‘Legacies’ EP on Josie’s Trauma, Lizzie & MG’s Evolving Relationship & the Musical Episode

Legacies is without Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) when it kicks off its third season, and that’s not the only problem for the Super Squad.

After all, Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) won’t wake up either: Hope had traveled into Josie’s (Kaylee Bryant) subconscious when the other witch was consumed by dark magic, while he, as a phoenix, should’ve come back to life after being killed. But hey, at least Josie’s no longer pulling a Dark Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Here, executive producer Brett Matthews previews the Season 3 premiere and the upcoming musical episode.

How’s Josie dealing with her post-dark magic binge?

Brett Matthews: You’ll see that play out pretty directly. It’s obviously a hugely traumatic event in her life and now that it’s over and she’s more herself, she will have to reckon with the actions that she took during that chapter. When you’re faced with a trauma like that, can you resume normal? Can you just go back into your old role, or have you fundamentally changed and does that change the dynamics with her and Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) and Hope and all of her friends around her? That is definitely something you will see her wrestle with.

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How’s everyone else dealing with that?

The most surprising reaction is between her and Lizzie. As we open this season, first and foremost on everyone’s mind is dealing with the Hope of it all. That really is the question at the heart of the first episode because this show goes through Hope for us. Why won’t she wake up?

In terms of Josie, her relationship with Lizzie will be the one put the most to the test because they’ve always had a very crystal clear dynamic from the time they were little girls and that dynamic has shifted a little bit as a result of that [dark] chapter. Can they resume it or have they grown beyond it and it doesn’t quite fit anymore?

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Hope and Landon are both unconscious. Who will be easier to bring back?

That really is the problem of the first episode. It’ll be a challenge, but the show doesn’t exist without Hope. She will wake up and rejoin the squad, but what does the world look like on the other side of her doing that and what problems do they face? The Super Squad is down their leader, and that really is the plot of the episode: to see some of our supporting actors get to take center stage in an effort to resolve a problem without their star player.

What’s the Necromancer (Ben Geurens) up to? Any new tricks up his sleeves?

The Necromancer is a tricky guy. He always has an angle. Now that he has all the black magic in the world, it is going to be a problem for our characters and he will not be so easily dealt with.

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Lizzie and MG (Quincy Fouse) are growing closer. What are you exploring with those two this season?

That’s a relationship I really love. You will see Lizzie’s awakening to the person MG has always been and MG’s journey to being more of a leader within the squad and somebody who is not afraid to express his point of view. If those two things collide, does it bring them closer together? Does it drive them further apart? MG has an interesting individual development this season that will affect the relationship dynamic he has with Lizzie as the guy he’s always wanted to be with her. Is he growing into that role, or is his growth pushing him further away from her? He’s such a great guy and has always been her rock. Can she see him as more than that?

The musical episode is coming up. How is it honoring the franchise?

It really is. Julie [Plec] and I worked together on Vampire Diaries for so long, and that show just holds this very special place in our hearts. To go back and to revisit that world and those characters, that whole episode really is a love letter [to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals] brought to life by writer Thomas Brandon. To relive some of those storylines and characters that are the literal legacy behind Legacies was just the most fun ever. We’re lucky Legacies is a weird enough show to support us doing something like that.

(Annette Brown/The CW)

It’s hugely emotional in terms of the story it’s telling but also for us hugely emotional in just getting to revisit those characters. We were sending pictures to cast members from the old shows and seeing their reactions. It really was a beautiful walk down memory lane. This show would literally not exist without the other shows. It was fun to explore that connection onscreen.

What are the chances we’ll see actors from one of the other shows on Legacies this season?

We have a very open door policy when it comes to that. If any of the actors from our past ever called us and we had the right story, we’d do it in a second. There’s always a chance, and if any did, I wouldn’t want to spoil those things. If anybody’s dying to come back and dip a toe back into this universe, just tell them to call me.

Legacies, Season 3 Premiere, Thursday, January 21, 9/8c, The CW