Chapter 16: In Which Eva is Rude for No Particularly Good Reason, as She Was Presumably Having an Adequate Day

Oh, my. This WILL be a controversial one, and I love that so much. I'm not going to take much of a stance in this review/recap, but I'm already discussing Snow's decision on Facebook with some friends. If you need a break from debating over the ethical decisions of fictional characters, buy yourself fifteen minutes or so by reading my review/recap of ABC's great show, "Once Upon a Time", episode 2x16: "The Miller's Daughter."

What Happened

The Fairytale Land (past)

• A young woman who looks as stressed as I felt during the midterms of my junior year arrives at her father's mill. He's lazy and she's annoyed, so she has no choice but to do the work herself and bring some bags of flour to the palace. 
• At the palace, Princess Eva (Snow's mother!) trips the young woman, causing her to spill flour and snap at Eva. Princess Eva is being escorted by a Prince Henry and his father, the king. The king's a total jerk to the young miller's daughter, making her kneel to Eva and apologize for something that she didn't even do. We find out that the miller's daughter's name... is Cora! 

• Cut to a party, but not just any party...a certain kind of party that a certain Andrew Lloyd Webber is fond of...a certain ball...

• That's right, Cora is sneaking in to a masquerade ball, just like the kind everyone dreams their prom will be themed after! Cora, looking stunning as ever in a wondrous shade of crimson, dances and flirts with the prince. It turns out this is a ball for the prince to be sold to whichever princess can offer the highest bid (apparently even medieval fantasty lands can have recessions). After Cora gives us the first use of the word "whoring" in the show's history, she trades partners and winds up with the king.
• The nasty king recognizes her as the miller's daughter. He plans to throw her out, since obviously she can't bid on the prince when she's poor herself. On a spur of the moment (and rather silly, but let's not get too judgy, I'm sure we've all said something dumb before when we've been flustered) decision, Cora proclaims she can spin straw into gold.
• If you haven't been ignoring Western Europe's medieval shenanigans for the last seven hundred years or so, you'll know what happens next. Cora winds up in a tower, locked with a roomful of straw that needs to be gold by the time the king hits his snooze button. Enter Rumpelstiltskin!!!
• He tells Cora that her name isn't very pretty and "sounds like something breaking," but he eventually agrees to teach her to spin straw into gold in exchange for her firstborn child.

"Sounds like EQUALISTS breaking!"

• We then are treated to a rather sensual (and well-made) scene where Rumpelstiltskin teaches Cora that magic is all about emotion. She needs to tap into her anger and think about what she wants...While Rumpelstiltskin gives her a massage, Cora spins gold.
• Cora proves herself to the King and gets to marry Prince Henry. We flash-forward to the night before her wedding. She and Rumpelstiltskin canoodle a bit, and Cora promises that any children she has by Rumpelstiltskin (ONLY by him) will belong to the deal-maker.
• After a conversation with the King that began with Cora intending to kill him and ended with Cora taking her own heart out ( having been told that love is weakness) Cora tells Rumpelstiltskin that she cannot run off with him. That's right, everyone...someone dumped Rump.



You Guys:

• I'm sorry, I couldn't resist, you guys...I was having too much PUN!

You Guys, Part II:

• Okay, now I'm done.
• Baby Regina gets a really fun "Lion King" moment when Cora lifts her up dramatically and everyone at court kneels to her.







Storybrooke (now)

• Henry obnoxiously grins while he drives the boat back to town. Within, Emma tells a pained Rumpelstiltskin that they're "family now," so she won't let him die. I cannot tell you how much my mom and I shuddered as we watched this scene. It felt like I was watching a giant spider crawl across the screen...
• Meanwhile, Cora and Regina are listening to Snow and David talk on the phone using a wire tap. (I wonder how many conversation's Regina's heard... ) Cora pushes the wire tap to the ground with more nonchalant than the first Chalant of Non herself, annoyed at the silly "Enchanted Box."
• Before Regina can start explaining that possessed mirrors are no longer the preferred method of talking to your friends, Cora proclaims she needs to kill Rumpelstiltskin with the dagger before he dies of the poison from Hook's hook, or else she won't become the Dark One.
• The Manhattan team arrives back in town. They all squeeze into Rumpelstiltskin's store, where he helps Emma make defenses with invisible chalk.

          and a protection spell

        
        that's also fueled by her emotions. Regina and Cora promptly bust through the spell, and while the fight
        begins, Snow slips out to go on a secret mission: she must get Cora's heart, use the candle from last
        episode (which Mr. Gold gave to her) on it, and then somehow put the heart back into Cora.

• While Snow whispers the name and gives the heart to Regina, who has teleported away from the fight briefly (Snow tells her that if Cora finally has a heart again, she will be capable of feeling love for her daughter), Rumpelstiltskin calls the amnesiac Belle and tells her that he loves her. "You find goodness in others, and when it's not there...you create it." That line was beautiful, I'll grudgingly admit. 

Rumbelle Fans Everywhere:

The people supporting her are the Captain Swan, Swan Thief, and Wooden Swan fans coming together in a rare moment of camaraderie. 

• Cora manages to make her way to Rumpelstiltskin after poofing Neil and Emma into the woods. (Swan Thief fans probably had a field day with that little set-up. I can see the fanfics now... "A Walk in the Woods: The Miller's Daughter Epilogue.") 
• She tells him that the reason she took out her heart was because Rumpelstiltskin was Cora's only weakness- the only man she ever loved. Just then, Regina bursts in and shoves the heart into Cora. Cora loves her daughter for one brief moment before collapsing and dying on the ground. 
• Snow bursts in, and Regina gives her a death glare of death and deceasement and termination and skulls-and-crossbones.

What I Thought

   This was the first time in a long time that I realized my heart was beating faster because of what was happening onscreen. I'm guessing most of us narrowed the character marked for death to either Gold or Cora after the first fifteen minutes, but from that point on the show kept me guessing. I knew that no matter who died, the show would be making a bold move. If Rumpelstiltskin were to die, the show would be getting rid of one of its main protagonists and antagonists, along with the actor who arguably helped cement the show in viewers' minds. Robert Carlyle is one of the biggest reasons this show became popular, at least in my book. He took a character who most of us probably thought of as a silly little imp that didn't even have a Disney movie on his list of accomplishments, and made him into a morally complex, insanely intelligent, rather terrifying force of nature that should be reckoned with. With that in mind, killing him off would have been a tremendous risk that could have changed the course of "Once Upon a Time" forever...

   ...but with Cora's death, the show has gone down another dark road. Snow White- the first princess in Disney canon, a voice of reason and a symbol of purity and kindness, the mother of the show- has committed murder. People may argue Regina had a hand in it, but that's like saying that the waiter is to blame  for an e. coli outbreak if the cook serves up under-cooked meat. Snow killed Cora. It may have been to protect her family and friends, and she probably killed people before in the war...but the lack of a battle setting is sure to make this stand out to her and to the people she knows. 

Say what you will about her, but you certainly can't call Snow "passive" anymore.

   

   This was gutsy of the show, considering the wide age range of the audience. I'm really pleased that the writers were allowed to do this, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Snow develops from here on out. This was unpredictable, this was game-changing, and this was good character development that didn't feel forced. Give me more, "Once Upon a Time." Give me more. 

My Score:

9/10. 

That's for keeping us guessing and taking a chance that payed off. 

My Questions:

-How is everyone going to react to this? Who will be judgy, who will be concerned, who will grit their teeth and tell her that she chose the lesser of two evils? 

-Where is August and why doesn't anyone care? 

-How many times this season has a heart been ripped out of someone's chest? Somebody needs to make a montage set to Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart."

Next Episode:

Consequences...

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, memes, photos, and cultural references in this review/recap. None of them are mine! If you or someone you know owns/made own of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other websites for stuff that could fit into my blog and its reviews/recaps. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC , "The Phantom of the Opera" belongs to Andrew Lloyd Weber, "The Legend of Korra" belongs to Nickelodeon, "The Emperor's New Groove" belongs to Disney, "Game of Thrones" belongs to HBO, I don't know Jennifer Lawrence,  etc., etc...I own nothing! This blog is for entertainment purposes only!!! Also, this show is written, acted, produced and made by people far more successful than me thus far in my life. I really do like it, and I only critique because I care! I  know far less about the world than I pretentiously seem to.)

Chapter 15: In Which The Blue Fairy Tries

I've rediscovered "Wicked," still have dried paint on my fingernails from set-building, and just got back from playing cards with friends. I think it's safe to say that today has been a dramatic day, just as the episode of ABC's "Once Upon a Time" that I'll be recapping and reviewing (2x15: "The Queen is Dead") was packed with drama. But was it of the quality "Grey's Anatomy" Season 7 kind, or more of the "Heroes" Season 3 variety? Read on to find out!

What Happened

The Fairytale Land (flashback)

• It's a young Snow White's birthday eve, so she and her regal mother are busy preparing for the big celebration! But lo- Mrs. Padmore from Downton Abbey, here portraying a servant called Johanna, dares to try on little Snow's new tiara! 

Snow:

Snow's Mom:

• Snow's mom explains that  being born into royalty- an action that took literally no effort on Snow's part, either in the womb or out of it- is not a quality that makes one inherently better than anyone else, and that therefore Snow shouldn't treat servants like they're inferior. Just as we all clamor over each other to give this queen the "Mother of the Year" Award for 2013, she starts coughing up a lung. 

• Quite. 
• At the advice of Johanna, little Snow goes off into the woods to try and find a cure from the Blue Fairy. She finds and talks to said forest-dweller, who suspiciously switches from insisting that there is nothing fairies can do to prevent death...to offering Snow a candle that can exchange the life force of a chosen sacrifice for that of Snow's mother. The fairy makes Snow promise not to tell...
• ...but Snow finds she cannot bring herself to use the candle, since her mother has been trying so hard to teach her to make the morally right choices in life. Tearfully, she explains to the Queen what happened. Her proud mother smiles before dying. 

There are onions in the next room...that's why. 

• After Snow bravely goes to her mom's funeral with Johanna, we find out that the Blue Fairy was Cora in disguise, and that she poisoned Snow's mom. Through Cora's "Muahaha" speech, we learn that she deeply wants to corrupt Snow as a way to get back at the deceased Queen for...something. 

Storybrooke

• IT'S SNOW WHITE'S BIRTHDAAAAAAY!

• But due to the traumatic memories of her mom dying on an early birthday, Snow White doesn't want to celebrate. She goes to visit Johanna, whose whereabouts in Storybrooke were previously unknown (further proof that this is a honking big small town, there's got to be loads of fairytale characters we've yet to see living there.)  Johanna's gift to her is the tiara that her mother gave her on that birthday long ago. 
• After talking to her old servant/mother figure about the long-dead queen, Snow stumbles upon Regina and Cora looking for the dagger. She runs to the sheriff station, where David is just waking up after being knocked out by Hook. (Hook really wanted his hook back.) They decide to buy time for Emma to get back and help. 
• Snow and Regina have an intense stare-down that would make the most uptight school administrator admit defeat. Basically, Snow offers Regina to rejoin "the side of good," while Regina calls her out on her hypocrisy. 
• Mother Superior (aka The Blue Fairy) meets Snow and David in front of Rumpelstiltskin's store. They try to break in using her magic, but her wand won't work. 

• Just as Snow is bringing up the possibility of using dark magic, she gets a call from Emma. Emma tells her where Rumpelstiltskin's dagger is: the clock tower. 
• Snow and David rush up and find the dagger, so that's good. Regina and Cora poof in Nightcrawler style, so that's bad. A fierce stand-off results when Cora magicks Johanna into the tower, offering a trade for the dagger. Snow eventually gives Cora the dagger, but Johanna is killed, anyway. 
• While Snow and David bury Johanna, Cora reveals to Regina (in nowhere less than Regina's old office, stylish as ever) that she arranged for Snow's horse to go crazy, all those years ago, so that Regina could become the queen. Regina articulates a fear that her mother just wants to destroy the Royal Family, not help her get Henry back, but Cora puts this fear down in a rather unconvincing way. 
• Snow tells David that the side of Good doesn't seem to work...people keep dying and being taken away from her. That said, she's decided to kill Cora. 

Manhattan

• Neil and Henry go get pizza while Rumpelstiltskin and Emma discuss how sad it is to feel unloved by their children. One of them deserves the lack of love, one does not. Can you guess which? 
• Henry delivers the ugliest line ever heard on this show when Emma asks him if he likes the pizza. "Great! It's cheesy, delicious, and doesn't lie." 

#sosickofhiscrap

• Just as the pretentious little plot device is asking Rumpelstiltskin if he can call him "Grandpa" (BTW: the answer is a resounding "NO"), Hook jumps out and attacks Rumpelstiltskin with his hook, which has been rubbed with poison since it was stolen back from David. 
• After Emma locks Hook in a closet, the group manages to get Rumpelstiltskin back into Nei's apartment. They decide to take Rumpelstiltskin back to Storybrooke, where magic can save him. 
• Neil reveals that he knows how to drive Hook's ship, since "Earth wasn't my first stop after I left home...otherwise I'd be a few hundred years old." The audience squees, Emma gets Rumpy to tell her where his dagger is, he does, and that leads into the phone call I mentioned earlier. 
• Neil and Emma go to get his car so they can drive to the harbor. Neil's FIANCE (I didn't catch her name, if someone could inform me it would be LOVELY) hugs him goodbye. 

What I Thought

   I would like to breathe a huge sigh of contentment. This was much better than last week's episode, on multiple levels. Since I'm posting these reviews in such close proximity (from a time standpoint), let's talk about this episode in regards to the complaints I laid against the previous one. 

   My first major complaint last week was that the episode didn't use its potential well. Everything was predictable, everything was safe, nothing felt unexpected, and the writers didn't take advantage of the story elements they had before them to break new ground. This episode kicked that one out of its apartment and got a much better new roommate who actually paid their share of the rent. Seriously, kudos on killing off Johanna. I know we just met her this episode, but I thought it was gutsy to kill a character that the writers so quickly established as Snow's surrogate mother. When was the last time a character with a name actually died? Archie was a total fake-out, so this was cool to see- not because I like seeing beloved characters die, but because it raised the stakes. I know now that Regina and Cora [and more importantly, the writers?] mean business. We're still not to the "Nobody is safe" state of mind that many dramas want their audience to be at, but that's okay. This was a big step forward. 

   Snow's identity crisis this episode was also intriguing, as was the flashback. Little Snow's storyline (by the way, her actress is impeccable in terms of how much she acts like Ginnifer Goodwin, Snow White's adult actress) was important to the main Storybrooke plot this week, unlike Rumpelstiltskin's in "Manhattan." We needed to see that Snow White has contemplated dark (yet understandable and, in the case of Cora, maybe even practical) options before in order to see that her vendetta against Cora is viable. Without that flashback, we wouldn't have believed that Snow would ever go through with killing Cora. Now, though...I'm not so sure. This is so much better than Rumpelstiltskin's because it was nothing new, nothing we didn't already know, EXCEPT for the final prophecy regarding Henry. But surely that could have been delivered in a better way. 

   Potential was being taken advantage of across the board this week. Neil having a fiance should make for great drama later on, not to mention Cora's incredibly strategic mind that, when combined with her extreme "mother bear" instincts, has caused so much of the plot on the show. 

   Per my second point, the characters we took a look at this week (little Snow White and adult Snow/Mary Margaret) are far more sympathetic than Gold and Henry. Let's compare the kids and adults. Henry is probably acting a bit more like the average eleven-year-old, so perhaps he's at a disadvantage; still, his whining, rejection of people who make choices he doesn't like or understand, and know-it-all attitude makes his grandmother at his age look far deeper, more complex, and like a much stronger individual. Snow faces ethical dilemmas and makes tough choices that weigh deeply on her. She learns from her mother and takes on the enormous responsibility of attending her mother's funeral in a leadership position. That's impressive and admirable; it's something I don't know if I could do now, much less at her age. I think the differences in how I view these two characters is that, while I look for relatable protagonists with flaws, I also look for heroes-- people who inspire me to be better, who face dire consequences that I never have, but can still connect with. Snow presents that to me in a way that Henry does not. 

   When it comes to the adults, a similar principle applies. Rumpelstiltskin and grown-up Snow/Mary Margaret have both recently been humanized, but Rumpelstiltskin's flaw (his selfishness, not his cowardice) is magnified to such a great extent that I don't want to relate to him. Snow's ethical decision this episode, however, is a scary yet realistic one. Cora has been putting those she loves in danger for her entire life. Her mother and Johanna are dead, and her daughter has been repeatedly put up against grave threats. Cora will most likely try and hurt or kill more of the people she loves. Should Snow compromise her morality, which has done nothing but compromise her in the past? This is thought-provoking, brain-stumping stuff that Snow has to deal with, whereas Rumpelstiltskin just keeps repeating himself.  

My Score:

8/10. 

Thought-provoking dilemmas and upped stakes takes the cake this week. 

My Questions:

• Assuming us Captain Swan shippers (people who wants Emma and Captain Hook to fall in love) are not totally crazy and a love quadrangle between Neil, Emma, Kilian and Neil's fiance (whose name I didn't quite catch) is indeed being set up, will it blossom in the final episodes of this season, or are the writers looking ahead to Season 3 and beyond? 
• Neil's been shown to be a mostly-decent guy so far, doing everything out of love for Emma in the past and desiring to reconnect with his long-lost son immediately. He didn't try and deny to Emma that he's moved on romantically, and is putting aside his justified anger to help his jerk of a father. That said...what's his flaw? What's wrong with him? What character trait is he going to have to struggle with? 
• Will Neil call out Henry on the crappy treatment he doles out to his mothers? 

Next Week (technically tonight, but shush):

Will Snow follow through? Will Regina follow suit with Cora's commands? 

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, memes, photos, and cultural references in this review/recap. None of them are mine! If you or someone you know owns/made own of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other websites for stuff that could fit into my blog and its reviews/recaps. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC , as does "The B in Apartment 23," "Downton Abbey" belongs to the BBC, "Heroes" belongs to NBC, "Grey's Anatomy" belongs to ABC, I don't know Mila Kunis or Tom Hiddleston, etc., etc...I own nothing! This blog is for entertainment purposes only!!! Also, this show is written, acted, produced and made by people far more successful than me thus far in my life. I really do like it, and I only critique because I care! I  know far less about the world than I pretentiously seem to.)

   

Chapter 11: In Which Belle Becomes an Epic Detective

Hey, readers! I'm so sorry about the wait! Thank you so much for patiently waiting. I had a ton of homework this weekend, and grades are more important than "Once Upon a Time," so...

Your Likely Reaction to the Above Statement:

My Response:

I'm kind of like Hermione before people forgot that she was "The Annoying One" in the group. Anyways, now that we've established my well-known zealotry regarding my academic studies, on to the recap and review of this week's episode of ABC's fabulous "Once Upon a Time," 2x11: "The Outsider!"

What Happened

Fairytale Land (Past) :

• Last season, after Belle ditched Rumpelstiltskin's tower because he had intimacy issues and was unwilling to try the latest form of acne treatment, she gave Grumpy (known at the time as Dreamy, before said dreams were tragically crushed) some romantic advice. This takes place the day afterwards, when Belle is being adorkable in the same medieval tavern/pub/social scene, reading a book in a corner and planning out the next great Fairytale Landian Novel. 
• Grumpy/Dreamy shows up and encourages her to go on an adventure (the purpose of which is to hunt down a demon called a Yaoguai, which has been terrorizing the nearby towns) with some sketchy-looking guys in the corner who've decided it's a good idea to bring back the Tri-Cornered hat. 

I hear it's all the rage in Europe.

• Belle then gets the experience that any poor soul who has ever tried to read a book in a public place during their adolescence has been forced to undergo when one of her fellow adventurers asks her what she's reading. 

Traveling Companion:

Belle:

• The traveling companion continues to be obnoxious. Belle gets her smart-hat on and tells the dude (who just can't take "leave me the chocolate fudgicle alone" for an answer) that the Yaoguai lives near lakes. The jerk kicks Belle off the cart that he and his pals were riding, but Belle picks herself up and earns a "You go, girl," from the audience when she reveals that the Yaoguai actually like to hang out near mountains, not lakes. 
• At the mountain, Belle finds the Yaoguai, which looks like a magical fiery lion, but it attacks her! Just when our intrepid investigator is about to be irreversibly ingested, Mulan shows up and saves her. She's quite and reasonably irked with Belle, given that she'd apparently been tracking the Yaoguai for weeks. I guess she and Shang got divorced...?
• Later, Belle is being bullied in town by the same Traveling Companion as before. Mulan saves her again, reminding us viewers that the female characters on this show are not only the coolest and most epic but by far the most competent. 
• The two women team up, Mulan deciding to cut Belle some slack since Belle can decipher a book that has information about the Yaoguai within. When they arrive near the Yaoguai, Mulan's leg wound flares up (she got it from the bullies apparently, I missed that part when I was staring forlornly at the fridge trying to decide between blueberries or coffee ice cream) and Belle is left to go and beat the Yaoguai alone. 

Yaogaui:

• Belle invents irrigation and drenches the Yaogaui, which then turns back into its true self: Prince Philip! He'd been cursed by Maleficent, but now he's free! Belle introduces him to his one true love new best friend Mulan. Since she's having an excellent night, she bids them goodnight and leaves to go and give Rumpelstiltskin a second chance!

How Belle Feels:

• Then, just in case you were feeling happy, Regina shows up and captures Belle to bring her to the tower. 

How Belle Feels Now:

How the Audience Feels:

Storybrooke:

• After Rumpelstiltskin successfully pulls off an experiment (with Smee as the unwilling guinea pig), everybody else has a funeral for Archie. It's hard to feel sad, because A) we all know he's not really dead and B) I never really liked him that much. (Neither did Gepetto's parents, come and join our club.)
• Rumpelstiltskin explains to Belle that he's created a magic potion that allows him to cross the town line without losing his memory: he just has to put the potion on his most precious object and carry it with him (in order to find his son Baelfire).  For him, this means his wife Meela's shawl. As for me...

...well, he never does quite explain how one would pour magical potion onto paper without ruining it.

• On board the ship, Hook interrogates the still-alive Archie, but doesn't get any information out of him. So, naturally, Hook skips off to the library and tries to nab Belle. He fails, due to Rumpelstiltskin's timely intervention (my, Belle's a bit of a damsel this episode). Belle and Rumpel head back to his shop, which is a wreck-- apparently Hook used Belle as a distraction so he could go and shoplift an Everlasting Gobstobber steal the magical shawl. 
• If you've seen one Rumbelle conversation, you've seen them all. Rumpelstiltskin tells Belle she doesn't understand him and his reasoning  she tells him she wants to, and it goes on for five minutes. Eventually, it's decided that Belle will stay behind while Rumpelstiltskin goes to get the supernatural shawl back. 

• Meanwhile, in a household where passive-aggressive behaviors have yet to win over conversation and the sharing of emotions and ideas, Henry is heartbroken over Archie's supposed death. To deal with the grief, he is listening to Archie's voicemail over and over again. 

• Grumpy interrupts the grief (I guess the Royal Family's place is just sort of the hangout for everybody) by expressing an interest in returning to the Fairytale Land. Snow instantly rejects this, because Downton Abbey Season 3 has just started airing in America and the Fairytale Land lacks even the public channels. Grumpy, Ruby, and the rest of the dwarves point out that humans may very well start wandering into Storybrooke accidentally, and that while human fairytale characters such as Snow and David might be accepted with open arms, your everyday citizen is likely going to be far less tolerant of someone who can turn into a wolf or is born out of an egg fully grown as an adult. 
• We are then whisked away from what would have been a wonderfully interesting debate to see Belle discovering the invisible ship, she's just that good.

(Oh, and Rumpelstiltskin turns Smee into a rat. Apart from all the Pettigrew jokes we now get to make, nobody cares.)

• Belle frees Archie and sends him off to go get help while she investigates the ship, leading to the Horror Movie part of the episode, in which Hook shows up, alludes to Rumpelstiltskin murdering Meela (to which Belle responds with a "meh"), and begins chasing our heroine around the ship. 
• Rumpelstiltskin appears and fights Hook, then begins beating him up. Belle manages to talk him down, but only after Rumpel  reveals some very vengeful and homicidal tendencies still floating around in that magical noggin of his.

Rumpelstiltskin's Not-So-Diplomatic Solution to the Hook Problem:

Banishment. It's where it's at. 

• While all of this exciting detective/horror/soap opera drama is happening down at the docks, more was occurring back in the town. Snow tries to get David to see that they can buy a house in Storybrooke and live a peaceful life watching Maggie Smith be Maggie Smith in British costume dramas. David is not secure enough in his masculinity to watch anything with prominent romantic storylines, so he insists they go back and fight to take back the kingdom...again (from Cora this time.) 
• Snow is a human being who is already ten times more epic than David and knows it. Much as she'd like to go on a reunion tour with the Disney Princess Brigade, she explains to David that she is tired of fighting. It is then that Snow utters perhaps the most realistic and amazing line of the season: "Maybe we want different things." (More on that in the review).
• Archie goes and lets Emma and Henry know that he's alive, which proves that Regina didn't kill him. Henry's all "Ermahgerd I totes knew it," while I'm just like:

• That night, Belle and Rumpelstiltskin drive into the woods together. Much as the Rumbelle shippers would love it, they do NOT proceed to do what most couples might do in a car in the middle of the woods on a Sunday night (okay, it's probably not Sunday in Storybrooke, but it can be like a Friday for them, because Belle basically owns the library and Rumpelstiltskin basically owns the town, so if they want to not go in the next day, they can not go in the next day. Jefferson can live without his copy of Fifty Shades of Grey for one more day). 
• Just as Rumpelstiltskin crosses the town line and is about to depart on his journey to find Baelfire, Hook pops up and shoots Belle, who isn't fatally wounded- yay! On the other hand, she fell over the boundary, so she's lost her memory- nay! 
• Then a car hits Hook and saves the not-so-happy couple before crashing into the side of the road.

What I Thought:

   Oh, Rumbelle. How I loved thee when you first appeared. It was a fun twist on a classic fairy tale, taking someone who was a beast in a far less cuddly way than his mainstream Disney counterpart and pairing him off with someone who had to believe that people can change not just their manners and their habits, but their cores, their very beings. The couple takes the forefront in this episode again, and unfortunately, it's to the episode's overall detriment.
   When you boil away all of the details, this plot boils down to one we've seen at least twice before (2x04, and Belle's premiere episode in Season 1): Rumpelstiltskin is less than perfect. Belle believes in him and he lets her down. Rumpelstiltskin implies he'll try harder next time, and Belle forgives him. Quite honestly, I'm sick of it. Relationships involve forgiveness, it's true, but they also involve effort, and I feel like that's something Rumpelstiltskin is just refusing to give. This is very much a one-sided relationship, in which Rumpelstiltskin gets to use Belle as an emotional crutch while he continues to use magic, torture others, and seek vengeance despite Belle's politely-worded wishes. What is Belle receiving emotionally? Rumpelstiltskin is very clearly showing that he doesn't want to try and change for Belle, not when there are more important things on the line like making up for past mistakes and inadequacies.
   He says he wants his son, and we're led to believe that he is trying to find Baelfire out of love, but let's take a step back and look at the big picture. Baelfire was transported to our world decades ago. He's likely found himself a new life and put his past behind him. Rumpelstiltskin seeking out his son will reopen plenty of old wounds, especially considering that Rumpelstiltskin was not willing to give up his magic to be happy with his son. But Rumpelstiltskin doesn't seem to care; he wants to find Baelfire because it will satisfy his emotional needs, his desire to make up for abandoning Baelfire years ago. Rumpelstiltskin isn't willing to give anything up in a relationship, romantic or fatherly, and I can't keep routing for him and Belle to succeed as a couple. She deserves someone who is willing to do as much for her as she keeps doing for Rumpelstiltskin, time and time again.
   Now, don't get me wrong: I still like Rumpelstiltskin as a character on a redemption arc, I just don't want to see Belle be dragged down with him. There were two other parts of this episode that I adored, along the lines of the "maturity" chain of thought that I wrote about last week. The first was Snow and David's realization that they have two very different plans for their future. Most marital difficulties are threats from within, not armies and sorceresses from without, so it will be intriguing to see how Snow and David handle their varying opinions in future episodes, especially considering that we've seen them deal with far more physical threats than emotional difficulties. Additionally, Ruby and the dwarves' point was a cynical but valid point about human nature: fear of the unknown is a huge motivational factor for many forms of intolerance.

My Score:

5/10. 

Small subplots weren't enough to redeem the main storyline starring Rumbelle's star-crossed love relationship. 

My Questions:

-Are the seeds of some kind of schism being planted in Storybrooke (perhaps David, Ruby, and the dwarves returning to Storybrooke while Snow, Emma, and Rumpelstiltskin remain in our world?)

-How permanent will Belle's amnesia be? Archie's faked death was resolved rather quickly, but other subplots like August's disappearance and Neal's postcard have been patiently put on a shelf by the writers. Will Belle's newest problem be resolved quickly, or is this her new status quo?

-Is Archie getting Pongo back now, or has Emma already filled out the forms? 

Next Week:

Who is the strange man with such poor driving skills? Also, a mother-daughter reunion and Frankenstein freakiness!

 

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, cultural references, memes, and photos. If you or someone you know owns/made one of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other sites for ones that fit my blog. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC, Fifty Shades of Grey belongs to E.L. James and her publisher,"The Big Bang Theory" belongs to CBS, "GLEE" belongs to Fox, "The Road to El Dorado" to Dreamworks, the Harry Potter series to J.K. Rowling, "Sherlock" to the BBC and Moffat, etc., etc...I own nothing. This blog is for entertainment purposes only!)

Chapter 10: In Which Charming Brings Back Fur Coats

Well, here we are, folks. We've officially survived the Mayan Apocalypse, the holidays, and the fiscal cliff-- and if you're reading this blog, you've also survived an excruciatingly-long wait for new episodes of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," so pat yourselves on the back.

Tonight, your trial has ended. The sun has come out, a new day has dawned, the Dark Age is dead, Harry Potter's dumped Cho Chang, we're getting a new Star Wars movie, I'm no longer a minor, we had a white Christmas, there are ten billion flavors of Five Gum, and the dog days...well, you get the drift. 

Life is good. Now that that's been established, let's get down to the thick of things-- namely, my recap and review that you awesome peeps kindly read for some reason every week. I love you all! 

What Happened

Storybrooke:

• Hook and Cora are newly-arrived party-crashers in Storybrooke, getting off Hook's big-as-all-getup pirate ship. Cora uses a bit of magic to turn it invisible and advises Hook that he'll need to proceed carefully if he's to take on Rumpelstiltskin in a world that now has magic. (Oh, and they turn some poor dude into a fish. Bullying in Storybrooke is dangerous.)
• The next morning, Emma and Henry walk in on Snow and David. 

Emma:

Henry:

David and Snow:

• Naturally, they flee to make tacos, which is what everyone does when this happens in their life.
• Later, they bring said tacos to a party at Granny's. Regina shows up and is totally awkward and is super-relatable because it's basically how I acted at the parties I've been to in my high school career, which I can count on one hand. Grumpy is a jerk to Regina, but Emma convinces everybody to give Regina a chance. 
• Regina feels awkward and doesn't have the amazing people who seem to find me at parties and make me feel welcome, resulting in her leaving early. Emma tries to get her to stay, and the conversation takes a turn for the worse when Emma mentions that Dr. Archie Hopper told her Regina was trying to change for the better. It's clearly a clear violation of doctor-patient confidentiality, and Regina is understandably furious. She snaps at Emma when the latter denies her the chance to let Henry sleepover, calling Emma out on thinking she could be a mother after "five minutes," when Regina's been doing it for ten years. 

Me:

"You go, Regina."

• Regina apologizes (boo) and Emma accepts it. The next day, Regina goes and yells at Archie, understandably. Ruby is jogging nearby, and somehow accomplishes the remarkable feat of asking them if they have a problem (I say it's remarkable because as part of my New Year's resolution, I have taken up jogging, and I cannot say a word after two minutes of jogging, I'm gasping so hard for breath). Regina tells her to depart with a sassy comment that I cannot do justice to here. Just go watch the episode, it's marvelous. 
• Later, Cora disguises herself as Regina and goes to Archie's apartment, where she kills him! 
• The next morning, Emma and Henry are having breakfast at Granny's, because Emma can't cook anything except tacos and although Henry was tolerant for the first five weeks, it's just not going to happen again. 
• Henry the truant goes to school while Emma and Ruby investigate Archie's office and find his body. They arrest Regina, and it's basically an episode of Law and Order: Storybrooke. David is Stabler and Emma is his Olivia, reigning in his Javert-ian tendencies. 
• After Regina denies doing anything in the interrogation, Emma argues with David and Snow over whether or not Regina has changed, referencing her past as a criminal and how much she changed. Emma essentially points out that, even if Regina hasn't changed, she never would've left so much evidence pointing to her. 
• Emma believes Regina has been framed. They go and talk to Gold, convinced that he did it. He denies it and Belle has no idea that Archie's dead. Where have you been, Belle? 
• Gold gets Archie's dog Pongo and uses a dreamcatcher to help Emma do some magic, in which she accesses Pongo's memories and sees that "Regina"/Cora really did kill Archie. 

Emma:

"I totally stuck up for that----"

• At Regina's house, a fight ensues and Regina uses magic, angry when Emma tells her she'll never see Henry again. Everyone gets super-judgmental and it makes me super-sad for Regina, who poofs away . (Oh. And Regina utters the phrase "I assume you're here to apologize," which I'm expecting to see in at least three Swan Queen videos by the end of the week. AMV-ers, you have your task. Get to it.)
• At the bus stop, Emma is nervous about telling Henry that Archie is dead and Regina apparently killed him. We get a really touching scene where Emma and David and Snow all realize that none of them know how to be parents, but it's okay because really...who does? They'll figure it out. Emma then tells Henry about what happened while Regina watches on from afar, heartbroken as she sees the son she so wanted to prove herself to hear a lie that will break his heart.
• At the docks, it turns out that Cora did kill someone and disguised the body as Archie's, but she doesn't know whose it was. She actually kidnapped Archie, who is now being held on Hook's ship with the intent to torture him for information about Rumpelstiltskin's emotional weaknesses (along with those of everyone else in the town...)

Fairytale Land (Past):

• Snow and Charming capture Regina after defeating King George the Unspecified Numeral. 

How the Capture Goes Down:

Regina:

Snow and Charming:

• (By the way, Charming is wearing a very fashionable fur coat. I hope he brings that back in Storybrooke, the plaid is getting boring.)
• At a counsel meeting, it's essentially decided that they should execute Regina. Snow has a problem with killing, which seems odd considering how much killing there likely was in the war that just ended against King George, but I guess we're just ignoring that. 
• After her dad tells her to show regret in an attempt to get some slack from the royals, Regina flat out ignores him and goes all Disney villain on Snow before she can be executed. Charming's all "Oh my God, Snow, you can't just stop an execution!" but Snow ignores him and chats with Rumpelstiltskin about what's to be done with Regina. Snow truly believes that Regina's good side is still somewhere within her. 
• Rumpelstiltskin comes up with a test to see if Regina has any good in her. Long and cumbersome test short, Regina fails and tries to kill Snow when she lets her go, resulting in her banishment. 
• On the day of The Royal Wedding (the one that didn't involve somebody named Middleton), Rumpelstiltskin points out that while a spell he placed on Charming and Snow to protect them from Regina works in the Fairytale Land, it doesn't work outside of it...setting the stage for her to use the curse. 

What I Thought

   The thing that struck me the most this week wasn't the theme of change, which was deep and intriguing, but I'm sure you all got that yourselves. What I enjoyed this week was the more mature vibe the show had. For a lot of this season, I've missed some of the grittier, more intense themes and aspects of the show's first season. Remember when David was cheating on his Storybrooke-wife Abigail, but it was confusing and divisive among viewers because he was technically married to Snow White? How about when Mary Margaret was suspected of killing David's wife? Even Regina's murder of her own father was incredibly dark. The show continuously showed that fairytales could be scary and their characters could be complex and realistic, and while that hasn't been lacking this season, it hadn't been as strong. 

   The edge was back tonight, for the most part. It started with the bedroom walk-in scene, which was a nice acknowledgment of more adult relationships that didn't get too uncomfortable for younger viewers. The momentum carried on with the murder and the debate over execution and rehabilitation, though a bit was lost when Archie was revealed to be alive (just a bit-- remember, Cora said she had killed someone, and didn't even care who it was!) I think the gritty, grown-up pieces of this episode were things I had been missing, though I didn't quite realize it until tonight. 

    This is a show that tries to appeal to multiple age demographics, and is starting to remember it again. Besides this bright point, other great moments included Emma trying to understand Regina's attempt to change herself, along with the conversation between David, Emma and Snow about parenthood. Two things bothered me this week: the fact that Archie isn't really dead (I was hoping the stakes would be raised a bit by showing us that main characters can die and actually stay dead, but so far the show keeps offering ways out: Abigail and Archie both turned out not to have actually been murdered, while Prince Charming looks like he's not gone for good, based on the ending of the winter finale) and the dialogue in the Fairytale Land. It's very stiff and stilted at times, like the writers can't decide whether they're going for classic fantasy tongues or something more...modernized, like the Percy Jackson series, where mythological creatures have updated themselves to the modern world. The soldier who gave the report to Regina in the opening scene was particularly distracting. 

My Score:

6/10.

The episode dragged a little bit in the middle, but had a lot of good character moments and a fantastic return to some of its more adult themes. 

My Questions:

• Who was the person that Cora actually killed: Random Citizen #17, or somebody we care about more? 
• Now that Regina's an outlaw, will she be forced to try and flee Storybrooke (or live in the woods and frolic with a resurrected Graham?)
• Will everyone believe that Regina killed Archie? I feel like Gold might suspect something's up...

Next Week:

Grumpy wants to return to the Fairytale Land, and Rumpelstiltskin plays a deadly game of hopscotch.

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, cultural references, memes, and photos. If you or someone you know owns/made one of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other sites for ones that fit my blog. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC, Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan,"The Big Bang Theory" belongs to CBS, "GLEE" belongs to Fox, etc., etc...I own nothing. Entertainment purposes only!)

Chapter 9: In Which Hook is a Wannabe-Ninja

This is it, guys and girls, ladies and gentlement, people from across the globe. Tonight was the grand (Winter) finale of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," 2x09: "Queen of Hearts." It was a wrap-up to the first half of the season's storylines, so we were expecting a lot from it. Did it deliver? Let's find out!

 

What Happened:

 

The Fairytale Land (the Past)

• Hook is a total master of disguise. Using his Cloak of Hiddenness, he manages to break into Belle's cell, where Regina is keeping her. He asks Belle is she knows how to Rumpelstiltskin, but soon learns she's about as helpful as a Blue-Ray disc in the Nineties.
• Regina shows up looking like a stylish Fifties fashion designer (I mean, seriously, THAT HAIR) and wants to know why Hook is messing with her prisoner. When she learns of his desire to kill Rumpelstiltskin, she decides to offer him a deal:  Kill her mother, Cora (so that she doesn't get taken to Storybrooke when Regina casts the curse) and Regina will help her kill Rumpelstiltskin.

Hook:

"Meh, Les Miserables doesn't come out for a month, I got time to kill...I'm in."

 

Regina:



 

• So then Hook goes to Wonderland, where apparently Cora has taken up residence as the Queen of Hearts. We don't really find out why, but she was disguising her face and voice. Whatevs.
• Hook tries to steal Cora's heart using a magic something-or-other given to him by Regina. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Cora stops him and steals Hook's heart. When she learns what he was doing, she has him do something for her, instead.
• Hook lugs Cora back to the main Fairytale Land, where he plops her in a coffin and pretends she's dead. Regina buys it, and actually seems quite saddened: apparently she only wanted Cora dead because she still loved her, despite everything Cora had done to her. She didn't want Cora to hold her back, because- as Cora once told Regina- "love is weakness."
• Later, we discover how Mulan, Aurora, Philip, Cora, and Hook were protected from the curse: Cora cast a protective spell over herself and Hook, along with a large portion of the Fairytale Land that they were standing in. Everyone there was protected from the curse. It looked a lot like the defensive charms from the Battle of Hogwarts, but I digress.

 

The Fairytale Land AND Storybrooke (present) - (these two are far too tied together this week to separate...)

• Within Gold's shop, David is snoozing and Henry is reading to him. Regina thinks it's sweet, even though we all know she's vomiting on the inside.
• Gold and Regina discuss the fact that while Emma and Snow MIGHT be the ones to make it out of the portal, it's far more likely Cora will win. In the name of practicality, the two schemers decide to pull a heist!



Is it too soon to make a joke regarding who could have helped them? Technically he's been dead twenty-eight years, sooooooo...?

• Back in the Fairytale Land, the Disney Princess Brigade gets to Rumpelstiltskin's cell. Unfortunately for them, they don't find the ink-- only a piece of paper with Emma's name written on it over, and over, and over again...it's, like, TOTALLY "Criminal Minds: European Folklore."
• Suddenly Aurora traps them in their cell! Has she betrayed them all? Is she jealous that Mulan got a sundial patent and didn't split the reward with her? No, nothing nearly so melodramatic, it's just Cora and Hook using her disembodied heart to possess her.
• Cora and Hook snatch the compass back. Hook takes a moment to let Emma know, in no uncertain terms, that they are never, ever, EVER getting back together. She could care less. The shippers should care less, but we do. We DO care. Many a "Captain Swan" fan will spend the month of December aching for the Romance of the Year to pick up again.



Yes, Leah Michelle...Yes, we have.

• Regina and Gold cackle and tiptoe up to the Magic Well in the Storybrooke Woods (remember the one from last year's finale? The one that Gold poured the True Love Potion into in order to bring magic back to Storybrooke?) Together, they dump the magic they stole from the fairy-dust mines into the well via a lightning-bolt, booger-colored so that we know it's bad.
• Henry and Ruby show up, horrified at what Regina has done. Regina and Gold assure them that it's a necessary and realistic defense; Cora will most likely defeat Emma and Snow, thus allowing herself to enter Storybrooke and hurt Henry. The kid is less than understanding.
• In the Fairytale Land, Mulan further proves her intelligence by locating the ink bottle. It's empty, unfortunately. Snow then realizes that the ink is within the paper, written a thousand times as Emma's name. She blows the words off the scroll of Creeper Paper and into the bars, thus releasing them.
• The Disney Princess Brigade arrives to the lake where Hook and Cora were about to jump into a portal to Storybrooke. They have a REALLY, uber-intense battle with lots of "Girl, please" and "This place about to" moments, it's really quite exciting. (Oh, and Hook and Emma have more eyesex. LOTS more. That's probably the real reason Cora is angry, because she thinks Emma is stealin' "her man.")
• Eventually, Mulan gets Aurora's heart back and goes off to free her. Cora tries to grab Emma's heart, but it won't work- a big blast of energy comes out of Emma's heart and knocks Cora down.



Emma has the Power of Heart!

• Emma and Snow make it back to Storybrooke safely, thanks to Regina deciding to trust Henry that Good would win and Emma and Snow would be the ones to come through the portal, resulting in a vastly-painful spell in which Regina sucked up the evil booger-colored lightning bolt so that Snow and Emma survived the trip home.
• Henry is totally ungrateful, but luckily Emma has better manners. Snow kisses David and wakes him up, Henry FINALLY thanks Regina before going off to get dinner with Emma, and Regina is very sad because Gold rubs the whole "There goes your son, off to look up to another woman as his mother figure" thing in her face. In the Fairytale Land, Mulan and Aurora go off to look for the way to restore Philip.
• Off in the distance, Hook and Cora sail up to Storybrooke harbor in a freaking PIRATE SHIP; apparently they had a magic bean left over from the Giant's house that allowed them to navigate the portal and arrive in Storybrooke. They roll up, all ready to conquer, like, you just KNOW they're jamming to Ke$ha and getting ready to take over Storybrooke. And the cool thing is...I almost found myself rooting for 'em.

 

What I Thought:

 

   I loved the ending. I freaking LOVED the ending. I just cannot...I mean, that's so cool. That is SOOOOOO cool, and you all know it. But, ah... *ahem* I suppose I should try and reclaim a little bit of professionalism for the "review" portion of this post.

    The best part of this episode was the ending. That's not to say the rest was bad, because it wasn't. It was decent stuff. Nothing too surprising, simply because all signs had been pointing to this, but it was still enjoyable. Snow and Emma got home, Cora and Hook were defeated for now, Regina managed to get a little bit farther in her relationship to Henry...not too surprising.

   The ending, on the other hand, blew me out of the water, almost literally. This is something that has clearly been being built towards all season, and it had to happen in the way that it did. Emma and Snow have been battling Cora and Hook all season long, but we always kind of knew they'd win. Because, as Henry kept insisting, "Good always wins." That might not be the case for much longer. Cora, who clearly is a more powerful mage than Regina and possibly Gold, has arrived in Storybrooke. The very thing Regina and Gold were afraid of is occurring before our very eyes, right after multiple episodes of people telling us how bad this would be if it came to pass. With Cora in power, arriving in Storybrooke, I'm really looking forward to a lot of Fairytale Land conventions being challenged. Love might not conquer all, because Cora's launching an attack that she can, and likely will, win.

    I think we're looking ahead to a Storybrooke at war. In a war, people tend to change and grow up, and now always for the better. Henry might have to adjust his naivete a bit over the second half of the season, starting in January. Maybe things will be less black and white, now that we're back in our world. Surely with Neal on his way and Emma's possible romantic feelings for Hook, that's something that's got potential romantically as well as morally. Regina clearly wants to remain a presence in Henry's life, which may not happen with Emma back in the picture. So what does she do-- fight Emma to be in Henry's life again? Will Emma give in, or try to keep Henry for herself? I think we're going to be seeing a lot of grey in the second half of this season, and Good might not always win in every decision that will be made...

 

My Score: 7/10. A somewhat predictable plot was redeemed by an exciting lead into the rest of the season.

 

My Predictions for The Show's Return:

-Emma will try to leave Storybrooke to be with Neal.

-Hook will develop feelings for Emma, but she won't visibly reciprocate (if she does eventually admit to them, it won't be until the Season Finale).

-Henry will learn magic from Regina.

-Belle will break things off with Gold, so that Hook can't use her against him. It'll work about as well as it did for Spider-Man and Mary Jane.

-We won't hear from August, Mulan, or Aurora for awhile...

-...but we'll get some new "modernizations" of fairy tale characters who have been in Storybrooke this whole time, just in the background (I know there were rumors of Ariel, Aladdin, and Jafar for this season, along with Wizards of Oz characters. Of course, the rumors started this past summer, so they might not be accurate, but we can only hope!)

 

 

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, cultural references, memes, and photos. If you or someone you know owns/made one of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other sites for ones that fit my blog. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC, Ke$ha songs belong to Ke$ha, "Glee" belongs to Fox, God knows who "Captain Planet" belongs to, etc., etc...I own nothing.)







Chapter 8: In Which Mulan Ditches These Losers Because She's Really Much Smarter Than Them

Hola, my children! It's been a while, what with the two-week hiatus. Apparently that's just a practice for what may be a longer one, given that there's a Winter Finale coming up next week (but the show will reemerge sometime in January.) A lot happened this week, and now that we know there's a mid-season finale coming up next week, it makes a lot more sense...so let's get cracking! This is my recap/review of ABC's "Once Upon a Time," Episode 2x08: "Into the Deep."

*A note: several of this week's events crisscrossed between Storybrooke and The Fairytale Land. I'll be covering them from each side's perspective, in no particular order. 

What Happened:

The Fairytale Land

• We open with Hook finally getting down from that beanstalk. Cora's waiting for him at the bottom, and she's none too happy that Hook ditched her for the Disney Princess Brigade. He tries to get back on her good side, but she'll have none of it: she's off to get the compass back, and will most definitely NOT be taking Hook with her to Storybrooke.
• Cora, who's been runnin' 'round, leaving scars, collecting herself a jar of hearts, goes to said cabinet of cardio organs and uses them to raise up a horde of angry zombies. Take notes, this'll come back to bite the DPB in the butt later. 
• Aurora informs Emma, Snow, and Mulan of her dream, and the Netherworld room she found herself within. Emma decides they can use this to communicate with Henry. 

Basically the level of familiarity they have with their chosen method of communication.

• That night, Aurora meets Henry in the Red Room, within the Netherworld that only people who have been under (and awakened from!) a Sleeping Curse can go to. She informs him that his mother and grandmother are alright, but need Rumpel's help to try and defeat Cora.
• The DPB keeps trekking along the next day, following the compass to the portal to Storybrooke, but Mulan notices that Aurora has a burn- apparently the Red Room can actually hurt people within it, if they let the flames touch them.She's reluctant to let her friend Aurora go back there, given that she swore to her crush/BFF/comrade/whatevs Philip that Aurora would be safe. Aurora, however, basically tells Mulan she feels useless and needs to do something to contribute. 

"Mulan...you, Snow and Emma have done, like, the ENTIRE project. I need to at least do a little bit so that I don't feel totally guilty when we all get an A+..."

• The next time Aurora goes to sleep, she sees Henry. But he's, like, TOTALLY unhelpful, because he times his directions whenever the fire bursts up. So whatever he's trying to say, Aurora doesn't hear. Unfortunately, Mulan chooses this exact moment to wake Aurora up because...
• The camp is under attack by zombies!!!!

• Yep, Cora's zombies are back with a vengeance. Snow and Emma manage to fight most of them off, but because Snow was too busy caught in her Katniss roleplaying to pay attention, Mulan managed to sneak Aurora out of camp.
• Unfortunately, Mulan got caught up fighting more zombies, so Aurora was kidnapped. She's kind of the group's Daphne...
• Cora goes and torments Aurora in her cell, way across the Fairytale Land. Aurora is actually surprisingly snarky back at Cora. Cora throws a curve ball at Aurora when she tells her that Philips Dementor-sucked-- I mean, "wraith"-sucked soul is actually just in another dimension, so she could hypothetically get it back. Luckily, Aurora calls her out her crap.

Cora gets told. 

• Back across the forest, Mulan is arguing with Emma and Snow. They've been given what amounts to a magical ransom note from Cora: give her the compass by sundown if they want to get Aurora back. Snow and Emma decide that, since Snow was once under a Sleeping Curse, she could go to the Red Room in the Netherworld, too. Mulan doesn't like the idea of playing for time...but she agrees. For now.
• In the Netherworld, Snow finds Charming, who has apparently been put under a Sleeping Curse willingly, all in order to find and communicate with Snow. He informs Snow that to stun and restrain Cora, they will need a special bottle of ink, which lies in Rumpelstiltskin's cell back in Snow and Charming's old castle. The two try to kiss to wake David up from the spell, but it doesn't work, because they're not in their physical bodies.
• Snow emerges from her sleep, horrified to learn her husband will be in a deep sleep until she gets back home. Emma's got worse news: Mulan has run off with the compass, determined to give it back to Cora in order to save Aurora.

Mulan's Grand Plan

"Um yeah I'm off to rescue Aurora and we're just gonna go and hang out away from all of your drama, and make lots of sundials and patent them, and with the money we make, we're gonna BUY the portal back to Storybrooke."

•  Luckily for the group, Aurora has been freed by Captain Hook, who told Aurora he was freeing her to spite Cora. 
• Aurora and the group are reunited before Mulan can give Cora the compass, but little does the Disney Princess Brigade know that Hook carved out Aurora's heart and gave it to Cora. Now, Cora is spying on the DPB, controlling Aurora even as the group makes their way to get the MacGuffin-colored Ink...

Storybrooke

• Henry wakes up from his sleep and informs Regina and David that he saw Aurora; the two are okay, but they need to know how to defeat Regina's mother, Cora.
• Regina goes to Granny's Diner, where she interrupts THE most uncomfortable-looking date in the history of uncomfortable-looking dates. It doesn't help that everyone in the diner clearly hates Rumpelstiltskin. Lord, this must be uncomfortable for Belle. 

I know I feel awkward when my (nonexistent) date starts telling me how magical condiments are.

• Regina gets Rumpelstiltskin to come help with the Henry situation. In the convincing conversation, there's some interesting dialogue that seems to indicate that Rumpel was the one who taught Cora her magic, and that they had a violent falling-out. Rumpel is spurred to action by Regina pointing out that if Cora does get to Storybrooke, she could hurt Belle. 
• Regina and Rumpel, watched by David, send Henry back into the Netherworld, explaining that the fiery room is accessible only to those who have awakened from a Sleeping Curse. Meanwhile, Henry awakens there and talks to Aurora, trying to let her know Rumpel's idea for getting rid of Cora: she can be stunned in a similar way that Rumpelstiltskin was by Snow and David, which allowed him to be imprisoned long, long ago. It will take the bottle of ink that the two used (remember the Cinderella episode way back when? They put it in a quill to trap Rumpelstiltskin...). The inkbottle is in Rumpel's old jail cell. Yeah, it'll be a lot of work. But nothing good ever came with a little bit of work. I think. So they tell me. 
• Unfortunately, the flames are too high and Henry cannot make himself heard to Aurora. She gets sucked out of the Netherworld by Mulan awakening her. Henry, in turn, wakes up to find himself severely burnt. ("Ouch, Netherworld! That hurt! Netherworld burned me!")

• Rumpelstiltskin heals him, then David demands to be put under a Sleeping Curse, since he and Regina are totally united by their desire to keep Henry safe.  Regina makes up the curse, and she and Henry get a really nice bonding moment over their mutual love of chemistry. 
• David undergoes the curse and arrives in the Netherworld. However, since it's his first time under such a curse, he has to make his way through a dark dimension of mirrors before he's able to find the fiery room.
• He does so in all of two minutes, and then finds Snow. Within the fiery room, he informs her of what she needs to do. They try to kiss in order to wake him up, but it doesn't work: a tearful Snow realizes that David will be asleep until she can get back to him. 
• A sad Henry looks over his beloved grandfather while Regina and Rumpelstiltskin share a knowing glance. (Because they know they're gonna have to lug David over to the extremely short-staffed hospital for the duration of the spell...and neither one of them is feeling particularly energetic.)

What I Thought:

   This episode made a lot more sense once I found out that next week was the Winter Finale. I kept feeling that there was a lot of back-and-forth, and wondering what it was all about. Now it's clear: we're being set up for next week's episode. That was the ultimate purpose of this episode. 

    Despite the fact that it was a set-up episode, the writers still put in some really nice character moments. Aurora and Mulan both got some much needed development; after all, they really hadn't done all that much since the season premiere. We now see how important promises are to Mulan, which is quite beautiful , if you think about it: whether she loved Philip romantically, or as a best friend (at this point, I think either is possible), she still misses him. The only bit of him that she still has is the promise she made to him- the promise to keep Aurora safe. It made sense that she was willing to die for Aurora, because keeping her promise to Philip is her most important goal at the moment.

    Aurora, too, had some interesting and surprising developments. I was glad to see that she wasn't all whine-- the girl's got some snark to her. You could tell how much she wanted to ask Cora about the potential way to get Philip back, but she resisted the urge and kicked Cora. You go, Aurora! 

Oh, Aurora. Now we know what your role in the group is: Witty Dialogue Specialist.

    Now, let's talk about Regina and Hook briefly, my two favorites of the season (and the whole show, let's be honest). I'm so, so glad the writers have kept their storylines ongoing this season. Regina is still trying to reconnect with Henry, and it looks like it's really paying off. All of her resistance, her self-control, her abstinence from using magic...it's all paying off. Henry is finally able to trust her a bit. I cannot express enough how much I adored the conversation between those two. Henry was tentative, and rightfully so, but...it's really a sign of how much Regina is trying to change, that she didn't push the conversation to mean more than it did. A year ago, she would've forced him to come home. Now, she's realized that the ball is in Henry's court and it's going to stay there. When he is ready to trust her again and let her back into his life for good, he'll do it. (Unfortunately, if the preview for next week is any indication, that might not be for awhile...) 

    Hook's connection to Emma also kept going. We know he's betrayed Cora for Emma, and now he's betraying the Disney Princess Brigade for Cora. It's not unreasonable to expect that he may switch sides again, and that's what I love about him. Any wildcard character is a good deal of fun. We know that Hook wants revenge, and you might think that it's merely a matter of whoever can help him get to Rumpelstiltskin faster. I don't think that's the case, though. I think he's feeling emotions for Emma that he hasn't felt for anyone since Mila, and that scares him. It'll be interesting to see if he will come to Emma's side again, and if so, what his motivations for doing so will be: revenge, or love? 

My Score:

8/10

I wasn't in love with this episode at first, but the fact that it's a set-up episode combined with some fun continuing character arcs made for an enjoyable installment.

My Questions:

• Lord, there are a lot. Let's see...Is Neil gonna show up next episode? I've got a feeling he'll pop up in the last five minutes, just to make things more complicated in January.
• Will anyone get back to Storybrooke next episode, or is this the status quo for the rest of the Season? 
• How many episodes are there gonna be, anyway? I know initially the word on the electronic street was that there'd be twenty-two again, which would mean we're barely a third through the second season...but now it looks unclear, if they're already giving us a mid-season finale. They never said "mid-season," though, just "winter," so I suppose that's the question...
• Rumpelstiltskin mentioned mermaids. This summer, there was word Ariel might show up this season. Is this a hint?

(Disclaimer: As always, I've used a lot of gifs, cultural references, memes, and photos. If you or someone you know owns/made one of the gifs/photos/etc., comment below and let me know- I'll take it down, if that's what you wish. I don't claim ownership of any of them, I just browse Tumblr and other sites for ones that fit my blog. Also, I own none of the media I reference. "Once Upon a Time" belongs to ABC, "The Walking Dead" belongs to AMC, "Glee" belongs to Fox, "Downton Abbey" is the BBC's, etc., etc...I own nothing.)