Season 3, Episode 1: "The Heart of the Truest Believer"

"He said that I'm a villain, and villains don't get happy endings. Do you believe that?"-Regina

Hey guys! Sorry this is so late! I was in "Beauty and the Beast" and we had eight shows in five days and one of them happened to be at six pm on Sunday. 

I also have a bunch of reviews to write today on my other blog, so this one is a video. I hope ya'll don't mind. 

Season 2, Episode 22: "And Straight on Till Morning"

"I will see you again"-Belle

I know that's not the best quote but I couldn't find another one so please forgive me (and make suggestions because I know there were some great quotes in there). 

This finale was INCREDIBLE. Much better than last season, in my opinion, and I think that it is very indicative of a beautiful season 3. So, without further ado. . .

                                                                        THE FAIRYTALE WORLD:

 This was so odd and confusing but at the same time good, I just. . .

Okay, so: Baelfire. I tweeted during the episode that this kid deserves the Best Son Ever award or something like that because MY GOD does that kid love his parents. I honestly expected him to hate his mom and dad for abandoning him, and especially hate Rumple for killing Milah. The fact that he blamed the whole thing on Hook basically proves to me that he trusts and loves his parents more than anything, even if he won't admit it to himself. Bae was so great in this episode. Dylan Schmid is incredible. That is all. 

And then we have Hook. I have said multiple times that I have no idea what the point of his character is, and I am not taking it back, but I kind of liked him in FTL here. I thought it was kind of sweet that he wanted to be a family with Bae and Milah, even though it was definitely selfish. It it well with him, and I liked it. 

This whole Peter Pan Thing is so odd though. It should be very interesting for next season, but right now I have no idea what to think. 

Mulan/Aurora/Phillip(?)/Neal are all back! That's going to be excellent for next season!

STORYBROOKE:

Regina was fantastic. Lana Parilla plays her so well and everything about her in this episode was perfect. Also, the Swan Queen moments were excellent. I was very pleased. 

The fact that Henry went over to Regina instead of the Charmings was an incredible move by the writers. It's realistic though. Regina is the one who raised him, and it is only sensible that he go to her at that moment. 

Emma and the Charmings were also great. I honestly just loved everything and everyone in this episode, can you tell?

Hook just needed to pick a side, he was kind of annoying me in SB. 

Greg and Tamara are becoming slightly fascinating.I really want to see what their whole top-secret-agency-thing is about. It's very Lost-esque. I can't wait to see what's going on there. 

My favorite part of this whole deal was definitely Mr. Gold and Belle though. They were absolutely great in every way. I love them together, I love what Eddy and Adam did with them here, and I just love what they have set up. Next season is going to be phenomenal, I can feel it. Especially since Belle is going to be running the town now. It's just going to be great, guys. Absolutely great. 

LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS.MUSINGS:

-WHAT ON EARTH WITH THAT PICTURE AT THE END

-How will Henry be Rumple's undoing?

-What's up with Greg and Tamara?

-In case you didn't know, ONCE has been renewed for a season 3. 

-What's up with this Peter Pan freakazoid?

-How are we going to make it till September?

-Is Hook finally over this revenge stuff?

-Ok, so...remember in "The Cricket Game" when Cora killed Archie but it wasn't really Archie? Yeah, who was that?

-What do you think will happen with Neal/Aurora/Mulan/Phillip? Also why is Phillip even there I thought Sleeping Warrior was totally going to happen. 

-What do you think will happen to Henry?

And that's all I've got! I can't believe the season is over! Sometime this week I'm going to make a post that's basically a countdown of all the episodes by order of how much I liked them (and yes, I already know what number 1 is going to be.). So check back here, and I'll update you guys on twitter @OUAFanBlog. I love you all, have a fantastic summer, and stay magical!

Season 2, Episode 21: "Second Star to the Right"

"I need you. . .I love you"-Emma

Sorry if ya'll aren't as Swanfire crazy as me, but we all have to admit that that was definitely the quote of the episode. And wow was this a GREAT episode. In comparison with last year's "An Apple Red as Blood", I thought this episode was incredible, and I was very pleased, if not amazingly conflicted throughout it. 

LONDON/BAELFIRE FLASHBACKS:

From the second I saw Bae with Wendy, I was so conflicted because I love Emma/Neal with all my heart but my God Bae/Wendy is cute. That girl who played Wendy was very pretty and Dylan Schmid is ADORABLE. Besides that, I didn't think that Wendy and her family were incredibly relevant in this. I wish they could have spent more time on this segment, but that's really difficult with all the stuff that was going on in Storybrooke. 

Now, The Shadow is very, very weird. If that is OUAT's version of Peter Pan I am not sure how I feel about it. I think a Hook/Shadow showdown would look really dumb, if you get my drift. 

Bae was excellent. Completely. He's incredibly brave, and the fact that he sacrificed himself for Micheal was a prime example of it. There has been lots of Neal/Bae hate going on lately so I think this was Eddy and Adam's way of saying "Look at this cutie. Look how sweet he is. Don't you wish he was your boyfriend when you were a teenager? Yeah, so stop hating on him shut up." I was really glad we got a Baelfire episode, and that it was super good. 

STORYBROOKE:

Stop the Regina torture! I mean really, hasn't she gotten enough of this kind of thing? That's all I've got to say on that subject. 

Snow and Charming weren't bad in this episode. I liked their contribution, and they were a good icing on the cake. 

Owen/Greg is so dumb. Tamara was able to kill Neal without any hard feelings, so if he really trusts her then he is a complete moron. 

Tamara is actually a really good villain. Personally, I never liked Cora as the main bad guy so I am perfectly alright with Tamara angering me as much as she does. The whole thing about them being part of some cult called "the believers" was so dumb though. I actually could have sworn for a second that they said "beliebers" that's how dumb it was. 

Ok, so Lacey and Gold were probably one of my favorite parts of the episode. Yeah, I like Lacey. Sue me. I think she's great, and I don't want her to go away yet. I love Belle too, don't get me wrong, but right now Lacey is really interesting to me and I want to see more of her. I think if in the finale they make her Belle again then it was sort of pointless to even erase her memory in the first place if she's only going to be Lacey for that short of time. 

And finally: Emma and Neal. Both JMo and MRJ did such a good job in this episode, especially during the portal scene. I love the chemistry they have, and when they said "I love you" to one another I died a little. However, there is something I would like to address: People seem to like saying that it's dumb for Emma to still be in love with Neal and that it's unrealistic. I completely disagree. Personally, I know that if someone that I loved a long time ago showed up in my life again, it would be hard for that spark not to come back, especially when everything ended in such an unfinished way. Plus, Emma has a child with Neal and saw how well they got along. It is perfectly rational for her to be in love with him, just thought I'd clarify that. 

LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS/MUSINGS:

-What do you think really happened to Owen's dad? I mean, I guess he died, but how did that really happen?

-What's going to happen to Neal?

-Who do you think is the head of "the believers"?

-I feel like we're finally going to know what the actual point of Hook is, which is awesome.

-*spoilers* Mulan/Aurora/Phillip are going to be back next week! Thoughts?

-Lacey or Belle? Any other thoughts on this work also. 

-How'd ya'll like the Darlings?

-Henry being Rumple's undoing?

-Can you believe next week is the finale? This season has flown by!

Okay guys, that's it from me! If you wanna discuss it further or ask me stuff, either leave a comment or hit me up on twitter @OUAFanBlog. Thanks so much and stay magical!

Season 2, Episode 20: "The Evil Queen"

"I was the queen"-Regina

I actually really liked this one. It had some good stuff going on. Its really nice setup for the rest of the season, I think. I actually am sort of in a rush so forgive this review if it sucks. 

THE FAIRYTALE WORLD:
This was a really awesome segment. I was really, really happy with it. 

Rumple was looking very Skin Deep, and I really liked that. I especially enjoyed the return of his red vest ensemble. 

Regina and Snow were really cool here. I think it's funny that they are incredibly similar and are very capable of getting along, yet allow petty hatred of one another to cloud their judgement. I think that they are very capable of getting along and clearly the writers were agreeing with me. 

STORYBROOKE:

Okay, this part was a little rough but whatever. 

Emma and Henry pretty great in this. I really liked their whole dynamic. They were definitely my favorite part of this. Especially Henry being a little Swanfire shipper.

Neal obviously still loves Emma and should just admit it.  

Regina wasn't really doing much in SB besides talking about this reset button which sounds like a terrible idea. Although going back to FTL sounds like a horrible plan also so I don't really know how to feel at this point. 

I really don't understand the point of Hook at all. He has done nothing but wander around making sex jokes all season. And now he's teaming up with Tamara and Greg who both really anger me. I really wish they would go away because having them on the show is just dumb IMO. 

We saw Maleficent! She was looking real rough though. 

Snow and Charming didn't do anything except cry over beans. 

LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS/MUSINGS:

-Do ya'll think it would be a good idea for everyone to go back to the enchanted forest?

-Does anyone else think the whole Tamara/Greg scandal is totally stupid?

-What do you think of all this "reset button" shenanigans?

-What did you guys think of the promo for next week?

Okay so, that was a really crappy review for a really good episode. You guys can save me with your comments. Anyway, thanks for reading, I love you guys. If you have any questions or whatever then hit me up on twitter @OUAFanBlog. Stay magical and I'll see you guys next week!

Season 2, Episode 19: "Lacey"

"You're not who I thought you were. . .and I'm glad"-Lacey/Belle

So, this episode was actually really great. I loved it, even though it was so dumb at some points. I don't know. . .I guess it was just because I was having a really bad week and this episode just really helped with that. It seems like everyone is pretty happy with this one though, and with good reason. 

THE FAIRYTALE WORLD:

Alright, so I'm just going to say this right now: What is the point of Robin Hood? Because he actually did absolutely nothing to contribute to the show. I mean, the promos were like: A NEW HERO WILL EMERGE! But he didn't even do anything! He just stole a wand and then healed some chick (probably Maid Marian) who we may or may not see again. We didn't even see him in Storybrooke! I'm just confused, and I'm sick of the promos being misleading. 

On a happier note, Rumpelstiltskin and Belle were so great in this episode. I liked that it showed a much different side to them in FTL than we saw in "Skin Deep". I didn't really like it better, but I still liked it and I was happy that we got it. It was also kind of interesting to see that there was a point in time when they were neither friends nor lovers, and that was really cool. Plus the parallels between this and what happened in SB were hilarious and great. 

  

STORYBROOKE:

I'm just going to start with Tamara and Greg because I hate them so much.   I honestly do not think their existence is necessary and I made that pretty clear on my tumblr. I really hope we can be done with them because the show is perfectly fine without meaningless conflicts like this. 

Hook in that trailer thingy was hilarious. I'm sorry, but I laughed so hard. 

I liked seeing Anton. He's cool, and I liked how buddy-buddy he was with Emma. 

Emma and Neal just need to figure this thing out. Clearly they both love Henry and it looks like they also love each other. The issue is Tamara, which is stupid, and again, meaningless conflict. 

Do Snow and Charming want to go back or not? I feel like this is always on the cusp of being resolved but then never is. 

Regina was her lovely, evil self tonight and that was awesome. I love it when she's like this, and I think it's great that we are seeing the character that we originally fell in love with in season 1. 

And now for the biggie: Lacey (and Gold). Personally, I like Lacey. I think she's funny and clever, she's just a little bit lost and doesn't know what exactly to do with herself. I was really intrigued by her and I'm curious as to what she's going to offer Mr. Gold in the future. I think that their relationship is going to be really interesting to explore (especially since I've just gotten word that next weeks episode is written by the one and only Jane Espenson). 

LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS/MUSINGS:

-The dream at the beginning was so freaky, but I'm glad that they brought up the whole "Henry is Rumple's undoing" thing because I thought we'd dropped that. 

-Do you think Lacey will eventually remember that she's Belle?

-How about Greg's dad? I mean, "Welcome to Storybrooke" was probably my favorite episode this season, so I think we should further that storyline. 

-The Rumple/Charming bromance is the best thing on the show. I was laughing through that whole segment. 

-What do you think happened to that wand Robin Hood stole?

-What do you think will happen to Hook now?

-Do you think Neal or someone else will catch on to Greg and Tamara's shenanigans? 

-Why is Tamara calling Owen Greg? Doesn't she know who he is?

-What is the point of Robin Hood?

-Do you think they should go back to FTL? 

That's all I've got! Stay magical, I'll see ya'll next week! And remember, no more breaks for this season! Yay! If you all have questions or want to discuss some more, leave a comment or hit me up on twitter @OUAFanBlog

Season 2, Episode 18: "Selfless, Brave, and True"

"I've lived a life of selfishness, cowardice, and dishonesty, and only I can cure that. Not magic. Not science. Just me."-August W. Booth/Pinnochio

You guys, I am so sorry! This should not be this late, I am a horrible blog owner. Forgive me! I didn't even get to see the episode until Monday night. 

So, this episode was. . .um. . .well, in all honesty it was really bad. I have no idea how else to put it because so much of it was just dumb. I'm going to structure a bit differently this time since I have so many thoughts. Just bear with me, okay?

So, the August backstory was actually not that terrible. It provided some insight into his character and I loved the Lost-esque opening. The issue is that they did something amazingly racist in this segment, and that was the whole mystical Asian thing. The girls on the "Other Side of the Mirror" podcast were talking about this a lot, and I just know that Adam and Eddy are going to get massacred for it. Guys. This segment would have been pretty good if not for the Dragon. The Dragon was so dumb, especially because he has NOTHING to do with anything else going on in the show. 

Oh! Speaking of things that are completely ridiculous and stupid and pointless: Greg and Tamara. This was so unrealistic, strange, and disgusting that I wanted to die a little bit. First off, it was predicted by the fans instantly, which has done before with other things (nealfire). But with the whole Nealfire thing...it was actually a good idea that WORKED. There is nothing about this that works. It was predictable, and it's stupid. Sorry guys, I'm just really not amused by this.
Tamara as a character is just obnoxious, and we all know that she's just there to make an obstacle for Swanfire/Swan Thief. Her whole obsession with magic seems like it's just another thing to make her evil. I hope there is more to this that is less ridiculous. Also the taser is really, really dumb. How does taser beat mystical mushu? How does taser beat Pinnochio?
Also, I'm going to address the idea that there is racism presented in the fact that Tamara is "evil". I really don't think so. As it happens, yes, she is a woman of color, but I do not think the writers were taking a stab at other POCs with her character. I highly doubt Adam and Eddy were thinking that all black people are hoodlums who do around tasering everyone. It's a Tamara thing, not a POC thing.
The absolute worst thing in this was definitely that they made Pinnochio seven years old, though. I mean. . .
Wooden Swan shippers. . .I am so sorry. I know that if this happened to Neal or Emma, or to Rumpelstiltskin or Belle, I would be out to kill the writers. You guys do not deserve this.
As you all probably recall, in the episode "Manahattan", Mr. Gold says: "I can take away the pain", to which Nealfire responds, "Take away who I am? No thanks."
The point of me mentioning that quote this that they took away who August is. The utterly demolished his character by making him seven again. I can't think of any other way to put it. They should have killed him off. They really, really should have killed him off.
Okay, I'm almost done grilling the show, but there's one more thing I want to address, and that is dropped storylines. They have given us some really promising storylines throughout the season, and all of them get dropped instantly. Here are some examples:
-Belle being an amnesiac.
-Charming and Snow's arguing about going back to FTL gets occasional screentime, I guess.
-Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip.
-Regina wanting to get Henry back.
-Hook. Someone tell me: WHAT IS THE POINT OF HOOK?
-Henry being Rumple's undoing.
-We got about thirty seconds to address everything about the last episode. That had better not be the only thing we get.
I mean, instead of addressing all of these things, we meet "The Dragon" and find a way to drop the Pinnochio story!
Alright. That was my last complaint. Emma, Henry, Neal, Regina and Charming were all very nice in this episode. Snow was okay too.


LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS/MUSINGS:
-What's the deal with Tamara? What do you guys think will happen with her?
-Do you think we'll see the Dragon again?
-Where do ya'll think Owen's dad is? Do you believe Regina?
-Aren't you just so overjoyed about the hiatus? *sarcasm*
-What'd ya'll think of August here?
-Was anyone else disappointed by the lack of Rumple? And basically every other character. . .
-How did you feel about this episode?

Okay, that's all from me! Have a bearable hiatus and stay magical! Hit me up on twitter if you have questions (@OUAFanBlog), or leave a comment.

Season 2, Episode 17: "Welcome to Storybrooke"

"I'll find you, dad! I'll never stop looking!"-Owen

This was such a great episode. I am really starting to like the storyline that ONCE is creating. There are a lot of things that they can potentially do now, so I am very excited for the rest of the season. 

PAST STORYBROOKE

We got Graham back! I am so glad we saw him again in his sherriffy form. I really love Graham and even though he wasn't in a ton of the episode, I was satisfied with it. I was also fine with how they handled the relationship between Graham and Regina. I am sure many of you have seen the twitter shenanigans that was going on with Adam Horowitz and some ONCE fans over the Graham issue. I didn't know what they were going to do, and I had a hunch it would anger these activists no matter what, but whatever. I thought what thy did was fine, and it worked out well. 

The more important part of this was Regina. We now know the reason she wanted Henry. This whole segment was just so heartbreaking because literally all she wanted was to be happy and to share that happiness with someone. She just didn't know how. It's a common theme with Regina, and it was amazingly sad to see here. It's even worse that she totally terrified Owen and Kurt. 

Mr. Gold was so funny because Regina probably expected him to have his memories and he was just like "lol nope."

PRESENT STORYBROOKE

To be honest, I actually wasn't much into this whole thing. It was kind of stupid and not much happened, so I'm okay with the fact that they didn't spend too much time on it. 

So, Emma and Neal are now being lumped in with David and Mary M. We can call them "the four idiots". it can be a spinoff on ONCE when the show ends.

Henry was trying so hard to be a peacemaker, but he was not doing so good with it. 

You know what's messed up? Mr. Gold says "ok guys watch Belle or I'll kill you" and David and Mary M don't even bat an eye, but when MM is the one in trouble David is all like "YOU OWE ME SOMETHING". Like ok, you ditched his girlfriend and then saved his life so I think we're even.

I feel like ONCE should be called "Torture Regina Time". Seriously. 

I actually really dislike Greg/Owen. He bothers me even more now because Regina was like "I don't wanna hurt you ok just don't run away". And I feel like if he hadn't run away they could have been like "So Regina...this is my kid not yours and we live in New Jersey and we're gonna get you your own kid cause I know you and the sheriff are banging. Sound good? Ok, peace." They were being too dramatic about it.

LINGERING THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS/MUSINGS:

-What do you think will happen with Owen?

-Is there a reason they didn't show Belle in the asylum?

-I really want to see what happened to Owen's dad now.
-So, Henry has literally heard the same freaking lesson in school every day for his entire life. He was probably like. "YOU SAID THIS EVERY DAY!" "WHERE IS SUMMER" "OK LEGIT WHY IS NO ONE QUESTIONING THIS EXCEPT ME??" "
MARCO THAT SIGN IS BREAKING EVERY DAY JUST GIVE UP!" 
-So, I'm listening to the ONCE Podcast (they're awesome, ya'll should listen to them) and they thought exactly what I did. I thought the lovey-curse thing was THE curse. Like, the one that brought them to SB. I thought that Gina was re-enacting it. 

-This episode was one that I really liked. The writers have a really interesting track record.  Some good ones, like "Lady of the Lake", but some less good like "Child of the Moon". The director did "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" though, so it all came together nicely.
-Granny is so sassy: "when I said over-easy I was talking about the eggs!"

-*spoilers* we get too see August next week, and he's still wooden. I really should not be laughing about this.

-The whole dynamite thing was very Lost-ish. I was down with it. 

-*spoilers* we're also getting to see Neal's lovely fiancee next week. *unenthusiastic woo*

All in all, a pretty good episode. I'm excited to see the rest of this season. Stay magical and I'll see you lovely people next Sunday! Hit me up on twitter and stuff @OUAFanBlog.