‘The Originals’ Fall Finale: How That One ‘Horrifying Moment’ Will Change Klaus

Spoiler alert! Don’t read this if you haven’t seen the fall finale of The Originals.

Before The Originals takes a holiday break, the producers decided to give the Mikaelsons and their loved ones a little Christmas cheer, complete with a gorgeously decorated compound, a sparkling tree and presents. Even Klaus (Joseph Morgan) spread some Christmas love to someone he doesn’t really care about by healing Det. Will Kinney (Jason Dohring) from a vicious compulsion placed by the Originals‘ spawn, Julian. Klaus even tells Kinney, “Tomorrow will be better,” a sentiment that will soon be a sad joke.

Call the nice moment a sorely needed respite from the vampires’ blood-soaked world, especially when werewolf Jackson lopped off  “yuppie” vampire heads to rescue Freya, the good witch, and a cursed Rebekah was newly back from the bottom of the sea and attacked Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin). This was just part of the hell that the so-called Trinity, the three vampires that Klaus, Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Rebekah (Claire Holt) sired—Julian, Aurora and Tristan—have unleashed in New Orleans since their arrival. But the far, far worst was yet to come when the Mikaelson clan tried to prevent the prophecy revealed by Julian’s seer, which foretold the death of one sibling by friend, one by foe and one by family. But as so often happens on the supernatural series, the Mikaelsons survived while innocents died.

In light of the emotional fall finale, we asked executive producer Michael Narducci about the shocking fate of the one character who only wanted to do good, and how this will change Klaus going forward.

This episode was titled “Savior.” Considering all the tragedy, was that ironic?
The title is a reference to a lot of different things. Cami (Leah Pipes) is a savior to Klaus because she brings out the best in him. And Cami’s realization that she is protected and safe when Klaus is around, and that he can be a force for good in New Orleans, much like when he saved Will. Jackson (Nathan Parsons) is a savior in this episode when he protects Freya (Riley Voelkel) and he fights on behalf of the Mikaelsons. Elijah saves Rebekah by bringing her out of the ocean and taking her home. Realizing that she’s cursed, all of the family has to find a way to save her. Then, at the end of the episode, Elijah is a savior in that he does the terrible thing of daggering her and putting her down because that’s the only way to protect her.

What happened at the end was certainly horrifying. The Mikaelson’s magical Christmas was ruined by Klaus waking up to find Cami’s throat slit. Is she really dead after having a moment of true bliss with Klaus?
She’s lying there dead in his arms. And there’s a lot of questions to be had. How did this happen? What’s going on?  Who did this? To what end? Of course, it’s a supernatural show; crazy things happen all the time. But I will say, this wasn’t a vision, nothing got inside Klaus’s head and gave him a nightmare. This is a fundamental shift in the show. It was  brought about because of the return of these sire line vampires who have come to  New Orleans with the  intention of confronting their sires—the Originals. Things are never going to be the same for these characters. We will pick up immediately after that moment when we return in January.

Who could ever get by Klaus, even if he’s sleeping, and how?
That is something that you should be asking. We will definitely reveal the answer and all the details very early in the first episode back.

So can we expect Klaus to be a raging maniac seeking vengeance when the show returns?  So much for his kindness to please Cami.
That is a very true statement. [Laughs] Any attempt by Klaus to be a better person is going to fly right out the window.

Klaus’s ex, the crazy Aurora (Rebecca Breeds), said at the end of the episode that she had a wonderful day. It certainly seems that she did, or had arranged, the horrible deed.
Yes, it does seem that way for certain, doesn’t it?

Cami was a close friend to so many on the show besides Klaus, including Elijah, Hayley, Freya and Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood). What kind of hole will her death leave in the French Quarter?
This is a horrific death, and we will see how it affects all of our characters. Klaus absolutely. Elijah knows that Cami was a calming influence on Klaus, and he will have some concerns. Hayley understands that Cami was a friend to her. We’re going to play with Hayley’s reaction to this as well. Cami was a good friend to Vincent, too. He’s going to be devastated.

Witches are always communing with the dead on your show. So should we expect to see Cami again?
It would be premature to say we’d never ever see Cami again. We are writing a  supernatural show that is, at its core, a gothic romance. It is about love of family. And it is also about how our love for one another can overcome even terrible circumstance. While the death really did happen, it was not an illusion. Klaus Mikaelsen lives in a supernatural world, and he is no stranger to seeing visions of those he’s lost.

After Klaus helped bring back Det. Will Kinney from the brink of suicide caused by evil compulsions, Klaus compelled him to leave town. Is that the end of the human detective?
Will is coming back. You’ll see him in a few episodes in the new season. We really like the character, a police officer who wants to do right in the city but has suffered for it. But we’re biding our time a little bit so we can focus on him when there’s a  good story. It doesn’t make sense to focus on a human when we have this big sire line, but we’ll be seeing him more for sure.

Why did Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), now the leader of the French Quarter vampires, manipulate Vincent into becoming head of the once powerful witches?
Marcel really, truly wants what’s best for his city. Not just for the vampires but for everybody. He recognizes that Tristan’s secret society, the Stryx, are pushing the people of his town around, thinking of New Orleans as just another asset. What he needs are strong people who will  stand up in on behalf of the city. That’s why he gives Vincent a pep talk. When he becomes regent, that plays right into what Marcel hoped for.

Do you agree that their vampire offspring are the most worthy adversaries that the Mikaelson family has had on the show?
Yeah. In some ways, they are their children. They are vampires who were created in their own image. They’ve grown up and they’ve decided they want to be released from the yoke  of the Mikaelson dominance. It’s a scary thing when your children decide they hate you, and they come back to make sure you go away.

When will we see the plan to make their “parents” go away start percolating?
We will see the chaos of Tristan’s plan in episode 10, the first one back in 2016. [The Trinity] want to use this medallion which can lock their sires away forever. If the Originals are locked away, they cannot die. This means their sire line cannot die, and an eternal imprisonment for the Originals, which is a fate worse than death. But that is what Tristan (Oliver Ackland) and Lucien (Andrew Lees) and Aurora seem to want at the moment.

From a pure soul to a very wicked one, Tristan has the pendant in which Freya housed her brother Finn. That can’t be good.
Yes, and he’s using it as leverage to frighten Vincent, who has become regent of the witches. The worst thing that could happen to him is that Finn could be put back inside his body, and Vincent would be once again controlled by the spirit of Finn. Vincent is going to find a way to step up to that and still take care of his responsibilities as a regent. We’re really going to pay that dilemma off immediately coming into the new season.

Also, where was Lucien, Klaus’s spawn, this week? Is he be in league with Tristan and Aurora? Or is he waiting until it’s advantageous for him to get involved?
I don’t want to say too much about what’s going on with Lucian. He was very obviously absent from this episode, and we’re going to have to  track where he is and what his plan is.  Lucien always, always has a plan.

We also saw Rebekah daggered by her beloved brother Elijah so she could have a dreamless sleep instead of painful living death. Will Elijah be the only one who will know about her?
Elijah will be the only one who knows where she’s buried—at first.

Will you keep the coffin lid open for Rebekah to return? Claire Holt is currently filming Season 2 of Aquarius.
Yes. We love Claire and we love her character so much. I think it’s very likely that she will be visiting us again.

(L-R): Nathan Parsons as Jackson and Phoebe Tonkin as Hayley

Will that mean Hayley also join forces with the Mikaelsons once again?
Hayley is a Mikaelson. She’s the mother to Klaus’s child. They’re very much on the outs right now given all that happened last season, but there’s always hope for circumstances to push them together for a resolution to their conflict and [for them to] realize that there’s quite a bit of overlap in who they are and what they need to do.

Hayley has also made it clear that she still has feelings for Elijah. If she sides with his family again, what will that mean for Hayley’s relationship with her husband Jackson, whom she loves as well? He hates that she keeps getting drawn into the Mikaelsons’ messes.
One of the stories we want to tell is about the difficult position you’re in when you’re asked to choose between family and romance. In a way, Jackson became Hayley’s family when they got married. He has been a good husband to her, and she really has come to love him. At the same time, there’s this threat to the people that she loves—to the father of her child; to Elijah, who’s she close to;  Rebekah, who’s befriended her; and to Freya,who helped raise her child. Hayley is not someone who will stand by and let people fight and suffer. So the conflict that she feels with her husband is one of the big story points that we’re going to be playing with.

The shocks kept coming in the episode. It seemed more like a season finale than a fall finale!
It was a pitch that [show creator] Julie Plec had early in the season. This was her vision, how she wanted to end the episode and take us into the hiatus. She was really excited about it, and we all knew that it was going to be a truly epic, beautiful and, then, horrifying moment.

The Originals returns next year on a new night: Friday, Jan. 29, 9/8c, The CW