Legacies Season 1 Episode 1 Review: This is the Part Where You Run
Paul Dailly
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As someone who is still bitter about how The Originals' series finale played out, I was perfectly prepared to be disappointed by Legacies Season 1 Episode 1, but there was a lot to like about it.
It's crazy that the magic school that opened on The Vampire Diaries Season 8 Episode 16 -- the series finale -- is now the setting of the third series in the franchise.
While I expected this new iteration to be all over the place, the premiere was the strongest series premiere on The CW in quite some time.
Two years have passed since Hope lost her mother, father, and uncle. That much loss has understandably had an effect on her life.
She's scared to get close to anyone because she's worried she's going to hurt them or that she'll be upset when someone else does.
Related: Legacies Promo: The Story Continues!
It's horrifying that someone so young has such a dire outlook on life, but that's probably the most appealing thing about Legacies.
It has all of the teen angst that made The Vampire Diaries such a hit back in its heyday. If you watched The Originals online, you know that Danielle Rose Russel could carry all of that angst on her own.
She's a terrific actress, but we need to remember that there's a whole school of supernatural beings on Legacies, so we think it's fair to say there's a lot of angst to go around.
Lizzie and Josie are opposites, but they still manage to put all of that aside in the name of keeping that sisterly bond well and truly activated.
Alaric: Cheater!
Hope: You should really get a vampire to start doing my training. You're getting a little old for me to break your human bones.
Alaric: How dare you.
I was surprised just how much character development we got for these characters on "This is the Part Where You Run."
Lizzie has a lot of similar traits to Caroline. Yes, Candice King may not have appeared on the premiere but Caroline's presence was felt in a big way through her offspring.
There's no way Lizzie was being wicked with the things she was saying to Rafael. She was so into him that she said all of the wrong things, and that put her on a downward spiral.
I loved just how close Lizzie was with her father. She was destroying the kitchen with her magical abilities, and almost stabbed her father, yet they actually managed to bond over the whole scenario.
Her outburst was definitely not an isolated incident, and that's why Alaric was happy to help her through the tough spot.
The real test her for Lizzie is whether she will be able to battle her demons, or if she will go all dark by the end of Legacies Season 1. It will hardly instill hope in the parents of the children of the headmaster's child is lashing out across the campus.
Josie was equally as engaging. She's upset at the way things went down with Penelope, and it's not hard to see why: Penelope is a troublemaker, and the person you would most expect to break hearts at the school.
Penelope trying to get her claws into MG was an example of that. She knew how much it would piss off Josie because he was her best friend, yet she went along with it anyway.
It's difficult to be mad at MG because he's a vampire and when blood is being offered up on a platter, it would be difficult to say no.
We are a school for the supernatural, which covers a lot of territory.
Alaric
It was only a matter of time before Josie got some revenge on her ex, and using some dark magic to set her on fire seemed like the best of ideas at the time.
Landon had a much bigger impact on the story than I thought he would. The moment he was introduced on The Originals Season 5 Episode 12, he seemed like the perpetual human of the series aka the Matt Donovan.
That's why I was blindsided to learn that the reason the compulsion was not working on him was that he was never a human, to begin with.
I'm starting to think the reason Rafael and Landon were foster brothers was that they both had some sort of abilities and they were placed together as a result of these abilities.
Let's just say Landon had me fooled. Hell, I was worried about where the youngster was going to wind up after losing Rafael to the school.
MG: I got the munchies.
Penelope: I can help you with that.
On the surface, it was like he wanted to be closer to Rafael to make sure everything was good, and that they both had a place to call home.
However, that final scene with everyone dead on the bus seems to imply otherwise. It's easy to rule Landon as the villain of Legacies Season 1, but I'm getting the vibe that there's something more to all of this than meets the eye.
Landon was charming in all of his scenes with Hope, and if he is the villain those final scenes are making him out to be, Hope has every reason to unleash holy hell on him.
Landon was the first person Hope really opened up to and felt like there was a connection with him, so stealing the dagger and killing people on the bus was the ultimate form of betrayal.
Related: Legacies: Steven R. McQueen to Reprise The Vampire Diaries Role
With that said, we did witness the flashback showing us the reason Landon was scared to be locked up, so there's that.
I can't be the only one who thought the powers that be tried way too hard to make Matt Donovan look older. I mean, there's Alaric who probably has a good 15-20 years on Matt, yet the makeup and terrible hairstyle made the sheriff look way older than he is.
Alaric: Block with your hand.
Hope: I got it.
Alaric: If you had it I wouldn't have to say it.
Granted, it's getting more difficult than ever to tell how many years have passed, but still, they could have done a better job here.
There's also the possibility that the stress of keeping the town safe weighs heavily on Matt. There's nothing that ages us more than some good old stress.
Still, it was great to catch up with Matt for that whole scene. The beauty of Legacies is that it's going to be giving us some characters from the previous shows every so often while mentioning others.
It's a win-win situation!
Other odds and ends:
- Caroline and Alaric created Wickery, the show's version of Quidditch several years ago, yet the students looked like they didn't know what they were doing. Can we get an episode dedicated to the sport, please?
- Lizzie's reaction to learning that she was missing out on a party while going through her issues with Alaric was great. It was exactly the way Caroline would have said it!
- There has to be a turning point in the relationship of Hope, Lizzie, and Josie. It's understandable that the Saltzman twins would resent Hope because, well, their father seems to be spending every waking moment with the youngster.
Okay, Legacies Fanatics!
What did you think of the series premiere?
Will you be watching the show from here on out?
Hit the comments.
Legacies continues Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW!
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
