S07.E02: A Pirate's Life

[Camera One]

It wasn't an "emotional curtain call" for Emma.  It was an elaborate setup for Alt Hook that doesn't offend any previous fans.  It was plot driving character, as usual.

[Artsda]

Could Drizella be the daughter?

[Worsel]

6 hours ago, Camera One said:

I was simply bored with the usual Rumple stuff.  I thought they would explore something police related, but he was solely at Victoria's beck and call.  Oh of course he was impressed with Roger's "moral core".  Riiight.   "Up until now, our goals have aligned," said Weaver to Victoria.  But not now?  Why?  Because it was the surprise twist of the episode?

Maybe Rumple (assuming he is Wish!Rumple) woke up and now has his own agenda - I assume he is still looking for Baelfire - and had Victoria cast the curse.  Just like season 1.  Uh oh, is there a Wish!Baelfire?  

[CCTC]

6 hours ago, Camera One said:

Henry has a tantrum sword fighting with Hook at the beginning, and says "What's the point... I'll never be good enough." 

Then they followed that up with Emma and Hook basically having a conversation that he was almost grown up and ready to leave  home.  All I could think was - no - he is acting like a immature spoiled brat who could not handle the adversity of a paper route.  It does not help that Jared did not look anywhere near grown up and ready to leave home.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Friday nights really just don't work out for me.  That's okay, I guess as long as there's Hulu.  I haven't read comments, so I'm probably saying things other have already said.  (But they probably bear repeating with this show!  Lol!)

• Henry's sulky reaction about not winning the sword fight is even worse in the episode.  I usually try to give the clips and sneak peaks the benefit of the doubt, thinking it will be better in context.  This was not.  If he was 'almost grown' why is he still acting like an overhormonal 15 year old?
• We had a discussion in the last ep thread about the book Henry allegedly authored - I noticed here that Hook (Rogers) says, I read 'your' book - meaning that, in this realm, under this curse at least, Henry is the author of this book (whether or not that's the original Once Upon A Time book that Isaac authored is another question, I guess.).  So, back to Henry's book: what are the stories in that book?  The ones that happened in 'present day' Storybrooke like when Elsa and the Ice Queen came to town?  But if Henry flying with Pan is in his book...I guess that could be also since that was post First Curse.  Ugh, I'm so confused.  And under this curse, Henry 'made up' all the characters and inserted himself.  
• If Rogers read Henry's book, didn't he see a picture of Captain Hook that looked suspiciously like him?
• Holy Shit!  Did Regina just call him Andrew? (when they rescue him in Cinderella's room) and they didn't catch that before final edit?  The CC says Henry, but I swear I distinctly hear Lana say, "Oh Andrew, you grew up!"
• That 'fake hand of his' (Rogers) moved last ep.  Now it's a fake hand?  oh, okay. It would have been better if they'd gone with 'damaged hand' or 'bum hand.'
• Roni's should have Enchanted Forest wallpaper like Regina's office.
• Oh geez, now fat old drunk Hook is real?  WTF?  No, no, no, no.  And he has a daughter?  WTFF?  So who's the mother if it's not WishRealm Emma?
• Not liking the Rumple/Hook as Weaver/Rogers dynamic.  I just can't watch too much of that without getting enraged.  It's too much like when Rumple took Hook's heart.  I guess A&E thought that was such a great story line they had to repeat it.  
• I like Tiana.  That's something at least, right?
• Oh, I just gagged.  "Henry always knows the right thing to do."  Sure, like when he called Emma worse than the Dark One or Evil Queen?  So Regina's story's not over but Hook and Emma's is?  Riiiight....  I guess this means Not!Hook is free to have a love interested in the Semi-real Real world.   At least they did preserve Hook and Emma's happy ending.  But I have even less interest in watching Not!Hook.   I mean, how does Not!Hook even have any investigative experience?  He never helped Emma in Storybrooke.  I'm so confused.  I don't think they really meant to confuse their audience.  

[KateJones]

I’m not here for How Old Hook Met Your Mother. At all. This show is and has been for some time, a trainwreck. Wow. 

[BoPeeps]

I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. Parts of it bored me. Parts intrigued me. A&E are still idea people with only brief moments of solid writing skills.  They will always be totally illogical and whacked no matter what story they think they are telling. Expect nonsense from them. Otherwise you will be eternally frustrated.

The best moment (and potential) was Roni and Rogers clinking glasses at the end. THAT could be interesting because the retiring of Emma/Killian (and the quite acceptable happy alternative of them in Storybrook) suits the original series just fine and allows a different direction with two already cool characters. (Carlyle has yet to be defined and I think we may have seen the end of genuine Rumple which would be tragic, but he is instant quality no matter who he is)

This gives Colin and the new incarnation of Hook to go to some meatier places. The sparks of snark and sass WERE there. I was missing them. It still might not be enough in this new larger city setting.

Emma and Killian got the “open” happy ending/new beginning closure they earned. I was Happy with that. They’d gone as far as their writing staff’s skills could allow with Emma, etc. Hook had nowhere Hookish to go!

It is, in effect, a totally different show. Forget the old one. It’s done. If you like Rogers and Roni and Weaver enough, it might be worth a watch but so far, the new characters are, so far, a giant snooze.

I’ll hang around to see if they bring enough of the fairy tale world back. If they don’t concentrate on the fantasy realm, it will disintegrate.

Resets like this are difficult at best. A&E are facing a huge climb out of a pretty deep hole, with less than sterling story telling skills...but, we’ll see. It’s gonna take a while and the very ADHD tv audience isn’t usually patient or all that deeply invested. Ratings are going to be the deciding factor. The money people may not give the new version time to settle in.

[darkestboy]

The Hook/Emma resolution reeked of pure fanfiction but it kind of work. The fact that it's Wish realm Hook who is actually Rogers and looking for a daughter actually works pretty well enough.

Weaver somewhat surprised me in this episode. Still trying to figure out what they're going to do there with him.

Roni, Henry and Rogers all banding together to take down Victoria didn't seem earned but I'm keen to move the story forward nonetheless. Liked the reunions that older Henry had with Regina, Emma and Hook in flashbacks though.

Not really loving Jacinda/Henry at all - no chemistry with them. Lucy is okay in small doses but I'd prefer to see more of Drizella and Sabine/Tiana though.

Tremaine still is lacking something as a baddie for me too, 7/10

[Rumsy4]

59 minutes ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

That 'fake hand of his' (Rogers) moved last ep.  Now it's a fake hand?  oh, okay. It would have been better if they'd gone with 'damaged hand' or 'bum hand.'

As he's always wearing a glove over it, it likely to be a high-end prosthetic--the kind Officer Rogers shouldn't be able to afford on his paycheck. 

1 hour ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I mean, how does Not!Hook even have any investigative experience? 

He has a Cursed memory download. He doesn't remember who he is.

[kingshearte]

2 hours ago, Worsel said:

Maybe Rumple (assuming he is Wish!Rumple) woke up and now has his own agenda - I assume he is still looking for Baelfire - and had Victoria cast the curse.  Just like season 1.  Uh oh, is there a Wish!Baelfire?  

There was, but I believe he was dead. Of course, there could still be some sort of Alt!Wish!Baelfire.

31 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

As he's always wearing a glove over it, it likely to be a high-end prosthetic--the kind Officer Rogers shouldn't be able to afford on his paycheck. 

Maybe we'll get a flashback about how some mysterious benefactor arranged for him to get it for some sort of nefarious purpose that we will definitely care about.

Anyway, as suspected, I'm done. It was nice to see Emma and Captain Swan again, and I'm glad they're still getting their happy ending. And, although Colin is so, so pretty, I'm afraid I just don't really care about Wish!Hook, and I care about the rest of them even less. So enjoy, y'all! Maybe I'll pop by for the finale.

Oh, but I also just wanted to add that the idea that anyone — including the little ballerinas' parents — would pay $550 for a children's ballet recital, no matter what amazing cause it was supporting, is beyond ridiculous. As is the idea that you can turn something like a ballet recital into the kind of charity gala that can command $550 ticket prices basically overnight.

Edited October 14, 2017 by kingshearte
No one would pay that much for a ballet recital

[Rumsy4]

Can anyone clarify what Wish!Hook's story about his was? Is she a product of the Wishverse, or did he have her after Emma left the Wishrealm? Did he say she was imprisoned in a tower, or is the "tower" part an extrapolation? I also think I heard something about him being poisoned, and that he couldn't save her. But it was unclear. 

[superloislane]

I didn't watch the first episode so this was my first look at this spin-off and...I will definitely not be continuing. This is a bad show. Really bad. I have some thoughts:

Emma's last episode and she's in it for about 3 minutes and barely had anything to do? It's exactly what I expected but I had hope that maybe there would be more (this show knows how to destroy hope doesn't it?).

At least Emma and Hook have their happy ending with their baby and no Regina or Rumple (I'm guessing) in Storybrooke to annoy them and destroy their lives! That's the best happy ending you could get! Although I'm forever pissed that they couldn't slot in a little flashforward to them with a baby at the end - would that have been so hard? This means we'll never know if they had a boy or a girl, the name...anything but hey at least we find out about fake Hook and his stupid kid! Sigh...

So it's random fake Hook with a random daughter and they'll most likely show a random baby mama (who is NOT Emma) too - I'm disgusted and I have absolutely no intention of watching that nonsense. Why would they think to do that - it's awful? And who cares about him if he's not even the character we've known for 5 years?! Thankfully it doesn't exist after this episode though (to me).

Fake Hook wanted to find Emma because he thought he could have true love with her since the real Hook has it with her? Ok. But then he said he was looking for true love with Emma to find his daughter? I don't think I understood that plan - can someone explain that to me? How does finding Emma help him find a daughter?!

Present day Cinderella is not very likable - I don't know what it is and she and Henry don't have much chemistry or any backstory (that I've seen) so far to explain why he's somehow infatuated with her. And I can't believe I was forced to watch a random ballet recital for that annoying girl right in the middle of the episode! I liked Cinderella's friend (I think she's Tiana since I saw a photo of her previously) but she didn't have much to do other than being a typical rom-com best friend.

No one's acting was very good - especially the newbies which is sad because in the previous seasons you could always rely on the actors to do something good. Now there's not even that and is it just me, or is the show filmed differently too? It felt odd to me - like it definitely wasn't Once.

Victoria was terrible in the present day but I liked her as a villain in the flashbacks oddly enough. I'm not sure what her plan is in Seattle (maybe it was explained in the last episode?) but it doesn't seem that bad. Why does she want Henry to leave? What is he even doing to make her mad. In season 1 it was obvious Regina wanted Emma gone because she wanted Henry all to herself and because Emma was weakening the curse. But that doesn't seem to be the case here so what's going on? And why does she even want the little girl - isn't she just a step-grandmother? How can she keep the mother away? None of it makes sense!

Rumple is just Rumple...again. There's not a huge difference. And Robert Carlyle is doing a strange accent. Or maybe he's trying to put on an accent but his Scottish accent just keeps coming out?

Is Emma the only illustration in the whole book? If Hook is in there wouldn't he see himself?

There was some nice Emma/Henry stuff here so that was good at least.

How long actually passed between Emma, Hook and Regina saying goodbye to Henry and him calling them to help? None of them seemed overly surprised that Henry looks nearly the same age as them! Did 10 years go by but they all look the same? Or do they all have great skincare routines?

Regina really has no life in Storybrooke if she can just drop everything and leave. It's my happy headcanon that when Henry left, everyone realised they didn't have to talk to Regina or hang around her anymore so she was left alone and that makes me laugh! 

Speaking of - that last nod between Regina and Emma was just hilarious! Weren't they supposed to be 'besties'? Ha! And Regina looked like she was slotted into the scene in post - was the actress not even there?! Oh wow!

I think I glazed over for the last scene when they strangely did a slow-motion close up of Hook, Henry and Regina drinking. What's their plan? And why do they have a plan? Is this against Victoria? What is she actually doing that's so terrible? I clearly didn't get the story.

I'm thankful I'm done with this show. With Emma gone and Captain Swan gone, the only things keeping me watching are no longer here so now I am free! And honestly if I was a new viewer tuning in, I would not be watching again.

Edited October 14, 2017 by superloislane

[shoregirl]

I didn't watch the premiere, ( I didn't watch the finale either the wedding episode is my finale )  but i watched this episode because i wanted to see how they wrote Emma off. Holy Crap y'all this show sucks so hard.  

   I'm happy how they wrote off Emma with Hook because while i agree that its fanfictiony ,I would have been a little pissed if they were separated again.

[Rumsy4]

25 minutes ago, superloislane said:

Speaking of - that last nod between Regina and Emma was just hilarious! Weren't they supposed to be 'besties'? Ha! And Regina looked like she was slotted into the scene in post - was the actress not even there?! Oh wow!

I was laughing at that nod! I don't think JMo and Lana filmed together for that scene. It definitely looked edited-in. I guess JMo was done working with Lana--she probably put it in her contract. She also didn't post any pics with Lana on Instagram for the nostalgia-week.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Rumsy4

[CCTC]

3 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

She also didn't post any pics with Lana on Instagram for the nostalgia-week.

I noticed this -- she had a few with Colin and Jared and a number with Josh and Ginny and most of her pics were from earlier seasons.  I get the impression she was closest with Ginny, which makes sense, since they knew each other beforehand, and remember seeing a bunch of pics of them hanging out socializing before Josh and Ginny started their family.  In later years it seems like Jennifer left Vancouver whenever she could. 

33 minutes ago, superloislane said:

Regina really has no life in Storybrooke if she can just drop everything and leave. It's my happy headcanon that when Henry left, everyone realised they didn't have to talk to Regina or hang around her anymore so she was left alone and that makes me laugh! 

Her job as mayor was originally terrorizing and bullying the residents.  Once that was done it is not like Storybrooke would have had a lot of challenges for the acting mayor.  It actually made sense for her to move on -- in some ways more than Henry who had a large extended family that he had been deprived of the first ten years of his life.  No mention of Zelina what Zelina is doing -- I suppose they want to reveal that later or keep their options open.  It is pretty clear we will not see Snow or Charming again in any sort of capacity or guest role.

I agree that Tinana has potential.  It is too bad she was not the new lead.

[RadioGirl27]

I haven't seen the episode yet, and I'm not even sure if I will. I HATE the Wish Realm and Wish Hook, they are the reason I stopped watching last season (I have only seen 3 episodes from 6B) but I love CS and I want to see Emma's and Killian's last moments on the show. Doubts, doubts, doubts...

Anyway, for what I've seen it was even worse than I thought it would be, no wonder Adam, Jane and the rest of the writers were hiding yesterday in twitter.

[Mitch]

A & E were stuck in a hard place here...if this board is any indication there are some real uh, committed Emma and Hook fans. The alternate Hook is a good idea, but I HATE the wish realm too as it makes no sense...so Regina DID kill Snow and Charming???Hook even says, "You aren't real." to NuHook.  Explain writers.

I like Regina and Hook teaming up and bickering the whole time...reminds me of Regina and Emma before they made them besties...Regina always works best when someone is getting on her last nerve and I like that Hook never kissed her ass. I did like the "So who is SHE?"...Regina "I'm his MOTHER!" WHACK...moment. That is the Regina I want to see, not some crying wuss...but a woman trying to do good and not above throwing annoying twits against the wall.

The new villain is too EQ after Season 2 and not EQ/Mayor Mills of S1, which is what she needs to be in the real world setting. Regina does have more chemistry with NuHenry then he does with Cinders but Parrilla is sex on a stick so she would have that kind of chemistry with a chair.

I hope Granny gets to move into Regina's house, she was kinda jealous of her place.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Mitch

[ParadoxLost]

I forgot this was on last night.  Just watched and a few thoughts.

Alice is probably the likely candidate for Hook's kid.  But his story sounded more like Rapunzel.

I got the sense that Wish Hook and Tremaine had a past.  I'm leaning towards Tremaine as the mother and WishHook's daughter.  Perhaps the "imprisoned by the witch" is the reason there is one step sister instead of two.

Roni had chemistry with both Rogers and Weaver which was weird for me.

I can't deal with Rumple's wardrobe.

I appreciate that they tied up the story for Emma and Hook and Storybroke neat and clean so there is closure. 

Part of me wants to keep watching.  I saw some glimmer of something promising in Rumple, Wish Hook, Regina, and Henry in this episode.  But I still find nothing to like about any of the new characters.  And I know that the writers just suck and will squander any  potential.  So I'm probably out.  Certainly not going to make a point off watching.  Background noise show, maybe.

[Rumsy4]

You know what's hilarious (not)? Rumple/Weaver acting like some paragon of virtue by testing Officer Rogers over his moral core.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Rumsy4

[iMonrey]

So if the "message in a bottle" summoned both real Hook and Wish Hook, why didn't it summon every Hook from every realm? For that matter, why didn't it summon every Regina from every realm? I understand what the writers are trying to do here but it's so convoluted and it doesn't really make any sense. Everything is just a little too convenient.

Exactly what kind of accent is Robert Carlyle going for? I'm really kind of sick of him. Both Rumple and Regina were over-used in the original series and clearly Kitsis and Horowitz think those two are the fan favorites, probably thanks to their Twitter sycophants. 

Yeah, I think I'm done with this. 

[Worsel]

2 hours ago, kingshearte said:

There was, but I believe he was dead. Of course, there could still be some sort of Alt!Wish!Baelfire.

 

Yes, I had completely forgotten about that silly painting of him and the dead references in Snowing's palace.  If I don't really like an episode I tend to forget the details.

[Rumsy4]

18 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

why didn't it summon every Hook from every realm? For that matter, why didn't it summon every Regina from every realm?

Hmmm.... good point. Because there should be multiple Captain Hooks, and at least one of them should look like Dustin Hoffman. 

As for Regina--the Wish!Realm Regina and Clone Queen should have been summoned.

Maybe all the other versions of Hook and Regina just ignored Henry's summons. lol (Wise choice).

Edited October 14, 2017 by Rumsy4

[RadioGirl27]

22 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

So if the "message in a bottle" summoned both real Hook and Wish Hook, why didn't it summon every Hook from every realm? For that matter, why didn't it summon every Regina from every realm? I understand what the writers are trying to do here but it's so convoluted and it doesn't really make any sense. Everything is just a little too convenient.

It makes no sense, and thinking about it would only give you a headache. They needed a excuse to keep Colin on the show (they knew Lana was not enough) and this half-assed story  is what they concocted, which doesn't speak too well about them. They are lucky Colin is such a great actor. I don't want to imagine this Wish Hook crappy storyline in other, less capable hands.

[ParadoxLost]

40 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

So if the "message in a bottle" summoned both real Hook and Wish Hook, why didn't it summon every Hook from every realm?

I'm going with the magic knew which Hook Henry meant.  But wish realm Hook is close enough that he got the message because they were the same until the curse didn't get cast or something.

In other news I still haven't worked out why Robin was the only one that didn't age in wish realm.

[KingOfHearts]

The message in a bottle was like a buggy computer program. Input "Hook", and you should have been more specific. 

I love how A&E want us to be emotionally invested in Wish!Hook, but want us to think Snowing were just holograms.

[Camera One]

The first draft of the script for this episode MUST have had a scene where Emma gives a pep talk to Regina about how she will find her own story and get her happy ending, along with an admission that Emma doesn't know how she will function without her BFF.  These Writers are usually more concerned with pandering than with developing organic stories, so the lack of Emma/Regina was the biggest surprise in this episode.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Camera One

[Rumsy4]

15 minutes ago, XrystalPond said:

Regina wears low cut shirts and flashes her boobs at random people.

That was kind of really awkward. The Evil Cleavage thing doesn't work with modern clothing.

6 minutes ago, Camera One said:

the lack of Emma/Regina was the biggest surprise in this episode.

I was surprised too! I have a feeling JMo might have insisted on it.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Souris]

3 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

I was laughing at that nod! I don't think JMo and Lana filmed together for that scene. It definitely looked edited-in. I guess JMo was done working with Lana--she probably put it in her contract. She also didn't post any pics with Lana on Instagram for the nostalgia-week.

Even better than that, she actively cropped Lana out of one pic she posted! (As well as cropping out half of Eddy, LOL.)

Lana wasn't on set when Jen filmed, so they added her in post. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a condition in Jen's return contract. Once she knew she was leaving, no need to keep up appearances or care about a future working relationship.

 

2 hours ago, Mitch said:

A & E were stuck in a hard place here...if this board is any indication there are some real uh, committed Emma and Hook fans. The alternate Hook is a good idea, but I HATE the wish realm too as it makes no sense...so Regina DID kill Snow and Charming???Hook even says, "You aren't real." to NuHook.  Explain writers.

Shows how little A&E care about continuity or logic. The Wish realm residents are real when they want them to be (Robin & AltHook) but not real when they don't want to deal with the repercussions (Regina murdering Snowing). They don't even care or try. They're just terrible.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Souris

[Blue Plastic]

Well, it didn't improve.  This was full of crap.  This season takes all the worst aspects of the original Storybrooke-based series and piles on even more crap unbelievability, discontinuity, and unfamiliar characters that don't work.  This is the only version of the Cinderella story that would make me root for Lady Tremaine.  Like seriously I hate Cinderella and Lucy.  Although I guess Henry is no prize so whatever.

So, this Killian is Other Hook?  In last week's episode I was wondering if Roni could be Split Regina/Evil Queen Half.  But this week they showed Mayor Regina staying in Fairy Realm with Adult Henry, so I guess Original Recipe Regina got sucked up into this new curse.

WTH is with Regina's and Emma's magic working or not working in Fairy Realm depending on the needs of the plot?  And that reminds me, what happened to Jen's/Emma's hand?  It looked so old and veiny.

So now Emma can have a Replacement Baby and do to Henry what her parents did to her with Baby Flake or whatever his name is.  He's named after saggy baggy Neil so I hate his name.

I now officially hate this show.

[Camera One]

The thing I love about this show is that the episodes keep on giving.  I was thinking about the episode when I was waiting in line at the checkout this morning, and while the present-day worldbuilding is horrible, the flashback worldbuilding is pretty bad too.

Why would Prisoner Henry be brought to Lady Tremaine's house?  Where's the King?  Why would Lady Tremaine personally command the search party for Henry?  Does she have a job as the Royal Sheriff/Executioner?  Why would Drizella need to be the one to interrogate/kill Henry?  Why does Lady Tremaine need Henry to reveal the location of the glass slipper?  How would she even know about it?  Why wasn't Henry in disguise if he knew people were looking for him?  How stupid is he? (okay, don't answer that)

If Lady Tremaine has all of the palaces' guards at her disposal, why would Henry, Regina, Emma and the two Hooks be able to have a leisurely campfire chat?  

Edited October 14, 2017 by Camera One

[AmeliaBedelia]

It was nice to be mildly interested in a OUAT episode again (that didn't really happen at all in season 6). I watched this one strictly for CS.

The first five minutes gave me whiplash with all the time cards. I don't know what happened in the first ep, but the new characters are not so great. Cinderella is terrible. Her line readings have no nuance. The clunky script certainly didn't help (I have chicken to sell!) Can't get behind the kid either. New Henry does remind me of JG's Henry, but it's weird to hear an adult talking about finding their story.

Colin in light blue jeans was a delightful surprise. It's a shame he was stuck in black leather for so long.

Roni. No opinion really except wear a higher shirt lady.

Weavers accent was noticeable. It sounded like RC was channeling Dick van Dyke's chimney sweep in Mary Poppins.

It looked like Colin had a blast playing against himself. I'm currently on an Orphan Black kick, so I was paying extra attention to how the scenes were shot.

WishHook having a daughter is the one, well, hook (heh) to keep me checking in with the show.

I liked Emma's appearance even though it was all plot focused. But, I would have liked one tiny (even 27 sec) scene of real Hook and Emma talking about their kid. A cliche belly rub is nice, but not enough. I did remind myself that this is the show that botched the proposal and wedding for my favorite couple so why should this be any different.

I think I will happily go back to watching season 2/3/5 OUAT edits. The current iteration of the show doesn't have enough substance, acting talent, novelty etc. for me.

Cheers!

[SiobhanJW]

44 minutes ago, Souris said:

Even better than that, she actively cropped Lana out of one pic she posted! (As well as cropping out half of Eddy, LOL.)

Lana wasn't on set when Jen filmed, so they added her in post. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a condition in Jen's return contract. Once she knew she was leaving, no need to keep up appearances or care about a future working relationship.

Have their been rumors of Jen & Lana not getting along? I thought they liked each other? 

[tennisgurl]

Can I just say, I am so not thrilled that the show is on Fridays now? I liked it being on Sundays, I didn't have much going on, and I could start my week off with my Once fix, even if my fix was just complaining about whatever ridiculousness was going on!

Anyway, so this is the end of "our" Hook and Emma, and I have to say, it could have been worse. The only way I would have been happy with Killian and Emma being separated is if it was only for a little while, and Emma shows up to save Hook with some True Loves Kiss action. This is pretty much the best option they had with Jen leaving but Colin sticking around. On the other hand, I cant say I care that much about Wish Hook, even if Colin is as great as always playing him. maybe I will later, but now it just seems weird. In the original curse, we got to know the characters as they really were, and could feel bad seeing how the curse had changed them. Here, we dont know the original characters (besides Rumple and Regina), so why should we be that invested in their cursed selves? They dont even seem that noticeably different than their actual personalities! 

I still dont get any chemistry between Henry and Cinderella, and dont see a real connection between them in either world. So Henry weirdly obsesses over the unpleasant women he met who stole his stuff, punched him out, and almost murdered a guy in one world, and acts like an asshole to him for daring to help get her a job in another world, and thats love? People are already throwing out "do you love her?" questions? They've talked like twice! This is worse than when Dorothy and Ruby became True Loves after knowing each other for three days! 

Not that it was all bad. I am kind of intrigued by Weaver and Rogers, and Roni/Henry/Rogers teaming up might be fun, and I was happy to see flashbacks to Hook and Henry bonding (my boy *sniffle*) and him being part of their family, and I know I`ll be back, so...meh. 

Now for some world building confusion. *Takes deep breath* Is the WishVerse real or not? When Regina killed Snow and Charming from that world, why were they not real, but everyone we else we else has met were real and we are supposed to be invested in? Are there just millions of versions of every character running around? Why did they just bring Emma back to book end the episode without her actually doing anything? Why does Henry look like an adult, but the rest of the gang looks the same? Is everyone back in Storebrooke, or did some people go back to the EF? Why does Lady Tremaine have magic? Can anyone do magic? How does she know Old Hook? So that confirms that WishVerse is real right? How does that work? Why is Henry just running around forests that look exactly like the EF? Why did no other parents complain about some random little girls ballet recital being turned into a $500 ticket all of the sudden? Why does Victoria have this power? Why does Emma have magic sometimes, and sometimes not? The same for Regina? Why does adult Henry have more chemistry with his adopted mother than his love interest? Why is Regina weirdly hung up on stupid plan names with her 20 something son? Why does this whole thing sound like a really lame episode of Rick and Morty? What is happening?!?!

Yeah yeah I know. My questions are meaningless. 

[tennisgurl]

Part of me is ready to let Captain Swan go and keep watching the show. The other half feels, without any of the characters I am really invested in around, I am basically a House Elf who just got thrown a sock from a cruel master. "Tennisgurl was given clothes! Tennisgirl is free!" 

[Camera One]

About the $550 ballet ticket (because Victoria knows that Jacinda only gets a $500 paycheque)... this high-scale ballet school must be in Seattle proper, not in Hyperion Heights, right (or at least contain some non-Cursed people)?  So how would Victoria have so much sway there?  So Jacinda and Lucy are perfectly fine with having Victoria pay for these expensive lessons, but Henry can't help pay for the ticket?  

Why would a police detective announce at a ballet they're going to search all the staff, and then hit one of the staff members in front of everyone?  There's no way that someone didn't film that whole embarrassing incident.

Edited October 14, 2017 by Camera One

[Noneofyourbusiness]

4 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I'm going with the magic knew which Hook Henry meant.  But wish realm Hook is close enough that he got the message because they were the same until the curse didn't get cast or something.

In other news I still haven't worked out why Robin was the only one that didn't age in wish realm.

1. But there's supposedly also an old, exiled Regina in the Wish Realm, according to one of the interviews with A&E. Unless she's died offscreen.

2. They said it had something to do with original Robin's soul.

[PixiePaws1]

If they had someone masquerading/glamoured to look like Hook instead of de-aged WishRealm Hook, HH Rogers could have been that same other person who was swept up in the curse but was ‘stuck’ still looking like Hook. Now THAT would have been a true twist.

Colin could have stayed but have the new acting challenge. 

Edited October 14, 2017 by PixiePaws1

[Camera One]

They still wanted the best of both worlds.  They wanted someone who was still Hook at his essence.  Thus the line given to Emma that Wish Hook was "the man I fell in love with.  Until we met, he was you."

[AAEBoiler]

Maybe we have a couple of more time jumps and timelines in the next episode because it's not confusing enough. Ugh, this is so painful. I really hope they didn't get an order for a full season.

[pezgirl7]

12 hours ago, XrystalPond said:

I certainly like her more than Jacinda, who is still coming off a bit too hard and weak at the same time for me. Her accent is a bit thick for me to understand, but I have an accent too so I guess I will get used to it if I continue watching.

I'm glad I'm not the only one how had trouble understanding her. There were at least 3 lines in this episode where I had no idea what she said, but I was too lazy to turn on the closed captions.

[ParadoxLost]

3 hours ago, Camera One said:

They still wanted the best of both worlds.  They wanted someone who was still Hook at his essence.  Thus the line given to Emma that Wish Hook was "the man I fell in love with.  Until we met, he was you."

They probably also wanted to lessen the impact / lack of realism that Henry would go missing forever and never meet his sibling and that Emma would be fine to stay in Storybrooke with Hook and never go looking for him.

But he's with Regina and wish realm Hook which is the next best thing to Killian.  I'm sure he's fine.

Frankly at this point, I'm kind of glad that JMo bailed because I think we were thisclose to Emma bailing on Snowing without a backward glance.

[legaleagle53]

19 hours ago, roctavia said:

I like that they found a way to make hook not hook.... even if it makes no sense how old hook got out of the wish realm. I don't want that whole realm to be real.... but I can allow that old hook somehow managed to get out like robin did before the realm went poof... but I do hope this isn't a well they keep going back to when they want to bring in a new old character. It works once for Hook, but that's it. Leave the wish realm gone.

 

Have we ever met the evil step mother before in previous seasons? In other realms/as a different character? I don't recognize her, but I don't always pay the most attention to this show....

Still not sure what to think of hyperion heights..... but it may also be that I'm not excited about a whole season of no one knowing who they are thanks to a curse... since we've been down that road many times before.

Yes and no.  We met a different version of Lady Tremaine last season.  She's still, as far as I know, doing community service under Grumpy's supervision as punishment for trying to ruin that town's Cinderella's life yet again.

The Lady Tremaine who is the (apparent) big bad this season (and who goes by Victoria in Hyperion Heights) is an entirely new version played by an entirely different actress.

Oh, and incidentally, I'm starting to think that Lady Tremaine may not have been the one to cast the curse -- or if she did, she had a little help.  I'm thinking that Regina may have cast it to get everyone away from Lady Tremaine, only it somehow got messed up and had the same effect as the original curse, or perhaps Wish!Hook cast it himself with a little help from Rumpel in order to get back to his daughter (I mean, that was Rumpel's original motive in getting Regina to cast the very first curse, after all).  I'm really waiting to see that episode and how it unfolded (it may also be the episode to tell us how the curse actually gets broken, since while Henry is the son of a Savior, he isn't one himself and doesn't have the inherent magic Emma had since birth that was part of the reason she was destined to break the curse).

[Camera One]

14 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Frankly at this point, I'm kind of glad that JMo bailed because I think we were this close to Emma bailing on Snowing without a backward glance.

That's a good point. 

So if Snowing had wanted to come, could they have?  Because Henry didn't say their name into the bottle.  But Hook had an extra bean.

7 hours ago, XrystalPond said:

Did they ever explain why Emma and Killian had to hurry home? Was dinner still on the stove? Did Emma have a doctor's appointment? Were they worried about immigration policies changing?

The writers of this show tend to fail on this whole drama thing. Giving people a time crunch adds drama. Scarcity is drama that we can relate to when we see it. Because the way it comes off otherwise is Emma looked around saw Regina and NotHook had everything under control (again these three and their lack of a plan) and told them all peace out. Not that I blame her.

I didn't even think about that, but there wasn't actually any reason.  I guess I just accepted it because I knew Jennifer Morrison was only back for one episode, but that's not an actual reason.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Camera One

[legaleagle53]

11 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

Can anyone clarify what Wish!Hook's story about his was? Is she a product of the Wishverse, or did he have her after Emma left the Wishrealm? Did he say she was imprisoned in a tower, or is the "tower" part an extrapolation? I also think I heard something about him being poisoned, and that he couldn't save her. But it was unclear. 

Yes to most of the above.  He said that he had his daughter after Emma left the Wishrealm, that an evil witch had imprisoned his daughter in a tower, but he used to be able to sneak in to see his daughter and play chess with her (which is how he ended up with her rook piece -- but why didn't he just try to rescue his daughter on one of those visits?). I don't remember the part about his being poisoned, though.

Edited October 15, 2017 by legaleagle53

[Blue Plastic]

12 hours ago, kingshearte said:

Oh, but I also just wanted to add that the idea that anyone — including the little ballerinas' parents — would pay $550 for a children's ballet recital, no matter what amazing cause it was supporting, is beyond ridiculous. As is the idea that you can turn something like a ballet recital into the kind of charity gala that can command $550 ticket prices basically overnight.

Yeah, I forgot to mention this in my previous post but the expensive charity ballet recital aspect, with caterers no less, was bizarre.  I guess it was supposed to be a wealthy audience whose children/grandchildren attend this dance school, but it still doesn't make any sense.  It was such a dinky little stage, too.  The place was obviously not set up for a big charity event with caterers, and nobody who didn't have a child involved would go see that recital for free, much less pay $500 to attend.

9 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I can't deal with Rumple's wardrobe.

He looked so weird dressed so casually.  I'm used to either his imp costume or Mr. Gold suit!  Nothing else!

30 minutes ago, Camera One said:

So if Snowing had wanted to come, could they have?  Because Henry didn't say their name into the bottle.

He would have said their names into the bottle if Ginny and Josh had re-upped their contract!

[Camera One]

12 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

Can anyone clarify what Wish!Hook's story about his was? Is she a product of the Wishverse, or did he have her after Emma left the Wishrealm? Did he say she was imprisoned in a tower, or is the "tower" part an extrapolation? I also think I heard something about him being poisoned, and that he couldn't save her. But it was unclear. 

Here is the transcript:

REAL HOOK: Tell me about your daughter.
WISH HOOK:
A vengeful witch trapped her in a prison.
Every day, I'd sneak in to play chess with her.
But I was discovered and punished.
My heart was poisoned cursed.
So I can never save her.
I knew I knew that true love was the cure.
So I roamed the realms seeking it, but it was futile.
Then, I thought, maybe Emma.

-------

I guess I mis-heard.  I thought he said a tower, but nope. 

Wouldn't Wish Hook's Daughter still be in the Wish Realm? 

Quote

He said that he had his daughter after Emma left the Wishrealm

I don't remember him saying anything about when he had the daughter.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Camera One

[Rumsy4]

34 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Yes to most of the above.  He said that he had his daughter after Emma left the Wishrealm, that an evil witch had imprisoned his daughter in a tower, but he used to be able to sneak in to see his daughter and play chess with her (which is how he ended up with her rook piece -- but why didn't he just try to rescue his daughter on one of those visits?). I don't remember the part about his being poisoned, though.

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

Here is the transcript:

REAL HOOK: Tell me about your daughter.
WISH HOOK:
A vengeful witch trapped her in a prison.
Every day, I'd sneak in to play chess with her.
But I was discovered and punished.
My heart was poisoned cursed.
So I can never save her.
I knew I knew that true love was the cure.
So I roamed the realms seeking it, but it was futile.
Then, I thought, maybe Emma.

-------

Wouldn't Wish Hook's Daughter still be in the Wish Realm? 

I don't remember him saying anything about when he had the daughter.

Thanks guys. I think the part about her being imprisoned in a Tower was a collective hallucination or something. lol Wish Hook's Daughter ought to be in the Wish Realm, but probably ended up in HH, along with everyone else. The chess-imagery is pretty evocative of Alice, but I really hope that is not the case. Alice seems a bit too much in cahoots with Rumple. The other alternative is Rapunzel...

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 10/13/2017 at 9:24 PM, Inquirer said:

So we're getting more from the Wish Realm.  I hope this means we'll get Henry vs. Wish Realm King Henry some time down the line.

I was thinking about the fact Henry has a counterpart there who is king, too. But it's probably too imaginative for A&E to come up with.

On 10/13/2017 at 9:06 PM, scenicbyway said:

OMG Wish Realm Hook is not real!  How would he exist in Henry's new realm?!  It makes no sense he was about to go after Emma till he found out she was preggo then all of a sudden "I have a daughter to find so nevermind?"

He travelled between realms.

He thought Emma's true love could help him reunite with his daughter, but he didn't want to separate original Hook from his unborn child.

[Camera One]

Just now, Rumsy4 said:

Thanks guys. I think the part about her being imprisoned in a Tower was a collective hallucination or something. lol Wish Hook's Daughter ought to be in the Wish Realm, but probably ended up in HH, along with everyone else. The chess-imagery is pretty evocative of Alice, but I really hope that is not the case. Alice seems a bit too much in cahoots with Rumple. The other alternative is Rapunzel...

I think I'm the one who initially mis-remembered that.  I too found Hook's dialogue very hard to comprehend, in all his scenes, even the ones on the Jolly Roger with Emma.   

[Noneofyourbusiness]

Just now, Camera One said:

I think I'm the one who initially mis-remembered that.  I too found Hook's dialogue very hard to comprehend, in all his scenes, even the ones on the Jolly Roger with Emma.   

I thought it was a tower, too. Of course, Rapunzel's tower is a prison, and she was put there by a witch, and in the fairy tale had someone sneak in there regularly. And the rook chess piece looks like a tower. So Rapunzel is a likely candidate.