The Originals Review: We Have Not Long to Love (Season 5 Episode 9)

On The Originals Season 5 Episode 9, “We Have Not Long to Love,” the wolves, vampires, and witches of New Orleans choose sides in the war against the vampire purists.

The Hollow begins to take control of Hope, and Elijah meets the other man in Hayley’s life whose role in the events to come has yet to be determined.

With four episodes left before the series finale of The Originals, it’s clear there are two major storylines that will determine the fates of all the key players: Hope’s struggle to overcome the dark magic inside of her, and the three major factions of New Orleans fighting to save their home from Emmett and his band of vampire purists.

A good deal of The Originals Season 5 Episode 9 feels like a retread of The Originals Seasons 1-3, during which ongoing battles between the witches, wolves, and vampires figure heavily into the city’s fictional backstory.

The Originals Season 4 focused less on the hostilities between the factions, and more on Hope and the threat of The Hollow. But to bookend the series, it makes sense to put an end to the rampant segregation and oppression within the supernatural community.

This storyline promises to converge with Hope’s because A) Hayley predicts on The Originals Season 5 Episode 8 that Hope will be the key to restoring peace in the city, and B) Marcel and Vincent are proving to be surprisingly unimpressive adversaries against a bunch of vampires who don’t wear daylight rings.

Marcel and Vincent have been given pretty paltry roles in the show’s final season, and it’s important to remember that Marcel’s bite can kill an Original (and any wolf bite can take down a vamp). And prior to Hope hitting puberty, Vincent was the most powerful witch in New Orleans, perhaps even more so than Freya.

This is a good time to point out that minor characters aren’t faring much better this season. Lisina, the de facto head of the Crescent pack, and Ivy, a powerful witch and seer as well as Vincent’s love interest, meet their untimely ends on The Originals Season 5 Episode 9.

It’s unfortunate that these characters aren’t introduced earlier. It’s obvious they were brought on board as a way to keep the body count on the uptick without killing off any more beloved leads after Hayley’s unexpected departure.

Ivy’s death is also sure to be a catalyst for Vincent to step up his game after underestimating the nightwalkers.

But there’s another new character who is managing to survive: Declan. Hayley’s former boyfriend finally gets some significant screen time after several sporadic appearances, and there are clues he will factor into the final episodes in some capacity.

Declan is Cami’s cousin, and he decides to come to the city where all of his extended family died under mysterious and/or tragic circumstances? Unlike Cami, who arrived in New Orleans to investigate the death of her brother, Declan shows zero interest in the incredibly bad luck that plagues the O’Connells.

He works at the same bar (is Rousseau’s the only decent bar in New Orleans?) as Cami — a hub for all the creatures that go bump in the night — and he doesn’t mention his connection to Cami prior to running into Vincent in the City of the Dead.

Declan conveniently dates a hybrid– the Alpha of the Crescents — who also happens to be Klaus Mikaelson’s baby mama (the same Klaus who basically got Cami killed). There’s also the fact that Hope is a one-of-a-kind powerful tribrid. This all manages to escape his notice or attention, or does it?

Declan is devastated by Hayley’s disappearance but takes off for Ireland while she’s still missing, and then returns with an engagement ring, even though he knows she’s dead. All of this could be attributed to giant plot holes or just plain bad storytelling, yet, his continued presence on The Originals has to mean something.

According to IMDB, Declan appears in six episodes during The Originals Season 5. So far, he’s shown up in four and is mentioned on The Originals Season 5 Episode 7, “Gods Gonna Trouble the Water.”

On The Originals Season 3, Detective Kinney tells Cami, “Whenever there’s a problem in the Quarter, there’s an O’Connell either causing it or cleaning it up.” Okay, so maybe Declan isn’t technically an O’Connell, but something is up with this guy. Is he a hero? A villain? Or, will he be another innocent victim; further reason for Hope to unleash her rage.

There’s been so little effort put into developing Declan’s character, the writers are either gearing up for a big twist, or his connection to Cami is the twist, and he’ll remain compelled and be none the wiser, or get caught up in all the Nola drama. Declan would be an excellent way for the nightwalkers to get to Hope.

It’s nice to see The Originals Season 5 picking up the pace, and Klaus’ promise to help Hope commit heinous acts of violence seems on point for their father-daughter dynamic. After all this speculation about Declan, it will be disappointing if Hayley’s post-Elijah love interest turns out to be such a dud, destined to disappear or end up collateral damage.

With three weeks until The Originals return on July 11, we’ve got plenty of time to speculate.

What did you think of this episode of The Originals? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Originals airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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