Legacies - This Is Why....

Discussing Ep. 2.10

This was a weird episode, but ended on a very intriguing note.

So let's talk about the new character, Alyssa Chang, who we got introduced to in the last episode.

I didn't like this character, and no, it wasn't because she was bitchy or inconsiderate or self absorbed or anything like that. It's because she came out of nowhere. She became this integral part of the setup for getting Kai back but we've only been introduced to her in the last episode. We're given this elaborate backstory, via flashbacks, about how she seemingly killed her parents (did she magically destroy her own house?) and has been a problem child/student ever since. She's gotten into fights with other students and is known to be an all around selfish prick, forcing Alaric and Emma to erase her memories completely in order to keep her in check and avoid expelling her. And we're only learning about her now? Why wouldn't we have run into her in previous episodes? I get that perhaps the writers weren't thinking this far ahead last season so I'm not blaming them for that. But I would have preferred she was a student that was brought into the school at the beginning of this season and peppered throughout the episodes to sort of give that hint that she had a larger role to play. Sort of like what they did with Wade. Because she's obviously been a thorn in people's sides for a while so why would we not have seen her before?

So the big mystery is, what is she? I know she's a witch but what is her problem? Why did they erase her memories of her parents? Why is she such a bitch? And what was she getting back at Alaric and Emma for? She talked about them sending "kids" away. What did she mean by that? I would be very intrigued if perhaps she was a legitimate psychopath, much like Kai. That would explain why she can't be "cured" of her behaviour and why Alaric and Emma felt it necessary to erase her memories, sort of like trying to inhibit her psychopathic tendencies as best they can. It would be intriguing because you'd figure that...yes....there are witches and werewolves and vampires that are born psychopaths, like Kai. And what do you do with them? How do you contain such power in an individual who does not care about anyone else? I did like how Hope, at the end of the episode, did keep Alyssa in check. Seems like Hope has finally got something to do other than trying to fit in again.

As for the Qareen (I had to look up how to spell that), it was a tad disappointing, especially when you research what a Qareen actually is in Islamic folklore. In folklore, they are more like guiding spirits, if you will, that stay with a specific person throughout his or her life and who attempts to influence that person to do good or evil. They aren't evil in nature but make a choice to be good or evil. If they influence a person to do evil, they are regarded as devils. If they influence to do good, they are merely jinn, not necessarily angels but a spiritual being that is neither human nor angel.

Here, they didn't exactly go that way. They made the Qareen to be more like a roaming demon, whispering negative thoughts into various people's ears to get them to create strife, making him strong enough to move around in the real world. When I look back at the episode, I don't really get what the point was, other than to bring about Wade and his unique nature.

So Wade is a fairy.

Okay.

What can I say about this? It was corny and ALMOST endearing and while they kind of had me feeling some sympathy for Wade since he didn't seem to fit in, wouldn't him being a fairy mean that he came from Malivore? I mean, I don't get why they did this other than Wade also has a bigger role to play. A fairy, like the unicorn, like the cyclops, like the dragon, like everything else that came from Malivore is a being from popular fairy tale (pun intended) fiction. So he must have come from Malivore too, right? Otherwise, why did they not figure it out before that he wasn't a witch/werewolf/vampire? If all he was there to do was to root out the Qareen and defeat it, then that's garbage! Beyond that, what the hell are they going to do with a fucking fairy? What powers does he have? He can do the equivalent of the Care Bear Stare but that's seemingly about it.

I hope there's more to it than that. They can't drop Wade as a fairy onto the show and then have him disappear into the background like it doesn't matter. That would be just stupid.

It was funny because when I saw this flasback, I was like "wait....aren't those two girls the ORIGINAL actresses that played Lizzie and Josie?" And sure enough, they are! So good on them for that bit of continuity. Also, I was sitting here wondering if Matt Davis actually shaved his beard for those flashbacks or did they use CGI a la Superman in Justice League. When I saw Alaric in the here and now, his beard looked ridiculously puffy and then I realized that they had Matt Davis shave and then the props department tried to give Alaric a new beard.

What is it with the CW props department? Why can't they get hair right? They couldn't get Elena's hair right in the final episode of TVD and they can't get Alaric's beard right here. It looks so tacked on!

Sigh!

Anyway, since we're talking about the Wonder Twins, I have to say, I LOVE Josie's dark look.

She has that Wednesday Addams look to her and it's awesome. I do wonder, though, that considering they are trapped in that prison world with the cracking Hourglass, did she see herself burning down the Salvatore MANSION, not the Salvatore SCHOOL in her visions? It 'd be a bit of a cheat but I'd accept it if it meant that we do get Josie Addams!

Speaking of the prison world, I swear that instead of constantly dropping Aunt Bonnie's name everywhere but having no intention of having her appear, they should have had a character who was a also a Bennett witch, possibly Kaleb or even MG, and then they would have access to Bennett blood anytime they wanted instead of conveniently having a vial of Bonnie's blood around. Because they really wrote themselves into a corner with how they acknowledge that they can't open a prison world without Bennett blood, but Bonnie just happened to leave a vial of her blood behind for....what.....emergency purposes? She isn't Klaus. I could understand Klaus leaving vials of his blood behind since his blood heals a vampire from a werewolf bite, but they don't need that when they have Hope. So why would Bonnie leave a vial of her blood behind? I can't remember what happens to the prison world when she dies....does it die too or does it carry on? Since she created it with her mind (which still makes me shake my head), does that prison world dissolve with her death? If so, then I could understand leaving vials of her blood behind to maintain the prison world forever if her blood is the key. Otherwise, it makes little to no sense why she would leave any kind of key behind that would allow someone to open the prison world and let Kai out.

Still, I'll give them credit for being consistent and for understanding that creating a prison world isn't something you just wave your hands in the air and do. They need a bunch of student witches to do this spell, along with a meteor shower, and I appreciated that attention to detail.

Of course, this begs the question.....how did they get Drowned Pirate into the prison world?

This will be an interesting explanation, considering that Emma just reappeared in this episode and a celestial event wasn't exactly going on when Alaric got rid of Sebastian. So how did he get him in that prison world? And are there more people in it, as Alyssa suggested? If so, how did they get them into it?

What I will also give them credit for is how they got to this point. Having Josie put all her dark energy into that Hourglass Thingy, and then having that become a threat to the point where it would break and re-infect Josie and make her evil....I liked how they brought all that together. Also, it was great how Alaric consulted with Sheriff RIP and her telling him that it was like diffusing a bomb, that it had to be done in a remote area. So, they had all the reasons in the world to discuss the prison world and the possibility of making a new one. At the same time, it's ridiculous that they can open a prison world at will and stick whatever they want into it. It's a strange and convenient plot device that they have created with prison worlds now because it's just so ridiculous how they can make one whenever they want.

So I suppose the question is now....how do they get out? And how many prison worlds are there now, I've lost count? Also, what is happening with Ted, the Necromancer and Malivore? It seemed odd to me that Ted would send the Qareen to retrieve the Hourglass Thingy when he could have sent anyone to get it. It wasn't exactly covert in the way the Qareen was going about trying to retrieve the Hourglass. He goes and creates strife so that he could materialize and grab the Hourglass? Why didn't Ted send Chad? Or why doesn't he raise a dead ninja or something that could grab it more stealthily? And whatever happened to this thing?

We never got an answer to this thing as well.

Questions to be answered at another time, perhaps?