Mombie Dearest

Plot
In the Salvatore School, a woman wearing a wedding dress walks through the halls, her face is concealed by the sunlight, but she is wearing a pearl bracelet and an engagement ring. In his office, Alaric is on the phone with Caroline, he tells her that he will struggle to tell the girls that she will not be present at their sixteenth birthday, but he is interrupted when the woman from earlier enters his office. It is revealed to be Josette Laughlin, Alaric's ex-fiancé, which shocks him, causing him to end the call with Caroline. He shouts for Dorian, clearly confused by the situation, and raises his crossbow, believing her to be another supernatural creature coming for the knife. Jo pleads with Alaric to put down the crossbow, and explains to Dorian that the woman standing before them is the love of his life. Dorian is shocked at the situation, and Alaric suggests that they kill her before she attacks, but Dorian suggests that they should question her.

In the Grand Hall, Rafael and the werewolves prepare for Josie and Lizzie's sixteenth birthday. Hope enters and apologizes for sending Landon away, but explains that she believes it to be for his own good. Rafael scoffs at this, remarking that she has not known him long enough to know what is good for him.

In their room, Lizzie wishes Josie happy birthday, and reveals that she had sex with Rafael the previous night and is happy their mother is returning for their big day. Their moods are spoiled, however, when Penelope Park breaks the news that Caroline is in fact, not attending their party — something she takes great pleasure in, pretending that she thought the two knew.Emma has sealed Alaric's office with a boundary spell to keep Jo out of sight for the meantime. She questions if Alaric is sure that she cannot do magic, and Alaric admits that she couldn't before she died so probably cannot now. Jo reveals that the last thing she remembers is being killed by her psycho brother, which Alaric reveals to have taken place sixteen years ago. Lizzie and Josie siphon the boundary spell and enter angry at Alaric, before finally realizing that the woman standing before them is in fact their biological mother. Jo is equally surprised at the situation, before Alaric reveals that the Gemini Coven used magic to plant the twins in Caroline.

Hope is just about done helping Rafael with the set-up, when he questions how she knows how to plan a party. Hope reveals that parties are her Rebekah aunts specialty. She shows Rafael the proper etiquette for descending the stairs, remarking that things will get rough as Lizzie has been planning for the night her entire life. Meanwhile, Penelope tells MG that she will keep Rafael occupied for a while to allow MG to seize the opportunity with Lizzie.

In his office, Alaric, Lizzie and Josie use the truth-orb to question Jo. She passes all of the questions, proving she is not their next monster, and even reveals some of her history with Alaric, much to Josie's delight. Josie and Lizzie leave to get ready for their party, but tell Jo they will return later if she is still around — this upsets Jo, who is unaware of how much time she has back.

In the library, Dorian, Emma and Alaric investigate what Jo could possibly want, or what she could possibly be. Alaric reveals that she knows things only the real Jo would know, and Dorian points them to a book that details similar events of soldiers being yanked back into consciousness without realizing.

Lizzie and Josie are getting dressed for their party. Lizzie remarks that just because they are angry at Caroline, they cannot replace her with Jo. Lizzie tells Josie to hurry up and get dressed, before leaving the room. Penelope enters and asks if Josie needs an escort, and Josie makes a joke that she does, but only someone whose heart is not made of stone. Penelope apologizes for revealing the information that Caroline wasn't coming, but tells Josie that she saw an opportunity to make Lizzie suffer and couldn't pass.

In the Grand Hall, the party has began but Lizzie wonders where Rafael — her date for the night — is. MG reveals that he is stepping in for Rafael, and tells her that he knows everything about her, leading to her favorite song being played as the two start to dance.Josie has entered Alaric's office and asked Jo to braid her hair. The two talk about Josie's life, with Josie divulging information about her past relationship with Penelope and her current interest in Rafael — even though he is taken by Lizzie. Jo notices there is some tension between the sisters, but tells Josie that Caroline did a good job in raising them and whilst Lizzie takes after Caroline, Josie takes after herself.

Hope and Rafael are stuck in the gymnasium due to a boundary spell placed by Penelope. Hope is unable to remove the spell despite being a powerful witch. The two talk about Rafael's past, and he reveals that it has only been a short while since his girlfriend died and he doesn't feel right being with anyone else at the moment. Hope realizes that Rafael is going through a hard time but tells him that he can't pretend to like Lizzie to make himself feel better as it is not healthy or fair on either of them.

Josie leads Jo through the back yard to get a good view of the dance, and the two talk about the Lizzie-Rafael-Josie love triangle. Josie notices that Jo has suddenly slowed down walking, and when she turns around to look she finds Jo unresponsive and rigid on the ground. She leaves to find help. Meanwhile, the boundary spell has expired around the gym and Rafael goes to the party to be with Lizzie.

Dorian and Alaric are searching for Jo, when they find her in the garden. They question what happened, and Jo reveals that Josie wanted her to watch the dance but she lost time and could potentially have done something to Josie. Again, Jo becomes unresponsive for a second and collapses to the ground. When she comes around, she seems to be possessed by an unknown force that demands the supernatural knife in return for Josie's location — the force warns that Josie only has a couple of hours before she runs out of air. With this, Alaric asks for Hope's help to find Josie. Hope enlists MG and Penelope's help in searching for Josie, who they believed to be buried in the cemetery somewhere. In the cemetery they are surrounded by walking zombies, which they attempt to fight but quickly become overrun.

Lizzie and Rafael dance in the hall, and when Lizzie suggests that the two of them perhaps will sleep together again, Rafael admits that the previous night had been a mistake. This upsets Lizzie, who holds back her tears before asking where Josie is. She looks in their room but is unable to find her.

In the cemetery, Penelope and Hope fend off the zombies whilst MG attempts to find Josie. He is eventually able to harness his vampiric hearing and finds Josie, much to Hopes surprise she is wearing the necklace given to her by Hope previously. Hope reveals that the necklace is a talisman and its purpose is to make quiet things heard.

Thankful that Josie is safe, but angry that it was her fault she was ever in danger, Jo asks Alaric to have the girls siphon the magic keeping her alive from her, essentially returning her to death. The two begin to cry, and Josie asks if Alaric is happy, which he replies he will be when the girls are grown and have survived the Merge. Jo asks Alaric to thank Caroline for being a good mother to her girls.

In the hallway of the school, Josie thanks MG for saving her, when Penelope remarks that she helped too. However Josie shuts her down, blaming her for the entire nights events. The two begin passionately kissing, before Josie pulls away and tells Penelope that she hates her, causing Penelope — who is clearly upset at the remark — to fake a smile."Oh, my beautiful girls. You are everything that I could have ever wished for. Everything. Be good to each other. Fight for each other. When you're older, you'll understand what I mean, but I need you to remember that I said it."

- Jo to her daughters In his office, Josie and Lizzie are horrified and upset at what Jo wants them to do. However Jo admits that she was a witch and they believe in the natural order and she should return to the afterlife. She admits that she now remembers more, including that she used to watch the twins and Alaric as if it were a dream — she believes this to be Peace. She tells the girls that they are everything she wished for, but tells them to be good to each other and fight for one another. With this, they siphon the magic keeping Jo alive and she fades into dust. Alaric, visibly upset, embraces his daughters who've began to cry.In the cemetery, where Dorian and Alaric are reburying the zombies, they are interrupted by a new supernatural creature, the Necromancer. This is revealed to be the creature that brought Jo back to life to do his bidding. Alaric is furious at the creature and hits him with his shovel, snapping his neck and causing him to fall to the ground.

Trivia

 * Antagonists: The Necromancer, Malivore (indirectly)
 * Lizzie and Josie are the first characters to have two birthdays shown on screen. The first birthday was the day they were born in This Woman's Work in The Vampire Diaries.
 * This is the first episode not to feature Landon.
 * The Necromancer is the first monster to claim death can't hold him and will appear in more than one episode as he'll appear in the midseason finale.
 * Jo joins Alaric Saltzman, Dorian Williams, Matt Donovan and Jeremy Gilbert to cross over from The Vampire Diaries to Legacies.
 * Alaric, Dorian and Matt have all appeared in three shows in the TVD Universe.

Body Count

 * Unnamed Zombies - Head trauma; killed by MG, Hope, and Penelope.
 * Josette Laughlin - Siphoned the magic that resurrected her; killed by Lizzie and Josie with her permission.

Continuity

 * Jo was last seen alive in I'm Thinking Of You All The While, her body was last seen in Best Served Cold and her spirit was last seen in I Was Feeling Epic on The Vampire Diaries.
 * Cassie was mentioned by Hope. She was last mentioned in Hope is Not the Goal.
 * Klaus, Elijah and Hayley were indirectly mentioned by Rafael. They were last seen in When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * The Parker Family was mentioned. They were last seen in I'm Thinking Of You All The While on The Vampire Diaries.
 * Kai was mentioned by Jo. He was last seen in It's Been a Hell of a Ride on The Vampire Diaries.
 * The Mikaelson Family were indirectly mentioned. They were last seen in When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * Seylah was indirectly mentioned. She was last seen in a photo in Malivore.
 * Caroline was mentioned. She was last seen in I Was Feeling Epic on The Vampire Diaries and When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * Rebekah was indirectly mentioned by Hope. She was last seen in When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * Joshua Parker was indirectly mentioned. He was last seen in I'm Thinking Of You All The While on The Vampire Diaries.
 * The unnamed dryad was mentioned by Dorian. She was last seen in Malivore.
 * The unnamed dragon was mentioned by Rafael. She was last seen in Some People Just Want To Watch The World Burn.
 * The Gemini Coven was mentioned by Alaric. They were last seen in I'm Thinking Of You All The While on The Vampire Diaries.
 * Stefan was mentioned by Alaric. He was last seen in I Was Feeling Epic on The Vampire Diaries.
 * Vincent was indirectly mentioned by Hope. He was last seen in When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * Liz was mentioned by Lizzie. She was last seen in I Was Feeling Epic as a spirit on The Vampire Diaries.

Locations

 * Mystic Falls, Virginia
 * Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
 * Woods
 * Cemetery

Behind the Scenes

 * This episode's title is a line used by Lizzie Saltzman.
 * This episode had about 1.20 million viewers in USA, making it the most watched episode to date.

Cultural References

 * Mombie Dearest is a pun on Mommie Dearest, a memoir and a film.
 * It is also a pun on a title from the seventh season episode of The Vampire Diaries.
 * It is also a mashup of the words Mom and Zombie thus Mombie.
 * Duchess Meghan Markle is mentioned. She is the Duchess of Sussex and the wife of Prince Harry.
 * Princess Diana is also mentioned. She was the Princess of Wales and was married to Prince Charles. She is the mother of Prince Harry and Prince William.