The truth often hurts, but it can be healing, too.
On Legacies Season 4 Episode 11, a truth weed opened up our cast of characters, secrets slithering out of the recesses of their minds.
This was one of the most successful episodes of the season thus far, reminding us why we were drawn to the show and its leads in the first place.
The Salvatore School wouldn’t be the Salvatore School if it weren’t under siege by some wicked villain.
Unfortunately for Cleo, this week’s villain — the notorious Aurora posing as Headmistress Eve Bloom — did the most damage to her rather than the rest of the student body, most of whom fled in a mass exodus.
Before Aurora’s arrival, Cleo maintained her role as the leader, but once the truth weed had its hold on her, she came clean about the burden of being the one to give advice. Being a muse is no cakewalk, but Cleo hid her struggles well.
Entering a character’s subconscious is an essential piece of supernatural dramas, so Aurora infiltrating Cleo’s mind felt like coming home — a home aptly organized by sculptures spread out on marble columns.
Hearing the raw grief in Cleo’s voice when she explained to Ben that she couldn’t feel her inspiration anymore was a prime example of the grass being greener. Cleo began the episode resenting her muse abilities and ended it broken without them.
The peculiar quality of carnivals makes them the ideal vessels for creepy happenings; this carnival was all the more enticing due to the added “Vampire 101” class taught by our favorite badass tribrid.
Did anyone else think Hope came across as a bit more human at the carnival? She may not have wanted to assist Luna in finding her sister, but she was more tolerant of Lizzie, helping her learn to focus while using her powers, not to mention, she rescued her from the vampires. She’d make a good teacher if she’d switch her humanity back on.
Hope was on fire, shooting snarky lines out left and right. It was as if she’d gotten a personality boost. Her distaste for the old-fashioned vampires was particularly amusing.
I would’ve bet real money that Lizzie would’ve been the most annoying part of my day, but, see, being vampsplained by Colonel Sanders, that’s a new low for me.
Hope
Overall, the Hope and Lizzie team-up we were waiting for did not disappoint. Both of them are more likable when they’re bantering and not pretending they thrive on apathy.
Lizzie asking for Hope not to sever the sire bond was significant. The big question is whether or not she will change her mind. One decent day under Hope’s thumb does not mean relatively smooth sailing from here on out.
It seems that Lizzie is using Hope as a stand-in for Josie. A sire bond is certainly a viable replacement if the merge will be a plot point cast aside.
Lizzie redeemed herself by trying to help Luna. The parallel between Luna and her dead sister and Lizzie and Josie wasn’t subtle; it knocked us square in the jaw, but it did its job. (Though Josie is not dead, so Lizzie has less to mourn than Luna.)
Hope, let’s go back. We can’t just let an innocent person suffer at the hands of some carni freak.
Lizzie
Either way, I was proud of Lizzie for showing compassion. She’s not all that intolerable when she’s kind, and her insults are permissible when directed at vampire scum.
As entertaining as Lizzie and Hope humiliating then brutally murdering an evil vampire in front of a live carnival audience was MG and Kaleb’s jaunt to Ethan’s house surpassed it by leaps and bounds.
Kaleb: I don’t know, man. I’ve been off the squad for a minute. You could probably find somebody better for the job.
MG: No, okay, it has to be you.
Kaleb: For real?
MG: You’re the only one who has a car.
MG unleashed his inner actor when he used the illusion ring to become Alaric. Nothing is more pleasurable than watching a character you know well play dress-up as another character.
The way MG deepened his voice and spoke formally to sound like Alaric was hilarious, like actually laugh-out-loud hilarious.
The best performance goes to both Kaleb and MG holding a dramatic seance for Ethan’s sister, yelling “spirit” and other ghost buzzwords. It was like witnessing someone trying to contact the dead at a sleepover using a Ouija Board. Again, hilarious.
MG’s softer side that we all cherish was highlighted when he and Ethan finally hashed things out on the porch.
This was a moment in which honesty was healing.
Ethan and MG exchanged grief and guilt, and it renewed their bond rather than further tarnishing it. I audibly aw-ed.
Wherever there’s love, there’s grace, so give them a chance. They love you. They might accept you for who you are. And if they don’t, I’ll be your family until they do.
MG
Who else wants to see MG, Kaleb, and Ethan go off on a quest pertaining to the gods? They could stand in as modern, supernatural Three Musketeers.
I’d be remiss to omit a vital piece of this episode, that being Jed’s unveiled truth: he likes Ben. (And the audience roars!)
We all knew it was coming, but hearing him say it was supremely satisfying. Now we need him to confess his feelings to Ben so ship Bed can officially set sail!
I was glad that Finch was the one to whom Jed opened up. While they’ve had their pack bond, Josie presided over Finch’s life on the show. Hopefully, we can see more of Finch without a love interest, as we have seen with Hope while Landon’s been in Limbo.
The episode ended with the looming threat of the gods reawakening to wreak havoc on humankind.
We already know Ben isn’t the only god walking the earth — Jen is still out there — so this would be a logical route for the show to take. It would provide a vast sea of new storylines and characters. What more could we ask?
Do you think Aurora will succeed in awakening the gods? Will Cleo regain her inspiration? Will Jed tell Ben how he feels?
Let us know in the comments below.
You can watch Legacies online right here on TV Fanatic if you missed this week’s episode.
Legacies airs on The CW Thursdays at 9/8c.
Ashley Myers is a staff writer for TV Fanatic, who you can follow on Twitter.