Hope is in New Orleans, enjoying a beignet, when she comes cross Cleo. Cleo says she just wants to talk, but Hope guesses that the rest of the Super Squad is lurking around in case they need to fight. “This looks like the worst album cover of all time,” she comments as they show themselves. They must not have gotten her message; maybe it was too subtle.
Josie says that as angry as she is about what Hope did to Alaric, they’re there to help. Hope snarks that Josie should have been able to come up with something more interesting during the hours it took the Super Squad to get there. They also shouldn’t have brought along Kaleb the traitor. M.G. tells Kaleb not to let her get to him; she’s just trying to provoke them. Hope vamps out and says the Squad should have stayed hidden. Cleo calmly tries to talk her down, but Hope thinks violence is what’s best here. She uses magic to knock everyone down, stakes Kaleb and M.G., freezes Cleo, and rips out Jed’s heart.
Ethan turns himself invisible and runs, but Hope can hear him. She picks up a manhole cover and Frisbees it at him, decapitating him. Josie tries to knock her out with a sleep spell, but that must not work on Hope anymore. She snaps Josie’s neck, leaving herself with just Cleo as an opponent. Hope wonders why Cleo hasn’t told the others about the weapon she knows of that can kill Hope. Then she lights Cleo on fire.
It was all a simulation, a scenario presented by the therapy box so the Super Squad could test possible outcomes. Josie asks Cleo what happened after they all died. “The usual,” Cleo replies. Josie assures her that they’ll figure out a way to take down Hope.
The teens go to class, still talking about the scenario. Jed wonders if it’s weird that he would rather be decapitated than have his heart ripped out. Wade gets it – Hope stabbed him in the eye once, and that kind of fake pain sticks with you. They want to try again, but they need to figure out what’s missing and preventing them from being successful. Kaleb says they need a leader. “Final Destination New Orleans” showed them what will happen if Hope comes back to the school and they don’t have one.
Ethan asks if Hope would actually kill them. Everyone’s startled because he’s invisible and they didn’t know he was there. He’s been practicing his new powers and has found that it’s easier to turn invisible than to make himself visible again. Also, people keep sitting on him. Kaleb notes that this is one of their problems – they don’t know how to use their powers. They need to stop running simulations and focus on training.
Lizzie’s skipping class, playing the “my father is in a coma” card. She wanted to go over spells with Josie to see what they can do for Alaric, but Josie’s more focused on getting through to Hope. Alaric wouldn’t want them to give up on her. Plus, she could heal him. Josie is willing to put aside her anger to help her father. Lizzie isn’t, and she’ll do what she can for him whether Josie works with her or not. While looking through some books, Lizzie inadvertently opens a secret hiding space in Alaric’s office and finds one of his old journals. Inside is a serious-looking spell with skulls on it.
In limbo, Landon and Ted have just met up, and Ted is trying to convince Landon that they’re really in limbo with the real Ferryman. He controls whether or not they can travel across the water to peace. Landon asks why Ted hasn’t gone there yet. “Apparently some of my questionable life choices preclude me from receiving that particular award,” Ted says. It’s probably all the killing. Landon’s relieved that he can’t scheme himself out of everything. He’s ready to hop on the boat and go to peace, but the Ferryman won’t let him pass.
Cleo and Finch are both in the library, one doing research and one keeping an eye on a running locator spell Josie’s using to track Hope. Finch doesn’t know why they’re looking for her when she obviously doesn’t want to be found. Cleo says that everyone has someone they’d go to “extraordinary lengths” for. Finch sees that she’s looking through a book about trees and comments that she just saw the one on Cleo’s current page. It’s in the garden and has bright red leaves. Cleo repays her for helping by figuring out that Hope’s trail from the tracking spell is a big smiley face with Xs for eyes. Seems a certain tribrid knew she was being watched and wanted to show her disapproval.
Speaking of people who have been off the Super Squad’s radar, Clarke– sorry, Ryan – is in Fayetteville, Georgia. He’s dating someone named Trudy, who’s very excited that they’re celebrating their two-week anniversary. To put things in perspective, Ryan only left Mystic Falls about two weeks ago. Trudy wants to give him a key to her house so he can start spending the night more often. Everything seems wonderful and normal and, all in all, like the ideal human life Ryan has always wanted. So it’s understandable that he’s not thrilled when Hope shows up at the door.
She asks to be invited in, which is Ryan’s first hint that something’s off. Trudy’s happy to meet Ryan’s brother’s ex, and she invites Hope in without hesitation. Alone with Ryan, Hope correctly pegs the situation as Stepford Wife-y. Apparently Trudy said they shouldn’t waste time if they both know what they want. Hope is skeptical that this is actually what Ryan wants.
What he definitely wants is for her to leave. Trudy doesn’t know anything about his past. Hope tells him she’s looking for the bloodlines of the witch, vampire, and werewolf who created Malivore. P.S. Landon and Malivore are both dead, so Ryan is now an orphan and an only child. Hey, so is Hope! They should start a club! Trudy brings them coffee, then leaves. Hope comments that she’s very domestic.
It’s pretty clear to Ryan that Hope is the tribrid now, and he guesses that something big and scary is coming. He doesn’t want any involvement. She threatens to kill Trudy if he doesn’t help her. That makes Ryan realize that Hope’s humanity is off. When Trudy comes back in, Hope pretends to want to admire her necklace so she can show Ryan how easy it would be for her to bite Trudy’s neck. Ryan gives in.
He points Hope toward Triad’s data facility, which would contain any records they may have about the original bloodlines. She invites him to go with her, but he has a job and a relationship. “I don’t have time for supernatural hijinks anymore,” he says. There’s always time for supernatural hijinks, Ryan! Hope heads off, leaving Ryan behind with his girlfriend who is somehow even scarier than Hope.
Josie gets off the phone with Freya, who told her that Hope has cut herself off from her family. Josie tells Finch that she needs to think like Alaric, since he would know what to do. Finch encourages her to take a break, but Josie notes that the last time she did that, she woke up to find out that her father was in a coma. Finch decides to give her some space.
Ted follows Landon through the woods as he resigns himself to finding another way out of limbo. Ted tells him that the Ferryman’s boat is the only way. They need coins to get on. Landon guesses that Ted knows where to get those coins, so Landon will have to trust him, and Ted will inevitably screw him over at the last minute. Ted swears that he doesn’t know where the coins are. All he knows is that good people have them and bad people don’t. Landon notes that he’s not a bad person, so where’s his coin?
Ted really wants Landon to trust him. He promises that he won’t go to peace without Landon. A man in old-fashioned clothes appears and says that Landon should trust Theodore. He was the best, smartest, and most compassionate person this man, Oscar, ever knew. Ted’s like, “Yeah, listen to this guy!”
Lizzie finds Cleo at the tree she, Hope, and Josie made. It’s gone from a sapling to a full-grown tree in just days. Lizzie asks Cleo to help her translate the spell she found in Alaric’s secret hiding spot. She thinks it’s a resurrection spell. Cleo says it would require more than Lizzie should be willing to do. It’ll require a human sacrifice.
Ryan goes to work at an insurance company, which…wow, you gave up supernatural hijinks for this? Trudy comes in crying – Hope told her that he cheated on her and is a conman pretending to be someone he isn’t. She said that Ryan is after Trudy’s father’s money (her father being Ryan’s employer). Ryan gets fired, which means he’s now free to join Hope on her road trip.
In the car, he leaves a message for Trudy begging her to talk to him. Hope calls out to him in the background, telling him to come back to bed. He’s eager to fix his relationship, but she doesn’t think he should want to be the person he’s become. He’s going to end up with kids who hate him, a mortgage he can’t afford, a wife who wants to keep tabs on him 24/7, and a job he can never leave because he works for his father-in-law. Ahh, the American dream. Really, Hope did Ryan a favor. Trudy finally answers one of his calls, so Hope throws his phone out the car window. She assures him that being Clarke is better than being Ryan.
The Super Squad starts some training exercises, which basically consist of Josie firing lightning at Kaleb, Jed, Ethan, and Wade while they hide behind bales of hay. “Wade, you’re dead – walk it off,” M.G. tells him when he gets zapped. Jed suggests that Kaleb use his vamp speed to get the rest of them past the lightning, but Kaleb thinks he can get through the barriers by himself. He does, reaching a scarecrow dressed like Hope, but Jed gets “killed” in the process. Also, there’s a hidden mechanism that fires multiple (fake) stakes at Kaleb, so he “dies,” too.
While Kaleb argues with M.G. over whether the stakes actually hit his heart, Jed tells Ethan to teleport behind the Hope scarecrow. Ethan tries, but he accidentally knocks into Kaleb. Kaleb tells him to get off the field if he can’t control his powers. Jed defends him, saying he’s at least trying to use his new powers. When Kaleb betrayed the squad for Malivore, Jed hoped he at least got something cool out of it. I guess Kaleb didn’t tell anyone he’s part dragon. That makes it all the more shocking when the guys start shoving each other and Kaleb lets out a blast of fire. Josie suggests that they take five. “Days?” M.G. asks. “Weeks,” she replies. Cleo arrives to inform Josie that they may have a Lizzie issue.
Oscar tells Landon that Ted talked him into using dark magic, supposedly for good. Oscar was Ted’s first acolyte. Then he got sacrificed so Ted could reach his full potential as the Necromancer. “So you were the first Chad,” Landon clarifies. Ted tells Oscar not to listen to Landon; his brain is messed up because of how many times he’s died and resurrected. Oscar’s sure that Ted is the one who figured out how to bring him back. Ted says he might have helped a little.
Landon asks if Oscar is really cool with the fact that Ted killed him to get more power. Oscar is, because Ted promised to bring him back, along with his girlfriend and some other people. It was a small sacrifice for world-changing power. Ted changes the subject, surprised that Oscar hasn’t moved on to peace. Oscar hasn’t been able to get a coin, but it’s okay because he wanted to see how things turned out. Also, there was always the chance that Ted would resurrect him. He eventually accepted that things went wrong, but Ted shouldn’t feel bad about that. Landon announces that he might know how to get a coin.
Josie confronts Lizzie for wanting to kill someone to save Alaric. Lizzie thinks it would be okay to kill someone who’s already dying, especially since their death would save a life. Josie tells her that Alaric wouldn’t want to come back like that. Lizzie replies that he has a bunch of similar spells from a time in his life when “there was no such thing as too far.” Josie warns that the squad is outside, waiting to stop her from leaving. Lizzie already has a plan, though. She puts on Ryan’s illusion ring to make herself look like Josie, then knocks the real Josie out with a sleep spell.
Hope and Ryan arrive at the Triad facility, where he advises her not to draw any attention to them. Instead, she pulls the fire alarm, guessing she’ll trigger a trap the original Triad members laid for her. Well, yes, if by “trap” you mean “a couple of goons Hope easily takes out.” Ryan even helps, making Hope think he’s enjoying himself.
Ted tells Oscar that, according to Landon and his knowledge of ghost stories, Oscar is stuck in limbo because the two of them have unfinished business. Ted wants him to know the truth so he can move forward: Ted got the power he needed from sacrificing Oscar, but he didn’t use it to resurrect anyone. He just wanted it for himself. Oscar’s hurt that Ted used him, knowing that he was a good person who would do anything for someone he loved.
Ted apologizes, but Oscar thinks he just wants to be forgiven so he can move on to peace. Ted’s just using him again. Actually, Ted thinks the truth will set Oscar free. And it wasn’t all fake – he did love Oscar and admire his friendship. He hopes Oscar will forgive him not for his sake but so Oscar won’t miss out on a chance at peace. Oscar nods to indicate that he’s forgiven, and a coin appears in his hand.
M.G. approaches Kaleb to tell him he’s right about the squad needing leaders. It’s just that Kaleb can’t be one of them. The squad doesn’t trust him. Kaleb says he did what he did for Cleo, but M.G. reminds him that it didn’t work. Josie saved Cleo with help from the squad. M.G. thinks Kaleb’s been so hard on himself lately because he’s trying to fix his mistake. But he can’t take it out on the squad – he has to earn back their trust. In the meantime, he’s benched.
Josie joins them, telling them that Lizzie knocked her out and is probably on her way to do the resurrection spell. Kaleb gives M.G. his car keys so he and Josie can go after her. At the hospital, Lizzie disguises herself as a nurse so she can select a patient for the sacrifice, a man who has no chance of recovering.
Back at Triad, Hope and Ryan come across the next trap: an argus patrolling a maze of desks and file cabinets. Hope says that normally she’d take it out on her own, but she wants to use Ryan as bait. It can be like his final exam, where he’ll find out if he’s Ryan or Clarke. She pushes him into the argus’ domain.
Lizzie starts her spell, which makes her sacrifice start to flatline. She gets interrupted by the man’s daughter, who raced to the hospital to say goodbye before he dies. Ryan hides from the argus, which chases him into a dead end. Fortunately, it’s held back by the chain that keeps it restrained. Hope’s bored, so she threatens to cut through the chain with a sword. “Who’s it gonna be, Ryan or Clarke?” she asks. Ryan breaks a nearby broom and is ready to fight the argus when Hope cuts through the chain. But some sound off in the distance summons the argus away, and Ryan is left unharmed. Hope is disappointed that they might never find out which guy he is.
Josie, M.G., Ethan, and Jed head to the hospital, where Josie finds Lizzie leaving Alaric’s room. Lizzie admits that she almost went through with the spell. She stopped when the man’s daughter arrived. She thought she knew the right thing to do, but Alaric is always the one she talks to about that. Without him, she doesn’t know what to do. It’s like everything’s on pause. She doesn’t know how long she can wait for Alaric to wake up, and she can’t promise that she won’t do something worse tomorrow. She thinks she needs help.
“This time will be different,” Cleo vows as she faces Hope in another simulation, this time holding a stake. She had a vision of a tree and now knows what it means. “I should have known nature would create balance near the site of the tribrid’s birth,” she says. Hope notes that Cleo came alone, which means she must not have told anyone about “that fancy toothpick.” Cleo won’t until she’s sure it works.
Hope comments that Cleo loves trying to kill her. “Honestly, same,” she says. Cleo makes herself disappear as Hope reaches for her. She reappears behind Hope and stakes her from behind. Hope turns to ashes and embers, just like Klaus and Elijah did. Cleo emerges from the simulation as Josie and Lizzie come to the gym. She doesn’t tell them she just confirmed that wood from the tree they grew, a red oak, can kill Hope.
Ryan and Hope return to Trudy’s, where she’s left his stuff outside for him. Hope can’t believe that he’s going to go back to her when he’s finally free. She thought she’d convinced him how horrible it is to be human. Ryan gets that it sucks, but it’s what he’s always wanted. He wishes he were more like Trudy. Hope can make fun of his new life but it’s more than he’s ever had.
She says it’s pathetic, which Ryan tells her is what he was thinking about her. He used to be jealous of her and the Super Squad for having a home and each other. Hope was dumb to throw it all away. She claims not to care what he thinks, but Ryan believes she does. She didn’t compel him to come with her – she wanted him to make the same choice she did. He’s not the person she was really trying to convince. That means that some part of her knows what she’s doing is wrong. She should go home before she does something she can’t come back from.
Kaleb is tidying up Alaric’s office when Jed comes to let him know that they got to Lizzie before she did the spell. Kaleb isn’t surprised, and this confirms for him that M.G. should be leading the squad. He knew that as soon as M.G. had the guts to bench him. The guys apologize for their issues, and Kaleb says he has some things to work out. He pours them some of Alaric’s bourbon as Jed assures him that he’ll get control of his new powers. Maybe they can train together.
Ryan calls to tell Kaleb that there’s a monster on the loose that’s acting weird. He saw it off Route 50. With this, he promises Trudy, his past life is completely behind him. She doesn’t want him to keep any more secrets. He swears he won’t, and he’ll find a way to make today up to her. All Trudy wants is to learn more about vampires.
Jed asks who was on the phone, and Kaleb says it was a wrong number. He declines Jed’s offer to train together, then heads off alone.
Finch goes to Twin Turret, where Josie is alone, since Lizzie went in the therapy box without her. Finch thinks that’s good, since there are some problems that other people can’t fix for you. Josie confides that there was a moment when she thought Lizzie had done the spell, and she was glad. She would have gotten Alaric back and wouldn’t have to figure things out alone. Now Lizzie’s gone, too, and Josie doesn’t know what to do. Finch notes that she never has this problem. With Lizzie around, there’s never room for Josie to be messed up. Finch cuddles with Josie, telling her that she can be however she needs to be: “The world’s not going to fall apart if Josie Saltzman breaks down for a bit.”
Oscar goes off to peace, and Ted comments that he deserves it more than Ted does. That selflessness earns him his own coin. He wants to keep his promise not to go to peace without Landon, so he gives Landon the coin. That second act of selflessness earns him a second coin. “I knew it! Self-sacrifice is always the blood answer,” Ted says. “I win at last, Ferryman!” He cackles like the Necromancer, then apologizes to Landon, saying he’s a work in progress.
“Aren’t we all,” says a familiar voice. Despite not being dead, Alaric is somehow in limbo. “You got room for a third?” he asks.
Etc.: So…no one’s in charge of the school while Alaric’s out of commission? There’s one teacher and she appears to disappear after class. I’m surprised the kids are going to class at all. Caroline, get your butt back from Europe and assert some authority.
If Lizzie had been in limbo with Landon, she definitely would have made a “you shall not pass” joke about the Ferryman not letting Landon go to peace.
Cleo: “Based on your joke, I take it Ohio is a place of great despair.” Finch: “Just until you leave.” I bet that was an inside joke toward someone on the show.
Finch seemed kind of anti-social when she first came on the show, but starting when she toured the Salvatore School through her conversation with Cleo, she’s proven to be very friendly and well-liked. She just needed to find her people.
Hope kills one of the goons by jumping on his shoulders and snapping his neck with her legs, which I like to think is a nod to Aya.
I’m disappointed that we never get any follow-up on Trudy. Feels like a missed opportunity.
This is also the last time we see Ryan, so make up your own ideas of how his life turns out.
An Eternity of Misery 