Legacies – This Year Will Be Different

By starrymag | October 23, 2019

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The episode opens with a trail of purple goo which leads Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) to Mystic Falls High School. She’s looking for the monster the goo belongs to but instead runs into a boy and Alaric (Matt Davis), who is the new principal now because he got the headmaster boot. He doesn’t recognize Hope, at all.

 

Back at The Salvatore school Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) does yoga now. Josie’s (Kaylee Bryant) confused, but her sister explains that after her summer of intensive therapy she decided it’s time for her semester of “yes.” Kaleb (Chris Lee) overhears this and runs to MG (Quincy Fouse), as he promised to help the baby vampire win Lizzie’s heart. Kaleb tells MG it’s now or never to ask her out.

 

Now, if Ric’s not headmaster who is? A witch called Vardemus (Alexis Denisof). Dorian (Demetrius Bridges) seems unimpressed as he complains about the state of what was once Alaric’s office before giving it a magical makeover.

 

Elsewhere on campus Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) is, and seems uncomfortable with, getting credit for killing Malivore. People want autographs from him now. Josie seems a little weirded out too, but is excited for their first date. However, things seem a little awkward.

 

In the assembly Vardemus is getting off to an… awkward start. He’s promising discipline and bashing Ric’s regime. He tells the kids that they’re extraordinary and that the future is supernatural. Vardemus wants them to be better than humans. This sounds fishy. He gives Landon a medal.

 

Hope registers at Mystic Falls High as Hope Marshall. Ric worries she’s in trouble, but Hope says everything is fine. But she’s not fine as she promptly goes to get weepy in the bathroom only to be interrupted by a girl named Maya (Bianca A. Santos) who offers a makeover.

 

Maya points her in the direction of the boy’s locker room where she runs into Ric. Well, actually body slams Ric when he sneaks up on her. He wants to know who she really is. Hope says she’s a vampire hunter and she’s tracking a troll. Ric says Hope’s just a kid and if anyone is going to troll hunt it’ll be him because he’s an adult. Hope says he’ll need her help. They’re at an impasse.

 

MG asks Lizzie to “Old Mill and Chill” and she begrudgingly says yes. In class Vardemus is lecturing and Josie is unimpressed. Jed says at least Vardemus hasn’t tried to kill the students. The circumstances of Ric’s departure haven’t endeared him to some of the kids. A girl magic’s Landon a flirty doodle and Josie uses a spell to give her a nosebleed. Dark. She and Landon continue to be awkward over coffee.

 

And at Mystic Falls High School, in their own, ways Hope and Ric prepare to fight the troll. Ric grabs his cross bow and Hope brews a potion. They head to the basement to fight the troll and manage to subdue the troll. Because Hope levitated the arrow into the troll Alaric realizes she’s a witch. But Maya saw. Uh-oh.

 

Alaric calls MG to compel the memory away and then Hope and Ric talk. Hope wants to know why Ric’s not the Salvatore School’s headmaster anymore. Hope also seems to be playing dumb about Malivore. Ric tries to talk to Hope about her lack of parents, but she brushes him off saying she’ll be gone soon.

 

Lizzie gets stood up by MG and meets a mysterious stranger named Sebastian (Thomas Doherty). He’s out of it and runs off and MG vamp speeds in.

 

Back at the school, during troll clean up, Ric wants to know how he knew to throw the arrow to Hope. He realizes they fought together and knew each other. He’s been looking for someone erased by Malivore all summer. Hope’s planning to leave because her being back won’t bring the memories of her back. Also, she thinks she’s the reason the monsters are back. But wait…the body is gone.

 

Back at the school MG is practicing his boyfriend pitch to Lizzie with Kaleb. He really feels like he gets Lizzie.

 

Circling back to the purple goo, if the monster is not a troll what is it and what does it want?

 

Landon’s having an awkward date with Josie. He feels like she’s worried. She says she’s just tired and leaves.

 

Lizzie is doing a locator spell to find Sebastian but he finds her. He channels Edward Cullen and says he’s drawn to her, but she needs to stay away. Sebastian says she seems nice, but his life is complicated.

 

In the town square Hope fights the troll, like full on action film fights him. Landon is there, but misses the whole thing due to having his earphones in which is…relatable. The monster gets her in a chokehold, but Hope is saved by Alaric. Hope then sets what turns out to be a cyclops on fire and shoots it through the eye with the crossbow. It disintegrates and Landon really doesn’t hear a thing.

 

Now for MG and Lizzie. MG’s about to declare his undying love, but Lizzie wants to lay her cards on the table. There’s a new guy in her life named Sebastian and she’s crushing on him. But for very specific reasons. She tells MG she doesn’t want to hurt him, but what she loved about her summer in Europe was having a fresh start. She wasn’t the “crazy” girl and she felt that way with Sebastian. She apologizes for not being honest with MG sooner. MG says it’s all good.

 

Hope and Ric say their goodbyes. He tells her to stay safe and she says he’s good at helping kids. Then she runs into Landon, who doesn’t remember her. He tells her about his Josie problems and without naming names Hope admits she is having boy troubles. Hope is clearly upset and Landon, subconsciously, seems to remember that peanut butter blast milkshakes are Hope’s favorite. They part ways. Landon goes to talk to Josie and she’s in bed. It turns out she’s allergic to seaweed, which is important because they had sushi. Landon wants to know why she didn’t say something and she admits she didn’t want to be a problem. It weirded her out that he didn’t need her today because she doesn’t know who she is if she’s not a caretaker. Josie worries she’s doomed to be co-dependant, but Landon says she’s just never been with someone who cared about what she wanted. He says they can be a mess together and admits he has no idea if he actually stopped Malivore because he doesn’t remember what happened. They resolve to take care of each other and share a kiss.

 

Hope goes to Alaric pretty upset and admits she’s Hope Mikaelson and not Hope Marshall. She confesses that the world has forgotten her and she has no idea what to do. She also tells Ric he’s the closest thing she has to a father right now. Alaric hugs her and says they’ll figure it out.

 

In the kitchen the new headmaster confronts Josie about the spell she cast in class, but instead of the reprimand she was expecting he gives her advice on a better spell that can’t be traced back to her. He also invites her to join an elite magic class and keep it a secret.

 

The final scene of the episode shows a runner in the cemetery get stabbed through the heart by a hooded figure. But why?