Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Once Upon A Time 5x19 Review “Sisters” (Siblings) [Guest
Poster: Julia]


“Sisters”
Original airdate: April 24, 2016

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Zelena, Regina, and Cora all came together in the Underworld? If so, then the newest episode of Once Upon A Time is for you! As siblings reunite and meet for the first time, numerous relationships are explored. This week, hope and love finally win out in one of the most touching episodes of the season.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER 


“Sisters” kicks off with Hades and Zelena enjoying a picnic with a hidden agenda. Hades asks Zelena to help him restart his heart to allow him to go back to the real Storybrooke with her. However, if Hades leaves the Underworld, then the heroes will be trapped there. Zelena is troubled by the proposal and isn’t sure what action to take. By saying yes, she would be forced to embrace the wickedness inside her and become Hades’ evil henchwoman/wife. By saying no, she would be turning over a new leaf, like Regina wants her to, but gain an enormous enemy in the process. For the time being, she decides not to give Hades a solid answer.

As cunning as ever, Regina has watched these events unfold through a magic hand mirror. She confronts Zelena in her home to ask what she is going to do with Hades’ proposal. Zelena reveals her love for Hades and her hope of changing him for the better. Regina doesn’t believe that she can change the god’s ways, since he has been stuck in the Underworld for centuries. Regina feels that the only way to stop her sister is to use the one thing Zelena can’t resist: their mother.

Through some intriguing flashbacks, we are reminded of how evil Cora was, which Zelena definitely inherited. Cora’s wickedness allowed her to call upon the daughter she abandoned to save the daughter she loves from a sleeping spell. Long story short, Regina and Zelena met as children, found out they were sisters, and had their memories erased by Cora to destroy the hope and love. The separation more than likely propelled Zelena over the edge to use her magic for evil instead of good.

Back in the Underworld, Cora and Zelena meet for the “first” time face-to-face, and the meeting transitions from heartfelt apologies to twisted agendas. Cora wants to use magic water on Zelena to get her to forget Hades, which is the only possible solution she can come up with for Regina’s problem. Maybe Cora should have thought that through a bit more because Zelena saw right through her act. Cora manages to save the day by telling her daughters the truth, which was a big shocker considering her character.

As Regina and Zelena are given back the memories, they realize, in a heartwarming moment, that they never should have doubted the power of family. Zelena makes a choice in that moment to be with her family and be the good person she always wanted to be. As a fan of the hope the show provides, I was very happy to see Zelena’s character arc take a major turn. She has almost completed her arc, since she has now accepted change in her life. The only thing left for her is to accept love. Cora saw her character arc come full circle, as she was finally able to move on to a better place. Before doing so, Cora showed that love can change a person, even the most wicked of people.

TWIN POWER 


Let’s not forget about our other siblings; anyone remember the twins? The fateful meeting of David and James finally occurs, and it goes pretty much as expected. James’ jealousy persuades him to lock David up to enable his master plan of impersonation. Surprisingly, Emma doesn’t see through James’ farce and puts her full trust in him, thinking he is David.

Emma and “David” go to meet up with Robin and the baby, when everything turns south. James unveils his deceit as Cruella De Vil joins the party to reveal the grand scheme of stealing Robin’s baby in order to have leverage on Hades. Cruella wants to use the baby to force Hades to bring her back to life. Their plan is almost successful — until the evil duo tries to throw Emma and Robin off the pier into the River of Lost Souls. Hook and David show up in time to save the day. David and James have their long awaited showdown, leading to James being thrown into the river to endure an eternity of suffering.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON 


At the end of the day, hope has come back to the Underworld in fashion. Everyone showed their commitment to the mission and to each other. Rumple decides to show this in his own, twisted way. Early in the episode, Rumple talks to the sleeping Belle and tells her that he has to use dark magic to solve their contractual problem. He appears for a minute at the beginning of the episode and then disappears. Halfway through the episode, I wondered why Rumple was shown if he didn’t have any impact on this week’s main story or even the sub-story. My question was answered at the very last minute, when Rumple mysteriously appears.

Zelena has been prompted by Regina to accept Hades’ love to try and change his ways. Zelena goes to meet Hades at the diner to profess her love, when she is stopped outside by Rumple, who takes advantage of the situation like Zelena did to Belle in the last episode. Rumple throws a major curveball into the equation when Peter Pan steps out and announces they are teaming up. With ruthless, despicable father and son reunited, anything can happen. Rumple and Pan kidnap Zelena as the scene fades out.

Now, there are so many directions this storyline can go. Since both Rumple and Pan dabble with dark arts, it’s easy to think that they will torture Zelena in order to force Hades to do their bidding. I doubt that Rumple will just use Zelena as a simple threat to get Hades to rip up their contract. The worst case scenario is that Pan goes rogue again and tries to use Zelena for his own twisted purposes. I doubt that Rumple can trust his father, so who knows what will happen. No matter what, family has been the core of the second half of the season on Once Upon A Time, and will definitely be the deciding factor of how the season concludes.

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