S03.E10: All's Well That Ends Well

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After capturing a new monster at the school, Hope and her friends learn some terrifying news about one of their own; a surprise visit from Lizzie gives Josie some much-needed courage; MG and Ethan team up to help others.

Promo:

Original air date: 4/15/21

[Chris24601]

Welp, I called it on Cleo (or perhaps we should spell it Clio after the actual one) being a Muse and I think the explanation behind the mystery box is that Cleo was actually trapped inside it... serving as inspiration for everyone who possessed it she’s older than she seems.

Second, Invisible Lizzie is one way to get around Covid and Dorian basically doing the equivalent of munching popcorn as Lizzie explains her ingenious dating plan to Josie was rather hysterical.

Also, Kudos to those who called Finch being some type of supernatural. My hunch is Lizzie told Jo that Finch was seeing someone instead of the truth because she thinks her sister will be happier with her non-magic life (not unlike her bio-Mom actually)... but it’ll definitely come back to bite her (couldn’t resist the wolf pun).

Side-bar: The Banshee was right; someone did die in the Salvatore School that night... the mortal host of the Banshee. There’s always a loophole (I also love that Hope said that that phrase is basically the School’s motto now).

Also, further confirmation to me that Masked Guy is probably the real Landon.

A) Laws of drama say the only point of a mask is to conceal someone we’d otherwise recognize (or because you can’t get the original actor back).

B) Hope found him familiar and thinks they’ve fought before and Hope spent a bit of time trying to train Landon to fight... and the disconnect is she’s thinking real fight with a real monster and not sparring practice.

C) Landon came back way too easily and the one who came back being fake or a split off part of the real Landon would meant it wasn’t actually the easy feat it appeared.

D) Mask guy snagged locks of Hope and “Landon’s” hair, but didn’t eliminate the girl who’s been such an absolute pain in Malivore’s behind when the opportunity was right there means Mask Guy’s agenda doesn’t 100% align with Malivore’s and at the extreme range he may even have been trying to take Cleo so that Malivore doesn’t get her.

Basically all signs point to “No, I am your father Landon” as the big pre-finale episode reveal (akin to MG’s mom working for Triad). Either that or it’s a resurrected Clarke and they’ve only got the real actor for X episodes and plan to save him for closer to the finale while using Mask Guy stunt double to make it seem like he’s been more involved from earlier in the season.

We also got more reinforcement that our protagonists see their purpose as fighting monsters now; both with Hope’s crew continuing to do so and MG/Ethan wanting to be crime fighters (and they might drag Finch into it when all’s said and done)... and fighting monsters is basically what Alaric does best (i.e. making that the school’s main purpose is a way to resolve Alaric’s midlife crisis).

Side-bar two... so presently MFHS has a temporaryly depowered witch, a vampire, a werewolf, a mortal occult expert and a human sidekick (because despite MG saying otherwise, Ethan is still a sidekick)... basically a mini-Super Squad. The actual Super Squad and Version 2.0 will DEFINITELY clash at some point. The laws of drama demand it.

Also noteworthy is that with Cleo being Malivore’s target, they’ve gone from Malivore as having a very basic plan (grab artifact to unlock the pit, grab Landon to use as a meatsuit) to one who’s now working on plans with intermediate steps (get Cleo to provide inspiration to figure out how to escape the prison world).

 

[twoods]

MG and Ethan are so stinking cute. I will take it since I miss Caleb and MG together (along with  Jeb). 
Figured Finch was a werewolf since they mentioned that Jeb will change because of the full moon. 
Banshee was creepy, but I liked how her story played out.

I’m on the boat with you guys that think the masked person is Landon, which is why he ran away from Hope because he didn’t want to hurt her.

[ybrik]

This was an actual good episode. For the most part, it was. I may be foolish but I do think the weirdness of both Hope and Landon is going to payoff with some twist. Things seem to really setting up that Hope’s behavior is not healthy and she is putting people in danger by trying to keep Landon alive. 

Hadn’t thought about Clio being what was in the artifact but that is a good theory. I am wondering what the consequences of from Hope’s wish. 

There really is no classes at either one of those schools. At least we kind of saw MG and Ethan in a classroom looking to be actually attending a class. Otherwise how is Lizzie not at school the whole day and no one is attending classes at Salvatore. Also Lizzie taking over a classroom for giving Jo love lessons.

MG and Ethan have been entertaining but really can’t wait for people to find out what have been doing. 

Wasn’t that surprised by Finch as a werewolf and glad they are trying to not rush the Jo/Finch relationship. However, I am not feeling them. Maybe it is how they are being presented but their scenes are kind of cringey. Like that whole scene with Jo trying to asking Finch out, the whole background music made the scene feel so cheesy that I felt bad for the actresses have to play it. 

Can kind of understand why Lizzie lied but that is going to bite her in the ass.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even though I like seeing MG and Ethan being friends and I know that they had good intentions, hanging around the gas station to compel criminals to turn themselves in was a terrible idea on so many levels. Ethan wanting to do it again the next day made him seem like an adrenaline junkie.

Ethan is also talking about supernatural stuff at school, which makes me think that MG might have to compel him to forget this stuff eventually, but the longer they stay friends the more reluctant he will be to do it. My other theory is that Ethan will grow weary of being the human sidekick and ask MG to turn him. I was worried that Finch the werewolf was going to bite Ethan and turn him.

As soon as Finch said she was busy that night, I knew that she was a werewolf. I don't know why she had to be so sketchy about her answer to Josie though. Why not just say, "Tonight doesn't work for me, but how about next Tuesday?" If you offer a specific date, then you don't come off as totally suspicious.

Why did Jed have to be the one to channel the banshee? They knew the full moon was coming so they could have used anyone else in the school. But I liked that Alaric was able to deal with the banshee using non-magical means. Giles would be so proud that research was what saved the day.

Lizzie lying to Josie about Finch was so dumb and unnecessary.

When Landon told Hope that she didn't need a locator spell to find Cleo because she's part werewolf, he had a really weird look on his face that made me think he was evil.

Cleo being the inspiration muse makes sense. I actually thought she had cast some kind of spell to give Jed the idea for the banshee channeling but inspiration works too.

Edited April 16, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[AnimeMania]

Strange that the Super Squad is still looking for a talking monster when they had a perfectly good, well spoken Gremlin, last week, weakened it and then stomped on it, instead of asking it questions.

Why are Hope and Cleo sharing a room when the boarding school is practically empty?

Why did Hope change from a Werewolf to a girl wearing clothes?

[ybrik]

A couple of more thoughts and responses to above posts after seeing the episode again. They killed the Gremlin because they didn’t think they could stay on each other’s good side long enough so they would constantly be feeding the Gremlin with their disrespect. 

If Cleo was in the artifact does that mean it doesn’t actually grant wishes and that isn’t why Landon is alive? Right now I am choosing to believe he is alive because of Hope’s wish because it fits into a theory I have about the masked man being Landon or at least part Landon. I think the Landon that has returned is parts of Landon as I think when Hope wished for Landon to come back it may have not just be simply for him to be back but also not to lose him again. So this Landon that has come back is all the parts that Hope loves about Landon, he is smart and attentive, geeky, not a phoenix. The masked Landon is the phoenix part of him. The part of him that wanted/needed to be special and who wouldn’t just stay behind even if it risked his life. This Landon we have now puts up no fight whenever Hope wants him to stay behind. 

Also with Cleo being a muse/inspiration, it is funny because while she wanted Hope to move on from Landon, Cleo also probably contributed to Hope not being able to. Just being around, probably kept causing Hope to be more inspired/driven to find Landon than she normally would have. 

Glad Alaric’s character has been used a lot better these last two episodes. Last week with bonding with Josie and this week figuring out the non-magical way of handling the banshee. 

The episode did leave a few questions for me though. So Josie is interacting with Hope and Landon off screen? Hope apparently when listing why things were good mentioned getting along with Lizzie but no mention of discussing things with Jose so our we to assume it was discussed and there was no issue so wasn’t needed to be addressed. Then Landon and Josie most of talked recently as she mentioned the truth weed. Also how has Finch not been approached by the Salvatore school yet? They found Raf but haven’t found finch and she was right under their nose. 

[foxfreakinmulder]

14 hours ago, ybrik said:

lso how has Finch not been approached by the Salvatore school yet? They found Raf but haven’t found finch and she was right under their nose. 

Yeah, I have a feeling it's going to come out and that's how she'll end up at the Salvatore school and Josie will follow or maybe be the one to encourage her to go there once she finds out. Because I don't think they'll continue with the 2 schools story line much longer. Somethings going to happen to bring Josie and MG back. I'm thinking with MG his new buddy will end up dead on one of their adventures and MG will blame himself.

I didn't think Josie or Lizzie could use magic unless they were touching a magical object? But Lizzie turned herself invisible but later was looking for a magical object when the wolf was after her.

Speaking of wolves, lets wait until 2 minutes before you change to chain yourself up and why use the schools utility room. I mean, does this school ever lock their doors, lol.

I don't know why Lizzie would lie to Josie but that's going to come back and bite her in the ass. And why is Josie so heartbroken over someone she barely knows. Did you see the size of that empty bucket of ice cream, holy moly.

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

8 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

I didn't think Josie or Lizzie could use magic unless they were touching a magical object? But Lizzie turned herself invisible but later was looking for a magical object when the wolf was after her.

Josie and Lizzie are siphoners which means they don't have their own inherent magic, but they have the ability to siphon magic from other sources which they can then use. Once they siphon magic, they can store it until they use it, kind of like a battery or a gas tank. Since Lizzie knew she was going to Mystic Falls High to help Josie with Finch, she probably siphoned some magic before leaving the Salvatore School and heading into town.

[tennisgurl]

So as some here suspected, Cleo is a muse, her name presumably being a reference to Clio, who was the inventor and guardian of history and the guitar, so I guess that's why she knows a lot of Greek mythology. Would be cool if she played a guitar and I would think that she would have nine sisters for the nine muses instead of seven, but seventh child of seventh child is pretty standard magic rules and I think this does mean she probably isn't a villain. I like this pretty well as a twist, it seems to fit with what we've seen. 

Pretty good episode, the Banshee was a good monster of the week, I like that Alaric managed to defeat her with things other than fighting, and it was nice to see Jed getting a bit more time to shine, even if he needed to get some magic inspiration to come up with his plan. I am still not that interested in normal people high school, but Josie and Lizzie were fun together, its been awhile since there were twin hijinks. I guess I can get why Lizzie lied about Finch being a werewolf, Josie wants to live as normal and non magical a life as possible so dating a werewolf wouldn't be very non magical, but this is obviously going to blows up in her face. Josie will find out and be pissed at Lizzie and it will just be a whole thing. I guessed pretty quickly that Finch was supernatural, and I guess she's only recently become a werewolf, or else Alaric would have found her already. Really, Lizzie should be telling her dad even if she doesn't tell Josie. 

Ethan and MG fighting crime is fun and Ethan is WAY more likable with MG then with Josie, but MG compelling criminals to stop being criminals seems rather questionable, like a lot of the vampire mind control stuff often can be, and while they have had success so far, I see this really backfiring on them. I wonder if Ethan gets hurt and MG turns him, or Ethan asks him to because he doesn't want to be human anymore? 

[Lady Calypso]

So, I fell completely behind on this entire season. I finally just caught up to this episode. Cleo's reveal as a Muse certainly explains how she's been able to help the people around her to achieve successful plans. She has been a particularly big help for Hope, as Cleo's scenes have been mostly with Hope. With how we know Cleo has had sister, I assume not ALL of them are dead, OR they'll find a way back at some point, because some sisterly fighting is something I could see this show going toward.

It was nice to see more of Jed, as well. Getting to see him take part in the action and act as the conduit was great screentime for the actor. And I thoroughly enjoyed the Banshee story and how not all monsters need to be defeated through death.

So, Finch is a werewolf. Okie dokie. And Lizzie lying to Josie is NOT going to go well. I understand why Lizzie may have felt like she had to lie. Josie was asking for a normal life for a little while and finding out her new love interest is a werewolf certainly complicates the need for a more human life for a while, but it should have still been Josie's choice to pursue her or not. And MG/Ethan know about Finch being a werewolf so obviously Josie will find out from one of them. It was nice to get Josie/Lizzie sharing scenes again. 

Ethan and MG's superhero adventures are certainly fun. Obviously not the smartest duo, but they're so typical teenagers and they both seem to enjoy playing the hero for a bit. But no way it doesn't blow up in their faces somehow. I predict Ethan getting hurt enough where MG might have to turn him, or they encounter some sort of creature that gets them both in serious trouble.

On 4/17/2021 at 11:18 PM, ybrik said:

If Cleo was in the artifact does that mean it doesn’t actually grant wishes and that isn’t why Landon is alive? Right now I am choosing to believe he is alive because of Hope’s wish because it fits into a theory I have about the masked man being Landon or at least part Landon. I think the Landon that has returned is parts of Landon as I think when Hope wished for Landon to come back it may have not just be simply for him to be back but also not to lose him again. So this Landon that has come back is all the parts that Hope loves about Landon, he is smart and attentive, geeky, not a phoenix. The masked Landon is the phoenix part of him. The part of him that wanted/needed to be special and who wouldn’t just stay behind even if it risked his life. This Landon we have now puts up no fight whenever Hope wants him to stay behind. 

I like this theory and I could easily see it being true. But...I gotta admit, I LIKE this Landon, the one who's geeky and makes jokes and also seems to be just fine with doing what he's told and fine with staying behind. I like the idea that Landon will be more of a researcher, instead of a fighter. We see from Alaric that humans can be of use in other ways (thank goodness they have written Alaric better the last couple of episodes). Landon works in that role quite well.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

How long before we find out who Finch killed to activate her werewolf gene? Honestly, I don't care that much about Finch so I'm not super interested but at the same time, I like that this show tends not to drag out the characters' secrets for too long, so I'm expecting that Lizzie's lie about Finch will be revealed in the next 1-3 episodes and then we'll find out that Finch accidentally killed someone similar to Tyler activating his werewolf gene.