Once Upon a Time: (bite-sized) Reviews
I just marathoned the most recent three episodes of Once Upon a Time, which I enjoy immensely, even if it takes itself too seriously.
(I have recently come to terms with the fact that cerebral shows aren't really my cup of tea, so it doesn't really bother me that I have lowbrow TV taste.)
Anyway, this is is going to be spoilery, so don't click if you don't want to know.
How weird is it that just a few years ago (~3-4) it would have been impossible to marathon something before the show was out on DVD?
Anyway.
Ahem.
"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" was the newest episode I had NOT seen, so I started there.
First off, Graham is adorable. And his accent is wonderful, too.
I liked that he gained autonomy during the episode, but disliked that they killed him.
He managed to feel a lot of things (like love) without his heart, which is traditionally what breaks fairy-tale spells, so, imho, his heart should not have been in the damn box. Or it should have been shattered/dust/something.
I disliked that he became aware of his "past" and then got killed.
I disliked that it seemed as though Emma and Henry were gaining an ally--except they didn't.
I dislike that the showrunners seem to be responding to people saying the Queen is a sympathetic character with a "LOLNOPE!".
As if they're trying to make her as awful as possible so people stop liking her.
Um...that won't work.
It NEVER works.
Next episode, so I can stop ranting.
"Desperate Souls"--we see Mr Gold being less evil, except he's actually being more evil, which makes him less believable as an evil character.
Let's let the Doctor explain:
"You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared... because she smiled, cos he's got freckles, cos they begged. And that's how you live with yourself, that's how you slaughter millions, because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind."
What he's talking about is how you make villains believable.
Joss also mentions this when you listen to his commentaries from S1 of BTVS.
Villains, no matter how "evil", are also human--even villains like the Master.
They change. They evolve. They make mistakes, crack jokes, fall in love, etc.
Joss realised this, and this is part of what makes his shows so compelling--the characters change. Even Spike, who is pretty darn evil when we first meet him, has changed by the end of S2, to the point of teaming up with Buffy to stop Drusilla and Angel (to coin a term--they just want to watch the world burn).
For whatever reason--despite having some of the most cult-popular TV shows ever--no one else follows Joss's example.
Now that my tangent is over and my rant is complete, let us return to the episode.
Some things that "just bugged me": Rumple steals the Dark One's dagger, and how convenient is it that it's in a legible script? Too convenient, if you ask me. Also, Rumple has a Scottish (?) accent, because Robert Carlyle does, but no one else (apart from Graham, but his accent is Irish, not Scottish) does, not even his son. Finally, Rumple's boots were entirely too new looking; not broken in AT ALL, not stained, nothing. (???)
Finally, "True North": an interesting episode, but none of the OUAT eps have been amazing. I will continue watching, but I'd like to see some forward momentum, rather than the...lack of momentum.
I liked this one because it featured two Buffy alum in the same episode: Emma Caulfield (ANYA EMMANUELLA JENKINS!) and Eion Bailey, who was all the way back in a S1 episode of Buffy ("The Pack"; he played the "head" hyena before Xander stepped in--also, just now realising this--hyenas are matriarchal, so why was Xander or this dude ever head of the pack?)
Unfortunately, no-one seems to want to cast Emma Caulfield as a re-occurring or permanent star, which is depressing, because I loved Anya. (She was recently on Castle as a porn star. .... really.)
Also, Jennifer Morrison seems to be gaining acting chops--I believed her description of Henry's father. I figured it was a lie--too good to be true, but I believed her and wanted it to be true.
...and that's it, I guess!
Be seeing you.
(I have recently come to terms with the fact that cerebral shows aren't really my cup of tea, so it doesn't really bother me that I have lowbrow TV taste.)
Anyway, this is is going to be spoilery, so don't click if you don't want to know.
How weird is it that just a few years ago (~3-4) it would have been impossible to marathon something before the show was out on DVD?
Anyway.
Ahem.
"The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" was the newest episode I had NOT seen, so I started there.
First off, Graham is adorable. And his accent is wonderful, too.
I liked that he gained autonomy during the episode, but disliked that they killed him.
He managed to feel a lot of things (like love) without his heart, which is traditionally what breaks fairy-tale spells, so, imho, his heart should not have been in the damn box. Or it should have been shattered/dust/something.
I disliked that he became aware of his "past" and then got killed.
I disliked that it seemed as though Emma and Henry were gaining an ally--except they didn't.
I dislike that the showrunners seem to be responding to people saying the Queen is a sympathetic character with a "LOLNOPE!".
As if they're trying to make her as awful as possible so people stop liking her.
Um...that won't work.
It NEVER works.
Next episode, so I can stop ranting.
"Desperate Souls"--we see Mr Gold being less evil, except he's actually being more evil, which makes him less believable as an evil character.
Let's let the Doctor explain:
"You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared... because she smiled, cos he's got freckles, cos they begged. And that's how you live with yourself, that's how you slaughter millions, because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind."
What he's talking about is how you make villains believable.
Joss also mentions this when you listen to his commentaries from S1 of BTVS.
Villains, no matter how "evil", are also human--even villains like the Master.
They change. They evolve. They make mistakes, crack jokes, fall in love, etc.
Joss realised this, and this is part of what makes his shows so compelling--the characters change. Even Spike, who is pretty darn evil when we first meet him, has changed by the end of S2, to the point of teaming up with Buffy to stop Drusilla and Angel (to coin a term--they just want to watch the world burn).
For whatever reason--despite having some of the most cult-popular TV shows ever--no one else follows Joss's example.
Now that my tangent is over and my rant is complete, let us return to the episode.
Some things that "just bugged me": Rumple steals the Dark One's dagger, and how convenient is it that it's in a legible script? Too convenient, if you ask me. Also, Rumple has a Scottish (?) accent, because Robert Carlyle does, but no one else (apart from Graham, but his accent is Irish, not Scottish) does, not even his son. Finally, Rumple's boots were entirely too new looking; not broken in AT ALL, not stained, nothing. (???)
Finally, "True North": an interesting episode, but none of the OUAT eps have been amazing. I will continue watching, but I'd like to see some forward momentum, rather than the...lack of momentum.
I liked this one because it featured two Buffy alum in the same episode: Emma Caulfield (ANYA EMMANUELLA JENKINS!) and Eion Bailey, who was all the way back in a S1 episode of Buffy ("The Pack"; he played the "head" hyena before Xander stepped in--also, just now realising this--hyenas are matriarchal, so why was Xander or this dude ever head of the pack?)
Unfortunately, no-one seems to want to cast Emma Caulfield as a re-occurring or permanent star, which is depressing, because I loved Anya. (She was recently on Castle as a porn star. .... really.)
Also, Jennifer Morrison seems to be gaining acting chops--I believed her description of Henry's father. I figured it was a lie--too good to be true, but I believed her and wanted it to be true.
...and that's it, I guess!
Be seeing you.