From the arrival of Nimue to the departure of Rafael, the third season of Legacies is full of surprises, although none were as lyrical as the jaw drippers thrown at us on Thursday’s episode, with the highly anticipated debut appearance of Salvatore: The Musical.
Under the bright lights of the Salvatore School auditorium, Josie, Kaleb, Jed and Lizzie – as Elena, Damon, Stefan and Caroline respectively – told the story of the establishment of the institution, with several iconic beats from The diary of vampires in the process: Stefan and Elena’s first meeting, Stefan and Damon’s dramatic reunion, Elena’s eternal back and forth between the brothers, the seemingly endless parade of doppeliders, and Klaus’ (played by this week’s intruding monster!) multi-figure donation To the school.
Speaking of Klaus, we even got a surprise performance of “Always and Forever” from Hope, who spent most of the episode collecting against the depiction of her family through the musical. (But more on that later.)
Of course, there was no more surprise, well, surprising than the letter Lizzie received from Caroline, especially as it was read in a voiceover by none other than Candice King (aka Caroline Forbes), making her first official ‘appearance. ‘marked up Legacies. (Click here for our gallery of each crossover in the Vampire Diaries universe, which is now updated with this episode.)
And in case you missed any of the letter, here are Caroline’s full words: “Dear Lizzie, hopefully this can give you some perspective on who I was. When I was your age I remember feeling like a total mess, like I was waiting to become a better version of myself so my real life could begin. But it didn’t turn into a vampire that changed everything. Change is a sequence of small moments that build on each other, like a staircase on the side of a mountain. Your life will only wait when you have figured out everything. It’s already happening. You are already changing, moment to moment. And Elizabeth, there is nothing wrong with you. Your brain chemistry presents unique challenges for you, but you are not broken. You grow and change every day, and it is beautiful to see. “
Below, executive producer Julie Plec addresses some of TVLine’s burning questions from the episode:
TVLINE | If there was a musical about my life, and I still lived in the city, I’d love to be there. Can we imagine Damon and Elena politely declining their invitation?
[Laughs] Let’s imagine they couldn’t find a babysitter.
TVLINE | We finally got Caroline to this stage, even if it was just a vocal cameo. What was the question there?
As you know, Candice is a good friend of mine and Brett’s, and she has a soft spot in her heart for this show. She has said over the years that she will show up one day, but after that she wanted a break The diary of vampires and The originals. She wanted to live a non-Caroline Forbes life for a while. But she has always said, “If you never need anything small or simple, let me know.” So I just texted and she said, “Absolutely.” And then nine months passed before we really needed her to do it because of the COVID shutdown.
TVLINE | Hope the singing was a nice surprise at the end. How did I not know she could sing?
There are some actors who are very gifted at singing, who may even have a theater background, but just don’t like to sing anymore. They just don’t enjoy it, or they don’t want to combine [singing and acting]. When we did the talent show, Danielle [Rose Russell] was like, “No. Hope has no talent to share with anyone.” But when we got to this episode, she said, “So, Brett, you know I’m singing …” And he said, “Oh, really?” It was written in such a way that it came from a place where her character spent a moment she had, and it happened to be in song. That’s what worked for me. And I cry every time.
TVLINE | While talking about the music, who do we give the credit to?
This was a collaboration between Thomas Brandon, the writer of the episode, who also wrote Josie and Landon’s songs from the talent show. He’s our little secret weapon for musical stuff. But since we did a lot more songs than in the talent show, I asked him if he wanted to find a partner to do some of the heavy lifting. I reached out to my friend Michael Gracey, who was directing The greatest showman and spent years developing those songs with [Benj] Pasek and [Justin] Paul. Every time he entered the city and passed my house, I heard several demo versions for years. So I knew he had a talent for that. I was like, “You know someone who’s not as famous as Pasek and Paul yet?” He said, “In fact, I just did a project with that guy Chris Read in London, and I think he’s the next Pasek and Paul.” So I said, “Send him my way,” and he did, and it turned into a really great partnership. … I also have to give a shout-out to our incredible choreographer Rhonda Kohl. She had the idea for that tango.
TVLINE | How familiar was Chris with this universe? The songs all felt very true to that spirit.
Chris had never seen it before, so he had to eat quickly. But because he did that, his head was very fresh and it hit all the right notes.
TVLINE | This whole experience, which returns to where it all began eleven years ago, must have been cathartic.
I think so. You have a whole host of people working on this squad, some of them who have been with us ever since The diary of vampires and The originals. So there was a lot of nice nostalgia for them. And you also have people who are new, who might have been fans and viewers of the show in the past, so they had to bring their own perspective into it. One of the reasons it works so well is because Thomas wrote from a fan’s perspective, without writing on it [the original show]. He could be the social media fan and make fun of us in a way that we might not have been able to poke at ourselves.
TVLINE | Finally, on that last turn, what’s next after Alyssa’s apparent betrayal of MG?
Nothing good follows. Next week’s episode was written to be the Season 2 finale, so all the little character things highlighted in the musical episode begin the finale. There are betrayals, tragedies, revelations. Next week is actually a pretty big episode for all characters, and then we’re essentially launching a new chapter.
BONUS BOX | We also talked to Kaylee Bryant about Josie’s kiss with Jade. This is what she says about that relationship: Josie isn’t exactly the fastest with things. She has to learn a lesson before making a big leap, and Jade was a huge lesson to her. She said openly, “This place is not right for me.” Josie has felt that way for a while. She gave up her magic after really struggling with an addiction to it. And now she lives in one place surrounded through magic. It’s all she’s ever known, so hearing someone say they’re removing themselves from an unhealthy environment is something Josie should definitely hear. This is what really sets her in motion in taking the necessary steps to take care of herself.
What have you thought about? Salvatore: The Musical? Are there any favorite throwback references? And what about that Caroline “cameo”? Rate the episode below leave a comment with your full review.