The Originals: The Devil Comes Here and Sighs Recap and Review – Death on the Horizon?

THE DEVIL COMES HERE AND SIGHS RECAP AND REVIEW

This week on The Originals in “The Devil Comes Here and Sighs,” Lucien becomes an unstoppable monster and by the end of the episode, Cami’s life hangs in the balance due to his poisonous bite. While I feel the prophecy story as well as the Lucien/Aurora villainy is feeling a little too stretched out, this was a fantastic episode. The series is always stronger when the Klaus and Camille dynamic is put front and center.

RELATED: The Originals: Behind the Black Horizon Recap and Review – An Originals’ Goodbye

LUCIEN’S PROPOSAL

It seems 1000 years has not tempered Lucien’s desire to be with Aurora. Talk about a pest that won’t get a clue. In “The Devil Comes Here and Sighs,” Lucien pulls out the magical serum for Aurora to drink – as long as she agrees to be with him forever. It would be quite an awkward proposal if he didn’t tack on vengeance to seal the deal. Of course, Aurora accepts. But only as a means to an end.

THE VAMPIRE IN DISTRESS

Enraged about Finn, Klaus decides to take matters into his own hands to defeat Lucien. But not without a pit stop to see Cami and make sure she’s safe. It seems Cami is losing her resolve to lie about her feelings and stay away from Klaus. And when she sees Klaus taken hostage by Lucien (with Klaus having no chance against him), she decides to take matters into her own hands.

Cami goes to the Compound to tell the others what’s happened. She then decides to work with Hayley to rescue Klaus – despite her own fears.

Elsewhere, Klaus is all tied up – an ancient Egyptian weapon keeping him from escaping. Lucien leaves Aurora with Klaus while he goes off to see Elijah.

Klaus attempts to seduce Aurora by claiming to be her “kindred.” That they “burn brighter together” than they “ever did alone.” And when that doesn’t work, he attempts to break her with talk of her incurable madness. Is Tristan any better than him? Tristan kept her locked away in a monastery. Klaus warns her of becoming even more immortal by drinking the serum. That her loneliness and madness will only get worse. But Aurora, emotionally unstable, decides to drink the magical serum anyway. She wants her vengeance.

And just when she’s about to kill herself to complete the transformation, she hears the elevator.

Cami shows up to save Klaus before Aurora can transform.

She works as a distraction until Hayley makes her entrance. And it seems to work too. Hayley’s about to kill Aurora when Klaus stops them. He tells them she drank the serum. Aurora takes back control and breaks Hayley’s neck. Cami is left alone to fight Aurora – her greatest fear realized.

Cami attempts to fight Aurora. But seems to be losing. Aurora is about to kill her when Cami pulls out a syringe. Hayley awakens, knocks into Aurora giving Cami the time she needs to inject Aurora and put her to sleep.

Klaus then gives Cami quite the epic stare and smiles at her.

Later, Lucien watches the video of the whole rescue, crying when he hears Aurora admit to Klaus that Lucien is just a means to an end. Klaus knew there was a camera and purposely got Aurora to admit this knowing it would hurt Lucien. However, this turns out to be a fatal mistake.

THE POWER OF MAGIC

In “The Devil Comes Here and Sighs,” Freya works tirelessly to find a way to stop Lucien – now more unstoppable than the originals. Her plan? Use a powerful sigil to trap Lucien and then bury him in cement.

After Elijah learns of Klaus’s kidnapping, he decides he too is going after Lucien. Enough is enough. The two meet ready for a showdown.

Elijah and Lucien then have a battle of the wills. Lucien wants to know Tristan’s location or else he’ll kill him. Elijah refuses.

However, Lucien isn’t exactly broken up about it and decides killing Elijah is the much better option. And just as Elijah is about to lose, Freya shows up with the magic ready to defeat him.

The sigil binds Lucien. But not for long. Magic can’t hold Lucien back.  The ancestors protect him from Freya using magic on him. Uh-oh. Vincent’s right about these ancestors. It is time to take them down.

AN ANCESTOR COUP

Vincent pleads to the ancestors to stop helping Lucien. But they remain silent. Apparently, Vincent is no longer their regent of choice. Vincent is overthrown and replaced with Van Nguyen. The ancestors then begin to break through the magic of St. James – the only place left where magic can’t be used. Vincent tries to help save Kol with Davina but their magic doesn’t seem strong enough. They only temporarily put a stop to the ancestors.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Kol continues to lose more and more control with Davina his most desired kill (despite what his heart wants). Could this all be leading to Kol killing Davina? The Beast killing Beauty? Marcel tries to get him to leave town for the sake of Davina – to finally do the right thing. So that’s what Kol does. Despite his curse, he still loves Davina. So he heads out of town with Marcel left to pick up the pieces of Davina’s broken heart. However, as soon as Kol passes the New Orleans border he turns into a monster. The monster from the prophecy? Or is this a red herring? It seems Kol won’t be able to leave New Orleans after all.

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A VAMPIRE SCORNED

Hayley tries to knock some sense into Klaus by revealing to him that Cami obviously loves him. That she’s only trying to stay away because she thinks it’s best. Not because she doesn’t have feelings for him. So, Klaus decides to go see Cami.

Meanwhile, there’s a knock at Cami’s door. She opens it only to find Lucien standing there. Apparently, if he can’t have Aurora then he doesn’t want Klaus to have Camille. He blames Klaus for stealing Aurora’s heart a thousand years ago. Still, Cami thinks she’s safe with the barrier spell. But it turns out he has killed the girl who was the owner of the apartment. He then steps inside and bites Cami with his lethal poison, leaving us all hanging until the next episode.

STANDOUT ROMANTIC MOMENT

It was a nice turnaround of events for Cami to rescue Klaus. When Aurora first opens the door to see Cami standing there, Klaus’s face was priceless. And then when Cami helps defeat Aurora, Klaus’s smile as the two of them exchanged longing looks was even better.

FAVORITE QUOTES – THE DEVIL COMES HERE AND SIGHS

Elijah: You carefully craft yourself into this abomination purely to become an errand boy to that banshee?

Lucien: I never really liked him. [Sighs] But at least I can tell Aurora I tried.

Hayley: Cami may tell you that staying away is best – and maybe it is – but it doesn’t stop how she feels.

THEORIES, THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS – THE FEMALE “PROBLEM”

(MAJOR SPOILERS INCLUDED FOR OTHER SHOWS….READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL)

First of all, can we talk about that epically romantic preview for the next episode? Klaus and Cami are probably the most romantic couple on TV right now – in the good old-fashioned Bronte kind of way. It’s a shame there’s been so much controversy over the pairing since if you were to look at them objectively (without bringing any kind of shipping into the mix), the writing of their story has been influenced by classic Byronic Hero storytelling and has been very well done.

That all said, is Cami going to die in a couple weeks as they’ve led us to believe? All speculation seems to point that way. She’s not in the episode summary after the next episode either. Or is it all a trick and someone else will die instead? I believe there is a 90/10 chance Cami will die. The 10 percent perhaps being Davina. Or maybe they both will die. Based on the preview, the writers are going back to the beginning of Cami’s story when she first met Klaus so they could be planning to bring it full circle, giving closure to Cami as a character as well as to the Klaus/Cami love story.

POSSIBLE THEORIES

Possible theory: We are led to believe the entire episode Cami is going to die. But then in the very end, Davina dies. Either at the hand of Lucien, Kol or by her own hand when she uncovers an unsettling truth. Maybe she believes her death will be the only way to stop the Ancestors. If she dies, she’ll join them. And then we can get a story on the other side.

Other Possible Theory: Cami dies in the end. Everything is at it seems. Klaus and Cami will have an epically romantic goodbye which will leave Klaus heartbroken. Having a Byronic lose a love is quite common in storytelling. Look at Wuthering Heights. Spoiler Alert… Cathy dies halfway through the book leaving Heathcliff behind to suffer in agony without her. The rest of the story becomes about his vengeance. All the while he’s haunted by her (whether you believe literally or figuratively) until they are reunited in death. Well, the same could happen here…to a degree. Klaus will no doubt get his vengeance. He always does. But question is, will Cami haunt him this time around now that she’s actually dead? Could she return as a ghost? I still think that’s an avenue the show hasn’t explored and would make for a compelling story. Cami stepping into the angel role would definitely fit her character. And there’s still the question of Cami’s legacy. Is there more to what Detective Kinney uncovered about her family? If she’s the last living O’Connell does she transform into something new, left behind to continue the family legacy for all eternity?

Also, Lucien does not seem interesting enough to be the big bad. His motives are a little on the weak side. I’m still holding out hope for a bigger player. Though it could be that they’ve already revealed that the big bad is the ancestors again without making it a big reveal. So will Kol or Marcel be the ultimate “beast?”

If the story follows the obvious path (which most shows do these days), Cami will die, Klaus will be heartbroken, and it works as a motive to defeat Lucien and end the prophecy. Cami dying in the same way as Finn is not exactly original but I expect it to happen – though I should point out I also expect it to be written well. So even if the writers take the obvious route, I know I can at least count on the writers to knock it out of the park.

So, in that vein, if we continue down the obvious route, the Big Bad will be the ancestors, Marcel will be the beast and Detective Kinney will only return for a funeral (I’m re-watching Veronica Mars right now, and it is a crime to waste Jason Dohring and his awesomeness). Ultimately, the prophecy will come to pass but it won’t be as it seems. Davina will help defeat the ancestors and ultimately Lucien and Aurora. She will save Kol and perhaps Marcel. There will be some sort of cliffhanger where Klaus then disappears for the next three years which will lead into season 4. We will see if this happens or if there’re actual twists on the horizon. Season 3 has had some very strong episodes this season so here’s to hoping I’m wrong about many of these “obvious” developments and there are some actual surprises in store.

FEMALE CHARACTERS – THE LATEST TREND

Looking beyond, if Cami dies permanently and Leah Pipes leaves the show, then a Heathcliff-like storyline would make sense. However, I really hope the writers don’t take this path. There’s been a trend lately of killing off leading female characters from TV shows (quite a few in the last couple of weeks) and it’s really starting to annoy me. I just kind of feel like killing Cami off would be giving in to the people who unfairly want her dead. Especially for a female character who is objectively better written than a loud part of the fandom would have everyone believe (not that you have to like her subjectively). In fact, I already see some people cheering on message boards. SPOILER….the same happened with Laurel from Arrow.

Why do “we” cheer the death of female characters? Why is it so much easier to point out all the reasons we hate a female character than a male one? It all feels so hypocritical. And yet we’re all probably guilty of it. We don’t have to like every character we see. Some we connect with over others for various reasons. But sometimes I think we’re too quick to shut down a female character for flaws easily ignored in male equivalents.

I couldn’t stand the character of Sally in the U.S. Being Human remake, for example. She was so self-absorbed she created a split-off of her own personality that became obsessed with herself. Mull that one over! But by the end, I realized something. Why could I root for a murderous vampire with a sex addiction and psychotic tendencies? And why could I root for a werewolf with major anger problems? But not a female character who was selfish? They were each flawed in their own way and they each worked toward redemption. I realized the story the writers were telling too late. Sally was written to be self-absorbed on purpose. It was her hurdle to overcome just like the “boys” had their problems to overcome. But I couldn’t accept it or recognize it till the final few episodes.

It’s like we’re wired or conditioned to accept all flaws in male characters but only accept “certain” flaws  or personality traits (whether a flaw or not) in female ones. I took a real look in the mirror when I realized I hypocritically judged Sally as a character. But how often do we do this when we watch shows, movies or read books? How often do we dismiss a female character for being too weak? Too whiny? Too introverted? Too extroverted? Not “strong” enough? Not enough of a feminist approved character (which by my definition defeats the whole purpose of showing every type of female)? And one of the most common tropes – heaven forbid a female character wants to know the truth from the male hero who’s been lying to her. That female character must die for being an annoying nag, am I right?

Beyond that, I feel like female characters have become too expendable as of late even when they’re the leading lady. We’ve all speculated about the possible deaths of Hayley, Cami, Davina, Rebekah, Freya, etc…But do we ever much debate the possibility of killing off the leading men? Yes, none of us want them to die. Killing off Elijah or Klaus (unless it’s the finale) wouldn’t make sense, but that’s kind of my point.

ARE FEMALE CHARACTERS MORE EXPENDABLE?

Spoilers for other shows…Why is it acceptable to kill Abby and not Ichabod when she was the main character over him? Never even a question.

Why is it acceptable to kill Laurel and not Diggle, Malcolm or Roy? She’s the Black Canary but is somehow more expendable. And yes, I know Tommy died. But he was more of a one season arc. And why is it okay to kill Liz from The Blacklist who also was the main character? I’m just tired of female characters dying to create man pain or to further a plot, even though I LOVE Byronic Heroes mourning their beloved.

The real problem is that the male characters have been written to not be expendable vs. the female ones which are – even when they’re the leading lady. We have been hard-wired to follow the male point of view. Writers on shows (whether intentionally or not) often make this drift toward focusing on the male characters even when a female is the actual protagonist. The Vampire Diaries is about Elena but somehow it became all about Damon and Stefan. Every single female character on that show is expendable. (Sorry Cami haters, but Caroline is just as expendable – even though I like her.) Look at Fringe. It was about Olivia…until it became about Peter and Walter. (Not that I didn’t enjoy this story line.) The new Doctor Who was about the female companions and their perspective until it became about the Doctor’s constant immortal pain. The female companion is expendable each season.

Steve’s love interests (the most prominent being Catherine) on Hawaii Five-O never quite worked because none of these female characters were written to be permanent. Catherine could have been made to be a permanent series regular (she was only a cast member for one season and was then written out).  Was it too difficult to have more than one lead female character?

And then there’s the constant killing. Sometimes I think writers have used killing off female characters as a crutch because they no longer know how to write them. (I’m not accusing The Originals‘ writers of this in case anyone’s wondering.) Apparently, the writers were finished with Laurel. Her story was complete. But why was it complete? She could easily continue as the Black Canary and as a member of the team. Another male character (Curtis) is set to take her place as a series regular. Love Laurel or not. This was another female character removed from a series for no real, genuine reason. This isn’t about shipping. We shouldn’t be rooting for a female character to die simply because they get in the way of a “ship” we want to happen. We should be rooting for both Laurel and Felicity as characters.

So why are male characters so much less expendable? Well, it’s because they’re written to be that way. That’s not to say that this doesn’t happen with some female characters, just less so. And I’m not picking on The Originals. This is one of the better-written shows on TV right now with some actual wit (another trend I’m tired of…complete lack of wit in writing. Humor has become about appealing to the lowest common denominator. The mere mention of “sex” or “bodily humor” and the imaginary laugh track can be heard). I just wish the female characters would be given more attention.

HOW TO MAKE CAMI NON-EXPENDABLE

There are ways to easily make Cami non-expendable. Unfortunately, the writers have not as yet taken those steps, although they still can. She is expendable because she is a love interest for Klaus. She is expendable because the writers have not gone into depth about her family legacy. There could be a whole season written about this legacy. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we were given flashbacks for Cami and Hayley and not just the older vampires (including Marcel)? I’d love to see more of Cami with her twin brother and the rest of her family. But we don’t and she remains expendable. Not that this means I believe she isn’t well written. Because I do think she’s a fantastic female character and is my favorite on the show. I just wish the writers would take what’s great about her and dig deeper so she can continue to stick around. It honestly wouldn’t take much effort. I know the very talented writers of The Originals are capable of doing it.

Look at the character of Beth from Moonlight. She’s a character very similar to Cami. The writers were able to make Beth non-expendable. How did they do this? By connecting Beth’s blood to the possible cure for vampirism. The writers could easily do something similar but unique with Camille considering her own bloodline that has never truly been explored.

I don’t even know where I’m going with this other than I’m not looking forward to the probability of another MAIN female character (or two) dying while ten more male characters still run around. Or how the internet will explode with all the reasons people hate Cami and/or Davina. By the way, I’m not one of them. I LOVE Cami and Davina. And if I see more “main” female characters dying by season’s end on various shows I’m going to really believe there’s an actual problem in television right now rather than a series of creative coincidences.

That all said I look forward to the next episode in two weeks and the romantic spectacle we’re sure to be given. And I do believe it will remain true to the story which is what I’m all about.

Well, what did you think of “The Devil Comes Here and Sighs?” Do you think Cami will die? Or will she make it out alive? Let me know in the comments.

Till next time…

Photos: CW

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