The Originals “Dance Back from the Grave” 

We didn’t have to wait long to see the fallout from the mucked-up Harvest. After seeing Celeste wearing her Sabine mask greet four long dead witches, first on deck to create a little havoc is Papa Tunde (Owiso Odera), a long dead voodoo witch who tussled with Klaus and clan back in the 1920’s. The look on Klaus’s face when he came face to face with Papa Tunde was equal parts shock and frustration. (As in “Didn’t I kill you already??”) Hey, if I had just come from a quickie with my favorite blonde loose-end, I’d be pissed a voodoo daddy showed up too. While Papa Tunde did gratefully sacrifice himself to Celeste at the end of the episode to give her his immense power, the question then remains: What is Celeste really after?

Power is the immediate easy answer. Celeste has been masquerading as Sabine for the better part of a year, lying in wait until the Harvest finished so she could resurrect four witches of her choosing. It’s not a coincidence the first one she unleashes on the French Quarter has his own beef with the Originals. In their first go-round, Klaus in typical brutish Klaus negotiation style murdered Papa Tunde’s twin sons while Elijah and Marcel supported him. It’s also easy to spot Agnes in the crowd of resurrected, who died just a short time ago. She was brutally murdered by Elijah after Agnes dared to come near Hayley. It stands to reason the other witches Celeste brought back all have their own particular vendetta against the Originals and any of their progeny. Namely, Marcel.

But then why does Celeste really need to act as puppet-master? If she’s just as powerful, if not more, as a witch like Papa Tunde, why not do the blood sacrifices to gain more power herself? Why the middle man? She could have performed the same blood sacrifices and had the same result. Unless the four witches she’s acting through are a cloak to keep herself hidden, you have to wonder why Celeste is acting through them instead of stepping up herself. (I’m imagining the cackle of the Wicked Witch of the West now….All in good time, my pretty!) Maybe she just needed Papa Tunde’s really cool bone horn power channel thingy.

It all feeds back to the first question: What is Celeste’s master plan? If it’s to toy with the Originals before destroying them, she’s off to a good start. Unleash a few pissed off power witches and keep them occupied while she moves behind the scenes on to….what? It’s worth pointing out that her anger doesn’t seem centered on Klaus but extends to Elijah as well. They’ve set it as if Celeste is Elijah’s true love, now with a blood thirst to destroy him and his family? Is it that simple or is she just trying to maneuver Klaus out of the way?

*As a sidebar, it’s also worth pointing out that Elijah has no shortage of “true loves.” Celeste, Katherine, Hayley….methinks the vamp is one of those addicted to relationships types. But I digress….

Whatever Celeste’s master plan, I think we’re on our way to seeing Klaus’s ruthless past come back to bite him in the ass. Or neck, whatever. He’s always prided himself on his “My way or you’re dead” edict but this may be the first time any of it has really come back to be vanquished again. After facing the demons he brutally destroyed the first time around, will Klaus come to regret any of his actions? Will he actually…..learn a lesson?

Moment of Goodness Bombshell

In a quick bombshell to end the episode, we learn that Marcel was behind not only Papa Tunde’s original appearance in the French Quarter, but he and Rebekah may have been complicit in getting Papa Mikaelson to town. Which, as we all know, is what spurred Klaus to hightail it out of there and abandon Marcel.  Considering the anger Marcel had toward Rebekah when she first returned to New Orleans, I have a feeling she didn’t stick to the plan. The treachery thickens!

Watch The Originals Tuesdays at 8/7pm on the CW.