WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Legacies Season 3, Episode 3, "Salvatore: The Musical," which aired Thursday on The CW.
As the third show in The Vampire Diaries franchise, Legacies boast quite a -- ahem -- legacy (sorry). And in the latest episode, the series pays homage to those roots by having the students of the Salvatore School look back at the story told on its parent shows through their performance of the original musical "Salvatore: The Musical." Of course, several of the students at the school, have direct familial connections to the characters in the musical, which makes it the perfect excuse for bringing back two beloved characters from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals -- but this isn’t done the way fans may expect.
That the episode will deal with some of the main character’s parents is introduced early as Hope remembers an incident from the previous day when she overhears other students discussing her father, Klaus, in the library. They laugh as they gossip about Klaus’ murderous tendencies, and in response, Hope magically shorts out the lights and blows books off the shelves as she stalks out of the library. Of course, part of the reason for the magical mayhem is that she and Landon are on the outs after the revelation from the previous episode that Landon has lost his phoenix powers and is now mortal.
Things only get worse, though, when Hope learns Landon’s in charge of putting on the school musical. Since she knew the people involved in the story, Landon asks for Hope’s help writing it but she flatly refusing, demanding he leave her family out of it. A situation Landon only makes worse when he uses a letter Klaus wrote to Hope as lyrics for the musical’s final song.
Meanwhile, Lizzie apparently has no problem having her family as characters in the musical because she insists that she be cast as Caroline, pointing out that no one knows her mother better than her. Later, though, her uncertainty about taking on the role is revealed when she’s called on to rehearse her solo and runs out of the room before she can sing. Lizzie confesses to Josie that she's afraid can’t live up to Caroline, who she sees as perfect. She believes Caroline became a vampire and everything just fell into place for her, and Lizzie doesn’t think she’ll ever have a similar experience.
Later, the mysterious new guidance counselor, Dr. Goodfellow, talks himself into the role of Klaus, and in a touching scene during the musical speaks to a child standing in for Hope about being special and carrying on the family legacy as the real Hope watches from the wings. Hope was determined to avoid the musical after her arguments with Landon, but when a letter magically comes for Lizzie, she decides to deliver it to her. She arrives backstage just in time to see this depiction of her father, which completely contrasts to that of the mass murderer mentioned at the beginning of the episode.
After the scene, Hope tells Dr. Goodfellow that he perfectly captured how her father used to talk to her. Dr. Goodfellow says he met Klaus once and found him to be "an exceptional conversationalist." This prompts Hope to ask him something she hopes he can respond to as her father would: Is she the person he’d want her to be? Dr. Goodfellow tells Hope she’s too hard on herself, that feeling pain and loss isn’t a failure but a sign that she’s opened her heart despite the risks. He then hands Hope the music to the final song that Landon wrote based on her father’s letter.
Meanwhile, after reading her mother’s letter, Lizzie is able to confidently perform Caroline’s final goodbye to Stefan in the musical. This is followed by Hope taking over Josie’s role as Elena (after Josie’s arm is broken) to sing the show's final song, something she becomes willing to do after Dr. Goodfellow channels her father with his words of wisdom.
For both Hope and Lizzie, the messages from their parents, however indirectly, bring their parents back just long enough to enable them to feel positively about the way they are currently living their lives. Believing that both Klaus and Caroline are proud of their respective daughters, gives them both the boost to let go of their deepest fears.
Later, Lizzie re-reads her mother’s letter and there’s a long-awaited appearance by Caroline herself, Candice King, if only in voiceover. The letter informs Lizzie that growing up is a process, there’s no one moment in which everything clicks, and while Lizzie has her challenges, she’s changing and growing just like Caroline was when she was Lizzie's age. While it wasn't the guest spots from Klaus and Caroline fans were hoping for, it's still nice that the episode enabled Hope and Lizzie's parents to speak with them in some way, and it was especially nice to hear King's voice after a long absence.
Legacies stars Danielle Rose Russell, Jenny Boyd, Kaylee Bryant, Quincy Fouse, Aria Shahghasemi, Peyton Alex Smith, Matt Davis, Chris Lee, Ben Levin and Leo Howard. New episodes air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.