Legacies - Salvatore: The Musical

Discussing Ep. 3.3 - This was somewhat entertaining and oddly enough, addressed a lot of my complaints about the previous episode and especially in regard to Hope and her background. At the same time, it was as though they addressed the elephant-in-the-room and laughed at it and are going to go on their merry way.

This is the Hope and her struggles that I wanted to see. You could tell that DRR actually had something to work with here, as she got passionate (for once) about something (i.e. her family and history being used for a musical). At the beginning, when the students are reading about the history of Klaus and realizing that he's Hope's father and it got her upset...THAT'S the Hope Mikaelson I wanted to see. That's the kind of struggle that I wanted her to encounter and finally overcome. Her wondering if Klaus was ever really proud of her and what she's done with her life since his passing...I liked that. I feel like she's not at a point yet where asking that question has more meaning (because she really hasn't done anything these last two seasons) but this is the kind of character development that I've always wanted to see from her.

And fuck me! Go figure that I should complain that they never show her engaging in a hobby and she's here, in this episode, painting like her father once did! I liked seeing this aspect about her because it is a nod to her family history and to Klaus. And it also shows that she has certain coping mechanisms that are healthy and are not destructive. Will we ever see this side of her again? I'm doubtful but at least we got to see it in this episode.

What I thought was weird, though perhaps in line with what they're trying to make her character to be...she had to save the whole production at the end. Once again, Hope saves the day by taking on the role of Elena after Josie got her arm broken. I thought this was just utterly stupid and it didn't make a lick of sense. I thought Landon wrote the score for that scene as a backdrop for a scene with Klaus and Hope (in line with showing that Klaus was not a complete monster) and not for Elena. So having "Elena" sing it didn't make sense at all. I suppose it was a set up for Hope to sing it and have that scene at the end with Landon, which I utterly despised, but it is what it is.

Speaking of Josie, I thought they did a really good job of making her look like Elena! I fucking legit howled with laughter when Josie was reading the script and says "I don't get Elena at all! She doesn't know what she wants and when she does decide, she makes a super selfish choice!" I'm really curious if Plague simply took all the criticisms of the show and put them in here as a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing. It was even funnier when Josie concluded that Elena wasn't really selfish at all, she was "just being honest about how she changed," which was complete bullshit! Other lines that I found hilarious and self-deprecating were how "Bonnie disappears for long periods of time" (and adding a final and ironic insult along with that...she wasn't even featured in the musical at all! At least they're consistent). I liked how "Elena" sang about all the different balls and festivals that occur on a daily basis in Mystic Falls and that nothing ever changes. Overall, it was entertaining how they made fun of the franchise.

I thought it was funny, if not odd, how Lizzie assumed that Caroline was "perfect." I mean, considering all the details that they got regarding all the other characters, would they not have found out that Caroline cheated on Tyler with the guy who killed Tyler's mom at Christmas? Would they not have found out how Caroline essentially strung Alaric along for months, being 'engaged' to him but never becoming physically intimate with him, having it go so far to have Alaric sleep in the guest bedroom of their house, all the while she still pined for Stefan and would eventually dump Alaric for Stefan? I mean, who are we talking about here? 

Speaking of Caroline, I suppose we got her long awaited cameo...sort of. Candice King obviously narrated the letter sent to Lizzie, which I thought was kind of cool. And I have to admit that I did like the message as it's a message that can apply to anybody...that you don't wake up one day a changed person but that it happens over time, applying yourself daily to changing for the better. I liked that and I liked the way they incorporated Lizzie's character as the main reason for the advice. 

I will say that I also liked that they haven't completely turned Alyssa's character around as though she turned off her humanity. Her deciding to warn MG about Puck and sort of playing NecroTed for a fool is at least is consistent seeing as how she had a huge crush on MG and it would make sense that she would be looking out for him. Still, I wish they would have given her a greater motivation for playing the double agent. And perhaps they will...perhaps she'll betray NT because she wants to make up for her previous misdeeds or wants to prove she's not the evil person they all believe her to be. I'm hoping they will add something to her character.

Overall, it was an amusing episode. Although it was rather annoying in that they were able to reveal such details from Elena and her friend's lives as though they had seen it on TV. Where would they have gotten all that info? From Elena's diary? That didn't make sense. Nor did it makes sense how Landon was able to piece it all together all by himself and create the score and choreography. Give me a break! I also think that this kind of episode should have taken place at the end of Legacies' run and not in the middle of it. I think it would have been really cool if Nina and Ian and Paul and Candace and Kat made a cameo at the end as members of the audience. Maybe Stefan couldn't because he's dead but Damon and Elena could, seeing as how Elena does have a medical practice in town. Caroline should return since her daughters are there and Bonnie is still alive so I don't see why she couldn't make an appearance as well. Hell, they could have a vision of Klaus and Elijah and have Freya show up, representing The Originals faction. Maybe a vision of Hayley as well. This would have been a great send off for this show as it descends from both The Vampire Diaries and The Originals and would have been a nice homage, as it were, to the two shows that helped make it what it was. 

But that idea is gone and so I have no idea where they're going with this now.