The Originals – Bag of Cobras

By: Stacy Miller

As the episode opens, Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood) is looking at his board of the history of murders in New Orleans and recording that violence clusters in 1953 and 1992 could be connected to The Hollow. There is a knock on the door.  It is Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Vincent is overjoyed to see him. Not really. “What do you want?” Vincent asks. “Can we at least pretend to be civilized?” is Elijah’s response.  “Wonder if Marcel knows that they are supposed to be civil,” Vincent comments sarcastically, knowing that Elijah and the Mikaelsons have done something to his friend.  Elijah tells Vincent that Marcel is being detained until they can be certain that he is rid of The Hollow’s influence. Vincent reluctantly invites the vampire in.

Meanwhile at Casa de Mikaelson, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) remarks to Klaus (Joseph Morgan) about the party the Mikaelsons are throwing. Because the people love Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), Klaus put his name on the invitation as co-host. “So, you’re throwing a fake party in honor of a fake truce and your guest of honor is in a dungeon,” Hayley reminds Klaus.  Hey, as long as the Mikaelsons aren’t serving fake blood, the vampire attendees should be happy.  Hayley is looking for Freya (Riley Voelkel).

Vincent explains to Elijah about his board, it is the history of the city with its ebb and flow of violence, which seems to come in fours. No one had recognized the pattern of The Hollow because they didn’t know what they were looking for.  He further goes on to tell Elijah that The Hollow is a ghost looking for a way back into the land of the living by whispering to the desperate. Elijah is relying on Vincent to help him find the person at the party with ties to The Hollow.  Freya invites Keelin (Christina Moses) to the party saying that if anyone knows how to throw a good party, it’s the Mikaelsons.  Hayley is surprised to see Freya with Keelin.

Josh (Steven Krueger) is annoyed when Sofya (Taylor Cole) shows up at his place without knocking like normal people.  “Normal is boring,” Sofya says assuring Josh that she’s not there to kill him.  She questions him about the party the Mikaelsons is throwing with Marcel, who no one has seen.  Josh tells her that Marcel is locked in the dungeon in the tunnels. In that case, Sofya wants to be Josh’s plus one.  While she is handling Klaus, Sofya wants Josh to find and rescue Marcel.

Hayley tells Freya that she’s learned about the man who killed her parents when she was a baby.  Hayley believes that the man was connected with The Hollow and wants Freya to use her spells and do a reading so Hayley can find out the truth about what happened that night.

Back at the Mikaelsons, Elijah tells Klaus that there is to be no bloodshed tonight at the party because he wants to create a false sense of security that will only serve to strengthen their position. Elijah doesn’t want Hope, who worships Klaus, to see her father as a monster.  If any uprising occurs, the guests who cause it will have to answer to Elijah. Klaus goes to the dungeon to visit Marcel. He tells Marcel that Freya placed a boundary spell on him that will render Marcel invisible to anyone outside of the Mikaleson bloodline. Klaus knows that Marcel has a lot of people loyal to him so that’s why they took the precaution. Klaus then questions Girard about Sofya, who Marcel calls a mercenary for hire.

Elijah and Klaus address the party guests, telling them about their new alliance with Marcel and how they want tonight to be an opportunity to forge new friendships. Sofya arrives. Dominic (Darri Ingolfsson) asks her whether she has the weapon. “Don’t you worry about it, The Hollow will have Klaus,” Sofya answers. Vincent tells Klaus that the speech was nice but no one was fooled by it.

Freya and Hayley go to the place where Ms. Marshall’s parents were killed.  Freya tells Hayley that the dark energy that is there from their deaths should give her an accurate reading. Hayley sees her parents’ murder but also that her father dropped a key into the crack on the floor. Hayley breaks the floorboard and pulls out the key to Extra Space Mini Storage. What will Hayley find in this storage facility?

Vincent is also doing a reading. He uses tarot cards to determine who is aligned with The Hollow.  The cards reveal that the person in league with The Hollow will be in the presence of a snake. “Then by all means, let’s go find the viper in our midst,” Klaus says with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Freya and Hayley arrive at Extra Space Mini Storage to uncover the secrets of Hayley’s past. But before they can do that, the door has been sealed with a spell and must be opened.  Good thing Hayley brought a witch with her. Freya uses her magic to get the door to storage room #39 opened, but Hayley tells her that she thinks she needs to do this alone.

Vincent is able to see the man with the snake, Dominic, and points him out to Elijah and Klaus.  Klaus leaves his brother and introduces himself to Sofya, who questions him about where Marcel is because he also didn’t come home last night.  Vincent confronts Dominic, The High Priest of The Hollow and uses his magic on him.  Elijah stops Vincent from killing Dominic.  Klaus and Sofya share a dance.  She tells him about the blood thorn stained with Marcel’s blood that can kill him.  She warns that things will go badly unless he gives her Marcel. Sofya then pins Klaus to the wall and holds the bracelet containing Marcel’s blood thorn to his neck. “If you kill me, you’ll never find Marcel,”Klaus warns.  But Sofya says she has a way of finding whatever she wants.  Klaus is willing to strike a deal. “You hand over your weapon and expose The Hollow’s allies and I’ll make sure you leave here unscathed.”

Freya thanks Vincent for his help.  But Griffith reminds her the only reason he is helping her family is that there is something in his city hurting kids. And the minute he makes sure that it is gone, he’ll make sure the Mikaelsons are gone as well.  Dominic tells Elijah that The Hollow doesn’t need to feed on Elijah’s family. The Mikaelsons can give The Hollow an alternative: Marcel. Or Vincent now as a show of good faith.  After all, Vincent turned his back on The Hollow so feeding on him would be personal. Do they have a deal?

Klaus and Vincent approach the vampires sent to kill Mikaelson. Vincent pins them to the wall. “It’s a good thing one isn’t judged by the competence of one’s enemies. I’d be rather insulted,” Klaus quips.  Vincent tells the vampires that he was once like them and willing to stand by The Hollow, until he realized how evil it was.  And if he is willing to stand with Klaus and the Mikaelsons, that should tell them something.  Elijah declines Dominic’s offer; he grew up on a Viking farm and can smell the scent of fertilizer that is the offer.  Dominic tells Elijah that the offer was just a courtesy. “The Hollow will take what it wants,” Dominic says.  With that, Elijah drags Dominic out before the party guests and tells them that he is an emissary of The Hollow, the scourge of the city that is threatening to destroy his family and theirs.  Elijah then kills Dominic!  Isn’t it amusing that all the Mikaelson parties end in bloodshed? Klaus finds Sofya and tells her that he’s not giving Marcel back to her until he’s certain that The Hollow has been taken care of, once and for all.  Sofya reveals that she hates Klaus because he fed on her sister and the entire wedding party celebrating her sister’s marriage.  “Be careful not to overplay your hand, I’ve hated you longer than I’ve known Marcel,” Sofya warns.

Elijah tells Vincent that he did him a favor by killing Dominic because Dominic wanted Vincent dead.  Elijah reminds that their alliance is a necessity.  Freya apologizes to Keelin for the bloodshed at the party; that’s not what she expected when she invited her.  Really Freya?  When have you ever been to a party at your family’s house when someone isn’t killed? Keelin tells Freya that she’s knows all about violent families from her own wolf pack.  But Keelin broke away and got a medical degree.  She encourages Freya to break away from her family too and find her own path.

Josh tells Sofya that he didn’t see Marcel in the dungeon, but smelled sandalwood. His friend Davina told him that sandalwood cloaks things, which means that Marcel is definitely down there.

Hayley comes back to the Mikaelson house and shows Elijah and Klaus the bones of a follower of The Hollow her parents died protecting. The Hollow followers bring Dominic back from the dead. It looks like Dominic’s death was a distraction. With the other three bones, The Hollow can be raised. “And it will destroy us all,” Klaus says.