One of my favorite episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" spinoff "Legacies" is season two episode five, also known as "Screw Endgame."
Prior to this episode, no one remembers Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) as a side effect of when she was stuck inside a mud monster known as Malivore, which is a creature that makes people forget anything it has consumed.
But thanks to an incident involving dark magic in the fourth episode, Lizzie Saltzman (Jenny Boyd) now remembers who Hope is and decides to confront her about why she hasn't tried to make anyone else remember her. They then end up stuck in a labyrinth that simulates '80s video games.
Aside from the obvious fun that comes with the '80s video game theme, one reason why I love this episode is that it really highlights Hope and Lizzie's friendship. They're always a fun duo to see onscreen and the episode really shows how far their friendship has come since the previous season.
For most of season one, Hope and Lizzie were frenemies with an emphasis on enemies. But they've always had a back-and-forth chemistry and when they discovered that the foundation of their feud was based on a lie, their friendship really blossomed and made them even more of a dynamic duo.
That's really highlighted in "Screw Endgame" as they seem to pick up right where they left off while dealing with the dangers at hand.
In season one, Lizzie hated Hope so much that she briefly wished her out of existence. Literally. In "Screw Endgame," when they're presented with the choice of who should sacrifice themselves to free the other, Hope insists that Lizzie should be the one to go home while Lizzie insists the opposite.
While this is indicative of each girl's sense of self-worth with regard to Hope thinking everyone's been better off without her and Lizzie trying to avoid the merge, it also shows how much they each value the other's importance in their lives.
After they each emphasize the other's importance and Lizzie discovers that the choice is a trick, they work together to eliminate the minotaur, which is the labyrinth's biggest threat, and end up both being freed as a result.
Likewise, the subplot of the episode is that they're trying to get back to their school's '80s dance in time to stop Hope's boyfriend Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) from sleeping with Lizzie's sister Josie (Kaylee Bryant).
Lizzie even tries to encourage Hope that she and Landon are meant to be together even though she notoriously doesn't like Landon.
At the end of the day, Hope decides not to interfere, and she and Lizzie have a friendship moment where they say that they "don't exist for just one path" or "just one boy." And then they dance and try to have fun together.
Hope and Lizzie's friendship is my favorite part of the series, so seeing their development in this episode was a genuine delight. The only thing that might be able to top it is when their friendship is further emphasized in season four.
Seeing a strong female friendship is always a welcome sight, and Hope and Lizzie emphasize the best of that in this episode.
If you enjoy nothing else about "Legacies," I think you'll enjoy Hope and Lizzie's friendship. I know I do.
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