Once Upon a Time: How THAT Character Changes Everything

Neal from Once Upon a Time

           If you watched last Sunday's "Manhattan," you are probably still reeling from the big reveal, a reveal that everyone, non-seers included, called.  Neal is revealed to not only be the father of Henry, but he is also the one and only Baelfire (what a name), son of Rumpel.  The reunion didn't go quite as Rumpelstiltskin planned, with Neal determined to show his father how truly hurt he was by his father's actions.  (Never fear Rumpel, if he's still hurt, he still cares.)

         The horrible problem that arises for Rumpel is revealed in the flashback to his life in Fairy Land.  Apparently, a seer not only predicted the long separation of Rumpel from his son, but she also said that the boy who would lead Rumpel back to Baelfire would essentially be Rumpel's undoing.  Cue current day Rumpel staring ominously at his freshly labeled grandson Henry and son Neal/Baelfire while Henry meets his dad for the first time.  Needless to say, I really hope Rumpel can stay on the straight and narrow, or at least not totally fall into his former Dark One ways.  Perhaps he will make a great sacrifice for his grandchild and son, perhaps not.  Time will tell on Once Upon a Time.  

         I'd argue that Baelfire's reveal added a much needed freshness the show hasn't seen since last year's premiere season.  The possibilities for the rest of the season are limitless, especially as August is set to return. Too bad a little pesky, pretentious show prevents a new episode next week.  I'd much prefer Once Upon a Time's next chapter than the Oscars. The twists are much more fun.

Whales, Wizards, and Frankenstein

Dr. Whale/Frankenstein...and the Wizard of Oz???

             I will not recap all of last night's Once Upon a Time.  I only wish to address a major question.  Last night, it was definitively said that the identity of Dr. Whale's "fairy tale" character is Dr. Frankenstein.  However, the magic-loathing scientist was also called a wizard on more than one occasion.  Add to that the easter egg hints that Rumple and Mad Hatter gave when they discussed a land that could be reached via a pair of shoes (hello ruby slippers).  Until the end of the episode, when Dr. Whale was in his gothic mad-science castle, I was convinced he was in fact the Wizard of Oz.  I am still  pretty intent on Dr. Whale being both characters.  After all, Rumpelstiltskin has turned out to be the Beast, the Crocodile of Peter Pan, and who knows who else.  Once Upon a Time plays with the idea that one person/character can inspire many tales and have many personalities.  The show is certainly playing with characters outside the traditional fairy tale realm.  As the season continues and we learn the identify of Henry's father and the true intent of Captain Hook, perhaps we will revisit the Wizard/Doctor, and maybe even venture down the paved yellow bricks, off to Oz.  I will say last night's episode was a little weak except for the Doctor's scenes.  I hope Emma and Snow are given more to do.  It'd be a shame if the second season falls short of the wonderful debut.

Crocodiles and Captains

Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time

               If you watched last Sunday's Once Upon a Time, "The Crocodile," you now know the beginnings of Captain Hook, at least according to OUAT.   In all of his swashbuckling  Irish, guy-liner glory, Hook inspired fandoms before he even appeared on the show. Played by Colin O'Donoghue, Hook's story was, as always, different from what I expected.  This time, that wasn't always for the better.  Good old Rumplestiltskin loses his wife to the Captain's charms.  Frankly, I hated that part of the story.  Rumple's wife abandons her child and deserts her husband for selfish love.  When Rumplestiltskin rips her heart out later, causing part the Captain's hatred of him, I wasn't that devastated.  The best and most surprising part of the origin tale followed that Rumple, with his slick skin and gleaming trickery, is the crocodile who plagues Captain Hook.  Hook loses his hand over a magic bean that serves as a portal to other worlds.  Rumple slices the Captain's hand clean off to get the bean, only to later discover the Captain tricked him (and went off to Neverland to plot his revenge against "The Crocodile").

               Once Upon a Time, this one time, I didn't love your intro of the Captain.  You redeemed yourself though, with a very interesting and twist filled ending (which promised interesting beginnings).  While I still have a Sheriff sized hole in my heart, I will gladly welcome the addition of the swaggering pirate whose evil/good mixture makes him as dynamic as all of Once's characters.  On a side note, the creators of the show (who just happen to be Lost writers, which explains A LOT) revealed that the Sheriff/Huntsman was originally going to be Sherlock Holmes and that other characters that are not strictly fairytale will appear in future episodes.  I had always assumed the Sheriff was initially supposed to be Robin Hood.  I like the surprise though, and the fact that the show is raiding the shelves of stories for more great characters.  That and the fact that the writers started raving about Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, which made me love them even more.

                Back in Storybrooke, I enjoyed Rumple's alter ego Mr. Gold facing Belle with honesty, owning up to the notion that he collects magic (and power) to hide his fear.  As for Belle, the library scene, and the fact that she's becoming more complex and empowered  made me grateful that Emile de Raven is now a series regular.

              I am certainly excited for next week's episode, where we find out the fairy tale identity of Mr. Whale.  It looks as though he is not the Whale from Pinocchio at least at first, but will instead be Dr. Frankenstein.  I always assumed that Dr. Whale was a man in the fairytale world who did something terrible, causing him to be cursed and turned into a whale.  I doubt I can actually predict OUAT writers, but you've go to admit it's an interesting theory.  To see how wrong I am, tune in Sunday at 8:00 on abc.

Once Upon A Time: Through the Looking Glass

Charming gives a rousing speech to the citizens of Storybrooke

       
             The second episode of Once Upon a Time's second season didn't shy away from jumbling the timeline and continuing its tradition of pulling out a huge shocker in the end.  If you haven't seen it, stop reading now.  If you have, is your mind beginning to implode as you deal with multiple worlds, storylines, timelines, and characters?  To quote one of my other favorite shows, Doctor Who "people assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big bowl of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey ...stuff."  OUAT has always made me question its timeline, and the way that time moves in multiple worlds.  Some characters age, some don't.  Storylines are told out of order, backwards, and sideways.   Like Lost before it, OUAT forces me to give up on understanding everything to save my brain from a headache.  It's worth it when a show is brilliant, which OUAT is.

         This timey wimey episode, Storybrooke recovers from the return of their memories, the reappearance of magic and the attack of the wraiths.  Everyone is desperately displaced, searching for answers and lost loved ones while clamoring for the leadership of Prince Charming.  Charming is too occupied with trying to track down information to help him get to Emma and Snow, who in the last episode were sucked into Fairy World (or the forbidden forest?  I'm not 100 percent sure).  David/Prince Charming tracks down Hatter, who tells him how very stuck everyone is.  Rumpelstiltskin, who brought magic back in the last episode, is for some reason trying to leave, only to discover that no one can leave Storybrooke's borders without losing their memories.  (Theories of why Rumplestiltskin wanted to leave-To find his son?  To hide Belle?  Perhaps for ultimate world domination as the Dark One?  I really want to know.  Everything he does is calculated.)
             
           The backstory between Regina and Rumpel is not particularly interesting   We learn that Rumpel taught Regina's evil mother how to use magic.  Regina, who is still wounded over the loss of her actual love, is tempted into pushing her mother through a looking glass into another world.  She becomes seduced by the power of magic, all the while fearing how much she is becoming like her mother.  Back in Storybrooke, Regina gains her powers back and steals Henry away.  Initially she tries to keep him with her, but gives him up to Prince Charming, telling him she will not force him stay with her.  Regina is another one of those fascinating characters, made more interesting by her seemingly genuine love for Henry.  She is evil evil evil, but there is some shard of good deep in her.  She seems to almost be weak....which cues in....Regina's mother, who turns up in a prison with Snow and Emma in broken Fairy World.  New Villain indeed.

           Not a lot of time was spent on Snow and Emma's story, though that is bound to change in the coming episodes.  I did appreciate the speech Prince Charming/David gave about recognizing his strengths and weaknesses in both his new world character and his story world Prince.  Speaking of Fairy World,  it looks as though Lancelot is set to feature in the next story.  Be ready for more twists, turns, and wibbly wobbly time.

Once Upon a Time is Back!!!

          So I did it.  I marathoned through the first season of Once Upon a Time on netflix and was ready for season 2 when it aired last night.  The season two premiere brought us a reunion of Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin) and Belle, the return of some strange magic, wraiths like dementors, and a truly exciting reveal.  Once Upon a Time has finally fixed its one flaw in it's initial season.  It's made the present world as riveting if not even more interesting than the fairytale world..  With character remembering their fairytale identities and facing dark magic forces, Storybrooke has new life.
     
            When the story cut to the fairytale world, which we find out still exists, in a broken form, I found myself wishing we were back with the characters we knew.  Instead, the adventure followed Prince Phillip and a mysterious companion who were able to rescue Sleeping Beauty.  To save Aurora, Philip is marked by a wraith, and his soul is taken from him, just as he mysteriously tells either Aurora or his companion (MULAN!!!) that he loves her.  I was interested, though a little too sad for Mulan and too annoyed with Aurora to really enjoy it.  The end of the episode may change my feelings, as  Snow White and Emma were transported back to the broken fairytale world.  Their presence there is certain to cause a lot of drama.

         As for life in Storybrooke, I do love that everything wasn't happily ever after when Emma was reunited with her family Charming and Snow.  Life is complicated, and I appreciated that the show didn't go for the cheesy happy ending.  Happy endings are yet to fully come in Once Upon a Time.  I can't wait to see where the season will take us, as magic comes, and good fights for the true happy ending.  Catch the next episode in this truly magical show Sunday at 8:00 on abc. I personally can't wait for Captain Hook, and to find out what happened to August.

Once Upon an Addiction

             The first season of Once Upon a Time came out on Netflix recently.  I had tried to watch the show last year when it debuted, but didn't fully invest.  I made a huge mistake, though I'm partly grateful for it now.  Watching the series in mini-marathon form is rewarding, mainly because all of the twists and cliff-hangers aren't as painful when the next episode is a button press away.  Like the Mad-Hatter himself, I've been sprinting through the season, getting ready for season 2 this Sunday.  If you haven't been watching it, you are missing out on old-school storytelling with a modern twist.  Even the most evil character has depth and a back story worthy of Lost itself.  In fact, in a very weird way, the fairy tale flashbacks, mythology, and mystery make me think of Lost more than any other show, which is a high compliment in my books.
           
          Characters like Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Prince Charming, and even Jiminy Cricket  are revitalized and changed on the show, which follows the idea that the evil queen cursed all fairy tale characters, sending them to the worst place imaginable: earth!  The curse must be broken, and the characters must remember their true identity, or be trapped in a strange and frozen purgatory with no happy ending.  The actress playing the evil queen deserves props, mainly for portraying the caricature queen in fairyland and  the cool and calculating mayor in the modern world.
       
              Watch the show, become a fan.  It certainly has won me over.  I've even put off watching new Fall shows to finish off the season.  I am three episodes away from a very interesting and sure to be epic conclusion to the first chapter.  Look out for the second this Sunday at 8:00.

Once Upon a Commitment

           Last year, when Once Upon a Time premiered, I did not expect the huge success that followed it.  So many shows with fantasy elements become cult hits but don't really attract mainstream attention. They eventually die off, relegated to the DVD shelf of loyal nerds and show lovers.   Even Lost lost more of its mainstream followers as it delved deeper into its own inverted mythology.
       
         How then, did a show about a once sleepy town full of fairy tale characters and creatures who have forgotten their true identities carve a secure place in Sunday night television?  I think there is more than one argument/explanation.  First, Once Upon a Time is an abc show, meaning it is in sync with Disney.  Thus, Disney's most beloved interpretations of fairy tale characters (from Mulan to Sleeping Beauty) can be used and honored.  Second, I think the show has gained success because Sunday nights, and any night really, is really void of (mostly) family friendly television that doesn't involve annoying talking sponges and mediocre teens trying to be famous.  Once Upon a Time fills that void with a show that unites parents and (somewhat older) kids together for more traditional storytelling.

       I do understand the draw of Once Upon a Time, though I remember thinking it had a bit of cheese when I watched a few episodes. As a big fan of shows like Merlin though, I think I can handle a little cheese if it has some substance and meat behind it.  Once season 1 is now available on Instant Netflix.  I may give it a chance before the new season premieres September 30.  I refuse to be a hipster who won't commit to a good show just because people actually (egad!!!) like it.