Can the nuns date now?
See, the thing is, I feel like on paper this is an episode that I should find immensely frustrating. I have so many questions and storylines that I want addressed that were either not at all addressed or only addressed briefly. Who's the Mysterious Dude from last week's opening? Where on Earth was Belle this week? What happened in Fairy Tale Land over the past 28 years? Who is Dr. Whale? Are Mulan and Aurora going to hook up or what? Why when you have Sebastian Stan and Emilie de Ravin on hand would you not use them to their full potential? The OUAT writers are not going to give me answers to these questions. Not yet.
And yet I really enjoyed this episode.
It kind of reminds me of certain parts of LOST, when they would hit viewers with a billion game-changing cliffhangers and then immediately spend an episode on tightly-character-focused worldbuilding.
Things that helped:
♠ It's really good worldbuilding. As Jefferson accurately notes, having double sets of memories will mess you up. Here it's messed up a whole town. There's a crisis center. (Red, ILU and your crisis management skills, by the way.) And when they find out that leaving Storybrooke means resetting to your cursed personality? There are people who'd impulsively opt for that over trapped-in-Storybrooke-double-life thing. It's fantastic. (Plus, they're now rebuilding Storybrooke! Not literally, as Storybrooke is not in need of actual literal rebuilding, but they're going to put together a new life for the town and oh I love it so)
♠ On a related note, setting up those exact consequences for leaving Storybrooke is a great narrative move. There needed to be something to keep all the characters in town, and "trying to leave results in death/coma/other terrible physical consequences" is ... too easy? in a way? "Leaving Storybrooke results in a mundane-personality reset with no known reversal" on the other hand means two things, at least as long as Sneezy sticks around which I assume he will: one, it means a constant physical reminder of the consequences (dude no longer knows who he really is) and two, it means a constant physical reminder of who you used to be.
♠ It also sets up this roadblock for Rumpel!Gold and his quest for his son (where was Belle this week no really why was she not consulted about this). He can't find Bae without leaving Storybrooke but he can't leave Storybrooke without forgetting Bae. It's a hitch in his plan that he couldn't predict. Yes.
♠ The exploration of the exact nature of Regina and Henry's messed-up parent-child relationship. It's not as simple as "Well, she's evil. And not my real mom." And he called her out on trying to gaslight him and she realized that she can't force him to love her and "I don't want to be you" and arrrgh, well done show.
♠ I continue to like David!Charming much more than I liked either David or Charming. His speech-giving skills need work but it's kind of endearing.
♠ I have Thoughts on Regina's backstory but can't put them in words yet; I think I need to rewatch the episode. But am I wrong in thinking that Cora was the Miller's Daughter from the original Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale? It just makes so much sense. The parallels between Regina/Cora and Henry/Regina were heavyhanded but effective.
♠ On a narrative level I love the fact that Regina almost burned her mother's book of spells but then locked it away instead. On one level she wants to be redeemed, she doesn't want to be evil, she wants Henry to love her; on another level, she can't let go of her power. (Or her need for revenge?)
♠ On the other hand wtf Cora with Emma & Snow no that's not okay that can't end well
♠ I regret that we didn't see Jefferson/Grace reunite (if that has indeed happened yet, which it might not have) but Marco/August was heartbreaking. Are they going to fix that at any point or just let it be heartbreaking forever? Also, for some reason I still find myself waiting the reveal that Blue/Mother Superior is a third Big Bad, and I don't know if I'm supposed to be thinking that way or not.
This show is addictive even when it doesn't give me what I think I want.
And yet I really enjoyed this episode.
It kind of reminds me of certain parts of LOST, when they would hit viewers with a billion game-changing cliffhangers and then immediately spend an episode on tightly-character-focused worldbuilding.
Things that helped:
♠ It's really good worldbuilding. As Jefferson accurately notes, having double sets of memories will mess you up. Here it's messed up a whole town. There's a crisis center. (Red, ILU and your crisis management skills, by the way.) And when they find out that leaving Storybrooke means resetting to your cursed personality? There are people who'd impulsively opt for that over trapped-in-Storybrooke-double-life thing. It's fantastic. (Plus, they're now rebuilding Storybrooke! Not literally, as Storybrooke is not in need of actual literal rebuilding, but they're going to put together a new life for the town and oh I love it so)
♠ On a related note, setting up those exact consequences for leaving Storybrooke is a great narrative move. There needed to be something to keep all the characters in town, and "trying to leave results in death/coma/other terrible physical consequences" is ... too easy? in a way? "Leaving Storybrooke results in a mundane-personality reset with no known reversal" on the other hand means two things, at least as long as Sneezy sticks around which I assume he will: one, it means a constant physical reminder of the consequences (dude no longer knows who he really is) and two, it means a constant physical reminder of who you used to be.
♠ It also sets up this roadblock for Rumpel!Gold and his quest for his son (where was Belle this week no really why was she not consulted about this). He can't find Bae without leaving Storybrooke but he can't leave Storybrooke without forgetting Bae. It's a hitch in his plan that he couldn't predict. Yes.
♠ The exploration of the exact nature of Regina and Henry's messed-up parent-child relationship. It's not as simple as "Well, she's evil. And not my real mom." And he called her out on trying to gaslight him and she realized that she can't force him to love her and "I don't want to be you" and arrrgh, well done show.
♠ I continue to like David!Charming much more than I liked either David or Charming. His speech-giving skills need work but it's kind of endearing.
♠ I have Thoughts on Regina's backstory but can't put them in words yet; I think I need to rewatch the episode. But am I wrong in thinking that Cora was the Miller's Daughter from the original Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale? It just makes so much sense. The parallels between Regina/Cora and Henry/Regina were heavyhanded but effective.
♠ On a narrative level I love the fact that Regina almost burned her mother's book of spells but then locked it away instead. On one level she wants to be redeemed, she doesn't want to be evil, she wants Henry to love her; on another level, she can't let go of her power. (Or her need for revenge?)
♠ On the other hand wtf Cora with Emma & Snow no that's not okay that can't end well
♠ I regret that we didn't see Jefferson/Grace reunite (if that has indeed happened yet, which it might not have) but Marco/August was heartbreaking. Are they going to fix that at any point or just let it be heartbreaking forever? Also, for some reason I still find myself waiting the reveal that Blue/Mother Superior is a third Big Bad, and I don't know if I'm supposed to be thinking that way or not.
This show is addictive even when it doesn't give me what I think I want.