Saying goodbye to Kai all over again was tough, but I think we can all agree that his latest -- and likely final death -- was a slap in the face.

If he had to go, it was always going to be Alaric to do the deed, but Legacies Season 2 Episode 13 found the master manipulator being outmaneuvered every step of the way.

The world has changed in the years Kai has spent in the prison world, and he should have practiced what he preached by going on the offensive the moment he arrived at the school.

While his A Series of Unfortunate Events-esque disguise was comical, it felt contrived to move the plot along. The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Kai would have gone into the school and caused holy hell.

It's a shame the excitement of Legacies Season 2 Episode 12 resulted in Legacies Season 2 Episode 13 taking the safe route to conclude the prison world and Kai Parker storylines.

There was so much potential to have an epic conclusion to this two-parter, but it's hard not to feel confused by how easy the takedown of Kai was.

Kai wiping himself from existence in the prison world was great and all, but he didn't do it where he really needed to: Mystic Falls circa 2020.

Legacies Season 2 Episode 12 was nostalgic because it tipped the hat to the shows that came before it. "You Can't Save Them All" felt like a complete change of pace, and much of that was down to the way Kai was dumbed down.

For the first time in my life, everything feels clear.
Josie

Permalink: For the first time in my life, everything feels clear.

Kai has always been a schemer, but I was genuinely surprised when he revealed to Hope he was playing her at her own game and that Landon was being led to his potential death.

I appreciated the predicament Hope was put in because it felt like something Kai would do, and given that all Hope has known is a loss, it was a tough situation for her to be in.

If we're looking at numbers, Hope made the right call. There were six people in the prison world vs. two in the regular world.

It was a decision she did not take lightly, being fully aware that she could be sealing the fate of the other group of people. Alyssa giving in and quitting the spell to unlink Kai from the prison world was an absurd development.

The teenager clearly wanted the Saltzmans to perish, so the 180 after a pep talk from Hope was downright lazy writing. If she was that worried about her conscience, she would have handed the ascendant back to Hope before it got to this stage.

Alyssa is an expendable character, who made it clear she wanted to make the Saltzmans pay for what Alaric did to her, and I would have preferred her to stay on the path of darkness. However, I can't deny that the development harkens back to why the school was created in the first place.

Alaric and Caroline wanted to make a safe space for students to be who they wanted to be and not to have to hide it. Obviously, there were strings attached that they wouldn't harm anyone.

The implosion of the prison world was inevitable, but Alaric was ready to give up his life to allow the students he banished to the dimension another chance at life. That's a big thing, but Jade and Wendy had been rehabilitated.

There's something missing from my memory. Someone.
Josie

Permalink: There's something missing from my memory. Someone.

They were finally ready to embrace the real world and to live it out without putting people in jeopardy. Jade has Josie to thank for switching her humanity back on.

These two young women could bring a lot to Legacies, but it will ultimately come down to how the storylines serve their characters. For now, they are still being locked up, but there's a chance they will be able to return to the real world.

Lizzie as a Heretic would have elevated her character to new heights, but something felt off about how easily Alaric managed to save her life.

Supernatural series are nothing without high stakes, and that's why Legacies is starting to spring a leak.

The only positive in this whole Kai plot is that Josie's darkness is still within her. Oh yes, Lizzie's sister went full Dark Willow, and it was a hoot.

It was too easy to assume the dark magic would remain in the prison world. There had to be a way to have it return with her to mess with the real world.

Josie will probably come face-to-face with the Necromancer before long and will have to assess what he wants with her. Everything is linked to Malivore.

That has been the case for quite some time, and Josie may be the person that helps to take Landon's father down, once and for all.

Did anyone else feel bad for Sebastian? He almost turned Lizzie into a Heretic and followed that up by saving her father from that pesky werewolf.

He seemed resigned to the fact that he was dying in the prison world, but there's a chance he could have activated vamp super speed to get to the pit.

I guess we'll find out if that prophecy's really true.
Kai

Permalink: I guess we'll find out if that prophecy's really true.

The ambiguity of it all suggests Sebastian will return at some point. It will depend on whether he fits into the narrative going forward. His relationship with Lizzie is a bust, but he could benefit from an education at the school.

This was a truly disappointing episode that was filled with wasted potential. The test for the series will be whether it can reinvent itself because if we return to the monster of the week format, I may have to gouge my eyes out.