Once Upon a Time
I kind of, uh, haven't said much about the second half of the season, have I?
In all seriousness, I've basically loved this entire season from beginning to end. The previous two seasons very much have had their ups and downs, but Season Three has really felt like the show's finding its footing (and in a good way).
First of all, I would like to state that it's about damn time they did something to explain why the kid who plays Henry looks so much older. Time jumps, kind of important when you're working with young actors.
I've really enjoyed Emma's journey, from feeling like she had found a place to belong in New York only thanks to magic to actually realizing that she has a home in Storybrooke. I'm still headdesking about the whole "Henry and I are going back to New York!" thing, considering they've been doing such a good job about remembering that Henry has two mothers who both have a say in what happens to him. That's done with, though, hopefully never to be mentioned again.
I love that Belle has been coming into her own. They've been showing her backbone and her brains more and more. And I adored the scene where she and Regina finally acknowledged the fact that Regina locked her up for years, and it wasn't simply swept under the rug.
And, on, Regina. ♥ I've absolutely adored watching her redemption arc, and -- while she definitely still has a ways to go -- she's finally starting to get there. She's actually admitting that some things that happened in the past were her fault, not other people's, which I never would have seen coming back in S1. And I'm adoring the changing relationship between her and Snow; it's really making me wonder how things might have been if she had actually been a stepmother to Snow in more than just name.
Regina/Robin has worked for me better than I thought it would. It's one of the few things that I do wish they had done a bit differently, though. I was really hoping it would be a bit more drawn out, what with the year in the Enchanted Forest, and I was actually a bit disappointed at the reveal that they'd been at each others' throat during that year and only got together once the Curse 2.0 was put into place.
Oh, speaking of the Curse 2.0, I did love the reveal that it was Charming and Snow who did it. I totally guessed that was where they were going, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they were going to pull that off considering the whole needing the heart of the one you love most aspect. It was ridiculously over-the-top and cheesy to have them use Charming's heart for the Curse and then give him half of Snow's heart. But it totally worked.
I love Rumpelstiltskin/Belle. I really do. Mainly because it's messy, and it's complicated, and it's very much not free of issues. I've got to admit, though, I'm not quite sure how I feel about them getting married, considering Rumpelstiltskin point blank lied to her about the dagger. Although I do get the impression that will be coming up next season and it won't simply be forgotten?
(And don't get me started about Belle's father showing up to give away the bride. Because, seriously, he tried to erase her memories. I have nightmares about things like that.)
I will say, though, the scene where past!Rumpelstiltskin drank the forgetting potion, knowing that his son was going to die if he did? That did work for me.
Emma/Hook, huh? He's definitely grown on me quite a bit since we first met him, so I'm willing to see how things go.
(Although, seriously show, can we have at least one non-heterosexual couple? Please? Bring back Mulan and, if you really refuse to give me my threesome of Aurora/Mulan/Phillip, give her a girlfriend. Rapunzel could work. Or Jasmine, we haven't seen Jasmine in OUaT yet. Tiana either. Or Merida.)
Let's see. What else?
I wasn't even remotely surprised about the woman that Emma and Hook being Marian. Mostly because, you know, I recognized the actress since it's the same one we saw playing Marian last season. I'm not necessarily happy about it, although it could be an interesting parallel to see how things play out between Regina and Emma. If nothing else, Regina seemed to be handling her anger a lot better than she did with Snow.
I totally called that Charming and Snow were going to name their son Neal. It was perfectly fitting, but subtle? Not really.
... and I guess we're getting the Snow Queen as a bad guy next season? I mean, I was expecting them to do a Frozen crossover, but not quite this soon.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting plenty of things from the past half of the season that I totally meant to mention. Feel free to throw them at me as comments.
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replies there. Comment on whichever site you prefer.
In all seriousness, I've basically loved this entire season from beginning to end. The previous two seasons very much have had their ups and downs, but Season Three has really felt like the show's finding its footing (and in a good way).
First of all, I would like to state that it's about damn time they did something to explain why the kid who plays Henry looks so much older. Time jumps, kind of important when you're working with young actors.
I've really enjoyed Emma's journey, from feeling like she had found a place to belong in New York only thanks to magic to actually realizing that she has a home in Storybrooke. I'm still headdesking about the whole "Henry and I are going back to New York!" thing, considering they've been doing such a good job about remembering that Henry has two mothers who both have a say in what happens to him. That's done with, though, hopefully never to be mentioned again.
I love that Belle has been coming into her own. They've been showing her backbone and her brains more and more. And I adored the scene where she and Regina finally acknowledged the fact that Regina locked her up for years, and it wasn't simply swept under the rug.
And, on, Regina. ♥ I've absolutely adored watching her redemption arc, and -- while she definitely still has a ways to go -- she's finally starting to get there. She's actually admitting that some things that happened in the past were her fault, not other people's, which I never would have seen coming back in S1. And I'm adoring the changing relationship between her and Snow; it's really making me wonder how things might have been if she had actually been a stepmother to Snow in more than just name.
Regina/Robin has worked for me better than I thought it would. It's one of the few things that I do wish they had done a bit differently, though. I was really hoping it would be a bit more drawn out, what with the year in the Enchanted Forest, and I was actually a bit disappointed at the reveal that they'd been at each others' throat during that year and only got together once the Curse 2.0 was put into place.
Oh, speaking of the Curse 2.0, I did love the reveal that it was Charming and Snow who did it. I totally guessed that was where they were going, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how they were going to pull that off considering the whole needing the heart of the one you love most aspect. It was ridiculously over-the-top and cheesy to have them use Charming's heart for the Curse and then give him half of Snow's heart. But it totally worked.
I love Rumpelstiltskin/Belle. I really do. Mainly because it's messy, and it's complicated, and it's very much not free of issues. I've got to admit, though, I'm not quite sure how I feel about them getting married, considering Rumpelstiltskin point blank lied to her about the dagger. Although I do get the impression that will be coming up next season and it won't simply be forgotten?
(And don't get me started about Belle's father showing up to give away the bride. Because, seriously, he tried to erase her memories. I have nightmares about things like that.)
I will say, though, the scene where past!Rumpelstiltskin drank the forgetting potion, knowing that his son was going to die if he did? That did work for me.
Emma/Hook, huh? He's definitely grown on me quite a bit since we first met him, so I'm willing to see how things go.
(Although, seriously show, can we have at least one non-heterosexual couple? Please? Bring back Mulan and, if you really refuse to give me my threesome of Aurora/Mulan/Phillip, give her a girlfriend. Rapunzel could work. Or Jasmine, we haven't seen Jasmine in OUaT yet. Tiana either. Or Merida.)
Let's see. What else?
I wasn't even remotely surprised about the woman that Emma and Hook being Marian. Mostly because, you know, I recognized the actress since it's the same one we saw playing Marian last season. I'm not necessarily happy about it, although it could be an interesting parallel to see how things play out between Regina and Emma. If nothing else, Regina seemed to be handling her anger a lot better than she did with Snow.
I totally called that Charming and Snow were going to name their son Neal. It was perfectly fitting, but subtle? Not really.
... and I guess we're getting the Snow Queen as a bad guy next season? I mean, I was expecting them to do a Frozen crossover, but not quite this soon.
I'm sure that I'm forgetting plenty of things from the past half of the season that I totally meant to mention. Feel free to throw them at me as comments.
This entry has been crossposted to Dreamwidth, and it currently has
replies there. Comment on whichever site you prefer.