After the success of “The Vampire Diaries” and its spinoff “The Originals,” The CW greenlighted a new spinoff following the supernatural, “Legacies.”
“Legacies” continues the story of Hope Mikaelson that was started in “The Originals,” as she deals with the aftermath of her parent’s death and comes to terms with her identity as the only “tribrid” in existence, the daughter of a vampire and werewolf, and granddaughter of a witch. She does all of this while living at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted, where the audience has the chance to see other familiar faces alongside some new ones.
Alaric Saltzman, a familiar character to fans of “The Vampire Diaries,” runs the school, while parenting his twin daughters Josie and Lizzie, powerful witches as well. The first episode also introduces viewers to other students at the school, such as new student Rafael, a werewolf who Hope and Alaric rescued from a disastrous first transformation. Milton, or M.G., is Josie’s best friend, and is Alaric’s aide and helps to keep the school’s supernatural students a secret from the outside world using his skills as a vampire. Landon Kirby is Rafael’s mysterious foster brother, who is hiding a secret from the ever-suspicious Hope.
“The Vampire Diaries” tried its best to be a teen drama of sorts, but mostly failed in maintaining that aspect of the show. “Legacies” is following in its footsteps, but is on much firmer footing in the teen drama department as the stories are confined to the school and its students, and the hope is that it will continue that pattern. The show is already proving to be invested in the stories of the characters, as we learn in the first episode about breakups, betrayals and that at least one of the main characters is bisexual.
“Legacies” diverges from its parent shows in some ways, particularly in the episode format. While “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals” tended to follow story arcs all the way through a season with each episode being about that arc, “Legacies” is playing much more to a “villain of the week” format, with each episode still having something to do with a larger arc, but still standing alone in the series.
The one downside to “Legacies” is that it is definitely meant to appeal to a teenage audience, while “The Originals” and even “The Vampire Diaries” in later seasons appealed to both younger and more adult audiences. Older fans may not find as much enjoyment in this series as in the former two.
Overall, the series is off to a solid start, with strong foundations laid for character arcs, an already interesting storyline for the season and compelling drama that will keep audiences tuning in.
