Discussing Ep. 4.3 - A much, much better episode than I had anticipated. I like the direction that they're going in and how they are already going ahead with Hope's transformation into the first tribrid.
I like how they're developing issues for Hope that are essentially forcing her into becoming a tribrid and not just making it like she has to become one for the sake of becoming one. Malivore turning humans into monsters and Hope recklessly killing one really did set the dilemma that they could not continue doing what they've been doing. It was definitely a worthy catalyst that made sense and gave weight to the decision for Hope to die and activate her vampire side. I will also say that I liked how Hope acknowledged how she may lose her witch powers as a result, considering that that has happened to witches in the past (Abby Bennett comes to mind). So that was a nice acknowledgement of the mythology.
I still say the fear that she will be this super powerful daughter of Klaus Mikaelson is not as strong a deterrent to her becoming a tribrid as I would have liked. I saw someone comment about how Alaric rarely, if ever, talks about his time as an Enhanced Original Vampire, almost as though it never happened. He talks about how he was a vampire hunter but never a vampire. I would have thought that him having first hand experience would lend weight to his explaining the dangers of becoming a vampire, how your personality is heightened and the blood lust is overwhelming. Given Hope's rather aggressive personality, I would have liked it if they played that angle up a bit more, though I will give them credit that they really did explore Hope's fear that Klaus' nature will dominate her vampire personality more than anything else.
And...damn!...was I ever happy to see Freya! She looks amazing and it was rather fitting that she should show up to help Hope with her transition. I will say, and it's a minor gripe, but given the fact that Malivore now presents a threat to the entire world, if Freya or Rebekah just up and leave to let Hope and Co. deal with that threat all by themselves, I do question where their priorities are at! Beyond that though, this was really cool and a very, very necessary cameo to tie Hope back to her roots. The way Freya essentially 'killed' Hope was gentle and soothing, in a weird sort of way. I loved this!
I will say that I'm rather intrigued by this development where Hope meets Chiron, though I thought it was funny that the Legacies costume department went shopping at Home Depot again! But now she is given a choice (or is she) to either go onto peace (in Heaven?) or to continue on her path to becoming a tribrid. It's an interesting dilemma and I'm curious how they are going to tempt her character given the fact that she does have a lot to 'live' for as a tribrid.
Speaking of more cameos, I really didn't get the point of Hope going to see Raf. While I suppose it makes sense that she has to make the very real decision to kill Malivore and kill Landon in the process, given all the stuff she has done up to kill the Fake Landons at this point and not tell Raf at all made it seem like her visiting him was rather arbitrary. Mind you, her also seeking his advice as to how to face her last day as a human did kind of give him a reason to be there, so I'll let it slide.
One cameo that I definitely could have done without was this useless waste of space. Really, what the hell does Dorian bring to the show other than to provide hypocritical judgements and condemnations that he has no right providing! "She's right, ya know! You shouldn't have kept it from her!" Fuck you, Dorian! Nobody asked you for your worthless opinion! Seriously, why is this guy on the show at all? He doesn't provide anything constructive. Did they really need him to create that book for the Wonder Twins? Was he the only one who could have done that? I don't think so! Fuck this guy!
Someone else who can go and fuck off is Finch! I APPLAUDED Josie's shot at her at the end, saying how she wanted a partner who was going to stand by her no matter what, even if the end of the line was a certain destiny. All Finch ever knows how to do is run and look for reasons to run. I was totally onboard for this decimation by Josie of Finch and it was glorious! Well done, Josie!
I will say that my curiousity was piqued in regards to Cleo's inspirational idea to kill Hope. It was rather clever how Malivore constructed that entire scene. I mean, I didn't even pay attention to see if Jed was at that dinner party or not to see if he was the real deal or Malivore in disguise. Though it's getting a bit tiresome at this point (and maybe that is the point as you want to feel what Cleo is feeling), I do hope she finds a way out soon. Having said that though, I think it does speak to the malevolence of Malivore who is willing to torture Cleo with the nothingness for the rest of her days. That would drive anyone insane!
I think the one negative (other than Dorian) to this episode was Kaleb's turn to the dark side. I don't get it. There was zero set up for this. MG snapping his neck and leaving him in the woods was apparently enough for him to completely ditch the Super Squad and his friendships with MG and others and throw in his lot with Malivore? All for Cleo, a woman he's known for less than a few weeks? This turn made absolutely no sense and I'm banking on the idea that Kaleb is playing as a double agent. They built up his relationship with Alaric and MG in particular too much for him to just turn his back on them now. So I'm guessing he's somehow trying to play Malivore for a sucker, though I won't be surprised if Malivore is one step ahead of him in this case.
So overall, a very good episode. I will say that I'm really, really curious as to where they're going with all of this considering this is only the 3rd episode of the season. They're already turning Hope into a tribrid and making Kaleb a bad guy. Malivore is out (and I'm glad that Aria is continuing his portrayal of him....he's knocking it out of the park!) and he's turning citizens into monsters. If he and Hope have a showdown at this point....what will be the threat for the rest of the season?
I suppose we'll find out!
