S02.E05: Screw Endgame

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

As the Salvatore School prepares for its upcoming '80s-themed decade dance, Hope and Lizzie find themselves trapped inside a never-ending labyrinth with a monster on their trail. Meanwhile, Josie and Landon decide whether or not to take their relationship to the next level. Elsewhere, MG turns to Kaleb for advice on what to do about Sebastian, while Rafael struggles to adjust to his life back at the school.

Promo:

Original air date: 11/14/19

[RachelKM]

Oh good.  The Salvatore School picked up the Mystic Falls HS tradition of the Decade Dance.  Because they always went so well.....

[ElectricBoogaloo]

9 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Oh good.  The Salvatore School picked up the Mystic Falls HS tradition of the Decade Dance.  Because they always went so well.....

Well, you know that with Caroline's involvement, she was insistent that her daughters (and the other Salvatore students) have all of these same unforgettable experiences that she had in high school.!

[ketose]

That was a really good episode. We got to see Kaleb and Lizzie as the ones solving the mystery. Even though Hope killed the Minotaur, she wasn't everyone's savior this time. Kaleb also took on mentoring MG. Josie wasn't super needy this episode, even though she ended up getting a raw deal. An the whole headmaster thing was not much of a surprise.

The 80's stuff was kind of funny, even though that Zach Morris phone was more late 80's. I also have to respect the fact they almost used all 80's music from the original artists, including the "I Need a Hero" bit which was heavily influenced by Risky Business.

[UNOSEZ]

I wanted RAF/hope  and Josie/Landon since last year maybe after the 2nd or 3rd episode.. So on one hand I'm all for it.. But on the other it feels like everything is just in a holding pattern until everyone remembers or acknowledges who hope was and all of that... I thought MG/Sebastian was a fun pairing and Kaleb makes everything better... Looking FWD to how those guys move on and how Lizzie changes all of that

[mommalib]

15 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

I wanted RAF/hope  and Josie/Landon since last year maybe after the 2nd or 3rd episode.. So on one hand I'm all for it.. But on the other it feels like everything is just in a holding pattern until everyone remembers or acknowledges who hope was and all of that... I thought MG/Sebastian was a fun pairing and Kaleb makes everything better... Looking FWD to how those guys move on and how Lizzie changes all of that

The thing is if something happens between Hope and Raf when he remembers her he's gonna back off automatically because of his loyalty to Landon.

[Lady Calypso]

This was such a fun episode. So many fantastic moments. This is my favourite episode of the season. What more could you ask for? 80s references, Hope/Lizzie bonding time, fun twists and turns, and Sebastian being totally evil. 

I liked the Josie/Landon stuff. I like when Landon gets to have fun and smile. That boy has a very nice smile, and the actor does a great job with the comedic stuff. I'm glad he gets to show it other than through the prism light.

I mean, I saw people call it. The Headmaster is really Clarke. Yet, I was still surprised by the reveal. 

MG/Sebastian/Kaleb was a lot of fun. I'd be down for Sebastian if he wasn't being a romantic love interest for Lizzie. 

Seriously though, the 80s stuff made the episode. I love that Hope and Lizzie got stuck in what was essentially a video game. 

[twoods]

I loved all the 80’s stuff, especially the music. The Liz/Hope bonding was nice. Landon was hilarious. I’m all about Hope and Landon but they need to stop making Landon and Josie so freaking cute.

[Lyinfait]

I love Kaleb. He makes every episode better. Did not expect that after the first few episodes of last season!

I liked the pairings. Lizzie and Hope are always interesting together. Sebastian and MG were fun too. 

I missed the first couple of minutes. Can someone explain why Josie cried over the journal? I understand that it's Landon's (and likely mentions Hope?) but not where it came from or why she has it. 

[RachelKM]

I loved this episode.  I love Lizzie and I love Lizzie and Hope together.  I wish the show was serious about the "not just one path" thing.  I would be nice to believe the show would allow stories (and pairings) to develop organically.....Hahahaha... I just remembered what show I'm watching.

Also, Kaleb is the fucking best.  Him telling MG that his Lizzie focus was keeping MG from being his best self was awesome.  I love him. 

[GaT]

WTF did I just watch? Where did that game crap come from? That was just stupid. 

And what was with the diary?

[ketose]

It looked like the diary was rewriting itself into the "original" history with Landon and Hope, so I guess Josie knows about them now.

[driver18]

I'm not sure why so many seem so convinced that THE couple (aka: Hope/Landon) are destined to be. TVD started with Stefan/Elena as "THE" epic love and ended with Damon/Elena and Stefan/Caroline married, while Caroline went through a few supposed "endgame" loves (Matt, then Tyler with a dose of Klaus too).* And there was not one "epic" endgame love story on TO. It's pretty clear that in Plec's TV showrunning it's about characters and their journey; it's about show, not tell. Love happens, characters feel like it's epic and amazing while it's happening, but life takes you where it takes you and sometimes you move on and love comes and goes.

* Had the show ended in season 03, Elena would have ended up with Matt for goodness' sake with Damon and Stefan watching from the Other Side. 

As for this episode, I loved it. It was easily one of its best.

- Lizzie is very, very clearly her mother's daughter and I love her all the more for it. 

- I can't help but chuckle every time I think of "Fumbledore."

- The reveal of Fumbledore as Clarke was very well done.

- Alaric as Indiana Jones was perfect.

- The MG/Sebastian hair bit where MG was trying to explain him to Kaleb had me laughing so hard. 

- Everything with Hope and Lizzie was fabulous.

- I really, really like Josie and Landon. Like a lot.

- "Holding out for a Hero" playing while Landon was desperately looking for a condom was fabulous. Especially when the song played again when it came back to him still looking for a condom. 

Again, just overall, such a fantastic episode. So, so good.

Edited November 15, 2019 by driver18

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved Lizzie's exasperated/totally over it "Ugh, now is not a good time" when the 80s lady keeper popped up. I have teen drama to deal with so I don't have time for this supernatural bull crap!

The 80s version of the opening credits and music cracked me up. I loved all the references to 80s movies. Even the one second of the Breakfast Club dance was awesome.

When did Lizzie become such a Hope/Landon fangirl? What was with her saying they were made for each other? Is it just because she thinks they're both such hopeless dorks that they belong together?

I know they're teenagers but how is MG so blinded by the prospect of Sebastian leaving town (conveniently ignoring the fact that Lizzie is currently not speaking to MG so Sebastian's presence or absence makes no difference at this point) that he thinks undesiccating an unknown vampire is a good idea? His argument that Sebastian promised to leave town so they should at least give him the chance to keep his word is ridiculous. How can he not consider the possibility that Sebastian is lying and is going to rampage through the Salvatore School and then Mystic Falls leaving a trail of bodies?

Once Kaleb tricked Sebastian into admitting that he's a killer, why did he say he was going to burn his body AFTER the dance? Uhhh, you're standing right in front of him so just throw a match on there before you leave.

Ha, Landon's Back to the Future outfit was hilarious. And I always love seeing MG and Kaleb dance!

The music was fun and then we had to get an emo cover at top volume. I love that the current version of the Salvatore School is lacking in amenities and has rats, but they can afford a light up dance floor.

So did Josie find the Legacies version of Tom Riddle's diary writing itself before her very eyes?

The last minute Clarke/Vardemus reveal was great. Was that a ring he used to change?

[ybrik]

Okay wow I thought it was obvious but judging by others's  comments it obviously wasn't. That was the journal that Penelope gave Josie when she left last season. It contains what people at school write with the spelled pens she had given out. It was how she knew about Hope hiding meeting Landon's mom and about the merge. It was the one thing with any mention of Hope that Alaric didn't destroy because he didn't know about it.

Like the callback with Ric dressing as Indy and Josie picking that out for him. Was pleasantly surprised by the reason she gave for voting him out. I had thought she had but her doing it so that he could live his life and find happiness/love was not what I was expecting. 

This was first episode that I really like Sebastian as a character and mainly because he actually felt like a character not some teenage fantasy. The first scene with him, MG and Kaleb was great. 

Speaking of Sebastian not sure if I want him to have killed Wade or not. Don't want to wish a character dead but the cheap shots are getting very annoying and him dying would at least put an end to it. 

Didn't see the Clarke as the headmaster twist. Good job with that. Though wondering what his endgame is. I think I can see why he is interested in Josie. If he wants to go after Hope he needs a powerful witch by his side and if it happens to be someone Hope cares about all the better. 

This overall was a good episode. Was a lot of fun. 

[Terrafamilia]

The diary was from last season. Penelope had made spy pens and gave them out to other students. They transmitted whatever they were used to write back to that diary. She gave it to Josie when she left. I suspect the Hope stuff was from back before everyone forgot about her not anything Landon did recently. Josie's reaction makes me sort of wonder whether she too now remembers Hope but hasn't said anything.

[AnimeMania]

The journal had a small number of pages and seemed fairly empty, you would think with so many people using the spelled pens, there would be tons of written pages and the stuff with Landon and Hope would be way at the front of the journal.

[RachelKM]

On 11/15/2019 at 11:40 PM, AnimeMania said:

The journal had a small number of pages and seemed fairly empty, you would think with so many people using the spelled pens, there would be tons of written pages and the stuff with Landon and Hope would be way at the front of the journal.

I agree that the journal didn't look very full in light of the number of pens that were passed out and time that passed.  I could beleive that many of the pens have been shoved in a drawer and forgotten.  But I would expect that in the beginning, when the pens were initially given out, there would have been lots of pages created in the first week or two alone.

It does make sense, however, that Josie remembers or is a least is starting to remember Hope.  If the magic that Josie hit Lizzie with was enough to knock loose Lizzie's memories, it seems likely that absorbing in the first place would also have an affect even if not as much as being blasted.  The promo for next week didn't suggest that Josie actually remembered, but was questioning.

Edited November 17, 2019 by RachelKM

[tennisgurl]

I loved that episode, so many great things happening! The 80s video game shout outs were hilariously on point (Frogger!) and I am glad that Lizzie remembers Hope, as I always enjoy their interactions. I especially loved that the car that kept hitting Lizzie and Hope was DeLorien! They even did the title in 8 bit style, which was a really cute touch. All of the 80s video game references were so on point, and it was a fun way to have Hope and Lizzie bond while shaking up the Monster of the Week formula. 

Everyone looked super cute in their 80s outfits, and while I did like Landon/Hope, I really like Landon and Josie, they're so cute together, and they seem to just really enjoy each others company. I also thought it was kind of rare that, in an episode where a teenage boy/girl couple are getting ready to take the next step, it was the boy who was struggling with whether he was ready for sex or not, and not the girl, and no one really made fun of him for being hesitant. Of course, he got into it later, leading to probably my favorite bit of the episode, the mad rush for condoms set to Holding Out For a Hero! That was hilarious, I was cracking up the entire time, especially as the song came back every time it cut back to Landon and his frantic search for condoms! 

I love that Sebastian apparently isnt really a sexy vampire boyfriend cliche, but is actually just a full on bad guy who manipulates teens for his own selfish desires! MG really was letting his crush on Lizzie cloud his judgement, thank god for Kaleb, who is the best as always. Loved him playing Sebastian like a fiddle, although he really should have just ended him when he had the chance. I mean, I get that lighting fluid could get on his super cool 80s outfit, but priorities! Teens, am I right? I was also happy to get Alaric and Kaleb interaction, I really liked how their relationship grew so much last season and I like that he voted to keep Aleric on board. 

Speaking of, I was surprised that Josie was the one who voted her dad out, but I thought he reasons made a lot of sense. She wanted the chance for him to live his own life, which I can totally get, and it led to some nice moments between them, and best of all, Alaric as Indiana Jones! 

Poor Raf is still struggling, does this not not have a counselor or anyone that can help him? As much as Landon is trying to be supportive, he is also just a teenage boy, and Raf needs a professional, or someone with more experience with this kind of thing. And maybe someone can talk to Landon about how he drowned himself and came back to life a million times over the summer, thats certainly worth a chat I would say! 

So Fumbledoor is really Clark in disguise! I really should have seen it coming, but I was still surprised. I guess the real guy was probably killed and replaced, so at least it means that Caroline doesent have extremely bad judgement when it comes to employees! 

Edited November 17, 2019 by tennisgurl

[Terrafamilia]

Fridge logic moment: How were Malivore agents able to get the Keeper so as to shove her down the memory hole in the first place? There must have been rules we weren't told about like how did prospective replacements find their way into the labyrinth if the Keeper couldn't leave in order to entice or grab one?

[ketose]

On the second viewing, I noticed Kaleb and MG had shirts that read RUN KMG, which was kind of awesome.

[jewel21]

This was a fun episode. I like Lizzie remembering Hope and them working together. 

The music was awesome. Not a bad song throughout the entire episode. 

Landon running around looking for a condom cracked me up, lol. 

I can't wait for next week 😄

[tennisgurl]

It would be hilarious if the title of this episode, Screw Endgame, is both a reference to shutting down the Maze, as well as apparent endgame couple Landon/Hope continuing to drift further apart, with Landon getting closer to Josie, and Hope getting closer to Raf. 

[SmittenKitten]

I’m only two years late to this discussion but I liked that when Josie found the journal it had what looked like a sticker or doodle that said Incendia on it. That’s their spell for setting things on fire. Penelope had her a Burn Book. Haha.