Once upon a Time 4.12.

Dec 16, 2014 08:22

In which the show comes through with the pay-off for a long term build up, and then some.

Pay off indeed! )

episode review, once upon a time

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Comments 14

astrogirl2 December 16 2014, 07:58:52 UTC
But Belle really is a hero.

Yes! She really, really is. That was an incredible payoff, and, indeed, so much better than I dared to hope for. I just want to hug Belle so much. (And, as I said elsewhere, I really, really hope she also has someone to drink with right now.)

Oh, and does using Maleficent mean Aurora and Philip and hopefully Mulan will be back as well?

Well, we did see Aurora briefly earlier in the season. I'm still holding out hope for Mulan, but wasn't there some problem with actor availability there? I seem to remember hearing she'd gotten another series or something.

Cruella is a non-magical villain,

Not necessarily. I mean, just because she wasn't using magic to skin dogs in the movie doesn't mean for sure she won't have any in this version.

And who probably is identical with the Apprentice as has been hinted at.What were the hints there? I do think it's a reasonable speculation, if only because it's a very fairy tale-feeling plot twist, but I don't remember the show hinting at it explicitly. Unless I ( ... )

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selenak December 16 2014, 08:08:21 UTC
re: Belle having someone to drink with, I like your idea of Ruby (actor availability strikes again, curses). My own odd suggestion: Will. Who owes Belle for breaking into her library and still needs a reason to be in the show, plus he knows all about being in love with someone who is a villain. And he's a great platonic friend to have as Alice can testify. Clearly, his job now is to offer Belle a shoulder if she wants one. And a drink.

Re: hints, for me, the very self assured way the Apprentice behaved when pointing Ingrid towards the door. "Sometimes people surprise you". Plus, well, the general "hiding in plain sight" principle.

You have a point about Cruella.

ETA: checked if someone had written Belle post episode, and sure enough, they did, but they had her repent and call Rumple back. THIS IS MISSING THE POINT, GUYS. Bah, humbug.

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astrogirl2 December 16 2014, 08:18:14 UTC
If actor availability prevents her from drinking with Ruby in canon, I think there should at least be fic. But I like the idea of Will even better. I've wanted them to be friends since he broke into her library and, man, do they have a few things in common. If the second half of the season doesn't have them interacting, I'm going to be sad.

hints, for me, the very self assured way the Apprentice behaved when pointing Ingrid towards the door. "Sometimes people surprise you".

Ah. Yeah, OK, that likely is a hint. :)

checked if someone had written Belle post episode, and sure enough, they did, but they had her repent and call Rumple back.

*bangs head repeatedly* And this is why I haven't been able to bring myself to go looking for OUaT fic right now, even though do really, really want to see some post-ep Belle fic. Sadly, I imagine the odds are that most of it is like that. SIGH.

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buffyannotater December 16 2014, 16:14:33 UTC
Maleficent: same actress, yes. Also, we learned in S2 that she hadn't died as a dragon b/c Regina's curse kept her alive in any form, so she's currently some sort of zombieish revenant who David fought. Can't recall which episode it was but it was mid-to-late S2.

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buffyannotater December 16 2014, 16:17:53 UTC
Aha, it was "The Evil Queen," and it was Hook who fought her, not Charming.

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selenak December 16 2014, 16:51:26 UTC
Ah, thanks for the reminder! I had forgotten that.

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trobadora December 16 2014, 16:31:10 UTC
Damn, it was so satisfying, watching Rumple get what he deserved.

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selenak December 16 2014, 16:52:01 UTC
Wasn't it just? When this show is good, it's really good.

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maggie33 December 16 2014, 19:58:35 UTC
I hope you don’t mind a lurker de-lurking to say that they really like your OUAT reviews (I found your LJ when I discovered Silk earlier this year and was looking for reviews, and then lurked shyly for a while :)). I started to watch Once Upon a Time only with this season (because of the Frozen characters, I admit :)), but managed to watch the 1st season last month and plan to catch up with season 2 and 3 when I’ll find some time.

And it was magnificent. Belle was truly fantastic here when the scales at last dropped from her eyes, and it was more than what I had hoped for, because what I had hoped for was simply that she'd dump him. But Belle really is a hero.

Yes, I agree with everything your wrote about Belle. It was a brilliant scene and a long time coming. And this was was a wonderful mid-season finale. I can’t wait for the next episode.

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selenak December 17 2014, 06:50:06 UTC
Hello and welcome! I'm glad you enjoy the reviews (and the show).

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tigerpetals December 17 2014, 03:35:17 UTC
I've been waiting for that breakup since the end of season one and sometimes I feared it would never come. Belle gave me such a sense of elation. I love that she got rid of him entirely. It also granted my wish of Rumplestiltskin losing his magic, so I hope we see him without it for a long time ( ... )

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selenak December 17 2014, 07:01:44 UTC
Re: Emma, one of the most interesting scenes she ever had with Rumplestilskin was mid s2 after she'd returned from the Enchanted Forest, because finding her name in his handwriting in the cell had freaked her out, and what she was asking him was essentially whether he had pre-determined her fate and whether everything she'd done had been as some sort of instrument. And he said no, that he'd known she would exist and be key to breaking the curse, but that was basically it - what kind of choices she would make and what kind of person she'd be, those were all unknowns and her own doings. So I can see her sympathetic to Regina's emotions re the idea of a predetermined fate - because she found it seriously disturbing herself and had at one point struggled with it - without exactly believing such is the case, or that finding the author would grant Regina a happy ending. But, as she did with Henry in season 1 when she hadn't believed him about the townspeople being fairy tale characters but went along with Operation Cobra regardless because ( ... )

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tigerpetals December 17 2014, 08:18:50 UTC
That makes sense! I can see her just going along with it and hoping Regina discovers she can make her own fate. She has already put in the effort to help Regina cope with her issues.

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