Once Upon a Time Review - The Queen is Dead
Since I made myself a new rule to review episodes the next day I probably should actually do that! At least the first week...
Paleyfest was yesterday and I thought it was great to see everyone and we got some nice hints of what is coming up for the end of the season. If you are spoiler avoidant you will want to skip it but if you don't mind knowing a little of what is coming it's worth listening to. It looks like Hulu just has clips so if you want the whole thing it's on youtube and it's in HD so you'll get a good viewing. I also found an interview with Robert at Paley - spoilers for Miller's Daughter. And an audio of the Bowl of Soup Story they told during the panel - a completely nonspoilery clip. (The bowl of soup story is one Robert told the rest of the cast a while back and then they were all calling each other bowls of soup on twitter. None of them would explain what it meant until now. *g*) Oh, and Emilie is apparently attached to the chipped cup too! She talks about it in an interview. She cried. *sniff*
Onto the episode! This one seems to have gotten mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it!
It's time to fight for Snow's soul again. The last time it was in danger was in Heart of Darkness last year when we got a glimpse of who Snow would be without True Love to give her hope. She spiraled down into bitterness for the pain Regina caused her and was all set to kill for vengeance before Charmed managed to stop her. This time she still has her True Love and his faith and love her have not wavered. However, she is once again determined to leave the path her mother set her on to revenge herself on those who have hurt her.
And is she wrong to do this? Well, there is fairytale logic and then there is actual logic! By actual logic, no she is not wrong. Regina and Cora have been engaged in a vendetta against her and her family since she was a child. She KNOWS that Cora is not going to stop until she and all she loves are dead. To try and kill her first is basic self defense. However, we are in fairytales so we need to look at fairytale logic, and by that logic Snow needs to keep to her mother's command to be good NO MATTER WHAT. Because if she doesn't she will become corrupted and it turns out that this is when Cora would win. When she can turn Ava's daughter to evil.
But I certainly can't blame Snow for finally breaking after everything she has been through. She stopped Regina's execution and Regina cast the curse. She sent Emma to our world and lost 28 years of her daughter's life. She refused to use dark magic to save her mother and watched her die. She gave up the dagger to Cora and still Cora killed Johanna. What has being good gotten her? So long as Regina and Cora want to destroy her, they will make sure any happiness she achieves is short lived and every victory is followed by sorrow. But then what has being evil gotten Regina? Even winning doesn't make her happy since there is always something missing. I really hope we see an exploration of what this means for Snow and how choosing vengeance will change her.
No matter how it will change her, there must be a way back since, if there isn't, there is no hope for Regina. And I truly believe that there IS hope for Regina. Her love for Henry is still a possessive one (all it took for Cora to win her over was to promise she would no longer have to share Henry with anyone) but it's a strong love and I believe it to be True Love. It is her love of Henry which finally has Regina questioning Cora and beginning to figure out Cora's true motives. Before Cora arrived in Storybrooke, Regina had such a clear view of her mother. She knew that Cora only cared about power and would happily destroy anything Regina loved if it stood in the way of her power and control. For a while Regina has been thrown back into childhood - the same way perfectly functional adults can revert when they visit their parents over the holidays. However, she is thinking again and with thinking comes the realization that she was right in the first place. Cora needs to be stopped.
• I'm very happy that when Cora impersonates someone we see confirmation soon after. How could we believe ANYTHING if ANYONE can be Cora? She did an excellent Blue Fairy though. I did wonder when Blue was willing to have Snow kill to save her mother but wasn't sure until Cora showed up. And I agree about the dress!
• What is the history between Cora and Ava? We are in the middle of Cora's arc so I hope we'll find out next week. I've seen theories that they are sisters or half sisters, and it's possible but I'm thinking rivals and Ava won so Cora has dedicated herself to destroying everything associated with Ava.
• Where was Leopold? Last I checked he was still madly devoted to Ava years after she died and he is MIA for her funeral. Yes, they couldn't get the actor but, still, it doesn't exactly reflect well on Leopold to be absent.
• And one thing about using child actors is that it becomes REALLY HARD to convince anyone that the actor is younger when they are in fact older. Bailee is of course aging like anyone does but since she can't shrink down we have to assume Ava's death was followed quite quickly by his search for a new wife. This also does not reflect well on Leopold.
• Gold needs to pull himself together about the whole Henry thing. Yeah, I know he's been poisoned which isn't going to do anything for even the sweetest temperament but he was rather nasty to Henry before the stabbing. From his conversation with Emma I thought he had taken control of himself again after the shocks of last episode but it seems he still has a way to go.
• Oh, and there is no way he is going to die. I'm not AT ALL worried. There is way too much story to his character for this to be the end. Nicely played by Hook though! He may have gotten knocked out by Emma - again - but he stabbed his crocodile and gave him a nasty case of poisoning as well. What I'd like to know is how he found Rumpel! Did Rumpel leave the globe laying about?
• As far as the ship still being cloaked - this is completely consistent with how magic works in our world. New magic could not be performed until Gold brought magic to Storybrooke and new magic is still confined to the town limits. However, magical items retained their magic before there was magic here and they still retain their magic wherever they go. Let's remember the shawl! Gold made it magic and walked across the line. If it lost its magic it wouldn't be very useful.
• And all the theories of Bae being in Neverland have been proven right. I didn't think it was necessary since time travel is canon on the show but if they want an interesting backstory to explore it does help if he has moved around a bit. Also, Gold said Bae had been running for a long time. Than implies a chase with Gold tracking him and Bae running again.
• Also we finally have canon confirmation that Rumpel is centuries old. Both Bae and Rumpel make reference to centuries in the episode - Bae when talking about his age how he is still physically young and Rumpel when talking about the dagger.
• I did love the Papa though! He's right; it's one thing to reject his father when dad is doing just fine and another to do so when he is dying in front of you. That papa means there is hope for a reconciliation between them. Though I doubt it will be easy.
• Yay for Belle and Gold not being dumb with the whole map thing! Gold had to have known Cora would look for the dagger and he set up a nice misdirection for her.
• Boo on him falling for the 'tell family and trust us' thing Emma laid on him. No way would Cora have found it on the clock tower without Snow and Charming leading her. Not only would Johanna still be alive since they would not have had a confrontation but I noticed Charming liking the idea of having Rumpelstiltskin as his slave. He completely planned to hold onto the dagger and control Rumpel with it.
• Tamara seems nice in 10 seconds we met her. May she not die to advance the plot! And of course Neal is going to have moved on while Emma couldn't. He is the one who had the power in the breakup. He knew what was going on and Emma was left wondering and hurting for all these years.
And now to bed! I'll catch up on posts and comments tomorrow! I needed to get this out first!
This entry was originally posted here and has
comments. Comment here or there.
Paleyfest was yesterday and I thought it was great to see everyone and we got some nice hints of what is coming up for the end of the season. If you are spoiler avoidant you will want to skip it but if you don't mind knowing a little of what is coming it's worth listening to. It looks like Hulu just has clips so if you want the whole thing it's on youtube and it's in HD so you'll get a good viewing. I also found an interview with Robert at Paley - spoilers for Miller's Daughter. And an audio of the Bowl of Soup Story they told during the panel - a completely nonspoilery clip. (The bowl of soup story is one Robert told the rest of the cast a while back and then they were all calling each other bowls of soup on twitter. None of them would explain what it meant until now. *g*) Oh, and Emilie is apparently attached to the chipped cup too! She talks about it in an interview. She cried. *sniff*
Onto the episode! This one seems to have gotten mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it!
It's time to fight for Snow's soul again. The last time it was in danger was in Heart of Darkness last year when we got a glimpse of who Snow would be without True Love to give her hope. She spiraled down into bitterness for the pain Regina caused her and was all set to kill for vengeance before Charmed managed to stop her. This time she still has her True Love and his faith and love her have not wavered. However, she is once again determined to leave the path her mother set her on to revenge herself on those who have hurt her.
And is she wrong to do this? Well, there is fairytale logic and then there is actual logic! By actual logic, no she is not wrong. Regina and Cora have been engaged in a vendetta against her and her family since she was a child. She KNOWS that Cora is not going to stop until she and all she loves are dead. To try and kill her first is basic self defense. However, we are in fairytales so we need to look at fairytale logic, and by that logic Snow needs to keep to her mother's command to be good NO MATTER WHAT. Because if she doesn't she will become corrupted and it turns out that this is when Cora would win. When she can turn Ava's daughter to evil.
But I certainly can't blame Snow for finally breaking after everything she has been through. She stopped Regina's execution and Regina cast the curse. She sent Emma to our world and lost 28 years of her daughter's life. She refused to use dark magic to save her mother and watched her die. She gave up the dagger to Cora and still Cora killed Johanna. What has being good gotten her? So long as Regina and Cora want to destroy her, they will make sure any happiness she achieves is short lived and every victory is followed by sorrow. But then what has being evil gotten Regina? Even winning doesn't make her happy since there is always something missing. I really hope we see an exploration of what this means for Snow and how choosing vengeance will change her.
No matter how it will change her, there must be a way back since, if there isn't, there is no hope for Regina. And I truly believe that there IS hope for Regina. Her love for Henry is still a possessive one (all it took for Cora to win her over was to promise she would no longer have to share Henry with anyone) but it's a strong love and I believe it to be True Love. It is her love of Henry which finally has Regina questioning Cora and beginning to figure out Cora's true motives. Before Cora arrived in Storybrooke, Regina had such a clear view of her mother. She knew that Cora only cared about power and would happily destroy anything Regina loved if it stood in the way of her power and control. For a while Regina has been thrown back into childhood - the same way perfectly functional adults can revert when they visit their parents over the holidays. However, she is thinking again and with thinking comes the realization that she was right in the first place. Cora needs to be stopped.
• I'm very happy that when Cora impersonates someone we see confirmation soon after. How could we believe ANYTHING if ANYONE can be Cora? She did an excellent Blue Fairy though. I did wonder when Blue was willing to have Snow kill to save her mother but wasn't sure until Cora showed up. And I agree about the dress!
• What is the history between Cora and Ava? We are in the middle of Cora's arc so I hope we'll find out next week. I've seen theories that they are sisters or half sisters, and it's possible but I'm thinking rivals and Ava won so Cora has dedicated herself to destroying everything associated with Ava.
• Where was Leopold? Last I checked he was still madly devoted to Ava years after she died and he is MIA for her funeral. Yes, they couldn't get the actor but, still, it doesn't exactly reflect well on Leopold to be absent.
• And one thing about using child actors is that it becomes REALLY HARD to convince anyone that the actor is younger when they are in fact older. Bailee is of course aging like anyone does but since she can't shrink down we have to assume Ava's death was followed quite quickly by his search for a new wife. This also does not reflect well on Leopold.
• Gold needs to pull himself together about the whole Henry thing. Yeah, I know he's been poisoned which isn't going to do anything for even the sweetest temperament but he was rather nasty to Henry before the stabbing. From his conversation with Emma I thought he had taken control of himself again after the shocks of last episode but it seems he still has a way to go.
• Oh, and there is no way he is going to die. I'm not AT ALL worried. There is way too much story to his character for this to be the end. Nicely played by Hook though! He may have gotten knocked out by Emma - again - but he stabbed his crocodile and gave him a nasty case of poisoning as well. What I'd like to know is how he found Rumpel! Did Rumpel leave the globe laying about?
• As far as the ship still being cloaked - this is completely consistent with how magic works in our world. New magic could not be performed until Gold brought magic to Storybrooke and new magic is still confined to the town limits. However, magical items retained their magic before there was magic here and they still retain their magic wherever they go. Let's remember the shawl! Gold made it magic and walked across the line. If it lost its magic it wouldn't be very useful.
• And all the theories of Bae being in Neverland have been proven right. I didn't think it was necessary since time travel is canon on the show but if they want an interesting backstory to explore it does help if he has moved around a bit. Also, Gold said Bae had been running for a long time. Than implies a chase with Gold tracking him and Bae running again.
• Also we finally have canon confirmation that Rumpel is centuries old. Both Bae and Rumpel make reference to centuries in the episode - Bae when talking about his age how he is still physically young and Rumpel when talking about the dagger.
• I did love the Papa though! He's right; it's one thing to reject his father when dad is doing just fine and another to do so when he is dying in front of you. That papa means there is hope for a reconciliation between them. Though I doubt it will be easy.
• Yay for Belle and Gold not being dumb with the whole map thing! Gold had to have known Cora would look for the dagger and he set up a nice misdirection for her.
• Boo on him falling for the 'tell family and trust us' thing Emma laid on him. No way would Cora have found it on the clock tower without Snow and Charming leading her. Not only would Johanna still be alive since they would not have had a confrontation but I noticed Charming liking the idea of having Rumpelstiltskin as his slave. He completely planned to hold onto the dagger and control Rumpel with it.
• Tamara seems nice in 10 seconds we met her. May she not die to advance the plot! And of course Neal is going to have moved on while Emma couldn't. He is the one who had the power in the breakup. He knew what was going on and Emma was left wondering and hurting for all these years.
And now to bed! I'll catch up on posts and comments tomorrow! I needed to get this out first!
This entry was originally posted here and has
comments. Comment here or there.