S05.E01: Dark Swan

[Iboatedhere]

I loved "Your turn" and Hook's reaction when Henry said he broke the pen.

There's always too much Regina for me. And Zelena. I find nothing redeeming or interesting about either of them.

"You're not taking that baby with you. Are you seriously taking that baby with you? Is she taking that baby with her? SHE TOOK THAT BABY WITH HER!" -My thoughts when I saw Snow holding Neal at Granny's. Why would you take a baby with you, why?

Am I a horrible person for wondering if Zelena protecting her heart also protected the baby's heart? I'd be a good Dark One.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Okay, first Henry says that he destroyed the magical author pen because it was too much power and his mom wouldn't want him to be consumed by it, but then he and Hook concoct a plan to free Zelena. Because his mom would totally want him to do that!

 

I love that the makeup department's idea of making Emma look plain and weary is not putting on their usual inch of black eyeliner and super fake looking eyelashes.

Edited September 28, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Miles]

This is probably going to be the season that breaks me, the one that makes me stop watching. The only way it won't is if there are no Flashbacks to the gangs time in camelot and this was just to speed up Emma becoming the dark one. But I doubt the writers can help themselfs and I just can't take any more flashbacks. I'm so done.

[Eolivet]

That being said...Hook, what did you expect to happen when you went to Zelena alone? Thank god Regina had a plan. This guy does not do plans well.

 

Hook in the Enchanted Forest with Emma reminded me of the scene in Friends where Joey has a plan, and someone else comes up with it and he takes credit for it. That scene was basically:

 

Emma: Ooh, you traveled through a portal to find me! Oh, that's a great plan! Whose plan was that?

Hook: Mine!

Regina: Wait! It was my plan.

Hook: Nooo, I said we needed a new plan.

Regina: And I came up with getting Zelena to open the portal, using that magic to re-imprison her, finding Emma's baby blanket and using it to take us to the Enchanted Forest.

Hook: Which is the new plan!

Edited September 28, 2015 by Eolivet

[didia]

I really liked this episode! It was a good start for this season, I think it has potential to be better than 3B and 4B, and even 4A.

[YaddaYadda]

I know chemistry is a very subjective thing, but seriously, I thought Liam Garrigan, Andrew Jenkins and Sinqua Walls already had that going on for them.

 

Also...I thought it was really jarring to actually be able to distinguish between the actors and the stunt guys. When the knights arrive upon the SBers, you clearly distinguish between the stuntmen for both Arthur and Percival. 

[HoodlumSheep]

^ yeah the stunt people are fun to spot out. That and we got the glorious return of the Once brand cgi. :) it's one of the show's weird charms. I still giggle every time i think of that Hook dummy being tossed in the water back in 4x15.

It was fun watching Keegan try to hold that glass jar without moving it too much, so the cgi people would have an easier time with the rose.

Edited September 28, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[LizaD]

 

I don't see the double-standard. Merida gave about as fair a shake as she could to a complete stranger who listens to voices in their head and uses dark magic to get what they want.

 

And Emma gave about as fair a shake as she could to a complete stranger with the weird accent she could barely understand and was willing to kill to get what they want, all the while hefting around centuries of the darkest darkness. What's Merida's excuse? It's a double standard because Merida started the aggression first and her first instinct was to kill her. Emma the oh so bad Dark One's first instinct was to talk to her. It was only after Merida tried to kill her multiple times that Emma responded in kind.

 

Don't forget this show's hard and fast line about "heroes don't kill." But apparently that rule only applies to the Charmings clan and they're always expected to roll over and let everyone walk all over them. Everyone else can do whatever they want including killing or attempt to kill and they'll still be "heroes."

[statsgirl]

I really enjoyed this episode much more than I thought I would.  Although last season set the bar pretty low.

 

I was worried how Jennifer Morrison was going to do as Evil Emma but she impressed me. She's come a long way since playing Cameron on House.  I bet she's having a blast with the evilness of the character and the chance to finally wear some of the great costumes and not the red leather jacket again.

 

I know she spent the summer telling everyone Emma went evil for the whole town but just let Adam and Eddy get close to the dialogue and the real truth comes out -- it was all for Regina.  Here's hoping their love for Regina, holder of the dagger because she's the bestest person for it, isn't going to tank the show like it did two seasons ago.

 

I'm going to enjoy Zerlina as lightening from all the Regina love.  If the baby is a girl, will she have a "ina" ending to her name too?

Since I never seen Brave, this is my first take on Merida, and I'm mainly indifferent.  All I got from her really is that she's is vengeful, good with a bow, and very, very Scottish.  At least the show acknowledges the latter part with Rumpel's crack about it, which amused me extra since Robert Carlyle being Scottish himself.  I have to imagine he and, well really, any Scottish person (including the actress here, who was good despite the campyness), have to be like "I swear, we all don't sound like this!", whenever a show has a Scottish with this thick of an accent.
 

On one of the panels with the actors (I think it was the Paley from last year) someone was complaining that when Robert Carlyle and Colin O'Donoghue get talking to each other in their real accents, no one else can understand them.  Kevin McKidd used his native Speyside accent for Lord MacGuffin in the Brave movie and that's practically unintellible too.

[Daisy]

I liked the episode 

But I think  it would have worked out better had they  had the memory wipe in Camelot. at least be different. 

 

I'm Anti-Captain Swan. so I am hoping that Hook fell in love with Lady Elaine and that's what made Emma go all bad :D (probably not, though)

 

I bet you anything , the writers forgot that Emma was supposed to be in Boston, not Minnesota and today there's a total ohhh yeahhh.                                      

 

 Babies should have been left behind with Belle. She's totally not needed.

Honestly though - it was a good episode. But seriously - mind wipes. Stop it. 

[captain1]

You know what? Even though I am a heterosexual woman, I would watch this show just to see Lana Parilla's lips! Possibly the most fantastic lips of all time - wonder if I could get cosmetic surgery on mine LOL!

[Artsda]

I loved it and enjoyed the standard flash forward/we lost our memories again plot.

[RadioGirl27]

So, I liked it more than I thought I would (not that it was difficult, my expectations were so, so low). Jennifer Morrison was quite good, and I love everything about Hook, Hook's hair, and Captain Swan. I'm not sure about Arthur yet, but I like the idea of the DO dagger being part of Excalibur.

 

Some things I don't like:

- The final twist: Amnesia? Really? Again?.

- Merida: unnecessary and uninteresting.

- Too much Regina, Robin and Zelena and not enough Charming.
 

[Chaos Theory]

The mind wipe doesn't bother me as much as it bothers some. Honestly I just figure it is how the writers chose to tell two overlapping stories. What happened "over there" and how does it relate to what is happening now.

Is it the most original of ideas?....no.

Has it gotten old by now?....possibly.

Does it still work in the framework of the show???? Most definitely.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Gulftastic]

Camelot!

Camelot!

Camelot!

 

(It's only a model. Well, CGI, anyway)

Edited September 28, 2015 by Gulftastic

[HoodlumSheep]

Was it ever mentioned what happened to Queen Elinor? I heard the King Fergus and bros. stuff, but did I miss what happened to merida's mom?

Edited September 28, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[Delphi]

I liked this so much more than anything in four. It has loads of potential. Honestly though, if we're going to do another time jump I really wish it would have been a longer one. Camelot has enough story potential for this to be an entire season and I would have preferred more than a few weeks worth of flashbacks. Unless maybe they go back to the enchanted forest later. But really, add another year. Henry needs to be fourteen or something.

I don't mind Henry coming along. Sure he should be in school, but his teacher wouldn't be at school either.

I hate Zelena. I really do. But Rebecca seems to have so much fun playing her that her joy is kind of infectious.

I really hope Snow has more to do this season. And Belle, I'm hopeful for Belle, as she has pretty good adventures when in the enchanted forest or with other princesses (the Anna debacle notwithstanding.)

[kili]

I know she spent the summer telling everyone Emma went evil for the whole town but just let Adam and Eddy get close to the dialogue and the real truth comes out

 

I think that Jennifer just wishes that was the reason that her character made such a big sacrifice and if she says it enough times, it might be true. Goodnes knows that's how A&E do most of their Regina writing (we'll keep saying she's a hero and people will believe us even while she's ripping out hearts and keeping people in insane asylums. We'll also tell people that she's had it worse than any other character - look how mean those people are celebrating a wedding, the groom totally deserves to die and everyone should still feel sorry for Regina!).

 

Babies should have been left behind with Belle.

 

This has been bugging me and I finally thought of a reason why they might bring the kids - what if they can't get back? (if Zelena escapes again, they might not). Snowing would not to be trapped away from their child again. Besides, it's not like there aren't babies in the Enchanted Forest, so if they keep the kids at Grannies, maybe it's safe.

 

Was Sneezy wearing Emma's red coat? It definitely looked too big on him. I love how the dwarves are always bagging on how safe things are around town when the Neverngers are not there.

 

When I saw the henge in the middle of the forest (who does that? Aren't they normally in open fields?), I kept thinking of the model of Stonehenge that they had made for "This is Spinal Tap" - the guy used the wrong symbol for foot and did not get the effect he was going for. I guess they used the metric system to build this henge. Styrofoamhenge  - home of the Whisps.

[YaddaYadda]

I sort of really liked and even chuckled when Hook and Snow weren't giving two figs what Zelena did to Robin if she didn't get the wand.

 

I know, I'm a horrible person.

[Artsda]

 

Was Sneezy wearing Emma's red coat?  

Yes and he declared himself sheriff. lol

[iMonrey]

I have one continuity nitpick. Regina never gave Hook a potion to steal Cora's heart. She enchanting his hook, without any potion, and told him it would only work once. So that was a total re-write.

 

On the whole I felt it was a strong episode, but I'm disappointed they don't seem to be moving towards any kind of end-game for this show. They just sort of keep coming up with new obstacles and crises for the characters to run off and save themselves from and fight. And that's getting kind of tiresome.

 

I saw Brave, but I'll be damned if I can remember almost anything about it. That's how little I was taken with it. Might not have been a strong choice for a Disney cross-over. Especially while they've got Camelot going on at the same time.

 

And, now that the portal is open, why are they taking Zelena along?  It's hardly like she's willing mission support.

 

And that's another problem. I get that they seem to really like the actress and want to keep her around, but bringing her along on this trip made zero sense. At best she's useless and at worst she'll sabotage them. Maybe the point is that only she can open the portal for them to return, but if that's the case they're in big trouble because she's not going to let them fool her twice.

 

Arthur doesn't seem likeable yet, he seems shady.

 

The actor playing Arthur also played Alfred in The Pillars of the Earth miniseries. He'll always seem shady to me. And was the "Sir Kay" who got disintegrated Arthur's brother? I wish they'd picked a different name for the doomed guy.

 

- Too much Regina, Robin and Zelena and not enough Charming.

 

Part of the problem with the whole Swan/Hook hook-up is that the writers are now more invested in their relationship than Emma's relationship with her parents, especially her father. Everything that happens to Emma is written as though it affects Hook more than Emma's parents. Snow gets to stand there and wring her hands but it always has to be Hook saving Emma at the end of the day instead of Charming. And that's kind of disappointing. I feel like I've been cheated out of any meaningful connection between Emma and her father because the whole Hook thing came along and sidelined it.

[KingOfHearts]

 

Yes and he declared himself sheriff. lol

I'd like to see what happened in Offscreenville that led up to that. We need an episode just showing what the background characters did during those six weeks.

 

 

And, now that the portal is open, why are they taking Zelena along?  It's hardly like she's willing mission support.

They can probably keep an eye on her better that way. (Even though 5x01 proved that doesn't matter.) If she's able to cut off her cuff again, at least Regina and the gang can be there to subdue her once again. Storybrooke is pretty defenseless.

Edited September 28, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[BoPeeps]

Oh, boy. Mish mash, reverse and go again, Writers (of the show and the bloggers) love using Twitter and media to plant superlative words describing how awesome! and mind blowing! and surprising twist-ish! certain things are to drum up interest.  But they still write the same stuff, just different realms or characters involved in the same stuff. They don't quite deliver. It's tough, I know, to keep things uber fresh. They have initiated The Dark Swan, which is intriguing. We'll see where it goes. To use A&E terminology: I would hope they can further address and explore that situation in the coming season. I guess I haven't reached a saturation point because I plan on still watching every Sunday.

 

The charm of the show is the chemistry and appeal of the actors living the life of fantasy/ magic and truly marvelous costumes. So in focusing primarily on the main characters, they come up with a semi-win. We like the core group. Most of em anyway. Mader is charming in person but I still find her Zelena gag worthy. And I am going to stop calling Sean M. Robin Hood. He is vapid and pointless. Loving him demeans Regina, who only came to genuine life while butting heads and words with a freshly impassioned Hook. (Hook...do not let them TOUCH your hair. It is...smoldering perfection HEH) Only half of what Regina said could even qualify for true snark, the rest was...junk...but I still like their battling :) They gave the premiere a spark, if not sterling dialogue.

 

Merida bored me in a Technicolor neon that only made Emma's blandness look extremely pale and washed-out. Probably their intent but it weakened Emma considerably on the small screen, even though her struggle was major. And EMMA is the mean one after Merida tries repeatedly and unsuccessfully to skewer Emma with arrows at close range?? You'd think she would have gotten the point after Emma caught the first two in flight.

 

Arthur's character is too early to define. I loved the *your turn* line by Lancelot!

 

Belle's glass enclosed Rose is just too clumsy for words, though the sentiment is sweet.

 

Jury is out on Hook and Henry. I just hope it smartens up Henry and doesn't dumb down Hook!  But, hey, visual screen time is always a plus! (grin)

 

I always like Rumple being evil. And this was no exception.

[RadioGirl27]

Part of the problem with the whole Swan/Hook hook-up is that the writers are now more invested in their relationship than Emma's relationship with her parents, especially her father. Everything that happens to Emma is written as though it affects Hook more than Emma's parents. Snow gets to stand there and wring her hands but it always has to be Hook saving Emma at the end of the day instead of Charming. And that's kind of disappointing. I feel like I've been cheated out of any meaningful connection between Emma and her father because the whole Hook thing came along and sidelined it.

This has nothing to do with Hook. Way before he and Emma became a couple, her relationship with her parents was already damaged. A&E don't know how to write that relationship or they don't care enough to try.

[mjgchick]

This has nothing to do with Hook. Way before he and Emma became a couple, her relationship with her parents was already damaged. A&E don't know how to write that relationship or they don't care enough to try.

Yep and when her parents does something that's suppose to be angsty when it comes to Emma the writers end the arc with a hug and apologize. Eggnapping should've given the Charmings something to do, have endless flashbacks or something. But nope.

I know people hate Zelena but I think in small doses she's pretty funny. I'm easy. Her dig at Robin for being a dumb ass, her saying Regina gets everything etc... I do smell a redemption story in the form of her kid which is gross with this show.

[HoodlumSheep]

I have one continuity nitpick. Regina never gave Hook a potion to steal Cora's heart. She enchanting his hook, without any potion, and told him it would only work once. So that was a total re-write.

I totally missed this, but you're right. It was so far back I had forgotten the details besides Hook having to take Cora's heart. Why do a lot of the continuity errors always have to happen with Hook? Why?

Maybe Regina cooked up some potion so he would have a spare chance at taking Cora's heart?

[chaifan]

I hate it when Emma calls Snow/Mary Margaret and David "mom" and "dad". OK, yeah, they are her parents, but she met them and got to know them with their first names, and they are all around the same age and don't have a child/parent relationship (MM and Emma were roommates). But it sounds forced and unnatural. Like when a newly married person is forced into calling the in-laws mom & dad, but you know they really don't want tot.

[Writing Wrongs]

It was fun watching Keegan try to hold that glass jar without moving it too much, so the cgi people would have an easier time with the rose.

They must not have wanted to work too hard, because the rest of the epi the glass was fogged over.

[OnceUponAJen]

I totally missed this, but you're right. It was so far back I had forgotten the details besides Hook having to take Cora's heart. Why do a lot of the continuity errors always have to happen with Hook? Why?

Maybe Regina cooked up some potion so he would have a spare chance at taking Cora's heart?

I thought about this too, but haven't had much time to post today. I wonder if it's a case of the writers remembering it wrong, or perhaps they initially did plan for Regina to give Hook a potion in that long-ago ep?

[KingOfHearts]

 

I have one continuity nitpick. Regina never gave Hook a potion to steal Cora's heart. She enchanting his hook, without any potion, and told him it would only work once. So that was a total re-write.

He used it to rip out Aurora's heart. I'm pretty sure we saw Regina enchant it on-screen as well. I guess after the scene cut, she remembered a back-up potion in case the enchantment didn't work? #ItHappenedOffscreen

 

Edit: Actually, no. Regina started the hat portal at the end of the scene and Hook left for Wonderland immediately. There was never a potion. Why not have Henry steal one from her vault or something?

 

 

I know people hate Zelena but I think in small doses she's pretty funny. I'm easy. Her dig at Robin for being a dumb ass, her saying Regina gets everything etc... I do smell a redemption story in the form of her kid which is gross with this show

Besides Emma, Zelena stole the show last night. Who cares about Merida? Give me more Zelena taking cracks at Outlaw Queen!

Edited September 28, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[kili]

They must not have wanted to work too hard, because the rest of the epi the glass was fogged over.

 

 

Maybe the rose is already dead....who would know?  Blue should have added a fog-free coating on the glass.

 

I thought about this too, but haven't had much time to post today. I wonder if it's a case of the writers remembering it wrong, or perhaps they initially did plan for Regina to give Hook a potion in that long-ago ep?

 

Nope, they specifically wrote it that way because it was a Chekhov's gun situation. Hook could take one and only one heart. Regina was very specific. When Cora didn't have a heart, it left that plot thread dangling and they dealt with it by later having him take Aurora's heart. It was a nice tight bit of writing. If Hook had a bottle full of hearts he could take, then it was less important that he chose to take Aurora's heart. He was a villian then and would have used the potion less judiciously if he could take multiple hearts. He probably would have taken Belle's heart instead of running her over. Take the heart and  dash over the line and make Rumple chase you into the world without magic. Take out a heart to get the info you need.

 

It's kind of crummy that they decided to re-write that history and make us wonder why Hook hasn't used that potion up until now....up until shortly after he's been made a meat-puppet himself. It seemed incongruous that in the same episode he tries to control one villain while not allowing the others to control Emma with the dagger. Why did nobody try to negotiate with Zelena. They've never really tried. They've just told her what she is going to do. I'm kind of getting on Team Zelena here.

Edited September 28, 2015 by kili

[Mari]

I know people hate Zelena but I think in small doses she's pretty funny. I'm easy. Her dig at Robin for being a dumb ass, her saying Regina gets everything etc... I do smell a redemption story in the form of her kid which is gross with this show.

Well, apparently motherhood makes you automatically less murderous and evil.  

 

Unless you're Cora.

[october]

I'm enjoying Emma as the Dark One. I think Jennifer is doing brilliantly with the challenge of this storyline and I'm looking forward to what comes next.

 

This episode is one of the first in a long time where I could stand Regina. Her guyliner comments and such were crappy, but having seen these exchanges weeks ago it didn't annoy me as much as it had back then. I suppose, because she was so focused on the situation at hand, she had little time for the self pity or superfluous complaining that I loathe so much in her. And that exchange with Snow over Emma's baby blanket was no where near as bad as I was expecting. In fact I liked it. She delivered the line about not being able to carry Emma's car around in a gentle way with none of the so called 'snark' that I'm used to from her. She actually appeared to show... empathy even while being sarcastic.

 

Wow. I am blown away.

 

For a while I was wondering if I'd let my hate-boner for Regina get out of control. But this episode reminded me that I did like her once and that I dislike her for specific reasons, not for shits and giggles. I'd rather enjoy Regina than despise her, so I hope (despite the whole Regina-saviour headache) that this is the start of the writers easing up on the way they've been writing her for the past season or so.

 

Some of the Dwarves being included in the adventure also felt like the writers acknowledging that they'd let too many of the supporting characters drift into the background. On the one hand, I'm glad. On the other hand this show is already bloated and I don't have enough faith in the writers to imagine that they'll balance things well. Prove me wrong, Adam and Eddy, by all means. But I won't hold my breath.

 

I do root for Sean, but half the time he looks like he's trying to pass a kidney stone and the lack of development for his character doesn't help.

 

I noticed the retcon of how Killian's hook was enchanted. It took me less than 30 seconds on Youtube to find the scene where Regina sent him after Cora, so this blunder made me shake my head a bit. And as desperate as Hook was, I hated him carrying the Idiot Ball so blatantly. Of course Zelena protected her heart! Cora did. And Regina removed her own before fighting Zelena in S3. I don't care how emotional he was, he should've anticipated this. The retcon about his hook was also totally unnecessary. They could've had him say that he found the potion in Gold's shop while everyone else was busy.

 

 

I do smell a redemption story in the form of her kid which is gross with this show.

 

 

Well in this interview last May, Adam said: "This child was created out of a vengeance but that doesn’t mean it can’t turn into something positive for Zelena." This may be out of context or the usual Adam and Eddie brainfarts that dissipate into nothing when the show actually airs, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is what they're planning.

[HoodlumSheep]

But Zelena had an anti-magic cuff on, so you'd think a heart protection spell wouldn't stay in effect.

[Shanna Marie]

I noticed the retcon of the potion for Hook's heart-grabbing hook, too. There were a number of things that made me wonder if the writers have ever gone back and even skimmed through their own show before writing. There was that bit. Then the weirdness about Regina not being powerful enough to use the wand while Zelena was, when Regina's light magic was more powerful than Zelena's magic. Or was that about how Regina's magic was no longer dark enough? But other than Regina's big moment in 3B, has she used obviously light magic since then? Or is light magic just about intentions, and opening a portal because she wanted to help Emma wasn't a dark enough intention and it had nothing to do with power? And what is the point of a magical object that requires dark magic to operate it?

 

Then there was a bad case of unintentional irony with Zelena talking about Regina winning all the time and getting everything coming right on the heels of an entire season that was about how poor Regina always gets the short end of the stick and can't get her happy ending, which came right after an arc about Zelena wasn't Regina's life so badly she was willing to rewrite time to get it. I'm sure the writers mean for us to think that Zelena's wrong, but what we see in the show is that she's actually right about it all, and to be honest, I have to kind of side with her on wanting to go elsewhere with her baby because it's pretty obvious that Regina and Robin are probably going to end up with it otherwise.

 

And as much as I liked Henry being protective of Roland and Roland clinging to him because that is true to the way I've seen kids that age act, I suspect that the writers are writing them like they're already like brothers, and it's a follow-on to the scene in which Regina talked about liking it when it was just her, Robin, Roland and Henry -- except that never happened. I think this is the first time we've ever seen Roland and Henry interact at all. Henry didn't even meet Robin until right after he got his memories back, and he went straight from there to his father's grave, and straight from there to the hospital. There might have been time for a faux family ice cream outing between the baby's birth and the coronation ceremony at the diner, but Robin and Regina were having their date during part of the intervening time. And then Marian showed up. About the only time Henry and Roland might have spent time together was if Henry was ever called upon to look after Roland offscreen, but Regina was trying to avoid Robin up to the cryptsex, and they spent the day after that looking for Emma, and then there was the Shattered Sight, and then Robin, Marian, and Roland left town. So while "ooh, a big kid!" works, them being like brothers doesn't.

 

They really aren't that imaginative in costuming Hook. Why would his Camelot clothes look like his pirate clothes? Everyone else is quasi medieval, and he's still in the 18th century.

[jaytee1812]

I'm kind of meh so far? I don't know what it was. Liked Hook though. I'm just whatever about Meridia though I liked Rumple calling out her accent.

I thought that was hilarious on a show that has Hook and his best Dick van Dyke impression.

I thought Merida's accent was fine. It was the dialogue, they obviously tried to write her as a Scottish person, and they were terrible at it.

[Helena Dax]

I loved  everything except  the memory loss. Emma, Regina and  Hook were great and I can't wait to find out what happened  at Camelot. 

[scarynikki12]

I didn't think we were supposed to see Emma as evil while Merida justified during their altercation.  Merida admitted by episode's end that she'd been giving into the darkness inside her and that Emma's struggle against the Darkness reminded her that she can save her brothers and unite the clans without resorting to war.  The Merida who was shooting at Emma was the one still intending to wage war against the other clans and the Emma who took her heart and almost crushed it had spent a couple of days (without sleep!*) being pressured to give into the Darkness.  The Merida who admitted that she was giving into her own darkness is one I don't expect to shoot first anymore. 

 

I do think it's interesting that the Darkness was so strong in Emma that it was taking credit for mundane bits of magic.  Teleporting and telekinesis are never presented as evil in other magic stories yet here they were because it was Emma tapping into the Dark magic consuming her.  While I'm skeptical that her using magic to go to Camelot is a sign of her slipping down the Dark One rabbit hole, I do like how this underscores just how poor her magical education was in prior seasons.

[coops]

I liked it so far but it's early days. I wasn't looking foward to Merida as I prefered the show when it was based on fairy tale characters with nods to Disney as opposed to the "insert latest Disney Princess " show it has become now, but she didn't bother me.

Zelena explains how her heart can't manage to be ripped out but there was no reason given to how she can hack off her own hand without blood spurting everywhere.

Those bloody memories, eh? I really think the writers should have written into the show from the start that every time characters hop from their world back to ours a side effect is that they lose their memories. This would firstly make all the world hopping come with serious consequences and help it to feel less like popping down to the local shop... magic comes with a price and all that. Secondly if we knew certain memory loss was on the cards as soon as they appeared in their world again it would create suspense because we would want to know how they are going to deal with that later on, rather than a "shocker! Memory loss twist!" which isn't actually a shocking twist at all because it happens all the time. Other than that the episode was engaging enough.

[tennisgurl]

I literally said "again?" at the same time Snow did. Its sad when even your characters are pointing out how repetitive the story is becoming. 

[Shanna Marie]

Teleporting and telekinesis are never presented as evil in other magic stories yet here they were because it was Emma tapping into the Dark magic consuming her.  While I'm skeptical that her using magic to go to Camelot is a sign of her slipping down the Dark One rabbit hole, I do like how this underscores just how poor her magical education was in prior seasons.

I don't think doing those things is necessarily evil, but rather that the more she uses Dark One power, the more of a hold it will have on her. Since she had light magic to begin with, she might be able to do magic without using the Dark One power, but that would take a lot of control, and it would be hard to do it with the Dark One being so noisy in her head. Each use of magic might be a slippery slope.

 

I did like the framing when Hook was talking her into not crushing Merida's heart that made it look like Rumple was the devil on one shoulder and Hook was the angel on the other shoulder. A tug of war between her inner Rumple and Hook over her soul might be interesting.

[Last Time Lord]

I've long hoped for a plotline where the characters go into the enchanted forest, for an extended stay (Henry, in particular due to how he's not from there), so I sort of got my wish.

I just wish it were being told in real time. And I give Henry an hour tops before he flips out over no indoor plumbing and lack of cell service.

[coops]

I've long hoped for a plotline where the characters go into the enchanted forest, for an extended stay (Henry, in particular due to how he's not from there), so I sort of got my wish.

I just wish it were being told in real time. And I give Henry an hour tops before he flips out over no indoor plumbing and lack of cell service.

Seeing how the characters hardly ever react to the culture shock of being flung from a medieval world to a modern one and vise versa I highly doubt Henry will have any reaction other than the odd line about how cool horse riding is. Having said that by now I can totally understand the characters lack of reactions to being flung across dimensions... it happens so often it must seem about as thrilling as turning the kitchen light on.

[pcta]

At this point I only watch for Carlyle - doesn't look like a good season for him (granted I only watched bits and pieces of this episode)

[Rosiejuliemom]

I've been content to lurk this board for a while, but now feel ready to actually join in the discussion.

 

Blue prods Belle to go help with Emma because Belle is so "resourceful".  So what's Blue then?  Burnt toast?  Wouldn't she have been a *tad* more useful?  Oh, and here's a rose so you can tell when Gold dies!  I'm just going to have to imagine Blue tried to strangle Gold after Belle left the room.

 

I don't know if she tried to strangle him, but I'd like to imagine that there were all kinds of slumber-party pranks done to comatose!Gold. I'm talking legions of dicks drawn on his face, putting his hands in bowls of warm water, using him as a Nerf gun target...maybe even a full on Weekend at Bernie's homage.

 

That's a big-ass rose to lug around all season. Couldn't the Blue Fairy make it in pocket size? 

 

I couldn't get past the fact that there didn't seem to be a base. Just a rose and a cover. I get the desire to do the iconic rose, but why not something like this:

 

Compact, eminently portable, and easy enough to do close-up CGI of the petals falling off.

 

Dark Emma touching Snow's face was possibly one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen on this show. I'm really intrigued now as to what happened during the time skip.

 

I loved Hook escorting Emma into Camelot on his arm.

 

Merida really hasn't made an impact on me other than being pissed off that King Fergus is apparently dead. 

[Mari]

I've been content to lurk this board for a while, but now feel ready to actually join in the discussion.

 

I couldn't get past the fact that there didn't seem to be a base. Just a rose and a cover. I get the desire to do the iconic rose, but why not something like this:

 

Compact, eminently portable, and easy enough to do close-up CGI of the petals falling off.

Welcome!

 

And good thought about the necklace.  They wouldn't even have to waste CGI budget very often to use it.

[HoodlumSheep]

it happens so often it must seem about as thrilling as turning the kitchen light on.

:'( now I'm just reminded of when Alice and Cyrus discover electricity for the first time in the Wonderland series.

I'm gonna be frustrated if they manage to do a good job tackling the timeskip/memory loss this season. It'll be a little too late to really call it a victory on their part, because they should have managed it better 2 seasons ago.

[Mari]

 It'll be a little too late to really call it a victory on their part, because they should have managed it better 2 seasons ago.

Baby steps, HoodlumSheep, baby steps.

 

We should encourage what small bits of growth we see.    (And in the meantime, we can just rewrite OUaT:Wonderland canon in our head.  It happened after last season of OUaT.)  :)

Edited September 29, 2015 by Mari

[kingshearte]

Merida! I like her and enjoyed her interaction with Emma. And I love that the mission Merida is on is to save her brothers. Although I'm sure her brothers have already made the kidnappers very sorry they ever snatched them. The kidnappers will doubtless be begging Merida to take the triplets back by the time she gets there...

Oh yeah, for sure. I hope we get to meet them. I'm in the happy-to-see-some-Merida camp, because I'm a sucker for a Scottish accent and piles of curly red hair. We'll see how it goes from here.

 

One of the tweets said, basically:  Another memory spell?  Storybrookers, learn to journal.

 

I didn't think of it, but have to agree.  

Ha! This made me laugh. But seriously.

 

Between Dark One Emma's silver hair and turning Sneezy into stone, did anyone else yell, "White Witch!!" at their TV?  The clothes don't fit, but that was the vibe I got.

Not just you. I definitely had that thought. So who's going to be Aslan?

 

And I did think that the dagger being part of the sword in the stone was an interesting twist, and I wonder if the reason Merlin told Emma not to pull it out of the stone has something to do with breaking it in the first place (because we need more time travel and paradoxes), and maybe making it whole will be what's required to destroy the Dark One. Not spoiled; pure speculation here.

[Camera One]

Let's write the episode description for this one...

 

Dark Emma is tempted to take a life to get answers from a Wisp, but by the end of the episode, she doesn't even need the Wisp.  

 

They could have started the episode with the scene from the Diner with everyone waking up, and it would have made no difference.  How is this show about hope?  They spent an entire episode with Emma resisting the darkness and then ended it by revealing 6 weeks later, she succumbed.