Legacies Review: Dark! Josie Rises

The latest hour of Legacies hovered on the border of anticlimactic and game changing with a strange mix of obvious twists and the potential for greatness.

“You Can’t Save Them All” picked up with Kai returning to the main world while Ric used his BAMF former hunter skills to ward off the revenge-seeking student attacks.

This culminated with Ric and Jade on opposite ends of a sword. Poised to savor her victory, Jade’s humanity suddenly snapped back to the surface with the help of Dark! Josie.

Needless to say Ric had questions. Dark! Josie wasted no time with answers. She found Lizzie, absorbed the dark magic that had seeped into her twin, and then stood back while Jade guided Ric through performing surgery (with an instrument Jo created!).

Dark! Josie realized a spell was toying with her mind; deduced it as Malivore, and then performed the spell to give everyone their memories back. Now she knew she could create her own doorway.

Thanks, Uncle Kai!

Speaking of the devil…he arrived at the Salvatore School, claimed to be an old friend of Ric’s (he brought a gift to the wedding!), and then compelled Dorian to do his bidding. Apparently, Dorian’s lazy with his Vervain when there’s a crisis.

Seems A LOT out of character, but we have no choice but to allow it for plot sake (ugh).

Hope and Landon continued to go back and forth over how much danger each was allowed to be in—they settled in the middle for the moment. Kai declared the ascendant to be the wrong one and explained how the linking spell sent the Saltzman family to the original prison world.

Again the plot gets a little muddy: how did Hope remember there was someone bad in the prison world if Kai erased himself via Malivore? Sure, there are books and records, but it felt a little convenient.

Not that it mattered for long. Hope used astral projection to visit Dark! Josie and they filled in a few blanks for each other. Ric warned Hope to get Kai off the property.

She did, but it didn’t take long for mutual distrust to take over: Kai and Hope fought and he definitely let her win. He ended up in chains and then gave her a choice: stop Alyssa from destroying the prison world or stop Landon from getting hit with the golden arrow.

A conflicted Hope chose to stop Alyssa. She broke through to her on an emotional level just as the prison world detainees began to return thanks to Dark! Josie’s spell. One big problem: someone had to stay behind as the anchor.

Ric volunteered (right thing to do, teacher, etc.). On his way out the door, the werewolf opted to attack him, but thankfully, Sebastian raced in to the rescue. He sent Alaric back to Lizzie and then took on the role of anchor.

Back in the Mystic Falls woods, Landon tried to override Dorian’s compulsion. It worked. Dorian reasoned he needed to hold Landon while the arrow was fired. And he did, but he turned himself into the path at the last second.

Landon stood helpless while Dorian asked him to stay with him while he died. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE.

Josie returned and Hope was relieved to see the darkness was gone (sure). The ladies raced off to save Landon only to find him in his full, fiery phoenix glory, as he flew Dorian to safety (thank goodness).

After THE Necromancer refused to save Kai (he betrayed him), Ric arrived with his sword and despite Kai’s protest, took pleasure in cutting off the head of the man who murdered his wife in an attempt to kill his unborn children.

Anticlimactic? Sure. Justified? Yes.

MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS

• Chris Wood remains a joy to watch in every single scene so yes, it’s disappointing to see Kai die (again). But this is TVD’s universe. Death means nothing. There’s always a loophole. Kai’s likely will be tied to Malivore.
• Speaking of villains, Kai’s presence proves THE Necromancer does not have the chops to be the Big Bad. Especially when he’s mostly confined to the shadows and working with day players. Maybe he’ll become more interesting with Dark! Josie…but he really should have been a one-off monster.
• Rafael is back! It’s not clear what the boys were searching for in the woods, other than giving them an excuse to bicker over Alyssa. But they found Raf and cracked open a new mystery: where’s he been? What does the red hood have to do with it? Will he finally get the story he deserves?
• On that note…will Lizzie? Sebastian redeemed himself faster than expected. But he also (probably) died? It’s ambiguous so he could return. In the meantime, give Lizzie a story that’s not related to her boy craziness, please and thank you, show.
• Hope is a Mikaelson. Of course she chose her family over her (alleged) epic love. It’s in her DNA. Family, always and forever.
• (That said…Team Hosie Endgame).
• Jade seems to be sticking around. And there’s definitely a spark with Josie (although it’s hard to ignore the age difference when that flashback scene to child Josie and teenage Jade is fresh in mind). But let’s see where it goes.
• Landon’s powers are so cool, obviously. And it’s great to see him play the hero. But what was with Dorian’s warning? Is there a Dark! Phoenix moment coming (sorry, couldn’t resist). And if so, will both of Hope’s people be dark?
• Ric drinking with his students was so wrong and yet the most TVD thing to ever happen on this show. Never change, Dr. Saltzman.
• And now we have to suffer through the long hiatus with so many questions swirling.