'I Love You, Goodbye' Recap 

'The Originals' recap: 'The Brothers That Care Forgot'

has to be one of the most complicated portrayals of family on television. But it also has to be one of the best. Although the many supernatural elements of the show are what elevate the drama week after week, at the heart of every episode is a perfectly simple story of love and wanting to be loved. And tonight’s big wedding episode combined so many of the things this show does best: epic events, tragedy, and, apparently, wedding vows.

We pick up with Cami driving to a pay phone after having watched the safe house explode. But before she can dial so much as one number, a more-scorching-hot-than-usual Elijah shows up to escort her back to the compound, where Hayley is currently having a motherly meltdown. Naturally, a mother would want to be with her child after said child’s house exploded, but Klaus has another idea. Today is Hayley’s wedding day, which means they are only hours away from having the army they need to protect Hope. And as he puts it, “A queen does not run.” (Please disregard Beyoncé’s “On the Run” tour.)

In keeping with the wedding spirit, Klaus then takes Hayley’s bag from her, unpacks it and repacks it… with the severed heads of all the alphas who refused to give up Finn’s moonlight rings. Klaus then delivers the heads to Jackson, considering it an early wedding present, naturally. I mean, what else would it be?

Elsewhere, Josh is finally feeling back to his old self in just enough time for Kol to give him some blood and send him on his way so that he and Davina can finish the spell that would complete the mystical dagger. And as they join forces to do just that, Freya does some magic of her own over at the morgue, where Finn’s Two-Face-esque body is being held. Both spells are successful, with Davina and Kol successfully completing the dagger and Freya waking up Finn.

However, Kol’s moment of celebration is quickly ruined when the effects of his hex cause his nose to bleed. Kol, always quick on his feet, blames the spell for his bloody nose and sends Davina off to attend the wedding while he calls Rebekah for help.

But before Rebekah can leave the compound, she has to drop off a wedding dress for Hayley, who was planning on getting married in skinny jeans and combat boots, it seems. Luckily, Hayley lives with the world’s most incurable romantic who just so happens to keep a wedding dress in her closet at all times. You know, for emergencies. Rebekah then tells Hayley that she will always be a Mikaelson before she goes to help Kol, who’s quickly losing steam. It seems dying once has changed Kol’s outlook on the whole “laughing in the face of death” thing. And after admitting that he’s preferred living as a witch, it’s evident he’s losing hope.

Also losing hope is Aiden, who gives Josh a helluva hug when he finally sees him… only to then break up with him. The way he sees it, after today, the wolves will be that much deadlier to Josh, and Aiden is trying to protect his man. Josh, however, does not see it that way. More on these two in a moment.

Back at the compound, Klaus gives Hayley a surprise: Hope’s back! Thanks to a cloaking spell—and a very limited guest list—Hope is safe to return for the ceremony and meet Jackson, whom she literally throws herself at. And I mean, can you blame a baby?

blame Elijah for just generally being irresistible. He warns Elijah not to dissuade Hayley from the ceremony in any way, to which Elijah makes it clear that he won’t cause any trouble unless he finds out that Klaus did something to bully Hayley’s decision to get married. At this point, if he finds out that Klaus so much as winked at Hayley, shit’s going down.

Following his chat with Klaus, Elijah goes to see Hayley, who’s already in her dress and saying a few final words to her adorable daughter. Standing in the doorway, Elijah tells Hayley, “You look perfect.” And when, by some miracle, Hayley doesn’t melt to the floor, Elijah tells her he’d be remiss if he didn’t say “it” at least once—those three words, obviously—but Hayley stops him. She tells him that from the moment she met him, she’s felt everything for him. All this time he hasn’t been able to say how he feels, and she gets it—he can’t be the guy who says how he feels. But Jackson is, and she thinks she can be happy with him, and good lord, all she wants is to be happy. So, in our Elijah Moment of the Week, Elijah says nothing… but his single man tear says it all.

In the next room, Jackson is struggling to tie a tie—I was really hoping that Aiden would be the Sandy Cohen to Jackson’s Ryan Atwood—when Aiden asks him about the future of the relationship between the wolves and the vamps. But just as Jackson starts to go on about how they’re done chasing old grudges as species, he realizes that Aiden is asking for personal reasons. But Jackson’s pretty sure they had the “love is love talk” when Aiden was 17, so what’s the holdup now? Aiden tells him that he’s worried for Josh’s safety, but as Jackson puts it, they have “no chance of winning this fight without something to fight for.” And enter Hayley.

Stopping by before the ceremony, Hayley just wants to make sure that Jackson isn’t wearing a flannel tux—which he would have rocked, just for the record—and tie his tie for him. But he also has a gift for her: A necklace with her mineral totem, which symbolizes healing and courage. Yeah, this man’s a keeper (for his facial hair alone).

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