Recap/Review of Once Upon A Time Episode 6.04 "Strange Case" - SPOILERS!
Okay, they're getting a bit better at this "Weave Unrelated Stories Into Traditional Fairy-Tales" thing.
Of all the episodes they've done where they tried to hammer home the point that Rumplestiltskin Is A No Good Very Bad Dude - this might be one of the better ones. Before, it was pretty anvilicious that they wanted him to be the unrepentant villain and you can only hear that so many times before you want to punch yourself in the face, rather than hear it again.
But this one... I have to give them props for. I can't think of a major criticism about it. Which is a first (or it's the head cold that's making my brain fuzzy right now).
Once Upon a Time is a show about good and evil, light and darkness, and opposition. That is why it made No Sense to me that Regina would try to divide her darkness from the rest of her, especially after so long of dealing with it (just one of my Great Many Complaints about last season's finale). It's like - you don't have pure villains and pure heroes. And yes, they've tried to make Princess Rainbow Sparklepoo (Snow White) have a teensy-tiny-bit of darkness on her heart, but really - no one buys it. Not really, anyway. I'll definitely believe that Charming has his share of darkness when we finally get to his part in all this. But Snow? Not so much. She yells at the dwarves when they annoy her and she makes snarky comments. But she's not "dark."
Anyway - where was I going with this? ...Oh yeah - Rumple. He's still an ass. He's also not sorry for it, which is a switch. Though he still tries to act sorry for Belle who - PRAISE AND GLORY BE - she's not falling for it anymore.
Maybe Robert Carlyle should cut his hair more often (it's for another movie he's in. Kind of nice that the OUAT people found a way to make it part of their story, rather than shoving a wig on his head for the rest of the season. For all their brilliant costuming wizardry, they have a really hard time getting wigs just right.)
This was also a great Belle episode. Probably the first one we've had in a great long while. The Jekyll and Hyde flashback story did help drive that point home - Belle wanting Rumple to be a better man, vs. Mary wanting the passionate and possibly-evil/dark Hyde rather than the timid Jekyll (though that's who ended up killing her. And he totally did it on purpose - I saw how he shoved her out the window).
Belle, on the other hand, just wants to be safe and at peace. Instead of turning toward her family or her husband, she turns to friends. It still tickles me that she's living on the Jolly Roger, while Killian is off to live with Emma (it was cute that Belle worried about Killian not having much to take to Emma's. They really are a sweet friendship couple).
I think this is also the first time I have genuinely enjoyed Mr. Hyde. Before, he was just a bloodshot dude in a cravat, but seeing his genesis was actually quite interesting. It was a nice reminder that he and Jekyll are really the same person. The monster-y guy didn't just appear out of nothing. Also, Jekyll going postal on Belle was a good indicator of that.
Snow going back to teach - yeah, I saw the whole "Take the kids bowhunting" bit a mile away. Once is not a subtle show.
Is there ANY story that wasn't tainted by Rumple's interference? I think I would be more surprised if we got a story where Rumple wasn't the bad guy or trying to manipulate events for his own ends. I know that's his schtick, but there have to be other schemers in the fairy-tale-story-verse.
And... that's all I've got for now. Brain's still a little muddled, so there might be more to go over later. For now - have a Next Time promo -
I can hear the ABC boardroom sighing with relief. The appearance of Aladdin and Jasmine should get that audience back.
Okay, they're getting a bit better at this "Weave Unrelated Stories Into Traditional Fairy-Tales" thing.
Of all the episodes they've done where they tried to hammer home the point that Rumplestiltskin Is A No Good Very Bad Dude - this might be one of the better ones. Before, it was pretty anvilicious that they wanted him to be the unrepentant villain and you can only hear that so many times before you want to punch yourself in the face, rather than hear it again.
But this one... I have to give them props for. I can't think of a major criticism about it. Which is a first (or it's the head cold that's making my brain fuzzy right now).
Once Upon a Time is a show about good and evil, light and darkness, and opposition. That is why it made No Sense to me that Regina would try to divide her darkness from the rest of her, especially after so long of dealing with it (just one of my Great Many Complaints about last season's finale). It's like - you don't have pure villains and pure heroes. And yes, they've tried to make Princess Rainbow Sparklepoo (Snow White) have a teensy-tiny-bit of darkness on her heart, but really - no one buys it. Not really, anyway. I'll definitely believe that Charming has his share of darkness when we finally get to his part in all this. But Snow? Not so much. She yells at the dwarves when they annoy her and she makes snarky comments. But she's not "dark."
Anyway - where was I going with this? ...Oh yeah - Rumple. He's still an ass. He's also not sorry for it, which is a switch. Though he still tries to act sorry for Belle who - PRAISE AND GLORY BE - she's not falling for it anymore.
Maybe Robert Carlyle should cut his hair more often (it's for another movie he's in. Kind of nice that the OUAT people found a way to make it part of their story, rather than shoving a wig on his head for the rest of the season. For all their brilliant costuming wizardry, they have a really hard time getting wigs just right.)
This was also a great Belle episode. Probably the first one we've had in a great long while. The Jekyll and Hyde flashback story did help drive that point home - Belle wanting Rumple to be a better man, vs. Mary wanting the passionate and possibly-evil/dark Hyde rather than the timid Jekyll (though that's who ended up killing her. And he totally did it on purpose - I saw how he shoved her out the window).
Belle, on the other hand, just wants to be safe and at peace. Instead of turning toward her family or her husband, she turns to friends. It still tickles me that she's living on the Jolly Roger, while Killian is off to live with Emma (it was cute that Belle worried about Killian not having much to take to Emma's. They really are a sweet friendship couple).
I think this is also the first time I have genuinely enjoyed Mr. Hyde. Before, he was just a bloodshot dude in a cravat, but seeing his genesis was actually quite interesting. It was a nice reminder that he and Jekyll are really the same person. The monster-y guy didn't just appear out of nothing. Also, Jekyll going postal on Belle was a good indicator of that.
Snow going back to teach - yeah, I saw the whole "Take the kids bowhunting" bit a mile away. Once is not a subtle show.
Is there ANY story that wasn't tainted by Rumple's interference? I think I would be more surprised if we got a story where Rumple wasn't the bad guy or trying to manipulate events for his own ends. I know that's his schtick, but there have to be other schemers in the fairy-tale-story-verse.
And... that's all I've got for now. Brain's still a little muddled, so there might be more to go over later. For now - have a Next Time promo -
I can hear the ABC boardroom sighing with relief. The appearance of Aladdin and Jasmine should get that audience back.
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