once upon a time: season two, an overview (part 3; finale part)
In honor of season three of Once Upon a Time starting tonight (for 11 whole weeks!), I thought I would discuss the hot mess that was season two. Why was it such a hot mess? Oh, dear. It was a mess of characters acting out of character, back sliding for no reason, plot holes, story lines that were started and forgotten, underused characters, overused guest characters, badly written characters and plots, and writers rewriting history and character motivations every five episodes or so.
Below you will find the episode titles and what of importance - if anything of importance - happens in the episode. They are listed as:
Watch It - you should watch it because it actually moves plots forward or because it is just a good and solid episode.
Fast Forward It - watch it for your favorite characters or because there is a cool scene here or there or there are bits that move the plot forward.
Skip It - you never need to watch it. It adds nothing.
Watch It, But Be Prepared - you probably should watch it because of story. However, it's not a great episode and is probably full of holes.
17. "Welcome to Storybrooke" - We see the first days of Storybrooke and a father and son come to town. Regina grows VERY fond of them, because they aren't stuck in a same-day loop as the others. (Also, they are nice to her.) However, things take a turn for the worse as the father is imprisoned and the boy goes over the town line and is scarred for life. Back in the current time line, Regina finds a curse that could make Henry love her. Henry reminds her that all magic does is cause Regina pain, so she burns the curse. Suffering for guilt, MM goes to Regina and offers her heart; Regina pulls it out and finds it is growing dark. She decides to let MM suffer and wait for the darkness to take her. Meanwhile, Greg Mendell has recorded the exchange. Turns out he's the little boy from 28 years ago and he's vowed (you guessed it) revenge for his father. Skip It: Anyone who reads my reviews will know that I've been waiting a 'flashback to the early days of the Curse' episode since season one. And this was such a disappointment of an episode! The flashbacks did nothing but (AGAIN) reinforce the fact that Regina is lonely and tries too hard. The current day story was just blah. All you need to know? MM's heart is growing dark and Greg is recording the fairy tale/magic stuff for someone.
18. "Selfless, Brave and True" - Taking some time for herself, in the forest, MM finds August and sees that he has transformed back into wood. Emma is shocked to learn that Neal (in a really stupid move) has invited his fiancee, Tamara, to town. Regina meets Greg, who she later learns is actually Owen. She wants him out of town, but he vows to stay to find his father, who Regina says left shortly after he did. Meanwhile, Tamara is shown to be evil and she evils August, who tries to warn Emma about her. The Blue Fairy restores August to his child form, but he has no memories of what he wanted to tell Emma; if he has any adult memories at all. In flashbacks we learn that August has slowly been turning into wood since 2011. He went to see a healer called "The Dragon" who promised to cure him. August stole Tamara's money. Tamara steals the potion that August got from The Dragon and she kills him. She tracks August to New York, where he is leaving for Storybrooke; she purposely spills a drink on Neal with the hope that he'll bring her to Storybrooke - and magic. Oh, and Greg and Tamara are lovers and working together. Skip It - This was the weirdest and laziest episode of the series yet. Seriously, I think the cast even thought it was stupid. And, I've just told you everything you need to know, so skip it. It really is just that lazy and dumb and plot hole ridden. How did Tamara know Neal would bring her to Storybrooke? It's commonly known that he is keeping low. . .why go back? He had no idea he had a son and if he falls for another woman, why go there for Emma? And btw: how dumb is Neal? Tamera sees August turn into his younger self (and sees him as a wooden man) and is all "Oh my God, is that a character from a novel? Oh, wow. Okay, I believe you now." She takes it too well. Suspiciously well. A normal, average person would freak out. She's just all "Okay, cool." and Neal smiles and it's all cool?!
19. "Lacey" - Belle and Gold reunite and promise to help one another regain what they've lost. Gold heads out to get her discharge from the hospital; Regina pops in and gives Belle her very own Storybrooke personality - a barfly called Lacey. Gold enlists David's help to get Belle back to herself and make her fall in love with him. Meanwhile, the Charmings have put themselves in charge of the magic beans and deciding the fates of the towns people. Emma is torn about if she wants to go to the Enchanted Forest or stay in our world with Henry. On the other side of town, Belle/Lacey and Gold go on a date that ends with Gold beating a man. In the flashbacks, we see more of Belle and Rumple in the Dark Castle and learn that Belle is slowly making Rumple a better man. Fast Forward It - All the magic bean stuff may be important, but it felt tacked on. The Lacy/Gold stuff was fairly good until the last five minutes or so. And while there was something off about the flashbacks, they were still the best part of the episode.
20. "The Evil Queen" - With the aid of Hook (yes, he's back thanks to Greg and Tamara) Regina tries to make it so only she and Henry will leave Storybrooke - something that will destroy the town and all that live there. Yeah, turns out there is a fail-safe in the Curse, which can bring her back to the Enchanted Forest, but will kill the town. Meanwhile, the Charmings decide if Regina should be allowed back to the Enchanted Forest - to spend her days in a cell or left alone in Storybrooke. Emma grows wary of Tamara after finding a list of the residents of the town and their true fairy tale identities, but Tamara and Neal brush it off as Tamara just trying to keep track of whose who in town. Henry tells Emma that Operation Cobra is back on - he doesn't trust Tamara either. With help from Hook, Tamara kidnaps Regina. Meanwhile, we learn about the time about the time Regina asked Rumple to use magic to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects. Fast Forward It- You probably should watch it, as some important info is given. However, the flashbacks are just another attempt at rewriting Regina to make the viewers feel sorry for her. Look, at this point she just needs major therapy and maybe to be on medication. Meanwhile, the 'Is Emma jealous of Tamara or is there more going on?' is a bit pointless, because we know she is evil. Honestly, thinking about it, nothing really happened in this episode: Regina just got kidnapped.
21. "Second Star to the Right" - The Charming family go in search of Regina when they find that she (and the magic beans) have gone missing. Regina is tortured by Tamara and Greg. They want information and believe magic to be unholy. Despite Neal's protest, Emma starts to suspect that Tamara had something to do with Regina's disappearance. The Charmings go to Gold for help and he gives them some of Regina's tears and a spell that will help them find her. MM volunteers to do the spell - so she'll see and feel what Regina does. Lacey learns of Gold's magic powers and doesn't seem to care; she thinks it is cool. Tamara realizes that they have been found out and tells Greg to meet her outside the building where they are keeping Regina. Greg refuses and amps up the electricity - Regina tells him she killed his father and buried the body in the woods. Greg escapes and the Charmings save Regina. Tamara finds Neal and Emma (also in the building looking for Regina) and she attacks Emma from behind. Tamara shoots Neal, opens a portal with a magic bean and flees. Emma tries to save Neal and the two exchange 'I love you's, but Neal falls. Regina awakens and tells the Charmings about the fail-safe on the Curse. The "Home Office" give Greg and Tamara the go ahead to destroy the town using Regina's fail-safe. In flashbacks, we see a teenage Bae be adopted by the Darling family. Wendy tells Bae about a shadow that appears outside the window, offering to take her to Neverland. Knowing the dangers of magic, Bae offers himself in the place of the Darling boys (the shadow wants a boy) and leaves the Darling family. Once in Neverland, he distracts the shadow and is dropped into the water. He is than pulled on-board the Jolly Roger and greeted by Hook. Watch It, But Be Prepared: While watching this episode you'll think a lot is happening. After about two hours, you'll realize that it was all just set up for episode twenty-two, which is all just set up for season three. I believe you should watch the episode, because this and episode twenty-two feel like a big two hour episode. However, it's really not a great forty-something minutes of television. The flashbacks are nice, but the current day story feels rushed and bloated as all hell.
22. "And Straight On 'Til Morning" - The clowns known as Greg and Tamara start the trigger that will destroy Storybrooke. Gold learns that Bae is "dead" and doesn't take it well; he goes to his shop to drink away his sorrow. David, MM, Emma, and Regina decide to try and save the town and Hook shows up to go with them. Regina tries to use her magic to slow down the trigger, while the others try and figure out a way to get all of Storybrooke back to the Enchanted Forest (or somewhere safe) fast. They finally decide to use a magic bean to open a portal and than throw the trigger in - thus, saving Regina and the town. But, before they can do it Hook (of course!) steals the magic bean. Hook gives the magic bean back when he is told that Neal (aka Bae) was Henry's father. When the time comes to open the portal, Emma realizes that Hook has tricked her and has taken the last bean to escape. Just as things look at their worse Emma decides to try and use some of her 'true love baby' magic to help Regina. Storybrooke is saved! Before they can celebrate, Emma notices that Henry is missing - kidnapped by Greg and Tamara, who used the fail-safe to distract everyone so they could take Henry, who they see as more valuable than magic. They escape via a portal. Suddenly Hook returns with his ship, stating that he had a change of heart and that he'll help find Henry. Gold and Belle (who got her memories back via potion at the last minute) show up and Gold says he'll come. He tells Belle to use a spell he's made to keep the town hidden and save. Everyone (minus Belle) get on the ship and Hook throws the bean that will take them to Neverland. At the same time, in the Enchanted Forest, we see Aurora, Mulan, and an alive Philip finding Neal (alive, but wounded) on the beach. In flashbacks, we learn about the time Bae spent with Hook on the Jolly Roger. The Lost Boys come looking for Bae, but Hook saves him,knowing he is Rumple's son. When Bae learns that Hook and Milah were a couple, he takes it badly and Hook gives Bae up to the Lost Boys. They bring him back to their camp, where it is declared that Bae is 'not the one' and he is put with the other unwanted children. From a picture, we learn that the boy they are looking for is Henry. Watch It, But Be Prepared - You should watch it, if only because it is the season finale. However, it is really rushed and things are just thrown in. It's as if the writers sat around and tried to quickly fix all their plot holes and dangling threads - in about twenty minutes. Because, that is what half the episode feels like: a pissy, bad fan-fic way of fixing the problems that have been season two. The rest of the episode is just. . .everyone comes across as really dumb. There are maybe two great scenes in the episode: and RC aka Gold/Rumple is in both of them. The rest of the episode was just a mess.
For a season that held so much promise, season two of Once really feel flat. Someone on Tumblr mentioned - and I agree - that if you watch the season in groups of episodes, you can see it just going more and more off the rails. I would say it took that sharp turn to 'Hot Mess Town, Going To Loss Millions of Viewers and Critical Acclaim' around the episode "Child of the Moon". That was the worse episode of the season (of the show as a whole!) and that is where things started to get bad and never recovered.
I believe there are two things that really annoy me 01) the show has so much potential and they waste it in favor of re-conning/dumbing down Regina and more of the Charmings being hypocritical jerks. 02) They (Adam and Eddie and the rest of the behind the scenes people just don't seem to care that their loyal fans are disappointed and angry by S2 and everything that happened/didn't happen. It's like they are watching another show.
Tonight is the first episode of season three, and I'm just not excited. I'll watch, but it most likely won't be live.
Below you will find the episode titles and what of importance - if anything of importance - happens in the episode. They are listed as:
Watch It - you should watch it because it actually moves plots forward or because it is just a good and solid episode.
Fast Forward It - watch it for your favorite characters or because there is a cool scene here or there or there are bits that move the plot forward.
Skip It - you never need to watch it. It adds nothing.
Watch It, But Be Prepared - you probably should watch it because of story. However, it's not a great episode and is probably full of holes.
17. "Welcome to Storybrooke" - We see the first days of Storybrooke and a father and son come to town. Regina grows VERY fond of them, because they aren't stuck in a same-day loop as the others. (Also, they are nice to her.) However, things take a turn for the worse as the father is imprisoned and the boy goes over the town line and is scarred for life. Back in the current time line, Regina finds a curse that could make Henry love her. Henry reminds her that all magic does is cause Regina pain, so she burns the curse. Suffering for guilt, MM goes to Regina and offers her heart; Regina pulls it out and finds it is growing dark. She decides to let MM suffer and wait for the darkness to take her. Meanwhile, Greg Mendell has recorded the exchange. Turns out he's the little boy from 28 years ago and he's vowed (you guessed it) revenge for his father. Skip It: Anyone who reads my reviews will know that I've been waiting a 'flashback to the early days of the Curse' episode since season one. And this was such a disappointment of an episode! The flashbacks did nothing but (AGAIN) reinforce the fact that Regina is lonely and tries too hard. The current day story was just blah. All you need to know? MM's heart is growing dark and Greg is recording the fairy tale/magic stuff for someone.
18. "Selfless, Brave and True" - Taking some time for herself, in the forest, MM finds August and sees that he has transformed back into wood. Emma is shocked to learn that Neal (in a really stupid move) has invited his fiancee, Tamara, to town. Regina meets Greg, who she later learns is actually Owen. She wants him out of town, but he vows to stay to find his father, who Regina says left shortly after he did. Meanwhile, Tamara is shown to be evil and she evils August, who tries to warn Emma about her. The Blue Fairy restores August to his child form, but he has no memories of what he wanted to tell Emma; if he has any adult memories at all. In flashbacks we learn that August has slowly been turning into wood since 2011. He went to see a healer called "The Dragon" who promised to cure him. August stole Tamara's money. Tamara steals the potion that August got from The Dragon and she kills him. She tracks August to New York, where he is leaving for Storybrooke; she purposely spills a drink on Neal with the hope that he'll bring her to Storybrooke - and magic. Oh, and Greg and Tamara are lovers and working together. Skip It - This was the weirdest and laziest episode of the series yet. Seriously, I think the cast even thought it was stupid. And, I've just told you everything you need to know, so skip it. It really is just that lazy and dumb and plot hole ridden. How did Tamara know Neal would bring her to Storybrooke? It's commonly known that he is keeping low. . .why go back? He had no idea he had a son and if he falls for another woman, why go there for Emma? And btw: how dumb is Neal? Tamera sees August turn into his younger self (and sees him as a wooden man) and is all "Oh my God, is that a character from a novel? Oh, wow. Okay, I believe you now." She takes it too well. Suspiciously well. A normal, average person would freak out. She's just all "Okay, cool." and Neal smiles and it's all cool?!
19. "Lacey" - Belle and Gold reunite and promise to help one another regain what they've lost. Gold heads out to get her discharge from the hospital; Regina pops in and gives Belle her very own Storybrooke personality - a barfly called Lacey. Gold enlists David's help to get Belle back to herself and make her fall in love with him. Meanwhile, the Charmings have put themselves in charge of the magic beans and deciding the fates of the towns people. Emma is torn about if she wants to go to the Enchanted Forest or stay in our world with Henry. On the other side of town, Belle/Lacey and Gold go on a date that ends with Gold beating a man. In the flashbacks, we see more of Belle and Rumple in the Dark Castle and learn that Belle is slowly making Rumple a better man. Fast Forward It - All the magic bean stuff may be important, but it felt tacked on. The Lacy/Gold stuff was fairly good until the last five minutes or so. And while there was something off about the flashbacks, they were still the best part of the episode.
20. "The Evil Queen" - With the aid of Hook (yes, he's back thanks to Greg and Tamara) Regina tries to make it so only she and Henry will leave Storybrooke - something that will destroy the town and all that live there. Yeah, turns out there is a fail-safe in the Curse, which can bring her back to the Enchanted Forest, but will kill the town. Meanwhile, the Charmings decide if Regina should be allowed back to the Enchanted Forest - to spend her days in a cell or left alone in Storybrooke. Emma grows wary of Tamara after finding a list of the residents of the town and their true fairy tale identities, but Tamara and Neal brush it off as Tamara just trying to keep track of whose who in town. Henry tells Emma that Operation Cobra is back on - he doesn't trust Tamara either. With help from Hook, Tamara kidnaps Regina. Meanwhile, we learn about the time about the time Regina asked Rumple to use magic to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects. Fast Forward It- You probably should watch it, as some important info is given. However, the flashbacks are just another attempt at rewriting Regina to make the viewers feel sorry for her. Look, at this point she just needs major therapy and maybe to be on medication. Meanwhile, the 'Is Emma jealous of Tamara or is there more going on?' is a bit pointless, because we know she is evil. Honestly, thinking about it, nothing really happened in this episode: Regina just got kidnapped.
21. "Second Star to the Right" - The Charming family go in search of Regina when they find that she (and the magic beans) have gone missing. Regina is tortured by Tamara and Greg. They want information and believe magic to be unholy. Despite Neal's protest, Emma starts to suspect that Tamara had something to do with Regina's disappearance. The Charmings go to Gold for help and he gives them some of Regina's tears and a spell that will help them find her. MM volunteers to do the spell - so she'll see and feel what Regina does. Lacey learns of Gold's magic powers and doesn't seem to care; she thinks it is cool. Tamara realizes that they have been found out and tells Greg to meet her outside the building where they are keeping Regina. Greg refuses and amps up the electricity - Regina tells him she killed his father and buried the body in the woods. Greg escapes and the Charmings save Regina. Tamara finds Neal and Emma (also in the building looking for Regina) and she attacks Emma from behind. Tamara shoots Neal, opens a portal with a magic bean and flees. Emma tries to save Neal and the two exchange 'I love you's, but Neal falls. Regina awakens and tells the Charmings about the fail-safe on the Curse. The "Home Office" give Greg and Tamara the go ahead to destroy the town using Regina's fail-safe. In flashbacks, we see a teenage Bae be adopted by the Darling family. Wendy tells Bae about a shadow that appears outside the window, offering to take her to Neverland. Knowing the dangers of magic, Bae offers himself in the place of the Darling boys (the shadow wants a boy) and leaves the Darling family. Once in Neverland, he distracts the shadow and is dropped into the water. He is than pulled on-board the Jolly Roger and greeted by Hook. Watch It, But Be Prepared: While watching this episode you'll think a lot is happening. After about two hours, you'll realize that it was all just set up for episode twenty-two, which is all just set up for season three. I believe you should watch the episode, because this and episode twenty-two feel like a big two hour episode. However, it's really not a great forty-something minutes of television. The flashbacks are nice, but the current day story feels rushed and bloated as all hell.
22. "And Straight On 'Til Morning" - The clowns known as Greg and Tamara start the trigger that will destroy Storybrooke. Gold learns that Bae is "dead" and doesn't take it well; he goes to his shop to drink away his sorrow. David, MM, Emma, and Regina decide to try and save the town and Hook shows up to go with them. Regina tries to use her magic to slow down the trigger, while the others try and figure out a way to get all of Storybrooke back to the Enchanted Forest (or somewhere safe) fast. They finally decide to use a magic bean to open a portal and than throw the trigger in - thus, saving Regina and the town. But, before they can do it Hook (of course!) steals the magic bean. Hook gives the magic bean back when he is told that Neal (aka Bae) was Henry's father. When the time comes to open the portal, Emma realizes that Hook has tricked her and has taken the last bean to escape. Just as things look at their worse Emma decides to try and use some of her 'true love baby' magic to help Regina. Storybrooke is saved! Before they can celebrate, Emma notices that Henry is missing - kidnapped by Greg and Tamara, who used the fail-safe to distract everyone so they could take Henry, who they see as more valuable than magic. They escape via a portal. Suddenly Hook returns with his ship, stating that he had a change of heart and that he'll help find Henry. Gold and Belle (who got her memories back via potion at the last minute) show up and Gold says he'll come. He tells Belle to use a spell he's made to keep the town hidden and save. Everyone (minus Belle) get on the ship and Hook throws the bean that will take them to Neverland. At the same time, in the Enchanted Forest, we see Aurora, Mulan, and an alive Philip finding Neal (alive, but wounded) on the beach. In flashbacks, we learn about the time Bae spent with Hook on the Jolly Roger. The Lost Boys come looking for Bae, but Hook saves him,knowing he is Rumple's son. When Bae learns that Hook and Milah were a couple, he takes it badly and Hook gives Bae up to the Lost Boys. They bring him back to their camp, where it is declared that Bae is 'not the one' and he is put with the other unwanted children. From a picture, we learn that the boy they are looking for is Henry. Watch It, But Be Prepared - You should watch it, if only because it is the season finale. However, it is really rushed and things are just thrown in. It's as if the writers sat around and tried to quickly fix all their plot holes and dangling threads - in about twenty minutes. Because, that is what half the episode feels like: a pissy, bad fan-fic way of fixing the problems that have been season two. The rest of the episode is just. . .everyone comes across as really dumb. There are maybe two great scenes in the episode: and RC aka Gold/Rumple is in both of them. The rest of the episode was just a mess.
For a season that held so much promise, season two of Once really feel flat. Someone on Tumblr mentioned - and I agree - that if you watch the season in groups of episodes, you can see it just going more and more off the rails. I would say it took that sharp turn to 'Hot Mess Town, Going To Loss Millions of Viewers and Critical Acclaim' around the episode "Child of the Moon". That was the worse episode of the season (of the show as a whole!) and that is where things started to get bad and never recovered.
I believe there are two things that really annoy me 01) the show has so much potential and they waste it in favor of re-conning/dumbing down Regina and more of the Charmings being hypocritical jerks. 02) They (Adam and Eddie and the rest of the behind the scenes people just don't seem to care that their loyal fans are disappointed and angry by S2 and everything that happened/didn't happen. It's like they are watching another show.
Tonight is the first episode of season three, and I'm just not excited. I'll watch, but it most likely won't be live.