S01.E14: Let's Just Finish the Dance

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

As the Salvatore School prepares to host the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, Hope secretly deals with a recent trauma that's causing her magic to go on the fritz. Meanwhile, the unexpected arrival of Roman, a boy from Hope's past, causes Landon to be on alert. Elsewhere, MG struggles with the fallout from his recent actions, while Josie's secret desire to win Miss Mystic Falls takes a backseat to Lizzie's plan for the pageant.

Promo:

Original air date: 3/14/19

[Diapason Untuned]

So Penelope leaves the school and decides to just blow up the place on the way out?

Whoa, she is horrible.

She has a point about Lizzie but the irony is that she is just as selfish as her.

Pretty interesting episode though. I was not expecting MG's mom to be a part of Triad. And that Gorgon girl and MG make a cute couple. 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Diapason Untuned

[UNOSEZ]

So Penelope just decided to J Edgar Hover her school and napalm it on the way out... Brutal... Mg's mom did seem pretty chill and knowledgeable about the supernatural world so I'm only kinda surprised.. I'm more concerned with if triad is like a super bad entity or like a real dark gray kinda outfit..  Yes Lizzie is self-centered... But I don't have much patience for ppl who act like doormats but grumble and simmer when you step on em... The gorgon was cool... Roman wasn't super annoying.. And seemed like a 93 year old vamp..  And finally... Sentient jar of artisinal mayonnaise... Lmao

[Moonlit]

2 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

So Penelope leaves the school and decides to just blow up the place on the way out?

2 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

So Penelope just decided to J Edgar Hover her school and napalm it on the way out...

Did I see a different cut or something? I saw Penelope leaving for Belgium with a suitcase, met by Josie whom she kissed and handed a book, who then watched her leave. Next, Landon and Mrs G. followed by Triad. And no explosions and a very intact school. I'm so confused.

[Diapason Untuned]

29 minutes ago, Moonlit said:

Did I see a different cut or something? I saw Penelope leaving for Belgium with a suitcase, met by Josie whom she kissed and handed a book, who then watched her leave. Next, Landon and Mrs G. followed by Triad. And no explosions and a very intact school. I'm so confused.

Penelope was spying on everyone in the school so she could spread their secrets around before she left.

Saying she was going to blow up the place is a euphemism. 

[memememe76]

Penelope told one secret to Landon and all the secrets to Josie. Ultimately up to Josie whether the entire school will find out everything.

I am assuming the actress playing Penelope has a role in a new CW show next season. If that show flops, I hope she returns. I understood her motivations.

Did they really need to introduce another love interest for Hope?

[Moonlit]

@Diapason Untuned – thank you! I'd wondered whether it wasn't literal with it having been said more than once.

Watching the leaving scene, Penelope's being a big softie with a huge heart who just cares deeply for Josie seemed tacked on somehow. All through the show she'd been the manipulator who "likes to watch the world burn", yet in one final scene we're told that that was all an act. Then again, I can see how leaving everything behind, a continent behind, can make being cold and without feeling seem pointless.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Remember when Miss Mystic Falls was run by the adults in town? Now it's run by whichever high school is hosting it? Okay then. And you cannot tell me that Caroline Forbes, former Miss Mystic Falls, would miss attending this pageant!

I have never been into insecure boys so Landon telling Roman, "I'm a phoenix which is SUPER COOL" just made me roll my eyes. Calm the fuck down. Jealousy is not a good look on anyone, but Landon chasing after Roman to interrogate him was pathetic and desperate. Who cares if Roman still has feelings for Hope? As long as you trust Hope, you have nothing to worry about it. And if you don't trust Hope, then you shouldn't be in a relationship with her.

Roman, on the other hand, was awesome (especially for someone who helped kidnap and kill Hayley). I guess that's the difference between being an actual teenager and just looking like one. I'm glad he didn't turn out to be working for Triad. With so many new people wandering around the school for the pageant, anyone could have been the bad guy this week.

The orchestral version of Lady Gaga definitely gave me old school TVD vibes, but sorry, show, you will never top the first Miss Mystic Falls pageant we saw!

I was surprised that Lizzie would offer to let Hope wear Caroline's old dress, just in general, but even moreso since Josie was competing and Caroline wasn't there.

Ha, scream therapy works! I was a little worried about Hope releasing all that magic/power. I half expected to see dead birds drop out of the trees afterward. When Hope found out that Klaus gave that dress to Caroline and started crying, I thought Lizzie was going to tell her to do a silent scream so that she could siphon the magic away and keep her from hurting anyone at the pageant.

I'm not surprised that Penelope decided to throw truth bombs before she left. From her point of view, why shouldn't people know the truth and get to make decisions based on that knowledge? I don't think she was planning to tell Landon about his mom, but the opportunity presented itself and I think she genuinely felt bad that Landon was so guilt ridden about his petty jealousy while Hope was keeping a huge secret from him.

I also think that she saw the parallel with Josie being in the dark. The merge is going to happen sooner rather than later so she has a right to know about it. Great that Caroline is trying to find a solution but does that mean she and Alaric have the right to withhold this major piece of information from Josie and Lizzie? I get that parents want to protect their kids from any potential danger or pain, but no one in their family has been able to keep the merge from happening and the deadline is coming up pretty soon. If Caroline can't find some kind of magical solution, one of these girls is going to die and the other is going to lose her sister, so it seems like they should be told about it. Keeping that information from the twins reminds me of the not so olden days when doctors and families would deliberately choose not to tell cancer patients that they had cancer. So I understand why Penelope gave Josie that information. It's her potential life/death so she should know about it.

The biggest surprise of the episode wasn't the appearance of the gorgon but that MG's mom is working with Triad!

Edited March 16, 2019 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ursula]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The merge is going to happen sooner rather than later so she has a right to know about it.

A lot can happen in 6 years. IMO, Penelope just dropped a bomb on her emotionally and mentally fragile ex so that she could have a dramatic exit.

Penelope is an all around toxic character. She might have genuinely wanted to help Landon but she also wanted to sabotage Hope to give Josie a chance to win. She passed around those pens before she knew about the Merge. So she made the decision to Big Brother the entire school just to, basically, stalk her ex and if that's not the definition of problematic I don't know what is. I really disliked the way the show tried to justify her horrificness with "I Did It For Love" (much like they did with Josie burning down Hope's room, outing her sister's mental disorder and letting Hope take the fall for both). 

I guess I should be sort of impressed since the TVD and TO were full of toxic male characters justifying their abusive, invasive behavior with the same "I Did It For Love" excuse. Equal opportunity dysfunctional relationships.

Re: the dress. I might be the only one rolling my eyes over the whole drama of it. That's not even the dress Caroline wore to win Miss Mystic Falls. She wore it to a party and as Lizzie said, it was given to her by a guy with a crush. She might have kept it because it's probably expensive and pretty but it has no sentimental value or significance to the contest and it's ridiculous that she passed it on to Lizzie as the Miss Mystic Falls Dress  or that Josie even knew who it came from. I get that the show was trying to play homage to Klaroline but that was a stretch.

Edited March 15, 2019 by ursula

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was trying to figure out why Josie knew that the dress was from Klaus in the first place but also why Josie knew but Lizzie didn't.

I don't know that the dress has NO sentimental value to Caroline. Didn't she and Klaus have sex in the woods before he left Mystic Falls for New Orleans? And they did have Caroline try to find him there when she was on the run with the twins, so I think she always had some kind of feelings for Klaus (as much as I hated it and didn't get it at all).

I'm just waiting for his pony painting to make an appearance.

[paulvdb]

With the school setting I thought they would avoid this, but bringing back Roman means that they might follow in the footsteps of TVD and TO with the teenage girl dating a much older vampire. Although the age difference isn't anywhere near as big as Elena and the Salvatore brothers and especially Davina and Kol.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 minutes ago, paulvdb said:

the age difference isn't anywhere near as big as Elena and the Salvatore brothers and especially Davina and Kol.

And Roman did spend a lot of time dessicated in a cave, so in terms of the number of years he's been out in the world having experiences and becoming more mature, I think he's MUCH closer in age to Hope than some of the other old vampire/teen couples we've had before.

[Lady Calypso]

Yeah, Penelope's not a great character. She's definitely just as selfish as Lizzie. She only wants Josie and then also has no issue with dropping such a big bomb in Josie's life all because she didn't like Josie still choosing Lizzie over her. I don't even think she told Landon Hope's secret because she cared about Landon. I think it was more because Penelope was still upset about Josie and her deciding to just tell Landon, also to sabotage Miss Mystic Falls from Hope. She may be right about Josie needing to put herself first for once over Lizzie, but she's wrong in how she's handled it.

I liked Lizzie helping Hope out, and I didn't feel like it was JUST to get Hope the crown, either. I think Lizzie really was concerned about Hope and genuinely wanted to help. Yeah, she also wanted her to win, but it was nice seeing the two team up. Helping Hope out really humanized Lizzie more than usual.

Also, Landon's jealousy of Roman wasn't needed. 

No surprise about MG's mom, in all honesty. I felt like she was up to something last week, so here was no different. She definitely was too chill about supernaturals. 

So, Josie learns about the Merge. That's a lot faster than I thought they'd officially reveal it. I thought they'd give it to season 2. 

[ursula]

35 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I don't know that the dress has NO sentimental value to Caroline. Didn't she and Klaus have sex in the woods before he left Mystic Falls for New Orleans?

At the time of the Mikaelson ball, Caroline was in love with Tyler. Klaus even tells her that her interest in him (Klaus) is because she's fascinated with the concept of a dangerous man having a crush on her. A few weeks later (season 3 finale), she's toasting to his death.

Even their sex scene was basically Caroline wanting to get the attraction out of her system - and was conditioned on Klaus staying out of her life for good. And it happened as she started falling hard for Stefan. Klaus was basically a palate cleaner as she moved from Tyler to Stefan. 

(ok, this comes across as me dragging Klaroline but it's not really. Like I believe Caroline came to care for Klaus and generally have a less black-and-white view about supernatural morality. And maybe "no" sentimental value is an exaggeration but the way Josie acted like it was Caroline's wedding dress Miss Mystic Falls gown, passed on from mother to daughter over generations of Forbes women... Like isn't it even kind of a backhanded diss that a dress an older man bought for Caroline when she was in high school is the best outfit she's ever had?).

[beetlesoda]

I found this show to be boring at first the lead males just don't have the charisma in my opinion to keep people's attention. Its like they were banking on Vampire Diaries and The Original popularity.

The girls on the other hand are where the interest lies. I don't find hope to be that interesting tbh but she's ok. I'm liking Lizzie more and more just as I like Penolope more and more and that's because this show writes complicated characters so much more interesting. Love Josie and waiting for her dark turn.

I love characters like Penolope you can't make excuses for them they did what they did and don't give a damn and you have to read into why they did it. I think she only cares about one person and she's a bored mean girl. But she honestly could've caused a lot more damage with what she knows but only told one person and gave the rest of the information to Josie. I think looking at their history you can see she THINKS she's doing the right thing by tying to push Josie but she's going about it in the wrong immature teenage too smart for her own good way. She only has the right intentions with Josie but no one else and she doesnt care about anyone else. I'm into it I hope she comes back. Would I promote this relationship in real life? No but it's a tv show and one of the few interesting things about the show.

Also props to the actresses yesterday very emotional with the few scenes they've been given so far.

[ketose]

On 3/15/2019 at 1:54 AM, memememe76 said:

Penelope told one secret to Landon and all the secrets to Josie. Ultimately up to Josie whether the entire school will find out everything.

I am assuming the actress playing Penelope has a role in a new CW show next season. If that show flops, I hope she returns. I understood her motivations.

Did they really need to introduce another love interest for Hope?

The only way I'd want to see Penelope back is if a MOTW kills her outside the gates. Her ridiculous schemes are intrusive, cruel and got Landon killed. Even if I liked her, Penelope's continued ability to wreak havoc would reflect badly on Alaric.

On 3/15/2019 at 2:04 AM, Moonlit said:

@Diapason Untuned – thank you! I'd wondered whether it wasn't literal with it having been said more than once.

Watching the leaving scene, Penelope's being a big softie with a huge heart who just cares deeply for Josie seemed tacked on somehow. All through the show she'd been the manipulator who "likes to watch the world burn", yet in one final scene we're told that that was all an act. Then again, I can see how leaving everything behind, a continent behind, can make being cold and without feeling seem pointless.

I think it's both. Penelope loved Josie but also wanted to control her. When they broke up, she blamed Lizzie and everyone who was supposedly keeping Josie from reaching her potential. She wanted to watch the world burn, but she justified it as a way to help Josie.

On 3/15/2019 at 7:27 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Remember when Miss Mystic Falls was run by the adults in town? Now it's run by whichever high school is hosting it? Okay then. And you cannot tell me that Caroline Forbes, former Miss Mystic Falls, would miss attending this pageant!

I have never been into insecure boys so Landon telling Roman, "I'm a phoenix which is SUPER COOL" just made me roll my eyes. Calm the fuck down. Jealousy is not a good look on anyone, but Landon chasing after Roman to interrogate him was pathetic and desperate. Who cares if Roman still has feelings for Hope? As long as you trust Hope, you have nothing to worry about it. And if you don't trust Hope, then you shouldn't be in a relationship with her.

Roman, on the other hand, was awesome (especially for someone who helped kidnap and kill Hayley). I guess that's the difference between being an actual teenager and just looking like one. I'm glad he didn't turn out to be working for Triad. With so many new people wandering around the school for the pageant, anyone could have been the bad guy this week.

The orchestral version of Lady Gaga definitely gave me old school TVD vibes, but sorry, show, you will never top the first Miss Mystic Falls pageant we saw!

I was surprised that Lizzie would offer to let Hope wear Caroline's old dress, just in general, but even moreso since Josie was competing and Caroline wasn't there.

Ha, scream therapy works! I was a little worried about Hope releasing all that magic/power. I half expected to see dead birds drop out of the trees afterward. When Hope found out that Klaus gave that dress to Caroline and started crying, I thought Lizzie was going to tell her to do a silent scream so that she could siphon the magic away and keep her from hurting anyone at the pageant.

I'm not surprised that Penelope decided to throw truth bombs before she left. From her point of view, why shouldn't people know the truth and get to make decisions based on that knowledge? I don't think she was planning to tell Landon about his mom, but the opportunity presented itself and I think she genuinely felt bad that Landon was so guilt ridden about his petty jealousy while Hope was keeping a huge secret from him.

I also think that she saw the parallel with Josie being in the dark. The merge is going to happen sooner rather than later so she has a right to know about it. Great that Caroline is trying to find a solution but does that mean she and Alaric have the right to withhold this major piece of information from Josie and Lizzie? I get that parents want to protect their kids from any potential danger or pain, but no one in their family has been able to keep the merge from happening and the deadline is coming up pretty soon. If Caroline can't find some kind of magical solution, one of these girls is going to die and the other is going to lose her sister, so it seems like they should be told about it. Keeping that information from the twins reminds me of the not so olden days when doctors and families would deliberately choose not to tell cancer patients that they had cancer. So I understand why Penelope gave Josie that information. It's her potential life/death so she should know about it.

The biggest surprise of the episode wasn't the appearance of the gorgon but that MG's mom is working with Triad!

Isn't the Merge like 6 years away for them? It seems like they should take a little time to find a fix before telling the twins one has to kill the other.

Is there a huge pen shortage at the Salvatore school? Why was everyone writing all their important secrets with Penelope's magic pens? Oh, and this is like 2019 / 2030 so why are they writing things down?

Speaking of years passed, I doubt Caroline can show her face at a Miss Mystic Falls contest since it's been about 20 years since she won and she theoretically looks exactly the same.

[viajero]

On 3/15/2019 at 12:04 AM, Moonlit said:

Watching the leaving scene, Penelope's being a big softie with a huge heart who just cares deeply for Josie seemed tacked on somehow. All through the show she'd been the manipulator who "likes to watch the world burn", yet in one final scene we're told that that was all an act. Then again, I can see how leaving everything behind, a continent behind, can make being cold and without feeling seem pointless.

To me it didn't seem tacked on at all.  Ever since Episode 5 its been increasingly apparent that Penelope does genuinely care deeply for Josie.  Given her knowledge about the merge, in retrospect I find it completely believable that most of her actions were an attempt to bolster Josie for what might seem like an inevitable confrontation with Lizzie.  That she chose to do this in the way she did is in keeping with her character.

In any case, since I find Penelope to be a much more interesting character than Landon, the outcome of these last two episodes has been disappointing.  

[tennisgurl]

Poor Landon. Yeah his jealousy was a bad look, but in the course of a few days, he got killed by one of classmates, resurrected, found out his girlfriend and headmaster were both lying to him about finding his mom, which is a super angsty topic for him, his girlfriends sexy ex shows up, and then he apparently gets kidnapped by some shadowy government organization. Its been an eventful as fuck week. At least he and MG are cool now! I mean, it`ll be weird when he realizes his mom kidnapped him...

Penelope is such a shit stirrer, I will actually miss her a bit. I find her to be an interesting character, even if she is pretty awful. She is selfish and conniving and clearly possessive of Josie, but I do think she loves her and is afraid for her in the seemingly inevitable confrontation with her sister. I mean, you can be asshole and still love someone, even if its a manipulative and toxic kind of love. I did actually like her and Landon having a scene together, and Landon noticing that they had never actually spoken!

Interesting episode. I really should have seen MGs mom being part of the conspiracy coming, as she seemed less "omg vampires and stuff exist!" and more "I cant believe my son is one of these weird things now!" but I was surprised. So who are these guys, and whats their evil plan? I liked the Gorgon girl, she and MG seem like they could be a sweet couple. Maybe she can stick around, and join Landon and Hope in the Other category! 

Its fun seeing Lizzie and Hope getting along, but Josie and Lizzie are just awful at communicating with each other, especially for twins who are super close. Lizzie just assumes that Josie will go along with any plan she decides on, and Josie will just be hurt and angry and mutter angrily without actually telling Lizzie whats wrong. 

[ursula]

18 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Lizzie just assumes that Josie will go along with any plan she decides on, and Josie will just be hurt and angry and mutter angrily without actually telling Lizzie whats wrong. 

I don't think Lizzie was far off the mark here. Josie is supposed to be the pro-feminist/ down-with-the-patriarchy kind of girl. Lizzie thought she was forcing Josie to participate, not forcing her to lose. 

[Mikay]

On 3/15/2019 at 12:10 PM, beetlesoda said:

I found this show to be boring at first the lead males just don't have the charisma in my opinion to keep people's attention. Its like they were banking on Vampire Diaries and The Original popularity.

The girls on the other hand are where the interest lies.

This is interesting. I've noticed that on this show in particular that I am far more interested in the girls than the guys too. The ladies seem to embody the complexity of the premise--the next generation struggling with their legacies-- more. Lizzie is mentally ill, self-centered and can't always control her power, which can make her dangerous. Josie is a wallflower unable to bloom and also harboring some darker emotions. Both live in the shadow of characters(like Kai and the whole Gemini line) that came before them and that makes their current struggles take on more weight.  I'm a little less interested in Hope because at least the Hope on this show seems a lot more put together characterwise, but even she has had a few intriguing moments. My favorite Hope moment is in an early episode when Alaric realizes that she plans to kill Landon for his betrayal. That was such a Klaus moment, it was cruel but also there was a sort of cold efficiency about it, and for the first time I could see the push and pull of her conscious. Penelope has always been in the middle for me. I've appreciated that she darker than some of the mains but was a little disappointed that her antics only rose to mean girl concerns. 

I don't dislike the guys on the show or anything, but they seem less complicated. In the (early) seasons of the Originals and Vampire Diaries, part of the appeal was that you were watching a show about powerful monsters. Characters like Katherine, Klaus, and Kai that came and went through the Vampire Diaries were callous, cruel, toxic, and largely unpredictable. Sure they had feelings, and dark pasts, but oftentimes their condition(vampirism, werewolf virus, prison world shenanigans) allowed them to live out their worst lives. I'm not sure there is a guy on this show who gives me the same type of feeling, which I think is a waste of the show's premise.

That's not to say that I necessarily want a Klaus-like character on the show. I tired of his behavior pretty early on and the same went for Damon, but I'd love to see Alaric and the school in general handle a problem student. A supernatural that enjoys the darker sides of their condition or struggles more obviously with a terrible and depraved legacy and more often than not lets it win. You've seen that a bit with Hope(the legacy part), but since they've mandated her as the main character, I don't know that you could really go too dark with her. And despite suffering through the endless loop of abuse that is this show's foster system, neither Landon and Rafael seem to have the slightest bit of an edge. Maybe MG as a ripper? But MG at least for now comes off as one of the nicest characters. I do like Kaleb though, which was unexpected. I suspected horrible things after his introduction, but he's actually emerged as one of my favorites. 

[ketose]

The reality of the show is that the "legacies" are all girls. Raphael is a legacy in the sense that werewolves are part of a bloodline, but he doesn't know his.

I think Kaleb has definitely shown some growth. He's not as bad as Damon, who frequently compelled women and killed them or puppeted them in some awful fashion. However, he's also an advocate for the full use of his abilities, along with the witches. MG's a likeable character, but we're getting more bits of biography than actual character development.

I still like Landon because he was in the Originals and he's kind of a normie, even though he's potentially immortal. I probably shouldn't get too attached because it seems like this season will end with him sacrificing himself so Hope can be despondent again.

[viajero]

On 3/17/2019 at 3:00 PM, ketose said:

I still like Landon because he was in the Originals and he's kind of a normie, even though he's potentially immortal. I probably shouldn't get too attached because it seems like this season will end with him sacrificing himself so Hope can be despondent again.

I sure hope so.  They need to find a better love interest for Hope.  Either find her a more interesting guy or get her together with Josie once and for all.

[UNOSEZ]

1 hour ago, viajero said:

I sure hope so.  They need to find a better love interest for Hope.  Either find her a more interesting guy or get her together with Josie once and for all.

I like all these kids as friends so far.. The only "spark" all season I saw for hope was her early stuff with Raf.. And maybe Josie/Penelope... But that one is so twisty and toxic I'm not sure I should be rooting for it.. But as just friendly hormonal supernatural teens I like most of the interactions.. I could go for some Raf/Lizzie time or some Kaleb/Josie... Or more MG/Landon.. Hell even Kaleb/Landon

[memememe76]

I am perfectly fine with the show not featuring a Bad Boy or Bad Girl type of character. It is one of the reasons I am enjoying the show. I think the kids en masse have a fun vibe. 

I hate the Originals, so don't care about them. But Matt or Jeremy or Bonnie must have a kid. Can't they enroll here?

[ketose]

1 hour ago, memememe76 said:

I am perfectly fine with the show not featuring a Bad Boy or Bad Girl type of character. It is one of the reasons I am enjoying the show. I think the kids en masse have a fun vibe. 

I hate the Originals, so don't care about them. But Matt or Jeremy or Bonnie must have a kid. Can't they enroll here?

Would Matt or Jeremy have a supernatural kid?

This brings up a slight question. Are there any male witches at the Salvatore school?

Edited March 19, 2019 by ketose

[beeemkcl]

* Such a dress/ball gown would likely be the most expensive dress Caroline Forbes would own.

* My problem with the dress is that Hope Mikaelson is very rich. All of Klaus’s estate and assets likely went to Hope.

I don’t know why she’d react so much to the dress when she barely reacted to her painting with Klaus getting destroyed. Yes, Landon died. But she’s okay with her ex-boyfriend, who’s much better looking and much more ‘together’ than Landon.

* I don’t get how Landon can feel so lucky and grateful to be in a relationship with Hope and yet still be so possessive and controlling.

[Scarlett45]

On 3/29/2019 at 2:51 PM, beeemkcl said:

My problem with the dress is that Hope Mikaelson is very rich. All of Klaus’s estate and assets likely went to Hope.

I’m sure Hope has the money to buy very nice things (and any sort of dress she wanted) but 1. She’s only 17, I don’t think she’s been to that many black tie events in her life (likely only dances at the school), 2. Most of the things she inherited from Klaus weren’t things that would have sentimental value (besides the painting) in the way the dress would. 3. She didn’t have that much time actually interacting with Klaus where she would have memories of him picking things out for her (he was a prisoner when she was very small, and after the Hallow was released he kept his distance); it’s not like she has years of memories going with him to pick out birthday presents. I can see why she would be emotional.