Legacies 'Finale' Recap: Josie's Story Ends With a Pair of Troubling Twists
Thursday’s Legacies wasn’t intended to serve as the CW drama’s “spring finale,” but thanks to the coronavirus crisis (maybe you’ve heard of it?), here we are.
The episode dropped Hope into Josie’s subconscious, a fairytale world where magic is outlawed, little pigs are sexist and the usual rules don’t exactly apply. For example, upon discovering a sleeping Josie in the middle of the woods, Hope refused the pig’s suggestion to wake her with a lip lock. “I know this is a fairytale and all, but a nonconsensual kiss is never the answer,” she replied.
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In lieu of a kiss, Hope decided to conquer the darkness threatening Josie’s subconscious the best way she knows how — by kicking its ass. Her first battle was against the Big Bad Wolf, who gobbled up Hope’s piggy sidekick before she slayed the beast via an axe to the back. Then came a few surprises: After cutting the pig out of the wolf’s belly, we learned that he was actually Josie in disguise. “I can’t have someone else get hurt because of me,” she said, urging Hope to flee her subconscious. But it was too late; Dark Josie infiltrated her own mind in the form of a Once Upon a Time-y evil queen, sending them both heading for the hills.
As Josie explained to Hope, Caroline used to read fairytales to her and Lizzie when they were little, hence the theme of her subconscious world. And that’s exactly what Hope reminded Josie — that this was her world. She made the evil version of herself more powerful in her mind, so if she convinces herself that good can prevail, they could all live happily ever after.
“I was afraid of being strong,” Josie told her dark doppelganger. “I thought being strong meant hurting Lizzie. I told myself that being powerful meant being evil, but it doesn’t. Hope is strong, and she’s good. You made a story — I made a story — where I was powerless. But that’s not true!” After mentally stripping the enemy of her weapons and armor, Josie axed her darker half, kissing her goodbye and laying her on the same stone table where she once slept.
Meanwhile, Lizzie spent the hour planning her own funeral to convince “homicidal Hot Topic Josie” that she’s really dead — only to discover that the student body wasn’t exactly mourning her loss. Heck, one hateful rando even said it was a “relief” to not have to anticipate Lizzie’s next crazy move. (Kudos to Danielle Rose Russell for her solid Lizzie impression, by the way. Alaric was a fool for thinking that the cloaking spell wouldn’t trick anyone.)
It wasn’t until MG took the podium to shame his fellow students for not accepting Lizzie’s attempts to become a nicer person that things finally turned around. Other kids began to recall moments of kindness from Lizzie, hopefully giving her the courage to continue her never-ending quest for personal betterment. It is working! Lizzie returned the favor by writing and delivering MG’s eulogy for an audience of one, listing all of the wonderful qualities that have turned Quincy Fouse’s character into a true fan favorite.
While all of this was going down, Rafael came clean to Alaric about kinda-sorta murdering Landon, begging the headmaster to put him out of his misery. When Alaric refused, the Necromancer took control, telling his puppet to bring the Salvatore School’s headmaster to his lair. It was there that the hatched-faced lunatic proposed a temporary truce; he would bring back everyone he killed (including Landon!) if Lizzie did a spell to transfer Josie’s dark magic into to him.
Everyone kept up their end of the bargain, but in true Legacies fashion, the episode ended with a nasty pair of twists. Not only is Landon not regaining consciousness, but Hope also remains asleep for some reason. It’s literally anyone’s guess when we’ll finally see the remaining episodes of Season 2, but as executive producer Julie Plec remind us, the musical episode is next — so it’s totally worth the wait.
Your thoughts on Legacies‘ “finale”? Grade the episode below, then drop a comment with your thoughts below.
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