The Originals season 4, episode 1 recap: Gather Up the Killers

What has life been like in New Orleans without the Mikaelsons? Find out in this recap of Friday’s season 4 premiere of The Originals.

When The Originals last aired a new episode 10 months ago, the Mikaelson family was not doing so well. Freya was poisoned, Rebekah was suffering from a hex and Kol and Elijah were dying from Marcel’s super bite. So Freya put them all under a sleeping curse, and linked them to Klaus, who Marcel is keeping alive as his prisoner. It is now up to Hayley to save the Mikaelsons.

Five years have now passed and Hayley finally found a breakthrough when it comes to a cure for Elijah and Kol. And in those five years, a lot has changed. There is peace in New Orleans as Vincent and Marcel have reached a truce between the vampires and witches. Baby Hope is now seven and is a powerful witch.

Now on to what happened during the premiere, so warning, spoilers ahead.

The episode opens with Vincent letting the audience know how great life has been since the Mikaelsons went away. He is speaking to the witches in the church as the celebrations around the five year anniversary of Klaus’ downfall is about to begin.

But while life has been a lot better without Klaus, this is still The Originals and there are still dangers. Specifically, the anniversary celebrations bring all of Klaus’ unsired bloodline to New Orleans. And this year they are not happy with how Marcel is dealing with Klaus.

Enter Alistair. He was turned by Klaus hundreds of years ago, and was compelled to murder his wife and child. So, Klaus being tortured is not enough for him, Alistair wants all the Mikaelsons dead. And seeing as Elijah’s sire line is alive, Alistair and many others have figured out that the other Mikaelsons are linked to Klaus. Kill him, and the originals die.

Alistair wants to see Klaus so he can have a witch test for the link spell and then kill Klaus. But that would also mean that Rebekah would die, and Marcel can’t let that happen. So he goes to Klaus for help. The original hybrid is chained up in a spelled circle at the now rundown Mikaelson compound.

Klaus may be chained up, but he still finds a way to get Marcel do what he wants. After following Klaus’ round of advice of how to deal with Alistair backfires, Klaus insists that Marcel needs his help. In order to stop a war in New Orleans, Marcel agrees to let Alistair kill Klaus. But this is all part of a plan that Marcel worked out with Klaus.

Trapped in a magical circle with Klaus, Alistair thinks he will finally get his revenge. He even threatens Hope. Instead, Klaus uses his chains to kill Klaus and a few of the other unsired vampires who were there to witness the final demise of the Mikaelsons. Before Klaus can kill too many people, Marcel steps in and knocks out his prisoner.

The self-proclaimed King of New Orleans then gives a speech about how this is his city and Klaus is his prisoner. The other vampires are more than welcome to stay, but if they step out of line, they will meet the same fate as Alistair.

So, all appears to be right again in New Orleans for Marcel and Vincent. Klaus is safely locked back up and taunting Marcel and Vincent about the way he will kill them when he’s free. But there is clearly more trouble brewing. Weird witch symbols are appearing on walls all over the city. And of course, Hayley is waking up the other Mikaelsons.

For the past five years, Hayley has been working on keeping her promise to her daughter of reuniting Hope with the rest of her family. So far, Hayley has found a way to save Rebekah and Freya, but she is missing the final ingredient for a cure of Elijah and Kol. In order to cure Marcel’s bite, she needs venom from all seven werewolf packs. But the final pack is proving hard to find.

Luckily, Mary arrives with information on how to find the last member of this pack. Mary thinks this is a trap and wants Hayley to stay away. But she made a promise. Also, Hope’s powers are growing and she needs someone to show her how to control them. Like Aunt Freya, or maybe a certain new school recently opened in Mystic Falls.

Anyway, after a cute goodbye between mother and daughter, Hayley hits the road and ends up at a bar. She finds the werewolf she needs, but the woman is unwilling to help. Hayley tries explaining the situation, but Alistair’s men show up to kill them. So, instead, she knocks the werewolf out.

Now in a warehouse somewhere, Hayley explains that this will hurt, but she needs this werewolf venom to save her family. And soon, Freya is awake to make a cure for her brother. The Originals never really explains this part, but once Freya wakes up it seems like the spell keeping Kol and Elijah alive breaks. So she needs to work fast.

Of course this is when Alistair’s men show up at the warehouse. It is up to Hayley to buy time for Freya to literally work her magic. This leads to an amazing fight scene where on outnumbered Hayley takes out all of the vampires by turning into a wolf.

When she turns back into a human, Elijah arrives to deal with the final vampires and give Hayley a jacket. She greets him with a kiss. They later chat while burning the bodies. He asks about his niece and they agree that the next step is getting Klaus back.

Speaking of Hope, she wakes up from a bad dream and Mary comforts her. It is revealed that a lot of her drawings are of the symbol that has been appearing around New Orleans.

Here are some other highlights from the season 4 premiere of The Originals:

The bar Cami used to work at is now a safe space where vampires and witches interact peacefully. There is a photo on the wall of Davina and Cami.
Some timeline clarification. The Originals is taking place about a year to 18 months after the events of The Vampire Diaries season 8.
In order to make sure a cure to Marcel’s bite is always available, Freya won’t let the werewolf leave, and she must remain alive as the only member of the final pack. Hayley was going to let her go, but Freya needs to do whatever it takes to keep her family safe.
Elijah explains why Kol and Rebekah never appear on screen this episode by saying he thinks they were hungrier than him. So they ran off quickly to feed.