Legacies Season 3 Episode 6, “To Whom It May Concern,” is a baby step in the right direction for some characters, while others find themselves in the same, endless cycle they’ve been in for more than a season. Legacies is still finding its footing this season after production halter early last season for safety reasons with the current state of the world. This cut Season 2 short and added those storylines (that still needed to be tied up) to the beginning of this season.
Legacies Season 3 Episode 5, “This Is What It Takes,” was the intended start for this season. This episode leads off of the bombshell of Landon’s irreversible (for now, I’m sure) death by promising change for a lot of characters and denying others the chance. This could be the beginnings of a plan for a larger endgame that Legacies is building to and, if that’s true, I am hopeful that this show proves me wrong.
A Fresh Start
“To Whom It May Concern” does a good job of balancing the search for new prospective Salvatore School students with the journeys of the established characters. The steps that characters like Lizzie, Hope, and MG take don’t get lost in the hijinks of keeping a very small group of new kids entertained. It’s fitting that while the Super Squad is trying to present the Salvatore School as a stable, safe place, the members of the aforementioned club are going through some serious changes after some not-so-safe situations.
It finally looks like the show is willing to go into a new direction with Hope. We’re seeing her grieve, but we’re also seeing her process it instead of suppressing it. Hope has to find a way to work through her feelings about Landon and his passing, and it looks like Legacies is headed in that direction thanks to a new friend. Cleo is breath of fresh air that Hope needed in a friend and a confidant. She can connect to Hope through art and, it seems, loss. They’re friendship is a bright spot for Hope’s future and hopefully the same can be returned to Cleo – who I can’t wait to get to know more.
Landon was Hope’s first big love and that means something. It means a lot. That’s why it almost feels wrong to want something more for Hope than just this relationship. Maybe the sentiment wouldn’t be so harsh if Legacies hadn’t already established the precedent that Landon will return from the dead, no matter what. The mere fact that Landon is still present on the show suggests he’ll find a way back to Mystic Falls somehow. He may not be the same Landon that he was when he left, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that will finally put some healthy distance between him and Hope since they were starting to border on an unhealthy, codependent relationship.
Meanwhile, Josie and Lizzie are dealing with the harsh reality of navigating the world without the other twin. It’s weird that Legacies is acting like Josie and Lizzie will never talk again. Josie will surely still be living at the Salvatore School since that’s where her father and sister live. Also, cellphones are a thing. Why is Lizzie writing Josie notes instead of texts? The note is sweet and everything but doesn’t feel like Lizzie’s style. Maybe Caroline’s letter inspired Lizzie. Anyway, the different schools will definitely create some distance between them. Like Landon’s inevitable return, it’s safe to assume Josie will have to help the Super Squad with something or vice versa sooner or later.
The only proper explanation for the argument that Josie and Lizzie aren’t explicitly talking to each other during this episode is that both of them are trying to set healthy boundaries. I want to believe is the case, because it means they’re doing the hard work to help each other but also themselves. It’s not easy to break patterns that become comfortable, but Josie and Lizzie are doing that. In doing that, Lizzie gets the rude awakening again (twice in one episode) that she can’t keep falling back on other people for her happiness – whether it’s MG or Josie.
On the other hand, Josie starts to learn that her happiness doesn’t have to be tied to that of her sister. She can be happy for herself and that be enough. It’s important that Finch tells Josie that revelation isn’t going to wash over Josie in that moment. (Quick but important side note: Can we talk about how cute Finch and Josie are?) It’ll take time, and that’s okay. Josie and Lizzie are on their own journeys with their own paces, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they come together in the end.
Same Old Patterns
Gosh, Ric. “To Whom It May Concern” is the first time in a long time that I thought Legacies was going to go somewhere with this character. It’s commendable yet frustrating to see the Super Squad rally together to help save the school Ric let fall apart. He keeps making bad decisions but the young people in his life keep helping him out of them – leaving him to avoid consequences once again.
It’s understandable that the Super Squad would want to do what they could to save their home, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of holding Ric accountable. When he comes to Lizzie with a list of enrolled students, there are two of his deceased students on that list and he hadn’t even noticed. Is that something you can blame on stress or did Ric really forget that he’s lost two students only halfway through the semester?
All of that paired with the introduction of the vampire Günter made me optimistic that Ric would face some repercussions. Ric was a well-known vampire before the supernatural beings won him over during his tenure on The Vampire Diaries. Like Günter shares, Ric wrecked a lot of families in his vampire hunting days. All of Ric’s close friends and family members may be able to reckon with his past, but there’s a new generation of supernatural beings that are still dealing with the fallout of what Ric did, according to Günter.
Legacies could have dug deep into Ric’s past in this moment or at least teased that they would in the upcoming episodes. Instead, Ric doesn’t reason with the teenager but sedates and restrains him in a last-pitch attempt to recruit students to the Salvatore School. This makes what could’ve been a reckoning with a bloody past into a light-hearted bit. It makes Ric’s offer of telling the story about his complicated yet enduring friendship with Damon Salvatore feel disingenuous. It’s just a means to convince Günter that Ric doesn’t kill vampires anymore – he’s best friends with one.
Günter delivers the harsh truth that Ric has heard before: he is not fit to run the Salvatore School. That’s when Ric backtracks his pitch for attendance and sends Günter home. He sends away a supernatural teenager who, despite his ulterior motives for coming, could have learned a lot from the Salvatore School. Unfortunately, the episode never circles back to Günter or Ric’s conversation with him. So much for Ric breaking out of his pattern. Fingers crossed for next week?
Other Spelltacular Moments:
- Ric making Josie a lunch and packing her bag is sweet.
- Did Hope notice that her necklace is gone? Did I miss that?
- Dorian being the new Mystic Falls High principal because Emma has a strict “no monsters” rule is PERFECT.
- Finch decorated Josie’s locker, you all!
- MG is the best of the best.
- “She is her father’s daughter.” — the Necromancer about Hope
- The Penelope mention!
- Kaleb is smooth!
- “But our happiness…it’s our own job.” — MG to Lizzie
What did you think of this episode of Legacies? Let us know in the comments below!
Legacies is new Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
