Warning: Spoilers for Legacies season 4, episode 10, "The Story of My Life"
In Legacies season 4, the choice to make Jed more than a mere jock cliche shows that the series is taking character development seriously. Legacies has historically struggled when it comes to character development. For the first three seasons of the supernatural soap, Legacies developed a bad habit of focusing so much on its heroine Hope and her love interest Landon that it failed to develop a number of the show’s supporting characters/guest actors despite these figures providing the backbone of the show’s overarching stories. Thankfully, Jed is one character who seems to be finally receiving his due.
There have even been slip-ups in the otherwise improved Legacies season 4, like killing off the wrong Saltzmann sister despite actor Kaylee Bryant's exit. However, the journey that Jed has gone on in season 4 proves that the series can get character development right and bodes well for the rest of the cast. Judging by Jed’s improving complexity, Legacies season 4 may even prove that killing Lizzie over Jozie was the right call after all in coming episodes.
Despite the episode featuring plenty of action for series heroine Lizzie and now-villain Hope, Legacies' “The Story of My Life” (season 4, episode 10) also saw Jed finally getting more time in the spotlight. In the process, Jed got to take a leaf from Stranger Things fan-favorite Steven Harrington’s book and revealed himself to be much more than the dumb jock and alpha male that he seemed to be at first. Like newborn Heretic Lizzie, Jed showed a lot more compassion than viewers may have expected, hearing out Ben's lengthy life story before passing judgment and authentically attempting to help him fit in at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted despite fearing the monsters that Ben’s presence brought to the setting. Revealing Jed as a more well-rounded character in this way not only helps the audience relate to him as an individual, but helps elevate Legacies' story-telling above the limitations that have plagued it in previous seasons.
Throughout the episode, Jed proved himself to be smarter than people give him credit for and even cheekily referenced this fact after the usually comparatively level-headed MG made a hasty call out of fear. Beyond pack dynamics, Jed proved to be a born leader as he was the only one of himself, Cleo, and MG who spoke to Ben at length before deciding on his future in the school. Admittedly, as a witch, Cleo’s decision was more informed than MG’s choice, but Jed was still the most measured when it came to reaching out the Jed rather than speculating on his fate. Not only that, but the same episode also hinted there might be some sort of relationship developing between him and Ben (a.k.a the mythical Prometheus) when Jed fondly told Ben that he was his guy. The scene proved that Legacies is learning to develop its supporting characters into more than just two-dimensional tropes like the jerk jock and the unbeatable heroine, affording them more complicated personalities and creating more interesting conflicts as a result.
Since her Tribrid turn made her season 4’s biggest villain, everyone but Hope has been growing on Legacies, something that will eventually prove a problem if the series can’t flesh out one of its leads further. However, for now, this shift in focus has also given Legacies season 4 the chance to develop characters like Jed and the show has been stronger for it. Thanks to the emphasis on so-called secondary characters, the show finally feels part of a fully-realized and fleshed-out world.
Legacies releases new episodes Thursdays on the CW.
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