Once Upon a Time Season 2 Episodes 7 & 8 Review

by

Episode 7: Child of the Moon

Meghan Ory as Ruby and Josh Dallas as Charming Once Upon a Time Season Episode 7 Child of the Moon picture image

Meghan Ory as Ruby and Josh Dallas as Charming

Oh, King George, you suck. This episode centers around Red/Ruby. In Storybrooke King George a.k.a Spencer, frames Ruby for murder. David doesn’t buy it and calls him out of him but Spencer burns Jefferson’s hat which was to get Mary Margaret/Snow White and Emma back.  

Also we learn the truth behind Henry and Aurora’s dream.  It’s really their soul being set to a netherworld. Mr Gold gives Henry a necklace to control his presence there and speaks a little with Aurora.

In the character’s past, Red meets more of her kind and  learns how control herself in the wolf form. However Red’s mother tries and makes her choose between her wolf side and human side, Red picks both facets of her being.

The CGs are still bad and I will still bring it up otherwise the episode was great. Red/Ruby is great character as she both strong yet very vulnerable in a believable way.    

 

Episode 8: Into the Deep

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Josh Dallas as Charming Once Upon a Time Season 2 Episode 8 Into the Deep picture image

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Josh Dallas as Charming

I really liked how this episode blended the two narratives of the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke. So everyone figures out that since Henry and Aurora were under the sleeping curse and their souls go to that red room when they sleep, Henry can give info to Aurora to get Snow and Emma home, or rather how to deal with Cora. However as Aurora and Henry try and converse the Enchanted forest crew is attacked.  Aurora is then kidnapped and Cora gives them a deadline to turn over the compass or it’s bye-bye Aurora. Snow gets the idea that if she can go into a deep enough sleep she can enter the red room to speak to Henry. So they go Poppy hunting.

However in Storybrooke, Regina and Charming see burns on Henry’s arm and Charming decides that HE should get cursed too since he KNOWs Snow will find a way there. The two soul mates reunite in a hellish prison. Anyway the way to stop Cora is the way they stopped Rumpelstiltskin way back in the Cinderella episode with squid ink. Rumpelstiltskin says there is some in his old prison cell.

Back in the forest, Hook frees Aurora but Hook is a no good double traitor and takes Aurora’s heart and gives it to Cora. This means Cora can control Aurora’s words and actions.
I enjoyed this episode but there is  a lot going on. I mean it’s better than that Frankenstein filler episode.  It also had a good cliff-hanger. Not too much I can say about this episode.

Once Upon a Time Season 2 Episode 3 Review

by

Lady of the Lake

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan and Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Once Upon a Time Season 2 Episode 3, Lady of the Lake picture image

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan and Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Once Upon a Time Season 2 Episode 3, Lady of the Lake

 

Why does this show make me have to question magic? The most memorable plotline in this episode is the character’s past. Basically evil King George poisons Snow to make her infertile. Charming’s mother is also mortally wounded. So they try to find the water from the magic lake but it’s all dried up, since Charming killed the siren . Lancelot helps them find a single drop to save Charming’s mother. However Snow tells her about her about the poison and the mother sacrifices her life so Snow can have the magic water.  Perhaps I’m no expert of Fairy Tale magic but the show has the magical out that removes curses. Would the Kiss not have worked? Does the Kiss only work once? Sure, it’s more dramatic to have the mother sacrifice her life for the future but still kind of unnecessary if there is a magic cure-all but ONLY if the lips are available and then the upgraded cure-all for if lips are somehow inaccessible.

I did like the bit where Charming’s mother has a pendant that can predict of sex of future offspring which a nice call back to the first episode where Snow knew her child would be a girl.

The second story is Emma and Mary Margaret  trying to get to the old wardrobe along with Lancelot, Mulan and Aurora. They also fight an ogre. When they get to Snow White’s castle there is a very bittersweet scene where Mary Margaret reflects on what life could have been. Also Lancelot is really Cora in disguise and she is evil, probably.

The Storybrooke story isn’t super memorable. Henry wants to help Charming get some form of magic to get Emma and Mary Margaret  back, but Charming wants Henry to go to school and be a normal kid. Henry also helps Jefferson and Grace reconnect. At the end Charming decides to teach him sword fighting.  Also King George makes an apprence at the end of the episode. What’s he going to do?

All in all this episode was ok. I wish that magic wasn’t so all over the place since the show makes it clear that magic follows the Game of Thrones logic where magic  has trade-off and prices except for that kiss and the water. It’s a cheat.

Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episodes 15 & 16 Review

by
Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood ABC's Once Upon a Time, Red-Handed picture image

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood

Episode 15: Red-Handed

Red gets an episode! Red a.k.a Little Red Riding doesn’t like being locked inside with granny when there is a wolf on the prowl. She also longs to run off with her bae, Peter. After a wolf attack Red meets Snow White but Snow introduces herself as Mary though first as Margaret. Red decides that if she can catch the wolf while it sleeps she and Peter can run off together. Red proves a great tracker and finds that the wolf’s track turn into a human and leads to her window which makes her think that Peter is the wolf, also Peter and the wolf, so cute. Red goes to Peter to ties him up so he can hurt anyone but TWIST it’s Red who is the wolf, it’s a family trait.

The Storybrooke plot still continues the hunt for Kathryn. While Emma investigates, Ruby quits her job at Granny’s and stays with Emma and Mary Margaret. Ruby then gets a job working with Emma because she has good phone skills. As Emma assistant she gets grilled cheese and helps in search for the lovely the Kathryn, one of those is important to the plot. Turns out David has been sleepwalking again and can’t confirm his whereabouts. Ruby then finds a box with a human heart in it and inside the box are fingerprints belonging to Mary Margaret. It’s Once Upon a Time; CSI.

This episode was pretty good. The werewolf angle is typical for Little Red Riding adaptations but it’s nice that Red is the wolf and her hood is a magical article that controls her transformation. The cloaks in this episode were real pretty.

 

Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret & Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan ABC's Once Upon a Time, Heart of Darkness picture image

Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret & Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan

Episode 16: Heart of Darkness

Snow White has become a Grade C Biatch since she has forgotten love. The Dwarves stage an intervention with Jiminy. It ends with Snow White saying she has to kill the Queen, pretty standard intervention. Grumpy takes Snow to Rumpelstiktskin to fix her but Rumpelstiktskin hasn’t been able to bottle love yet and instead of helping Snow’s new bitch attitude he enables her to murder the Queen with a good shooting location and an arrow that always finds its target.

James/Charming shows up at Rumpelstiktskin’s place and exchanges his cloak for intel on Snow’s plan and that true love kiss on the lips cures curses or the potion Snow took. James/Charming finds Snow and plants a kiss on her but since Snow isn’t herself the kiss doesn’t work. Snow ties him up and he begs her not to kill the Queen. Jiminy helps his escape and James/Charming blocks the arrow that Snow fired at the Queen. James/Charming declares his love for her, they kiss and BOOM Snow White remembers and isn’t a jerk anymore. But that ass-hat king turns up and takes James/Charming away leaving Snow vowing she will find him. Rumpelstiktskin then extracts a piece of James/Chamring’s hair from his cloak and bottles it with Snow White’s hair thus making a True Love potion, I guess love is stored in the hair.

In Storybrooke Mary Margaret is being questioned and in turns out that the box the heart was found in was Mary Margaret’s jewelry box. Emma investigates if there were signs of a break in but instead she finds a weapon that matches the murder weapon. Mary Margaret then hires Mr.Gold as her lawyer. Henry tells Emma that Regina has a key that might open Mary Margaret’s apartment which she does, making Emma and Henry suspect that Regina framed Mary Margaret as the Evil Queen hates Snow White. David then remembers himself as James/Charming begging Snow not to kill “her” which leads him to think she killed Kathryn. Mary Margaret then finds a key to her cell and leaves.

While I did like this episode there are a few things that are just weird. First is David’s memory. The way it’s shot makes it a first person perspective which means we have to interpret it as he sees what we see. David doesn’t question that in this memory Mary Margaret has longer hair and there is snow on the ground, two things that he should realize BEFORE he doubts her innocence, or at least question his memory more. David is a dummy. Also is Kathryn really dead? We know Graham didn’t have his heart and was still able to live. And finally fingerprint the knife! It was found in Mary Margaret’s apartment but did Regina ever get her to touch it? And was it the murder weapon? I don’t know, I like the episode but the whole murder plot is very boring, Regina is like Papaletine here, of course she is behind it all.

Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episodes 13 & 14 Review

by
Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/James & Aria Pullman as the Siren ABC's Once Upon a Time, What Happened to Frederick picture image

Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/James & Aria Pullman as the Siren

Episode 13: What Happened to Frederick?

This is going to sound silly but I wished they had reversed Kathryn/Abigail’s name like Kathryn is the princess and Abigail is the real world counterpart. Also, I’m pretty sure I have the same yellow pot that David and Abigail have in their home.

In the Fairy Tale world part of the episode follows James and Abigail. Abigail doesn’t want to marry him because she too has a tragic love story. Her love, Frederick, got that Midas Touch  and is now a statue. Abigail tells James she tried the whole true love kiss but silly Frederick being a soldier and protecting his King was wearing his helmet, so the true love kiss cure doesn’t work if it’s not on the lips, oddly specific. Abigail tells James about another cure all, the water of a lake guarded by a beast who kills all who tries to take the water. Since James killed that unkillable dragon he is pretty confident he can get that water and he does. The Beast is really a sexy siren who lures men in with either her looks or the looks of other women, in this case Snow White. The Siren doesn’t know context though so James thinking Snow White doesn’t love him doesn’t fall for the lure, guess heartbreak can save the day? So Frederick is cured and they all are happy because love.  James also finds out from Red Riding hood, who is a Snow’s Pal,  that she does love him and the King made her say she didn’t love him.  King George is such a dick!

In the Storybrooke world it comes out that David is cheating on Kathryn with Mary Margaret. The trouble is David didn’t tell Kathryn about the affair just that he was leaving her and couldn’t go with her to Boston. It’s Regina who tells Kathryn and Regina also wrote “Tramp” on Mary Margaret’s car. At the end, Mary Margaret again tells David they can’t work since he wasn’t honest. These two are so back and forth. Also Kathryn tries to leave Storybrooke but curse says she can’t and gym teacher that we see earlier in the episode comes to her aid but she is gone. Also he’s Frederick. The show isn’t very subtle about elements.  Also Emma goes on a date with The Stranger. They go to a well and discuss the healing properties of water. The Stranger also restored Henry’s book and left it for Emma to find.  

I really liked this episode. Abigail is starting to get a personality. Also I find it refreshing that “other woman” is the one the audience is rooting for it but the “wife” isn’t a horrible person. Alongside Once Upon a Time, I’m watching this Turkish Drama called “Magnificent Century” which like depending on the episode you’re rooting for the other women and also the “other women” switches between two women, they are concubines.  

Anyway, super off topic. I liked that this episode was very much it’s own thing and wasn’t taking from a set Fairy Tale but it pulled more from myths. I liked that the Beast was a Siren as this show doesn’t do CG effects super well and we had seen James already fight a dragon so the mental challenge  was more interesting.

As for the Storybrooke plot, it was fine. It did seems like the plot was moving a bit forward but then backtracked with David and Mary Margaret. I do like Emma and the Stranger a.k.a August Wayne  Booth, who named these characters? Anyway good episode.  

Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret & Lee Arenberg as Leroy ABC's Once Upon a Time, Dreamy picture image

Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret & Lee Arenberg as Leroy

Episode 14: Dreamy

This story focuses on Grumpy’s backstory. Grumpy’s real first name was Dreamy. Dwarves come from eggs and they mine for diamonds which get turns into fairy dust which fuels the world. They couldn’t call it Diamond Dust since that would a Final Fantasy reference. However Dreamy is special because before he was hatched his egg was sprinkled with some fairy dust which makes him capable of love and he is in love with a novice fairy named Nova who seems to like-like him back.   However Dwarves and fairies are bound to their very fixed speice roles so they can’t be together to see the world. This leaves Nova heart-broken and Dreamy becomes Grumpy.

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret is still being shunned by the town but is trying to sell candles for miner’s day. That is a day where Nuns make candle to trade with Miners for coal. Grumpy’s counterpart, Leroy, whom I’m resisting calling Leeroy Jenkins is enamored with a nun, named Astrid. Now why is Mary Margaret the one with a Nun sounding Nun but the Nun doesn’t? These names!  Anyway, Astrid is Nova’s counterpart and because of a goof she made the Nuns will get kicked out of their convent if they don’t sell all the candles by following day.. Leroy and Mary Margaret rally together but since she is the town tramp and Leroy is the town drunk they don’t sell any candles. Leroy tells Mary Margaret that Astrid was the first person that said he could do anything. Leroy then causes a blackout because some well intentioned property damage is okay. This back-out sells all the candle so the Nuns can stay. While that is happening  Kathryn is missing.  Emma rules out David as her magic internal  lie detector doesn’t go off. Sidney and Regina get the phone records from Kathryn which makes David look super shady has he called her shortly before Kathryn disappeared.

Overall this episode was a average at best. I want to like learning about the Dwarves but it didn’t really connect and felt contrived. This also left me wondering why Emma can’t detect Sidney lying back in episode 11 when all he did wass lie. Is there a reason or is this superpower plot specific? Also Nun’s paying rent for on convent? That seems odd but plot says that is the plot.  I did like how you can tells which candles are real and which ones are fake LED lights.  

Anyway it was an average epsiode, next!