SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
We finally got to see Aladdin!
I love the way the story from the film was adapted for Once Upon a Time. Jasmine is far more proactive and less of a damsel in distress. She is trying to protect and save her kingdom and isn’t just roaming around the very dangerous streets of Agrabah because she’s bored in the palace and escaping an arranged marriage (which isn’t a terrible reason to run away from home, but I do prefer the reason presented on the show).
Deniz Akdeniz is a gorgeous man, but I would have loved to see Avan Jogia play Aladdin (it’s not like he doesn’t already have a relationship with Disney).
Akdeniz and Karen David acted very well in this episode. It always amazes me when guest starts come on this show and out perform the regular cast. Their performances were believable and I actually forgot about the Disney animated film as I was watching. I wasn’t constantly comparing the Aladdin story here to that of the animated film, despite how many times Emma brought up the latter. That was a bit annoying.
The moment that Aladdin discovered his powers – saving Jasmine from a cave-in in the Cave of Wonders – was a little underwhelming and he defeated Jafar far too easily considering that he only just got his magic and Jafar was a skilled and practised sorcerer. It wasn’t believable.
Overall though, I really liked what they did with Aladdin.
Although, I was a little disappointed that after all of that searching and all of that devastation because she thought that Aladdin was dead, all Jasmine wanted him for was for him save Agrabah. I would have liked it so much if by the end of the episode we had seen Jasmine and Aladdin kiss. Because like Emma pointed out, they were together in the movie! Can they be together in the show please?
If there is one thing I am grateful to the Evil Queen for, it is forcing Emma to tell her family about her visions and the fact that she is going to die. It’s about damn time!
I agree with Snow; this is exactly the time when she should be talking to her mother – and her extended family. Her life is in danger. An impending death is something you tell your family about! She was doing the exact same thing Aladdin did and that she pointed out to him; he didn’t trust in the people who love him.
And her family consists of professional heroes! They constantly same themselves, each other and everyone else. These are the people that she could turn to, to help her in this situation and they just happen to be her family. They are the people best qualified to save her life and the fact that they love her gives them even more of a reason to literally go to the ends of the earth if they have to in order to save her.
Emma herself pointed it out later in the episode; “I believe in us to find a third way. It’s kind of what we do.”
Killian is the one person that I thought that she should have told above all others, if she was ever going to. Which is why I’m glad she entrusted the shears to him at least. Unfortunately, he did what I expected he would; keep them and lie to her about it. I suspect he will be using those.
The Evil Queen and Zelena had their own little adventure this episode. They went to the spa.
Which was so, incredibly normal.
So normal it was kind of weird.
Zelena is now firmly Team Evil Queen and has pretty much gone back to being wicked. I’m not too pleased about that. I get why she is. I fully understand; she’s found the family she’s always wanted in the Evil Queen. But this is such a step backward for her character. She doesn’t need to turn 100% good or anything. She just needs to take her baby and live her life peacefully and have nothing to do with anything, not getting involved in any of the good versus evil shenanigans going on in Storybrooke and just be better person for Robin.
The CG in the opening shot of Agrabah was probably the best the CG on this show has ever looked…but not much needs to be done to be better than that to be honest.
Random thoughts:
- Of course Jasmine fell.
- OMG Emma! Just tell them!
- Could the Evil Queen always turn herself into other people?
- Aladdin: “And I could show you the world.” Cue music!
