Dianthus

How is it I only just found this forum? I'm so glad it's here. We're really gonna need each other to get through this.

Another downer side effect of the Aladdin/Jasmine storyline is that it makes me think of Robin Williams and how much he is missed. That's on top of how lame the story itself seems to be.

Hook only went after Belle because he sought revenge against Rumple. That's it. Once he gave up on that, he had no other reason to do so. He's no longer a threat to her, she saved his life, and they've worked together to clean up some of Rumple's mess (i.e., de-hatting the fairies). I don't see how that's so hard to understand, unless you just can't/won't. As for the Fail Safe in s2, that was just Regina undoing a thing she'd baked into the curse (IIRC). I'm not saying she hasn't changed at all, but she's still arrogant, mean-spirited, overly critical, and deeply negative. ITA with everyone above who said that Graham's murder was a sticking point, re: any sort of relationship between Regina and Emma. Regina knows the truth of the matter, but no one's giving her shit about lying/keeping secrets. It's the REC on steroids. Fuck her. Fuck her right in the ear!

Actually, I believe we did get to see Buffy's idea of "Heaven" in Normal Again. Whedon considers himself agnostic/atheist, so it's just not the stereotypical harps and haloes kind of place. The doctor in the AU makes reference to her "awakening" over the summer...the summer she was dead. Being The Slayer was some kind of crazy delusion, but she was getting the help she needed, and both her parents were still alive, still together, and fully supporting her recovery.

Not that I'm any fan of Douchefire, but he didn't have any legal identity in the Lw/oM to find legit work. He could've taken some under-the-table cash only type of work, I suppose. At least Aladdin was in Storybrooke. Wouldn't he have some cursed identity? Or was it not the original curse that brought him to our realm?

So, aside from the scene I'd like to unsee (and you know the one I mean), this ep didn't totally suck, IMO. I was, like, "Holy crap, what show am I watching?!?" There was some character development, a bit of Snowing, SnowBelle, and resolution for 2.0. Maybe it's just the low expectations talking, but I was fairly happy with it overall. What struck me, though, is Nemo talking about "steel and rivets." These are things Hook's never encountered before, so why have him stumbling over the wookie bit, but he doesn't even quirk an eyebrow over the other?

It's sad to think how much thought all of us give to what's happening in the show, considering how little thought is given by the folk's who are paid good money to do so. I know they're under time constraints and such, but this is f*cking crazy.

There may be some who are well-meaning (tho' I find it hard to believe). Mostly they just seem like total asshats. It's like being true to the letter of the thing (CS are together), while being completely against the spirit of the thing. They're deliberately trolling for negative comments to feed their persecution complex or something, IMO.

There's text, and then there's subtext. Regina is full of bitterness, resentment, and jealousy. Taking away everyone else's Happy Endings was the reason she cast the Dark Curse in the first place, and it meant more to her than the life of her father. She was upset because Emma got her boyfriend back. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: F*ck Regina! She's a whiny-ass little titty baby and it would take far better writing than hacks like A & E are capable of to redeem her in my eyes.

I knew going in that this episode was no great shakes (ha-ha), but I was disappointed even so. I wish A & E would stick to exec producer stuff and leave the writing in competent hands.

Last night I watched Love and Friendship, a movie based on Jane Austin's Lady Susan. She reminded me of Cora without the magic. At least her daughter didn't remind me of Regina. ;-P

Oddly, I think I find the Snow/Regina "friendship" a little more palatable than Emma/Regina simply because Snow and Regina share so much history. I can see it as source of low grade but ongoing conflict between Snow and Emma (if the writers gave a damn about Emma and Snow). Emma wouldn't understand it, Snow would have a hard time explaining it, and it would ultimately give them greater insight in to each other's character. What makes Regina's dig at Snow not funny (IMO) is that Regina made herself barren by drinking that potion, so she's picking on a very pregnant Snow out of jealousy. I think one thing that can't be interpreted in any way as a 'funny' comment is Regina telling Emma that her first impulse on seeing Hook back from the dead was to rip out his throat. So long as she had Robin, Regina was willing to help rescue Hook. Without him, she didn't want her "friend" to have the happiness she couldn't have. Also, Regina being dismissive of Emma's computer skills. Same thing as above. Emma has abilities/skills Regina lacks, so Regina has to diminish their value to feel better about herself. It's ironic, but I should thank you, I suppose, for giving me yet another excuse to enumerate the reasons I hate Regina. Keeping these feelings bottled up isn't healthy, so it's nice to give them an airing now and then.

Technically five, if you count Hook.

Shanna Marie, myself and others have all presented various possible explanations for the friendship between Hook and Belle, both from a character perspective and a writing perspective. Obviously, I had no say in it, nor any initial investment. I like it because I like both the characters involved, it's something different, and I think it's fairly well-written. OTOH, I loathe Regina, and I've never made any secret of it.

What I'm hearing is basically this: Belle chose Hook over Regina, and it's not fair! Is it an unlikely friendship? Yes. Has it evolved over time? I believe so. Does it play into the history between Hook and Rumple? Yes. If Snow and Emma can forgive Regina, then I don't see why Belle can't forgive Hook. At least they're not cramming it down our throats like the other. Snow and/or Emma being "friends" with Regina weakens the story, IMO.

Oh, FFS! Again with this sh!t about Regina being less awful to Belle than Hook was, and that should completely trump any other considerations of how those relationships are currently playing out. Did Regina offer to help Belle? No. Hook did. She saved his life from her rotten-hearted husband, and now Hook's saved her life from Jekyll. The writers clearly aren't interested in writing Book Queen (Evil Book?). So what should they do? I can see it now: Belle just randomly goes up to Regina in the middle of a scene about something else entirely and tells Regina how sorry she is for accepting Hook's offer of assistance over her non-existent one. Does she beg Regina for her lasagna recipe just to ease Regina's tender fee-fees? SMH!

Seeing Emma as the fairy tale princess she was meant to be would at least be different from yet another flashback wherein Regina tries to kill Snow and fails miserably. Also, too, WTF?!? Woman pain? Really? How is that different from regular pain? But even Princess Emma can't be as shallow and self-involved as Regina, because Regina is the ultimate narcissist.

One thing that caught my attention was Regina's line, re: Belle always ending up in a prison. The Jolly was never meant to be her prison, nor did the Jolly's owner cause her to be imprisoned there.

Hook hasn't gotten nearly as many Free Passes as Regina, so Lily Sparks/Broken Clock, whatever. As I mentioned, he ended up as Rumple's meat puppet for part of an arc, mostly due to it being his turn to hold the idiot ball. That's only one of the many ways he's suffered over the course of the show. The way Regina was whining and carrying on during last season's fiasco...I mean...finale, you'd think no one else ever got a taste of real suffering. Hell, Hook's had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all his live long days. One of Regina's victims isn't being fair to her? Boo-f*ckin-hoo.

Fetch...The Comfy Chair! (bwang!)

Well, we called the shocking twist in this episode months ago (IIRC), but I didn't hate it. @rosiejuliemom: get out of my brain! :D

I've gotten behind on my commenting, what with RL getting in the way. Seems to me we just had this convo on another thread as well, and I'm getting really f*cking tired of it. Belle defended Rumple against Hook's (perfectly true) accusations. Rumple then ripped out Hook's heart, made him do bad things against his will, and nearly killed him. Maybe, juuuust maybe, that's influenced Belle's view of Hook. Maybe she realizes she misjudged him, and that's why she's more willing to forgive him. Or maybe it's just that the writers have no interest in writing Belle/Regina, while Belle/Hook has more story potential for them because it feeds into the Hook/Rumple feud. It's not like Regina doesn't get too much enough story as it is.

Just because Belle has forgiven Hook doesn't mean she's under any sort of obligation to forgive Regina. That's not how it works.

As usual, they went the lazy/quick/easy way with the scene between Hook and Alexandra. We're lucky we got what we did, really. Perhaps he was inspired by vague memories of the clowns/jesters from his own youth (pre-abandonment).

I think that Moving Day for both Hook and Emma would be more like 15 minutes. Neither one of them has a lot of personal belongings, aside from clothing and toiletries, and the place seems to have come already furnished. IDK. Maybe it's curse-related somehow.