I’m going to start sounding like a broken record any episode now, but “Legacies” is GOOD you guys! I knew I was going to like it from the pilot and yet I’m surprised when every subsequent episode gets better! The world building and mythologizing
Let’s jump right in with Hope. Yes, we knew her on the final season of “The Originals” but that was only one short season of TV and she was in a huge moment of upheaval in her life. Danielle Rose Russell did everything she could with Hope, but now that she’s the focus of her own show she’s much more at home in her character. She’s experienced the aforementioned upheaval, not to mention the insane tragedy of having a friend, both parents, and a beloved uncle die on her. There’s an edge to Hope now that she hadn’t yet acquired the last time we saw her and it is extremely fun watching her navigate that part of herself.
Which leads us to Landon aka the mirror being held up to Hope. Landon is every bit as tragic as Hope and yet he’s managed, for the most part, to maintain a level of innocence that Hope seems to have forcibly stripped from herself as a protection. Their scenes together highlight their similarities and differences in such a way that instead of being a harsh indictment of either one’s behavior we can understand more acutely how they each ended up the way they are.
In most ways they are truly more similar than different. Both are searching for their place in an increasingly confusing world. As a tribrid Hope belongs to none and all of the factions at the school. As an unknown supernatural entity Landon is the same. During the extended mystical lie detector Q&A this is brought into stark relief, as is the fact that Hope and Landon feel kindred with one another in a way that no one else in the school can understand. Despite her attitude it’s clear that Hope is still interested in Landon, and Landon has never been shy about his feelings for Hope.
This brings us to our main plot for this week’s episode, “Malivore.” On one side we’ve got Ric and Dorian (Demetrius Bridges) at the cabin in the woods interrogating a dryad, which we’ll get back to.
On the other side Emma is left in charge of the students and their election process for a new Honor Council. One witch, one wolf and one vampire will make up the council and their first order of business is deciding whether or not Landon can stay. Before we get to that vote though we have a hilarious montage of MG and Lizzie campaigning along with Rafael FINALLY challenging that idiot alpha who’s name is, of course, Jed. He obviously wins and in addition to becoming alpha he’s also the wolf member of the Honor Council.
He is the only one who’s gambit pays off though since Josie gets the witch spot, thanks to Penelope, who I still hate but has finally started softening. MG loses his spot by making a deal with Kaleb who obviously betrays him to snag the spot himself. Though I’m not sure why he’s even eligible since he was just in vampire jail for eating people, but whatever. In the end we’ve got Josie, Rafael, Kaleb and Hope who appoints herself as the only one who can advocate for herself as a tribrid. And if you were thinking it was going to be a close vote you’d be wrong. In a 3-1 vote everyone thinks Landon should leave except Rafael.
Look, I get it. They all think that either he’s the cause of all the new supernatural stuff or that he’ll be in too much danger by staying there. He either is the danger or he’s in too much danger. But at the same time I feel like he’ll be in WAY MORE danger if he’s some kind of supernatural beacon and they send him out into the world by himself to attract a bunch of supernatural creatures that it’s clear he can’t fight off. Also he’s in the cast so I’m certain he’s going to be back at the school before too long so all of this bringing him back and then making him leave again feels a little time wastey.
In any case, he gets sent away despite Hope admitting she has feelings for him. As a parting gift she gives him a magic watch that can tell her if he’s in danger if he pushes a button. Before she’s twenty feet away he pushes the button and they share a pretty intense goodbye kiss. It’s yet more fuel to the idea that Landon will end up back at the school so he and Hope can make a go of it. While I’m firmly on record as loving this show I can’t help but think they’re floundering a little to fill their twenty-two episode order when it would have been better to stick to sixteen-eighteen.
Moving on to Alaric, Dorian, and the dryad. At the cabin in the woods Dorian has been luring creatures to him with the knife in hopes of finding out what’s going on. Unluckily, he hasn’t been able to find one who can talk until the dryad, which is when he calls Ric. Together the two interrogate the dryad who won’t talk until they find her lover Oliver. Despite the odds they do find him but he has no memory of her which is a red flag. Once he leaves she comes clean about the knife which is called a malivore. I’m a little hazy on the details because there was a lot going on in this episode but needless to say it’s very magical and it’s bad news. It calls to the dryad so strongly that she tries to steal it and Dorian kills her! I, for one, was very disappointed. We could have surely used a dryad friend hanging out for a while. She does turn into a super beautiful giant willow tree though so I guess it’s fine.
As usual I’m excited to see where the show is going. Also as usual I’m a little confused by the choices they’re making, which is typical for a Julie Plec show. In the meantime everyone’s doing a great job deepening their characters and I’m always excited to sit down every week and watch this awesome show! Next week looks to be a super fun time with a zombie version of Jo, the twins’ mom, terrorizing the school so be sure to tune in!
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Featured image credit: The CW
Kristin was a military brat growing up but now she lives in Orlando with her husband Will and their dog Egon. She and her best friend Wil (not the husband!) have written a novel together and recently started the podcast “So…I’m Watching This Show” where they discuss movies, TV shows and pop culture in general. Most nights you can find her drinking wine and live tweeting way too many things.