Cassie Callis

I'm disappointed with Legacies, honestly. The Originals could have had a better ending. It is frustrating that the great immortal Klaus dies—a very predictable plot twist, by the way—and it set Hope up, in many ways, to be the new Elena. The 'I'm so mopey, misunderstood teenager' that we all knew and loved. I did like Elena, but season one Elena was fairly annoying, but what annoys me more with this trope is that they've now used it twice in TVD universe. Can they not find a way to make Hope more original? Despite that, Hope is a good character. Danielle Rose Russell does a fantastic job of portraying a strong female character, if only a little damaged by her traumatic childhood. Unlike Elena, she didn't need a guy to save her though; Landon is just a nice addition and supports her. What I like about the show: the diversity and cast in general. We aren't in the age of an all-white vampire cast anymore, thank God! Bonnie and Marcel were great—my two favorite characters, honestly—but this universe needed a more diverse cast. Fortunately, they got it with this one, and these new actors are sure to impress. This cast seems to have more natural chemistry than the first two, but that could also be because they allow more joking and less drama with this one. Some of the characters border on too unrealistic to me, with their personalities over-the-top at times to make the audience like and remember them, but I'm willing to overlook those moments when the whole is much better. They don't shy away from one-liners about feminism or sexuality either; I wouldn't be surprised to find a non-binary character in the future. What I don't like: the maturity. In all fairness to Julie Plec and the writers, the characters act how you'd expect them to act when they've grown up as/around supernatural beings, with a touch of humor and a little over-the-top drama. Does that mean it doesn't annoy me, though? Absolutely not. TVD wasn't perfect by any means, but the characters were in high school with a certain maturity level. Granted, they were a little too mature and melodramatic about everything, especially in earlier seasons, but The Originals was rightfully more mature. In both shows, everything was life or death all the time. That could be exhausting, especially in TVD, but they now treat everything as life or death in Legacies when it isn't. *Spoiler* Let's take a look at Raphael getting sent into a prison world. Why not just kill him? Why leave him alive if he can't come back? I hate shows that act like the characters are going to die constantly if they never will, like just make up your mind! It's too childish to give the same hooks and cliffhangers that TVD and The Originals did if you aren't going to follow through with the killing sometimes. I was expecting the maturity to progress, but it backtracked in a much worse way. Also, the aesthetic reminds me of Riverdale, and while that show is popular, it's not for good reasons. They really should back away from becoming Riverdale, but I'm not sure if it isn't too late already. The pacing could be better too; they spend one episode in the beginning of season three talking about pulling out Excalibur rather than just doing it, and if they really tried, they could have gotten rid of The Necromancer a long time ago but have kept him around for no reason. I love the characterization for the most part, but they really need to focus more on fixing the pacing.