This season is gearing up to be something really special. “Legacies” is back this week and I’m ready to get started on what went down. Catch up on the season two premiere with my recap here.
First off, I feel like a total dummy for not realizing it, but NO ONE remembers Hope at all. Like I knew it intellectually but having to watch Danielle Rose Russell’s heart break every time she ran into someone who should know her was #theworst. Between Dorian last week and then Alaric, MG and finally Landon this week I was almost as torn up about it as Hope — and that’s saying something.
While Hope went around town and ended up at Mystic Falls High School following the creepy Hulk troll from last week, Kaleb overheard Lizzie saying this was going to be her year of ‘yes,’ and he obviously passed that on to his bro MG. Unfortunately, despite having worked on herself for the entire summer, she’s still just as narcissistic and self-centered as she was before, and so she ends up blowing off MG more than once. In theory, I can’t really blame her because it’s clear she doesn’t have feelings for him, but in execution it’s still extremely rude and makes me annoyed with Lizzie.
Meanwhile, we meet the new headmaster, and it’s none other than Alexis Denisoff of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame! He arrives, presumably chosen by Caroline (?) as Headmaster Vardemus, which is obviously the name of an evil person. He’s very pompous like early Wesley from “Buffy,” and it’s honestly just so good to see him back on TV that I’m willing to overlook him giving Josie tips on how to more successfully hex her classmates in secret.
Which brings me to Josie and Landon. Look, I think they’re cute as hell. Their montage in episode one was adorable and I think Aria and Kaylee have great chemistry. That being said, they are both the same personality type. As Josie said, she’s a caretaker. Well, so is Landon, and two caretakers are generally not going to have a satisfying relationship unless one of them changes. Neither of them are likely to do so permanently, so I’ll have fun with the relationship while it’s happening (and until Landon remembers Hope), and then I’ll gladly wish it farewell, no matter how cute it is.
Back at Mystic Falls High, Hope has run into a new friend named Maya and a potential new love interest called Ethan, but he may as well be called Matt Donovan 2.0 for all the excitement he brought. I suppose there were worse love interests on “The Vampire Diaries” than Matt but I’m not super stoked for a newer version of him. Either way, Hope seems to be doing alright until she runs into Alaric and they start talking about how he’s a crazy good demon hunter and she’s only a kid so she can’t help him find the troll. It’s hilarious, especially when Hope helps completely decimate the troll.
Once the troll is dispatched, Hope is able to have a moment to herself — until Landon comes up to her with a random peanut butter blast milkshake with whipped cream on the bottom. He has no idea why he bought it and didn’t even drink it, but he gives it to her anyway and I’ll be honest: My entire heart broke into pieces.
It’s after this most recent emotional upheaval that Hope goes back to Alaric to tell him the truth about who she is. She says he’s the closest thing she has to a father and MY HEART BROKE AGAIN! I mean, we are only two episodes in and the emotional punches will not stop for anything! Alaric seems to get it and hopefully he’ll be able to help her get everyone’s memories back, but for now it was a nice catharsis for Hope.
The episode ends with Hope and her fake Landon at the *sob* bus station while she waits for a bus out of town. Even though she knows he’s just a different part of her brain conjuring him up through a crystal, she takes the advice and decides to stay and try to get everyone to remember her. It’s a lovely scene on the heels of her scene with Alaric and the perfect ending for the episode. It looks like next week we’re getting another Mystic Falls High vs. Salvatore School football game, which should be SUPER fun and not at all dramatic!
“Legacies” airs on The CW on Thursdays at 9/8c! Stay tuned for all our season two recaps.
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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.