S02.E04: Since When Do You Speak Japanese?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

When a samurai shows up in Mystic Falls looking for a demon that possesses its victims, Josie leads the charge to defend her friends from the demon's wrath. Meanwhile, as Landon and Rafael head to Mystic Falls High in hopes of learning more about the mysterious Hope, MG is conflicted by a secret he's uncovered about Lizzie's new vampire friend Sebastian. Finally, just as Alaric lets his guard down around the town's new sheriff, a confrontation with a demon forces him to reevaluate his priorities.

Promo:

Original air date: 11/7/19

[UNOSEZ]

Good acting by Lizzie... And now she remembers hope... Poor MG... RAF got to be broken and angry and then dissapeared... We got a Kai sighting... So all in all good episode 

[ursula]

This was a great episode for Lizzie.

[Lady Calypso]

As a Lizzie fan, I was very much pleased with this episode. She still had some nasty moments, with her treatment of MG, and that's obviously not right. But we get a glimpse into her mindset and how much she hates herself more than anyone could hate her. Her scene with Josie at the tree with the demon was very powerful. I'm glad she remembers Hope. If any of them were to actually remember her, it makes sense for it to be Lizzie, with her wish realm and whatnot.

So, MG meets Sebastian. I honestly would have been fine if Sebastian WAS a figment of Lizzie's imagination. I can only hope that Sebastian is evil because he bores me and I don't want him anywhere near my girl, Lizzie. 

We got a glimpse at Rafael's mindset. I know this isn't the end of it for him. Poor guy. 

Josie's going darker and darker. I can't imagine what Headmaster Vardemus used to help Josie is any good.

And Landon/Josie get some ok moments while Landon/Hope gets some better ones.

Also, show? Having the Sheriff stalk Alaric in order to see if she wants to date him? It's not cute, just like it wouldn't be cute if it was a male stalking a female. So nah, show, I don't ship Alaric with the new Sheriff. 

[GaT]

Um, I feel like I missed something, since when did Hope & Landon have an"epic" love?

[CabotCove]

An amazing season so far, they are firing on all cylinders, this show leave me happy and laughing. 

What Julie Plec does best is that she knows how to write for an ensemble, and the cast is full of interesting characters with good chemistry. Loved  Josie being the Japanese translator. Kaylee Bryant is really making Josie one of the highlights of the show.  

They gotta stop making Josie and Landon to look  so good together and having such heartfelt romantic scenes, if they want me to believe that Hope and Landon are the epic love. Doesnt help that Raf and Hope also seem to have an interesting connection. Why would I want Hope/Landon back when they just seem to have better chemistry with other people. Good to see Raf back and getting scenes in human form. 

MG is always a delight, Quincy does a good and earnest job playing the character. But how does he watch a video of a guy talking about time travel and not get curious though, he is supposed to be the resident comic book guy. The Flash, a time traveller is one of his favorite comics. Lizzie has some good scenes, when she was possessed by that demon. But I had to laugh when she said she was shattered and was feeling suicidal over a guy she has known for all of 10 minutes. And the end with "Hope Andrea Mikaelson", epic. 😂

Edited November 8, 2019 by CabotCove

[Chris24601]

Overall, this was a strong episode. I especially appreciate how the A-plot (hunting the Oni) and B-plot (Lizzie's "imaginary" boyfriend being revealed to her) ended up converging.

So far I'm seeing no signs of a Sophomore Slump.

3 hours ago, GaT said:

Um, I feel like I missed something, since when did Hope & Landon have an"epic" love?

They're ALL epic loves when you're 17-18 because you lack the perspective to know better.

1 hour ago, CabotCove said:

But I had to laugh when she said she was shattered and was feeling suicidal over a guy she has known for all of 10 minutes.

She wasn't shattered by the guy... she was shattered by believing the guy to be a hallucination after haven't spent all summer struggling to address her mental health issues.

All that work to get a control over it and thinking she'd finally gotten it handled and NOPE! You're hearing voices and seeing people who aren't even there.

She also sees with Josie's darker side that she's definitely the weaker twin (probably a subconscious part of her motivation to work on her mental health so hard) and Sebastian being a "hallucination" just reinforces that she's going to die in just a few years because of it.

I actually felt it was a very nice touch on what she's actually struggling with and feel way more sympathetic towards Lizzie and her struggle to overcome her own basic biology than I do towards Josie's temptation by dark magic.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ugh, am I really supposed to believe that Hope and Landon had an epic love back in S1? I'm willing to believe that they really liked each other but come on, girl.

What kind of weird alternate reality does this show take place in? MG had to borrow a camera from the AV club to record Lizzie talking to Sebastian? Do cell phones with cameras not exist in this version of the future? And after all the trouble he went through, Lizzie kicked him to the curb. On the plus side, the Kai sighting was awesome!

So is Sebastian some kind of dessicated vampire ghost? I can't imagine why else he asked Lizzie if she had access to a large amount of human blood.

Ha, OF COURSE evil Wesley Wyndham-Pryce is just lounging about in a full length smoking jacket. How much do you want to bet that the glass he gave Josie to touch is sucking the magical abilities right out of her?

Poor Alaric. He's the one who always gets stuck digging graves.

I don't think my hearing has suddenly gotten bad in the last week, but I had to keep rewinding because I couldn't understand what everyone was mumbling. Enunciate, people. You're actors so diction should not be a foreign concept!

[Chris24601]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Ha, OF COURSE evil Wesley Wyndham-Pryce is just lounging about in a full length smoking jacket. How much do you want to bet that the glass he gave Josie to touch is sucking the magical abilities right out of her?

If so, he'd be in for a shock since Josie's a Siphon so she's not really got any magic of her own to steal. My more likely guess is that Evil Wesley needs a large quantity of dark magical energy and is nudging Josie towards using it and then transferring the residue to his object for his own use.

One interesting twist would be that "evil" Wesley is actually not so much evil as a thaumivore (fancy way of saying magic eater) who needs to feed on dark magic to survive (his chowing down on the werewolf killer being the messier way he can feed). He'd still be a jerk and a supernatural supremacist, but also not necessarily someone Hope could just run through with a sword either.

[RachelKM]

I really enjoyed this episode.  I am also a Lizzie fan and felt her scene with at the tree was earned and well done.   I also love that she was the one to remember Hope.  I wonder if having a Malivore escapee in her head while remaining conscious had to do with disrupting the spell.  She was the only one of our group to essentially engage with the Oni rather than being completely taken over by it. 

11 hours ago, GaT said:

Um, I feel like I missed something, since when did Hope & Landon have an"epic" love?

As said above, is always epic love when you're a teenager.

9 hours ago, CabotCove said:

Why would I want Hope/Landon back when they just seem to have better chemistry with other people. Good to see Raf back and getting scenes in human form. 

This.  I actually enjoyed Rafe and Hope's chemistry more last year as well.  I wasn't a fan of the pairing only because of Landon and Rafe's bond.  But now it wouldn't be a betrayal.  Neither Rafe nor Landon have any memory of Landon's feelings for Hope.

And I find Josie and Landon's relationship more interesting and more earned by the story than I ever felt with Hope and Landon.

1 hour ago, Chris24601 said:

One interesting twist would be that "evil" Wesley is actually not so much evil as a thaumivore (fancy way of saying magic eater) who needs to feed on dark magic to survive (his chowing down on the werewolf killer being the messier way he can feed). He'd still be a jerk and a supernatural supremacist, but also not necessarily someone Hope could just run through with a sword either.

I love this idea.  I was assuming he was making a black magic bomb of some sort that would play into some destructive endgame.  (Evil Wesley did say that the glass would remove the ill effects of using black magic unless broken.)   But I love the idea that he's basically just making dinner.

[tennisgurl]

So Sebastian isnt just a vampire, he is possibly an invisible time traveling vampire! Well, I have heard of much stranger things I guess. I am glad that his whole ridiculous "I am vampire!" thing seems to have more layers to it other than yet another angsty vampire for girls to swoon over. 

I liked this episode a lot, I love Lizzie so I was happy to see her get so much focus and development, and the stuff with the samurai and the MOTW were interesting. This season is doing a good job of balancing the case of the week plots, the character work, and the overarching story. Poor samurai, at least they gave him a nice burial. 

Poor Rafael is really struggling, which does make sense considering he was stuck in wolf form for so long, so I hope we can focus on him more soon. I am also interested in the idea of Rafael and Hope getting together, as now that no one remembers Hope (except for Lizzie now!) he wont have to feel bad dating his best friends girlfriend, and the two of them had a nice vibe going last season! I like Landon and Josie quite a lot, they seem like a good balance of angst and sweet teen fun and the actors have great chemistry. I liked Landon/Hope just fine, and they could get back together later, but I am fine with them playing with paring a bit. As long as we dont end up drowning in terrible love triangles.

Lizzie was really great this week and I loved seeing so many sides of her. She was unnecessarily cruel to MG even after he was trying to help her, but you can understand how she lashes out at other people when the person she is really upset at is herself, even if its not her fault. Her struggle with mental illness is surprisingly realistic (to a point) in the middle of all of these supernatural shenanigans, and her crying at the tree about how she felt broken and that she could never be fixed no matter how much help she got and how hard she worked was a real punch in the gut. She also seems to suspect that while Josie might have lived in her shadow in the past, Josie is the one who is the most powerful twin with the greatest capacity for darkness (even as Josie fights it) and that she might end up not living much longer. 

Plus, her nonchalant reaction to Landon with the sword with her mouth full of ice cream was hilarious. "Hey Landon, why do you have a sword?" 

Landon being able to come back from the dead sure can be helpful!  

The new Sheriff checking in on Alaric and his records wasnt cute, it was creepy and an abuse of power. Not a great early impression for her, especially when they have so much other stuff going on.

[UNOSEZ]

42 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I am also interested in the idea of Rafael and Hope getting together, as now that no one remembers Hope

I'm wary about that now... I liked otblast year.. Because their scenes had some spark to them.. If they went there it would make sense.. And that's kinda been every scene between the two of them.. Compared to her and Landon.. Which we could all see 30 miles away.. Even if on the surface they didn't make much sense... I'm sure some post from last season has me saying Landon and Josie made more sense. Based on how the characters acted.... But if it happens now.. With all the memories gone... Id feel like I would just be waiting for the shoe to drop... When RAF remembers or Landon.. And then its drama and.. I would bet good money I know who Julie plec is giving the title of Leads Love interest... I love Lizzie,  but Raf also had a bifurcated mind before the onion got in there... Based on the shows words and what later happened with Lizzie.. He also shoulda remembered hope... And as he didn't.. I'm not sure what they're doing with him... Time will tell

[Snow Fairy]

I liked the episode. I like both Lizzie and Josie better than in season 1.

I am also interested in how Hope's dissapearance from existance affected the Michaelson's. Lots of their plots revolved around Hope. But well, they probably won't go there

[mommalib]

They need to stop with this Hope and Landon stuff, their chemistry is meh. Hope's chemistry is with RAF.

MG needs to give up on Lizzie and move on because he deserves better. And I don't understand what he sees in her anyway.

[ketose]

16 hours ago, GaT said:

Um, I feel like I missed something, since when did Hope & Landon have an"epic" love?

Mostly, they had chemistry, although some people didn't feel that way. Landon and Hope must have something, though, for Landon to turn down sex with Josie after dating her for months.

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

What kind of weird alternate reality does this show take place in? MG had to borrow a camera from the AV club to record Lizzie talking to Sebastian? Do cell phones with cameras not exist in this version of the future? And after all the trouble he went through, Lizzie kicked him to the curb. On the plus side, the Kai sighting was awesome!

Cell phones are not allowed at the school, probably because of the chance of putting supernatural evidence on Instagram. 

I found it interesting that Josie managed to learn 14th century Japanese an hour at a time while Lizzie was at therapy.

Edited November 8, 2019 by ketose

[CabotCove]

Quote

She wasn't shattered by the guy... she was shattered by believing the guy to be a hallucination after haven't spent all summer struggling to address her mental health issues.

Ok, in that case I understand. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, mommalib said:

MG needs to give up on Lizzie and move on because he deserves better. And I don't understand what he sees in her anyway.

ITA - it's sad to see him chasing after her like a puppy dog when she is polite to him at best (but usually she's either dismissive/rude and in S1 he was usually invisible to her). I know you can't help how you feel, but he deserves someone who appreciates him.

[janeta]

Finally got to see the whole ep—so, the inevitable question: anyone speak Japanese? Were Josie and the samurai actually saying what she said they were saying? 😁

[Snow Fairy]

When Hope went to tell everything to Landon, I knew he was possesed and he won't remeber anything. Predictable

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, janeta said:

Finally got to see the whole ep—so, the inevitable question: anyone speak Japanese? Were Josie and the samurai actually saying what she said they were saying? 😁

A better question would be is the Japanese spoken in the year 1300 very different from what is spoken in present day Japan.

[ursula]

2 hours ago, janeta said:

Finally got to see the whole ep—so, the inevitable question: anyone speak Japanese? Were Josie and the samurai actually saying what she said they were saying? 😁

Kaylee Bryant is part Japanese so there's a good chance they wrote the episode to show off her second language.

[ketose]

5 hours ago, Snow Fairy said:

When Hope went to tell everything to Landon, I knew he was possesed and he won't remeber anything. Predictable

Something was definitely wrong. I noticed the samurai was turned the other way in a chair. That just screams dead in these shows.

[ursula]

2 hours ago, ketose said:

I noticed the samurai was turned the other way in a chair. That just screams dead in these shows.

Why/how did the oni overcome the samurai though? The whole point of finding the oni was so that the samurai could be repossessedsince he, even more than Lizzie, could keep control over it. 

[janeta]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

A better question would be is the Japanese spoken in the year 1300 very different from what is spoken in present day Japan.

Good point.

[Terrafamilia]

Once Josie stuffed the oni down the Malivore hole in the middle of the city park, did they all forget it ever existed or was that not a full-fledged Malivore portal and so doesn't have to follow the rules?

[waving feather]

I still feel like Josie and Landon, sweet as they may be, only have friendship chemistry. I like them better together when they were being there for each other as friends. I don't like this scenario because Josie is bound to get hurt ultimately. I don't want to see the twins going through any more pain, because they are not very good at handling it. Hope goes through it often but she's already a battle hardened warrior, with what happened in her childhood. So she can handle most things now without going off the rails. 

[tennisgurl]

On 11/8/2019 at 6:33 PM, ketose said:

Cell phones are not allowed at the school, probably because of the chance of putting supernatural evidence on Instagram. 

Heh, I can totally see that being a real issue with teenagers with supernatural powers. The whole supernatural community is exposed because a teenager posted a picture of them levitating over a pool or recreating doggo memes as a wolf. 

Edited November 12, 2019 by tennisgurl