#Legacies Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Hold on Tight

For what was supposed to be the Legacies Season 2 finale, Legacies Season 3 Episode 4 was a bit of a disappointment.

With countless Malivore monsters roaming Mystic Falls, the stakes should have been higher. Ending with Landon supposedly dead felt like a copout.

If you watch Legacies online, you know Landon was once a phoenix but seemingly lost his abilities. But there’s no way they would kill off the character for good, not after he and Hope’s relationship went to the next level.

It’s almost like they want to put Hope through the wringer all over again. Much of her family died in her earlier years, hindering her happiness and giving her a stone-cold outlook on life.

She’s been worried sick about not being able to protect Landon should a disaster occur, and now that her worst fears are coming true, she’s probably going to struggle to love him again when he inevitably returns.

The unfortunate thing about all of the needless drama is that this was the first episode that Hope and Landon appeared to have the legs to stand on as a long-term couple.

Yes, they’ve overcome some things before, but there was a lot of development on the romance front. Hope will be driven to save her boyfriend on Legacies Season 3 Episode 5, but she’ll face an uphill battle without knowing what really happened.

My best theory is that Landon is not supposed to use the Malivore pit as a means of traveling between dimensions. Then again, Legacies’ mythology appears to be malleable, raising the stakes when it’s least expected.

Teen dramas like to throw relationships into question. We witnessed it more than any other CW drama with The Vampire Diaries, but I wish Legacies bucked that trend.

With Malivore in the prison world, he likely found a way to bring Landon back to the dimension he and Hope escaped.

But what is Malivore’s big plan? Does he want to bring death and destruction to the world, or does he have a bigger trick up his sleeve?

Another thing to consider is the prophecy. There was something about true love being the greatest danger of all, and given that Hope and Landon had sex for the first time mere moments before his death, could Malivore have made a stipulation that his son would die when he experienced true love?

On a side note, Legacies has completely and utterly destroyed the prison world side of the mythology. The Vampire Diaries excelled when it used them sparingly, but this spinoff uses them like they’re going out of fashion.

We got a lot of great material with the prison worlds on Legacies Season 2, and I appreciate bringing it back into the mix to cap off the season, but there were more creative ways to show a battle between different factions.

The Necromancer needs to stay dead this time. He was a different monster on Legacies Season 1, but he should never have returned. Given the subject matter, his personality didn’t fit with the rest of the show, and he made some dark scenes feel like they were ripped from Disney Channel.

The Sphinx already seeing Alaric’s death was concerning. We know someone was destined to die, at least according to the prophecy, but this could be a bigger hint at what’s to come.

Alaric has made questionable decisions, but his romance with Sheriff Mac is one of the show’s stronger aspects. It’s always nice when another character unassociated with the school gets to witness what is really going on in the world.

Alaric’s death would hardly be surprising when you consider the uprising from fans to get Matt Davis fired, but there seem to be many storylines remaining for the character, who has been on screen for almost 12 years.

Alaric giving Mac the option of remembering everything suggested that he finally trusts that she won’t tell anyone about what’s happening in town, but I don’t doubt Matt already clued her into what perils await everyone in the city.

Matt was the sheriff on Legacies Season 1, and he tussled with the evil forces in Mystic Falls for eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, so there’s no way he would leave the job without telling his successor what to look out for.

The biggest surprise was that Alyssa survived. We know the actress is set to lead Kung Fu’s reboot, so I suspect she will not be around much.

Alyssa’s change of heart and being saved by the twins was certainly surprising. She was wicked when she tricked MG on Legacies Season 3 Episode 3.

“Hold on Tight” had a decent story, but it was bogged down by poor execution. There should have been more peril than a fire-breathing zombie dragon that seemed a little too similar to the one from Game of Thrones.

What are your thoughts on Landon’s supposed death? Are you surprised Alyssa survived? What do you think the prophecy has to do with the developments?

Do you think Josie will leave Salvatore School for Mystic Falls?

Hit the comments.

Legacies continues Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.