Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episodes 19 & 20 Review

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Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Return picture image

Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire

Episode 19: The Return

The title of this episode made me think of a Japanese movie called “The Returner.” Which I recall not liking.

So far this might be my favorite episode. The Fairy Tale world plotline follows everyone’s favorite “evil” manipulator, Rumpelstiktskin and his son Baelfire. Though who thinks it’s a little funny to hear Rumpelstiktskin calling his son “Bae”? Baelfire doesn’t like that his Papa has become the Dark One and can see him losing his humanity. Baelfire strikes a deal with Rumpelstiktskin that if can find a way to make him normal again without killing him,  Rumpelstiktskin will return to his old self. Baelfire learns from the Blue Fairy that the only way for Rumpelstiktskin to be normal is to go to a world without magic using the last magic bean ever. Rumpelstiktskin agrees to go but as a green vortex opens he chickens out and Baelfire falls in and the Vortex closes. Rumpelstiktskin instantly regrets not following his son. The Blue Fairy shows up and berates him. Rumpelstiktskin then learns the only way to go to the Land without magic is through a powerful curse. Thus revealing Mr.Gold/Rumpelstiktskin motivations for the whole thing.

In Storybrooke, Mr.Gold is growing suspicious of August. He suspects that August is after the knife that can kill/control Rumpelstiktskin making him think that August is Baelfire. Mr.Gold confronts August  and August says he is his son but after Mr.Gold shows him the knife which can’t control him without magic he knows August isn’t his son. Turns out August is dying and he needs to speed things up to get Emma to be the savior.

While that is going on Mary Margaret exonerated as Kathryn isn’t dead and the lab report of the heart MUST have been falsified. Regina fears everything is going to tie back to her so she uses Sidney love for her to get him to confess which Emma doesn’t believes and Emma vows to take back her son from Regina. Also Mary Margaret and David are still off even though David tries to get Mary Margaret to forgive him for doubting her.

This may be the first episode where I don’t prefer one plot over the other.  I will say I was hoping that August was Baelfire as it would make perfect sense why he could come into town as he would have been in the world without magic pre-curse but he is still of the story world. However he is not so give me another reason show. I really enjoy Carlyle duel performance, still think he is the best actor on this show, not that the other principal actor aren’t good because they are at least competent.

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Eion Bailey as August Booth ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Stranger picture image

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Eion Bailey as August Booth

    

Episode 20: The Stranger

Well, Well, Well the question from the last episode is answered.

I hate Pinocchio. I saw this casting on wiki so I wasn’t surprised by August being Pinocchio but I was confused by August claiming he was Baelfire. Well Pinocchio is a liar so it does fit.

In this episode we learn that Geppetto makes a deal with the Blue Fairy that  Pinocchio is to go  through the wardrobe with pregnant Snow as the wardrobe can fit two people which is why the Blue Fairy told everyone that only one can pass through. However Snow goes into labour early and the Blue Fairy wants Snow and the Baby to go through together. Geppetto being a desperate parent maintains the lie that only one can go through and makes Pinocchio promise to protect the Baby. But he is a seven year old child and can’t.

In Storybrooke, Regina is up to her shenanigans by trying to seduce David, which fails. August tries to convince Emma of the fairy tale reality which also fails. This means because August couldn’t keep his promise to help Emma he turning back into wood. He tries to show Emma his wooden leg but she can’t see it.  At the end Emma tries to leave Storybrooke with Henry as she has had with it.

It seems that Emma’s super lie detector power is thwarted by her own denial. She doesn’t want to believe any of it nor does she want to help. All and all I did like this episode. I do think it was overly simplistic to have August know about the fairy tale world because went through the wardrobe, also now I have to wonder about Baelfire and who is Dr.Whale? Also if the Blue Fairy knew about the tree then why didn’t she tell Rumpelstiktskin? Because then the curse wouldn’t have happen and there wouldn’t have no show. It’s all very tidy except for the whole lying thing Geppetto made the Blue fairy tell so her would make the wardrobe. Sorry for nitpicking, I did like the episode and I do like the show.    

Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episodes 11 & 12 Review

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Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills & Giancarlo Esposito as Sidney Glass, ABC's Once Upon a Time, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree picture image

Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills & Giancarlo Esposito as Sidney Glass

Episode 11: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Former Regina minion Sidney Glass, of the daily mirror, wants to team up with Emma to expose Regina’s corruption. After a series events that really do nothing to expose Regina’s crooked ways, Emma does find trust in Sidney. Though it was all a ruse as Sidney is still Regina’s minion and it’s a trap for Emma. Also in addition to that main Storybrooke plot, Henry is trying to get the fairy tale book back as it went missing when Regina tore down the playhouse that he and Emma met to discuss their plans. The Stranger is the one who currently has the book.

The parallel story of the Fairy Tale world is about our favorite Evil Queen meeting the Genie of the Lamp. The Genie was freed by the King and the King gave the Genie his third wish which the Genie never wants to use because magic sucks. The King decides to bring the Genie to the castle and when the Genie sees the Queen he falls head over lamp for her. The Queen seems to reciprocates the Genie’s feeling but she is married and not in love with her husband. The Queen’s father begs the Genie for help to give her a box of poisonous snakes which are from his homeland. However the Genie, convinced that Queen loves him, uses the snakes to kill the King. However it dawns on the Genie that the Queen tricked him and isn’t in love with him at all. He decides to use his wish so that may be with her forever and always gaze on her face and since magic sucks in this world, he is turned into her magic mirror. Sucks for him but this pleases the Queen.

I enjoyed half this episode. I typically like the Storybrooke story more but this time I was bored by most of it but I liked the Fairy Tale world plot. It’s interesting the combination of the Genie of the Lamp turning into Magic Mirror. So often in Snow White versions there is no explanation for the Magic Mirror, the audience is just suppose to accept it, which is fine in a fairy tale. It’s just a nice touch on the show’s end to offer a story behind the mirror. I will just say I did like the twist at the end of the Storybrooke storyline where Sidney is still in league with Regina, it wasn’t mind blowing but it so in keeping with Regina’s character.  

Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin & Emilie de Ravin as Belle, ABC's Once Upon a Time, Skin Deep picture image

Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin & Emilie de Ravin as Belle

Episode 12: Skin Deep

Oh dear god the amount of cultural references in this episode is just funny. First off and not as referential  was at the start of the Fairy Tale Storyline where they mention a place called Avonlea that had fallen. Avonlea is where Anne of Green Gables took place and not to mention the Canadian show Road to Avonlea, which i used to love when I was a kid. It was just so random. The second of a Flower shop in Storybrooke called Game of Thorns, I think everyone can get that. David is reading Anna Karenina, which a novel mostly about adultery which he is currently engaged in with Mary Margaret. And then there is a Nurse Rachet which is from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

So on to actual episode, this week we have Beauty and the Beast. The Beast is actually our old pal Rumpelstiktskin. Rumpelstiktskin helped Belle’s Kingdom out of being conquered from Ogres in exchange for her to be his housekeeper. Gradually they fall in love, however Rumpelstiktskin lets her go in the guise of her running an errand. While Belle in the forest she runs into that pesky Evil Queen. The Queen tells her that true love’s kiss can break any curse, it’s like a super panacea. Belle then tries it on Rumpelstiktskin which starts to work but he gets mad at her and tells her to leave. Belle, who is hurt, tells him that he will be alone forever with an empty heart and the  teacup that she chipped, which a Disney’s Chip reference. That pesky Evil Queen shows up at Rumpelstiktskin’s place and she tells him that Belle  was shunned  by her village, tortured by her father and killed herself.  Rumpelstiktskin is devastated.

Meanwhile in the real fake world of Storybrooke, Mr Gold gets something stolen him and he enlists Emma to find it. When Emma can’t find said specific item, Mr Gold kidnaps the guy who stole it and start assaulting him saying that “She is gone.” Emma arrests Mr. Gold because hitting people is wrong apparently. Regina shows up and tells Emma to hang out with Henry so she can be alone with Mr.Gold. Regina asks Mr.Gold his real name. This reveals that they both know about the Fairy Tale past. Also Belle’s counterpart is in a mental ward revealing that she didn’t die in the past.

I’m a bit mixed on this episode. On the one hand I like Rumpelstiktskin as the “beast” but he seems like a swiss-army character. He’s Beast, the Fairy Godmother, the downtrodden cursed one etc. He is everything except Rumpelstiktskin. The only thing  “Rumpelstiktskin” does is he spins straw into gold, though in truth he could have been doing anything else like turning lead in gold or making a zero calorie fudge brownie. Also just a side note, the reason why Rumpelstiktskin spins straw into gold in the fairy tale is that a miller says his daughter can spin straw into gold so the prince or king tests her and if she can’t he will kill her, so Rumpelstiktskin does it for her in exchange for stuff. It’s not like a hobby of his so I don’t why  Show Rumpelstiktskin do this. Was it mention in his backstory because I don’t recall it or explained in a later episode? The other Rumpelstiktskin thing he does is he wants babies for some reason. I’m going to bet this gets explained and  hopefully he doesn’t want to eat them.

Another thing that makes me scratch my head is Belle herself. Aside from dressing like Disney Belle, Belle doesn’t have any of Belle’s personality. I know she is different from Disney Belle but since the episode so far just rehashed Beauty and Beast the comparison between the two is more direct than Snow White and Cinderella. It’s not a big issue but feels more puzzled that Belle, who is one of the more beloved Disney Princesses, feels like an afterthought.  I do like that she is in the mental ward, that is a nice call back to the Disney movie.

The main hightlight of the Storybrooke episode was the reveal that Mr.Gold and Regina know.

Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episodes 7 & 8 Review

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Episode 7:  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Jamie Dornan as Graham with the Wolf, ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter picture image

Jamie Dornan as Graham with the Wolf,

Finally costumes I don’t hate, dare I say I kind of like. This episode follows Graham a.k.a the huntsman. Apparently kissing Emma helps the the fairy tale people regain some memories because Graham starts remembering his time a Huntsman with his wolf companion.  The episode also goes into why he is engaging in sexy times with Regina. Regina as the wicked Queen took his heart and made him her sex slave because he didn’t kill Snow.  Graham is desperate to regain his heart but can’t find it but he does cut off his loveless affair with Regina. Regina then in the real Storybrooke world gets Graham’s heart and crushes it thus killing him. Which kind of makes his whole arc kind of pointless, at least for the moment but at least it’s the first time the audience knows that Regina knows about the curse and the fairy tale thing.       

I did enjoy this episode it was nice to see one character question things. It did finally dawn on me in this episode that the woods look nothing like Maine but it doesn’t really matter.   I really do want to make House Stark joking given the wolf but we’ll just put a pin in that.   

Episode 8: Desperate Souls

Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin ABC's Once Upon a Time, Desperate Souls picture image

Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin

Finally  part of Rumpelstiktskin’s backstory is revealed. Basically this episode reveals how Rumpy got his crazy powers. Apparently in the land where he lives at  the age of 13 children are drafted into the army, or maybe they are just cannon fodder. In an effort  to save his son, Rumpy  is told to get a dagger to control the Dark One (A Wheel of Time reference) and to kill the Dark One to get his power. Which Rumpy does but is  tricked because the Dark One wanted him to do and was the man who told about the Dark One because being the Dark One sucks.  Also Rumpy is a coward whose wife may have lied about him being the father their child.

Back in good-olde corruptly run Storybrooke, since Graham is dead by heart-broken-ness, like literally, the job for Sheriff is up for election. Regina wants her main minion Sydney Glass to get the job and Emma wants it too. Mr Gold offers to help but Emma wants to get the job fairly because Henry is going through a “Good Guys can’t win” phase. However Emma gets elected Sheriff but only through shady manipulations on Mr Gold’s end even though Emma thought she was being noble. Silly good noble people, they are so predictable.            

I feel like this episode is all over the place with Sheriff plot and Rumpy’s backstory. It just feel the two counterpart stories didn’t coalesce as well as other episodes aside from Mr Gold’s meddling which he has already done so it’s not a big surprise.

 

Bonus picture time!

Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter picture image

Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen