SUMMARY
With the city settled down, Freya and Keelin plan their wedding but Elijah and Hope are reluctant to go due to their current remorse. Worried about Hope’s deteriorating condition, Klaus goes to Davina and asks her help in finding a solution. Unfortunately something prevents Davina from finding a cure. Freya has second thoughts about the wedding after she reveals to Rebekah and Keelin her reluctance in having children which causes distress between them. Meanwhile, Declan reveals to Marcel he knows about vampires after reading Kieran’s journal. He wants to lead the human faction against Marcel but is detained as Elijah recalls meeting Hayley years ago in France under the name Andrea. After opening her options for the future, Freya mends with Keelin and the wedding commences with all family members present including Hope and Elijah. After the wedding, Marcel agrees to help Declan lead the human faction under conditions to improve relations between them. Klaus and Elijah continue to worry for Hope who according to Rebekah may not have long to live.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
The wedding seemed a bit rushed but the tone and message was portrayed in a positive sentiment which is often not the case in supernatural weddings. Elijah discovers more pain in remembering Hayley beyond what we were led to believe and Klaus is once more distraught and helpless to save Hope from the power consuming her. More and more this is a setup of personal family tragedy moreso than setting up a villainous counterpart that wants to destroy the city and in a lot of ways that does make this more fitting than I thought this final plot should be. Though Hope’s dilemma is on the horizon, tonight’s episode rang of happiness and togetherness in family, the last likely positive moments we’ll be seeing from here on out.
THE GOOD
Surprisingly, I wasn’t certain if showing Hayley in this kind of flashback would be appropriate given Elijah’s relationship with Antoinette at the time, but realistically, this was as close to a 100th style episode as we’re going to get and having Haley cameo in it was the right thing to do. There is probably a lot of speculation that Elijah will end up dying by this show’s end simply because twice Hayley (Andrea) mentions a last dance they could share if they ever meet again. If I were betting, I’d say this almost clinches them having that dance in some form which likely means Elijah will meet an end of sacrifice or something akin to it. There is apparently some needed closure for these two that a letter won’t simply solve, hence the concept for this entire flashback sequence. Nothing wrong with it, but we’ll know in two weeks if it was too telling.
THE BAD
With Freya and Keelin married, this means that we won’t see Marcel and Rebekah getting married and I think that wedding was just as needed but it was a nice touch for Rebekah to tell Freya that she deserved it most of all when that’s all Rebekah really ever wanted in a lot of ways. I do like that the wedding was more personal with only the family really attending even though most of the sermon was blocked by Elijah’s memory of reading Hayley’s letter. I guess they couldn’t fit that anywhere else.
FAVORITE MOMENT
When Elijah shows up and both he and Klaus walk Freya down the aisle. That was appropriately fitting and was just all around what brothers like that should do for their sister. All that was missing was some ghostly cameo from Esther and Michael, but then again, they probably weren’t on that guest list.
CHARACTER MVP
Klaus certainly held back a lot of his frustration but Elijah was there to absorb that anguish building up. I think both brothers should get the MVP for their constant heartache and ability to hold up under that kind of pressure. You’ll never see them cry around anyone else probably.
ENDING THOUGHTS
There’s a good chance the solution for Hope is having some kind of spell-power-transfer which again, I nominate Elijah for undertaking given the signs pointing to he and Hayley seeing each other again in the afterlife. He’s remarkably good at finding ways to atone for everyone’s past transgressions these days and this should be realistically no different.
I can’t imagine Vincent will be out for the finale, but possibly for the next episode since he’s suffering Ivy’s loss so dramatically. I almost forgot he wasn’t at the wedding, but who could blame him? I still think something’s at play with how he severed the ancestral well to the witches there. Almost like they’ll need that power but won’t have access to it at a crucial moment in time.
If Marcel is going to help Declan lead the human faction, what exactly is going to change that will help the city and honor Josh? Maybe this is all cryptic but it seems like business as usual for how Marcel is going to handle Declan’s acclimation. I can’t imagine all supernatural forces leaving the city for the good of it, unless that’s exactly what happens, like some expulsion of all supernatural power based on getting rid of the hollow’s essence for good.
OVERALL SCORE
8 out of 10. It was peaceful with a margin of worry mainly on Klaus’s behalf over Hope’s incoming transition. Again, this is likely the last blend of happiness we’re going to see before something truly tragic strikes. Of course, we all know Hope will be fine since she’ll be running in “Legacies” this fall, but that doesn’t mean others in the family are safe for the future. We’re down to two episodes and a bit of ground to cover before the end. Elijah is in a prime state for being the one to fall next or possibly last though I wouldn’t rule out Klaus himself if it meant saving Hope overall. Good officiating by Kol and it was good to have most of the cast back one more time. The rest is left to see how they handle Hope’s next stage in becoming a werewolf. Until then.
No more words