Once Upon a Time 02x06: Tallahassee
I promised my thoughts on this ep would be coming so even though I'm visiting friends in Germany right now and don't have loads of time, I'm here with a quick version. I'm sorry they won't be as detailed as usual, but I'll try to be quicker next week (or rather in 2 days...)
- I liked Neal quite a lot. I thought his actor and Jennifer Morrison had some great chemistry going on and the longer we saw them together the more I liked them both.
- I feel like they could have tried a little harder to de-age Jennifer though. The glasses and hairstyle weren't enough. They do a great job with Regina so I don't know why it was so hard here.
- I feared a set up for Emma was coming throughout the whole episode and honestly I was actually kinda relieved that Neal had reasons for leaving her like that and that he did seem to genuinely love her.
- August. Freaking August. Wow. I did NOT see that coming. Like at all. I mean we knew from last year that he was supposed to help make sure Emma broke the curse, and I've had my suspicions that he's the one who engineered Henry's adoption and got the book to Snow, but this level of manipulation was a bit of a surprise. Part of me is frustrated by the way he's taking Emma's control away to get what he wants - I hate this kind of manipulation - and I really hope that at some point Emma finds out what he did and tells him off for it because seriously not okay. From a storytelling stand point though, it's a rather awesome twist. It also gives August something in common with Gold/Rumpel and that's a bit compelling to me. Does August have a potential dark side that could be explored? And given he's Pinnochio, how would that work?
- Also, WTH was in the box that August showed Neal? I was sure it was going to be the book, but the way they just peered into it made me think it was something else. But what? Some kind of magic? If so, how did August get it?
- there weren't any huge surprises in this backstory for her otherwise though. Basically I think it just fleshed out what we already knew for the little tidbits she'd said in the past. I like seeing it come to life.
- we have confirmation too that August was the one who sent that post card. My question though, is HOW? Unless that opening scene in NYC from "Broken" actually took place a few days after the curse was broken, how did he send it? From what we know so far he was completely wooden until "We are both." So either there's a bit of time play going on here, or August somehow had that set up to happen automatically when the curse was broken. (which again begs the question of how).
- as a BC resident I have to say I was amused at them using Vancouver as Vancouver for that one "Canada" scene. I may have laughed aloud.
- Turning my thoughts to FTL now, I have to say I found Captain Hook's constant flirting hilarious. Not in an OMG I SHIP EMMA/HOOK sort of way, but in an OMG you are so ridiculous I love you, sort of way. What? He's hot and funny okay? (I may or may not have a tag on tumblr called "Holy hotness" that I reserve for Hook reblogs. I also refuse to confirm that I follow the actor on twitter.)
- Anyway, aside from that I enjoyed the stuff with the Giant, despite some of the truly horrific special effects in those sequences. Partly it was because I am a Lost fan I adore Jorge Garcia, but also because I really liked the way they showed Emma's journey with it. There were parallels of course to her past, and certainly some reminders going on there, but I also loved that this was the first time where we saw her be a proper hero in a context that didn't really involve Henry (aside from her motivation to get back to him).
- The scenes where she showed compassion to the giant and managed to get what she wanted without hurting anyone or getting herself hurt were amazing. Emma is growing into the Savior in so many ways. In fact I just rewatched the Pilot tonight with a friend who hadn't seen it before and I was struck by just how far she's come since then. She's still very guarded but her barriers are starting to come down and she's really becoming the hero that Henry has wanted her to be all along.
- I liked too that you could see that she genuinely wanted to trust Hook but legitimately couldn't risk trusting him. Still she found a way to get to safety whilst still ensuring him safe passage as well and I rather love that. I'm sure he won't see it that way, but I thought it was a good move on her part. I haven't decided yet whether he is trustworthy or not. I saw some glimmers in this episode where it seems like he might be, but he switched sides so quickly it makes me weary.
- Asking Mulan to cut down the beanstalk was another moment I quite liked. I liked that Emma was trying to protect her mother (even though she maybe didn't go about it the best way) and she was trying to do the heroic thing, but I also loved that it brought us that great scene near the end where Snow totally told her off for it and reinforced that they're in this together. Emma has had to depend on herself for so long it almost hurts to watch her realize that she's no longer alone. Also, did anyone else notice that SHE initiated the hug with Snow? That's a HUGE step for her.
- ajfklaj;sjkas;d the whole dream thing. I bet that's going to be hugely important especially since it seems that Henry and Aurora were having the same nightmare at the same time and saw each other. But what was all the red? Where are they? Are they perhaps in another world? Could this be a clue to another way they might get back? Or does it indicate something else?
- It does occur to me that the cursed apple that gave Snow her sleep (and later Henry) came from the witch in Hansel and Gretel who met a fiery end. Could there be a connection? We know from episode 1x02 ("The Thing You Love The Most) that Regina had traded the curse for the sleeping curse for Snow ), but we later learned of the apple, so could it be that it's the Hansel and Gretel witch that created the sleeping curse used on all three of them and Millificent had only given Regina information on where to get it from?
Anyway, those are my thoughts for this week. Once again, I'm sorry they were so late.
- I liked Neal quite a lot. I thought his actor and Jennifer Morrison had some great chemistry going on and the longer we saw them together the more I liked them both.
- I feel like they could have tried a little harder to de-age Jennifer though. The glasses and hairstyle weren't enough. They do a great job with Regina so I don't know why it was so hard here.
- I feared a set up for Emma was coming throughout the whole episode and honestly I was actually kinda relieved that Neal had reasons for leaving her like that and that he did seem to genuinely love her.
- August. Freaking August. Wow. I did NOT see that coming. Like at all. I mean we knew from last year that he was supposed to help make sure Emma broke the curse, and I've had my suspicions that he's the one who engineered Henry's adoption and got the book to Snow, but this level of manipulation was a bit of a surprise. Part of me is frustrated by the way he's taking Emma's control away to get what he wants - I hate this kind of manipulation - and I really hope that at some point Emma finds out what he did and tells him off for it because seriously not okay. From a storytelling stand point though, it's a rather awesome twist. It also gives August something in common with Gold/Rumpel and that's a bit compelling to me. Does August have a potential dark side that could be explored? And given he's Pinnochio, how would that work?
- Also, WTH was in the box that August showed Neal? I was sure it was going to be the book, but the way they just peered into it made me think it was something else. But what? Some kind of magic? If so, how did August get it?
- there weren't any huge surprises in this backstory for her otherwise though. Basically I think it just fleshed out what we already knew for the little tidbits she'd said in the past. I like seeing it come to life.
- we have confirmation too that August was the one who sent that post card. My question though, is HOW? Unless that opening scene in NYC from "Broken" actually took place a few days after the curse was broken, how did he send it? From what we know so far he was completely wooden until "We are both." So either there's a bit of time play going on here, or August somehow had that set up to happen automatically when the curse was broken. (which again begs the question of how).
- as a BC resident I have to say I was amused at them using Vancouver as Vancouver for that one "Canada" scene. I may have laughed aloud.
- Turning my thoughts to FTL now, I have to say I found Captain Hook's constant flirting hilarious. Not in an OMG I SHIP EMMA/HOOK sort of way, but in an OMG you are so ridiculous I love you, sort of way. What? He's hot and funny okay? (I may or may not have a tag on tumblr called "Holy hotness" that I reserve for Hook reblogs. I also refuse to confirm that I follow the actor on twitter.)
- Anyway, aside from that I enjoyed the stuff with the Giant, despite some of the truly horrific special effects in those sequences. Partly it was because I am a Lost fan I adore Jorge Garcia, but also because I really liked the way they showed Emma's journey with it. There were parallels of course to her past, and certainly some reminders going on there, but I also loved that this was the first time where we saw her be a proper hero in a context that didn't really involve Henry (aside from her motivation to get back to him).
- The scenes where she showed compassion to the giant and managed to get what she wanted without hurting anyone or getting herself hurt were amazing. Emma is growing into the Savior in so many ways. In fact I just rewatched the Pilot tonight with a friend who hadn't seen it before and I was struck by just how far she's come since then. She's still very guarded but her barriers are starting to come down and she's really becoming the hero that Henry has wanted her to be all along.
- I liked too that you could see that she genuinely wanted to trust Hook but legitimately couldn't risk trusting him. Still she found a way to get to safety whilst still ensuring him safe passage as well and I rather love that. I'm sure he won't see it that way, but I thought it was a good move on her part. I haven't decided yet whether he is trustworthy or not. I saw some glimmers in this episode where it seems like he might be, but he switched sides so quickly it makes me weary.
- Asking Mulan to cut down the beanstalk was another moment I quite liked. I liked that Emma was trying to protect her mother (even though she maybe didn't go about it the best way) and she was trying to do the heroic thing, but I also loved that it brought us that great scene near the end where Snow totally told her off for it and reinforced that they're in this together. Emma has had to depend on herself for so long it almost hurts to watch her realize that she's no longer alone. Also, did anyone else notice that SHE initiated the hug with Snow? That's a HUGE step for her.
- ajfklaj;sjkas;d the whole dream thing. I bet that's going to be hugely important especially since it seems that Henry and Aurora were having the same nightmare at the same time and saw each other. But what was all the red? Where are they? Are they perhaps in another world? Could this be a clue to another way they might get back? Or does it indicate something else?
- It does occur to me that the cursed apple that gave Snow her sleep (and later Henry) came from the witch in Hansel and Gretel who met a fiery end. Could there be a connection? We know from episode 1x02 ("The Thing You Love The Most) that Regina had traded the curse for the sleeping curse for Snow ), but we later learned of the apple, so could it be that it's the Hansel and Gretel witch that created the sleeping curse used on all three of them and Millificent had only given Regina information on where to get it from?
Anyway, those are my thoughts for this week. Once again, I'm sorry they were so late.