Iju

i remember watching "it" happen for the first time and hated it and i hate it now (albeit, i started the show in january and finished a couple months ago). i couldn't believe what i was seeing. ross and liz were THE pining trope couple of the show, complete with complexities, layers and tragedy. and then they end up in a mess like this. their love story, their struggle to do what was right and always end up falling on their faces when they do, was a delight and painful thing to see. there were almost 2 entire seasons of buildup and we get the travesty that has ruined ross and liz forever. moreover, the timing even of it before it happened just....so awkward. that's why i couldn't believe i was watching the pseduo affair. someone just died at ross' mine and his wife is comforting him and then 2 scenes later he's going to town on liz??? it doesn't line up and it never will. even though ross and liz were working to this line from episode one, it was this scene that felt out of nowhere. there were too many intense scenes to just shove one of the biggest love stories in the show smooshed at the end. just what was anyone thinking???? we're not even going to get into the fact that this is SEASON TWO, and ross and liz' love story - love them or hate them - are one of the main pulls of the show. and it ends so soon and so abruptly??? then there's the scene at hand which was "toned down" but honestly who the heck cares. the scene needed to be trashed entirely for something far more consensual to place no doubts in anyone's minds. if your fans are divided on if your love scene is rape or not you did it disastrously wrong. you mean to tell me after 2 seasons (and canonically, around what, 13 years?), all this pining, hidden looks and restrained feelings ended in the most basic way possible? even though heida and aiden said they rehearsed many different scenes, it was still based off the books which i feel shouldn't have even been on the writing table at that point. debbie said that she decided to change TV liz because the books was unlikable. okay, i don't really have anything else but her word to get on that because i haven't read a single book. so why would TV liz do something book liz would do, making her send the letter in such a manipulative light? would it really be that hard to make a scene where ross and liz are both in an emotional state where they are in the weakest in their lives and finally give into selfishness? i can think of at least 4 different better and cleaner scenarios when that could have happened. but no, the "affair" has to be the dumbest, cheapest and laziest writing imaginable. everything was going so well too, and the timing of every event (ross/liz connected or not) felt natural. and then ep 8 has to ruin everything and rush because there's only 2 episodes left. it wouldn't have been a struggle to keep trailing ross and liz' love story into the early third season (where it is more appropriate for them to reach a conclusion/apex) and then approach the aftermath in the middle of the season. finally, there's the complete and utter cruelty in all of it. ross leaves in the evening and then comes back early the next day. i know ross is deplorable in his love life but it's hard for even me to stomach he would do something so completely heartless to mella, to have her know without a doubt he's rolling around with liz for literal hours in her house. that's why the scene should have been scrapped. in the books, it's more clear it's rape so it makes sense ross would do something like that because he was in a rage. but to try to convince the audience it was just a cute little love scene with that much cruelty tied to it is just horrific. ross and liz deserved better and mella certainly did as well. wait a minute, you're telling me the PBS version (the one that's only available for me) was censored? the UK version is even worse? because i do not remember those lines at all, him telling liz he knows she wants it (WHAT THE HECK???). but you know what? it makes sense. watching the scene, there were cuts of moments that felt awkward to me. but i've noticed that poldark has had editing issues since day 1 so i didn't think much of it. but now that you mention i may have gotten a censored version, i wonder....

i don't like that suddenly R&Z are suddenly childhood friend so that they can get some quick reconciliation. and yeah i'm not happy about cora getting redeemed but this is a show that redeems rapists and child murderers. just put jack the ripper in here, they'll get to him yet! the one thing that disturbed me was cora and regina crying and holding each other. their relationship always grossed me out. regina's twisted love for her mother only because she can't full understand parental love was personally, shown in a light of pity. so there was no emotional attachment when they said goodbye.

i don't like how they made liam do something like this. can't he just have been a good person? yes make him flawed and make killian realize that, but he doesn't need to be in the damn underworld. whether liam made himself look perfect was actually irrelevant, little sibs look up to their older siblings regardless just as killian did without the lie liam made. it's just happens. i'm a defender of sibling relationships because they're treated so horribly. the push for emma and hook will always be grating to me since to this episode we still don't have any genuine reasons to even be best friends 🤷 i don't know if i'll ever get over it honestly. milah and him are much better imo. i don't understand why there are people hating on henry's obsession to being a hero. he's a kid and is allowed to do things kids would do. chill lol

i'm sorry i just can't believe that regina actually took the heart that easily because "woo hoo mom powers". pan had the heart...he was supposed to be unstoppable right? i really hope it's some explanation behind that sometime later on in the season.

only 6 episodes in and i feel like i've been given 3 gallons of water after wandering the desert for an entire year. for one thing, when i went to check this episode i was shocked to see i wasn't even in the double digits, as i had been spamming and actually enjoying this season. i still don't like emma (and doubt i ever will) but since there are more characters they can be expanded on, and since they're split up they don't have to either revolve around her or henry or regina. so in that sense i can take her more than i used to. i don't care for hook much but i am a sucker for sibling storylines (SPN fan here) so i wasn't complaining. and while i'm at it killian is such a beautiful male name. but i really don't see why he would have any attraction to emma. and yes i did just say that i didn't like her, but looking at the facts, they barely spent any time together. and every time they met, she was 100% focused on henry so she wasn't really interacting with him anyway. okay well maybe i can see the attraction, for a one night stand maybe. but i don't know why he wants to pursue a relationship with her on his small knowledge of her. but i remember thinking after this episode ended, why i enjoyed it so much. for one thing the actor for pan is an excellent choice. not quite a boy, not quite a man, dark in his intents. i can't imagine anyone playing pan like this. but i was still thinking on what made this enjoyable and i realised: no regina. previously we had 40 condensed episodes of nothing but her and honestly i can't not say that i had to repress needless rage whenever she appeared on screen. but now her character is slightly changed, GREATLY reduced in screentime and almost charming as a villain. it actually makes me despairing to think of her go back to her original awful self after henry is rescued.

i was actually pretty happy when i found this episode to be about pinocchio. i do have a bias for him originally since pinocchio is my favourite disney movie of all time, but i like how they did his character and august is a perfect name for him, unlike a lot of the characters on here who's previous names sound like they're from a soap opera. anyways when he first appeared his character or actor must have had a lot of charm, because he was just plain attractive as a person. i honestly don't blame him for leaving emma (he was like what, 11) and how he fell for each and every temptation the earth had given him; there was no way he'd be able to resist. i also love how somehow, they keep the child of pinocchio in him even while he's an adult. it's just something about him that's so great to look at and in the end through it all he just wants his father's approval and love. he's a really tired, beat up character who seems wiser than his years for all the regrets and mistakes he's built over the years and we know he would love to restart everything. part of me wishes that could have happened because his watchfulness over emma was really endearing to me, especially when he was talking to bae about emma's destiny. emma and august could have easily had a brother/sister closeness if he hadn't made the wrong choices. i'm really sad he's a child again because there was so much to his character and we barely had time to see him. and then there's henry. i've been thinking this a long time but he and pinocchio are my favourite characters. he doesn't deserve all the disaster that's happened to him. he was trapped in a town that was torture to him, basically singlehandedly saved the town by sacrificing his life for his mother; he's just a honest kid with a great heart. and what did he get in return? lies from his bio mother, abuse by his legal one, family feuds and untrusting family members. it's hard to find children as likable as him because they're usually written as brats. he's brave, perceptive and has a heart of gold. he's a character we must protect at all times. really sad to see adult august go but still, he and henry are my favourite characters.

how are we supposed to feel anything bad for regina when she just displayed she was willing to brainwash (another form of rape) her own son to love her because she's so evil no-one ever would? this is why i never believed a syllable she said no matter how many times she cried about how much she loved henry. she's not capable of loving anyone. also about rumpel being even worse than regina, that may be the case, his actions are. but he's not as jarring to see on screen because as awful his deeds are, he only takes action on the people who have specifically wronged him. regina actively searches out people minding their business and ruins their lives. and we have to remind ourselves, all of this apparently stems from her hating an 8yr old child when she was like 17. rumpel's own actions are because of self hatred and doing whatever he can to bury that he's a coward. that's why he's more appealing than regina. so which one would you pick, a fully grown adult holding onto her anger on a minor or a another fully grown adult who does whatever he can to stop his own torturous memories and thoughts, which in the end makes an even bigger hole in his soul? and yeah tamera and neal's affair was wasn't right, but i was still totally on board with erasing magic and the torture of regina which honestly, is the absolute least of what she deserves. it's like the show is taunting us. the more evil she does, the more they find lazy unbelievable ways to excuse it and keep her alive. she is the absolute worst villain i have ever seen, book or screen wise. and i always thought that emma's magical (pun not intended) ability to beat anyone when the story counts for it was too starkingly obvious and stuck out like a rainbow'd thumb. i saw it when she easily defeated the dragon but was willing to ignore something so forced. i also ignored it when she was in the enchanted forest and was beating up henchmen with her mother, who had to be taught by other people on how to protect herself in the forest but no emma can do it because emma powers. but now she's easily beating tamera for no reason other than she has to. there is no way she'd beat her. tamera wouldn't be trained in something so brave and dangerous without getting some sort of physical training as well, it would make 0 sense. lastly i was a little interested in how bae knew hook, and figured he worked for him when he was younger. it wasn't far off but i didn't think hook knew him as a child. would love to see how that goes, if the show allows it.

best episode of the entire show hands down. for once everything connected and i was actually left with conflicted feelings, something I actually like when I watch TV shows. while I hate the western view of "don't kill or else you will end up like the villain" ideology I do feel that snow acted out of vengeance instead of justice. that being said I'm not really going to berate for it but those are just my thoughts on it. as for cora as of right now, i feel like her actions aren't justified but understandable, at least more understandable then her daughters. the reason why i say this is because she acted this way as an adult around other adults and not minors who had no idea what they were doing. also i remember saying previously that i found rumpelstiltskin and belle's romance so revolting that i looked away when they kissed, but I didn't feel bad at all with him and cora. in fact i found it hard to look away. i don't know, i guess it's because cora have the same darkness rumpelstiltskin had and understood it while belle was just too innocently pure it was like he was kissing a 13 year old. the difference of cora and belle's love is that cora accepted the monster that he was, while belle tried to revert it. rumple's reaction to this was both passionate but in different ways, and i found his love for Cora not necessarily more appealing......but definitely i could tolerate it more than him with belle. but i really like that they were this big bright light and then it was smoldered without much time for the audience to come to terms with it, and then it was ended completely by her dying. tragic couples are my appeal, as i'm finding out recently. but just because I find this the best episode of the show doesn't mean that it doesn't have its faults. for example i thought rumpleskilton would be a lot harsher when emma when she wasn't doubting her ability to use magic. she was already completely insufferable in her denial in season 1 but her still doubting even out after she had previously used magic is unbelievable. when he told her to make a protective spell and she was still hesitating, i actually expected him half way because he was dying from poison and halfway because he was tired of her what was me attitude to snap at her and say "You doubtful bitch! Just do it!" or something along those lines. when instead he coaxed her which i guess it's fine but i would have definitely wild for him to do the other, especially since it seems more in his character. i also still find it stupid that regina would just go back to her evil ways when the whole point of her changing wasn't for anyone else. so in that regard i do understand her not caring about what anyone else thinks with her ways, but as i said before she wasn't doing this for anyone else except henry. she didn't want him any other way except legitimately, so why was she revert back to her ways if that's what she wanted in the first place? it just felt silly to me. and even if the show wanted to make us feel like what snow did was wrong, okay fine. but they really shouldn't have chosen a mass murderer, liar, abuser and manipulator as some sort of example. regina was planning to brainwash a child and cora (most certainly, even though we didn't see it completely pan out) was going to become the dark one and slaughter the entire town. why would we feel bad for either of them? why is the show so focused on convincing regina that she's some victim? what is the point? it's so annoying. on a final note i don't know if it was the directing the writing or the actor herself, but i really like the way they played regina as and abused troubled child who still loves their parent, and i felt it was played and a very convincing and understandable way. and I couldn't help but get a little chill when i saw cora holding regina as a baby and realizing that she would be raised in total, endless abuse.

LOL the only thing this episode achieves is showing that the queen is even more petty and childish than she was shown previously. how could anyone even think for one second that this episode justifies her being a murderer, rapist, liar and manipulator?????? and besides all that, why did they make her stupid as hell for her not to immediately know that her mother manipulated snow into telling the secret? and i know that children who grow up with one or both abusive parents have a stunted immature personality but eventually people gotta grow up and see their mistakes. there was no way she "developed" the evil in her that quickly; that shit had to be in her from the beginning lmao. looking at her original character her marriage with her fiance, it would have been in tatters anyway. judging from this episode she was never capable of true love; she only hung out with people who made her feel good. and can this show stop treating the characters as well as the audience like idiots. at this point, anything that even goes slightly out of the wrong in a normal day is regina's fault. the toilet overflowed? her fault. i dropped my dinner plate? her fault. i forgot what i was going to write down in my grocery list? all her doing. so can we please stop trying to make twists for the audience that what she is doing has an dun dun ulterior motive!11!! and the characters having absolutely no clue what is going wrong, until like 17 episodes pass and it's the mayor's doing!!111 literally her every breath is used up only to ponder on how to ruin someone's life. no-one should talk to her, no-one should believe a word she says. you'd think they would have learned by now.

if emma straight up died in this episode with no explanation whatsoever, i wouldn't care. she was peak annoyance she has ever been with her denial, oh my god. and i love snow with her "i would never hurt anyone uwu!!11" ideal is completely throw out the window, (literally, actually) by launching jeff out of one. i know she was protecting herself and her friend but not really good timing lol.

this episode was a drag. firstly the romance of mary and david had dried out so quickly even before this episode but now it's really reached its peak. for one thing i have to say the actors with each other is off the charts and is very enjoyable to watch and i really adored watching mary and david's teasing with each other. but it really all went down the drain when they kissed for the first time it was so unsatisfying and it felt like the writers were working the audience for nothing. then secondly they were showing their relationship in secret as if it was cute or something? their story was already getting dragged out to hell and back and it's like the writers didn't know what to do with them even before they kissed. but now we're supposed to feel bad for mary because she walked right into a relationship with david that they BOTH knew was wrong? LMFAO this is how you don't write characters you feel sorry for. mary gets exactly what she deserves and she's a brat for blaming all her sorrow on david for not telling. they should have never been in a relationship AT ALL, and david can go to hell with his pleading and begging mary on for the millionth time to stay. it's not that hard to leave someone you're not in love with, and he clearly wasn't in love with his wife so why didn't he leave? maybe because he liked the idea of banging two women without having to sacrifice anything. they ruined one of the most interesting plots of the show that i don't even care how they became married in the past. and WHY THE HELL is regina so focused on david and his boring ass wife? at first i thought her dreading her to leave was because she was secretly in love with her, but that doesn't explain how she's grinch grinning every single time she gets time alone. what's the damn point of burning the envelope? so david can't find out about a woman he doesn't even love? what the hell does this woman want? at this point she's not even intimidating or a villain you love to hate, she's just plain annoying.

i really hate the "victim falls in love with their captor" trope because it screams stockholm syndrome, but this is belle's story after all. but what i hate even more is how anyone could even think kindly of a disgusting slimy snake as rumple let alone love him. i was so grossed out i even blocked my eyes when the kiss came up. but this episode had the best acting ever since the show started so i'm torn lol

UPDATE i will come to this show later on as it has come to me that the white queen comes before this one...at the moment this show is put on hiatus until i finish the white queen.

watched ep 1 and elizabeth is already in the top 10 most obnoxious characters. the show tries its absolute damndest to make the audience feel badly for her but she's just annoying and everything bad is almost always her fault. feminism today tries telling us that being a hard headed jackass is what makes a strong woman when all it is, is just a huge turn off. she wants to talk shit and then get shocked and turn into a puddle of tears when shit comes back at her, cries that a dead man's baby should be inside her (wtf), gets even more mad when the king expressed no desire to even touch her WHEN SHE FEELS THE SAME...how exactly is anyone supposed to like her or feel bad for her? at this point the only likeable characters are her mother and her (caring) sister.

I'm watching S5 on Netflix now and there's always been some sort of "thing" between them, and it appears the show has always made a way to focus on their relationship, as foggy as it is. and I don't know if it's because of the actors or not, but there is always a type of tension between them, sometimes stronger and sometimes just subtle enough. I don't think the show will make them end up together but I do believe that Gordan still has strong feelings for Barbara, but judging his character so far he's probably unconsciously buried them so he'll never notice. Barbara, I feel, will always love Gordan but doesn't say anything because there's no use in it.