The Originals Finale Will Force the Mikaelsons to Make an Impossible Decision

Showrunner Michael Narducci previews the tough decisions being made in the June 23 finale of the CW supernatural drama

By Lauren Piester Jun 23, 2017 3:00 PMTags

"If we go this route, this is gonna be the end of your family. This is going to be the end of always and forever." 

As The Originals season four comes to a close, it seems only fitting that the only way to save the Mikaelson family and their youngest member Hope (Summer Fontana) from the evil force that has possessed her apparently involves splitting them all apart, if Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood) is to be believed. But knowing this family, there's no way they won't at least give it a try. 

"The Mikaelsons are up against an evil spirit that cannot be killed," showrunner Michael Narducci told E! News over the phone. "This is an enemy that they cannot destroy, they cannot kill, and has taken hold of their most precious, most vulnerable member of their family, and you have to imagine that they will stop at nothing to heal and to save and to protect this little girl." 

 

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And it's not even just Hope's life that need saving in the moment. 

"Even if they are able to find a way to save her life, there's still this unstoppable entity out there, and there's still the question of what is best for Hope's future, given that she's such a powerful witch, and given that the Mikaelsons themselves seem to attract conflict and antagonists and there seems to be a path of blood that follows them wherever they go," Narducci says. "Is proximity to that life what is best for Hope? I don't think it is." 

"Hayley [Phoebe Tonkin] as mother and Klaus [Joseph Morgan] as father, they're going to do what's best for their child, regardless of what the consequences are, and I think that's the drama we wanted to play out in this episode," he continues.

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If those consequences do, in fact, split the family apart, it may not be such a bad thing. While the family has spent a thousand years (give or take) devoted to each other (for the most part), it may be that the time has come to ask if that vow was worth it. 

"We made a promise to stick together—i.e. to protect one another and keep each other safe," Narducci tells us of the mindset of the Mikaelson family. "Then the question becomes, by staying together, are we really doing that? Are we really protecting each other? Are we what's best for one another, or have our rivalries and narcissisms and our ego-maniacal tendencies actually done a little bit of damage?" 

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As the entire family seeks to answer those questions and faces the reality of what it will take to defeat the Hollow for good, tonight's finale may not be the supernatural showdown you might expect from a finale. Narducci calls it a "meditation" on who the characters are and how they react to an "impossible decision."

"What I'm really interested in is how these people who have endured a thousand years together will react to the lives and the choices that they make and to one another, and I think we explore that very carefully throughout this episode," he says. "It's not act three of a Michael Bay movie." 

All we have to say to that is thank you

The Originals airs tonight at 8 p.m. on the CW.