Post — Aaron Ngo

Major spoilers are included in this episode review. Read with Caution!

The heartbreak keeps on coming! The show was not kidding about how Hayley was only the beginning of the major death pool.

I did not expect the aftermath of the last episode to have such consequences. Now we're three episodes away from the finale, and I'm not ready! The tension is rising and while one threat is eliminated, another is on the horizon.

We lost two major characters in this episode and while one of them was indeed Ivy (she woke up in vampire transition but chose not to go through with it), the other character was out of nowhere. In fact, I went into the episode hoping he'd contribute more or have a heartfelt reunion with Davina next week.

That's right: Josh got killed off!

Did anyone expect that? I cried for the baby vampire who bled loyalty and helped everyone who took his happiness away. His goodbye with Marcel was beautiful and his reunion with ... AIDEN was fantastic. A wonderful surprise they saved for us all.

Marcel's solo toast for Josh was emotional and Josh's ghost watching over him was such a TVD move. It was both weird and great at the same time if you enjoy both shows.

But It showed how strong their bond was over the years, and how much respect he had for his best friend. The one vampire he trusted more than anyone else to protect their home. Losing Josh was so unexpected, but I'm happy he got back with Aiden in the end.

The show never allowed Josh to move on after Aiden... who died all the way back in season two.

This episode had a lot of familiar elements of its parent show, The Vampire Diaries, with all the love stories addressed.

Vincent and Ivy deserved better! Josh and Aiden found peace together (that's right!), Hope and Roman are still cute, and Elijah and Antoinette need to figure out their shit!

Speaking of love stories, Freya and Keelin being absent after the proposal was not cool. After the engagement, I would've expected them included in the episode especially with all these other love relationships coming forward. But their wedding is next week, so can't complain too much...

But I'm going to anyway.

Klaus and Elijah's stance with each other was made clear. I'm glad they addressed how they felt about each other and the resentment Klaus has for what happened to Hayley. I'm sure this friction between them will continue until the finale. What Elijah did while memory-less is hard to forgive.

But now Klaus has bigger things to worry about. Hope managed to wipe out all of Greta's remaining vampire followers, but she also accidentally hurt Declan in the process. Klaus saved Declan, thinking he prevented Hope's werewolf curse from being triggered, but he did not account for the priest with him.

This random character did not survive. This turns Hope's eyes into a werewolf blue.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode, and it was clear Julie Plec had a hand in the writing. Daniel Gilles also directed, which explained why his character was not around as much.

Vincent and the other witches' decision to destroy the Ancestral Realm was a long time coming. The witch politics with the Ancestors was always murky, but I'm glad we're done with it now... to save Ivy from rotting in the Realm with the rest of the spirits.

I hope Elijah and Antoinette find their way back to each other someday. Or by the end of the series. He deserves happiness after 1,000 years and so do the rest of his siblings. Actually, "deserves" might be a tad strong, but he has endured a lot for the sake of Niklaus Mikaelson.

Sound off in the comments and let's discuss how this show might end. In addition, how they're going to set up for the spin-off show, Legacies.

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