S03.E11: You Can't Run From Who You Are

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After receiving some inspiration from Cleo, Hope and Landon set out on a new mission; when the mission takes an unexpected turn, Josie and Wade step in to lend a hand; Lizzie enlists MG's help to learn more about Finch.

Promo:

Original air date: 5/6/21

Edited May 1, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Chris24601]

One thing I appreciate about this show is the degree to which it plays tropes straight instead of subverting them which means all the foreshadowing viewers can catch will actually be paid off (which is satisfying to those who caught onto said foreshadowing.

In this case, the audience paying attention gets their suspicions confirmed with Wade sharing his concerns about Landon with Hope and, given Necromancer bits in the prison world and the thing that feeds on dead flesh wanting “Landon” (not to mention his spot on Necromancer impersonation) pretty much confirms not only that Landon isn’t Landon, but that “Landon” is actually the Necromancer in a new guise (which also means the masked demon figure is probably the real Landon who is keeping his distance due to some yet to be revealed trauma and likely time shenanigans).

And speaking of revealed trauma, we FINALLY got the inklings of a backstory on how he became a vampire... no wonder he wanted to play Damon in the musical, seduced and turned by a femme fatale probably hits quite close to home.

And then there’s the other traumas of the night.

First, Finch don’t be upset you killed your grandpa on a technicality... the dude was a jackhole for manipulating you as a little girl into triggering the curse without even understanding what you were doing.

Second, it’s a good thing vampire blood can heal or MG’s sidekick would be absolutely hosed. It’s a bad thing because it means MG is probably about to compel him to forget for his own safety, but also that Ethan’s probably going to end up dying with vampire blood in his system in the very near future so that everyone ends up under the Salvatore roof by the end of the season.

Final two thoughts... first, so apparently Leonardo deVinci was a witch in the TVD-verse. That would mean he was stuck on the Other Side in Ketsiah’s purgatory until just a decade or so ago and, if anyone could have found a way out before it collapsed, it’d be Leo the mad genius. I would not be surprised to see him eventually.

And speaking of seeing eventually... that’s a second episode in a row we’ve seen Clarke in a flashback. If it isn’t The Necromancer pretending to be Landon, I’d lay money on it being Clarke. Because not only was The Necromancer last seen still trapped within Malivore itself, but they also made a point that every monster ever in Malivore seems to return to it in death (hence the gargoyle and swamp monster sightings in the prison world) and Clarke was literally made FROM Malivore and his head got dumped into the portal in Mystic Falls during the s2 Christmas episode.

Basically, if they’re paying for the actor specifically, it seems likely they have plans to reintroduce him, at least temporarily, in the present. His turning up in these flashbacks and acquiring specific knowledge about the box during his encounter with it strongly suggests that our heroes will need to encounter him in order to finally deal with the box.

 

 

[ybrik]

This was another good episode. The season is definitely improving from the first half of the season. There are definitely things they seem to be foreshadowing and most of us have been guessing right which isn’t a bad thing. Shows don’t need to do surprises all the time and try to outsmart it’s fans. 

That being said I do think it won’t just be as simple as this isn’t Landon. I think there will be some kind of twist like it is part Landon. Though the dead flesh thing does make me wonder. No matter if Landon isn’t Landon and the bone guy is Landon or if this is human Landon and bone guy is Phoenix Landon, this should be the end of Hope and Landon. Maybe not the complete end but they should be separated for a while. It’s not that she couldn’t tell that there was something off about this Landon but it is that she has actually been happier with this one. She has preferred this Landon who doesn’t really challenge her when she tells him to stay behind and do research. 

Speaking of Hope, I have been listening to a podcast reviewing the show and the running joke is that Hope is this great menace this season and this episode doesn’t prove otherwise. Seriously her plan was to try to manipulate the Necromancer? Sure a physical fight I would go with Hope but he has bested her in mind games before. Then when the plan was going awry she tried to continue on instead of regrouping and trying something else which leads to her nearly being taken over by a monster and killing people. 

However, I am glad we actually got Hope apologizing to Josie. also Glad Josie realized that she couldn’t keep trying to be a normal human and hide from who she really is. 

MG and Lizzie scenes at the end were great. Their dynamic is one of if not the best of the whole show.

The show is trying to get me to like Finch but no it’s not working. I mean the backstory was sad but there is just something about her that is off putting. It’s upsetting because I have liked Josie with all her other love interests and the one that is looking might be around longer is the one I want gone already. 

Speaking of backstory, we need Kaleb’s along with Jed’s and Clio’s. Though I am banking on getting the last one soon.

Yeah this Ethan/MG storyline is coming to ahead soon. There are couple of ways this can go and either one could be bad. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I get that Lizzie is super protective of Jo, but I was rolling my eyes when she said she wasn't going to let Jo near Finch the cold blooded killer. Uh, Lizzie? You have been attending school with teenage werewolves your entire life. You have trusted werewolves like Raf and Jed to protect you, your family, and your classmates so singling Finch out as a killer because she's activated her werewolf curse is a bit much.

Aww, poor Jed got left behind after his attempt to be inspired by Cleo again. There was nothing for him to do that could have helped anyone? They all just walked out of the room and left him there which was kind of rude.

Landon imitating the Necromancer was hilarious, but also maybe a little too accurate. I'm glad that someone finally realized that Landon has been off. Thank goodness for Wade!

I was cracking up that between the time that Josie decided to merge with her dark self and the time she went downstairs with the knife, she made sure to change into a new outfit. I understand why she kept her dark side separate because of course it was scary for her to lose control and do terrible things, but completely giving up her powers was a huge overcorrection. It's better for her to learn how to deal with the parts of herself that she's afraid of and hopefully learn how to control those parts instead of banishing them completely.

Did I blink and miss what caused the fire suppression system to turn on when Alaric and Kaleb were looking at that Da Vinci parchment? I don't know why Alaric didn't take a picture of it on his phone as soon as he realized it was something important and useful. Alaric's one sided phone call with Dorian about it was really lame. I don't know why they bothered with that instead of having him just discuss it with Kaleb.

I was glad that Cleo called Kaleb out about putting on an act, but I got annoyed when she complained that he didn't say a word in the car on the way back. You are capable of making conversation too, Cleo!

When Ethan originally found out about MG being a vampire, he was so excited about it that I thought he would try to convince MG to turn him so he could go back to being a football superstar. He's been an enthusiastic sidekick (and he was dumb for trying to break up a bar fight on his own), but I'm 99% sure that he's about to get turned by MG due to his injuries. Alaric won't be happy about it, but the school will get a new student and the super squad will get a new member!

I want to hear more about Kaleb's back story. In fact, I want to hear about how all the vampires got turned and who all the werewolves killed to activate their curse. It's the third season of the show so I don't think it's unreasonable to want to know basic stuff like that about the main characters.

Part of me felt bad when Finch found out what activated her werewolf side because she was a child and didn't know any better. Her grandfather thought he was helping her but he put two very large burdens on a little girl. I doubt we've seen the last of Finch though. I don't hate her but I don't really like her either so I'm a bit disappointed that she will probably be around for at least the rest of the season. I'd rather see Jed, Kaleb, and MG given more to do than to add Finch to the mix.

[tennisgurl]

That was a good episode, I think the back half of this season has been a real improvement on when they started out. The show felt really off but now its seems to be on track again, the characters are getting more to do and we are finally moving forward with the story. Thank God Wade finally noticed that something weird is going on with Landon, they have been foreshadowing that since he came back so I am glad to see this set up start to have a payoff. I would have been really annoyed if it was all just a big red herring, its been there for awhile but its been subtle enough that I can see whoever this is passing off as Landon and no one catching on. Or maybe Landon is actually a golem or something that does think he's Landon but doesn't have all of his memories and was built just a bit off? Or maybe its really Clark, or Clark is the one behind it? They have mentioned him a few times lately, it seems like its about time for him to come back. Landon's Necromancer impression was pretty spot on as well, is his hammy self involved? Did Landon die and he brought him back as a servant? 

Finch has a sad backstory and Lizzie was being pretty ridiculous, acting like Finch must be some kind of serial killer for being a werewolf when she knows and is friends with plenty of werewolves, I am not that invested in her. We have a ton of characters already who don't get the screen time they deserve, we don't need anymore, especially when I don't see that many sparks with Josie. I guess its probably part of her tragic backstory, but she always seems so easy to offend, dating her would be stressful in ways Josie doesn't need. 

Glad to see that Dark Josie is as sick of this whole "hanging with the muggles" subplot as I am. She might be evil, but she made a lot of good points about Josie's attempts to be "normal" and what a silly idea it is. Its understandable that she's wary of using her magic, but getting rid of it entirely is going too far in the opposite direction. Magic is a part of her and pretending that is isn't there is just denying a part of herself, and going to a normal school and hanging out with "normal" people isn't going to make things better. She needs to learn to manage her powers, not ignore them. 

Pandora's Box looks more like cenobites are going to come crawling out of it every time we see it. I don't know if Clio is sketchy or anything, but it does seem like a coincidence that a Greek mythology themed witch would arrive just as they find this famous artifact from Greek mythology. I hope that she is legit though, Kaleb would be crushed if she was up to something, especially with the bit of his backstory we got here. If he met a girl and really liked her and then she turned and ditched him, yeah that would give him some issues. This makes me really want to get more backstory in general of how he became a vampire, or how Jed became a werewolf, I feel like this is stuff we should know by now. Maybe give major characters backstories before you give a backstory to brand new love interest characters? 

[mommalib]

6 hours ago, ybrik said:

This was another good episode. The season is definitely improving from the first half of the season. There are definitely things they seem to be foreshadowing and most of us have been guessing right which isn’t a bad thing. Shows don’t need to do surprises all the time and try to outsmart it’s fans. 

That being said I do think it won’t just be as simple as this isn’t Landon. I think there will be some kind of twist like it is part Landon. Though the dead flesh thing does make me wonder. No matter if Landon isn’t Landon and the bone guy is Landon or if this is human Landon and bone guy is Phoenix Landon, this should be the end of Hope and Landon. Maybe not the complete end but they should be separated for a while. It’s not that she couldn’t tell that there was something off about this Landon but it is that she has actually been happier with this one. She has preferred this Landon who doesn’t really challenge her when she tells him to stay behind and do research. 

Speaking of Hope, I have been listening to a podcast reviewing the show and the running joke is that Hope is this great menace this season and this episode doesn’t prove otherwise. Seriously her plan was to try to manipulate the Necromancer? Sure a physical fight I would go with Hope but he has bested her in mind games before. Then when the plan was going awry she tried to continue on instead of regrouping and trying something else which leads to her nearly being taken over by a monster and killing people. 

However, I am glad we actually got Hope apologizing to Josie. also Glad Josie realized that she couldn’t keep trying to be a normal human and hide from who she really is. 

MG and Lizzie scenes at the end were great. Their dynamic is one of if not the best of the whole show.

The show is trying to get me to like Finch but no it’s not working. I mean the backstory was sad but there is just something about her that is off putting. It’s upsetting because I have liked Josie with all her other love interests and the one that is looking might be around longer is the one I want gone already. 

Speaking of backstory, we need Kaleb’s along with Jed’s and Clio’s. Though I am banking on getting the last one soon.

Yeah this Ethan/MG storyline is coming to ahead soon. There are couple of ways this can go and either one could be bad. 

MG and Lizzie is my favorite relationship on the show.

[GaT]

I have no idea what is going on. No idea what the overall plot is, no idea what is going on in each episode, no idea why I keep watching this show.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 hours ago, GaT said:

I have no idea what is going on. No idea what the overall plot is, no idea what is going on in each episode, no idea why I keep watching this show.

As someone who used to keep watching shows until the bitter end out of a misguided sense of obligation to finish what I started, I give you permission to stop watching this show. If you don't enjoy it anymore, quit watching it and use that extra hour every week to do something fun!

[Terrafamilia]

Hey show, pleeeeaaase don't make Ethan a vampire.

[waving feather]

On 5/8/2021 at 1:36 PM, GaT said:

I have no idea what is going on. No idea what the overall plot is, no idea what is going on in each episode, no idea why I keep watching this show.

Lol, I'm sort of similar. In fact I don't even really care about the plot of this show anymore. But I still watch it casually because I like the lead character (Danielle is a talented actor) and the core group are all likeable kids. And the residual fondness of The Originals. This show leans into the TVD history but I wish it leans into The Originals story more, personally.

[GaT]

5 hours ago, waving feather said:

Lol, I'm sort of similar. In fact I don't even really care about the plot of this show anymore. But I still watch it casually because I like the lead character (Danielle is a talented actor) and the core group are all likeable kids. And the residual fondness of The Originals. This show leans into the TVD history but I wish it leans into The Originals story more, personally.

I never watched The Originals because I absolutely hated all those characters when they were on TVD. I was so happy when they got their own show just because it would get them off TVD, & I would never have to see or hear them again.