A Land Without Magic

[seraya7]

Reactions to A Land Without Magic

(I should point out I wrote most of this right after watching, hence the slightly hyper reactions to things)

Comments

[seshathawk]

I saw all your comments and felt badly for being so busy over the weekend that I forgot to post this, and then I realized all your comments were on the same day and felt a little better. However: I don't understand a lot of the stuff you're saying. The Little Mermaid, wtf? Where did that come from? I think you're responding to speculation you've read and I haven't? I don't like spoilery speculation! :p

Anyway, here is my list:

1. Okay, let’s get this one bad thing out of the way first: I'm not sure what I expected. I didn't have real expectations going in, just as I started seeing the purple fog and realizing it was about to end, I was kind of going, "...oh. Really? Oh." I was trying to think of how to describe this problem to you, and I thought of describing it as "To Shanshu in L.A." (it's been a while, just a reminder that this is the season one closer to Angel): there's some crazy plot stuff happening and then it all gets tied up relatively calmly and then in the last thirty seconds: WHOA MAN and then you have something to happen in season two. Except "A Land Without Magic" was kind of like that? Except without the calm tying up. Maybe that's what I'm missing? I like for a season of a show to tell a moderately concise story; it's allowed to bleed into the next season, but it should be finished at the end. I felt like there was no pause at the end here before it started launching into what appears to be the main problem of the next season. Yeah, that's my problem.

Also: the costumes were not really rocking in this ep, although I kind of liked Snow's huge flowy medieval flower dress from the coffin/kiss/beach scene. Usually I can at least count on Regina to be fabulous and Mary Margaret to be adorable, but not here! Even Rumple was off. RUMPLE.

2. That said, THE EMOTIONS. AHGIJDKNFH. SOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. I may have cried. (I no longer remember exactly when, but yeah.)

3. Let's just make Rumple one whole point on his own. I still have no idea what he's trying to get going there but WOW. His quivering chin! THE HUG, THE HUUUUUUUUUUG. I don't have enough words but I am sure you do not need them. Everything he does is awesome. (Except for his costumes in this ep.) I admit I was expecting Bae to come into play (a la Darla in TSIL) and was a little disappointed that he didn't, since there felt like there was a big buildup for that a few eps ago.

4. Rumple/Belle: it was good, but a little lackluster. I know it's a lot to expect a show to revolve entirely around one or two characters for the course of a whole episode, but I really wanted some more emotion there! I mean, there was plenty on his end, but she was like, "I remember. Also, I love you." I expected after Skin Deep that she'd be really pissed about how things turned out, considering that she tried to show him love and he flipped out on her and imprisoned her and then appeared to abandon her. I would think after she got her memory back she'd be even more pissed since she spent all that time in a mental hospital and once restored could have assumed he was too angry/proud/whatever to other to care about her well-being anymore. I am hoping season two will pick it up. Really, I'm waiting for the moment when Belle goes, "...I forgot how much of a nutcase you are." Not that I want them separated, because obviously I ship them more than everyone else on the show put together (lol that's a funny ship) but I felt like it was kind of shoving them together without an acknowledgment of the rough terms on which they parted.

5. Regina: so awesome. I don't have much else to say aside from that, but seeing her actually have emotions was amazing. I especially liked her reactions to things happening to Henry, like when she held his pillow (smelled it?) and cried. FINALLY the character development I've been WAITING for!

6. Snow/Charming: Oh lordy I am so done with them. At one point during this ep, I thought, "If anything else happens to rip them apart, they're going to fall into the will-they-won’t-they TV trap FOREVER." It also crossed my mind that now that they are together, maybe next season will focus on a different couple! Maybe a couple who wants to take over Snow and Charming's kingdom! (POLITICS.)