Legacies - I Can't Be The One To Stop You

 

Discussing Ep. 4.9 - What the fuck is going on?!? With one major departure of a cast member, this whole show seemed to go into a tailspin with this mid season finale!

So let's address the elephant-in-the-room. I said last week that I could see Kaylee taking a break from the show because she was filming a movie and so they might write her character out for a few episodes, only to see on Instagram that this episode served as her FINAL APPEARANCE ON THE SHOW!!! You've got to be kidding me! So before we go into how they handled her departure, let's get into the gossip and speculation as to why Kaylee would abruptly leave a successful show halfway through the fourth season.

There is speculation that this is merely a career move on her part, in that she wants to focus on other roles, perhaps in movies or in another television series. While she certainly has the looks and talent to go far in Hollywood, looks and talent are no guarantees for success. As Dman has pointed out in the past, so many actors leave a hit show thinking they'll use that momentum to strike it big in Hollywood, only to fizzle out in spectacular fashion. Looking at the TVD/TO cast members, NONE of them have gone on to anything noteworthy, with perhaps the exception of Nina, but even she has struggled to find success equal to or greater than that which she achieved on TVD. While the various actors have gotten some minor roles here and there, none of them have been breakthrough roles. None of them have made it big to the level they achieved on TVD and TO. Hell, even Jenny Boyd, who has been acting longer than Kaylee has, never achieved the success that she currently has with Legacies! So why would Kaylee, on the strength of one role in a movie that hasn't even been released yet, figure she has what it takes to do what others haven't? Not saying she can't be successful but why throw away a secure role and income to take a chance in the wilderness like that?

The other reason that I've read that has been bandied about is that she had personal issues with both Matt Davis and the executive producer, Brett Matthews. I don't know about Brett though I've heard that he's been creating a toxic work environment that's been rather homophobic in nature but it's all rumour and hearsay at this point. I have also read tweets (since deleted) by Matt Davis that had others in the Twitterverse accuse him of being both racist and a Trump supporter. Even Paul Wesley had a back and forth with him, and Kaylee even clapped back when he apparently called the Covid virus the "Chinese Virus." This is all news to me but this would explain why Kaylee and Matt have not really shared any scenes together this season. When Alaric was in the hospital, it was Lizzie, not Josie, who went and had that heart-to-heart with him in his mind. And you'd think she'd go and visit Alaric at least before she left town! So I'm beginning to wonder if there is any truth to the rumour that perhaps Kaylee decided to leave because she found the environment, or certain costars and producers, too toxic for her liking.

The way they handled her character's departure was nothing short of sloppy, abrupt and ridiculous! There was no build up to this other than in the previous episode. Suddenly, Josie has to leave. Where is she going? Fuck knows! Why? Well, apparently she feels like she can help Hope but she can't do it while staying at the school. So how does going away help her do that exactly? Fuck knows! Why did she have to leave right away, like right in that moment without delay?!? Fuck knows! Why couldn't she visit Alaric in the hospital instead of writing him a note? Why couldn't she wait to find out where Lizzie went and say goodbye in person? Fuck knows! Why couldn't she wait to say goodbye to her other friends? Fuck knows! When will she be back? Fuck knows! 

As opposed to before when she left the school, she had a clear destination. She was going to live in Mystic Falls with Damon and Elena and attend Mystic Falls High. Her motives and destination were clear and solid. Here, she provides no information as to where she's going, who she is staying with, how she intends to support herself or what she specifically intends to do! Her reasons are as vague as shit. And keep in mind that she is still only 17 years old! I hate how everyone, including Finch and Lizzie, are just okay with this. No, I have to believe that this departure was not planned and the writers were scrambling to come up with some reason to write Josie off the show. Considering that this started out with Hope locking Josie in that therapy box....as a punishment? Why? She showed that she's quite capable of killing her friends, so how was putting Josie in that therapy box a form of torture? Why not kill her like she did Lizzie? None of this makes sense! Funny thing is, the obvious answer to take her character out of the show would have, indeed, been to kill off her character completely...but we can't have that!

Because if Josie dies, then she ends up in limbo with none other than Alaric! And we certainly can't have them sharing scenes together, now can we? This is why I'm thinking that maybe there's fire to all this smoke regarding her having issues with Matt Davis. But then my question is: why not get rid of Matt Davis instead of Kaylee? This is all speculation at the end of  the day. Who knows what is going on behind the scenes. What I do know is that I said that I would have lost my mind if they had Josie move out to the Congo with Caroline...but now I'm thinking that probably would have been the better alternative! At the very least, they could have written it that Caroline was in trouble and that she needed either Josie or Lizzie's help. Hell, write it that Aurora found out where Caroline was and sought to punish her too because she found out that Caroline and Klaus were once very close, so she set a trap for her. Then, somehow Caroline gets a message to the Salvatore School and that would have given the justified urgency for Josie to leave right away and head off to the Congo in search of Caroline where she could stay away in Offscreenlandia forever! Instead, we got her boarding a bus to literally Parts Unknown, leaving her dad, sister, girlfriend, and best friends all high and dry because of 'reasons!' Fuck, pay me the money! I'll give you a far better storyline than what those hacks in that writer's room are coming up with!

Speaking of abrupt departures, what the hell happened with this storyline?  Aurora's brilliant and tactical maneuver, switching bodies with Hope, barely lasted half an episode! What the fuck? I mean, I thought it was hilarious the way DRR was insulting Lizzie, using Aurora's speech patterns! "Get it through that bottle-blonde head of yours, I'm not Hope Mikaelson!" It was great! And the way Aurora was trying to learn to use Hope's body, all the while Lizzie was mocking her. I was hoping that this would go on for at least another episode. And I loved how Aurora referenced Tristan, though I'm surprised she didn't directly say his name, by saying how she wanted to trap Hope in that coffin and dump her in the ocean where she would drown and die repeatedly, just like Klaus arranged for Tristan to suffer as well! 

But instead of continuing that storyline, they abruptly end it in the most anticlimactic way possible! Her plan to imprison Hope in that tomb designed to hold a god was intriguing to me. First, I kind of got Buffy vibes there when Aurora mentioned gods. I recall when Buffy met Glory and she realized that she wasn't a demon but rather a god, that was a cool moment. So they're now opening the possibility that gods are also inhabiting the Legacies world. Thing is though, they've already shown this! Remember that brother of Cupid? He was a god. And so is Charon. Anyway, I would have liked to have seen this storyline play out more. Have Hope be trapped in that tomb to the point that she's right next to the ocean or something. Continue to have Aurora inhabit Hope's body for at least another episode and have Lizzie and all of them try and figure out who is who. This was such a wasted storyline that I don't even know why they bothered to do it in the first place if only for shock value.

Speaking of shock value, I will admit, they got me! I mean, this episode was so asinine with the Josie departure that I wasn't putting it past them that they would totally have Hope switch on her humanity based solely on the tears and that heartfelt speech by Lizzie. Well done! I was duped and happily so! First, I thought they did well in addressing Jenzy's concern of how Lizzie was able to completely forget everything that she and Hope went through and found the will to kill her without issue. I liked that Lizzie couldn't bring herself to do it! That totally fell in line with the relationship they developed. And I liked that Hope finally crossed a line. She crossed a line and killed one of her best friends and she did it with ease. This is the kind of obstacles she needs to overcome. I really like this development on Hope's part.

And it looks like Baby guessed right and Lizzie is now a vampire/heretic. This makes sense too since, with Kaylee's departure, the Merge essentially lost all meaning because Josie isn't there, if the Merge had any meaning to begin with. Yet another reason why I think this departure was not planned given how much emphasis they put on the Merg, only for Kaylee's departure to completely make it moot. So now Lizzie is a Heretic and I'm legitimately curious as to how they're going to make this work. I'm truly wondering how much Kaylee's sudden departure ruined the plans that they had. I really feel like the body switch and Lizzie's transformation was something that should have been prolonged as it really feels like too much too soon. I'm iffy about this so I'll hold my judgement to see how they play it all out.

As for the trio in limbo, this was dumb. Clearly they keep putting up these roadblocks and I don't know what for. While I appreciate the concept that one good deed doesn't erase a lifetime of misdeeds, why are they prolonging this? I don't care! So we see that Landon is a good person. We knew this already! So we see that NecroTed has a lot of apologizing to do. No shit! And now they have that Sphinx guy back and I don't even know where they're going with this and I don't really care either.

The other thing that I thought was stupid was Finch's rationale for not going with Josie on her trip. I mean, that whole scene of the pack coming and worrying about Jed because he got a broken arm, acting like he was on Death's door and so worried about their future that Finch had to step in as the interim Alpha was just so fucking stupid!!! Jed had a broken arm! Wouldn't his werewolf powers heal him up pretty quick? And even if he was healing at a normal rate, so what? It's a broken arm! Why did Finch, all of a sudden, feel the need to step in and take over the pack, enough so that she was willing to let Josie go? I'm telling you, if Josie had instead been summoned to help Caroline in the Congo, it would have made more sense for Finch to stay behind as she may not have a desire to go as it would be dangerous. But instead, they come up with this contrived plot of the wolf pack in trouble and needing Finch to take over and it was just absolutely ridiculous!

I liked this development with Ethan. I mean, he surprised the hell out of me. Again, I was duped into thinking that Lizzie compelled him to forget what she was doing and have him tell the Super Squad a different story. Instead, Ethan voluntarily told MG a lie because he wanted to get on Lizzie's good side. I liked the anger coming off of MG in this one. I'm glad to see him finally reaching a breaking point and drawing a line in the sand too. Whether or not he will regret kicking Ethan out after he learns what Hope did to Lizzie will be an interesting development to watch for. But this was a good development for both characters and I like how Ethan was able to essentially kick Jed's ass, using his powers to an effective degree.

And then we have this dude who apparently caused both Kaleb and Ethan to act all insane to the point of wanting to kill him. I'm assuming he's going to be related to Malivore in some way considering he seems to only affect those who were altered by Malivore. I suppose I'm mildly intrigued about his backstory and why he gave Jed the warning that having him around is going to be really bad news. He has been added to the cast so I guess we'll see where this goes. And Kaleb seemed to be talking about leaving too, but I don't really care about his character as he seems to flip flop between good and bad so often that he's become boring, so his departure wouldn't be a big loss.

This episode really seemed like a clusterfuck of different elements coming together and I can't help but wonder had Kaylee not been departing if this season finale would have looked a lot different. At the end of the day, it's sad that Kaylee is leaving the show because she was an enjoyable character, especially when she went into Dark Josie mode. At the same time though, perhaps her character had hit her peak. Where else could she have gone from here? She's already played the villain. She's already conquered her various hang ups regarding love and relationships. She seemed to be at a bit of a dead end, to be honest. 

And I do wonder if this spells the beginning of the end for the show. Not that Josie's character was so crucial to the success of Legacies. Even TVD was able to survive two seasons without Nina. But if Kaylee's issues were indeed regarding a toxic work environment, then I can't believe she'd be the only one who had any issues. This could be similar to what Charisma Carpenter faced when she was let go during her run on Angel when she was bullied by then EP Joss Whedon. I then have to question what the hell Plec is doing over there! She's the one ultimately in charge. You're telling me that Kaylee's issues, either with Matt or EP Brett, were beyond being resolved? You're telling me that Kaylee felt so strongly about it that she'd be willing to quit midway through the fourth season and Plec couldn't do anything about it? 

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark! 

Anyhoo, Merry Christmas and see you all next year!

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Legacies - You Will Remember Me

 

Discussing Ep. 4.8 - Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Pretty much all the things that I griped about in previous episodes seemed to  have been addressed in this one and I couldn't be happier.

I loved this! I mean...DAMN! Other than if perhaps Cami making a return, I couldn't be happier to have Aurora back! And it only took four fucking seasons to finally get one of Klaus Mikaelson's enemies to actually make a move against Hope! I think that's why this feels really weird. I'm happy about it but it seems so bizarre because this feels like a ghost from another lifetime. This is one of the biggest mistakes that this show made from the beginning: it downplayed Hope's past and her connection to The Originals. I've said it in past reviews, that I always felt that she should have been dealing with the enemies of Klaus and the Mikaelsons early on. Instead, they focused so much on fairy tale monsters and Malivore that you'd never have thought that Hope and Klaus were even from the same family!

In so many ways, I feel like this season should have been the first season, where the transition from The Originals to Legacies was more clearly made. With the cameos from Freya and Rebekah and now Aurora, it feels like such a disconnect from TO because they took so long to make this connection. Oh well...guess better late than never, right? I had to laugh because when Aurora brought out Papa Tunde's blade, I was sure that thing was destroyed. Again, it had been so long that I forgot what actually happened. I was pleasantly surprised by how things ended up and glad that they're sticking to established canon. Aurora getting one over on Hope, turning the tables on her and occupying her body? I really like that twist. I wish that Tristan was alive too but I imagine he died the moment Elijah killed himself and his entire sire line was wiped out. Come to think of it, how many scores of vampires were killed during that moment? I wonder if Aurora will bring that up or not. 

So now this sets up a whole bunch of complications that will be intriguing to see how they play out. The fact that Lizzie is bent on killing Hope, the fact that Cleo and MG want to save Hope, the fact that Landon wants to white knight and save Hope too! There are a lot of opposing factions at play here and now that Aurora is inhabiting Hope's body, it creates even more problems. I also like how Hope is inhabiting Aurora's body but with her humanity still off. She's still a danger, inhabiting the body of the very first female vampire in history. How will she solicit help from anyone to get her own body back? I could really see this as the gateway through which Hope regains her humanity but it kind of sucks because I could see it that she won't do anything horrific that would cause her any great regret, like I outlined in my previous review. But I am curious to see how this plays out.

I had completely forgotten that Jo used to be a doctor and that Josie was essentially mimicking her birth mother in this episode. Beyond that, I wasn't really a fan of this, though I do wonder if they were paying tribute to the show Saving Hope as a both a pun and the fact that Daniel Gillies played a doctor on that show!

Anyway, this wasn't as fun or as impactful as Lizzie's therapy session. I don't really understand what it is that Josie is planning to do. She feels she has to let go of the pressure in order not to feel any of it. Much like Baby alluded to, it could be that Josie is finally looking out for herself rather than looking out for everyone else. But, didn't she go through this already? She says that she needs to leave. But she's already tried leaving Salvatore School once and it didn't work out. Like it was said in the Godfather Part 3: "Every time I get out, they pull me back in!" I think Kaylee is filming a movie so I could see her stepping away from the show for a while and this is the excuse. But at the same time, who the hell is going to rein in Lizzie? How could Josie possibly leave her friends and the world hanging because she couldn't handle the pressure?

As for Lizzie, I like her direction. She seems more focused and less worried about her own issues and insecurities. It's funny that the destruction of Hope is what is giving her this new found determination. In a lot of ways, I like this as it seems like all the repressed feelings that she had are finally coming out and she's being more honest. Though ironically enough, she's also being more devious, spying on Cleo and MG and getting a hand on the last red oak wood. Plus, she essentially wiped Ethan's memories, which to her credit she was honest about doing in the first place. But damn! That's cold! MG disappointed me with his decision to burn that wood and it surprised me that Cleo wouldn't figure that Nature would never allow an immortal to exist and therefore burning the wood away would not work. Either way, they're sort of going back to TVD/TO roots with red oak wood playing a factor rather than white oak wood. If Lizzie performs a spell like Esther did and makes that stake indestructible, then we would have come full circle!

By far, this was the weakest of the segments of the episode for various reasons. However, I do have to give them credit for answering my question as to where all the people who died end up going. But it's kind of dumb that they're all just wandering around aimlessly in limbo. Once again though, it's funny how much they're referencing both TVD and TO this season. The back drop of the clock tower in Mystic Falls, the return of Aurora, the mention by Alaric how "Hell" was created by Cade (which I wish was never part of the canon!). But this segment once again returned to the fairy tale element of Legacies and I think that's why it felt so out of place.

Also, who the fuck cares? That whole scene between Landon and Alaric was just so uninspiring. The idea that Alaric had to make peace with someone, anyone, in order to cross the river was just stupid, given all the good things he's done in life and all the heartache he's endured. It was clearly an excuse to visit Mystic Falls again and to get some laughs. And Landon once again becoming the white knight, determined to go and save Hope? I laughed when his illusion self failed to stir any kind of emotion out of Hope in the last episode, so perhaps Landon's lovey-dovey approach will be just as unsuccessful and we can finally ditch this character arc. I want Lanivore back! 

So for the most part, a really good episode. It seems like the general consensus among the comment sections on various platforms is that this is the best season of Legacies to date. And I truly believe it's because they got away from all that fairy tale nonsense that launched Legacies into a totally separate world that shared little to nothing with TVD and TO, the shows from which it spawned from. I said this to Baby in regards to the theme episodes in that I felt like they were trying to create a separate identity for Legacies the way The Originals had a separate identity to The Vampire Diaries. But with Legacies, they went way too far too soon. I still recall that first episode with the dragon, I kept thinking "what the fuck is that?!?" 

Though they were able to turn it around into something decent, it still created this rift where you couldn't imagine a Klaus or an Elijah or a Stefan or a Damon wandering into the Legacies world. My goodness, the snarky one liners from Damon alone would have burned the world to the ground! That's why I think that this season, where they're making the connections to TVD and TO and making the show more a part of the TVD universe instead of a separate one is what is helping to make it an enjoyable season. I keep reading the same thing over and over again: "I get TVD/TO vibes this season!" And it's true. I don't mind necessarily that they created a new mythos with Malivore and all the fairy tale monsters. But they should have worked up to that instead of dropping it at the outset. It's funny because in those hospital scenes, either Josie or Hope was talking about living up to a family legacy. Prior to this season, Hope has never really had to deal with any of that. It's really only this season that her family's past has actually caught up to her and she's now left to face the legacy of the Mikaelson family and of Klaus in particular!

So kudos to the writing staff for finally taking a step back in order to take a few steps forward. This was definitely needed and I'm very invested to see where this all goes. Again, I love that I'll get to see more of Aurora in some upcoming episodes. I love the cross purposes of Lizzie and MG and how they're both out to get Hope but for different reasons. 

Next episode is the mid season finale....let's hope they can finish out 2021 on a strong note! 

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Legacies - Someplace Far From All This Violence

 

Discussing Ep. 4.7 - So this was a really weird episode that I wasn't a fan of during the beginning but I came to somewhat respect by the end of it. I'm always a bit weary when the writing staff go on these goofy theme episodes but they made it make sense in the end, especially for Lizzie.

So I guess I'll get this part of the episode out of the way first. I was really wondering where the hell they were going with this and if it was all just for the sake of having them all dress up like the Old West. But by the end of it, I liked the symbolism and the revelation that Lizzie came to. I liked how she separated Alaric, her father, with Ric, the Hunter, and felt that he had lost his edge, so to speak, and he should have held onto that and focused on teaching the students how to fight instead of how to be meek and quiet members of society. Clearly he did not prepare them for the dangers that came with fighting the supernatural and Lizzie is now well aware of that.

I also wonder if they're trying to hint at something here with Josie becoming a vampire in Lizzie's therapy session. Had it not been for Baby reminding me that the option of turning one of them into a vampire to escape the Merge was an option on the table, this part would not have made much sense. But it seems like it could be Josie that would take that leap....AND/OR....Lizzie realizing that she is capable of doing what perhaps Josie cannot. That being, kill the other one in the Merge because it is what has to be done. Lizzie was able to do it here and she has seemingly become more resolute as a result of her epiphany that perhaps mercy and forgiveness are not always the right path to follow. So, I was impressed with the character development that Lizzie got by the end of this.

As far as that whole American Idol thing went....what the fuck was that?!? That was pure cringe! I totally empathized with Hope on this one. I suppose I got the point of it, that being that Hope was too far gone that conventional tactics weren't going to work on her. And let me say how MONUMENTALLY STUPID it was that these fools had to even RESEARCH HOW TO TURN A VAMPIRE'S HUMANITY BACK ON in the first place!!!!! What in the actual fuck?!? Josie had to read Caroline's diary to get a clue (and I completely forgot how it was that Caroline got her humanity back....every season after S4 on TVD is a complete blur to me!). But beyond that, Finch had to do some research as well and that just blows my mind! Shouldn't all this information be like second nature to them at this point? And why didn't Freya or Rebekah or anyone else WHO KNOWS ABOUT A VAMPIRE SWITCHING OFF THEIR HUMANITY not tell them ways on how to turn it back on?!? No, they had to go and research it like a bunch of students!!! The fuck is this?!?

I will say that the one development that came out of this that I thought was good was the lesson that Hope gave to MG. That in and of itself tells you that Hope still cares, even if she was rather brutal about it. MG didn't have what it took to be the complete leader that the Super Squad needed. And I can see them tying this together with Cleo's dilemma of telling them all about the red oak tree and also with Lizzie's new found determination to kill Hope rather than save her. The pressure will definitely be on MG as to which path to take and I can totally see it that he's going to have to make a choice, a choice that Hope will force upon him where he will have the fate of his friends on the one hand and the fate of Hope (and possibly Lizzie or Ethan) in the other. So I like the build up they're doing here!

The Kaleb and Jed storyline was just pure filler. I don't even know what the point of it was, other than to bond these two to each other. Why was that monster there in the first place too? Was he looking for Hope? For Clarke? Also, I suppose it's handy to know that Kaleb is now more durable or impenetrable than most because he has 'dragon scales' for skin? And what the hell was the point of having Jed meet up with those werewolves in the wilderness, only for them to all run away when they saw that monster? Like....what?!? First, it was daytime....why are there werewolves around in wolf form? Secondly, if it was a full moon, then why weren't Jed and Finch transformed into wolves? And if they were just regular wolves....what was the point of them being there? That was such a useless scene that I don't even know why they spent the money on horrible CGI wolves in the first place! 

And of course, we get to this showdown. I liked this! Dark Josie vs No Humanity Hope! First off, they both look sexy as hell! The black leather, the dark hair....I don't know, I like Morticia Addams so this really appealed to me! But beyond that, I liked the strategy, essentially fighting fire with fire. If Hope couldn't be reached using kindness and love, perhaps it was a cold hearted bitch slap that she needed, and who better to deliver that than Dark Josie? And it seemed to have worked, given the fact that Josie was the only one (beyond Finch and Ethan) who Hope directly attacked (they're lightning battle reminded me a bit of Star Wars, to be honest! LOL!). But she did show the chink in Hope's armour, and so this wasn't a lost cause by any means. I suppose it will be interesting to see why Hope put Josie into that therapy box rather than kill her or torture her. 

And as far as Hope herself goes, I can't help but wonder that she specifically went back to SS mainly to interact with all of them. She could have gotten weapons from anywhere, let's be honest. And the fact that she didn't completely decimate Pedro to his face meant that...yes...there is still a part of her that cares! I will say that I kind of like this version of Hope, if only because she's more honest with people and is basically just telling it like it is! But where I think they're dropping the ball with her is that her run as a no-humanity Hope isn't really that threatening. What she did to Alaric was a great start, but she hasn't done anything horrible beyond that and in a lot of ways she is indeed mirroring both Caroline and Elena!

I think that's what frustrates me with how they handle these characters. They give them just enough of a evil streak to make them interesting, but not enough to make them irredeemable where you're truly intrigued and curious as to if and how they can ever be truly redeemed! When Stefan got his humanity turned off by Klaus, he went on a killing spree! Hell, I give them credit with Kaleb's backstory, with how he ripped apart that school band! That was brutal! But it helped to solidify them as monsters and it gives the other characters a real reason to find a way to stop them and truly reach that point of desperation as to whether or not they can help them. Hope hasn't done anything of note that requires the rest of the Super Squad to stop her. At this point, I can see why the Mikaelson family is stepping back and not giving a damn! Why should they when Hope isn't doing any damage at all?

Now she's preoccupied with Triad and that is what is taking up most of her attention. With that being the case, what real threat is she to the rest of the world? She's a threat but we haven't been SHOWN that, other than in those simulation battles with the Super Squad. I'd have preferred that she followed in Klaus' footsteps, where she had a goal of creating her own gang (like Lizzie imagined in her therapy session) and started turning werewolves and vampires into hybrids. Have witch covens come up against her and be decimated in record time. Have a trail of bodies lie in her wake! When Klaus became the hybrid, he did just that. He took Stefan with him and left a trail of bodies behind them, be it human or werewolf. Elijah's fears were all coming to pass! With Hope, we get more a threat of a threat, not any actual danger that has been seen and needs to be stopped!

So some worthy developments that occurred in this episode. I'm intrigued with Lizzie's new found attitude and how that will play out with both MG and Cleo. Josie will be out of the picture and I can only guess what her therapy session will look like. I do wonder if Finch did indeed overhear Cleo talking to herself and now knows about the red oak tree. It was rather stupid of Cleo to do that in front of a passed out Finch! 

And I suppose I'm rather curious to learn about the original Triad lines. What connection will they have with the Mikaelsons? I'd imagine that they'd have to have some kind of connection considering Klaus' lineage as a werewolf and the Mikaelsons being the originator of the vampire line and Esther being one of the most powerful witches in existence. It would be ironic if the witch line was actually a Bennett witch! 

Nah! They would never do that! 

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Legacies - You're A Long Way From Home

 

Discussing Ep. 4.6 - A rather underwhelming episode that felt like a further bridge to the overall story, though I will say it left on a surprising cliff hanger.

I do wonder if it is mandated by Plec that whenever the main female character becomes a vampire who turns off her humanity or has a doppelganger who is a bad vampire, that they MUST make their hair curly and/or wavy to differentiate between the two personalities! It seems that once Elena or Hope turn their humanity off, the hair is the first thing that changes! I don’t mind it as it’s a good look on her but still, I found it rather funny. 

Beyond that though, there wasn’t really much to her storyline. One had to figure that Clarke would make an appearance again the minute they talked about Triad reemerging. And while I found it somewhat comical that Clarke already found a girlfriend, a job and a place to live regardless of the fact that he essentially emerged with no identity, no money, and no personal history whatsoever, his appearance was underwhelming. I can’t help but wonder if we will be seeing more of him down the line, considering the fact that he told his new girlfriend about his history and the supernatural world. In some ways, his girlfriend reminded me of Amy Acker from Angel, at least in terms of the look of her. But they seem to be hinting at more involvement from these two so perhaps this is the set up to something more.

Also, I couldn’t help but notice when that monster was going to kill Clarke, it suddenly turned away and went somewhere else, as though it were commanded to do so. So I’m assuming that Triad recalled the monster because they wanted Hope, and possibly Clarke, to live. I am curious to know what it is that Hope took from that place and what it is she is planning to do.

As for the Super Squad, I will say that while some of their issues seemed contrived, at the end of the episode it felt appropriate. In regards to Cleo and her finding the one thing that could kill Hope, I had totally forgotten that tendency of Nature to never allow someone truly immortal to exist. So Hope has her own version of a white oak tree and it’s rather fitting to say the least. While I do question Cleo’s decision not to share the secret with the rest of the Squad, it kind of makes sense given what Lizzie tried to do and the somewhat shaky reliability of Kaleb in particular. I could see it that she couldn’t trust anyone to actually use that tree as a weapon to kill Hope because they care too much for her. So, it will be intriguing to see where they go with this.

Lizzie’s issues again felt somewhat contrived but made sense at the same time. Her desire to save Alaric at the expense of the life of another, in a lot of ways, was in line with her character. The fact that she went as far as being in the middle of the spell before being interrupted by that guy’s daughter showed just how far off the tracks she had truly come. I’m kind of glad for this new issue for Lizzie as she really had nowhere to go beyond her hatred for Hope and her feelings for MG, so it’s nice to see her get something else to focus on.

And I’ll say this about Josie’s conversation with Freya….that was bullshit! I said this last week, it makes no sense for Freya, Rebekah, Marcel and Kol to just abandon Hope and leave her to her own destruction like that. What happened to “always and forever?” What happened to the family sticking together? This isn’t Klaus that we’re talking about, it’s Hope! The one they fought so hard for, the one they sacrificed so much for, the one that Klaus and Elijah gave their lives for! And on the that single comment from Hope, with her humanity off, that she wants nothing to do with the family and therefore Freya and Co. are just going to take her at her word, cross their fingers and hope for the best for her? The fact that the Super Squad is spending all this effort to go looking to find and help her and not her own fucking family goes completely against what was established on TO! I’m well aware it’s a casting/cameo issue but still…storyline-wise, it’s makes no sense at all! They should have done better!

I don’t know how I feel about Kaleb’s issues as this point. Like I said, it was stupid for him to betray everyone for the sake of rescuing Cleo. I loved that MG “benched” him, essentially taking on the leadership role of the Super Squad, and pointing out that Kaleb’s betrayal was really for nothing given that he didn’t rescue Cleo but the others did. But now he’s seemingly out to capture and take on Hope on his own, further cementing the inability of the rest of the Squad to trust him. I suppose it will be interesting to see what he can do with his new dragon powers though. I’m assuming he can still sprout wings and fly. It might be the surprise ability they need to take down Hope. But beyond that, I feel like out of all the characters who are having problems, his seemed the most contrived. 

I'm not really a big fan of this new mythology they’ve introduced into the TVD/TO world. Now everyone, supernatural and human alike, must meet Charon The Ferryman and pay a danake coin in order to cross into Heaven (or is it the Elysian Fields?)? Since when? Since Malivore released him? And how come there isn’t a bigger line up of people waiting at the docks? There are tons of people dying every day!!! Why is it only NecroTed and Landon and now Alaric waiting to cross over? This doesn’t make much sense at all either. 

I really have to wonder if this will be Alaric’s swan song season as he’s once again on the verge of death and it’s gotta keep at some point. Like, why bring him to this point yet again? Having said that though, I've already pointed out the logistical problems of Alaric dying and neither Caroline, Elena nor Damon showing up to pay their respects. And besides that, who would take over as Headmaster of the school? Certainly not that useless fuck Dorian! 

I actually wouldn’t be that surprised if perhaps Clarke and his girlfriend, Trudy, were to position themselves as the new headmasters of Salvatore School seeing as how they’re positioning the Super Squad to operate without the guidance of Alaric there. But they need a Headmaster and it would make sense for Clarke to be in charge given his vast experience with the supernatural. As for Trudy, I could see her navigating all of that as comic relief and even being some kind of teacher but for the more human subjects like math or history or whatever. Her obvious interest in vampires may make it that she becomes one but who knows? That’s just my guess as to where this could all go.

Hell, considering the fact that both Landon and NecroTed are still in the picture, it could be that NecroTed is returning as the Headmaster. I could actually see that too, though it would truly become a comedy show rather than a supernatural one. 

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