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avreliaWatching Once Upon a Time leaves me satisfied with the choices the writers make, but not terribly engaged. Still, I am happy to watch it, and keep getting surprised when I read recaps that are consistently unhappy. No, I know that it's not everyone’s cup of tea, but I am sorry people have to watch and recap something they are so unhappy about.
The episode is a perfect example of my attitude - I watched it, liked it, read several reviews I agreed with, and now that I am trying to write my own thoughts – I don't feel I have anything substantial to add and don't have a burning desire to write down my emotions.
The story moves at the right pace in the right direction. The reveal about Baelfire wasn't a surprise, and it was good. After all, I would have been more disappointed if Baelfire turned out to be a completely new random guy, not connected to the story in any way. As it was now it made complete narrative sense, and when Emma said going through the airport security: “We are going to the family reunion”, it was the last confirmation I needed.
It is interesting that the show keeps playing with the notion of Rumple's cowardice. It is his defining sin, but it is not straightforward as the people in his village believed. He is not afraid of a battlefield, he is not afraid to kill, he is not afraid of mice, darkness or blood. But he can never face the consequences of of his actions. He has to control every single moment in his life – and the lives of people he cares about. He cannot let go, he cannot trust anyone to act with their free will, and here is the core of his problems. He lets go of Baelfire in the physical, literal sense, exactly because he is afraid to let go, to trust, to stay without magic. He cannot say that he killed his wife, even though he is not sorry that he did kill her, exactly because afraid to accept that he left him. Which is kind of weird, as it is exactly what he tells now – but now he controls the reality. And in this reality it is more valuable to him to tell that she just disappear than truth. He is afraid of reality. And his magical power is the cane that never would let him to learn to walk by himself (again, the self-inflicted wound!) So he really needs to lose that powers, narrative-wise (though I am not really invested in his redemption).
Will he kill Henry? I don't believe it. Again, it would be more interesting if his downfall happen while leaving Rumple alive but powerless. And, well, killing Henry now and expect that (a) Baelfire would be willing to mend their relationships (b) Emma won't kill him (c) Regina won't think of a punishment worse then death, would be too stupid, and he is not that stupid. He will try to trick the fate, of course. And it will backfire, of course.
Now, to Regina. I would love to see her making difficult but right choices, and I hope the show is planning to give me that. So far, I don't think she suddenly trusts her mother, but while she is on her own side, I do think she bought a little into the illusion of working mother-daughter relationship.
Where is Cora's heart? Well, to a live-longer reader of Russian tales the first thing that comes to mind is that it is in an egg, and the egg is in a duck, and a duck is in the hare. Well, of course, not exactly, but in some seemingly random but meaningful place. And I am willing to wait and see and figure out where it is.
In non-OUAT- news,
1) I read tor.com blog. They have a BtVS re-watch posts, that I usually don't read, but last week they had FFL one, so of course I had to, and it was ok, and then I read the comments, and... I remembered why I cannot have these discussions anymore. Same old, same old and horrible.
2) something extremely unusual happened: I won a fichu at Smartbitches anniversary extravaganza! Those kind of things never happen to me, but here it is: pic.twitter.com/hopuYwRg8L
The episode is a perfect example of my attitude - I watched it, liked it, read several reviews I agreed with, and now that I am trying to write my own thoughts – I don't feel I have anything substantial to add and don't have a burning desire to write down my emotions.
The story moves at the right pace in the right direction. The reveal about Baelfire wasn't a surprise, and it was good. After all, I would have been more disappointed if Baelfire turned out to be a completely new random guy, not connected to the story in any way. As it was now it made complete narrative sense, and when Emma said going through the airport security: “We are going to the family reunion”, it was the last confirmation I needed.
It is interesting that the show keeps playing with the notion of Rumple's cowardice. It is his defining sin, but it is not straightforward as the people in his village believed. He is not afraid of a battlefield, he is not afraid to kill, he is not afraid of mice, darkness or blood. But he can never face the consequences of of his actions. He has to control every single moment in his life – and the lives of people he cares about. He cannot let go, he cannot trust anyone to act with their free will, and here is the core of his problems. He lets go of Baelfire in the physical, literal sense, exactly because he is afraid to let go, to trust, to stay without magic. He cannot say that he killed his wife, even though he is not sorry that he did kill her, exactly because afraid to accept that he left him. Which is kind of weird, as it is exactly what he tells now – but now he controls the reality. And in this reality it is more valuable to him to tell that she just disappear than truth. He is afraid of reality. And his magical power is the cane that never would let him to learn to walk by himself (again, the self-inflicted wound!) So he really needs to lose that powers, narrative-wise (though I am not really invested in his redemption).
Will he kill Henry? I don't believe it. Again, it would be more interesting if his downfall happen while leaving Rumple alive but powerless. And, well, killing Henry now and expect that (a) Baelfire would be willing to mend their relationships (b) Emma won't kill him (c) Regina won't think of a punishment worse then death, would be too stupid, and he is not that stupid. He will try to trick the fate, of course. And it will backfire, of course.
Now, to Regina. I would love to see her making difficult but right choices, and I hope the show is planning to give me that. So far, I don't think she suddenly trusts her mother, but while she is on her own side, I do think she bought a little into the illusion of working mother-daughter relationship.
Where is Cora's heart? Well, to a live-longer reader of Russian tales the first thing that comes to mind is that it is in an egg, and the egg is in a duck, and a duck is in the hare. Well, of course, not exactly, but in some seemingly random but meaningful place. And I am willing to wait and see and figure out where it is.
In non-OUAT- news,
1) I read tor.com blog. They have a BtVS re-watch posts, that I usually don't read, but last week they had FFL one, so of course I had to, and it was ok, and then I read the comments, and... I remembered why I cannot have these discussions anymore. Same old, same old and horrible.
2) something extremely unusual happened: I won a fichu at Smartbitches anniversary extravaganza! Those kind of things never happen to me, but here it is: pic.twitter.com/hopuYwRg8L
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