The Originals 3×18 Review: “The Devil Comes Here and Sighs”

Love knows no bounds on this week’s The Originals. Lucien takes the next step in declaring his devotion, but are his affections returned?

All this time the prophecy has been predicting the demise of the Mikaelson family on The Originals. But, who knew that the origins of that prophecy hit so close to home? Lucien (Andrew Lees) has harbored such anger, jealousy, and resentment over the fact that Aurora (Rebecca Breeds) did not return his love but rather preferred that of another man, Klaus (Joseph Morgan). Love can make us all crazy, but in this case, it has gone above and beyond what any normal over devoted suitor would deem necessary. Now that Lucien is a super duper power filled the advanced form of hybrid, he has all the bravado and support needed to bring his goal of bringing down those who have towering over him for his entire life. But is his hatred misguided? Is he harboring a grudge that was formed under the assumption that Aurora returned his undying devotion? This week, Klaus was put in a tight spot and only his siblings, Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Freya (Riley Voelkel) could save him, along with the help from the mother of his child, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) and a long lost love, Cami (Leah Pipes). With the witches in turmoil over control of the city of New Orleans and the agenda being to remove any vampire threat from their borders, Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood) is replaced, causing trouble for Kol (Nathaniel Buzolic) and his once regent girlfriend, Davina (Danielle Campbell). A variety of things happened in this episode that if you blinked you may have missed a thing or two. Let’s go over and discuss what went down on The Originals this week together.

Bros before… you get the idea.

Our dear Lucien is all grown up now and wielding unspeakable powers to take down his main rival: Klaus. In meeting that end he has freed his lady love, Aurora, to woo her with the promise of exacting her revenge and perhaps returning her brother to her, or bringing the end of another brother that was the source of her suffering: Elijah. Offering Aurora the serum may have been one of the most stupid things Lucien could have done in his entire plan, considering the fact that she cares little for him other than using him as a means to an end. It is endearing that Lucien would go to such lengths to prove his love for Aurora and claim that her heart’s desire was the same as his only to be let down time after time by the object of his affections. It’s no wonder he is continually trapped into a pattern of doing her bidding all at the danger to his own safety and with little satisfaction in the end. This time, Lucien kidnaps Klaus in the hopes of drawing out his brother Elijah in order to kill him and bring at least part of the prophecy to an end. Things do not end up in his favor when Freya manages to torture him at least for a small part of the afternoon until the ancestors of New Orleans aid in freeing him from their temporary trap.

“I am all together different now.” - Lucien

While Lucien is out, Aurora has her way with Klaus, torturing him and reducing him to admit his undying love for her in a bid to change her mind and possibly free himself. That failing, the arrival of Cami and Hayley save the day and they are able to take Aurora captive since they are unable to kill her due to her taking the serum. It really is too bad that her life could not be easily ended, as her death would have solved so many problems right off the bat. It would also be worthy to note that it must have been so hard to keep that ‘I told you so’ from coming out of Cami’s mouth to Klaus regarding the crazy little red-headed vampire psychopath. There really is no end to her desperate attempts in settling her supposed score of spurned love and even now when she claims that she feels nothing, you can tell otherwise. Poor Aurora is ruled by her emotions, much like her permanent suitor Lucien. But now that Lucien knows the truth, via unfortunate video footage of her admitting how she was only using Lucien, will he still be keen in helping her exact her revenge? Or will his motives change drastically in order to salve his own bleeding heart by trying to ruin Klaus’ own feelings of love and a possible chance at happiness?

The ancestors are crazy.

A border has been crossed with the ancestors championing Lucien as their means to rid New Orleans of the vampire threat. If anything, he has become the greatest threat to their city that has been ever been seen. Whether they realize it or not, his existence could spell disaster for the entire coven of witches residing in New Orleans by their constant interference. Lucien does not have their needs and wants at heart. He is using them much like Aurora has used him for centuries to gain power over those that would threaten him. Being dead and not within the situation could be the main problem here, but I’m willing to bet that if the ancestors were up and roaming New Orleans, they would not put their trust in the hands of man so rage driven.

“Your time as regent is over. The witches are gonna take back the city. Step one: new management.” - Van Nguyen

The ancestors are so mixed up that they have decided to cast out Vincent in favor of another witch in their borders: Van Nguyen (Lawrence Kao). This choice is an odd one, considering the focus and power Vincent has displayed in the past. This new move of shunning Vincent may well be a good thing for him. It will allow him to realize his own power within himself without their help and drawing energy from the city. In a way, it will allow him to flex the muscles in his spell work and powers that he may not have realized he had on his own. With the help of Davina, who is powerful in her own right, the ancestors withdrawal from his life could be the key to taking them down altogether. For now, they must contend with the fact that the witches are favoring an out of control superpower that must be stopped, not only for the sake of the Mikaelsons but for the sake of New Orleans. Once Lucien has what he wants, who’s to say he wouldn’t stick around and make a king of himself and those beneath him in his new realm?

She loves you, she loves you not.

Love was a strong theme in this episode. Much like Lucien has devoted his life into pleasing and winning over Aurora, Klaus has had his own lessons in life and love in the past and one that he is currently suffering over is his relationship with Cami. From his initial checking in on her to make sure that she was safe, to his cries over her being mistreated under the evil hands of Aurora, you can see that Klaus harbors strong feelings for his once human therapist. Love is a weakness and this episode reveals that Cami is still a very big weakness for Klaus when it comes to emotions and relationships. Aurora hit the nail on the head several episodes ago when she guessed how much Klaus really does care for Camille. And it looks like those feelings are far from being over. What isn’t clear is Klaus’ real reasons for bricking up Aurora in the first place instead of bringing her to an end. Does he really still have a hope for them or were those words brought forth as a last ditch plea to talk his once upon a time lover into letting him go? It’s probably a good thing Camille didn’t have to witness any of the things Klaus said to Aurora in that moment, whether they were untrue or not.

“Cami may tell you that staying away is best and maybe it is… but it doesn’t stop how she feels.” - Hayley

The unrequited feelings are mutual. Cami cares a whole heck of a lot for Klaus, or at least still holds a great deal of respect for him. Why else would she follow him into that alley and see him taken by Lucien if she didn’t care either way what became of his family? Also, why would she inform the family that she had seen him taken as quickly as she did? It was lovely to see her team up with Hayley once more to concoct a plan and deliver a beat down to Aurora again. I will never get tired of those gals reducing Aurora to helpless lump, time and time again. Cami has really stepped up her game in defending herself and also defending those that she loves. Her hard exterior may be softening as time goes on. By the look on her face when she hears that knock on the door at the end of the episode, you could tell that she was expecting another person entirely. And it was really too bad that the face that met hers was Lucien’s and not that of Klaus in thanking her for saving his life. Lucien has most definitely figured out the piece in the puzzle by her involvement and now by biting Cami and taking her hostage, the most likely path for the Mikaelsons and Klaus would be a race for time in searching for the antidote to Lucien’s poison.

Conclusion: Lucien is a highly driven individual.

You’ve got to hand it to Lucien. The boy can hold a grudge and hold on to hope as far as unrequited love goes or maybe in this case a hopeless crush. The lengths he has gone to in order to be rid of Klaus and his family are extreme. Far be it from us to remind him that he received his immortality due to that family and would no longer be there to exact his revenge if they had not bestowed that gift upon him. He still will not forget that the girl he liked best didn’t like him back in the same way. However, becoming a super weapon and showing that he can beat up the said rival did little to bring Aurora to her senses and come running back to him, falling over herself to please him as he would have hoped. In fact, it turned out to be quite the opposite and now that Lucien is aware of that fact, we may be witnessing a quick downward spiral into a rage fueled battle of hatred and hurt feelings.

Writers Kyle Arrington and Michelle Paradise lay out a lovely plot of love and questioned loyalties. The underlying threat of the witches of New Orleans mixed in with the super weapon that Lucien has become is brilliant touch to the otherwise separate story lines. By mixing these aspects, the plot becomes more interesting and unpredictable. How will everything end up in the end now that Lucien’s hopes for love and conquering his betters has sadly come to an end? The best he can hope for is still killing the Mikaelsons and making a new name for himself in a world that does not include those that have wronged him. Director Jesse Warn pieced together some great shots to keep the action rolling and each plan of action relevant to the other. Though Klaus was in one place being tortured by Aurora and Lucien was another being tortured by Freya, the two scenes were interconnected perfectly without distraction. It all made sense. While most of the scenes in the episode were more of the dramatic torturing type, it was fun to see a more playful side mixed in with Kol and Davina in the spell guarded bar. There was just enough fluff to dampen the drama and keep us watching for what came next. I was on the edge of my seat for this one and also surprised at what exactly Lucien could get away with. I’m already wishing it was next week to find out what will happen with Aurora in the hands of the Mikaelson clan and what they plan to do to save Cami.

Questions, Comments & Concerns

• KLAMILLE!!!! Okay. Now I have that out of my system.
• Now that Lucien knows the truth about Aurora using his affections for her own purposes, will he bring down his revenge upon her as well?
• How will the gang figure out a way to stop Lucien and more importantly is there a way to cure the effects of his bite?
• Will Aurora transition into the mega super hybrid model or will Freya find a way to stop it?
• What does this mean for Vincent now that he has in turn been shunned by the ancestors?
• Is Kol trapped in New Orleans for good? Is the condition of his life based solely on his existence within the cities borders?
• What is Lucien’s plan now that he has Cami? What does he hope to achieve?

THE ORIGINALS 3×19 airs FRIDAY, APRIL 29 at 9|8c. on The CW