Lay Off The Rum

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time Episode 6.11 "Tougher Than The Rest" - SPOILERS!

Ah - the ending of yet another hiatus. Let's go -

The first thing to note about this mid-season/spring premiere thingie is how unassuming it was. Granted, that probably has more to do with the fact that they aren't starting up a brand new story arc in the middle of a regular season scheduled. The entirety of Season 6 is one big long story, which I think was sorely needed to inject some life back into this show. Let characters grow and develop in the storyline you've given them. Don't just hop around collecting live action Disney characters like you've only got an hour at Disneyland and you have to get EVERYBODY'S autograph for some inexplicable reason.

(You do that, you end up with Emma Watson staring blankly at you from her glorified cosplay on a movie poster.)

Like I've said before, the OUAT writers have improved their storytelling and their pacing. And I hope that this continues.

Special praise (and I almost can't believe I'm saying this) goes to Regina. For - at the proverbial eleventh hour - actually LISTENING to someone (in this case, Emma) who says "Screw fate and destiny - what do you want in your life?" And, wonder of wonders, Regina takes Emma's advice. And she is amply rewarded for the risk that she took in bringing wish!Robin Hood back to Storybrooke with her.

Sure, Outlaw Queen is basically going to have to start from square one, but they've laid the foundation for their relationship to come back into the forefront and I couldn't be more pleased. Especially since the Evil Queen is still prowling around and Regina's been constantly wrongfooted because of that. I can't help but think that Robin Hood being around again will help solidify her confidence in herself again.

Next Topic: Kylo Ren... I mean, Gideon. He is soooooo not the big villain that Emma has to fight in the end. The kid is a glorified boy band reject. He's trying to come off as a badass, but he's so pathetic about it that the rest of us are just laughing at him. I know that Adam and Eddy are big Star Wars fanboys and I seriously can't help but wonder if this is their way of paying homage to The Force Awakens.

I mean, Emma basically sneezes at the kid and he runs off pouting like a little punk.

To make the metaphor go even further - that would mean that Grandma Black Fairy is the REAL badass villain of this piece, not unlike Kylo Ren's grandfather, Darth Vader (I'm discounting the whole Emperor puppeteer in the background - we have time for only so many parallels). Grandma sends the snot-nosed kid to act all tough and pose for the camera, when in reality she's just biding her time before she can swoop in and take over Storybrooke.

I dunno - it made sense in my head.

Speaking of family matters - Rumple might be thinking about not being such a rat bastard anymore? Possibly? I don't anticipate that he'll change all that much (though if the Kylo Ren thing goes through to its natural conclusion, Gideon might come to a point where he actually is okay with offing Daddy Fearest... let me play around with that one a while longer). I'm not saying that Rumple is ready to be all White Knight Charming Fairy Tale Hero - but I feel like there are small sparks of goodness trying to break through his crap. Even when Belle is in despair over their son and she looks like she's toying with the idea of flirting with evil darkness - Rumple seems to be the one pulling her back.

It's a subtle moment at the wishing well - but I caught onto it. I'm certainly not getting my hopes up for a Rumple redemption, but I'm open to the possibility.

Okay, enough heavy stuff -  Old Captain Hook. He is in a grand total of ONE scene, but does he EVER steal the damn thing. I mean, it wasn't even completely necessary for him to make an appearance in the Enchanted Wish Realm - his absence could have just been dismissed as "He's a scoundrel and a pirate - what would he have to do with the Royal Charmings?" But they make the effort to bring him in for a spot of comic relief.



I may be biased, but it was the best scene in the episode.

Another scene I quite liked was the flashback scene (the only actual flashback we got - not complaining!) of young Emma meeting young August and they talk about The Ugly Duckling. Not only that, but that actually serves as part of Emma's origin story (and he we thought we knew all there was to know) - namely how she got her last name. Dozens of fanfic authors have assumed that "Swan" came from that first family who adopted her, but gave her back when she was three. But nope - like everything of value that Emma has, it's something she claimed for herself. Maybe it wasn't something that was extremely vital to the plot, but it was a sweet detail and one very much in line with her character.

All in all, this was a nice ease-back-into the story and helped remind us where everything's been and get the audience back up to speed. Next time, it looks like there are Shenanigans Afoot (complete with Captain Charming antics! Though... probably not in the lighthearted and friendly manner we're accustomed to seeing from these two) -



"Unlikely pair." Oh please... ABC promo department - have you been WATCHING the same show as the rest of us?

I Like That Loophole. That Is A Nice Loophole.

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time Episode 6.10 "Wish You Were Here" - SPOILERS!

I could get used to these somewhat-low-key mid-season finales. Even though there was a big twist about Emma being sent to a reality where she was never the Savior and, in years past, they would have made an even bigger deal out of it.

It was fun to have a side-step with a Princess Emma where she was a ineffectual singing princess who didn't know how to do jack squat. I don't think I could have taken more than an episode's worth of it, so thank goodness Regina was there to provide the snark.

Neal/Baelfire was Prince Henry's dad in alternate!Enchanted Forest... ehhhhhhh.... sure. I suppose there had to be some kind of explanation, since Henry was vital to the whole "Make Emma Remember Who She Is" plot (they couldn't call in a Mufasa-cloud-epiphany thing?) But it all felt super-contrived, just to make Henry fit in where he was supposed to be.

Okay - so Regina decides that she's going to "steal" the Genie's Lamp from the Evil Queen... even though it's basically like stealing from herself (props for that lovely little loophole, guys. I was genuinely impressed by that).

David facing-off against the Evil Queen... it's a really good thing Hook's around to keep Charming from doing All-Time-Stupid-Things, because I think this whole Ladyhawke curse that Charming and Snow are dealing with is starting to make David (at least) kinda punchy.

In the background, Rumple and Belle are freaking out because the Blue Fairy falls down on the job (...sigh...) and baby Gideon is now the property of the Black Fairy. Lovely.

And Robin Hood's back! And... he's robbing women out in the open beach area because... the forests are too crowded? I have no idea - it doesn't make sense the longer I think about it. But he borks Emma and Regina's escape plan, so we're back to square one.

(I wouldn't complain if alternate!Hook showed up to help in the next episode. But you all know where my priorities lie with this show.)

On the whole, this was a "meh" episode. It kind of felt like an episode meant to connect the two halves of the season, without making it like there are two halves of the season. I'm actually okay with that - not everything was wrapped up in a neat little bow and there's still time to deal with things in March. And it still feels like one giant overarching story. Now, if the season finale next spring is as open-ended as this episode, I'll be mad. But right now, this is good.

Speaking of March -



A diamond ring, huh? Oh, come on OUAT - I know a misdirection when I see one.

When Heroes Fall

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time Episode 5.15 "The Brothers Jones" - SPOILERS!

I knew this episode was going to be a rough one. I adore Killian Jones. I adore his brother Liam. I adore Emma Swan. I knew there was going to be conflict between those three. I knew I was probably going to end up swearing at one of them - if not all three - at some point.

But can we just appreciate Liam popping his head in up the stairs to talk to Emma?

(Source)

Because I do.

All right then - so this is as close to "Emma Meeting Killian's Family" as we're going to get. Fair enough - it's the Underworld arc and all of Killian's immediate family is dead (thank you Neverland), so this was an obvious choice for an episode idea.

At least, it BETTER had been an obvious choice. Sometimes, I'm not entirely sure what goes on in the Once Writers' Room.

But rather than it being a "Hey, big brother that died centuries ago - here's this woman that I'm madly in love with and we're probably going to get married and have a bunch of kids and I'm super happy, can you be happy for me too?" sort of scenario, they go with the super-angsty one and it turns out that Hero-Worshipped Big Brother is just a tiny-bit in cahoots with Hades. And he wants his little brother to stay in the Underworld and be miserable like unto himself.

Well... poopy.

And I hate to say it - I understand where Liam is coming from. The guy spent his entire life from roughly age ten (I'm guessing, based on the Hook-backstory episodes we got at the end of the last story arc - Thank Merlin they FINALLY peeled themselves away from yet-more-Rumple-backstory to bother with that) being a parental figure to his mischievous baby brother. He was the good kid. The one who talked Killian out of trouble with the authorities. The one who figured out that they could buy their freedom by joining the Royal Navy. The one who gave up that freedom when Killian tossed it all away at a game of cards. The one who made a deal with Hades to get them out in one piece when everything finally went toes-up. Even in death, he's still looking out for his little brother.

It's touching. If a little sentimental and sappy at times. I love ya, Killian - but how many times are you going to proclaim that Liam is The Most Honorable And Honest Dude Ever To Sail And He's Going To Make It All Better. Talk about PRESSURE.

(To be fair, Killian was a bit of a wide-eyed dreamer and kind of naive back then. It wasn't until later in life that he became the sarcastic, cynical, snarktastic pirate that we all know and love.)

Hearing how much your younger sibling looks up to and idolizes you - well, it makes you do crazy things. Like hiding vital information about the Dark Lord of the Underworld that will help everyone cross over and move on. Or sailing straight into a hurricane (DUDE - WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?) Or telling the love of your baby bro's life that she's not good enough for him. Given how much Hook and Emma have been through, THAT was a knife to the heart.

Let's talk about Hook and Emma, shall we? Because while last week's utter joy of -

- was good and proper, there is a TON of fallout to deal with between the two characters. Because when they were separated, Killian had become the Dark One because of Emma's good intentions, but that temptation was too much for him to handle, and he dove right back into the Powers Of Darkness that he was terrified of. There is still that sense of Killian being jerked around by the whims of others - which he obviously HATES - and he wants to make his own choices.

Emma, on the other hand, has just learned to let someone in. Which is a HUGE deal for her. She's also been subject to devastating losses, which she blames herself for. Whether fairly or unfairly - that's up for discussion. The fact is that this story is dealing with some incredibly broken people and there is not just one solution for all of these issues. If it were, it would be a simple fairy tale.

(See what I did there?)

One this is certain - Hades is an Asshole of the Highest Degree (being in charge of the Underworld will do that to you. Probably). And that's one thing everyone can agree on - his agenda must be stopped at all costs.

Nothing like a common enemy to motivate broken people in to action.

Speaking of broken - oh, little Henry. Who is not so little anymore (Emma called him a "mopey teenager" - which is true. Just... don't look too closely at the timeline of Once because it really won't make sense how this is actually five years later in-story, when they follow all their cliffhangers so closely one after another). And he wants to be a HERO, dammit! He's tired of being the one who gets rescued all the time. Can't he be someone important for once?

Well - you were the Author. Then you broke the stupid pen, genius. And because of that, it's now in the Underworld. And you trapped the Apprentice there because of it. Ugh. Must I explain EVERYTHING?

Actually, I don't. Cruella does that for me (the same Cruella who's been doing the naughty with Charming's not-so-Charming Evil Twin Brother - THAT'LL be interesting...). I still love Cruella as a character, and no one can convince me that I shouldn't.

Regardless, Henry's coming into his own as the Author, to which I say - HOORAY! Seriously - kid has this incredible fairy tale lineage and you're not going to let him do jack crap with it??? That's just WRONG.

Anyway - by the end of the episode, Killian and Liam reconcile, Liam's unfinished business is finished and we get a super-sweet scene with Killian giving Emma's advice about forgiving yourself to his older brother. So, for once, baby brother looked out for the older one. And I am become emotion... hold on a sec...

...all right - things are good.

Emma and Hook reconcile themselves (YAY!) Hades reveals to we the audience that he and Zelena had a fling, which means she'll be back in the next episode (PRAISE BE!). And we're going back to Oz. Which looks as gorgeous as ever -



(I stinking love OUAT Oz, you have no idea).

Persephone Marries Hades and Other Unfortunate Truths

Review/Recap of Once Upon A Time Episode 5.14 "The Devil's Due" - SPOILERS

THEY LOOK SO HAPPY WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO RUIN THAT???

Look, I'm no pearl-clutching 90s-era-Hillary-Clinton "FOR THE CHILDRENS!" parental advisory concern-troll looking to get in the way of people's fun.

But Title Card People, I must ask -

Really? REALLY? Family show, guys. Family. Show.

Anyway - to the meat of this episode:

Well, yes - we'll get to that. Emma finds Hook (she will always find him). And all the requisite drama that goes with it. Drama dictates that my darlings cannot yet be happy. Boo.

Though I have to say - I'm pleased that Team Writers Room learned from the mistakes of Neverland. Don't drag out the #Save[Character] plotline out until your audience is ready to gouge their eyes out with rusty sporks. So, credit where credit is due.

My focus here for a moment is going to be - not on my most favorite fictional couple of the hour - but on an ancillary character vital to the entire Captain Swan storyline. Though it's not someone we often think about very much. Yes, folks - I'm talking about the Lady Milah.

(I know she doesn't have a formal title as such - but given the crap she's been though, I think she deserves one).

That's it. That's the show.

This could quite possibly have been the most awkward meeting of past and present ever. Milah and Emma meeting. Hook's former girlfriend (on account of she's dead) and his current True Love.

And... it wasn't. I mean, yes there was that moment where Milah plays the part of Everyone Who Isn't In The Once Fandom (don't look too closely at the relationships in this show) - but that was the end of it. Kind of like Milah understands Killian (she never knew him as Hook) - that he would move on and find love after her death. That's just the kind of man he is. And Milah - to her everlasting credit - understands that. She and Emma become almost-instant friends. She helps Emma (and Rumple) on the quest to #SaveHook. And she's pretty damn badass about it too.

Can we just trade Rumple for Milah? No, I'm 100% serious. Hades wants to trade - I will happily swap out Milah and send Rumple up the Fallout-nuclear-green River of Lost Souls.

But no, Rumple even has to eff that up. Because, Rumple. He's been effing things up even before he became the Dark One. To the point where he wasn't just a cowardly-deadbeat-good-for-nothing husband and father, he even sold out part of Milah's future happiness just to save his own bacon.

I had some understanding of why Milah left Rumple before. But after this episode - I would have been helping her pack her bags and sending her on her merry way. The only thing I would have encouraged her to do differently was to take Baelfire with her (discounting the Once storylines that would irrevocably muss up).

Was Milah a good person? HA! Are you kidding? She would have killed a man in order to steal a potion to save her son. But still - her character makes sense. It's understandable that she would do those things. Quite honestly, she's become one of my favorite side characters. And she's only ever been in a handful of episodes! But she has the same kind of appeal that Regina does - someone whose done evil things, but wants to change and make up for it.

And how does Rumple repay Milah's redemption?

Excuse me - things are about to get crass here. Please remove all small children and dogs from the room.

Okay - you good?

Rumplestiltskin can go have sex with himself.

Phew - that's that.

Oh, and by the way - here's yet another unnecessary plot-twist-background-thing for Rumple. Because, you know, we aren't pissed off enough at him as it is.

(Though I must give TPTB some credit - at least they're trying to get Belle into the mix with this one. And write Emilie de Ravin's pregnancy into the story. So, there's that.)

Basically, I hate Rumple. I hate that he still has to be part of this story. I hate that he has zero character development. I also hate that he has become a necessary evil character, because all the other evil characters have been redeemed. And there still has to be that ONE little turd floating in the swimming pool.

Blah. Why?

Anyway - some good news: Emma and Killian have been reunited! Rumple lied out of his grimy little teeth about what he did to Milah and Killian - being the honorable man he is - thanked Rumple for... I dunno, being Rumple, I guess. I'm chalking that one up to Killian having been tortured for many long weeks at Hades' behest.

Eh, whatever - now Emma can split her heart and save Hook...

...or not.

Convenient plot contrivance, ahoy!

Next Week: The Return of Liam Jones! Killian to be reunited with his awesome and lovely and adorable long-dead brother! HUZZAH! Emma and Milah meeting went all right (Rumple, notwithstanding), so this should be just as good, right? I love this plan! REJOICE FANDOM!!

Except...



NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME ONCE UPON A TIME?? Liam has to like Emma! They have to get along! They're going to be family! YOU CAN'T DO THIS I WON'T STAND FOR IT!

I hate this damn show. I couldn't live without it.

(I could live without the constant Rumple angst, though).

Henry Mills and the Alternate Universe of DOOM!

Review/Recap of Once Upon A Time 4.22-4.23 "Operation Mongoose 1 & 2" - SPOILERS!

Isaac Heller's boss at the beginning was exactly right. He really doesn't write stories that anyone wants to read.

The first half of this two-part episode really didn't do much for me (other than the subtle shout-out to Walt Disney having been the previous Author at the beginning. He died in December 1966, which is why the cold open where Isaac becomes the Author takes place at that time ~*~The More You Know~*~) I didn't really buy into the whole "Snow White as the Evil Queen" thing they were trying to sell me (might as well just say it - Ginnifer Goodwin does not do evil villainous anything very well). I did like bandit!Regina teaming up with Robin Hood, though. And if Zelena hadn't showed up to ruin that moment, I would have enjoyed it even more.

Part Two, however, is when things get really interesting. Mostly because that's when Henry finds Captain Hook (who is merely cowardly deckhand Hook - yeah, Rumple sure did a number on him there) and they go off to find Emma in the Tower of Characters the Villains Want Forgotten. Which becomes a little more ironic by the end of the episode.

Actually, everything with Emma and Hook in the alternate Enchanted Forest was great. Even though Hook is merely a shell of his former self - but it was Emma's turn to be his personal motivational speaker - and it worked great!

Until Evil!Charming stabbed him dead and pretty much broke every heart in the land (every heart that matters, anyway). By that time, I was yelling for Emma to fix this hellish reality and get back to 1955 and destroy the Sports Almanac and put everything back to the way it was supposed to be.

(Huh - if last year's finale is Back to the Future, then this is probably meant to be Back to the Future Part II. Which means next year... they've got to get a Wild West motif in there somehow... Interesting...)

The one part that REALLY got me emotional, though... Probably not the one you think (if you've been following my reviews of Once Upon A Time this season). The ending was rough - no question. But that's TV for you. They have to set up intense cliffhangers so the next season has something interesting and compelling to work with. And very few things are going to be more compelling than Team Storybrooke looking for Emma and getting her out of the grasp of the Darkness (oh, who am I kidding? I'm mostly looking forward to the intense Captain Swan drama and angst that will come of this. What can I say? I like seeing my favorite characters suffer - makes for a good story).

But my favorite part - particularly since we've been following Emma and Hook and I've been pleading for their True Love story to work out - was when Emma admitted that she loves Hook, but it's after he was killed and now it's too late for her to do anything about it. BUT - they're still in the Alternate Universe Crapsack World, and they can still change things.

Fast forward to getting out of the Alternate Universe Crapsack World and everyone's okay and fine - and Killian is just peachy too. Emma runs up to tackle him and oh so nearly says those three magical little words - and SHE CAN'T DO IT!

I guess that's reality for you. Even after losing Hook in the alternate world and being upset that she never got to tell him how she felt - when she was back in the real world and he was fine and everyone was happy... she still didn't tell him. Her nerve completely failed her and she couldn't tell him. And... that just sucked.

(On the other hand, still means we have more to look forward to, right?)

What else - Henry's now the Author (CALLED IT!) He may have broken the quill, but his newfound power is going to come back and be useful again. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! (hey, if they can de-youthify Pinocchio and bring August back for the sake of a plotline, Author!Henry is going to happen).

Black Swan

So - Emma's now the Dark One and she's gone to who-knows-where. And Team Storybrooke is on their way to find Merlin so he can destroy the Dark One for good (but not Emma, because I will cut a bitch if that is the case). Rumple is sans-darkness, which is going to be an interesting development (he's going to be an entirely new character, so if any of you still enjoyed rat-bastard-Dark-One-Rumple... tough turtles). Belle told Rumple what we ALL were screaming since "A Tale of Two Sisters" clear back in September - that he could have had his happiness in Storybrooke without trying to destroy anybody (blah).

Next year - I guess Lily will still be around to create another unnecessary sideshow (...whoo).

Season 4 Wrap-Up

Here's my thought as I was watching this - the Author storyline was kind of a bust. At least, as far as it was with everyone stuck in Storybrooke. I think it would have worked MUCH better if everyone was actually IN the Enchanted Forest while the story was being changed. Like - at the beginning of the story arc, Rumple (or whoever) sent everyone back to the book and the goal was to change the story from there. Forget all this Queens of Darkness crap - just find the Author, establish that he's a conniving weasel and make him the bad guy in all of this (though Ursula and Cruella were cool - but they didn't do anything with them. And this Maleficent suffered the same defanging fate as the Angelina Jolie version, which is entirely too unfortunate).

Frozen was amazing. I loved Once's version of Elsa and Anna and the inclusion of the Snow Queen. Sadly, they couldn't keep that magic going throughout the rest of the season, which is a shame. The second half of the finale kind of messed with my emotions, but that was because there was so much Captain Swan goodness and angst (and, really, I've missed them for the past few episodes, so it was like depriving a child of sugar for so long and then suddenly letting them run wild in the candy store).

I hope Season 5 does well, honestly. I hope we get some new and exciting character arcs and they let some of these others rest for a time (I could do without so much Rumple. And even Regina's getting a bit tired and worn, especially her Evil Queen persona). I'm looking forward to some new material with characters that haven't gotten much love lately. But I'm not going to get my hopes up.

If anyone but Killian Jones saves Emma Swan, however, things will be thrown. That is all.

A Million-and-One Reasons Why Killian Jones is Better Than Everybody Else

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time 4.15 "Poor Unfortunate Soul"  - SPOILERS!

NOTE: Yes, I skipped 4.14 "Enter the Dragon." Last week was kind of crazy for me and it slipped through the cracks. To be fair, that episode was completely and totally… meh. You know what I got out of it? More of Pre-Curse Regina's whining, Maleficent isn't as badass as she should be, hints of a Sleeping Beauty story I'd like to see but probably never will, Aurora is an ineffectual wet blanket, Rumple holds onto his title of "One Most in Need of Being Smacked Upside the Head," Killian Jones in the rain is sexy as hell, and Colin O'Donoghue needs to win all the freaking awards in the world but won't because the awards committees are stupid and ABC isn't HBO or AMC. Nothing I didn't already know and neither did you. Good enough? Moving On!

EVERYONE! I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE ONCE UPON A TIME EPISODE!

I'm not even kidding - I will probably watch this one as much as I do "Good Form" or "The Jolly Roger" or even the Captain Swan movie from last season.

I derive so much enjoyment from the Hook-centric episodes compared to some of the others OUAT gives me, I wonder why they even bother with the other characters (that's a rhetorical fangirly question - still, I wouldn't complain if a few changes were to take place). And it's not like the episodes that reveal Hook's backstory are treated any different than an episode of, say, Snow and Charming or Regina or Rumple. But I think what's different is that this show has become so saturated with those other characters that when we do get one that's about a different main character (i.e. Hook or Emma or Belle - or even the Frozen backstory from Season 4A) - it suddenly becomes more interesting and novel.

So - where to begin?

Pan's Villainy Revealed - FINALLY!

First of all - we finally (FINALLY) get an episode where we see past!Hook working for Pan (after all that crap was teased last season AND NEVER FULLY EXPLAINED. Nope, I'm never going to let that go) and it's... going to the Enchanted Forest on a cake run.

(Most Feared Monster in Neverland, everybody).

Still, it's great to see pirate!Hook again because, as much as I love Killian's modern look and whatnot, it's easy to forget his origins and I sometimes miss it.

Also great to see is a new twist on the classic story of The Little Mermaid - this time, with a young Ursula and her father, Poseidon (played by Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters fame - tell me that was not completely awesome!) Turns out, Ursula's the one with the magically beautiful voice, which her father uses to entice ships to run aground and sink - which very nearly happens to the crew of The Jolly Roger (but doesn't, thanks to some quick thinking on the part of the ship's captain and a last minute change of heart from Ursula).

Look Out, Madam Mermaid

Okay - can I just say that my inner four-year-old Disney fan was squealing with joy at the fact that young Ursula in OUAT sings "Fathoms Below" from the movie. And if you have no idea what the crap I'm talking about (first of all - WHAT?) - here you go -

Anyway, Ursula's gone human and is singing in a tavern in order to earn money to get away from her father because she hates that he uses her voice in order to seek revenge for her mother's death at the hand of pirates. Ursula wants her voice to be used to make people happy and to do good things. Hook and his crew are in the tavern and he recognizes her voice as the one that could have wrecked his ship, but didn't - and being the total softie that he is (underneath that angry and vengeful pirate exterior), he agrees to take Ursula wherever she'd like to go.

Problem is, Daddy Poseidon gets wind of Ursula's plans and tries to convince Hook to steal Ursula's voice, but Hook - honorable scamp that he is, promised that he wouldn't hurt Ursula because that's not good form. But he does ask Ursula to steal the squid ink that Poseidon promised in exchange for Hook double-crossing Ursula so Hook could get his revenge on Rumple (confused yet?) Poseidon puts a stop to this scheme as well and Hook, in his anger, steals Ursula's singing voice anyway, which causes Ursula to become the vengeful and evil sea witch - and that's the terrible thing Hook did to Ursula that was referenced two episodes ago.

You Don't Need The Author To Get What You Want

This brings us to present day Storybrooke and the Queens of Darkness. Team Hero figures out that Rumple tricked Belle by using Killian's appearance to steal the dagger from her (oh man - CAN'T BELLE JUST CATCH A BREAK FROM ALL OF RUMPLE'S BULLSHIT?) Killian is rightfully pissed that the Dark One is still at large, so he decides to use his past with Ursula to find out what Rumple has planned. And here is where things start to get interesting.

All through this "Operation Mongoose" business, I'm watching these villains seek to manipulate the system and all I can think is "Hook's got his happy ending and he was a villain once - what gives?" So I am glad that this episode tried to answer that question and actually addressed this whole situation in several ways.

The first one is since Hook has made some pretty big changes in his life and turned his whole outlook around, he offers Ursula her happy ending back that he stole in the first place. If Ursula agrees to cough up the Dark One's plans, he'll give her back her singing voice.

See? No author, no magic, just honesty. Piece of cake.

Except - Ursula's voice is on The Jolly Roger. The same Jolly that Hook traded to Blackbeard for the magic bean to get back to Emma in New York (excuse me while I go cry for a moment... okay, I'm good). But Ursula has ways of getting the ship back - which she does. And... it's a bottled ship.

(Hold on while I - OMG IT'S THE JOLLY AND IT'S BACK AND IT'S TINY AND SO CUTE I WANT ONE!)

Sadly, the tiny!Jolly isn't going to be much help, so Hook and Ursula go to Gold's Shop where Belle and Will are totally making out have a potion from Wonderland that can make the Jolly big again (and Hook trades a few snipes with Will - after a bit of a harsh-but-not-undeserved jab at Belle "Oh NOW you check my identity!")

AND HOORAY IT'S THE JOLLY ROGER IT'S GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK, MY FRIEND!

(I'm thinking that's where Hook and Emma are going to take up residence when all this is over. Just a theory, mind you)

Long story short - Killian gives Ursula back the seashell with her voice (it's locked in a safe where the key is in Killian's hook and I just LOVE that!) - but she can't get her voice back because of reasons, so she gets pissed and knocks Killian out and chucks him out into the ocean.

(For a guy who spent hundreds of years sailing the seas, Killian certain spends a lot of time almost drowning)

But never fear! Ariel is here to save the day! (HELLO FRIEND I MISSED YOU TOO!) There's an explanation of why she's here, which I'll save for someone else to dissect - but Ariel, though her appearance is brief, gives what may be THE most important nugget of wisdom in all this Operation Mongoose insanity -

I sure hope he's filing this away for future reference (gif set source)

The Only Payoff For Having Any Faith...

Before I head into my OMG TEH FEELS!!!! conclusion - I have to circle back for Emma Swan. Who, if you remember, is being kept from the truth of her own villainous potential from her incredibly naive-but-well-meaning parents (and who are slowly crawling up my list of People Most In Need Of Smackings - not quite to Rumple-levels, but they're somewhere in there). I'd just like to draw this parallel (that was pointed out to me via Tumblr - but I've got some to say about it).

I think I figured out why Snow and Charming (mostly Snow) have been annoying the crap out of me lately - Snow has got this insufferable way of denying that anything bad is or could possibly happen. I liken it to the part in Season 2 of in Avatar: The Last Airbender where Team Avatar is in the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se to ask for the Earth King's help in fighting the Fire Nation. But we find out that the Dai Li (the Earth Kingdom's secret agents) routinely kidnap and brainwash people who even mention the war within the walls of Ba Sing Se. Everyone must be happy OR ELSE!

Snow is kind of like that in her own way - any hint of Emma doing or saying anything that could be construed as "dark" is a problem. But Snow - for all OUAT's assertion that this Snow White is badass and she was a bandit and she knows how to ride horses and shoot arrows and wear pants and go camping - she's still Snow White. She's still that sweet little princess lady who sings to birds and lives in a palace and befriends dwarves and everything is rainbows and sparkles and YAY! They are fooling precisely no one with this tough-woman act, I'm sorry.

Emma, on the other hand, is hardcore into confronting the truth and she is brutally honest. She says that, yes, she wants to kill Rumple just like Killian said he wanted to stab the Dark One with his own dagger and never mind the fact that he'd become the Dark One instead. Now, in reality if he was given the choice, Killian probably wouldn't actually do that, but Emma understands Killian's frustration because Emma's lived with some of those same emotions. Snow is never going to understand that because she's never been the villain. I'm not saying this is a bad thing - but sometimes the sickly-sweetness of Snow White kind of grates on me. Too much of a good thing and all that (and even in the "Next Time" promo - Snow is still trying to appeal to Emma with that sweet nature and Emma, who must have found out about her parents OMG SOOPER DOOPER SEKRIT, is clearly having none of it).

And, as an aside, there is one promo for next week floating around out there that shows Hook going directly to Team Charming with the information that Rumple is gunning for Emma and her potential for Great Darkness(tm). Which shows to me that, yes Hook has kept secrets from Emma in the past, but he has learned from those mistakes and he is NOT going to to that again. Remind me who the evilest of villains here is?

(Just one more on the pile of Reasons Why Killian Jones is Better Than Everybody Else)

...Is When It's Tested Again and Again

Back at Gold's cabin where Team Darkness is keeping no-longer-little-kid-Pinocchio prisoner (long and boring story), Ursula is going on a rampage against Team Hero, who tracked them down to their hideaway. Long story short - Hook comes back with Daddy Poseidon, who is ready and willing to make amends with Ursula. They make up and everything is awesome and Ursula - who to this point was a villain - just got her freaking happy ending WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THAT DAMN AUTHOR!

(Killian Jones, take a bow, you heroic pirate, you).

Everybody clears out - and here we come to the second way in which Operation: Mongoose was not in fact rendered completely moot. Remember how I said Hook's got his happy ending and I was wondering why no one was paying attention to that fact all the while running around like a bunch of crazies looking for this freaking author when all they had to do was stop and wonder - "Wait... how the hell did he manage it?" Well - while that still isn't entirely an unprofitable line of inquiry, Killian himself is starting to ask that question. And if you ever wondered why I ship Captain Swan so much - I would say look no further than this scene WHICH WILL COMPLETELY TEAR YOUR HEART TO PIECES AND YOU WILL LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF IT!



PUNCH ME IN THE FACE AND BURY ME WHERE I STAND I CANNOT WITH YOU TWO ANYMORE (but I will because you are the freaking BEST on this or any show EVER!)

If that wasn't an "I love you," then I don't know what is.

Beyond my *happy fangirling*, though - just look at this for a minute. NOT ONCE does Killian imply that he wants to the author to give him his happy ending. If Killian Jones wants something, he goes out and gets it himself - or he works damn hard to get it. And until now, he's never thought that he could lose his happiness because of something that's outside his control. Yes, he's worked to become a better person and leave his villainous persona behind and seek redemption - but what if that's not enough? What if it's too late to prove himself? Despite assurances from Emma and everybody else that he is indeed a hero, it's possible that Killian could totally lose everything he's worked so hard to fix. I mean, name one thing (besides the thing with the pistol in the Jolly - which totally didn't work) that Killian did in the present day in this episode that would be considered villainous? He gave Ursula back her voice, he helped her make amends with her father, he's consistently been on the side of good - yet he still thinks of himself as a bad guy.

And then you have Emma, who up to this moment STILL doesn't think that she's anybody's happy ending. I mean - Emma, honey - DO YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE TO ASK? And the answer is - yes. Honestly - she really does. She's never been loved by anyone like this - she doesn't trust easily and she doesn't open herself up that often. I think she still has that fear in the back of her mind that she's going to wake up one morning and Killian's going to be gone, just like every other guy she's trusted with her heart. I mean, these two have both been through so much crap and now they've each finally found another person who cares about them deeply - and the ONLY REASON they could lose this wonderful little thing that they because of a bunch of stupid villains who can't get their own crap together. BUT BY DAMN THEY ARE GOING TO FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER AND THAT IS TRUE FREAKING LOVE RIGHT THERE!

So, this sets up for more drama and angst, but I figured it was coming because, hell, Snowing had their challenges to face. How could Captain Swan (or Outlaw Queen, for that matter) expect to do any less? Personally, I cannot WAIT for this story to unfold - and I'm still hoping for Rumple to get impaled on his own dagger (nobody has to actually stab him with it. He could just be running and trips and he stabs himself. Problem solved)

Other Things I Liked/Noticed -

- I knew the Outlaw Queen reunion was a sham - but I theorized that it was Rumple impersonating Robin the same was he did Killian. I didn't think it'd be a dream sequence. Either way, I'm glad we got to see Robin Hood again, even if it wasn't for very long.

- Hook and Will trading jabs at Gold's Shop. Yes, please - give me more!

- "I'm good at surviving or you're just bad at killing." HOOK WINS ALL THE THINGS!

- Cruella was surprisingly quiet through all of this, but she had some lovely moments - like totally lusting after August. I like to keep my blog on the clean side of PG-13, but I think you can imagine where this crack ship could go.

- And this -

I don't care who you are - that's Twue Wuv, right there. (gif source)

Next Time -

Remember how "Smash The Mirror" was such an important Emma episode for how she sees herself and her relationship with her family? I think "Best Laid Plans" is going to go in that direction as well. But that's just a guess -



Buckle in, kiddos because CRAP IS GETTING REAL!

*runs off to watch that Captain Swan ending again*

The Fears That Once Controlled Me

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time 4.10 Shattered Sight - Spoilers!

First off all - I need this version of "Let It Go" here. Yes, I know it's not as good as the Idina Menzel version, but somehow I feel like this one fits with this episode of Once Upon a Time. Especially some of the lyrics that are in the pop version that aren't in the movie -



Last summer, I wrote a blog post (before I knew what the Frozen story arc was going to be about) comparing and contrasting a lot of the Once Upon a Time "villains" and why I thought Elsa would be a perfect fit in this overall story of those past feeling coming back for their redemption. Well, now that Once's retelling of The Snow Queen is complete, I almost want to rewrite that post, but instead of focusing on Elsa, make it about Ingrid.

Before I get to that, I've got to talk about sisters (and I hope to heaven my own sisters don't read this because I'm probably going to be rather embarrassing towards all of them). Lately, Once has been hitting a lot of sensitive nerves for me. To be honest, it's probably in the same way that Frozen hit those same (yet wholly different) nerves as well. I've had some interesting experiences with this season - mostly around my youngest sister. I'm not particularly close with any of my sisters. It's just a matter of fact - we all have our different lives and interests and very few of them overlap. Except my youngest sister and I started watching Once Upon a Time totally on our own and for different reasons. It was kind of an odd - but good - moment when we both realized that we were both watching this show and we liked a lot of the same characters (we're both huge Hook fangirls). So, here was something that we both could enjoy together (even though we live in different cities - but we both know what the other is doing on Sunday nights). When Season 4 started, we made it a bit of tradition to text each other and talk about what we liked about the episode and what we thought was going to happen next time - sometimes these conversations last throughout the week (the week after "Smash the Mirror" - that discussion lasted well into Wednesday). My point is - I've been glad to have something to share with at least one of my sisters. And it's opened up our relationship to the point where we can talk about other things we like and we're kind of rediscovering that whole "sisterly bond" thing that I kind of missed out on for... reasons.

So, I guess when you've got a villain who's only a villain because she's trying to recreate a relationship with new sisters because she lost hers early on - I'm going to respond to that in a bit of an emotional way.

I have completely loved The Snow Queen arc this season (which, marketing and hype aside, that's really what this storyline has been about). I love how Ingrid's journey has been paralleled with Emma's and I love how Emma's journey has been paralleled with the movie Frozen. I love how it all came together in this episode - in a way that I probably should have seen coming, but I didn't realize that it would happen like that until Anna read her mother's final letter to her and Elsa (and, in some way, the letter was also written to Ingrid).

I'll start at the end and work my way back. I positively bawled when Ingrid heard Gerda's letter and realized that she'd made a huge mistake in using the Spell of Shattered Sight. It speaks to Ingrid's moral strength that, instead of continuing to blame her sister and milk that victim card for all it's worth, Ingrid immediately takes responsibility for her actions and works to correct what she's done. In a season where Regina is still holding onto that decades-old hurt and betrayal and Rumple is out for power and world domination, it's interesting that we have a villain who is only a villain because she is seeking for the kind of love she once had and lost. And, upon realizing she never really lost that love at all, she does a complete 180. She even points out the goodness and love that she felt for the people she met along the way - Emma, Elsa, and even Anna. If we had longer with the Frozen characters, I would guess that Ingrid would have a very similar character arc to Hook - who is another character who is motivated by love and whose actions are guided by losing and finding love over and over again.

One of my favorite lines in Frozen (Source)

I'm continually blown away by how complex these stories and characters are. This may seem like a simple show about fairy tales and magic and happy endings - and those elements are certainly important in bringing in an audience. I love how the writers use one plot to tell multiple stories - we've had the running theme of Frozen (and The Snow Queen) and from that one story, they've built upon the mythos of all the other characters in Once Upon a Time. Just to show one example (and it's the most obvious one) - Emma Swan got her traditional "Happily Ever After" at the end of Season 3. But the writers went even further to show how, even though she's found her family and true love, that's not the end of her story. Because she's found happiness before, but it's been taken away through circumstances beyond her control (and some that were somewhat within her control - as shown in the flashback to her days in the foster system). But this season - she's done running. She's done being scared. Even when she had the most reason to be afraid, she looked for a solution that would make her safe for people to be around her (she didn't know that solution was actually going to kill her, but it's been well-established that Rumple's an ass). Emma Swan is done running away. She is in Storybrooke for good - and she is going to do everything she can to protect her new home and the people she loves.

I feel like I could go on and on in circles about this episode (and, considering the number of paragraphs I've deleted and rewritten, I think I have). If I had one complaint about this episode, it's that I feel like there was a lot more story to tell. But at the same time, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I think that I enjoyed Ingrid as a character so much that I would love to have as much backstory on her as we've gotten on someone like Regina or Rumple. I'll be honest - I'm kind of feeling a little burned out on those two characters. I'm ready to follow somebody new. At least, as far as flashbacks are concerned. This season hasn't been as bad as Season 3A was with Rumple - and the Frozen characters have helped to mix it up a little bit. But how many second chances do these two get before they are past redemption. Especially Rumple (but he may be getting his comeuppance next week? I hope? Please???)

Other Things I Liked/Noticed

- There wasn't a whole lot of Captain Swan interaction in this episode (which, given where they left off last time, it makes sense). But there were a couple little lines thrown in there just to remind us - yes, Emma and Killian are very much together. Regardless of how cursed!Henry feels about it.

- I adored Killian's little goofy smile when Henry referred to him and Emma as being "together." I mean, obviously they're together - but it's probably nice for Killian to hear it from someone else.

- Along those lines - Will Scarlet is never going to get the better of Killian Jones. That's just a fact that everyone is going to have to come to terms with (but he's welcome to continue trying. It amuses me).

- Considering how scared and angst-filled everyone was last week when Shattered Sight was closing in on Storybrooke, the actual result of the curse hitting the town was pretty hilarious. No more so evident than in the sheriff's station where Snow, Charming, and Kristoff are all bickering with each other and poor Anna is trying to maintain the peace and keep Baby Baelfire safe (even though she admits that Kristoff's words are pretty hurtful, even though she knows he doesn't mean it).

- When Emma and Elsa figure out that the only way to remove the Snow Queen's ribbons is with an equal amount of hatred, Emma goes directly to Regina. It's funny in a really sad way - but it's still funny.

- Ingrid hid the memory stones in the carrot sherbet. Honestly, the humor in Once continues to be a delight to my soul.

"There is no version of this where you come out on top."

Feels like we waited so long for this season, and now this half of it is coming to an end (stupid hiatuses!) And I've got to talk about Rumplestiltskin and his plans to separate himself from the dagger and become the Head Cheese in Charge of the World. But first, I'm going to let another Disney property speechify on how this whole this is going to go down -



At this point, Rumple is in all kinds of hot water. His plans hinged upon everyone in Storybrooke being too preoccupied with Shattered Sight and the Snow Queen keeping Emma and Elsa prisoner in town. Now that Ingrid is gone and the curse is broken - how in the hell does he expect to get out of there unnoticed? I can think of three possible scenarios -

Worst Case: Rumple is successful in skipping town. He kills Killian and leaves him for dead near the town line, likely to be found at some point because Emma's going to notice that he's not where he should be. Somehow, the manner of his death is discovered and they figure out that Rumple and Belle are also missing. Emma isn't limited by the town line, so she could very well take off after the rat bastard - with all manner of righteous indignation and the fury of true love lost bearing down on Rumple's head. Savior magic trumps anything that Rumple can come up with and Emma is hell-bent on destroying the piece of shit that killed her pirate (this scenario is all kinds of unlikely because there is no way that the creators are going to kill off one of the more popular characters on the show).

Best Case: Rumple is in a mad rush to get out of town before anyone notices that he's Up To Something. Mistakes are made in haste and Killian sees an opportunity to warn Emma and the Charmings of Rumple's plans. Showdown at the Town Line at High Noon (Will Scarlet's selling tickets).

Even Better Case: Belle overhears something and FINALLY cottons on that her hubby dearest is a piece of garbage and calls him out on his crap. Rumple folds like a deck of cards because his asshattery has been discovered by the one and only person he gives a crap about and he's left with absolutely nothing.

Bonus Round: When Rumple goes to use the hat to separate himself from the dagger, it turns out he's made a severe miscalculation in what the hat is actually meant to do and everything goes "EXPLODEY!" Everyone that the hat has collected is released, very much alive and very much well (the Apprentice, the fairies, probably the Sorcerer, anyone else Eddy and Adam want to throw into the mix - Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella - just to set up Season 4B), and they all proceed to wail on Rumple's ass. That douchey little attache case gets found at the scene and Emma returns Killian's heart to him and we have a happy little cliffhanger until March (the Dark Queen triumvirate is left to plot and scheme and whatever, but that's coming up).

That's what I've got. Rumple is done. He's had it. He can talk a big game and strut around like he owns the place (which, I suppose he does), but this time he's bitten off more than he can chew. And it's probably not even going to be Emma or Regina or anyone else that brings him down. It's going to be his own ego and hubris that (to borrow an overused phrase from Season 3 that just about had me screaming for the hills last year) will be his undoing. All I can say is it's about bloody time.

And here's the promo for next week. And then we're done. And then we wait.



(even more Rumple backstory... *le sigh* All right - let's do this thing)

The Heart of Gold Shines

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time 4.08, "Smash the Mirror" - Spoilers!

[A Quick Note On My Subject Line: I've been (kind of trickily) using lyrics from Frozen to head up my Once Upon a Time reviews this half-season. I couldn't really think of one to fit this episode, though (not one that I hadn't already used). But then I remembered the song the choir sings at Elsa's coronation - "Heimr Amadalr." The lyrics are Old Norse and I found the translation here (it's a great article about Norse music and chants and well-worth a read - guess HISHE got a few things wrong in their Frozen parody video). Anyway, I chose this particular lyric in honor of Emma learning to love herself and control her powers. And it has nothing to do with anyone else. And I mean absolutely NO ONE else, so get that idea out of your head right now.]

You know, if Once had more two-hour long episodes, I would watch the hell out of that. They do some pretty amazing stuff with more time to flesh out storylines. Also, some pretty painful stuff. But that comes with the territory.

First off all - Rumplestiltskin -

Now that's out of my system (for now).

One of the things I've enjoyed most about the Once meets Frozen is how seamlessly the Frozen storyline has paralleled what's been going on in Storybrooke. I've talked about how (before I knew Frozen was coming to Once) that I thought there were a lot of parallels between Queen Elsa and Emma Swan. Especially about magic and learning to love yourself and accepting the love others have for you too. And - oh man - did this episode deliver on that parallel. And I'm glad that I wasn't the only one seeing that as well.

Something that Once excels at is the ability to parallel the past with the present. Usually, the parallels happen because the fairy tale characters' stories are running alongside their modern day counterparts - but this time, it's more thematic than character-driven. Sure, Elsa's in both stories, but her role is vastly different in both scenarios. It's like they're already telling us what's going to happen in the present by showing us what happened in the past. It's quite clever and a lot of fun to watch.

Another thing - I'm glad that this season takes place after the events of the movie. I'm glad that Elsa and Anna (and Kristoff, of course) have already experienced all that growth that came from Anna's sacrifice of true love. Earlier this week, ABC put out a sneak peek of Elsa coming to see Anna in the prison cell and Elsa was all about "Aunt Ingrid said you attacked her and you're a terrible awful sister and you're going to be punished!" I called "shenanigans" on that one because - that wouldn't make a lick of sense (unless Ingrid was doing something pretty damn shady to get Elsa to believe her over her sister). But, luckily it turned out that Elsa was smarter than that and she had a plan (*insert "called it!" happy dance here* And it was a pretty ingenious plan.

Back in Storybrooke - well, let's deal with some... not exactly happy things. Actually, it makes life even more complicated, but that's what were here for. Robin and Regina have reconciled as much as they can (off-screen. On a family show) - which, while that's great for the shippers (and I count myself among the Outlaw Queen fans), man, that makes things tough in reality. Though it's interesting that Regina recruited Robin to be part of Operation: Mongoose and finding the author of the book. And boy, did that plot escalate quickly. Again - Once plays the long game with this stuff. I'm sure this will come back to be resolved in Season 4B (the eternal optimist side of me says so anyway).

Elsewhere, Emma's still missing. Henry does find her, but her magic's still going absolutely nuts and she accidentally hurts him, which leads her to go find Mr. Gold for a solution.

Excuse me -

And for those of us who've been paying attention this season and Know What's Up - the solution that Gold doesn't-suggest involves Emma being sucked into the Sorcerer's Hat Of DOOM! But yes, her magic won't be able to hurt anybody ever again! No problem.

(what a jackass)

To Emma's everlasting credit, she calls home and tells her folks that, yes, everything's going to be peachy! Getting rid of my magic, Mom and Dad! Be home in time for dinner!

(what gets me is that David and Mary Margaret actually thought this was a good idea. Man, the idiot ball is strong in Storybrooke tonight).

With Team Charming benching themselves in this round (to be fair, Henry's kind of got a good reason), it's up to Hook and Elsa - in their own individual ways - to step in and be there for Emma.

Of course, Killian knows precisely what Rumple's got going on. Because he was there the first time that lying sack of horse manure used the hat. So, he goes to Gold's shop to corner the wily old Crocodile (and yes, I jumped about ten feet in the air when Killian barged into the shop, shouting for Gold to show himself. There has never been a reason for Killian to be so pissed, but damn if it wasn't delicious to watch). Problem is, Gold isn't there. And neither is Emma. And what follows is the most heartbreaking scene in the history of heartbreak and if Colin O'Donoghue doesn't get nominated for a all the awards next year simply on the strength of his performance in this episode, there is zero justice in the world and I don't want to live on this planet anymore. That phone call where Killian confesses everything about the hat and Gold and the dagger and the blackmail - I mean, that would be enough. But there's that last line where he says he hopes Emma doesn't forgive him because that means she got the message in time to save herself. I had to think about that one - why in the world wouldn't she forgive him? But - in an episode that revolves around loving yourself and believing that you are enough - Killian Jones simply doesn't believe that he is good enough for anyone, least of all Emma Swan. Sure, he's got that cocky attitude and confident swagger - but that's all just for show. Deep down, he still thinks of himself as someone who's done awful things and been consumed with revenge and there's no coming back from that. Even now, even after all the heroic things he's done - he still believes that he is nothing more than a villain.

And here, my friends, this is why Killian is my favorite Once character. This is why I completely buy into the character twists the writers have given Captain Hook, even when I'm still a little iffy on Rumple and the Evil Queen. You want villains? Okay, villains - there you go. All kinds of motives to do bad things and get in the way of happy endings and all that schtick. Rumple just goes after more power - even after he promised on his son's grave that he would try to be a better man in honor of Neal's memory (well, that all went to shit after this episode, didn't it?) Regina - well, Regina tried to do good at the end of Season 3, but that went flying out the window at the first sign of trouble. She blames the author of some magical book and not herself for her own choices and her response to those setbacks. Killian - what does he do? Completely fesses up to his mistakes, even when he thinks it's going to cost him the one person that he cares about more than anything else, including himself.

And even after all that - Emma never got his message.

Speaking of Emma - that Snow Queen's twisted as all get out. I mean, yes, we got her tragic backstory last week. But, again, her response to trials and setbacks doesn't exactly recommend her for sympathy. If anything, I'm voting with Elsa and Anna to get that chick back in the magic urn.

Yeah - still not loving the whole idea of her making up her own family and forcing people to be part of it. I mean... really??

So, Emma makes a really crappy choice. One that the Snow Queen doesn't want her to make. And at this point, I'm torn. Rumple and Ingrid both are at odds with each other and I don't want either of them to get what they want. Who do I root for? The obvious answer is Emma - but what she thinks is going to make her happy isn't really going to solve the problem. In fact, it'll probably make things even worse. But keeping her magic - well, she can probably do a lot more with her magic than locked away in that old hat.

But we're forgetting one key player in all this. Someone who has magic and who's had it go berserk on her and who learned to control her emotions and, thus, control her magic. Someone who, long before it was officially announced she was going to be part of this story, I believed would have some wisdom and advice to impart to Emma - if only some intrepid fan fiction writer would oblige.

People - this is why Queen Elsa of Arendelle was brought on Once Upon a Time. Because she's been exactly where Emma is. Scared of herself, scared for those she loves, trying to run away (which, remember, up until last season was Emma's go-to solution for everything). Elsa did what nobody - not even Regina - could do. She showed Emma how to accept herself. And absolutely everything about herself. Her magic, yes, but also her past and her mistakes and her doubts - everything that makes Emma who she is.

Oh wait - I have a song that goes along with this. Hang on -



What's incredible about this is that Elsa is virtually a stranger to Emma. Sure, they've grown to be best friends throughout this season, but there are people who've been in Emma's corner for a lot longer. I guess it takes someone you just met to point out what your loved ones have been pointing out forever before you finally believe it (and this is not a dig at Emma. How many times has a parent or sibling or other family member said something to you and you just dismiss it as "Oh, you have to say that" and you ignore it?) But because it's Elsa saying these encouraging things to Emma and pointing out that she's been able to control her magic even without Anna around - there's something to be said for speaking from experience. It's like - Emma couldn't believe in true love before she met her parents and learned their story that she could believe in it for herself (that's what last season's finale was about). This season, Emma had to learn for herself that her magic was a good thing and it was part of her - it's not just a tool to be used in last-resort emergency situations.

And she can even make fun and pretty things with it. Like fireworks. Happy 4th of July, Storybrooke!

(okay, it's probably actually March, but you get the idea).

Other Things I Liked/Noticed -

- Robin Hood and Will Scarlet "breaking into" the library. During normal business hours. Good job, boys.

- This is me putting on my librarian hat - Why in the name of all that is good and holy is The Cat in the Hat shelved next to the car repair manuals?? Belle - what kind of cataloging system are you even using?? The Drunk-and-Passed-Out-in-the-Gutter system?

- Regina owes someone a quarter. No-effing-kidding.

- Elsa believing in Anna up until her very last moment before she's completely sucked into that urn. My heart...

- Someone on Tumblr pointed this out - when Emma takes Elsa's hand, the rainbow-light-magic-wave of True Love magic spiraled out. This is because Emma is the Product of True Love(tm) and that's what her magic is made of. I thought that was a nice touch.

It kind of feels like we're at a turning point here. And here I'm going to get into the part of the episode that had the RAGE MONSTER rearing its ugly head. Because here is yet another exhibit of Why I Hate Rumplestiltskin and Wish All Manner of Death and Destruction Upon His Head. Emma's fine - she didn't choose Door #1 and get hit with the mother of all zonks! and things are going to be okay. But Rumple's got Killian tied up in an effort to stop him from going after Emma. Killian's back to being all swagger and confidence and "yeah - eff you Dark One!" And this is where I'm back to being quite concerned for my favorite pirate captain. Because Rumple is a pain in the ass and he lives to cause grief in my life. Apparently, so does Ingrid. Because that little bit of info she whispered to Rumple last week? I knew it was going to come back and smack Killian in the head. And - behold - I hate it when I'm right.

(PS - Did anyone else twig that the last time Rumple had Killian tied up at the same time he's working to kill someone Killian loves was clear back in Season 2 when Rumple killed Milah? I could have happily gone my entire life without making that connection, but since I had it pointed out to me, I need to share the suffering. You're welcome).

Rumple rips out Killian's heart (Killian's bright and shining and pure heart, it must be said) and now, he's got himself a puppet that he can use without resorting to blackmail. And... I don't like where this is going. Because if Rumple can use Killian's heart to free himself from the dagger... Killian's either going to be trapped in the hat or dead. And since the writers would be batshit insane to kill off one of their most popular characters, I predict that Season 4B is going involve Killian being separated from Emma in some way because of that rat bastard Rumple and Emma's going to have to go on some kind of rescue mission to get him back (details not important at this stage). One thing's for sure - there is angst ahead for the good ship Captain Swan. And while I'm glad to see this because it means there's some deliciously wonderful storytelling coming for my favorites - it also means that this is going to hurt and it's going to hurt bad.

(I couldn't even fully enjoy Emma and Killian's little reunion because I knew that Rumple had Killian's heart in his pocket and I was constantly waiting for something terrible to happen because Rumple now has the means to control Killian and anything Rumple has control over is mucho no bueno).

For now - I have two weeks to stew in my rage and shouting and DAMN YOU RUMPLE! before the next episode.



(they enjoy my suffering).

***

Split the Ice Apart

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time 4.07 "The Snow Queen" - Spoilers!

Dear Everyone in Storybrooke -

*deep breath* All right - I'm okay.

No. No, I'm really not.

Okay, so what the crap just happened? Well, the Snow Queen employed proper use of psychological scarring on Emma Swan. But that doesn't excuse that whole scene of Mary Margaret and Baby Baelfire at Disney Princess "Mommy 'n Me" being a "First Time Mom." (I mean - seriously??? Does Dairy Queen have Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty in on her evil schemes or something? GAH!!)

(I know, I know - I'm trying to be a calm and rational reviewer right now. And it's just not working! Let me try talking about flashback stuff -)

So, in the Arendelle of the past, Ingrid and her sisters, Gerda and Helga...

...discover that Ingrid has ice powers and they make a pact that they're going to conceal them because they all love their sister. But that leads to Ingrid being left out of some important things in her sisters' lives. But that doesn't matter because - ~*~sisterly love~*~. Which, I've got three sisters. I get that (more or less, I guess). Still, Ingrid wants her powers gone, even against the wishes of Helga and Gerda. Three guesses where they end up going??

Good gravy, I'm going to smack him.

All roads lead to Rumple, I guess.

So, Rumple gives the sisters the gloves (you know, the gloves) and the urn (you know, the urn) - but he also insinuated that Ingrid didn't need anything more than her sisters' love and their bond and promise to always be there for each other - symbolized by the yellow ribbons the girls wore on their wrists (and the fact that Rumple wants the ribbons is proof that the sisters' love has imbued the ribbons with some form of magic). But Ingrid still gives that up and it's all downhill from there. The Duke of Weasel Town (that's what I'm calling him because he deserves it - even though I laughed my butt off when I saw that they included him in the Arendelle flashbacks. That was just great!) tries to move in on Ingrid and she defends herself with her magic, but Helga (who Weasel Boy is supposed to be engaged to) gets in the way and she dies.

I'm going to talk about Helga's death for a while here. Because that scene more than any in this episode really got to me. Like I said, I've got three younger sisters. All when we were growing up, I often felt like I needed to look out for them and protect them because that's what big sisters do! Except there were more than a few times where they were looking out for me. And there were more than a few times when I did things that hurt them - whether on purpose or accidentally. In fact - there was one time where I broke my sister's collarbone (to be fair, we were all rough-housing and my brother jumped on us and that knocked me into my sister and we both landed kind of funny, so that's how it happened), and I felt terrible about it for days afterward. I mean, she healed up fine and everything was okay eventually, but, you know - the looks that my parents gave me when it happened and then they rushed her off to the hospital... I was left at home to stew in my own guilt and try to forget what had happened and tell myself that it was an accident (hard to do when your sister's in a brace for six weeks).

Back to Arendelle - Helga's dead and Gerda comes upon the scene to find Ingrid completely wrecked by what she's done (Weasel Town conveniently sneaks off to somewhere else - rat bastard). Instead of trying to piece together what's happened, Gerda...

...traps Ingrid in the urn and goes to Grand Pabbie to erase all evidence of Helga and Ingrid and begins her path to Parental Suckitude (even though it's presumably still some years before Elsa is born).

(Gerda, honey, after all this crap you've pulled with your sister and your daughter - there ain't no way you're coming back from this in my eyes. So, deal with it).

Okay - can I talk Storybrooke now??

All right - maybe just some of the happy things. Because there were some.

Things I Liked/Noticed -

- The good ship Outlaw Queen sails on! (HOORAY!!) Weeeeeell... it's not taking on so much water anymore. That's progress! (I hope).

- Will Scarlet, oh how I adore you! (though what happened to Anastasia, I'm kind of scared to find out).

- Henry getting ready for work - "I'm getting married." HENRY, YOU PRECIOUS NUGGET!

- Rumple may still be on my shit list, but a magic potion to make old things new was pretty good. I do enjoy his interactions with Henry. They make me... not quite as mad as I could be at Rumple. He's still on my list, though.

- I don't know if this was deliberate or what, but Hook checking himself out in the mirror. Hot stuff, baby.

- Brighton Sharbino as young Ingrid. Dead ringer for Elizabeth Mitchell. Take a bow, Once casting! (are we sure Brighton isn't her daughter or niece or something?)

Now can I talk Emma and Snow Queen and ULTIMATE HEARTBREAK??

*okay*

DAMMIT QUEENIE WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A BITCH???

Seriously, that whole time - THAT WHOLE TIME - in the sheriff's station made me want to punch somebody! (preferably the Snow Queen, but I'd have taken Rumple in a pinch) Like, how long has Emma Swan gone without people who love her and now she has everything she wanted and YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE HER RUN AWAY FROM THAT??

I really want to know what happened when Ingrid was Emma's foster mother. I'm sure it'll get brought up at some point in a future episode. But there is some nuclear grade shady crap going on there. I mean, if you want someone to be your bestest best sister-friend-thing, how is turning Emma and her current family and friends against her going to accomplish this? (or her against them - whatever).

Of course, SNOW WHITE IS NOT HELPING!! Mama Snow, dear heart - CAN YOU NOT??

So when Emma Swan Fan Club (Charming, Hook, Elsa and - honorary member for this episode - Belle) come running into Rumple's shop because Queenie has frozen the doors of the sheriff's station shut and they need magic to get in. Rumple reluctantly agrees (Belle's puppy-eyes have that effect on him) - except Hook stays behind for a moment to point out that Rumple has been very nonchalant about this whole Snow Queen business, especially considering how many villains have come to Storybrooke with the express purpose of killing the Dark One (presumably, Killian is including himself in that count). Rumple laughs it off, yet I can't shake the feeling that Rumple is getting a bit irritated about perceptive our favorite pirate captain is. Which sets up nicely for something that happens at the end of the episode and (probably) will have major repercussions for next week as well (I'm coming to that).

Back at the sheriff's station, Dairy Queen engineers a complete emotional breakdown for Emma, which makes Emma's magic go berserk and destroys en entire wall of the building just as everyone is coming back to get Emma out. Emma is still freaking out and her magic takes out a light pole, which nearly takes out Hook, who gets shoved out of the way by Charming (oh man, the metas that have been written about that), who gets hurt. Snow rushes over and says Emma's name in that surprised/shocked/disapproving voice (again - NOT HELPING!) and Emma runs off in the yellow bug (not before Hook tries to stop her, but she's too fast or he's not fast enough - regardless, it's painful).

In the midst of all this, Dairy Queen escapes and she later goes to Rumple to make a deal, which I'm sure is full of rainbows and ice cream and purple unicorns (RIGHT?!!) Which sets up this epic two-hour episode they have planned for next week. Which, I'm just gonna go ahead and make a pretty bold prediction of what it's going to entail -

Just a hunch, mind you. But I'm fairly confident in my assessment.



Emma's boys to the rescue. Which will not end well, I'm certain.

(if I'm this keyed-up after this week, what's next week going to be like?)

That "Perfect" Girl is Gone

Review/Recap of Once Upon a Time, 4.05 "Breaking Glass" - Spoilers!

I don't know if anyone's noticed (no one's said anything - granted, nobody ever says anything about my reviews - but that's neither here nor there. I do this for myself), but all of the titles of these Once Upon a Time posts for Season 4 are all taken from lyrics from the Frozen soundtrack. It was a little bit of a challenge I set for myself - to see if I could find a title from any Frozen song that fit in with the episode, regardless of how much of a stretch it was. So far, they've all fit in pretty well (though I'm thinking I may wish that I saved my title for "White Out" for later. Eh, whatever).  This episode is no exception, but I am allowing myself a tiny tweak. Not to the words, but in how they're presented. And I will tell you why.

In the movie Frozen, Elsa grows up thinking that she had to hide her powers from everyone. Her parents ingrain her with "Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show." This mantra becomes part of her to the point that she is incapacitated with fear whenever her powers start to manifest themselves. She sees her powers as a flaw - something to be eradicated. Or at the very least, hidden away. Hiding her powers is an achievement and something to strive for until she can do it entirely. Or, perfectly, if you like. Until on the day of her coronation, her loses control of her powers and everybody sees what she can do. And all her striving for perfection is gone. Elsa will never be perfect in hiding her powers because now everyone knows about them. Thus, we get the anthem of "Let It Go" - or, somewhat more accurately - "Everybody already knows that I'm a screw-up, so to hell it with! I'm going to show off everything I can do!"

So, when I hear the lyric "that perfect girl is gone" - I hear the sentiment of a person who was told that one way is best, but she can't achieve that because it's an impossible goal. Elsa's done trying to hide and trying to keep up the illusion of "perfection" - the illusion that she is the ideal ruler for Arendelle, that she has no magic and that she isn't a danger to anyone else. Because perfection, honestly, is killing her. It's killing who she really is and it's killing her chance at a happy life.

However, throughout the movie, we see that happiness is not found in perfection. It's found in being honest and real with yourself and the people you love. It's found in living your life and trying your best, knowing and accepting that you will fail and not everything is going to go your way. But it's also found in the fun moments - in the silly moments. Like turning the city square into a skating rink in the middle of July (or whenever that was) and letting everyone ice skate the way Elsa and Anna did when they were kids.

So, yeah, that perfect girl is gone. Because what Elsa ends up becoming is so much better than being this artificial version of "perfect."

That's great for Frozen and all - but what does that have to do with Once Upon a Time? Quite a bit, actually (continuing on this theme of "It would have been a crime against humanity NOT to incorporate Frozen into OUAT Season 4!")

She Now Joins the Plotline, Already in Progress

Regina Mills hasn't had a whole lot to do this season, admittedly. Then again, she's kind of been on... well, I don't want to say that she's been on a pout, per se. But holing herself up in her vault on the pretense of trying to find a way to cure Maid Marian doesn't lead to a lot of time and room for character development (okay, yeah, she probably really is trying to find a cure, but watching her dig through spellbooks and dusty potion cabinets does not make for compelling television). But in this episode, it was good to see her finally get a chance to stop with this reenactment of "Wizard Angst" and join the search for Snow Queen Prime.

On her way, she runs into Emma who is still trying to make amends for the whole Maid Marian thing. And Regina is totally justified in her anger - even if she's a little... over the top, shall we say, in expressing it. This situation is not easy at all. You feel bad for Regina for losing the love of her life in such a weird way. But you also can't fault Emma for her actions either. And it's easy to be mad at Regina for lashing out the way she does. But we do have to give her credit (as Emma does) that Regina is trying to save Marian. So, there's that. But Regina is certainly not interested in being friends with Emma.



I'm not really sure what I think of Regina lately. One of the things I loved about Season 3B is seeing how far Regina has come from being the Evil Queen that inspires fear in everyone she meets. A huge part of that was finding love with Robin Hood and how he seemed to be one of the few people who didn't hold Regina's past against her. Even back in Season 2 and the first half of Season 3, the people that knew Regina best still held onto those old hatreds - even when she was clearly trying to be better and earn their forgiveness. But Robin didn't - for whatever reasons he had (that we haven't had a chance to explore, but I hope we get there soon). Even with Marian back and her (understandable) fear of the Evil Queen - Robin still trusts and loves Regina, even though his code of honor forbids him from being with her.

I can understand Regina lashing out against Emma, even if I don't like it. Regina once told Rumplestiltskin that the only thing she has is her anger. It protects her and fuels her powers. And though we did see that love fueled her ability to use light magic at the end of Season 3 - well, now she believes she doesn't have love. So, she goes back to her anger. And we saw it in this episode - she is mired even more deeply in her dark magic because that's what she's comfortable with. Which means she belittles and threatens Emma. Emma's an easy target for Regina's anger. Even moreso since Emma is trying to reach out and be Regina's friend - that's when you're the most vulnerable and susceptible to being hurt. Regina sees that as Emma's weakness and she exploits it - leaving Emma to go back to the sheriff's station with regret and guilt and hurt weighing deeply on her mind, not just about Regina, but about things that happened to her in the past.

But yeah - Regina's storyline and her character development is complicated. I like how the story's being told, even if I don't really like Regina's actions right now. And not just because she's hurting my favorite precious duckling princess Emma - but also because it's kind of uncomfortable for me to watch. There are elements of Regina's story that ring embarrassingly true for me (and I'm certain other people have this as well) - where you've been hurt by someone you once considered a friend or at least an ally and you convince yourself that they never truly had your best interests. That they were always going to betray you in time and you have to wall yourself off against that ever happening again. Even when you think of going back and trying to patch things up - you're still afraid that it might happen again and you want to avoid that as much as possible. Even if it means you also close yourself off from true happiness.

Just some food for thought.

Seen It Before

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been pleading for more Emma Swan backstory and in this episode, we finally got some (I really hope this is something that becomes a regular thing because I really enjoyed Abby Ross as young Emma). Emma's thieving ways started early - more or less out of necessity (and people wonder why she ends up with the pirate. Come on, people! This is a foregone conclusion!). She meets a girl named Lily who says she too is a runaway orphan and they team up to be lonely, thieving runaways together (so Neal didn't teach Emma everything about being a thief. Good to know). Together, they break into this super-fancy summer house (this being autumn in Minnesota, so all the rich vacationers are gone) and they basically enjoy their life on the run and become besties. It's damn adorable.

Except... it turns out that Lily is not an orphan as she led Emma to believe. Lily actually has a family who's looking for her - in fact, her dad is the one who's come to find her. And the absolute hurt in young Emma's face and voice - look, we know that Emma spent her entire life wishing she had a family. It was always in the forefront of her mind. She would give anything to have what Lily has - and Lily is the one running away from it. Try as Emma might, she can't forgive someone who would give up something (that she thinks is) so wonderful and great. Add the lying on top of it - yeah, teenage Emma is somewhat justified in turning away from Lily.

(to be fair - we don't know the kind of home life Lily has. But the fact that her father was out looking for her does give a huge indication that she is loved and cared for. Which is more than Emma's ever had).

One With the Wind and Sky

Back in the world of present day Storybrooke, Elsa thinks she sees Anna in the mists in the graveyard (yeah, yeah, ABC we get it - it's Halloween, you needed some spooktacular thing to put in your promotional stuff this week. Even though Once Upon a Time is a pretty Halloween-ish show to begin with. But whatever), so she takes off after ghost!Anna. And we know who's waiting on the other end of this mini-quest. It's a pretty straightforward trope - but anything to see Elsa make that ice bridge. Because that will never not be cool)

Snow Queen Prime shows up to be one of the smoothest villains that Once has ever had. No offense to the wonderful Rebecca Mader's delightfully evil Wicked Witch (who I adored last season), but I am seriously enjoying Elizabeth Mitchell's Snow Queen. She's evil in a vastly different way than Zelena - where Zelena was tough and brash in her confidence that she has everything under control and she's not above gloating at very victory, the Snow Queen is (appropriately) cooler and more subdued in her approach. We still don't have the foggiest idea what she's up to (I've really got to stop with these weather puns) and Snow Queen Prime isn't about to tell us. But we want her to tell us. We want to know what she's up to. And with the addition of this mirror... well, you really oughta go read Hans Christian Andersen's original tale The Snow Queen and you'll probably have a good idea of what's going to happen (and seeing as what the focus has been in the previous episodes, I'm suddenly very fearful for a certain dashing rapscallion/scoundrel...)

I needed another "Let It Go" gif in here. For reasons.

Date Night with the Charmings

Last week, Captain Swan got their big splashy date night and it was, appropriately, beautiful and feelsy and wonderful and made me all kinds of happy (and I'm just going to pretend that thing with Rumple didn't happen. Until I have to remember it for story reasons, that is. And I will probably start swearing again). This week, the B-plot was Snow and Charming taking a much-deserved break from sheriffing and mayoring and babying to have a nice night out together. Snow is, understandably, hesitant to leave baby Baelfire (I refuse to call him that other name), though even new parents deserve and need some time off. So, leaving the baby with Belle (FINALLY! She gets something to do!), they head out for a nighttime stroll. Except Will Scarlet has escaped from the sheriff's station. But that's okay - because Snowing (Snow + Charming) spent their honeymoon going after a gorgon (...yeah... that happened), so date night can certainly be chasing after an escaped convict (whose crime was drunkenly breaking into the library. Hey, I can understand. If I drank, I would probably do the same thing. Maybe).

Using her Mad Tracking Skillz (is that even a meme anymore?) Snow finds Will out on the beach reenacting Holes. And lovely Princess Mayor Rainbow Lollipop deduces that her charming hubby planned this whole thing in order to help Snow feel like a badass again - let the vicious criminal loose so she could have the opportunity to track and apprehend Storybrooke's newest village idiot (Grumpy was unavailable for comment).

Well - it was cute and all, but Snow really needs to have more faith in her own abilities (and the jail cell at the station needs some new locks. Put that in along the security system replacement budget. Betamax... I ask you...)

Rekindling a Beautiful... Tolerance

Back to Regina and Emma in the woods - they have some tracking of their own to do in trying to find Elsa and Snow Queen Prime (not hard when Elsa leaves an ice bridge to follow - wait a second...)

I will not tire of these

And Regina realizes that Sidney has betrayed her (to be fair, she did trap him in a mirror again), so she and Emma have to work together to beat the Snow Queen (and I'm sad that Marshmallow didn't make a repeat appearance. Then again, would I really want something of Elsa's being used for evil?) After they beat the Snow Queen and Elsa's freed from her prison, Queenie decides that she's got what she came for and she beats it the hell out of there.

(oh, PS - Regina's back to using dark magic again. *le sigh* And she'd come so far, too)

With this season being all about Emma, I think it's fantastic that she's trying to mend fences with Regina here. And not just mend what was already broken, but to reinforce it - by admitting to Regina that she hoped that the two of them could be friends. I mean, the Frozen Swan friendship is wonderful. But (sadly) it's only going to last through this half-season (as much as I plead on Tumblr that the Frozen characters could stay because they're all awesome). And even though Emma has her family and a guy that she cares about - she also needs a friend. And it would be nice if that friend understood something of having magical powers. Regina and Emma's friendship was kind of starting to develop last season when Regina was teaching Emma to use her powers - though at that point it was a mentor-student relationship and only born out of necessity. But wouldn't it be neat if they started to kind of like each other on a more informal basis?

Well - one can dream.

Other Things I Liked/Noticed

- I laughed mightily when Charming listed Asgard as one of the improbably places that he and Snow could end up on their walk. One, because there's nothing saying Once couldn't incorporate Norse mythology into their story at some point (or that Disney-owned Marvel couldn't let Thor into the place). Two, because Josh Dallas played Fandral in the first Thor and that was just a hilarious moment. So, thank you for that.

- Hook wasn't in this episode much, but that's okay. Once is an ensemble show and each storyline needs the time it deserves, so everyone has to take turns (as much as I would totally watch the hell out of the Emma and Hook show). But what we did get of Hook was awesome. Especially since Emma is opening up to him more - that he's interested in her past and her childhood memories and she's willing to share that with him. The entire ending scene in the sheriff's station -

If they keep giving me reason to use this, by damn, I'm going to keep using it!

- Elsa's new purple cloak thingy! Back when they were filming these early episodes, Georgina Haig either tweeted or mentioned in an interview that the flowy Elsa cape kept getting stuck on tree branches during scenes in the forest and they'd have to stop filming and get her untangled. So, I wonder if the new cloak was an innovation out of the necessity of her having to be out in the woods. Or if it was just her showing off her ice-wardrobe-making abilities and trying out new colors. Either way - I liked it!

- A tiny nitpick - but the young Emma flashbacks were supposed to have taken place in 1998. Lily mentions something about her strange birthmark making her feel special like Harry Potter. Except... Harry Potter really wasn't that big of a thing in 1998. It was around, certainly (Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK in 1997, Sorcerer's Stone in the US in 1998). But it wasn't quite the cultural touchstone it is now. It wasn't until Prisoner of Azkaban was published that it really started getting momentum and being this huge phenomenon. It's a tiny thing, but where I spent much of my high school and college years being totally obsessed with Harry Potter - well... don't argue with me on this.

- Snow Queen Prime's Fortress of Solitude was really cool looking. Scary as hell, but cool (sorry - no getting around that pun)

- Will Scarlet's fitting in nicely. Emma even shared her Pop Tart with him.

- Snow Queen Prime was one of Emma's foster parents back in the day! Can I just say - CALLED IT!!!

You need a villain gif to celebrate a villain theory.

- Who was taking pictures of Regina and Robin Hood kissing? Not to mention Neal and Emma? I mean... is the Person of Interest Machine sending out souvenir selfies as a side job? What is the deal??

In Conclusion

Regina's out of her vault (yay!) But she's still not exactly buddied-up to Emma. Or anyone, really (well, that's par for the course, isn't it?) Emma's pretty much let all her walls down and she's opened up to other people (still not over the kissing and the hand holding!) This episode was kind of like a "bridge" between all the high-powered emotional set-up in this stretch of the story and the (presumably) high-stakes plotline full of death and consequences (okay, there better NOT be any death because given who the candidates would be for Whose Demise Will Kill the Fandom the Most - I don't like my chances). And I have to say - it's nice to be able to go to bed without that adrenaline rush of "OMG THIS SHOW YOU GUYS!!!!!1!!11" keeping me awake.

But if this was the short rest before All Hell Breaks Loose... what does that mean for the rest of the season?

Next Time



Oh, Rumple. You hated it.