It’s been almost ten months since Legacies Season 2 concluded, and it’s time to take a look towards Legacies Season 3, debuting January 21 on The CW.
For the most part, the series is fun, but there are many flaws that can make or break the enjoyment of most of the episodes.
Below, we’ve rounded up a bunch of quick fixes to bring the magic back to the show.
Move on From Malivore
When Legacies Season 1 launched in 2018, it quickly became clear the villain would be the strongest in sheer power vs. any creature that appeared on predecessors The Vampire Diaries or The Originals.
In theory, Malivore is strong, but the execution of the plot has left us questioning whether the series has the legs to stand on.
The monster of the week format mostly worked on the opening season, but the flaws started to appear quickly on Legacies Season 2.
The backstory for Landon was needed, but the pending battle between the Salvatore School and Malivore needs to play out sooner rather than later.
Much like the merge, Malivore is hanging over Legacies like a dark cloud, and only one of those plots has any semblance of excitement.
Knowing Malivore can effectively wipe characters from existence is cool and all, but it already happened with Hope on Legacies Season 1 Episode 16.
To keep having the black pit pop up feels like a disservice to the fans who want to see an actual progression in the plots.
We know it’s important in the sense that Landon is deeply tied to the plot, but it wouldn’t hurt to wrap this storyline up and move on to the next chapter.
Stop Forgetting About Characters
Legacies has a large and expansive cast, but not enough stories to serve all of the characters. Ahead of Legacies Season 3, Leo Howard and Ben Levin were upped to series regular.
Howard appeared as Ethan on a few episodes of Legacies Season 2, but the journey for the character didn’t completely fit in with the others.
Whether the series plans on making him a supernatural being or more pivotal to the plot, I don’t know, but it seems like a stretch to list him as a series regular this soon.
Levin, on the other hand, has been on the periphery during the first two seasons, and while it would be nice to learn more about Jed’s past, there are characters who have been series regulars for longer that get little to no screen time.
Rafael, who is supposed to be one half of the show’s Damon and Stefan or Klaus and Elijah, if you will, disappears for episodes at a time.
It feels like the writers wanted to replicate the success of the brothers from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, but in reality, they are struggling to serve the character with any meaningful plots.
M.G. and Kaleb are also used sparingly and feel like recurring players, as opposed to full-fledged series regulars.
It’s unfortunate, and I don’t doubt the writers and producers break the stories before the writing process begins. Would it be too much to ask them to give these characters meaningful plots instead of being shifted to the side?
Resolution About What Caroline Forbes is Actually Doing Away from her Kids
We know Candice King played the role of Caroline Forbes to perfection for eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, before appearing on some episodes of The Originals Season 5.
But we’re headed into Legacies Season 3, and it seems the actress is done playing the role. Almost 10 years is a long time, but it seems she is embarking on a new chapter away from the role that made her a household name.
I’ve already covered how Caroline needs to be killed off because keeping her character away from her kids as they are attacked relentlessly by monsters makes her look like a terrible mother.
However, I wouldn’t mind the role being recast at this stage if it allows the character to return. The Originals struck gold when it temporarily recast Claire Holt as Rebekah Mikaelson.
Maisie Richardson-Sellers was a delight as the long-suffering sister of Klaus.
If you watch Legacies online, you know Caroline is supposedly off finding a way to stop the looming merge between her daughters, but what if one of the girls dies and she realizes she never spent time with them?
Pick a Lane and Stay in It
Legacies is much lighter than the shows that came before it, but the constant genre-flipping is making the series difficult to watch.
Does it want to be a comedy? Does it want to be serious? Does it want to be a musical? I’m not sure, but it would be nice if the show picked a lane.
The series excels when it follows the serious plots that have consequences for the mythology. Anything else feels like an attempt to spread out the Malivore plot, which is growing very old.
It’s nice to have lighthearted scenes, but when we have light and fluffy episodes that zero in on them, only to follow them up with a serious episode that helps the show regains focus, it feels disjointed.
Okay, Legacies fanatics.
What are your thoughts on the series? Do you think it could benefit from any of these changes?
Hit the comments.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.