Once Upon A Time 6x18 Review: “Where Blue Birds Fly” (Back Where I Belong) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Where Blue Birds Fly”

Original Airdate: April 23, 2017

With only a handful of episodes left before the season finale, it’s about time for the heavily referenced final battle to begin. Before we can get to the fun, something wicked comes back into play just in the nick of time. A trip back to Oz shows the old and brings the new in a surprising turn of events.

THE LION, THE WITCH, AND A TIN MAN 

The episode’s main story takes place many years ago in Oz, with Zelena in the height of her power. The flashback seems out of place at first, but its timing makes sense at the end of the episode. In another hidden tale from the Land of Oz, Zelena was friends with the boy who would eventually become the tin man. As a grown adult, he returns to her Emerald Palace to ask for help in finding him a heart. Without finding the supposedly magical crimson heart, he will turn into a tin man forever.

Like all evildoers, Zelena wants to prove her old friend wrong by defeating the beast that guards the magical heart. While looking through the nearby forest for the object, the pair encounters a ferocious lion. To add some humor to the episode, Zelena turns the lion from brave to cowardly. All we were missing from this party was a brainless scarecrow. After her hard work, Zelena learns that the magic heart actually has to steal someone’s magic in order for it to be useful. Being the wicked witch that she is, Zelena refuses to give up her magic to save her friend, which she feels guilty about to the current timeline.

This missing piece of Zelena’s history doesn’t really add anything to what we already knew about her, but rather confirmed her evilness in Oz. The only thing the flashback adds is the crimson heart, which comes into play at the end of the episode. I guess it also was a moment of reflection for Zelena, who shows that she has gone through a 180-degree character arc. In just one episode, Zelena was able to show her entire character arc for the series, which is an impressive feat... but more on that later.

WEDDING BELLS 

To take everyone’s minds off of the doom and gloom that is about to go down, Snow plans a day of wedding venue shopping! The big day is approaching quickly (the musical May 7th episode will feature the TV wedding of the year). Like any good mother, Snow interrupts Emma and Hook’s breakfast-with-benefits to start a day of wedding planning. Snow, David, Emma, Hook, and Henry embark on a journey throughout town to find the perfect location fit for a royal wedding.

Like any good father, David isn’t satisfied with any of the locations that Snow thinks would be good. Through a heartfelt conversation about being overprotective, David admits that he wants the final battle to occur prior to the wedding because he doesn’t want the weight of the battle in Emma’s mind on her wedding day. The noble speech rings true for Emma, who feels the same way as her father. It is nice that there is some happiness left in the sea of darkness that has plagued this season. Each of the actors in these scenes was particularly great in this episode, and I saw the most genuine smile from Jennifer Morrison than I have in the past five or six episodes.

MAKING PROBLEMS AND SOLVING THEM 

Zelena was the character of the hour, so it’s fitting to end with her present-day arc. Just like in the clips from Oz, Zelena feels that she has to yet again prove herself as the best to Regina after they learn that the Black Fairy is hiding out in the mining tunnels beneath the town. Zelena has been the most unstable and questionable character in the entire show, so it was no surprise that she stormed down into the tunnels to fight the Black Fairy herself. What could possibly go wrong when a crazy character goes to fight the most powerful fairy in the show’s universe?

Zelena walks right into the Black Fairy’s trap, and her magic turns the fairy crystals growing in the tunnels into dark magic. Of course, Regina blames Zelena for what happened and reverts back to her old self by essentially banishing Zelena back to Oz. Regina doesn’t want to deal with her sister anymore, which is more characteristic of the Evil Queen. Surprising us all, Zelena shows Regina up again by not listening, sticking around, and using a crystal to get the crimson heart from Oz. She uses the crimson heart to take away her magic, which reverts the crystals to light magic.

Zelena rarely does anything that doesn’t directly positively impact her own selfish motives, so the sacrifice is a bit shocking. The character has come a long way and really hasn’t been used much in the latter half of this season, so it was good to see her get her due. With big shakeups coming to the show to keep it afloat, it wouldn’t be surprising if Zelena’s time on the show is up, especially since she doesn’t possess magic anymore. At the very least, Zelena’s story has been fully told and has allowed the character to develop to her full potential.

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Once Upon A Time 6x17 Review: “Awake” (Clean Slate) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Awake”

Original Airdate: April 16, 2017

A missing part of backstory that no one knew was missing takes center stage in the latest episode of Once Upon A Time. Coupled with some tied up storylines, the appearance of town favorites, and special reunions, “Awake” lives up to its name, as this was the first time in weeks I knew exactly what was going on. This episode truly cleans the messy slate this season has conjured up, which should allow the last few episodes of the season to play out easier leading up to the final showdown.

SECRET PAST 

If the history of OUAT has confused you in the past, then you are not alone. After countless curses and endless interpretations of the same stories, it is very difficult to discern what has actually happened and in which timeline. This episode adds to the confusion for about three quarters of its run time, as flashbacks to the time of the first Dark Curse aren’t discernible as true. Thanks in part to Rumple coming to the rescue of the audience, it is revealed that Snow White, Prince Charming, and Rumple all woke up ten years into the curse due to a magic pixie flower. For this section, “awake” refers to characters being aware that they were cursed and knowing their true identities.

In this new secret past, Snow helps Charming escape the hospital after he wakes up from being in a coma. Regina immediately knows that something is up, as she is the only person truly awake at this time. Snow and Charming know that they need to find Emma to break the curse, but Rumple warns them that if they go and reunite with ten-year-old Emma, the rest of the town will be cursed forever. In order for Emma to become the savior, Snow and Charming must make the ultimate selfless sacrifice and go back “asleep” for the next eighteen years. The real question is: is it really selfless to save the town in this manner if they ruined twenty-eight years of Emma’s life?

The flashbacks were very interesting because of the dynamic of only a few characters knowing what was really going on. A mix of dazed and confused town residents and the four awoken characters was the exact parallel to how the audience was supposed to respond to the sequences, before the truth about the time period and the events actually took place was revealed later in the episode. It also helps remind us all that there are so many untold stories left in this story world.

NEW BEGINNINGS 

The biggest plot points to surface from the episode are the new beginnings for just about all of the characters. First up, Hook pairs up with Tiger Lily in Neverland to get a piece of a powerful weapon back to Emma. A round of applause goes out to the casting department for casting Native American actress Sara Tomko in the role instead of white washing the role like Warner Bros. did for Pan in 2015. Bringing the Neverland theme full circle, Hook sends his shadow to cross realms to bring the magic stick back to Emma. Yes, the weapon is a stick that apparently is part of a greater wand that may or may not be able to kill the Dark Fairy.

Meanwhile, Emma and Snow have hunted down a pixie flower and plan to use it to break the sleeping curse that is about to completely engulf Snow and Charming. Shadow Hook brings his special delivery just in time, which forces Snow to give up the magic flower to Emma to help her get Hook back. The flower dust allows a portal to open, which makes more sense when watching the episode, and Emma arrives in Neverland in enough time to save Hook’s life. Their reunion came at a good time, because it would have been hard to keep up the charade for much longer. The reunion starts a new beginning for the estranged couple when Hook proposes to Emma, and she very happily says yes this time around.

The happy couple inspires Regina to try another way to break the sleeping curse that has now taken hold of both Snow and Charming. She rounds up the rest of the beloved town folk and spreads the sleeping curse through everyone in order to weaken its power. Everyone drinks from the same never-ending cup, and their bout of good team spirit leads to the curse breaking. It was good to see the supporting characters back again, as they haven’t really shown up much this season. Now that everyone is out of a curse and back together, the series has a clean slate to work with for the rest of the season.

RUMPLE KNOWS ALL 

The most surprising realization to come out of the episode is that Rumple was not awake during the entire Dark Curse, as was previously implied. When we first meet Rumple at the beginning of the series, he is definitely aware of who he is and tries his best to blend in to stay out of sight of Regina. The character becomes more interesting when he decides to go back asleep with Snow and Charming ten years into the Dark Curse because he knows he will wake up again when the time is right. For a character that thrives on control, it was different to see him take a backseat approach.

Rumple still knew everything during the Dark Curse, and he displays his omnipotence by putting the Dark Fairy in her place in current time. She somehow underestimates her son, and clearly doesn’t know him well based on the conversation they have at the end of the episode. Rumple manages to figure out that his mother is controlling Gideon through the possession of his heart. I still don’t know how he learns small details, but he must have eyes and ears everywhere, unbeknownst to literally everyone. How Rumple will use the newly uncovered truth is still to be determined. He has the choice to help the good guys, like he currently is, or turn to his birth family and embrace his darkness. Knowing Rumple, the decision will probably be a little bit of both, and the winning side will be whichever benefits him more in the end.

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Once Upon A Time 6x16 Review: “Mother’s Little Helper” (One Messed Up Family) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Mother’s Little Helper”

Original Airdate: April 9, 2017

The day has come when the crazy, nonsensical storylines of Once Upon A Time make sense! We are finally blessed with the much-needed explanation as to why things have gotten so wacky with Belle and Rumple’s son, Gideon, and his true motivations. With some enlightening flashbacks, all the plot holes are filled, making the show whole once again. It feels good to be on the same page, especially with all the content that has been thrown on the screen this season.

MENDING THE GAP 

I’m sure that I wasn’t the only person lost since Gideon arrived in Storybrooke to kill Emma for seemingly no reason. My mind has finally been put to rest with this episode, as everything that has made me question each line of dialogue was justified and explained. It was as if the writers decided to stop playing tricks with the audience and gave in to show what’s actually happening, making this episode one not to miss.

The bulk of the episode shows Gideon’s life growing up under the influence of the Black Fairy, who, don’t forget, is his grandmother. The flashbacks detail how Gideon became a coward, like his father, and what spontaneously made him turn to the dark side. Unbeknownst to everyone in Storybrooke, the Black Fairy concocted everything that has happened thus far and even created the Dark Curse that sent everyone to Storybrooke in the first place. The Black Fairy literally takes control of Gideon by stealing his heart to make sure her latest evil scheme went according to plan.

Thankfully, this answers every question about Gideon’s wishy-washy behavior, including what he does to Emma in this episode. The backstory is long overdue, so it’s about time that this story was finally told. Now the show can move forward! The only aspect of the flashbacks that wasn’t great was the characterization of the Black Fairy. She acted like the female version of Rumple, which explains where he gets it from. This wasn’t good because she literally seemed like an exact copy of an existing character instead of a new character. The only difference between them is that the Black Fairy is definitely pure evil, while Rumple actually commits a heroic act in this episode.

AW, SHUCKS 

The comic relief of the episode comes from everyone’s favorite pirate, who is still trapped in another realm. Hook attempts to free himself to get back to Emma by hustling famed pirate Blackbeard. He manages to get a magic bean from Blackbeard, but its magic doesn’t work the way it normally does. Hook and Blackbeard are transported to Neverland instead of Storybrooke because Gideon’s banishment spell is still in full effect. Back in Storybrooke, Emma tries to strike a deal with Gideon to free Hook. However, this epically backfires and almost gets Emma killed. Let’s hope the couple find a way back to each other soon, because a reunion is needed.

WRAPPING UP? 

The other interesting story in the episode was Henry’s author powers changing. This was confusing and random, as the authorship isn’t brought up too much. Regina and Henry turn to ex-author Isaac, who is locked up in the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest jail, for help in uncovering what is happening to Henry. Isaac informs them that Henry’s powers are becoming sporadic and trance-like due to the current storybook coming to its final chapter. Apparently, the final chapter of the book is the Savior fighting the darkest evil, which sounds like the season is wrapping up quickly.

There should be six episodes left, so it’s odd that this is being fleshed out so early. Even more interesting is the emphasis on the fact that the current storybook is concluding. Does this mean that the creative team is creating a way for the entire show to wrap up and come to its conclusion, or will this be the beginning for more stories to come? It is no secret that the ratings have been dwindling over the past few years, so I wonder if the showrunners think they won’t get a seventh season. This plot point could go either way, so hopefully the rest of the season is epic.

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Once Upon A Time 6x15 Review: “A Wondrous Place” (Homecoming) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“A Wondrous Place”

Original Airdate: April 2, 2017

            

Adventurous, risky, and messy are the best words to describe the latest episode of Once Upon A Time. A forgotten storyline has its much-needed conclusion, a favorite character returns, and girls’ night is in full swing in the jam-packed hour that felt like classic OUAT. The episode layout may have been right, but it was easy to dislike the ridiculous content.

SEPARATED FROM HOME 

The main plot of the night focuses on two groups of characters that are lost. First, Hook and the crew of the Nautilus are traveling mystical waters, after Gideon uses magic to send them away from Storybrooke. They wind up trapped in the Enchanted Forest and happen upon the other lost couple: Aladdin and Jasmine. A handful of episodes ago, Jasmine wished for Aladdin to bring them to Agrabah, and they have been missing ever since. The wish brought them to the Enchanted Forest and gave Jasmine a ring from her past. It was beyond obvious that the ring would play a role later on in the episode.

The two groups unite with the same goal — getting back to their respective homes. To help them accomplish that goal, they decide to hunt down Jafar, who would be helpful to Aladdin and Jasmine but not Hook. Why Hook goes along on this crazy journey is beyond me, since he knows he doesn’t have a way to cross realms and make it back to Emma. At the very least, the journey seems to have helped Hook realize his wrongdoings and want to fix his mistakes. However, there’s not much he can do without being home. The gist of the plot point is solid, yet the execution and writing left me rolling my eyes.

GIRLS' NIGHT!

The best part of the episode was Regina, Snow, and Emma’s girls’ night. Regina knows that Emma is internally struggling with Hook’s absence and decides to force her out of solitude for a round of drinks at the hilariously named Aesop’s Tables. As much as I love a great pun, this seems like the writers watched The Good Place in the fall and liked how they named a restaurant The Good Plates.

There were many positives with this smaller subplot that made the episode tolerable. First, Lana Parrilla’s new haircut looked fantastic. I really like how the hair and make-up department has been changing up Regina’s look for the past few episodes, and this makeover really helps to showcase the character’s transformation. Regina has come a long way, so it is appropriate to make sure the audience can clearly see the changes. Second, a drunken Snow White is one of the funniest ideas to come from the show in all its seasons. Snow has a few too many drinks and challenges some Vikings to a game of darts with throwing knives. If you thought Snow was good with a sword or bow, then you should be very surprised at her throwing skills, which led to a really great moment that stunned me and the other characters.

Third, Emma finally shows some real emotion when she thinks that Hook has left town and bailed on her after their one-sided argument in the previous episode. This is both a positive and a negative. On the positive side, the truth of who killed David’s father is finally out in the open, and Emma isn’t the emotionless robot she has been in the second half of the season. On a negative note, Emma is extremely mopey and broody, which starts to drag the character back to the dark side. Positively, the costume department did a great job of showing Emma’s emotions instead of Jennifer Morrison having to act much differently. The high-throated, dark colored turtle neck Emma wore with messy, unkempt hair was a better indicator of her true feelings than her constant denial of missing Hook. More of these types of girls’ night moments would help make the show much more enjoyable.

THE DISNEY MOMENT EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR 

The other great moment of the episode was watching two classic Disney princesses meet for the first time. Even though it was totally random and really didn’t make sense in the grand scheme of things, Ariel and Jasmine meet and form an alliance to save Agrabah in flashback scenes. This is a moment that I think most Disney animation fans would love to witness. Jasmine and Ariel are two of the most classic, beloved princesses from Disney’s animation renaissance period. Watching them interact was a special moment for the show, and OUAT always delivers on these big character moments.

The key reason that this was a fun moment was that Karen David and JoAnna Garcia Swisher are great at playing Jasmine and Ariel respectively. The other reason that the moment worked was it put both the characters outside of their comfort zones. The scene takes place in a beautifully designed Agrabah, where Ariel is literally a fish out of water and Jasmine is too forward-thinking. Later on in the episode, Hook, Jasmine, and Aladdin happen upon Ariel’s real grotto on an island, which was also cool to see come alive. The gadgets and gizmos were aplenty in the cleverly crafted set. These little moments made me smile and think that the show still has a lot of promise, and then each moment became ruined when the plot started to show back up.

FINDING COURAGE 

There were lots of instances of finding courage in this episode. The creative crew of the show were courageous in creating the background story of Agrabah. The sets and costumes were beautiful, but the CGI was disastrous, especially the magic carpet ride. Disney should take note of what did and didn’t work in these scenes as well to help with the currently in-development live-action remake of Aladdin.

Hook was courageous in attempting to do everything in his power to make his way back to his true love. Emma gains some courage back after Hook manages to make contact with her through Ariel’s aptly named shellphone, which is a very tiny conch shell that can be spoken through across dimensions. This was honestly more of Emma gaining her sanity back, as she realizes that she does belong with Hook and that he truly does love her. Emma also shows some old spark of courage after being approached by Gideon, who wants her help to destroy the Black Fairy. The fact that this took how many weeks to happen is beyond ridiculous. The OUAT writers need to explain why Gideon didn’t use teaming up with Emma as his first option. On the downside, Hook won’t be back in Storybrooke until Emma fulfills her duties with Gideon.

Jasmine has the largest courage arc of the episode. I was quite annoyed for most of the show at the interpretation of the character because she was showcased as a weak woman who wouldn’t stand up for herself. This was surprising because it goes against the grain of the purpose of the show. The female characters are supposed to flip the script of their animated counterparts, not simply be them. It was an odd choice to present a very weak Jasmine, but at least she does learn to come into her own by the end of the episode to face Jafar. The episode does end with Jasmine and Aladdin making it back to Agrabah, so it appears that they won’t be showing up again for now. As much as I did enjoy having Jasmine and Aladdin on the show, there really isn’t a use for them anymore.

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Once Upon A Time 6x14 Review: “Page 23” (Talking to Myself) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Page 23”

Original Airdate: March 26, 2017

Things have gone sideways in Storybrooke, as multiple characters have spontaneously changed their ways. “Page 23” is another confusing episode that might leave you wondering what just happened and what is coming next. Along with some odd flashbacks and weird appearances by long-forgotten characters, this episode is trippy from start to end.

WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? 

The first oddity of the episode is some random characters coming back from the Once Upon A Time graveyard, as they haven’t appeared on the show for quite some time. In the flashback scenes, both Tinkerbell and Regina’s father show up for really no good reason. The entire flashback story of the episode didn’t quite fit with everything else. There was no reason to take a third of the episode to describe with backstory that Evil Queen Regina, from the Enchanted Forest days, hated herself more than anyone else. It was a waste of time that didn’t add any content to the present day Storybrooke scenes.

Captain Nemo from the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea episode also shows up briefly, which also didn’t make sense. From the promo for the next episode and the ending to this episode, it seems that there is another pointless episode involving the Nautilus and its crew. I didn’t even know that Nemo was still in town, as it hasn’t come up since that one episode how many months ago? Whatever is in store for the next episode, it is sure to be useless.

WAIT, WHAT? 

Even more confusing than random characters showing up briefly was the Evil Queen and Regina face-off that was the capstone of the episode. To bring back another forgotten story element, the Evil Queen has decided to dig up the fate scissors to cut the tie between her and Regina to finally defeat Regina once and for all, muahaha. What could possibly go wrong? Regina surprises everyone by putting her differences aside with the Evil Queen and sharing her love and goodness with her other half.

Regina combines their hearts, which immediately turns the Evil Queen into a decent person. For someone who was so evil, it didn’t seem realistic that she would have such a change of heart right away, no pun intended. The Evil Queen and Regina may be two separate people, but they are practically the same now. They have this very weird and unsettling conversation where they are incredibly cordial to each other, which was also shocking.

So, the Evil Queen is no longer evil and wants to find her own happy ending by getting a fresh start. She winds up back in the Wish World she created with the new version of Robin, where they get a chance to rewrite history and be together. This felt like the end of a major arc and the end of both Robin and the Evil Queen’s stories. It is nice to know that some form of Regina and Robin will get a happy ending together, even if we don’t get to experience it firsthand.

OVERREACTIONS 

The other major character changes come from Storybrooke’s newly engaged couple. Hook has gone into full freak-out mode, feeling incredibly guilty for hiding the truth that he murdered David’s father in cold blood from Emma and her family. Unlucky for Hook, his spiraling becomes worse when Emma finds him trying to destroy the memory by burning a dreamcatcher that conveniently plays the memory back just as she enters the room. Emma also goes off the deep end, and gives Hook back the engagement ring because he didn’t lean on her for support while struggling with the realization of who he murdered all those years ago.

In my opinion, Emma seriously overreacts because she isn’t even mad that Hook killed her grandfather. She doesn’t understand why Hook didn’t want to confide his true feelings about it (he wanted to deal with it himself first before burdening everyone else with the truth). Apparently, Emma has become petty overnight, which she will definitely regret in the next episode. Hook has been trying to figure out a way to right his wrong and wants to make everyone happy to be accepted into Emma’s family. He keeps getting kicked down when he tries to redeem himself. His soul searching takes a little too long, and he gets kidnapped, to a degree, on the Nautilus to set up the crazy plot for the upcoming episode.

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Once Upon A Time 6x13 Review: “Ill-Boding Patterns” (Darkness for Goodness) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Ill-Boding Patterns”

Original Airdate: March 19, 2017

Disney has really put some thought into marketing this week by centering its new episode of Once Upon A Time on Rumple and Belle’s son. Considering the cash cow that is the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, it was a smart move to have OUAT’s Beast and Belle at the forefront of the episode. In one of the season’s forgotten storylines, Gideon is dead-set on killing Emma to steal her magic and use it to kill the Black Fairy (who is Rumple’s mother). The show has finally picked the story back up in a surprising fashion.

PROTECTING YOUR OWN

In an interesting turn of events, Rumple has decided to help Gideon destroy the Black Fairy, but doesn’t want his son to dabble with any dark magic and taint his soul. This is the first fatherly moment Rumple has had in practically the entire series, so this is a big moment for the character. He vows to help Gideon, and even tries to use a memory potion to right his son’s mind. The only bad part of this sweet story is that Rumple doesn’t offer any alternatives to killing Emma. He acknowledges to Gideon that sacrificing Emma will not help the quest nor make him a hero, yet Rumple has not come up with a new plan of action to destroy the Black Fairy.

Somehow, it hasn’t occurred to the characters that they should figure out an alternative solution for Gideon’s problem instead of simply trying to stop his passionate plots of destruction. At least Rumple is trying to earn a “Father of the Month” honor by doing the dirty deeds instead of letting Gideon plunge into darkness. This is a turn for Rumple because he has finally figured out how much being The Dark One has affected him and what the consequences of using dark magic are. Now, I don’t expect Rumple to keep up the act for long, because changes never stick with him. If, by some chance, he does have a major change stick, he may have a shot at winning Belle’s affections back.

DESTROYING A CLASSIC 

Not everything was sunshine and butterflies during the episode. Half of the episode was told in flashback format to the First Ogres War, immediately after Rumple had claimed the title of The Dark One. Rumple is still drunk on his newfound power and finds himself being challenged by Beowulf, who has no point of being in this universe. I questioned the relevance of this character for the entire episode and truly didn’t find a reason for Beowulf to be there, especially since he is not a fairytale character.

Not only does Beowulf’s poetic story not fit into the show at all, but the episode ruined the legend for me in the process. This version of Beowulf doesn’t have the appearance or attitude. It just didn’t feel like Beowulf, which was a disappointment. The storyline didn’t need thisand could have been done very differently to get the same point across. It was a useless time filler that took away from the other stories of the episode.

HAPPY ENDING? 

Back to the positives, there were two potential happy endings to the episode that are noteworthy. First, Emma found the engagement ring Hook bought for her, which leads to an impromptu proposal. The two share a wonderfully blissful moment before realization sets in for Hook, who hasn’t kept his promise to himself. At the beginning of the episode, Hook decides that he will tell Emma that he killed her grandfather in hopes of clearing his conscience and showing her that he really has changed, by admitting his past flaws and misbehaviors. Emma distracts him from revealing the secret, so he chickens out entirely. However, there’s no way this secret is going to stay hidden for long; it’s bound to come out sooner rather than later. It will be interesting to see if Emma accepts the truth when they aren’t supposed to be keeping secrets from each other. In the meantime, I’m happy that both characters have found some real happiness.

The other potential happy ending came in the form of a twist that I definitely didn’t see coming. The new Robin stole some magic potions from Regina’s vault in the last episode and tries to get Zelena’s help in this episode to escape Storybrooke. It was good to see Zelena on the show again, since she hasn’t been a part of it recently. Things clearly go awry and somehow leads to the Evil Queen, who is in cobra form, escaping her confines and regaining her natural form.

Interestingly, it appears that the new Robin and the Evil Queen could be a perfect match in the same way that Regina and the original Robin were. It never really occurred to me that this version of Robin would be perfect for Regina’s other half. I’m not sure if it will play out that way, but it could be an interesting plot point of the next episode. Maybe there will be a different happy ending than expected here!

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Once Upon A Time 6x12 Review: “Murder Most Fowl” (Changing Ways) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Murder Most Fowl”

Original Airdate: March 12, 2017

The latest episode of the fairytale drama takes a much needed break from the main plot of the season. The bromance between Hook and David was rekindled, but that might not last for long. Another surprise twist caps the episode that highlights how some people do (and don’t) change.

YOU'VE COME SO FAR

The major theme of the episode is one the show uses often: how the characters have changed for the better. The show likes to highlight how the central characters are not the same as their Enchanted Forest counterparts, which helps propel the overarching theme of hope. Hook tries to prove to David that he is no longer a pirate, liar, looter, or murderer in order to change David’s opinion of him. Hook wants to earn David’s blessing to ask Emma to marry him, which is noble for his character. It was nice to see that Hook truly has changed and wants everyone to see him as he is now, instead of how he used to be.

David takes a turn down the opposite path when he goes on a revenge tirade to find the person who killed his father. This storyline faded quite a few episodes ago, so it was surprising to see it come back up randomly. However, it was a nice break from all the doom and gloom that Emma has been the focus of all season. It was also nice to see David and Hook rekindle their bromance, as they do have good on-screen chemistry. These two should definitely go on more adventures together because they are one male duo that actually works well on the show.

The twist of the episode comes when Hook stops David from completing his revenge plot by showing him that killing someone is not the answer. It is impressive that Hook displays how much he has changed over the years in just one episode... so it comes as quite a shock when it is revealed that Hook was the person that killed David’s father. Only Hook and the audience are privy to this information, but I’m sure it’s not going to go over well when the secret is spilled. The best part of this twist is the fact that it wasn’t obvious or predictable throughout the entire episode. The writers always do a great job with the twists, which has always been the best part of the show. It was good to see the show go back to its roots (after it has been straying for a while).

WHO ARE YOU?

The second story of the episode was also very interesting to watch play out. Regina and Snow quickly realize that the new Robin might not be who they think he is, which, for some reason, never came up in the mid-season premiere. With the sleeping curse still intact for who knows how much longer, Snow and David are still splitting time being awake. The new Robin turns out to have a dark streak and is probably working against the main group.

New Robin is seen stealing something that appears to be a heart in a box from Regina’s vault. It’s not clear what Robin wants with this object, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Hopefully, it won’t take forever to come back to this like the other storyline of the episode. This should continue in the next episode, which will help keep things going.

With two possible twists in the mix, there should be a lot of interesting plots coming up. Thankfully, it’s hard to tell where the show will be going next. It was getting boring to have things so predictable this season. The episode was actually very well-written and well-acted, so let’s hope the show can keep going in this new positive direction.

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Once Upon A Time 6x09 Review: “The Changelings” (Mother Dearest) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“The Changelings”

Original Airdate: November 27, 2016

This week’s episode is all about mind games and who’s playing whom. Rumple has gone off the deep end and appears willing to do whatever it takes to change his unborn son’s fate. In the other storyline, another vision has Emma wondering if she can get ahead of her own fate and find a way to change it. As the mid-season finale nears, there’s a lot of fate up in the air just waiting to play out.

MAMMA 

The main focus of the episode is Rumple’s obsession with winning Belle back and cutting their unborn son’s fate. As if that’s not twisted enough, the story plays out in typical dual timeline fashion with some past Beauty and the Beast-esque Rumbelle scenes and present day scenes. The past reveals not only how Belle can save her child from Rumple, but also a dirty little secret about Rumple. It turns out that the source of Rumple’s true bitterness is from being abandoned as a newborn without a name. In the flashbacks, he tracks down the Dark Fairy, who happens to be his mother, and tries to show her up by abandoning a child that he stole. There wasn’t an indicator as to whether this is going to have any effect in the present storyline, but there’s rarely a big revelation without later consequences.

Meanwhile, in present day, Rumple tries to use a rapid aging spell on Belle to speed up her pregnancy. Belle uses her superpower of poetic speeches to momentarily convince Rumple that he could change and start anew without harming the unborn child or her. Rumple, however, reveals that he feels that the only way he could ever be loved is by his new child, which is why he has been going to such extremes — not that that’s super rational. Rumple is eventually swayed by the Evil Queen and goes through with his dark magic-laced plan, which leads to the birth of baby Gideon. Belle realizes that the only way to protect her newborn son is to send him far away from Rumple, so she enlists the help of the Blue Fairy to protect her son. Rumple arrives a moment too late and is super upset upon finding out that Belle abandoned their son.

Rumple’s speech about how he would never harm Belle is slightly moving considering the real emotion that he emits. Rumple was caught in a rare moment of his true self, which is actually quite kind. He still doesn’t believe that he can strip away his darkness and be the man that Belle wants him to be, but it’s obvious that that person probably exists under all the darkness. Belle also denies Rumple the name of their son. There will probably be a huge cat-and-mouse game coming up to find and protect the child.

VISIONS 

The other big storyline of the episode was Emma’s visions of her death. Emma is struck by a newer version of her death vision, and it reveals the exact weapon that is used to kill her. She winds up seeing the same newer vision when she and Hook go to stun Rumple in his pawn shop. Emma thinks that something in the shop might have answers as to how to change her fate, and upon some sifting, she finds her own murder weapon.

Emma feels that by having the weapon, she can track down who is going to kill her and why. How she thinks that is going to work is beyond me, but the best option is to just destroy or get rid of the sword! If she destroys it, then it can’t kill her. This seems like the obvious thing to do, but I’m sure she will do something way more complicated. Having the sword won’t simply unlock her visions or change her fate, but what she does with the sword is what will have the biggest impact.

What did you all think of this week's Once Upon A Time? Sound off in the comments below!

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Once Upon A Time 6x05 Review: “Street Rats” (Accepting Fate) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Street Rats” 

Original Airdate: October 23, 2016

Another disappointing episode leaves me wondering if this season Once Upon A Time is going anywhere good this season. With a mediocre retelling of Aladdin and Jasmine’s story, “Street Rats” is boring and uneventful. Without the Genie, the story is not worth watching. Jafar is somehow even less interesting, so nothing good came out of the new episode.

NOT A NEW WORLD

Well, a story can’t be good if it’s not interesting. That’s exactly what happened with the slightly different tale of Agrabah. This time around, Aladdin has similar magic to Emma, since they are both saviors. There’s no Abu, Genie, or talking Iago, so the fun of the story is lost. I think Iago actually showed up in the form of the creepy red oracle bird perched on Jafar’s shoulder.

The characters aren’t interesting, nor are their stories, making the Agrabah segments drag on and on. The worst part was Aladdin’s accent, which was so far off from realistic Middle Eastern descent. He sounded Scottish at times, and it didn’t gel with me. I was also disappointed in the lack of Aladdin-related puns. The writers usually love to throw in little teases from the original movie a character is from, so I was surprised this episode wasn’t riddled with them. There were some good opportunities to throw some old quotes in there, but they blew it.

FATE WILL BE FATE? 

Besides the boring past, the present isn’t much more exciting. The Evil Queen morphs into Archie to find out Emma’s secret prophecy. This could have been super entertaining, but it loses tension fast. Emma is then forced to tell her family the truth about her visions, which crushes them. This was the most realistic part of the episode. It appeared that Hook took the news the hardest, but he didn’t really say anything about it. I’m curious to see how the news will affect him over the next few weeks.

Emma and her family then help Jasmine search for Aladdin, thinking that he may be able to help Emma cheat fate. Well, the search is a long, arduous process that doesn’t grab anyone’s attention. The only thing semi-intriguing about the eventual meet-up is the mystical pair of scissors that Aladdin gives Emma. They were originally a gift from Jafar, so no one should trust them. Jafar told Aladdin that the scissors belonged to the Fates, the creepy women from Hercules that controlled everyone’s destiny. Apparently, if Aladdin chose to forego his savior duties, he could cut his own string and be a normal human again. If anyone has watched Hercules, you know that those scissors end the life of the person whose string is cut.

So the question is: did the writers change the purpose of these scissors, or is Jafar straight-up lying? This should come up again soon, but probably not during the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea-themed episode next week. Best guess would be Jafar is a liar, considering he didn’t tell the truth once during this episode. It would be a pity to see the purpose of the mythical scissors changed because the writers would be skating on thin ice between fantasy stories and Greek mythology.

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Once Upon A Time 6x03 Review: “The Other Shoe” (Popping the Question) [Contributing Writer: Julia Siegel]

“The Other Shoe”

Original Airdate: October 9, 2016

Cinderella and Prince Thomas are back after appearing once in season one. Why are they back? Well, now is a nice time for a redemption story for Emma, who is continuing to struggle with keeping her secrets. Even though they haven’t appeared in five years, all of the regular characters act as if it’s no big deal for Cinderella and Prince Thomas to be the central story for a day. At least “The Other Shoe” goes along with the untold stories theme and ends with a decent “twist.”

GLASS SLIPPER 

Cinderella’s first episode showed half of her classic story, so it was fitting that the new episode would tell the rest of her tale. This probably should have happened a long time ago and doesn’t make the most sense to do now, but it still worked pretty well. The story of the prince’s ball and how he met Cinderella unfolds in the same way that has been told many times, which wasn’t surprising. The only difference was the attendance of Snow White and Prince Charming at the ball. Snow actually gives Cinderella the confidence to go speak to Prince Thomas, and the rest is history.

The untold story here was the relationship between Cinderella and her stepsister, who decided to run away with Prince Thomas’ servant. Cinderella winds up spilling the beans of her stepsister’s location to her evil stepmother, who highly disapproves of her daughter’s engagement. The bad blood comes back to haunt Cinderella in Storybrooke, where she is nearly killed by her evil stepmother.

EMMA TO THE RESCUE!

After a few weeks of hiding a massive secret and dealing with mental trauma, Emma is finally trying to live her life again after Archie gets through to her. Stubborn as ever, Emma doesn’t want to confront her possible fate and can’t move on. Archie finally convinces her that she can’t be afraid of the unknown and needs to take steps forward, not backward. It also doesn’t help that she can’t admit the truth to anyone because she fears hurting them. Honestly, if she does die, it’s going to hurt literally everyone, so why act all somber and not live what could be your last days to the fullest?

Emma sort of realizes that her mental instability is weakening her magic. She decides to help save Cinderella from herself and finds her just in time. Cinderella is bleeding out from a stab wound courtesy of her evil stepmother, and Emma is able to conjure up enough magic to heal and save her friend. This act should give Emma a much needed confidence boost because she was able to conquer a fear.

PROPOSALS 

There were two lovely proposals in this episode. Unsurprisingly, we get to see the brief start to Cinderella and Prince Thomas’ love story, which leads to his marriage proposal. In a moment of pure love after barely meeting each other, the fated couple was united. And they sort of lived happily ever after! The predictability of this story was justified because not even Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz can mess with Cinderella’s origin tale too much.

The second proposal was the one we have all been waiting for. That’s right, Emma and Hook are finally... moving in together! For a couple that has been taking baby steps for a few years, this is a big step in the right direction. Emma used her rediscovered confidence to ask Hook to move in with her. I feel that this simple move truly ratifies their relationship in the best of ways. As Cinderella tells Hook, he and Emma make a great couple and should live happily ever after together. Even though we don’t get to see a ton of the characters’ home lives, it would be great to go inside Emma and Hook’s new life together and see how things work out.

It will definitely be mentioned, but I’m sure that I am not the only one who would rather see first-hand what goes down in that household — especially when two very independent people who own a lot of leather jackets are going to be living together.

THE TEASER 

No episode of Once Upon A Time is complete without a nice tease for what’s to come. This time around, the Evil Queen decides that she’s not having enough fun in town and lets Mr. Hyde out of his imprisonment. With Storybrooke’s two fiercest villains on the move and working together, there should be some good storylines coming up. How Mr. Hyde and the Evil Queen will terrorize the citizens remains uncertain, but it should be fun to watch. All hail the Evil Queen!

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Once Upon A Time 5x22/5x23 Review: "Only You & "An Untold Story" (Welcome to New York) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Only You" & "An Untold Story"

Original Airdate: May 15, 2016

With typically great writing, fantastic costumes, and amazing stories, expectations for every Once Upon A Time episode are set very high, especially with season finales. In the past, we have been subjected to some crazy twists and curveballs to the main story that have left us wondering what’s next. After a few less than stellar episodes in a row, OUAT was due to have a big finale. So imagine my disappointment when it failed to even reach “good” quality. Do NOT continue reading unless you have watched the two-hour finale. Below is the short version of the events of the episode.

DIFFERENT WORLDS 

The beginning of the two-part episode shows the characters being split into three storylines. First, Henry teams up with his crush Violet to find a way to destroy magic, which is his genius idea of making his family happy again. With Robin’s death, Regina’s instability, and Rumple tethering Storybrooke’s magic to the Olympian Crystal, Henry doesn’t know what else to do. And what could possibly go wrong with that plan? Also, if you don’t remember Violet (as I suspect many do not), she’s the girl Henry met back in Camelot and hasn’t mentioned once in the second half of the season. The two travel to New York City to continue Neal’s hidden work and bring the Olympian Crystal with them. After seeing that Henry is gone, Regina and Emma team up go after him, while Rumple goes after the kids on his own. Emma uses a tracker she put on Henry’s phone to find him, which falsely leads them to Boston. They finally get on the right path and race against time to find Henry before Rumple does.

Back in Storybrooke, Zelena uses the Sorcerer’s wand to summon a portal back to the Enchanted Forest. The Merry Men, residents of Camelot, and Merida all go through the portal to go home. As she tries to close the portal, things go incredibly wrong and end with Zelena, Hook, David, and Snow being sucked in. The portal brings them to a mysterious new land, which is unknown to both the characters and the audience. This new land introduces us to a gardener, warden, and orderly in some sort of old mansion. I have to say, this one really stumped me until they revealed who the new characters were. They did a good job of concealing some identities and locations at first.

SPLIT PERSONALITIES 

After a while of being stuck in a cell in the mysterious new land, Zelena, Hook, David, and Snow try to come up with a plan to escape. They know that the only way to return home is to summon another portal with the wand, but it broke upon arriving at their current location. The wacky gardener eventually comes to aid them in the repair of the wand in exchange for passage to Storybrooke. He says he must take it to his lab to fix it, but he can’t let the warden find out. The first clue to his identity is revealed when he mentions that he was a doctor before being a prisoner in wherever they are.

The doctor goes to a chemistry lab, where he easily fixes the wand. As it’s completed, the orderly stops him and forces him to drink a blue serum that transforms the doctor into the monster warden, making these two none other than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What doesn’t make sense is why they are even a part of this story or the show in general. What can they possibly add in the future?

Eventually, Dr. Jekyll makes his return and, with the help of the heroes, finishes a serum that he thinks will split him from his alter-ego once and for all. The serum works a bit differently than expected and literally makes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde into two separate people. Mr. Hyde has his own agenda now, which includes controlling Rumple by using the wand to bring Pandora’s Box, with Belle still inside, to him. How he is aware of Rumple’s existence is not made clear, so the rest of this plot makes little sense.

Somewhere in the mix, Henry and Violet find a way to destroy magic forever and use it to take all the magic out of the Olympian Crystal. Emma, Regina, and Rumple then tell Henry, after it’s too late, that the other half of his family is trapped in a different realm with no way to escape now. With a plan that could never, ever work in NYC, Henry gets some magic back in the crystal by getting random people to believe in magic and make wishes on pennies they throw into a wishing well. The new magic makes the wishing well into a portal, which then brings Zelena, Hook, David, Snow, and Dr. Jekyll to NYC. Rumple takes a chance and jumps through the portal while no one is looking in hopes of finding Belle. I live fairly close to NYC, so I know exactly how people who live in the city act. If you haven’t had the pleasure of going to NYC, let me be the first to tell you that the events of this episode could never happen there for obvious reasons.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde aren’t the only split personalities to make an appearance in the finale. Throughout the two hours, Regina internally battles with the desire to give in to the darkness of the Evil Queen. Dr. Jekyll brings some more of his new serum with him to NYC and gives it to the heroes as a thank you for helping him get there. Snow and Regina have a heart-to-heart conversation about the struggle between good and evil. Regina is looking for a way to overcome her demons, and the simple solution would be to forgive Snow for telling her secret, which gave birth to the Evil Queen.

Instead of taking the simple route, Snow gives Regina the serum for her to be free of the Evil Queen once and for all. Successful again, the serum tears the Evil Queen from Regina, making them two separate people. Thinking that she can easily rid herself of the darkness, Regina pulls the Evil Queen’s heart out and crushes it, which turns her to dust. Little does Regina know, darkness is not easily destroyed. And by the end of the episode, the Evil Queen is back.

Before the end, we also see Rumple making acquaintances with Mr. Hyde, who claims that he knows a way to wake Belle up. In exchange for the information, Rumple brings Mr. Hyde and some of his friends back to Storybrooke with him. Mr. Hyde claims that he now owns Storybrooke, which is a disappointing start to the next season.

THE END 

With lackluster plots, irrelevant stories, and no true direction, Once Upon A Time's season five finale was disappointing on many levels. Thankfully, there weren’t any flashbacks to complicate the matters, but the multiple storylines were enough to keep the episode as jumpy as ever. My main problem with the finale is that it didn’t feel like it amounted to anything. In the past, the writers have graced us with life-changing cliffhangers for our favorite characters. By the conclusion of this episode, I didn’t feel the same threat level as years prior. Sure, it will be extremely fun to watch Lana Parrilla play both Regina and the Evil Queen next season, but why do we need Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

OUAT has done a decent job at sticking to using characters from fairytales, mainly ones that Disney has turned into films. Bringing in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an anomaly because their story truly doesn’t relate in any way to the characters on OUAT, nor is it a fairytale. This pairing makes no sense at all, and it’s going to be a huge stretch to sell the idea that Mr. Hyde somehow magically knows all about the Dark One and his family. Assuming their alternate realm takes place in the same century that the novel did, how would Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde know anything about Rumple or magic in general? It didn’t appear that they had traveled between realms prior to this episode, so the logic is flawed, creating a big plot hole.

The biggest surprise of the finale was that Belle’s fate still hasn’t been determined. After being mentioned several times, I thought we would finally either see Belle be awoken or at least have an idea of how her storyline would wrap up for the season. Unfortunately, she still remains in Pandora’s Box until next season, which doesn’t really add anything to the main plot. Keeping this subplot going seems useless, except as a motivator to keep Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the show.

With the latest darkness to defeat coming from possible unknown friends of Mr. Hyde, season six is a complete mystery, yet not getting off to an exciting start. I’m not as pumped for what’s to come as I have been because the show is going off on a tangent again. Every time the show strays from its main path, things start to get really weird and don’t connect as well. I fear that this might happen again next season. However, this is just a hunch, and we won’t really know until the fall premiere.

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Once Upon A Time 5x21 Review: “Last Rites” (Sacrifice) [Guest Poster: Julia Siegel]

“Last Rites” 

Original Airdate: May 8, 2016

The penultimate episode before the Once Upon A Time season finale went further than expected. As our heroes, and villains, have made their way back to Storybrooke, chaos was bound to ensue. It’s a race to find Hades’ weakness before he starts his plan of total takeover. With old friends reuniting and rivalries burning, who will make it to finale night?

WELCOME HOME 

Last week’s episode was very eventful, as everyone made it home to Storybrooke, except Hook. With Hades turning on the heroes and tricking Zelena, it was obvious that a major showdown was bound to happen. Upon arriving in Storybrooke, Zelena gives her daughter to Hades so she can go search for Regina. Out of nowhere, King Arthur comes out of the woods in handcuffs and begs Hades to help him escape. Not knowing who he was conversing with, Arthur makes the mistake of staying in Hades’ presence for too long and is quickly sent to the Underworld.

Meanwhile, Robin and Regina return and find Zelena. In a pretty useless attempt, they try to explain to Zelena that Hades hasn’t changed. Zelena, as stubborn as usual, wants to hear none of what they are saying and is beyond upset at their apparent betrayal. Regina warns Zelena that she isn’t safe with Hades and that they will all do whatever they have to in order to save Storybrooke from Hades.

On the other side of town, David, Emma, and Henry make it back home to Snow and baby Neal. Snow tries (unsuccessfully) to comfort her daughter, and tries to get her to realize that defeating Hades is the revenge she is looking for. The crew hooks up with Merida to try and figure out a way to destroy Hades, which doesn’t go quite as originally planned.

BROMANCE 

Upon his arrival to the Underworld, Arthur is greeted by none other than our favorite pirate. Hook learns that Arthur was killed by Hades, which he had feared, and the two team up in an effort to find Hades’ weakness in the missing pages from the storybook. Both men know that Storybrooke will perish if they don’t do anything, so they go to Hades’ lair to search. Arthur finds the missing pages in a secret compartment in Hades’ throne. As he looks over the pages, Hook sees that the only thing that can kill Hades is the Olympian Crystal, which — unbeknownst to him — is in Hades’ possession in Storybrooke.

The next part of Hook’s plan involves trying to get the new information to Emma. Since the magic phone booth was destroyed by Cruella de Vil, Hook and Arthur shake the location of the storybook out of her. Located deep in the Underworld and down the River of Lost Souls, the storybook seems impossible to get, but that won’t stop them from trying. Hook and Arthur take a boat down the river until they see the book at the end of the way. A small fight breaks out when lost souls try to drag Arthur away with them and attempt to take the book. Luckily, Hook catches the book right before it hits the water. He puts the pages back in the book, hoping that they will cross dimensions and appear in the version that exists in Storybrooke.

SACRIFICES 

After spending hours looking through books in the library, Emma gets a nice surprise when the storybook flies open and flips to the new pages that Hook inserted. Not believing what she is seeing, Emma tears out the pages and runs to the town hall building, where Zelena and Hades are cooped up.

At the same time, Regina and Robin are already at the building and trying to find a way in, since a protection spell has been placed around it. Regina takes Robin through the underground tunnels to get inside to carry out their plan of rescuing his daughter. As they try to figure out a way to distract Hades and Zelena to grab the baby, Emma arrives and starts to strike the barrier with her magic. They both go to deal with Emma and see who else is coming for them. Zelena goes for Emma first and sees the pages from the storybook. Still not believing that Hades is planning on taking over Storybrooke, Zelena lashes out at Emma and goes back to find Hades, who has circled back to find Regina and Robin with the baby.

In typical villain fashion, Hades unveils his whole plan to Regina and Robin, while they plead with him to not go through with the destruction. Hades is unfazed by their plea and decides that his first strike of power will be to use the newly fixed Olympian Crystal to kill both of them. Not only does the Olympian Crystal have the power to kill anyone, but it takes the person out of existence altogether. Regina tells Hades that if he kills her, then he will lose Zelena forever. To no one’s surprise, Hades isn’t too affected by this news and decides to kill Regina first. As he strikes up the magic and throws a bolt at Regina, Robin makes the ultimate sacrifice and jumps in front of her to take the blow.

Robin’s death isn’t too surprising. I thought he was an expendable character from day one, especially because he had a part in fixing Regina. The ongoing storyline of Regina’s internal struggle of good or evil will last the entirety of the series’ run. It seemed like an easy choice to revisit Regina’s morals by putting her on the edge once again. After having a full season of being good, Regina will now face the toughest test in the season finale. What will Robin's death do to her and the progress she's made? I personally think that Regina is destined to return to the darkness and turn back into the Evil Queen.

Right after Robin is murdered, Zelena comes in to see Robin dead, Regina crying, and Hades ready to strike again. Regina and Hades give Zelena two different sides of the story, leaving her to decide the truth. Regina goes off on a long monologue to tell her sister that she is being blinded by love and that true love means making sacrifices, like Robin did. Zelena finally sees what has been going on and shoves the Olympian Crystal through Hades’ chest, turning him into a pile of dust. The two sisters are devastated by their unthinkable losses, as both have lost their true loves due to the ultimate sacrifice.

LIFE AND DEATH 

The two deaths actually occur pretty quickly in a very predictable scene, which was surprising. To the tune of predictability, we go back to see Hook and Arthur in the Underworld. By some weird magic, Hook feels that Emma and crew have succeeded in defeating Hades and realizes that his unfinished business has been completed. Through Hades’ defeat, Hook is free to move on from the Underworld. He asks Arthur to come with him, but the King declines and decides to stay in the Underworld to fix it from its current shambled state. Arthur feels that his unfinished business is to rule a kingdom, and realizes that Camelot was never meant to be ruled by him.

Hook walks into the ominous light and is greeted by Zeus, who is extremely happy that his brother has been defeated. Zeus is so delighted by Hook’s work in helping to defeat Hades, and his apparent character redemption, that he wants to thank him by guiding him to where he belongs. When Hook meets Zeus, it’s very clear what would happen next, and it all goes down in a very cheesy manner.

Back in Storybrooke, the town comes together for Robin’s funeral. Regina tells Zelena that she wishes that Robin could have named his child. Unsurprisingly, Zelena feels the most appropriate name for her daughter is Robin, which Regina extremely appreciates. Everyone gives Robin Hood a hero’s goodbye, and Emma stays behind to say her own goodbyes. She is still very emotional over leaving her true love behind in the Underworld, and wishes that she was able to have the chance for a proper goodbye. Her wish comes true when out of nowhere, Hook is sent back home and appears right behind her. The two embrace lovingly, with Emma not being able to hold back tears of pure joy. It seems like happily ever after might come true for Emma. At least for now.

Once again, this episode wasn’t surprising on any level. Hook was destined to come back to the world of the living at some point, or else why wasn’t he killed for good in the midseason finale? He is too central to the show at this point for him to be written off. I’m extremely happy to see Hook back, even though the scene could have been written much better. But Hook complements Emma so well and is her equal in every way. I can’t wait to see what the writers have in store for the couple next season.

The two-hour season finale looks like it won’t be disappointing. There is also a chance that someone won’t survive the finale, as Rumple finds a tiny piece of the Olympian Crystal in Hades’ ashes. The big question is: how will the season conclude? Will another hero make the ultimate sacrifice? Will Zelena have to save Regina from herself? What’s Rumple’s big plan, and is he going to be able to wake Belle from her sleeping curse? Hopefully, all this and more is answered next week.

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Once Upon A Time 5x20 Review: “Firebird” (Armor) [Guest Poster: Julia]

“Firebird”

Original Airdate: May 1, 2016

As the season is starting to wrap up, it’s getting extra hot in the Underworld. The storylines get more tangled, as usual, as the fight to get back to Storybrooke hits its peak. This week’s adventure is full of true love, hope, lies, and betrayal – leaving me to wonder who will survive the season finale.

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

In typical OUAT fashion, “Firebird” gives us an inside look at stories from the past, which deal with Emma this time. Speaking of fashion, these wonderful flashbacks finally answer the question that everyone’s been thinking for the past five years: where did Emma’s red leather jacket come from? It’s quite the unusual tale, but winds up making some sort of sense by the end of the episode.

We are first flashed back to find Emma meeting her bounty hunter mentor, Cleo Fox, who hunted her down to collect bounty for bringing Emma to jail. “Delinquent Emma” doesn’t appear to be any different than the Emma we are used to watching, so don’t worry about that. Cleo helps Emma try to track down where she came from after Emma realizes that they both have a lot in common.

The two quickly become best buds, and Cleo decides she can’t turn Emma in. She basically mentors her on bounty hunting and how to not show any emotion, which is how we find Emma at the beginning of the series. The trick is Cleo’s armor, aka her brown leather jacket. Shortly thereafter, the police are on to Cleo and Emma’s whereabouts and try to capture them. Upon trying to escape from a run-down hotel, Cleo is magically impaled by a piece of glass from the window they escape through and is killed off.

A few years down the road in 2010, Emma is a newly appointed bounty hunter and has tracked down Cleo’s daughter, who works in a clothing store. Emma gives her all the files on Cleo she tracked down over the years, to help Cleo’s daughter understand where she came from. As she’s about to leave, Emma decides to make a purchase that lets her emulate her mentor even further. And voila, there’s that red leather jacket that she practically never takes off, more than likely due to its ability to be armor.

I NEED A HERO 

Back in the Underworld, there are multiple storylines that need a hero! First, and most importantly, “Firebird” starts with Hades wielding a deal with our band of heroes. Out of options, Hades reluctantly asks for their help to get Zelena back, who was previously kidnapped by Rumple and Peter Pan. Rumple has demanded that Hades tear up their contract if he wants to see Zelena again. In a lackluster way to end the whole contract negotiation storyline, the showdown happens at the diner, where Hades bids adieu to his hopes of owning Rumple and Belle’s child. Emma sneaks in to give Hades a hand, and Rumple and Pan poof off, leaving Zelena behind.

The moment we have all been waiting for finally arrives as Zelena and Hades reunite and share their first kiss. As if tonight’s episode wasn’t getting any more obvious at this point, they share true love’s kiss, which restarts Hades’ heart. With Hades no longer tied to the Underworld, a portal that will lead to Storybrooke begins to open, leaving everyone ready to run back home. Hades wipes the names of the heroes off the tombstones as a thank you for their help, so it appears everyone is set to go. But – not so fast, as I’m sure the writers evilly thought when writing this script – Regina splits Emma’s heart to bring Hook back to life, but he has been dead for too long for the trick to work. Hades offers up a last ditch effort, as he is now a “changed man,” but more on this later.

If that wasn’t complicated enough, Rumple decides to play hero for an episode. After returning to his shop, Rumple decides to test out true love’s kiss on sleeping Belle. To no one’s surprise, it doesn’t work. Conveniently, Pan shows up and tells Rumple that he can transport Belle to Storybrooke in Pandora’s Box if Rumple holds up his end of the deal and gets a living heart into Pan. Rumple steals Robin Hood’s heart, which appears to be going to Pan.

Rumple did a good job of hiding his plan until the very end. Pan is eager to get his new heart and is proud of his son for following through. Rumple shoves the heart into Pan, but it turns out it wasn’t Robin’s heart. Knowing that Pan would be watching him, Rumple stole Robin’s heart, then gave it back when Pan was distracted. Rumple essentially makes a water balloon filled with some River of Lost Souls water and shoves it into his father’s chest. Rumple tells his father that villains never get happy endings and maliciously wanted to be sure Pan never got his. As Pan melts down to a soul, Rumple has become a hero for the day. He sucks Belle up in Pandora’s Box and takes her home.

AMBROSIA 

Emma and Hook depart down the elevator in the library to find a magical room that contains the food of the gods, ambrosia, which Hades says can bring Hook back to life. For anyone who saw this episode, wasn’t Hades a little too nice and helpful throughout the whole thing? True love comes into question again as Emma’s heart is put to the test to gain entrance into the room. She is faced with a tough choice of saving her dying heart or Hook, who was set on fire. Emma jumps to save Hook, proving that they are each other’s true love, which once again, it’s about time.

As they enter the room full of hope, they quickly realize that they have been set up. The ambrosia tree has been chopped down and turned to ash, leaving no escape for Hook. Accepting his reality, Hook wants Emma to go back home and say goodbye to him. She urges him to find another way or to let her stay with him, as she finally admits her own feelings in a tear-filled scene. This was one of the best parts of the episode because we finally got to see some raw emotion from Jennifer Morrison. She has been lacking a bit lately in the emotion department, so I was glad that she finally made up for it.

Emma knows she has no other choice and leaves Hook behind. She asks him to move on to a better place instead of waiting around for her. We don’t get to see what happens to Hook, so I doubt this will be the last we see of him. Honestly, if they were going to kill him off, it would have happened back in Camelot. There wouldn’t have been a reason to reunite them and declare their true love just to kill him off for real. If this was Hook’s write-off, then it was not what he deserved. Hook is too essential to the story and the survival of the show at this point to kill him off.

DEPARTURE 

As Emma and Hook face their tribulation, the rest of the gang decides to try to accomplish as much of Operation Firebird as they can. Henry decides to write down as many of the unfinished businesses as he can for the people waiting to move on from the Underworld. Hades’ master plan unfurls more during this time as he traps the heroes in the library and seals them in with a spell. This, of course, is after the heroes have given Zelena her baby back. As we all thought, Hades never wanted any of them to leave the Underworld. When the portal opens, Hades, Zelena, and the baby go through to Storybrooke without waiting for the others.

When Emma goes back up the elevator, she is told by everyone that they are trapped. Of course, they aren’t trapped for long – Regina and Emma combine their magic to blast the doors off the library. Everyone makes it through the portal right before it closes. David practically drags Emma through because she tries to escape to go back to Hook.

With everyone, besides Hook, back in Storybrooke, the last two episodes of the season are going to be awesome. The teaser for next week promises some chaos with Hades in town. We will also get the reunion with Snow, and maybe even Belle’s curse will be broken. However, the not-so-shocking news is that one of the main characters will die before the end of the season. Whether it’s next week or the finale, it will be tough to say goodbye to someone. Since OUAT has been doing split seasons, it’s extremely likely that the Hades storyline will wrap up with him being defeated in some form.

As for who else won’t be back for next season, there are a few easy options. My best guess is that Zelena, Robin, or Henry will perish. They seem to be the most dispensable characters at this point, even though it wouldn’t be too hard to kill off Belle. It will have to be someone that will impact Regina greatly, as she continues her battle to be good. I don’t see the writers getting rid of any of the big characters, though it would be a huge shock if they did. A short clip of the teaser appears to show Emma crying at what looks like a funeral, so is someone in her family in danger? It’s too hard to say at this point, but don’t expect it to be obvious during the episode. The writers love to throw a curveball right at the end. Also, will Hook be back at all in this season or the next? With a lot of unanswered questions, we are in for a rough final two weeks.

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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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Once Upon A Time 5x18 Review: “Ruby Slippers” (Welcome Back to Oz) [Guest Poster: Julia]

“Ruby Slippers”

Original airdate: April 17, 2016

This week’s episode of Once Upon A Time brings the return of Red Riding Hood, Mulan, Dorothy, and the land of Oz. Plenty of twists and turns make this episode intriguing and disappointing at the same time. It’s very rare that the show is anything less than fantastic, and “Ruby Slippers” misses on many fronts — the writing, characters, and CGI all managed to culminate in one giant, 40-minute mess.

RETURNING TO OZ

Dorothy’s introduction to the OUAT universe two weeks ago made me less than enthusiastic about the land of Oz. Unfortunately, this episode focuses heavily on Dorothy and her new acquaintances — Mulan and Red — who arrived in Oz to hunt down Red’s pack, as she wants to reunite with her own kind. Upon their arrival, they quickly meet Dorothy and see the return of Zelena to Oz after she is banished there by Regina. In case you forgot what had previously happened, there was a quick clip in the introduction sequence of the episode.

The rest of the flashbacks to Oz show Red and Dorothy awkwardly sharing screentime as they try to save Toto from Zelena. In exchange for Toto, Zelena wants the magic slippers back; she feels that they’re the only way she can get back to her baby daughter. The actresses who play Red and Dorothy didn’t have good chemistry, and every scene felt very uncomfortable. It didn’t help that the actress who plays Dorothy doesn’t portray her well — Dorothy’s attitude makes her unlikable, and that makes her scenes hard to watch.

Dorothy decides to take on Zelena by herself and is tricked into getting her finger pricked with an enchanted needle, which enacts the same sleeping curse that Snow White and Princess Aurora had previously been inflicted with. When Dorothy disappears, Red makes it her mission to hunt down Zelena to get revenge, leading her to the Underworld.

RED’S NOT DEAD!

Great news, Oncers! After a big scare at the end of last week’s episode, we learned that Red is NOT dead and just happened to go to the Underworld without knowing where she was headed. Red uses the slippers to track down Zelena, who we know is still in the Underworld. Our heroes reunite with Red, which leads Regina to find out the truth about Dorothy from Zelena. As far as sleeping curses, there is only one way to break them: true love’s kiss.

The search is on for Dorothy’s true love, which Red believes is her beloved, deceased Auntie Em. When Hades learns that the heroes plan to bottle a kiss from Aunt Em to awaken Dorothy, he quickly gets rid of her by slyly putting some water from the River of Lost Souls in her soup. Auntie Em is turned into a pile of liquid soul, which was Hades’ way to show Zelena that he wants her arch-nemesis to suffer for eternity and to suck more hope out of his kingdom.

SLEEPING CURSES & TRUE LOVE

After some more awkward flashbacks, Red reveals that she thinks that she could be Dorothy’s true love. Regina convinces Zelena to give up the slippers to help correct her mistake of hurting Dorothy. Zelena proves that she is trying to change as she helps both Regina and Belle, but more on that later. Regina gives the slippers to Red to help her get back to Oz.

At the same time, Hades has ruined more hope by having the telephone booths used for hauntings ripped out. This causes Snow White and Prince Charming to worry more about baby Neal. Snow wants Charming to go home to Storybrooke to watch over the infant, but in the ultimate sacrifice, Charming has Hook cross out Snow’s name on her tombstone to replace her soul with his. Remember: Snow, Emma, and Regina are all stuck in the Underworld because Hades put their names on tombstones. The names can’t be removed, but Hook finds a loophole that allows them to change the names. Snow reluctantly goes with Red to Oz and then makes her way back to Storybrooke. This was a great way to possibly write Snow off for a few episodes, as she isn’t needed currently. It has been harder for the costumes to hide actress Ginnifer Goodwin’s baby bump, so this was a great decision by the writers.

Back in Oz, Red finds Dorothy and awakens her with true love’s kiss. The storybook ending is complete as true love conquers all once again. Hopefully, this is the end of the Oz arc because it has been done poorly and is not needed. The CGI during the Oz scenes is terrible, and the show in general needs to put more money into the CGI weekly. I’m not sure where else the writers can go with Dorothy and Oz, so now would be a good time to retire those stories.

In great OUAT fashion, the episode wouldn’t be complete without one last twist. Early in the episode, Belle pays a visit to Zelena to ask for her help in dealing with Hades. Belle wanted Zelena to convince Hades to rip up the contract that gives Belle and Rumple’s baby to him. Belle gets freaked out when she realizes that she may not have all the time she felt she had, as Zelena reminds her that Hades can take the baby whenever he wants by speeding up her pregnancy. In typical Belle fashion, she decides to be super radical and steals the enchanted needle from Zelena.

At the end of the episode, Belle reveals her concerns to Rumple, who shrugs her off, as usual. Belle decides that the best course of action is to freeze herself in time with the sleeping curse. She and Rumple both know that Rumple can’t awaken her with true love’s kiss, since he won’t be the man instead of the beast. Belle begs Rumple to destroy Hades and to get her back to her father after the contract is nullified. Rumple is clearly distressed as Belle pricks her finger and is consumed by the curse. This is another great write-off because actress Emilie de Ravin was also pregnant during filming. Even though her character is pregnant on the show, it was probably easier for her to have some time off, so this was a clever solution.

The final episodes of the season should be very interesting as far as true love is concerned. Rumple will have to decide whether to embrace the man or the beast, and if he wants his child or Belle more. His struggle should unfold nicely, leading to more character depth (fingers crossed!) Zelena and Hades’ relationship heats up at the end as well, which led me to wonder if she took Belle’s advice and is playing him. Hades is truly enamored by Zelena, which could easily turn into his downfall if Zelena decides to become a hero. If not, Zelena will have her happy ending with Hades and the two will destroy the heroes, which... is pretty unlikely given the show has been renewed for a sixth season.

Something big is going to have to happen at the end of the season to keep the show rolling, and will most likely mean the death of at least one major character. Assuming that the Underworld storyline ends at the conclusion of the season, presumably, someone will have to make the sacrifice of staying for the others to leave. Will someone die? Who knows! But next week’s episode may give us some hints at what’s to come.

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