Legacies Season 2 Episode 16, “Facing Darkness Is Kinda My Thing,” is the stuff of fairy-tale dreams, but of course it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. This episode has all the tropes of a classic fairy tale and reestablishes modern and progressive ideals in the genre.
The Saltzman twins experience much of their lives together and this episode allows them to discover a few things about life without the luxury of leaning on a sister.
Lizzie’s growth over the series is one of the most impressive arcs Legacies has seen so far.
The bits of Lizzie managing her own funeral, which is very Caroline Forbes of her, and pretending to be Hope are hilarious. Somehow Legacies does the delicate job of not letting the humor overshadow Lizzie’s heart – that is most definitely on her sleeve.
Lizzie is quick to shut herself up and tuck her heart so close that no one can reach it, but this week gives Lizzie a chance to let love in from someone outside of her immediate family.
Sure, some can argue she did this with Rafael in Season 1 and Sebastian earlier in Season 2, but this is vastly different.
“Facing Darkness Is Kinda My Thing” sees Lizzie at one of her most vulnerable moments, and she rises above the negativity of the Salvatore Students and it works in her favor. She finds appreciation and connections with those she may not have truly seen and those who may not have truly seen her prior to her supposed, untimely death.
Lizzie’s most prominent friendship, other than Hope Andrea Mikaelson, is MG. Not only do we learn that MG’s nickname came from Lizzie, which is insanely adorable, we see how pure Lizzie and MG’s friendship is.
Their eulogies are standout moments from the episode that emphasize how well MG and Lizzie complement each other. They balance each other in such an organic way that the romantic possibilities hardly matter.
I mean, Lizzie says that MG “danced like a sparkler and smiled like the sun.” You can’t beat that.
Josie learns a similar lesson but with the darker parts of herself in an extraordinary fairy tale about self love and being the author of your own narrative. Of course I squealed like Pig when it clicked that Josie wanted Hope to kiss her, but my heart grew three sizes when Josie kissed Dark Josie on the forehead. That small action is the biggest and most literal step Josie has ever taken towards an act of self love.
This is a great resolution to the Dark Josie storyline for now, assuming she’ll pop again sometime over the duration of the series. Seeing Josie veer in the direction of her psychotic Uncle Kai would be predictable and resorting back to her fear of hurting Lizzie would be repetitive.
Instead, Legacies offers a new path for Josie to take – one where she embraces her strength through the light and dark spots of herself. Because, let’s be real, every part of Josette Saltzman is powerful.
Sadly, when Josie loses the dark magic, the Necromancer gains its power. The Necromancer is fun and makes me laugh more often than a creepy villain usually does, but I want more from him.
The Necromancer wants to control Malivore. Is he doing this solely for revenge or is there a larger endgame in the works? It is difficult to imagine the latter because Legacies only gives reason to believe the Necromancer craves power and only power.
Maybe the fault is my own for trying to understand the motives of the bad guy, however, that knowledge usually makes the storyline all the more compelling. Hopefully Legacies will take steps to advance the Necromancer’s mission, because the questions are overwhelming the answers right now.
On a better note, Ric finally does some good this week. Ric is someone I always want to root for but he’s made it a difficult task over the last few weeks. I started to miss the days when Ric would swoop in with his crossbow and help save the day.
This episode is a reminder why he’s more hesitant to throw himself into the action. He has more to lose than ever before.
I have always known this but one detail from this episode really reminded me. Lizzie’s middle name is Jenna. TVD fans will likely tear up at the sound of that name. Ric once loved a woman named Jenna Sommers and lost her, and Ric gave that name to one of his beloved daughters.
Ric named the two most important women in his life after four important women he lost.
Ric isn’t stupid, he knows that giving the Necromancer the black magic will only lead to more problems, but that’s not the biggest issue at hand. Saving his daughters and the students he loves matters more than what the Necromancer has up his sleeve.
This makes it all the more heartbreaking that Hope and Landon’s lives hang in the balance indefinitely, because as we patiently wait for more Legacies, I can’t help but wonder if Ric is gripping his crossbow extra tight due to the concern for the always inevitable battle ahead and the loss it brings.
Other Spelltacular Moments:
- I really like that Kaleb and Jed have a sing-off instead of fighting each other.
- “My mom used to read us fairy tales as bedtime stories.” Catch me crying at every mention of Caroline Forbes.
- “I saw your biological mother do a spell like that once.” Also catch me crying at every mention of Jo Laughlin.
Legacies is new Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
