Once Upon A Time Review: "Welcome to Storybrooke"

Welcome back, dearies! It's time to review tonight's episode of Once Upon A Time: "Welcome To Storybrooke"

Now GTFO.

I really liked that we returned to Storybrooke B.C. (before Curse). It gave this episode a very Lost-like feel in the beginning, with a seemingly normal camping trip turning into ground zero for the newly arrived curse. It was also great seeing Regina walk through the town as it stayed stuck in time, something we hadn't seen in effect until now (remember Emma's entry into Storybrooke caused time to start moving forward again). Her delight in torturing Mary Margaret was a nice replay of their dynamic before Emma came to town. And Gold's refusal to admit he remembered everything must have been a fun trick for Rumple to play to pass the time. (I'll try not to mention Ruby's re-skankification). But Regina realized that something was missing in the day to day monotony of a town stuck in an infinite loop.

"If that groundhog shows up I swear to God..."

All she ever wanted was to be loved. She couldn't receive that from her mother, from Snow White, or from the citizens of Fairytale Land. She even had to compel Sheriff Graham to come to her bed night after night after night.

Ladies? ....Alright....and Gents?

But then, father and son duo Kurt and Owen find their way into the newly established town, and everything changes. Regina realizes that all she needs is the one person who could love her unconditionally...a child. Not being the best with the whole, ya know, "emotions" thing, she tries to keep the pair in Storybrooke in order to stay close with Owen. That ("unexpectedly") backfires, and Kurt and Owen try to flee Storybrooke, and Regina's clutches, after Kurt finds Regina talking into Graham's heart. Kurt is taken away, and Owen flees. I tell ya what, though, the scene where he brings the police to the boundary, where they can't see the sign on the other side, and vows to find his dad and Regina is on the other side of the bubble was very touching. Of course, it was then that I was really starting to suspect just who he might turn out to be...

Back in current Storybrooke, Regina is looking to get even with Snow. She wants vengeance, and a spell left by her mother looks to be the key to all of it. A quick intervention by Rumple stalls her, but a showdown is inevitable. Cut to the woods where Henry attempts to destroy magic by throwing dynamite down the well.

"Destroy magic with TNT? Oh you are just precious."

After complaining most of the show (season? series?) about the adults making adult decisions, Henry actually convinces the two sides to stand down. Regina destroys the curse, and it looks like no more blood will be spilled. Regina once again does the right thing in order to maintain her relationship with Henry. She truly shows him that he is the most important thing to her. Not power, not vengeance, but him.

And then what does that little creep do? He leaves her to go with Emma! AGAIN!

"Son of a...."

Again! Regina did the right thing...TWICE....in the same location....and the little piss ant goes running off with his other family...AGAIN! Ya know what? I'd blow them all up right then and there. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if she went into a chorus of "No Good Deed" from Wicked (admit it, that would be pretty cool). But don't worry, Regina had one more surprise waiting for her that day.

This is as emo as Snow White gets.

A guilt-ridden Snow knocks on Regina's door and begs for death. Which is, frankly, kiiiinda dark for the fairest in the land. Regina refuses, for Henry's sake,but can't resist pulling the ol' Kali-Ma on her nemesis. And when she does, she finds something that makes her grin. Snow White's heart, the purest of them all, is turning black. Like a cancer it will grow until it consumes her, turns her, and destroys her family. Then, Regina notes with fiendish glee, she really can have it all. I absolutely loved the interplay between Snow and Regina. It was perfectly crafted and once again set up the oldest rivalry in the history of fairy tales. Regina retook her place as the Evil Queen, not with some grand act of evil, but with a deep malevolence borne out of the singular hatred she has for the woman who has impeded her happiness for such a long time. She didn't need to destroy Snow White, Snow White would destroy herself.

Meanwhile, resident outpatient and amateur voyeur Greg Mendell has just come from stalking Henry in the woods and is seen filming Regina and Snow's heart to heart (or heart to hand, I should say? Heh, heh. Get it? Heart to...okay I'll stop). As he gets in the car he confirms what we all suspected....he is Owen, all grown up. And it's about time he found his dad!

Who I can only imagine, much to Graham's chagrin, tried again and again to have the sheriff "arrest" him.

The preview was also pretty tantalizing. What is Neal's girlfriend (maybe Tiger Lilly) up to? Why the sly grin? And if anyone had any doubt who the man was in the trailer, let's just say he won't be telling any lies about his whereabouts. It certainly wood make the situation worse.

It's Pinocchio, is what I'm trying to say. We get to see Pinocchio again.

This was a great episode to transition into the home stretch to the season finale. And I'll be right there posting along the way. Stay tuned, dearies!

-Joe

Once Upon A Time: The Miller's Daughter Recap

Best...episode...of the season! This recap is very close to just being the word "wow" over and over again! It was so good I half expect them to go on another four week break! The writers really turned what was becoming a predictable storyline on its head, spun it around, then punted it over the fence. Tons of misdirection and suspense, as well as a few revelations, and some of the best acting of the series made this one fantastic episode.

Warning! Unless you're Rumplestiltskin and can see the future, you might want to avoid the rest of the recap. There be spoilers!

Power versus love has been a theme of the show since its inception. We've seen each character make that choice over and over again, but never has it been so on display as this episode. When it came to Cora, the choice was clear. In order to prevent the humiliation she endured at the hands of Snow's mother, she would make everyone bow to her whim. And nothing, not even true love, would stand in her way.

She could be the queen of my heart any day!

Young Cora was sublimely played by Rose McGowan. Unlike Regina, Cora never seemed to be a perfectly innocent youth who was corrupted after a devastating loss. Rather, she knew her place in the world, hated those who kept her there, and wanted nothing more than to see them suffer. But she couldn't do it alone. She needed help from someone with the power to make her darkest desires come true.

You rang, dearie?

What followed was probably one of the most deliciously evil pairings of the entire show. Rumple and Cora's romance was a match made in...well...not heaven. The scene where he teaches her to spin straw into gold using her bloodlust was played with a sensuality not often seen on the show. You could almost feel their evil souls feeding off of each other.

And, of course, I'm sure we all took in a collective gasp when Rumple amended their contract so that Cora wouldn't give him just any old first born...it would be their child! Something fans had long suspected was unfolding right before our eyes! Could Regina actually be Rumplestilskin's daughter??!!

The answer was...shockingly!....amazingly!....incredibly!..............NO!

"So here's the deal. I help you spin straw into gold, and you help me make the audience's head spin."

Cora, after ripping out her own heart (a fan hunch finally confirmed!), once again chose power over love. She had used the King for the throne, and she had used Rumple for his power. I have to say that I'm glad Regina isn't his daughter, the family tree was getting a little too twisted. It was a bold direction for the writers to take. And so, the ramifications of Cora's act would reverberate several years later, in a land far away from their own.

Back in Storybrooke, it was cool to see a dying Rumple act like a general preparing for war. Even as the poison raced to his heart, he was able to set up the defenses in his shop. Ever the teacher, he showed Emma how to properly use the magic within her, something that I'm sure will come into play as the season draws to a close. And, ever the trickster, he convinced Snow White to do something she swore she'd never do.

Watch "Red Widow"?

Ginnifer Goodwin, I think, was at her absolute best as she convinced Regina to take her mother's heart and put it back into her body. She displayed a coldness and wicked cleverness that we hadn't seen in Mary Margaret before. Again, it was another fantastic twist by the writers. I mean, it's Snow White right? She wouldn't do anything this cold-hearted? Right? She didn't even do it to save her own mother so surely she wouldn't cut Cora down to save Mr. Gold? Right??!!

And then she lit the candle, held it over the heart, and whispered the name....Cora.

"Hm...did I leave the stove on?...or....ya know, my heart unprotected?"

And in that moment the Snow we knew was gone. While she tried to prevent Regina from doing her bidding, it was too late. She had been corrupted just as Cora had planned, tricked into committing the darkest of magic by the Dark One. How this will affect her and her family going forward remains to be seen.

One thing's for sure, Regina has one hell of a reason to hate her now. She finally got the mother she always wanted, only to have been deceived into killing her. And so The Evil Queen is back and badder than ever!

Before I conclude, can we just go head and start the petition for Robert Carlyle to win every award next season? His portrayal, both as Rumplestiltskin and Mr. Gold in this episode, was absolutely incredible. As Rumple, he was every bit the devilish imp we were introduced to in the pilot. All grins and high-lilting laughs covering up an malevolence and desire to do the most evil. As Gold, we saw a man who had come to terms with the choices he had made, and wanted to make things right. His phone call to Belle was heart breaking, and his final moments with Baelfire were very touching. There was a moment where I really thought he was going to die before Cora could kill him, thus releasing the power of the Dark One forever. I grew more and more nervous with each letter that disappeared from the dagger. 

Even sadder, I think, was to see him realize that Cora truly loved him, only to have her die in front of him due to his own machinations.

"I'm so happy. Good thing matters of love always work out for me!"

Well, dearies, this was really my favorite episode of the season and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out! What did you think? What can possibly happen next now that the story we thought we knew has been chucked out?

Til' next time!

-Joe

A Linc to Magic: Joe's Once Upon A Time Recap: "The Queen is Dead"

Well, dearies, it's time for what is sure to be a signature section of this blog. Let's not waste any time diving into this gasp-inducing, story-changing, plot-hinting episode! (Warning: There Be Spoilers!)

Let's talk about where this episode leaves us and work our way back. Regina and Cora now have Rumple's dagger, and thus the ability to control him once he returns to Storybrooke. The aforementioned Dark One is slowly dying via a poison hook through the heart and must be spirited away to Storybrooke in order to heal. Now, can anyone else see why this might present a problem?

If you said "Traffic on I-95", you'd be wrong. 

But before we leave "New York City" (because, seriously, who are they trying to fool?) we learn that Neal/Baelfire has a history with the good Captain Hook that doesn't appear too friendly. We also learn that when he was sucked through the portal as a boy he landed somewhere else first...somewhere that kept him young for centuries. Now, followers of mine on Facebook have heard me swear up and down that the mysterious man in the hospital is the Pan...but I'm going to have to renege on that one. Especially considering that Rumple is Hook's "crocodile", it makes perfect sense that his son would be the bane of Hook's existence in Neverland. Well played, Kitsiss and Horowitz.

Sense, brought to you by the writers of LOST.

And his fiance? Yeah. I'm going to bet that's Tiger Lily.

I've got to say that Cora's evil was on full display this episode. Her greed and lust for power makes her a far superior villain to her misunderstood daughter. Whereas Regina acted out of revenge and a broken heart (and eventually genuine love for Henry), Cora only cares about consolidating her rule. Cora makes everyone her pawn. She is very craftily moving the citizens of Storybrooke into just the position she wants them. And, like any good villain, she has been playing the long game, working behind the scenes to manipulate events according to her design.

"Once more the Witch will rule the Fantasy..."

The hunt for Rumple's dagger was a cool game of misdirection. I love that the clocktower is still playing a central role in the story (also, has no one bothered to clean up Malifecent yet?). Hiding the dagger on the clockface itself was very "National Treasure". The confrontation between Charming/Snow and Cora/Regina was a classic good guy/bad guy standoff. It reminded me vaguely of when Rita and Lord Zedd would appear in front of the Power Rangers....you knew stuff was about to go down!

And go down it did! Or...she did....poor Johanna.

Back in the Land that Was, I thought Bailee Madison as Young Snow was terrific yet again (kudos to the casting director on that one!) She's getting a little older now, though, so they better hurry up if they're going to do more storylines with her. Cora standing over the Queen's lifeless body reminded me a lot of Voldemort  hovering over Dumbledore's in triumph, or, more aptly, Palpatine at Qui-Gon's funeral at the end of The Phantom Menace. An initial victory heralding all the evil wins that were to come.

"Fear not, my love. These writers couldn't kill off a character forever if they used that meteor that fell on Russia."

And so the stage is once again set for a dynamic showdown. It seems like everyone has something to lose going into the finale in a few weeks. And just who is that mystery dude in the hospital if he's not Peter Pan? Feel free to sound off in the comment below.

Stay tuned, dearies!

-Joe