bloodstar

A few thoughts. First it's not like anyone else could know the skull is a type III. The only other person who could talk to type IIIs is long dead. So as far as anyone else is conserned, it's just a spirit tied to a skull safely surrounded by silver glass. There is a curfew (noted explicitly in the first episode) for civilians so in theory, there should be very, very, few people walking around at night. It also means there isn't much in the way of police presence either. But best that can be seen, spirits tend to stick close to their source, I don't think it's been shown that spirits can actually travel long distances, so some area are probably much safer than others. If you don't live near a cemetery, and if your house hasn't had any violent deaths, and no one decides to bring some source to your house, you're probably safe. This is a case where the books are more exicit in explaining how iron and other things are placed around houses to keep spirits away. (In episode one, when Lucy is visiting the Lockwood home for the first time, they show the iron across the ground as she steps to ring the doorbell). Similarly with the Taxis, there's a bit more explanation about how the night time taxi system works. I agree, the thermometers seemed surprisingly high tech, though for all we know it could just be some LEDs to create a basic digital value, sort of like the calculators in the 60s and 70s, or some of the hand held games back in the 70s. Besides, I can't imagine them walking around holding a non electronic thermometer!

Well, that was a rather explosive end to the case! The first three episodes did go through the first book. I think they kept from getting bogged down too much into side details. Those details work in a book form but would tend to slow the pacing of a TV show way down. Personally I am really appreciative of the right pacing. The only quibble is that the episode could have used another 10 minutes to better flesh out the screaming staircase and the monks and how all of that connected together. It's one of the few moments where "Don't show, tell" would have made more sense. I mean I didn't read the bookuntil after I finished the season, so I didn't need the book to understand the basics of what was going on, the book just helped explain just how nasty that entire house was. So all in all I'd give the first 3 episodes a solid B+. Pacings being a little off at times is the big reason. The acting is enjoyable, the trauma is a little glossed over IMO, but not enough to break me out of immersion. The show is just plain enjoyable in a dark, moody, almost noir kind of way.

The second episode does slow down a bit. I think it was intentional though. There needed to be time given to put other players on the field. Barnes and Fitts in particular. We also get to see George working his research magic, and we also get to see just how dire things are for Lockwood and Co. We also get to see a hint that Lucy is stronger than your typical "listener". Plus we have a fantastic soundtrack that makes my goth heart smile! Bauhaus? The Cure? I mean any series that can include "Bela Lagosi's Dead" and "A Forest" in the first two episodes wins a whole bunch of goodwill in my book!

One thing that stands out to me is the world building. There isn't a ton of exposition but the first episode manages to convey that something is very amiss. I found the first episode did a great job of starting things off with a ... Bang. And yes, the adults are horrible people in this episode. All in all I think the first episode is a very promising start!

Well, that was a fun episode. Ken is so arrogant he didn't even bother to really fight. It made the fight look like a skirmish, because it really was. Hope and Lizzie weren't prepared for their initial gambit to fail, and I'm guessing that Ken doesn't know much/anything about vampires (yet, he may have been asleep for most of it, after all, the Michelsons we're unknown to him, and they are The Originals (see what I did there?)), Hence is confusion on why Hope wouldn't die. Kudos to Jen for her sacrifice, I really want her to stick around. Ben, oh boy oh boy, one thing being a god/demigod doesn't give you is emotional maturity. *Face palm* I mean he literally has a spell to keep monsters away, but no. He wants a permanent fix. I hope he got it, and then gets his butt kicked for a nice long time by the super squad for being such a bloody idiot. The Hope/Lizzie show made the episode for me. I appreciate character growth. And they've both had tons. Landon, I know some people think you're boring, but to me he's the ultimate optimist, he believes in the best of everyone, and doesn't give up. I mean seriously, he hasn't even given up on THE ALMIGHTY NECROMANCER. Getting his mom to peace was a really nice touch. Well, Hope didn't die, but she got beaten into limbo. You know what that means, it would be the perfect time to bring in Klaus. After all, he isn't at peace. And a cameo might help Hope, and it wouldn't cheapen his sacrifice, he's still dead. Limbo is one complicated and crowded place. You don't even have to be dead to end up there. I would be curious to see the show bible explanation about Limbo and what conditions are needed to land there. What is Cleo becoming? And what's going on with teleport guy? That's right, Ethan is his name(I had to look it up, I seriously couldn't remember. And poor Finch, she's been relegated to off screen and just on screen mentions. THAT makes it seem like she was just there as a Josie prop. And I know, the focus is on Hope, Lizzie, Alaric, MG, Cleo, Landon, and Kaleb, but come on, do better! Yep, still not missing Josie.

The only thing that bugged me was the face-turn-heel of Ben. I mean, it makes some sense that he wants his old flame back, and he would want the curse lifted, but his interest in Jed looks odd and very shallow. And if all it takes is a spell to keep the monsters at bay, I mean, really, there are worse things to experience. I was really nice seeing the Originals back, even if for a little while. And yet, it's obvious there's a Klaus and Elijah sized hole in the group. Part of it may be they're still in mourning, which, if you knew someone for hundreds of not thousands of years, you wouldn't exactly be over things in a few years. With a 'cure' for vampirism, I don't know why Hope would give up hope on having little mini Hopes running around (If I could have found an easy way keep adding the word 'hope' to that sentence I would have). And as Rebecca pointed out, with all the loopholes, never say never even if Hope stays a vampire. I really like Jen and feel for her. She so desperately wants a friend and someone who could be her pal. And she didn't eviscerate (literally or figuratively) Lizzie for manipulating her. Lizzie needed the hug from her father and MG. Someone needs to tell her that she made the best choices she could with the information she had. She didn't want to give up on Hope, she didn't want to give up on her father, hell, she even managed to spur some growth in Aurora which is nothing short of amazing. Kaleb and Cleo was a nice breath of lightness from the seriousness of the other plots, until it suddenly got real as well. So are we to take it Cleo's powers have transformed or altered? I'm still curious what happened to Landon and THE ALMIGHTY NECROMANCER, but the episode already had so much going on, it could wait. Still not missing Josie (Kaylee Bryant is fantastic, but the character off doing stuff off screen works fine unless and until they can get a plot that would make sense for her). I am still digging the humanity war in Hope. But I still like humanity hope better. Onto the Tribid-gods war! (God's really are simply powerful monsters, that's why Malavore could swallow them and make the world forget about them on some level, they can be killed like everything else in TVD world).

Ok, that was fun. It's obvious Hope is terrified of her humanity and the feelings she will have, but it's also obvious she knows on some level that her humanity makes her stronger. Ok, maybe not stronger personally, but she makes the people as round her stronger. Cheesy? Eh, maybe but it's fun and there are worse lessons to give. I can't make up my mind if Aurora was a crafty manipulator or if she really wanted Lizzie to be happy, but also wanted to be honest about the point that she would count it as betrayal. Does being honest count as manipulation? Hmmm. Landon and the Necromancer. What can I say? It's campy, but it's also a lot of fun in small doses. And Legacies has always been a bit campier than The Originals, in some ways it's part of the charm to me. Even with this season going much darker, there is still room for fun. I really liked that Jen changed her speech and mannerisms once she got a bit more serious. It's obvious her stoner vibe is (partially) a cover. She's wracked with guilt and really just wants to live her own way. I suppose she was the original 'peace loving hippie's, so why not adopt a stoner hippie vibe. Jen's reaction to Aurora's formalness was fantastic. Like a "Dude, I ran away from that kind of crap!" So Lizzie to the rescue. Her request at the end was touching. It's obvious she is starved for someone she can talk to. Maybe she can teach at the Salvatore school? It might be a bit much to put her in as a student. Though they did it for Ben (how did he get out of Malavore anyway?) So why the hell not? Im not missing Josie. Which surprises me a little, but thinking about it, the ensemble cast really makes it easy for any void to be taken up with other character time. Huge thumbs up on the growth of Jed. It has to be said that Legacies has done a good job of letting characters grow and become better than they were. And Hope had her neck broken. That brings back such memories from The Originals! LOL

Dark Hope is dark. Lizzie certainly seems much more balanced now that she's a heretic. Landon and THE Necromancer, I suspect I'm going to enjoy the pair of them more than most people. Nice to get movement on that whole mess though. Hope seems very confused at the end, did Lizzie breaking free start some sort of cascade inside Hope? When she does get her humanity back, she's going to be a complete wreck. It really is about the legacies of the past. History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.

I'm enjoying the season. One of the best ways to enjoy this show is to simply roll with it. Something new arrives. Why not? The Salvatore school is a true 'freak magnet' and I enjoy how at this point the students are like, 'yeah, look something new, again. Time to start figuring things out'. Yep, that's how we roll. Ok, now we have gods to worry about, even stoner pacifist ones, with the way she took Hope down, if Jen gave up her pacifist ways, the world would be in for a world of hurt. The allusion to it in the mid season cliffhanger was nice, though they should have peppered more references in over the last couple of seasons, because it has come up out of left field. I really didn't foresee Jen as a god, though I was wondering what was up with her when she was so amazingly blasé. For a show (universe really that deals with death, faith on some level, and afterlife on some level, gods have not been a major topic, It would be interesting to see how TVD universe would tie all the different belief systems together. I would say there has to be a show 'bible' somewhere, but who knows really. Jed and Ben, there was some serious simmering heat there. Hope and Lizzie could carry entire episodes on their own. I'm a minority here who really enjoys the Landon, Ted, Alric purgatory storyline, partially because of the unusual groupings, But I do agree, it's time to get them out of purgatory and back in the game. Ted could either stay Ted or go back to being "THE ALMIGHTY NECROMANCER!" but personally I'd love to see Ted become a mix of both, he's the "Tedcromancer" trying to be a nice guy, but still prone to EXCESSVIELY LOUD STATEMENTS! and able to work with the dead. His time in purgatory has helped him grow from what he was. :) I'm also waiting for the other shoe to drop with Clark and Clarks GF who was way too curious and interested in the supernatural. I totally expect that to blow up at some random point down the road. and with that, have fun everyone! enjoy the next episode, dude!

For what it's worth, you can have massive temperature drops and incredible storms happen in a matter of minutes. Some examples of extreme temperature drops in short periods of time can be seen in 1911 for example, Rapid City went from 55 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit in 2 hours. https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/extreme-short-duration-temperature-changes-us Thinking about the environmental set up, a lot of it depends on the season, but snow would still be fairly uncommon in the area. Wind, yeah, you could see some massive wind events thought. One other thing that was missed, the ocean levels are a couple hundred feet lower at this point. So they wouldn't be near the ocean in any way shape or form. And no one has noticed the stars are all wrong? (The sky would look somewhat different ~12,000 years ago) The show has gotten better, but you still need to turn your brain off to enjoy it. Just roll with it. :)

Well... That got dark. Will it stay dark? I dunno, but a very enjoyable episode. I am enjoying Ted, it's a fun way to keep him around without overusing him. I really hope that Malivore is finished, kaput, done.

Late to the party. Just watched the last episodes. I might be in the minority, but I *liked* the ending. I liked that it wrapped things up enough to let the series end. I liked that the ending left things open enough for people to write their own stories, or for the series to be picked up by another group. The one thing I was hoping for was for them at the very end, to cut to a scene in the new world, of a forest (knife trees?), holding for a moment, and then a rustling. A voice from off screen, "What just happened?" and the the camera pans over to show Q standing naked in the grass (not directly below the knife tree though). Then fade to black. That's a part of my head!canon.

I really enjoyed how they did the episode. Without getting specific, thought they did a good job of portraying the identiy switch, while moving things along so the entire season isn't going to be about recovering the identities. Fogg is going to savor the orders just deserts. I liked the call back to the first episode of season 1. Marina! That was a damn solid start to the new season. I will have more thoughts later once I've digested things further.

Maybe I have odd friends, but we all drop F bombs, S bombs. etc. The dialogue seems pretty 'real' as far as the rate of number of curse words per non curse words to me. *laughs* But maybe me and my friends are all weird.

I'm not 100% sure what Doc is anymore, was he healed? Is he still vampire? I think it's people who are not fully human can pass through, otherwise Bulshar (sp?) If it was angels only, Bulshar would have serious issues. Count me as someone who really liked Bobo. I think the Actor did a really good job with the part. But I think it suffered from having too many things going on and not enough time for character development. They're going to have fun trying to get everyone back together. And by fun, I think it'll drag on for half a season. I would be curious to see the rules of the world ... If there are any written down. LOL