Legacies - Let's Just Finish the Dance

The Miss Mystic Falls Pageant will bring Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) and Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) closer together as Lizzie coaches the Tribrid to win the pageant (which nearly ends in a Carrie-level meltdown), but events surrounding the night will fracture several other relationships. Penelope (Lulu Antariksa) leaves the school, but not before breaking Josie's (Kaylee Bryant) heart one more time, and creating chaos by disrupting the relationships between Hope and (Peyton Alex Smith) and Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) by informing Landon about what Hope has been keeping from him and continuing her efforts to drive a wedge between the Saltzman sisters.

While the set-up offers the idea of a fluffy mid-season episode, there's actually quite a bit happening here as several characters are put through the emotional wringer. For the second episode in a row we see Hope struggle to contain her power when under emotional stress, this isn't likely to be helped by the disappearance of Landon. Penelope departs the show before being developed beyond a trickster, but her final moments with Josie do show genuine emotion for her ex-girlfriend. However, you have to wonder about the motivations of the young woman who manages to drive a wedge between Hope and Landon and lays another seed of doubt in Josie's mind about her family (just what will this magical journal reveal?).

Other items of interest include the return of MG's mother (Erica Ash), who it turns out has been working for Triad Industries this entire time, and Roman Sienna (Jedidiah Goodacre) whose arrival puts Landon on edge long before Penelope spills the beans about the secret Hope has been keeping from him. "Let's Just Finish the Dance" also offers a short-term love interest for MG (Quincy Fouse) in the arrival of a Gorgon (Joi Liaye), who unfortunately for the struggling vampire is also working for Triad Industries. Captured and imprisoned, we never learn her fate so I guess there's still the possibility that she could be rehabilitated and join the school.