I will always find you
I started watching Once Upon a Time exactly one week ago and finished the season finale last night and…wow. That was one helluva train ride!
I’m not going to recount all that happened in the series because A) if you’re reading this, then you’ve probably seen all the episodes or are well on your way to doing so and B) if you haven’t seen it, you’re just going to have to and then come back and read this and understand all the squeeing that is about to occur!
The first thing that I really just want to natter on about is the acting of all the characters. The casting was absolutely P E R F E C T for literally everyone. From Regina to Ruby/Red to Henry and to Rumpelstiltskin, all of them played their Fairytale Land and RL characters to the hilt. It was interesting to see how different the characters would act in FTL compared to RL. Like Snow White: as Mary Margaret, she’s mousy and a little introverted prior to Emma coming into town while in FTL she’s fierce and a bit of a badass.
But I have to say, out of all the characters, Robert Carlyle’s performance as Rumpelstiltskin and Mr. Gold has Blown. Me. Away. He’s genial, Scottish, creepy and threatening as Mr. Gold and he’s insane, calculating and manipulative as Rumpelstiltskin and just a little bit of both bleed into each other. Yet there have been plenty of times when I’ve also just sympathized with his character just because Robert clearly communicated the moment. Like in “Skin Deep” when the Evil Queen lied about Belle’s death or the moment when he thinks Booth is Baelfire - those moments revealed a different side of Rumpelstiltskin, even if just for a minute or two.
I was kept guessing as to whether or not Mr. Gold remembered FTL or not until “Skin Deep” and I was taken by surprise. I don’t get taken by surprise by TV shows because they’re usually very predictable but this was good. It was very good. I also still don’t know exactly if Rumpel is good or evil. I guess one can’t really classify him as in either category because he really just works for his own interests.
The second in line to Robert Carlyle on top-notch acting is Lana Parilla and her Evil Queen/Madam Mayor. In FTL, the Evil Queen is this fantastically dressed woman (and I mean fantastically, I literally wish that I could dress up like that) who shows a large range of emotions including innocence and goodness (in the beginning) and later on, all with an edge of evilness to it. I can’t really the same in RL because quite honestly Regina almost stayed the same a lot of the time. She wasn’t as much fun to watch as the Evil Queen - well, at least until that moment between her and Mary Margaret in the jail, that was perversely amusing to watch.
And then the ending…I don’t even know what to say because I am actually going to rewatch it again tonight. I don’t understand why Henry thinks that the cloud is immediately bad; it’s just magic - magic that can be used for bad or for good. And obviously, with the evil grins on Rumpel’s and Regina’s faces, they’ve got some evil plans in mind.
I’m glad that we’ve stayed in Storybrooke, I’d like to explore what the townspeople are going to do now with their magic. Will we open a portal to FTL? Will they all want to go back?
Per Jennifer Morrison, next season will have more of an actual love interest for Emma. Sure, we had Graham and Booth (to a slight degree) in this season but from the data I’m getting, it’s going to be a little more this time around.
I, and another friend of mind who’s also OUAT obsessed, have speculated about the return of Baelfire. There’s also the thought (because nothing insignificant is ever introduced into the show) is that maybe Baelfire is Henry’s father. Emma never actually says that he dies (because she’d lied earlier). Then that would make the Charmings and Rumpelstiltskin related. And if they’re joined up, can you imagine the absolute fear and panic that Regina will experience?
Emma’s got magic, it’s been alluded to (or maybe just outright said) in this season and she’s the product of true love so, by extension, is Henry. So does Henry have magic? And if he’s the grandson of Rumpel then does he have dark magic too?
All of Season 1 mainly focused on character building so I’m very excited to see what is going to happen with Season 2. But the Powers That Be (Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz) had better not ever give us an ending like Lost. They already took Graham, I hope that they moderate it on the rest. This is, after all, a fairy tale, and fairy tales end with “happily ever after” - well, at least if you’re Walt Disney, which I’m hoping these boys are.
I still have a lot of the happy excitement running through me so I totally just want to discuss and break down every little thing about OUAT so please let me know your thoughts!