S07.E21: Homecoming

[formerlyfreedom]

As the residents of Hyperion Heights celebrate the breaking of the curse, Henry is visited by Wish Rumple, who’s hatched an evil plan to use Ella and Lucy to keep Weaver from destroying the Dark One powers. In order to stop him, Henry, Roni, Weaver and Rogers must travel to the Wish Realm, home to versions of some of our most beloved and fearsome characters. In a flashback, a discouraged Young Henry is visited by Wish Rumple and offered a deal that could have tragic consequences.

 

[KingOfHearts]

Alright, I'm just going to say it. I don't think this is a bad finale so far. Yeah, there's definitely some stupid stuff that we've seen before, but my expectations were low and there's some good moments to counteract it. What I'm most shocked by is the writers remembering things and actually using payoff - "The boy will be your undoing", Cruella having the ink, Wish Henry getting revenge on Regina for killing his grandparents, etc. 

I'm actually really hyped for Storybrooke.

Also - hallelujah for Lucy and Jacinda being stuck in a snowglobe.

Edited May 12, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[Rumsy4]

9 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

So, basically, Wish Henry is the hero. Or should be. But it's the usual thing of the person who's been horribly wrong being evil or being mad about being horribly wronged.

I'm sure Wish Henry will be punished for daring to avenge his grandparents' death and Regina taking away his mom. 

On a more positive note, I really enjoyed the episode. WHook and Alice brought all the feels with their across-the-road chat. 

I loved seeing Ariel and Cruella again! But Pan's cameo was a huge disappointment. It's adorable that WAriel was friends with WHook. hehehe

Lucy and Jacinda were stuffed into a Snow Globe. Yes!!

I'm really enjoying WRumple. As I said in the live-chat, he's less whiny than Rumple Prime. 

As usual Regina and Henry manages to muck up things even more.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Rumsy4

[KingOfHearts]

2 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

As usual Regina and Henry manages to much up things even more.

It cracks me up how much Regina and Henry suck. It's really funny.

2 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

On a more positive note, I really enjoyed the episode.

*inhales* I already think it surpasses both the S5 and S6 finales. I love how it's mostly been just a fun adventure romp.

Edited May 12, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[Rumsy4]

So, a whole Season's worth of talk about the Guardian, and it's taken out of the equation. How typical of the Show...

[CCTC]

Yes - as much as I poked fun at it in the live chat, it was kind of fun, and I agree I was surprised at the remembering the prophesy and the killing of the WishSnowing having consequences.

It is too bad the show did not do straight fun adventure more often.  As bad as last year's finale I did like the bean stalk adventure.  It is amazing how little they did that kind of stuff in later years.

[Shanna Marie]

2 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

Alright, I'm just going to say it. I don't think this is a bad finale so far.

Yeah. I'm sure they'll do something to really piss me off next week, but so far, it hasn't been that bad. It does remind me that Henry is a dolt and always has been. And it shows how much wasted potential there was this season. As I said in the live chat, seeing young Henry (apparently Wish Henry) lamely going after Sleeping Beauty, only to be friendzoned, was amusing. If that had been Henry Prime, it might have been more fun this season if we'd had a few episodes of that and they'd left us guessing which woman in Hyperion Heights would be the one he finally ended up with.

When WHook put the hook back on, it became painfully obvious how fake the hook looks. In fact, I thought he was just carrying it at first, but I guess he put it back on.

5 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

I'm sure Wish Henry will be punished for daring to avenge his grandparents' death and Regina taking away his mom. 

On the bright side, it might be entertaining to have Henry be the villain for an episode. Even though he's actually right. Maybe not about revenge, but then again, it's not like there was ever any justice.

[Rumsy4]

1 minute ago, Shanna Marie said:

it's not like there was ever any justice.

...for anything Regina ever did.

[ParadoxLost]

4 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

On the bright side, it might be entertaining to have Henry be the villain for an episode. Even though he's actually right. Maybe not about revenge, but then again, it's not like there was ever any justice.

It will at least be interesting to see how they maneuver around Regina not "really" killing Henry's grandparents when WHook and Alice are also  from Wish realm.

 

They already had to conveniently cut off her protestations.

[tennisgurl]

That was pretty fun, if not exactly an epic worthy of the second to last episode of a long running TV show. It was nice to see everyone just having an adventure, and I was impressed that they actually remembered some stuff thats happened! The prophesy! Henry's Author power! The Ink! WishHenry being pissed about his grandparents! Continuity! 

Really, I will be interested to see what Regina says when she has to explain why she killed Wish Snowing. Its not like she can say they arent real, with Wish Hook standing right there. She really has no justification, and it will be funny watching the writers try to skirt around that. Maybe someone will even bring Graham up! 

I think sticking Lucy and Murderella in a snow globe was absolutely the right call. As much as I hate the fact that the alleged female lead has been damselled, the less screen time they have, the better. 

I will need to watch the Authors speech again, so I can pick apart the meta, and try to cram it into this shows bizarre world building. The Ariel, Cruella, and Pan cameos were fun, if short and rather pointless. I love that Wish Hook and Wish Ariel are friends! But, did we need a call back to Henry's awkward fountain speech?  

So, they managed to get through this one without pissing me off too much, or doing anything too embarrassing, and as much as I enjoyed mocking it in the live thread (had a great time guys!), it was a pretty fun episode. Of course, we still have next week...

[Rumsy4]

5 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Maybe someone will even bring Graham up! 

There are some rules ONCE will never break. Dead is Dead when it comes to Bagel Neal. And nobody will ever know Regina murdered Graham. 

8 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

So, they managed to get through this one without pissing me off too much, or doing anything too embarrassing, and as much as I enjoyed mocking it in the live thread (had a great time guys!), it was a pretty fun episode.

Same here. I enjoyed the episode and it didn't piss me off. At this point in the series, this really is high praise! lol

[KingOfHearts]

I'm sad we didn't get to see an Alice/Robyn cross-country roadtrip. 

I know it won't happen, but I'm hoping Wish Henry kills Regina. Maybe going back to Storybrooke can alter the timeline and stop it from happening. I'd even be okay with that.

Edited May 12, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

29 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

But, did we need a call back to Henry's awkward fountain speech?  

I was dreading another fountain speech, but Tiana's speech actually kind of worked and made sense, since it was pretty practical -- hey, does anyone have any realm-hopping magic stashed? Though it would have worked better if we'd ever seen Remy in a flashback or knew anything about him. I'm assuming he's meant to be the Remy from Ratatouille, given the mention of making cassoulet. But they didn't bother with anything more than that. And all those people coming together would have been more meaningful if they'd ever established any kind of relationship, past or present.

I'm still not sure how they have magic. There's magic in Storybrooke, but Storybrooke was magically created and the magic is confined by the town limits. They've made a big deal out of how there's no magic in the rest of the world. Rumple got all frustrated when he left town. Hyperion Heights doesn't seem to have been created, unless no one happened to notice a whole new neighborhood just appearing in a major city. Or is there no magic outside the neighborhood? And Tiana talked about being cursed for years. How long did the curse last?

[Worsel]

4 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

I'm sad we didn't get to see an Alice/Robyn cross-country roadtrip. 

Me too!  They are really the best new characters this season.

28 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Really, I will be interested to see what Regina says when she has to explain why she killed Wish Snowing. Its not like she can say they arent real, with Wish Hook standing right there. She really has no justification, and it will be funny watching the writers try to skirt around that. Maybe someone will even bring Graham up! 

I think sticking Lucy and Murderella in a snow globe was absolutely the right call. As much as I hate the fact that the alleged female lead has been damselled, the less screen time they have, the better. 

 

I don't think they will properly address Regina's murder of Wish Snowing.  At most I expect a throw away line about regretting it before the plot quickly moves along and somehow Regina brings love back into WHenry's blackening heart.  And no, sadly, I believe there will never be a mention of Graham.  

It was amusing seeing Lucy and Jacinda in the snow globe.  I'm waiting to see if someone gives it a shake, just for fun.

[KingOfHearts]

Okay, I'm still wondering if Remy was a talking rat back in the Disenchanted Forest.

[Camera One]

This first half wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  It was better than the last two finales.   

I was reading the live thread, and I too was confused which Henry we saw at the beginning.  Watching Henry being rejected was very entertaining.  "The brother I never had".  Heh.  If it were Wish Henry, he would be more angry and less noble, no?  Plus the Wish Henry wouldn't know about all the other versions of Rumple.  So it certainly seemed like it was Original Henry, especially because the previouslies showed him leaving Storybrooke and then it started with the scene with Henry on that horse.

I actually expected this episode to jump very quickly to the Wish Realm, but they stayed around Hyperion Heights for a lot longer.  A viewer who skipped most of the season would have been turned off.  

I guess no season 7 episode would be complete without a bunch of cold beignets.  Are we doing another episode about Tiana's insecurities about being a queen?  I guess it's a homage to Snow's "I want to be Mary Margaret" "No, I want to be Snow White again", change mind x 100000. 

Why didn't Wish Rumple just send Weaver and Roni to the dungeons and just work on Adult Henry by giving him the broken mirror and sending him right to the Wish Apprentice's hut?  As usual, it was such a roundabout way to get to the villain's true goal.

There were a ton of things that made zero sense.  If Rumple lost his power, then so would Wish Rumple?  Why?  Their paths diverged already.  Wish Snowing died, but it had no impact on Real Snowing.  Didn't Rumple already eliminate the possibility of transferring his Dagger to the Guardian?  So who cares if the power of the Guardian was no more?

Weaver was balking that Henry was "suggesting" he give up his dagger, yet two weeks ago, he pretty much chose to sacrifice Henry to find his "stolen" dagger.

Peter Pan's cameo was pretty pathetic.  Cruella's cameo was better.  Though why would Regina let Cruella swordfight Henry when she could have put her into that cage with magic instantly?  

I couldn't tell if Jacinda was laughing or crying in the Snow Globe.  I guess everyone and their grandma have had cupcakes with a single candle on it.

In some shows, going to the library would be exciting since they might find a solution.  But it was this show, so the montage of Henry opening books felt a minute too long because it was obvious he would find nothing.

"The timelines alone would make one's head spin.  Only a true author can weave such a tale."  Right, no one is as intelligent as you two, A&E.  BTW, good writers have timelines that make sense.

Of course Angry Wish Henry was portrayed as true evil.  Though I completely expect to see him won over by Regina next week.  I wonder what Regina was trying to say when he accused her of killing Snowing.  They even had Whook tell Rumple "I'm as real as you are" earlier, so Regina couldn't have said what she did last year, that nothing was real.

Alice: "Want to come with us?"   Tiana: "No thank you."  LOL, great friend and monarch right there.   The Troll speech was so half-hearted.  So Drizella/Gothel let the fairytale characters bring their magical belongings along with them to the Cursed Land?  You'd think all those magic beans and magic mirrors would be confiscated and placed into Victoria's Boutique.

Why would Alice and Robyn need to go in the food truck?  Tiana would need it, since she's going to be Queen and have her beignet too.  Shouldn't Robyn contact Zelena for help?  Neither Alice nor Robyn would last 30 seconds against Wish Rumple.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

Shouldn't Robyn contact Zelena for help?

I'm surprised (not really) Robyn didn't even mentioned calling her mom to tell her about the curse breaking. I would have liked a scene where she tearfully said she understood why her mom had kept secrets from her. But if that happened, Zelena would have come up to HH with her fiance. Honestly, the curse should've been broken in an earlier episode so we could explore the aftermath more. Tiana brought up an interesting "we are both" dilemma. I hate that Storybrooke is getting crammed into the final hour.

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

Peter Pan's cameo was pretty pathetic.  Cruella's cameo was better.  Though why would Regina let Cruella swordfight Henry when she could have put her into that cage with magic instantly?  

Pan's cameo was stupid. Not only was it pointless, but it made no sense. Cruella wouldn't swordfight. She would send some rabid dogs against them.

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

I guess no season 7 episode would be complete without a bunch of cold beignets.  Are we doing another episode about Tiana's insecurities about being a queen?  I guess it's a homage to Snow's "I want to be Mary Margaret" "No, I want to be Snow White again", change mind x 100000. 

Tiana's subplot was the weakest part of the episode, imo. No one needed another dose of her whining about being queen. We got enough of that from her flashbacks and Jasmine in S6.

[Shanna Marie]

I wonder if sticking Jacinda and Lucy in a snowglobe was because they realized how poorly received those characters were and were getting them out of the way so the finale could focus on characters more of the audience actually likes, or if they actually thought people really cared about them, so putting them in jeopardy would make it all more emotional.

In general, just as in the previous episode this feels rather disconnected from the entire season. The focus on the resolution to the main story and on the aftermath in the finale is different from the focus in the rest of the season. As is their habit, stuff they spent a lot of time on went nowhere, while things that are supposed to be important now weren't set up at all. All that time wasted in the first half of the season with Victoria, Drizella, and the like could have been spent on developing Gothel, Alice, Robyn, and Henry. Henry's now the focus of the finale, but you could have removed him from the whole season up to his TLK with Regina without changing the plot. His motivation is his love for his wife and daughter, but we never saw that relationship. We had Henry and Jacinda's passionless non-dating and Lucy's nagging in the present, but we never really saw anything of their family in the past to make us feel their loss in the present or to make us care about Henry being separated from them now. You could completely remove Tiana from the season without changing much of anything. The beignet magic was so silly and unconvincing -- as powerful as Facilier seemed to be, and he couldn't do voodoo without magic sugar after manipulating Naveen? And anyone could have made the inspiring "give us your beans" speech, or they could have found a bean some other way -- like surely Alice's backpack was hoarding one.

Oh -- another repeated plot point. Just as in the first two seasons when Emma was separated from her parents as soon as the curse broke (but at least her mother went with her), Henry's separated from his family soon after the curse breaks.

9 hours ago, Camera One said:

Why would Alice and Robyn need to go in the food truck? 

I'm sure it was purely for the imagery, like Henry's motorcycle. But they should have taken Rogers' cool sports car. That would be the way to roll into town.

[kili]

Quote

I was reading the live thread, and I too was confused which Henry we saw at the beginning.  Watching Henry being rejected was very entertaining.  "The brother I never had".  Heh.  If it were Wish Henry, he would be more angry and less noble, no?  Plus the Wish Henry wouldn't know about all the other versions of Rumple.  So it certainly seemed like it was Original Henry, especially because the previouslies showed him leaving Storybrooke and then it started with the scene with Henry on that horse.

They gave "Friendzoned" Henry a scar so we would know which Henry it was. In the Author-vs-Author scenes Hyperion Henry doesn't have the scar, but Wish Henry does. Wish Henry was the one who failed to kill the dragon and got friend zoned.

Wouldn't WHook's little home get flooded every time there was a storm surge?

It seemed like a some of the cameos were filmed with the cameo actors separate from the main cast. Were Pan and Ariel filmed elsewhere and then edited into the scene in post? Only Cruella seemed to really be there. 

There is always a magic bean when you need one, unless you are Rumple or Blue.

When I watched Once online, all the ads were for alcohol. Are Once fans getting a reputation or is it just me?

Edited May 12, 2018 by kili

[Camera One]

1 hour ago, kili said:

They gave "Friendzoned" Henry a scar so we would know which Henry it was. In the Author-vs-Author scenes Hyperion Henry doesn't have the scar, but Wish Henry does. Wish Henry was the one who failed to kill the dragon and got friend zoned.

 

Ah, right.  It was the scar.  It seems like this was supposed to be one of the "surprise twists".  They gave a bunch of misleading clues, like having Wish Rumple say he travelled all the way from the Wish Realm, and opening the episode with the sequence after the previously showing Original Henry leaving Storybrooke.

Still, Henry's demeanor in that flashback seemed more Original Henry than the angry cynical Wish Henry.  The intent was more to trick than to give clues.  Like why would Wish Rumple refer to that conversation with Adult Original Henry, when Wish Rumple knew this wasn't the same Henry he spoke to?  I looked back at the script and it was worded very carefully, "I know you don't remember, but I warned a younger version of you once."

Wish Henry was the King.  Even if Henry wasn't desirable, I seriously doubt there wouldn't be many women who would want to marry him.  As the King, he's realm hopping too?  I guess that might have been the Disenchanted Forest's version of Sleeping Beauty or something.  But it sounded like he was there long enough to become friends with the Princess before she got put into the Sleeping Curse.  If he was so driven by revenge, why wouldn't he Realm Hop to seek out and kill Regina?

I know this was all to enhance the "surprise" of Wish Henry allying with Wish Rumple and how Wish Rumple was ultimately after that dumb pen, but as usual, it was a cheap parlor trick rather than a carefully constructed twist that paid off.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[Camera One]

I keep looking at that freeze frame of the promo at the top of the page.  Gotcha viewers, this episode doesn't feature the return of Emma, it features the return of the CUPCAKE.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Watching it without the lag so I can see the entirety of some scenes.

I love how unaffected Regina was by Facilier's death. She seemed surprised, but not devastated. She was more concerned about Wish Rumple being loose than anything. What was the point of their relationship again?

The cupcakes shouldn't be to "make up for all the celebrations we missed during the curse". In every other instance they've been on the show, they've represented loneliness. 

New S7 viewers: "Regina wished on a cupcake she didn't have to be lonely years ago?"

This episode has some pretty unintentionally hilarious quotes. "We don't negotiate with villains"... I would need at least two hands to count how many times Regina negotiated with villains.

Where is Tiana's mother? We know she lives in HH or at least the Land Without Magic. She has mentioned her before.

Edited May 12, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I thought I did see sadness in her face when Regina found out Facilier's death, but it quickly became anger, and that was the driving force behind her joining forces with Rumple.  

I rewatched the opening scene with Henry, and I think the other misleading aspect was the dialogue.  That Henry and the other Prince was speaking like a modern teenager.  "Thanks."  "I was just in the neighborhood"  "I got this".  "I don't care".  A lot of use of contractions.

The Alt Sleeping Beauty looked like she was wearing one of those cheap dresses that existed thousands of years ago in Seattle in Gothel's time.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

2 minutes ago, Camera One said:

The Alt Sleeping Beauty looked like she was wearing one of those cheap dresses that existed thousands of years ago in Seattle in Gothel's time.

Prehistoric-Victorian era fashion is very iconic.

[Rumsy4]

Poor WHook. Nobody was there to even drive him home from the hospital?

I ship WHook and WAriel.

12 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

I love how unaffected Regina was by Facilier's death. She seemed surprised, but not devastated. She was more concerned about Wish Rumple being loose than anything. What was the point of their relationship again?

When Regina talked about wanting to take revenge on Wish Rumple, I had to think for a second to realize she was referring to Facilier's murder. 

[KingOfHearts]

6 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

When Regina talked about wanting to take revenge on Wish Rumple, I had to think for a second to realize she was referring to Facilier's murder. 

I caught that too, but her reaction was just so minimal. It's almost as if she knows it's her fault he's free and she's just using avenging Facilier to cover up for that. Seeing as how she's reacted to her dead lovers in the past, this was surprisingly low-key. I don't think she even mentioned Facilier's once after she found out he was dead. It just seems out of character not for Regina to have a grandiose emotional reaction.

I know I mentioned this in the Live Chat thread, but I still don't buy that she would've trusted Rumple with his story about Wish Rumple turning up and killing Facilier. Just a couple episodes ago she basically said "screw you" and never wanted to trust him again. There was no evidence that Rumple didn't just murder Facilier to stop him from getting the Dagger.

Edited May 12, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

Earlier in the episode, Regina was concurring with Henry suggesting that Facilier may be planning something and up to no good, so she didn't trust him, which explains her muted reaction.  Did they forget Facilier helped to remove the poison from Henry?  I suspect the Writers basically wanted to downplay the "relationship" or whatever it was so they could propel Regina to a different happy ending that we'll see next week.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

8 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Poor WHook. Nobody was there to even drive him home from the hospital?

Watched the WHook/Alice scene. The actors sold the hell out of it. They're what make the father/daughter relationship so endearing. I'm glad S7 happened, if just for Alice and WHook to be added to the show's canon.

[Rumsy4]

2 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

Watched the WHook/Alice scene. The actors sold the hell out of it. They're what make the father/daughter relationship so endearing. I'm glad S7 happened, if just for Alice and WHook to be added to the show's canon.

Absolutely. I teared up at their conversation--it was so bittersweet. They're the best part of Season 7, and one of the best-developed relationships in the Show. I think it's good the Show got cancelled before the writers inevitably ruined it. lol

[CCTC]

1 hour ago, KingOfHearts said:

I don't think she even mentioned Facilier's once after she found out he was dead.

He is another character who really added nothing when all was said and done (although I think the actor would have made a great big bad). 

For being the love interest of the star of the show, they had very few scenes together, we never learned their history, and there seemed to be no love between them.  They came across as two people who occasionally slept together - friends with benefits, but not sure they even were friends.

[Camera One]

10 minutes ago, CCTC said:

For being the love interest of the star of the show, they had very few scenes together, we never learned their history, and there seemed to be no love between them.  They came across as two people who occasionally slept together - friends with benefits, but not sure they even were friends.

I remember we were all confused about when in the timeline Regina could possibly have had a relationship with Dr. Facilier.  It didn't fit anywhere in her past.  Yet we were supposed to buy that Regina simply couldn't resist Facilier when he came to Hyperion Heights.  I guess only true writers like A&E can weave such a complex tale.

If Wish Rumple took Original Rumple's dagger, wouldn't Wish Rumple just control Original Rumple?  Rumple wouldn't stop becoming The Dark One and it wouldn't allow him to reunite with Belle.  So I don't understand that Squid Ink setup deal.  Or was Original Rumple feigning that he would let Wish Rumple stab him with the Dagger?  It is just so ridiculously dumb that Original Rumple can't kill Wish Rumple, or his heart would be damaged and he wouldn't reunite with Belle.  Yet it was okay for him to kill The Black Fairy last year?  What really makes our heads spin is not the timelines but the constantly shifting/spinning moral compass.

Why didn't Wish Henry just write, "Wish Rumple is thus imprisoned forever" or "Wish Rumple is stripped of all his magical powers" first, so he wouldn't be controlled by him?  He could still have his revenge on Regina after that.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

9 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I remember we were all confused about when in the timeline Regina could possibly have had a relationship with Dr. Facilier

It kept me up many nights. I'm an insomniac now.

[thuganomics85]

Ah, nothing says true love like the way Henry stiffly called Lucy "his daughter" and Jacinda "his wife."  Really can feel the love there, buddy.

So, the endgame is that Wish Rumple actually didn't want the dagger, but the Author's pen to rewrite the story.  And is doing this thanks to an alliance with Wish Henry, who never got any kind of happy endings like Regular Henry, so he is upset and easy to control.  I guess this isn't too bad of a final showdown, but I wish they had developed this more.  It really has a sense of an idea the writers had planned for a future season, but are rushing through it, now that the show is canceled.

Fun seeing Ariel, Cruella, and Peter Pan again, even if the latter was woefully underused.  It also looked like Ariel's scenes was a last minute thing, and that JoAnna wasn't anywhere near Colin and Robert during filming.

I feel kind of bad, but I love that they just basically banished Lucy and Jacinda into a snow globe.  I think even the show knows that they are failures, because I wouldn't have been surprised if they originally attended them to lead the rescue, but have rightfully now given that to Alice and Robin instead.

Storybrooke!  Can't believe how much I missed that place.  And the OG characters!

The end will finally arrive next week.  I hope they at least stick the landing and give this show as good of a send-off as it can possibly get.

[tennisgurl]

Its kind of amazing how little what has happened this season is actually relevant to its final episodes. Pretty much everything we`ve established, like the drama with Ivy and her family, Facilier manipulating Naven and flirting with Regina, the whole coven thing with Gothel, the long forgotten gentrification plot, Nick the serial killer and his beef with Zelena, is all gone away and seems to have become almost totally irrelevant. Go figure.

[Camera One]

Was Tiana the only monarch of the people of Hyperion Heights?  Remy worked at Roni's.  Robyn could have asked him and he probably would have handed over the bean, especially if she said Roni and Henry were in trouble.

[Shanna Marie]

3 hours ago, Camera One said:

I rewatched the opening scene with Henry, and I think the other misleading aspect was the dialogue.  That Henry and the other Prince was speaking like a modern teenager.  "Thanks."  "I was just in the neighborhood"  "I got this".  "I don't care".  A lot of use of contractions.

And yet Whenry later sounded very different, almost like he was going for a quasi-British accent, or at least sounding more formal.

What was a king doing running around the realms, and would a king really get friendzoned like that? I mean, yeah, Henry is a twit, but if Henry Prime managed to snag Cinderella without being a king, you'd think a king would have better luck. Maybe Alt Philip and Alt Sleeping Beauty were already in love, so Henry didn't stand a chance (which makes you wonder why he thought a TLK would work), but surely there would be plenty of princesses in the Wishverse who'd be keen for a king. I wonder how much later the "present" events were -- it can't have been more than four years later if they're still in the same time period the curse sent them to.

[CCTC]

First show of the season I rewatched.

Did they say how WishRumple was able to pop in and out of HH?

They definitely set it up so the opening scene seemed to be original recipe Henry, from how he acted in the opening scene, and from WishRumple reminding Adult Henry of their talk with his "younger self".  In retrospect it was worded in a way that could refer to WishHenry, but it was a bit of a plot hole that Adult Henry never commented that he did not remember the conversation.

While I originally laughed at Regina's entrance foiling Prime Rumple stabbing Wish Rumple, it is really Rumple Prime's fault.  He knew there was limited time, but he still took about two minutes to pontificate and brag.  If Regina would not have come in, Rumple Prime would have probably kept talking until the ink wore off.

While using the bean to drive the food truck to Story Brooke did not make a lot of sense, it was kind of a fun image.   I am guessing the town will probably be excited to see some dining options other than Granny's coming to town.

I kind of wish that next week was two hours so they could really play out some of the adventure before the closing wrap-up scene.  It seems like a lot to wrap up in an hour and still do whatever montage they are going to do at the end.

[Camera One]

I didn't see how Henry got that scar in that cave.  I guess he must have hit it on a rock or something?  I liked the background music that played when he was riding the horse to rescue the princess.  It was more epic than Adult Henry riding his dumb motorcycle in the season premiere.  

I guess it might have been intentional, but that True Love Kiss scene was certainly lacking with the same "You saved me" line.  I guess it shows again how A&E lucked out with the actors in Season 1.  This one felt more like a high-school production.

[Rumsy4]

17 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I guess it might have been intentional, but that True Love Kiss scene was certainly lacking with the same "You saved me" line.  I guess it shows again how A&E lucked out with the actors in Season 1.  This one felt more like a high-school production.

Very true. The S2 Aurora and Philip TLK was way more meaningful even if we had only just met them as well.

[Camera One]

So far in the finale, Odes to

Season 1: Horseride to TLK Opening, Cupcakes, Driving into Storybrooke

Season 2: Seer/Rumple's Axe

Season 3: Peter Pan, Ariel, Squid Ink

Season 4: The Apprentice/The Author/The Pen, Cruella de Vil

Season 5: Fountain/Troll Speech

Season 6: Wish Realm

Edited May 14, 2018 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

So far, other than some little callbacks, the series finale doesn't have a lot to do with the rest of the show. The only thing it really ties back to is the Wish Realm. It's not a conclusion for the whole seven seasons. I'm actually okay with that. I don't want to think about how many ways this show has let us down over the years, nor do I want to be reminded how far it fell. As its own thing, it's really not that bad. However, next week we've got Storybrooke and all the originals, so there's still time to obliterate any last remaining HOPE I have.

On 5/11/2018 at 9:02 PM, Worsel said:

I don't think they will properly address Regina's murder of Wish Snowing.

Addressing something doesn't equal paying something off. If, for example, the comic relief isn't funny and one of the characters remarks that they make bad jokes, that doesn't excuse the fact the comic relief doesn't do its job. Just because Wish Henry is saying that Regina murdered his grandparents, it doesn't mean she's going to face any consequences for it. It doesn't absolve how offensive it was.

[Camera One]

I guess that's really in keeping with a lot of their previous finales.  These Writers tend to create brand new problems for the characters to solve once they run out of ideas.  

[KingOfHearts]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

I guess that's really in keeping with a lot of their previous finales.  These Writers tend to create brand new problems for the characters to solve once they run out of ideas.  

At least this time it's not something random and contrived. Wish Rumple was an actual loose end, as was Wish Henry. It's also not as though the Wish Realm was no longer relevant, since it had been featured multiple times in S7.

[Rumsy4]

6 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

Addressing something doesn't equal paying something off. ... Just because Wish Henry is saying that Regina murdered his grandparents, it doesn't mean she's going to face any consequences for it. It doesn't absolve how offensive it was.

Exactly. Let's HOPE Wish Henry won't end up thanking her for it. 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Rumsy4

[darkestboy]

Rather good penultimate episode. Really liked seeing Cruella, Pan and Ariel in various season and Wish Rumple and Henry teaming up against the gang actually is decent enough.

I guess it's up to Regina to save the day now.

Didn't care that Ella and Lucy were trapped in the snowglobe to be honest but I did like Alice/Robyn working together at the end of this once.

Tiana's moments were alright but her scenes with Naveen would've had more to them if their relationship had been developed better over the course of the season.

Seeing Storybrooke at the end though, I loved that bit, 7/10

[jhlipton]

On 5/11/2018 at 6:14 PM, Shanna Marie said:

As I said in the live chat, seeing young Henry (apparently Wish Henry) lamely going after Sleeping Beauty, only to be friendzoned, was amusing

He was "rescuing: her for the wrong reason, and expected to rewarded for it.  This is "Good Guy" behavior, not what a person who loves another would do.

On 5/11/2018 at 6:28 PM, tennisgurl said:

As much as I hate the fact that the alleged female lead has been damselled, the less screen time they have, the better.

For me, the female lead is Alice, but I know what you mean.

On 5/11/2018 at 7:02 PM, Shanna Marie said:

I was dreading another fountain speech, but Tiana's speech actually kind of worked and made sense,

On 5/12/2018 at 1:01 PM, Camera One said:

Was Tiana the only monarch of the people of Hyperion Heights

Sorry, she's not Emperor Tiana or Sabine, and those are not "her people" (and she needed A Man to get their attention, like any good "feminist").  If she wants to be a queen, she can go back to the Disenchnted Forest.

[Rumsy4]

6 hours ago, jhlipton said:

she needed A Man to get their attention, like any good "feminist"

I noticed that as well. A&E's so-called feminism always comes with strings. They may put a sword in Snow White's hand, but they will also label her a murderer for using it.

[CinAZ]

Just got around to seeing this episode. First off, so glad Jacinda and Lucy were banished to the snow globe, that way we didn’t have to endure the poor /over acting of the actresses.

Not much better with a lot of the focus on Henry, but we had more screen time with the original recipe crew. Really nice seeing Ariel- as someone stated before, her and Whook would be awesome together. They have chemistry. Although I have noticed that Hook has chemistry with almost anyone onscreen with him. He is my favorite of the entire series.

Love Robin and Alice. I really wish we would have gotten more of them together.  Confused on why Robin didn’t call her mom to let her know the curse had been broken, you would think a 15 second clip showing the end of a phone conversation would have been easy to include, just cut out one  of the shots in the snow globe.

I suppose Friday will be a bit bittersweet.  I did enjoy most of this series. It is sad to see it end. But it really did end last year.

[rogvortex58]

It’s kind of hilarious that now some villain wants to use the author’s powers to take away Rumple’s happy ending. When that’s only what he himself tried to do to everyone else back in season 4B.

Seems to me like some long overdue karma. I have no sympathy at all.

[Camera One]

At the end of the episode, Robyn was talking about renting an apartment with Alice in Hyperion Heights.  Wouldn't rent in the city be rather high for two people with low wage jobs?

Why would they want to stay there?  They could move to San Francisco to be closer to Zelena.  They could go back to the Disenchanted Forest.  No need for discussion?  

So Tiana just plans to stick around Seattle working in a food truck?  I guess she doesn't have to do any real governing anymore since the municipal government of Seattle will take care of all that?

Everyone's memories have returned and people are just milling around having beignets?  

Edited May 16, 2018 by Camera One