S03.E13: One Day You Will Understand

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Faced with a difficult decision regarding one of his students, Alaric looks to Kaleb and Josie for their perspective; Cleo opens up about her past.

Promo:

Original air date: 5/20/21

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Clip:

 

[ybrik]

That was a good episode. Loved getting Cleo’s backstory. Surprisingly interested in what happens with her and Landon.

Glad Hope and Landon will be going separate ways for at least an episode.Hopefully it is longer.

Please tell me Jed let Finch win.

Liked the Josie/Cleo scenes. 

Need to watch the episode again for more thoughts.

[UnoAgain]

Yay.. The Hope/ Landon obsess-athon... Is at least on pause... Now maybe they can be two characters... I've always enjoyed Landon away from hope... And well this may be the first time we won't really be seeing Hope be so Landon-centric... He's been her motivation from like episode one to the detriment of all her other relationships... So hope we see growth... More Cleo please 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So Cleo and Leonardo!

I would be more okay with Landon and Hope breaking up if I felt it would actually be permanent. Unfortunately, I think this is just the latest ploy in the show to put a roadblock in their relationship so that there can be pining and crying and rending of garments until they get back together for the millionth time.

The first time I liked Finch was when she pointed out that the Salvatore School was built specifically for Josie and Lizzie and that contrary to Josie's claim that she's just like everyone else at school, she is not.

[Chris24601]

First observation; this was definitely filmed after most of the COVID restrictions had been lifted... the increased number of extras in the school hall for breakfast, the wolves in the gym and the tribal village was quite noticeable (as was the cult in the promo for the next episode).

I should probably go back and do a count, but with a school population of exactly thirty (30 w. Cleo and Wade’s friend - MG + ‘Landon’ + Josie + Finch - Cleo - Landon = 30) we actually saw a significant percentage of the students in this episode.

Second observation; Finch has more chemistry with Jed and unnamed wolves than she does with her girlfriend.

Third observation; Cleo absolutely taught Malivore how to create Clarke.

Fourth, I know that its unlikely to stick, but I’ll take Hope and Landon interacting with people who aren’t each other while I can get it. I wish the writers would figure out that they have better chemistry with everyone else (and that they would have done so before they decided to write Raf out of story), but at this point they’ve pretty much written themselves into a corner where there is no alternative love interest for Hope to even tease... which is okay, but risks the same problem that Josie’s been having of 

One thing I am grateful for is that they’re using Hope’s “full tribrid” bit as not just a potential power up, but what Hope would lose in the process and Hope likely wanting a family given her background is a pretty realistic desire.

Also appreciated is that Alaric didn’t spin Hope’s loss to Cleo as “everyone.” Frankly, I think spelling out that she lost her mother, father and uncle in the span of a few months actually personalizes her damage (and how she copes with it) in a way that makes it more relatable than the clearly hyperbolic “everyone” can.

Honestly, I think on a Netflix binge watch I think this season will actually hold up quite favorably with the first two. The main thing that made this season feel so uneven was that we actually got last season’s finale dropped smack dab in the middle of it which won’t be an issue with a binge rewatch where the end of last season will flow right into this one like the continuous story it was meant to be and “This is What it Takes” is the obvious launchpad of a new season/story arc.

[tennisgurl]

Cleo and Landon on a road trip to finally destroy Malivore sounds pretty fun, I like Landon so much more outside of his boring relationship with Hope, and vice versa. I do think that this most recent conflict is a bit more interesting than their usual angst at least, its kind of funny that Hope seems really confused by being the person who isn't going all angsty in the relationship. Its clear that Landon is really going through some stuff, but it seemed like Hope was so confused by all of this that she just wanted to go back to normal, even if that isn't possible right now for him. 

I liked getting more of Cleo's backstory, even though I kept waiting for someone to finally ask Cleo what she was actually doing here and why she tried to kill Hope. I always really like scenes between Alaric and Kaleb, they often open up a lot of interesting ethical questions about this universe, and I like that they tied Alaric thinking about sealing Cleo up again into him sending students to the prison world and how Alaric regrets that and wants to make better choices now. 

I still don't like Finch, she seems more like a string of clichés about "cool girls" then an actual character, someone who writers think are cool but are often insufferable jerk sues, and she and Josie have zero chemistry. Was Finch on the wrestling team at her old school? If not, I cannot imagine how she could have beat Jed, who works out every second he can while she's a petite teenage girl with no apparent athletic interest, even with werewolf powers (which he also has) in a wrestling match. I am just going to assume that he threw the match to make her feel more welcome in the pack. She did make a good point about how the school was built for Josie and Lizzie, she is certainly not wrong. Alaric cares about all his students, but Josie and Lizzie are special. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One thing I really liked about this episode was Alaric telling Kaleb that they needed to respect Cleo's decision to leave. That's a nice change from years of "we have to to everything we can to protect Elena, even if it's the exact opposite of what she wants!"

[waving feather]

Hope and Landon are going to be end game, so it's fine if they split them up for a while. It was getting quite unhealthy with the co-dependency from both ends. I liked Golem Landon, but I liked this Landon too. He has always been an interesting character who has gone through many difficult things and is quite resilient, without being whiny and angsty about it. In the meantime, I am all about Hope getting a new love interest, because why not. Ethan, perhaps? Hope seems into guys who she can protect.

This episode and the last one are great, the show is really hitting its stride. I like Happy!Josie, so I hope she gets to be that at least for a while. Cleo and the new badass!Landon? I'm into it. I hope they stop with Caleb's crush on Cleo, though. It is obvious she isn't into him, so it was getting a bit uncomfortable now. It's better that she left so he can get over her.

Edited May 22, 2021 by waving feather

[ursula]

21 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Was Finch on the wrestling team at her old school? If not, I cannot imagine how she could have beat Jed, who works out every second he can while she's a petite teenage girl with no apparent athletic interest, even with werewolf powers (which he also has) in a wrestling match.

It’s the same reason why Raf, who’d been in a bad foster care experience, could beat Jed. It’s all very well to work out daily, but you’re going to lose to someone who fights regularly to survive.

Finch had been a werewolf since she was a child, and emancipated from her parents soon after. Her family situation was so bad that her grandfather thought she needed to activate her Wolf side as a kid. I’d think it was a plot hole if Jed could take her down, not the other way around.

I like the idea that he didn’t try to hard, either way, to make her welcome.

4 minutes ago, waving feather said:

In the meantime, I am all about Hope getting a new love interest, because why not. Ethan, perhaps?

In a bolder show, Ethan would clearly be MG’s love interest.

[UnoAgain]

2 hours ago, ursula said:

In a bolder show, Ethan would clearly be MG’s love interest.

Maybe even an unrequited L.I but they still navigate that relationship... Aren't many straight/ Gay relationships on TV especially with a straight blk guy....