after Kol finds his key in a room that hasn’t existed in a century, they realize that Freya is helping her. Marcel helps each of the remaining Mikaelsons find their keys while hitting them with some hard truths. Since Hope created the maze, their keys are in places that are significant to her as well as them. Klaus’ key is in letters Hayley wrote to him that he never read and Elijah’s is in a coffin since he killed her mother. She’s petty.

When they finally find their keys, the Mikaelsons still have to make it out of Elijah’s corridor and he can only make it through the red door with the help of Klaus. (MESSAGE!) Hope is definitely petty for that. When Elijah awakens on the other side of the red door, he has to confront all of his memories and the realization that he’s responsible for Hayley’s death. The heartsick howls that come out of him are overwhelming. But once he’s calmed himself and given Antoinette Klaus’ blood to cure her hybrid bite, he puts back on the suit and goes full Elijah Mikaelson.

The Good

• I really, really wanted to see Elijah fall under the weight of his guilt and I wasn’t disappointed. It was also incredibly devastating and beautifully acted by Daniel Gilles.
• The flashbacks. Although most of them were just scenes from season one, reliving the relationship between Hayley and Klaus and the early days of Hope’s life was a comfort after losing Hayley. Hopefully, the show continues to slowly let go of her.
• Like Stefan and Damon, the relationship between Klaus and Elijah is a cornerstone of The Originals. The two of them rushing the red door to leave the chambre de chasse made me cheer.

The Bad

• Getting Elijah back was always a goal of this season, but that means he had to break up with Antoinette. I don’t want this to drive her to be evil and I liked casual Elijah. Daniel Gilles can hang a suit, but he looked great buttoned down as well.
• Rebekah finally explained her reluctance to be with Marcel, but she also needs to get over herself. Yes, she never wanted to be a vampire, but part of the reason Marcel chose to become a vampire was to be with her. She needs to allow herself to be happy.

Flashback episodes are a particular favorite of mine and I like how this one managed to weave together Hayley and Klaus’ first days of parenthood with Elijah’s struggle to fight his memories. With the death of such a huge character, it makes sense that memories of Hayley would continue to reverberate throughout the season and since most of the Mikaelsons could not attend her funeral, this was a good way to remember her. The question now is how will Hope handle subduing the Hollow inside of her?