Once Upon a Time 2x03
I should post more about this show, b/c it's where the bulk of my squee lies lately.
I love OUaT like burning and was thoroughly pleased by the majority of the first season (clunkers like "Dreamy" aside) and the finale. I love just about all the characters, especially Snow and Emma and Red and Snow/Charming. Not to mention Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin, who is just awesome. I love that the show blows the Bechdel Test out of the water every single episode, to the point where it's actually rarer to see two male characters alone in a scene together. I love the twists on the fairy tales and how they fill in the blanks and make all the different stories weave together in one universe. Just love in general.
This season started off well, especially with splitting up the characters and sending Snow and Emma back to the fairytale world. While the plot with Mulan and Aurora was a bit rocky for me at first, and I wish they hadn't had them both in love with Prince Phillip, I'm thrilled that they dispatched Phillip pretty quickly and now the four of them have hooked up and are off to slay ogres and be heroes together. Pretty damn awesome.
However, last night's episode was kind of annoying to me. There were definitely good bits, but I spent a lot of the ep annoyed. Loved Lancelot, hated that they seem to have killed him off (unless Cora is lying, which hey, definitely possible - see Regina's claim of Belle being dead last season). Hated Cora in general, really, especially considering what she represents in the story - I don't want them to reduce Regina to Only a Villain Because I Hate My Mother status. That's boring and we've seen it before.
I also really hated the repeated themes about children being the MOST IMPORTANT THING in life and in a relationship. First we hear it from the king, then from Charming's mother, and at no point does any character refute the idea. Instead we get the mother sacrificing herself for no good reason, as there was definitely no rush on breaking the curse the king put on Snow. That definitely could have waited, and why in the world was it a deal-breaker anyway? I don't blame Snow for being upset, and I realize this show is really all about family in one way or another, but for the mother to just decide to die without even asking her son what he felt about it was idiotic. Not to mention there was no sense of suspense anyway, b/c we obviously know Snow can have kids later on. That whole plotline felt rushed and tacked on, and all for what? An awkward Deathbed Wedding? No wonder Snow and Charming went on to have a big lavish wedding later on at the castle - who wants to remember their wedding day as the day mom died?
Charming also bugged me with his continued harping on wanting a boy. First in the pilot, now in this ep. He's obviously finally getting what he wants with Henry, so I'm wondering if that will cause any tension later between him and Emma. They haven't really had a chance to bond at all, not in either universe, so I'll be curious to see where that goes.
However, for me the ep was partially redeemed by how awesome Snow was, and by the scenes between her and Emma. Loved Emma getting to see how badass her mom is and how she is so very different from Mary Margaret. Loved the struggle between them to redefine their relationship and the culmination of that at the castle - the emotional payoff and the hug were just wonderful. I love these two a lot and I can't wait to see them out there kicking ass together.
I also liked Jefferson getting his happy ending, at least for now. He deserved it.
Now that they're split between three different plotlines - Storybrooke, past!Fairytaleverse, and now present!Fairytaleverse - it's looking like we'll be seeing less of some characters in certain eps. This was the first time we didn't see Mr. Gold or Rumples at all, and Regina had a much smaller part, whereas last week we saw very little of Snow and Emma. I hope they can continue to keep a good balance and give all the characters enough development, especially with so many new characters coming and going.
Speaking of character changes, they've bumped Raphael Sbarge (Jiminy Cricket) to recurring instead of series regular, which is a bummer. However, both Meghan Ory (Red/Ruby) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) have become regulars instead of just recurring, so that's nice. Lancelot is listed as recurring, so I'm assuming we'll see him again, even if just in the flashbacks. Looking forward to see Captain Hook next week, as well, though I do hope they go back to a few plot threads left dangling in season one before they introduce too many new ones.
I love OUaT like burning and was thoroughly pleased by the majority of the first season (clunkers like "Dreamy" aside) and the finale. I love just about all the characters, especially Snow and Emma and Red and Snow/Charming. Not to mention Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin, who is just awesome. I love that the show blows the Bechdel Test out of the water every single episode, to the point where it's actually rarer to see two male characters alone in a scene together. I love the twists on the fairy tales and how they fill in the blanks and make all the different stories weave together in one universe. Just love in general.
This season started off well, especially with splitting up the characters and sending Snow and Emma back to the fairytale world. While the plot with Mulan and Aurora was a bit rocky for me at first, and I wish they hadn't had them both in love with Prince Phillip, I'm thrilled that they dispatched Phillip pretty quickly and now the four of them have hooked up and are off to slay ogres and be heroes together. Pretty damn awesome.
However, last night's episode was kind of annoying to me. There were definitely good bits, but I spent a lot of the ep annoyed. Loved Lancelot, hated that they seem to have killed him off (unless Cora is lying, which hey, definitely possible - see Regina's claim of Belle being dead last season). Hated Cora in general, really, especially considering what she represents in the story - I don't want them to reduce Regina to Only a Villain Because I Hate My Mother status. That's boring and we've seen it before.
I also really hated the repeated themes about children being the MOST IMPORTANT THING in life and in a relationship. First we hear it from the king, then from Charming's mother, and at no point does any character refute the idea. Instead we get the mother sacrificing herself for no good reason, as there was definitely no rush on breaking the curse the king put on Snow. That definitely could have waited, and why in the world was it a deal-breaker anyway? I don't blame Snow for being upset, and I realize this show is really all about family in one way or another, but for the mother to just decide to die without even asking her son what he felt about it was idiotic. Not to mention there was no sense of suspense anyway, b/c we obviously know Snow can have kids later on. That whole plotline felt rushed and tacked on, and all for what? An awkward Deathbed Wedding? No wonder Snow and Charming went on to have a big lavish wedding later on at the castle - who wants to remember their wedding day as the day mom died?
Charming also bugged me with his continued harping on wanting a boy. First in the pilot, now in this ep. He's obviously finally getting what he wants with Henry, so I'm wondering if that will cause any tension later between him and Emma. They haven't really had a chance to bond at all, not in either universe, so I'll be curious to see where that goes.
However, for me the ep was partially redeemed by how awesome Snow was, and by the scenes between her and Emma. Loved Emma getting to see how badass her mom is and how she is so very different from Mary Margaret. Loved the struggle between them to redefine their relationship and the culmination of that at the castle - the emotional payoff and the hug were just wonderful. I love these two a lot and I can't wait to see them out there kicking ass together.
I also liked Jefferson getting his happy ending, at least for now. He deserved it.
Now that they're split between three different plotlines - Storybrooke, past!Fairytaleverse, and now present!Fairytaleverse - it's looking like we'll be seeing less of some characters in certain eps. This was the first time we didn't see Mr. Gold or Rumples at all, and Regina had a much smaller part, whereas last week we saw very little of Snow and Emma. I hope they can continue to keep a good balance and give all the characters enough development, especially with so many new characters coming and going.
Speaking of character changes, they've bumped Raphael Sbarge (Jiminy Cricket) to recurring instead of series regular, which is a bummer. However, both Meghan Ory (Red/Ruby) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) have become regulars instead of just recurring, so that's nice. Lancelot is listed as recurring, so I'm assuming we'll see him again, even if just in the flashbacks. Looking forward to see Captain Hook next week, as well, though I do hope they go back to a few plot threads left dangling in season one before they introduce too many new ones.