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Eternity is an awfully long time. How long, do you think, Marcel will stay in power? What if one of you lot were to release me, knowing I will be eternally in your debt? Oh, I would pity those of you who dared to cross me. I can assure you, your ends would be spectacular. To borrow a trick from an old friend--- Whoever picks up this coin gets to live. Now, which of you magnificent bastards wants to join me?
Klaus

The River in Reverse is the eighth episode of the first season of The Originals and the eighth episode of the series overall.

Summary[]

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE WARRebekah, Facing a difficult decision, turns to Father Kieran for guidance. Elijah struggles with the consequences of a recent fallout with Klaus. Hayley remains by his side, but is soon drawn away by a mysterious figure who sheds some light on her past. Meanwhile, a frustrated Camille struggles to make sense of a cryptic message she came across. Finally, when an unsuspecting Marcel uncovers some upsetting information involving Klaus, a confrontation ends in a surprising twist.

Plot[]

Rebekah pays a visit to Kieran at St. Anne's Church. Under confession, Rebekah tells him that she has conspired against her own blood and doesn't think God can save her. 24 hours earlier, Rebekah is eating with Klaus. He inquires about Marcel's whereabouts but Rebekah says she doesn't know. Klaus thinks Rebekah is angry over him biting Elijah and leaving him in the Bayou. She tells him if she voices her opinion that she'll end up bitten like Elijah. It's a foolish notion according to Klaus, as his method of dealing with her is the dagger. Rebekah gets up from the table and tells Klaus that there's something fundamentally wrong with him. In a cabin in the Bayou, Hayley is watching over Elijah, who is suffering from the effects of being bitten by Klaus. He wants Hayley to leave before his hallucinations start but she stands her ground and says she's staying. Both of them are unaware that Eve is lurking around outside.

Marcel arrives at a meeting with Tyler, Diego and other Quarter Vampires in attendance. He introduces Tyler to everybody and asks them to listen to what Tyler has to say. Tyler gives everybody a brief account of Klaus' abilities and tells about Hayley and Klaus' Hybrid child. Rebekah walks in and finishes telling the vampires about the baby and what it means. She suddenly snaps Tyler's neck and explains nobody will be harming the baby, that Klaus is the one who needs stopped.

At the mansion, Camille is transcribing Klaus' words on a typewriter. Camille wants to know what the point is as he's just repeating himself over and over again. She tells him that he's the reason for his own happiness and Klaus responds that he didn't ask for her advice. Camille states that her advice is exactly what he wants because he has nobody to talk to or understand him. Klaus is curious as to what some symbols on one of her papers mean. She sarcastically tells him it's a plot to destroy him. Klaus tells her that she's on her own time but Camille responds that he steals time from her before she leaves disgusted.

In The Garden, Marcel and Rebekah prepare to entomb Tyler. Rebekah wants to put Klaus in a spot where he can't sow the seeds of descent. Marcel says he has a spot picked out and he'll spend a year in there for every year she was daggered. Rebekah tells him that Davina would be handy against Klaus but Marcel doesn't want to risk using her unstable abilities. She assure him that she's on board with the plan and they kiss. Back in the Bayou, Elijah is groaning in pain. Hayley lays her hand on his forehead as he hallucinates about Céleste. He says Céleste's name out loud. Hayley says she doesn't know who that is but deduces she must have been hot. Elijah tells Hayley that somebody is watching them. Eve runs off as Hayley goes to look.

Klaus speaks with Josh and tells him he has a job for him. Josh is then shown telling Marcel and Rebekah that Klaus wants him to steal the White Oak Ash Dagger from them. Josh is paranoid that Klaus is onto them but Marcel soothes him and tells him to mention that he has the dagger to Klaus. Back in the garage, Klaus is grateful to Josh for the information but makes a point to remind him what happens to those who betray him. Klaus visits St. Anne's to talk with Kieran. They drink poitín from a flask as Klaus confesses he's been compelling Camille. He tells Kieran that war is in the air and he wants Camille to have no part of it. He suggests that Kieran convince Camille to leave of her own free will or he'll compel her to do so.

Elijah continues to hallucinate about Céleste. He asks Hayley about the mystery visitor and Hayley guesses that she's the one who left the family Bible. Elijah wants her to go look for her, but Hayley is adamant about staying. Klaus arrives at The Abattoir and confronts Marcel. Klaus wants the dagger back but Rebekah appears to take it. Marcel whistles and some vampires appear. Klaus is amused by this, saying it will take more than that to take him down. Marcel whistles again and even more vampires show up. In Elijah's memory, he talked with Klaus about his recklessness. He reminded Klaus that such behavior would certainly bring Mikael into town. Klaus told him that he's had the witches take the fall for his misdeeds, including Céleste. After this memory, Elijah jumps up and attacks Hayley while mistaking her for Klaus. Hayley is saved when Eve stabs Elijah with a stake.

At the Abattoir, Klaus reminds the surrounding vampires that he's a Hybrid and can't be killed. He places a coin on the ground and states that whomever picks the coin up will get to live. He seems surprised that nobody picks it up before Marcel tells the others to take him. Klaus kills the first few attacking vampires but is eventually overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. He is chained to the wall and beaten by Diego and others. As Rebekah and Marcel advance, Klaus lets out a deep growl and his eyes shift to Hybrid. Marcel and Rebekah see this and she drops the dagger in fear. Klaus breaks free and resumes slaughtering the vampires. Klaus dares Marcel to come and end it but Rebekah stops Marcel from going. She tells Marcel to pick up the coin or Klaus will kill everybody there, including him. After watching Klaus kill more vampires, Marcel yells to him to stop. He pick up the coin and swears allegiance to Klaus, telling him that the kingdom is now his. Klaus looks on with an amused smile.

Kieran drops in on Camille at the cemetery. She is busy trying to clean the graffiti at Sean O'Connell's gravesite. Kieran tells her that people need time to heal from what Sean did. Camille thinks she's losing it, showing Kieran the paper that Klaus looked at earlier. She explains it's a secret code that she and Sean used as kids. In the Bayou, Hayley wants answers from Eve. Hayley learns that Marcel had most of the werewolves killed and others cursed to only be human when the moon is full. Elijah appears, hands the stake back to Eve and tells Hayley that the fever and hallucinations are gone. Hayley tells Eve that she needs to get Elijah home and she'll be back for more answers. As they leave, Elijah wants to know what happened. Hayley tells him that he just met one of her family.

At the Abattoir, Diego and others are burning the dead vampires as Marcel watches. Klaus arrives and tells Marcel that he brought this on himself. Marcel tells him to just hurry up and kill him. Klaus explains that he doesn't want Marcel dead, he just wants his living quarters back. Marcel makes it clear that while Klaus may be in command, he'll never have the loyalty he craves. In the car, Elijah apologizes to Hayley over almost hurting her but Hayley wants to know what happened to Céleste. He explains that he found Céleste dead in the bathtub due to Klaus' actions. Hayley asks what they're still doing here, Elijah responds that he's of no use if he gives up on his family.

Klaus is watching this from the window when Rebekah walks in. She wants to know which of them is being punished. Klaus angrily puts the dagger over her throat when Elijah stops him. Elijah thinks all this has nothing to with Hayley and the baby but Klaus says it has everything to do with it. He explains that he doesn't want his child growing up to call Elijah father. Both Elijah and Rebekah seem surprised by this as she says that they don't abandon Klaus, he drives them away. Klaus points out he's done bad things in the past but they could have stood by him when he really wanted to do right. Klaus hands Elijah the dagger and tells them both to stay there and rot. As Klaus is leaving, he tells Hayley to come with him. She asks why and he tells her that his child is the only thing he cares about and nobody will keep him away. At St. Anne's, Camille shows Kieran the note with the symbols on it. She tells him that her subconscious was trying to show her something. She hands him a newspaper dated 1919 with Klaus and Marcel in the picture. She tells Kieran that she knows both of them.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Special Guest Star[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Trivia[]

  • Antagonists: Marcel and Rebekah.
  • Narrator: Rebekah Mikaelson.
  • Klaus tells Rebekah that he would never bite her, as his preferred method of punishment for her is the dagger.
  • Klaus spoke in French for the first time in this episode during his duel.
  • Marcel talked to Klaus about loyalty, which caused Klaus to reflect on his own actions.
  • Elijah meets Eve for the first time when she stakes him in the back to stop him from choking Hayley while under the effects of his hybrid bite.
  • Eve informs Hayley that they are related and tells Hayley to keep her birthmark covered for her own safety.
    • It is also revealed that Eve burned off her Crescent birthmark to keep her from being cursed or otherwise punished by the witches and the vampires.
  • Eve tells Hayley that Marcel had a witch cast a curse on the Crescent Wolf Clan, which kept them in their wolf form full-time except for the handful of hours that the full moon was in the sky each month, when they returned to their human forms.
  • Elijah hallucinates about his time with Celeste in the 1820s. It is revealed that Klaus was indirectly responsible for her death.
  • Camille uses a secret code that she learned from her brother, Sean O'Connell, to get around her compulsion to lead herself to discover a newspaper from the late 1910s with a photo of Marcel and Klaus on the cover. This allows her, once out of Klaus' presence, when his compulsion to forget about their activities and the supernatural world, to discover that he is a vampire.
  • Klaus no longer has any of daggers after this episode. It was assumed that Rebekah or Elijah has hidden or otherwise disposed of the last dagger.
    • The rest of the daggers are in Rebekah's possession after they were given to her by Hayley in House of the Rising Son, with the exception of one, of which Kol revealed he has been in possession since at least 1914 in Chasing the Devil's Tail.
  • Klaus has left Elijah's house and moved back into the Abattoir compound, taking Hayley with him.
  • Marcel's plan to capture and imprison Klaus fails, as he underestimated Klaus' strength. In order to stop Klaus' assault on his followers and prevent most of their deaths, he surrenders and gives him back the control of New Orleans
  • Rebekah snaps Tyler's neck and has him thrown in the Garden to keep him from interfering with their plans and hurting Hayley or the baby.
  • Rebekah says that Klaus can talk his way out of hell. Although Klaus wasn't around to hear this, he quoted her on it in The Bloody Crown.

Continuity[]

Locations[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • This episode was filmed during the week of October 15, 2013.[1]
  • This episode had about 2.38 million viewers in USA, which was 0.02 million less than the previous episode.

Cultural References[]

  • The River in Reverse is a 2006 collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.
  • Camille makes a banal and vague comparison of Klaus to Ernest Hemingway.

Quotes[]

Klaus: "They have all forsaken me. My siblings are as deceitful in disease just as my parents ever were. Accusing me of using my baby for my own gain, trusting others before their own blood.--"
Cami: "--Would a laptop kill you?"
Klaus: "That typewriter was good enough for Hemingway. "
Cami: "I see the resemblance. Booze and random acts of violence. "

Klaus: "Have you spoken to our good friend Marcel today?"
Rebekah: "No, should I have?"
Klaus: "He's been mysteriously silent-- avoiding me, some might say. I thought perhaps he may have whispered reasons into your ear, along with all of those sweet nothings."
Rebekah: "If I see him, I'll be sure to ask if he's still sore at you."
Klaus: "Let me give a voice to that look in your eyes. (He mocks her) My saintly noble brother lies writhing in agony in the Bayou, victim of my bastard brother's bite, when just one or two drops of his blood would ease his pain."
Rebekah: "On the contrary, Nik, I am simply enjoying my breaky, waiting for Elijah's healthy return."
Klaus: "Oh, come on Rebekah, you've been giving me the devil's eye all morning. Out with it!"
Rebekah: "Perhaps I'm concerned that if I voice my opinion about what you did to Elijah, I will end up on the wrong side of your toxic hybrid teeth."
Klaus: "Poppycock! I would never bite you. Elijah made some very offensive accusations about my intentions towards my child. He deserves a day or two of discomfort. Besides, you know my preferred method of punishment for your indiscretions is the dagger."

Rebekah: "My brothers and I are the first vampires in history, the Originals. Three hundred years ago, we called New Orleans home. I was happy here... for a time. Now, we've returned, only to find a miracle. And with it, a new responsibility. But, our family has many enemies. These threats should have united us. Instead, Klaus has driven us apart. My brother expects my loyalty, as he has for 1,000 years. But now, perhaps, it's time to make a different choice."

Klaus: "And now my child-- my blood-- will grow up to call you father."
Rebekah: "Is that what it is? You are once again worried that you will be left behind? Has history taught you nothing? We don't abandon you, Nik. You drive us away!"
Klaus: "In the one moment when you two could have chosen to stand by me, to believe in me-- believe my intentions for my own child were pure-- you chose to stand against me. To side with my enemies. I wanted our home back, and now I have it. So, I'm going to live there. And the two of you can stay together here and rot."

Hayley: "Why are you trying to put your family together when it's so clear that one part of it is broken?"

Rebekah: "I should never have come back here. This is the town where I fell in love, and where love failed us. I assume you know who I'm talking about?"
Kieran: "You should know Marcel and I are not on the best of terms right now."
Rebekah: "But you are an active priest, are you not? Ready and able to hear my confession?"
Kieran: "Usually the word "willing" falls somewhere in that sentence. Are you even Catholic?"
Rebekah: "I've been on this Earth for a thousand years. I can't say for certain that I believe in anything like a God, but I need absolution. From someone. Anyone. So will you hear my confession or not?"
(Kieran nods)
Rebekah: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I am a liar, a betrayer. I have conspired against my own blood, and I doubt even your God could save me."

Multimedia[]

Soundtrack[]

Last.fm_play.png "Lonesome Road" – Junior Kimbrough
Last.fm_play.png "Gamblin' Man" – Banzai Republic
Last.fm_play.png "Out Of The Blue" – Prides
Last.fm_play.png "Bartholomew" – The Silent Comedy
Last.fm_play.png "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" – Dr. Michael White

Videos[]

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References[]

See also[]

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