Discussing Ep. 3.10 - So this was a rather annoying episode with some good moments. My annoyance stems from reasons you'd expect from me, but also for reasons that may come as a surprise. One particular reason seemed to be on full display this episode, something that is becoming increasingly annoying with each passing episode.
It looks...normal! There, the characters look like they're millions of kilometers away from the sun, not right beside it! So what is that yellow light supposed to be?
Furthermore, what is this green light supposed to be?
What the fuck is that? Is that moonlight? And again, this lighting shows up in other buildings as well.
I've noticed this stupid yellow and green lighting in past episodes whenever they had scenes at Mystic Falls High. But it seems these coloured lights follow the characters everywhere they go now, except whenever they're all outside. And I have to say, I'm really getting annoyed by it because I don't know what it's supposed to be. I recall that Riverdale used to do this too, having weird coloured lighting in place of natural sun and moon light. It worked somewhat for Riverdale because they did that from day one. I don't recall Legacies doing this as much as they seem to be doing now and I'd wish they'd stop because it's just so fucking aggravating and distracting!
Speaking of which, we get to my other annoyance. I will say that Lizzie made the whole thing a bit more palatable. Again, she brings a sense of humour and candor that is both refreshing and entertaining. But I didn't care over all about this storyline. I literally jumped over that scene where Josie asked Finch out because I couldn't stand to watch it. And lo and behold, we come to find out that Finch is a werewolf!
Much like them all betting about the next monster being a wendigo, I thought Finch would turn out to be a witch. I should have bet on werewolf but the show had done so little werewolf or vampire transformations that I figured they were all dead and gone on this show. Ironically enough, we got a lot of werewolf activity, which was a welcome surprise. So Finch is a werewolf, which brings up a number of questions for me.
First off, why does she not know about Salvatore School? It seems like those in the supernatural community are well aware of this one-of-a-kind school, especially if you live in Mystic Falls. I mean, how did all the other students learn about that place? Wouldn't her pack have known? Or even if she's a lone wolf without a pack, why would she come to Mystic Falls, of all places. Somewhat of a coinkidink! At this point, that town has to be known for it's supernatural activity, so I'd assume that's why she went there. And as a werewolf, why could she not smell the other werewolves (like Hope) or even vampires?
I will say that I smacked my head and blurted out "noooo!" when Lizzie failed to inform Josie of her discovery. Why would she not tell her that Finch is a werewolf? Is she trying to keep Josie and Finch apart? Josie's going to find out anyway and will get mad at Lizzie for not saying anything. For all of Lizzie's progress, I'm surprised she stumbled here. Perhaps character-wise, it's not a real surprise but nonetheless, it was rather disappointing. If they intend to go on with this storyline, what I think would be an interesting development is if Finch does join the school and joins the werewolves and perhaps falls in love with this guy.
Considering that Jed already has the rep for being a homewrecker of sorts after sleeping with Alyssa behind MG's back, and considering he's the Alpha at the school, I could see some drama being set up between Finch, Jed and Josie. And while I'm wholly disinterested in yet another love triangle at this point, this one at least intrigues me because Jed is involved. Though his contribution in this episode seemed rather contrived, he was a welcome change and I liked it when he channeled the Banshee. He came off as legit scary and villainous. If he were to tap into that more, he would make a worthy antagonist.
As far as Hope goes, I was surprised as all hell that she actually transformed into a wolf in this episode. It was rather sad that Landon had to remind her that she could actually do that! Once again, this reminds me of the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Daffy Duck falls from a cliff and Bugs wonders out loud if Daffy will remember that he's a duck and that he can fly. Daffy fails! This is what Hope is like right now. Other than magic, she forgets that she's a tribrid and can actually do other things! And both she and Finch fighting in werewolf form was actually pretty cool to watch! It's like the writers also forgot what these characters can actually do!
But again, she came off as manipulative and selfish. She set up Cleo as bait, really giving her the choice once they were out there as to whether or not she would participate (and she nearly got her killed had Cleo not stepped up herself). No doubt had Cleo said 'no,' Hope would have been all pissy with her for the rest of the episode. She also told Alaric to watch out for Landon without telling Landon anything. So she's still operating at a level of underhandedness, which made what Cleo did to her rather satisfying! I could see that she is changing, albeit slowly so perhaps there is hope for Hope. But if she truly is Elena 2.0., then I'm not optimistic about where she goes from here.
I'm legitimately surprised that MG, or any other student for that matter, hadn't tried this before: being a superhero vampire. Especially given MG's love of comics, it really is surprising that he hadn't thought of doing something like this already. I'm curious to see where they take this, although it was funny how they're waiting for crimes to happen in the small town of Mystic Falls, where NOTHING seems to happen (aside from the supernatural). Depending on where they go with this, I think it would be very interesting to see MG and Ethan in a big city, trying this sort of thing. Hell, what I'd love to see is them venturing over to NOLA and causing problems over there as they come up against the vampire/werewolf/witch factions, requiring Hope and Cleo to go over and sort things out, maybe have Freya and even Vincent make a cameo. That'd be nice. They won't do that but it'd be nice. Beyond that, I'm interested in where this is going.
Speaking of Cleo, I like how they're writing her character. She's cunning! I loved how she sort of tricked Hope by giving her those truth-telling leaves in the tea and just pretty much asked Hope point blank if she wanted her around. Like Lizzie, she's not afraid to confront others (though she is perhaps less argumentative about it than Lizzie is). But I also like it that, even though she's a target for Malivore, she's not necessarily the damsel-in-distress (though they have made her that....twice!). But she's not like Landon in that she's not entirely helpless. She certainly doesn't need Alaric sitting there with a crossbow to protect her (that was pathetic for Landon, btw). When the Banshee first shows up, it was Cleo, not Hope, who shut her up! So I like that they're giving her this balance.
Making her a Muse, however, concerns me. I don't know where they got this seventh-daughter-of-a-seventh-daughter stuff from because Muses are from Greek mythology. And I don't know if they're saying that Cleo is a creature from Malivore or she's some kind of special witch. Either way, this really came out of nowhere, the idea that she suddenly gives people inspiration. Jed was the only one who felt like her presence did something to him. We didn't get any kind of newfound insight or inspiration from anyone else, especially Hope. Beyond that, she hasn't really done anything special so I'm not sold on how they're going to use her in this capacity.
And don't think I didn't notice them flashing the Gilbert house again. It's fucking ridiculous. I suppose we'll be seeing that house a lot without ever seeing Elena or Damon. Hell, at this point, I wouldn't be one bit surprised if we see Stefanie before we see anyone else.
Not the least bit surprised.
