Legacies recap: The spirit of Klaus Mikaelson lives on

The Legacies fall finale is yet another episode brimming with references to the greater mythos of The Vampire Diaries universe and will be a treat to both long-time fans as well as newcomers.

While a quieter episode than last week’s, and one that focuses on far fewer characters, “Death Keeps Knocking On My Door” is about closure, specifically for Hope, Alaric, and Rafael. The fall finale also serves the purpose of setting up the Necromancer (played by Ben Geurens from Reign who is ghoulishly entertaining in this role) as a possible new “big bad” when the series returns in the winter.

Snatch. Eat. Erase.

I haven’t heard that one in a long time but it was the motto of one Damon Salvatore in the early days of The Vampire Diaries. Damon popularized the slogan and the method during his season one tenure as the “big bad vampire”, as he so often referred to himself.

MG prides himself on adhering to the school rules and only drinking animal blood instead of feeding on humans. The problem is, as Kaleb points out every chance he gets, MG is weaker than a vampire who has a healthy diet of human blood and this weakness leads to people he cares about, like Hope, getting hurt.

When MG is unable to pull Hope out of the Necromancer’s subconscious, he gets a brutal wake-up call about the consequences of his abilities only being at half-strength. Turning to Kaleb may not be the brightest idea but it’s the best one he has and Kaleb refers to the old Salvatore way.

Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned. MG quite literally bites off more than he can chew and almost kills the boy he’s feeding from. Luckily for both him and the kid in question, Dorian intervenes and gives MG a dose of vervain before he can kill him.

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of MG struggling with this when the show returns, let’s just hope he doesn’t take a leaf from Stefan Salvatore’s ripper book next.

A Return Trip to New Orleans

Hope decides to take matters into her own hands when Alaric’s questionable methods of torture don’t get him anywhere with the Necromancer. She enlists MG’s help to allow her access into his mind in order to gain more information about where the sudden urge to go after the knife is originating from.

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Her mind quest leads her directly to… New Orleans. The Necromancer appears to have ulterior motives for allowing Hope to roam around in his head and as we learn later, he was using her as a stall tactic in order to allow his minion enough time to steal the relic he’s come back for aka: the knife. Anyone else happy to see the familiar Russeau’s backdrop on this week’s episode? I know I was. The repeated Klaus mentions may have gotten me a little choked up too, I’m not going to lie.

The Necromancer actually recalls the early days of the Mikaelsons. I mean, a cocky Englishman with devilish plans to destroy the lives of the character’s we’ve come to know and love all the while still finding time to make sly witticisms and wry commentary on the social lives of those around him? Now where have I heard of a character like that before?

In just one episode of Legacies he’s managed to trap Hope in a state of existential despair whilst she is buried deep in the abyss of his subconscious and send her spiraling over the fate of her father in the world beyond the realm of the living.

Not to mention the fact he brought Raf’s girlfriend back from the dead so he could possess her and get her to steal the knife for him…

The Bennett Bloodline

…and speaking of Raf’s girlfriend. Dear Cassie, it turns out, is actually a descendant of our favorite witch bloodline, the Bennetts (which makes for two Bonnie shout-outs on Legacies so far, nice). Thus giving us the real reason the Necromancer chose her as his next puppet. She was one of the few in the area eligible to give the knife to the spirit of a Bennett witch so she could then perform the incantations necessary to prepare the knife for the Malivore.

Before that though, Cassie’s presence sends Raf into a tizzy. He’s been mourning her death since Legacies debuted and until this week, we didn’t have many details on exactly what had happened to bring about her untimely demise. It turns out, it was sort of Raf’s fault she died. Even though it was storming, the hard turn he took that ultimately lead to the car crash that killed her, was one he took in a rage-fueled moment due to a fight they were having at the time.

I’m not sure I agree with the narrative the show was pushing that Raf should feel all the guilt from this. His intentions weren’t to kill her and while he made a fatal mistake, I think there were other factors at play, such as the rain. Maybe the turn was a reckless decision and not one he should have made but would it have escalated as quickly if it weren’t for the weather? We’ll never know. Either way, he is finally able to get some closure with his former girlfriend and it’s a good moment for him, even if it’s short-lived given what comes next.

Landon’s in trouble, as foretold by the fancy watch Hope rigged up in case he ever needed to send up an SOS and now the time has come. When the show returns, I’m assuming we’ll be seeing another Raf and Hope team-up as they rush to Landon’s aide, although I certainly don’t see Alaric letting Hope run off to New Orleans without a fight.

Odds & Ends

• Danielle Rose Russell was fantastic in this episode. She really was an excellent casting choice for the older version of Hope and it’s almost eerie how much she favors Joseph Morgan.
• Anybody else get Pretty Little Liars “A” flashbacks during that final scene with the gloved hands fiddling around on a computer?
• Hope and Alaric’s fight struck a chord with me. I think he is a father figure to Hope, whether she wants to accept that or not. Klaus was not part of her life, he wasn’t able to be. As sad as that is, Alaric has been there for her when she had no one else to turn to. I think he forgets, too, that Hope isn’t his daughter. Their relationship has become a vital one to the heart of the show.

What are your thoughts on the Necromancer, hope he sticks around or not so much? Any theories or predictions about what the real story of Landon’s mother may be, as hinted by the final scene? Now that the knife has been taken, what’s next? Hit the comments to let me know all your thoughts on the episode!

Legacies will return with new episodes, January 24, on the CW.