The Mindy Project/OUAT
Manually cross posted and backdated a week after the event because of gremlins.
The Mindy Project 1.23 (didn’t catch the title)
I was amused by a lot of it, if not particularly moved. I suppose I’m glad that Mindy realised she had moved on WRT Tom (her and Tom and then the other three being at a frat party were amusing, and Mindy’s outraged response to the younger women pole dancing escalating into the show making fun of pole dancing was spot on), but for all that it was a big moment of self-realisation, I didn’t feel that it was necessary. Casey should just go away to Haiti and not come back, because although I daresay that his riff on what a pregnant Mindy might be like had huge chunks of truth in it, I don’t think he really knows what she’s like. Dangling marriage when there’s so much incompatibility going on is irritating the shipper in me. Otherwise, not even Morgan and Bones was making me melt much.
OUAT 2.20 The Evil Queen
Oooh. Spent a lot of time looking askance at Regina and her worldview(s) - no, massacring whole villages and towns and getting rid of your adopted son’s memories aren’t good, ducks. So, it was hard to be sorry for her when Hook double crossed her. I would be interested in Hook coming across Neal. I would also be interested in Owen and Tamara coming across Whale given the interest-in-science bit.
Bad FX ruined the ‘Maleficent isn’t quite dead yet’ reveal. Also, I don’t think they’ve fully thought through giving Regina the memory removal spell. Suddenly one wonders why she didn’t do it more often.
Anyway, the heroes of the show are oldskool Snow White - proving why Robin Hood got so little air time last week. She’s filling the role nicely. Good Snow-Regina time.
And there’s Emma. I was glad both Mary Margaret and Neal expressed some scepticism over the superpower that the writers keep forgetting. I was delighted by Operation Preying Mantis. I have no strong feelings shipwise for Emma (I mean Emma/Neal is the least complicated WRT Henry, which is why I think they’ve gone there, even with the return of Hook) and I do think it’s wanting to protect her son and her town that’s bringing back her sherriffy instincts, but ‘I taught her that’ made me warn to Emma/Neal further down the line, if we must go there and it doesn’t diminish her as hero.
Regina as Queen looked a bit Liza Minnelli, probably because of the make-up and how much/little we saw of the face.
Of course she wrecked the beans while stealing some for herself and of course there was a failsafe for the curse.
I mostly enjoyed this and thought it brought us back to interesting places, even if there was a fair bit of making Regina stupid.
2.21
I really enjoyed bits of this, although there were others that were rushed (how many times have I typed that this season?) and I don’t know how they’re going to finish this season fittingly, not to mention set up a spin-off. I don’t know if five has got Wonderland, but given that it managed to get all the CSIs, I don’t see why not.
I was wildly excited by Baelfire in London, meeting the Darlings. I sort of feel they’re obliged to show us more of Neverland - probably the curtailed version - because the of the age of the child actor, who IS a ringer for a young Neal. It was hard to take Bae and Wendy as such and not be all Bae/Wendy because of the visuals. THE LITTLE BOYS were adorable and Nanna...still the worst watchdog ever.
The shadow might have been more effective if they’d stuck to a boy in black lycra, but the journey through the rooftops of London was ace.
I really don’t believe Neal is dead, whatever Emma thinks. We haven’t seen the body. I think I would have fallen into line and shipped them if we’d had more time. The fact that even Gold shipped them just amused me. I was pleased that they started to talk about the abandonment on the beach, and began to work through those issues, but I just saw a foundation for more, not more. That he insisted she stay for Henry was a reminder of their big bond (David comforting Emma as she faced up to telling Henry he’d just lost the dad he’d found was heartbreaking).
Emma going all wrestlemania on Tamara was extremely satisfying. Bless, it’s not just that she didn’t love you, Neal, she didn’t even respect you.
The ‘Home Office’ and the idea of a group of people fighting against magic (all over history) is fascinating, so I look forward to the further exploration of that. It would be interesting if Tamara’s grandmother was real/involved and we had a better idea of her motivation.
I wasn’t sure if Regina had killed Owen/Greg’s father or not. Apparently, yes.
A nice callback to the previous episode of having Snow tend to Regina, the spell linking them was perfect, and Snow’s motivations for helping were touching.
Dear Gold and ‘Lacey,’ plz to be kissing now so Belle can feel guilty about her dark side. Of course, Rumpelstiltskin will have the loss of his son to push him towards endangering Henry (although again, it’s not just the tatters of his conscience, the fact that threatening Henry means Emma, Regina, Snow and David against him should give him pause.)
And hey, where was Henry during all this? At school? Hanging out with Ruby?
I was glad to see Whale, partly because it was a callback to his lecherousness, but the torture device was very reminiscent of Frankenstein’s machinery and where his world fits into the grand scheme of things is fascinating. It may be one of the dozen things that they will drop, though.
My internet access is likely to be sporadic to non-existent over the next week (oh noes!) [Spoiler: it was non-existent.]