SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
We flashed back, yet again, to Snow and Charming’s past in the Enchanted Forest. This time, we got to see their true first meeting. What we thought was their meet cute, really wasn’t. Charming – before he was the prince – saved her from the Wood Cutter but never actually saw her face. However, it was enough to spark true love between the two. A spark which created this week’s mcguffin.
The level of retconning in this show has gotten beyond ridiculous. The timeline of events that took place in the Enchanted Forest has become so convoluted I’m pretty sure that too many things have happened for all of those events to realistic take place within that time period. I’m pretty sure the writers themselves don’t even know what the timeline is anymore. Just last week they didn’t even bother to set Killian’s flashback at a specific time.
It would be interesting if the writers began setting the flashbacks in Storybrook during the time of the curse.
Why does the Evil Queen’s plan keep changing? Does she actually have a goal or plan? Or are the writers having her change her mind willy-nilly every week in order to extended the plot to the mid-season finale? What happened to going after Regina? Weren’t the two supposed to face off? That was the one thing to look forward to this season. The Evil Queen doesn’t even give Regina the time of day.
First she wanted to blacken Regina’s heart. Then she wanted to split apart Team Good. Then she wanted to take Snow White’s heart. And now she wants to make Snow White suffer pain and loneliness.
It would be nice if the Evil Queen stuck to one goal.
That being said. I loved what she did to Snow and Charming in this episode. It was evil. It was nefarious. It was dastardly. It was everything. It was brilliant! Modifying the sleeping curse so that one of them can only be awake if the other is sleeping was genius. She finally did something this season worth cheering.
I expected more of a reaction out of Belle upon hearing about Rumple/The Evil Queen (no one asked for that Kitsis and Horowitz!). She really, truly, is completely done with their marriage and does not care about him at all. I think her calling him too weak to be good is entirely accurate. I expected her to call him a coward – that would have been the ultimate insult and just as true – but weak is close enough.
I do have a soft spot for Rumple, so seeing him so hurt by her comment afterward made me feel sorry for him. But I think we’re all tired of him and his manipulative ways.
That and the Evil Queen’s revenge on the Charmings were two of the few and far between awesome moments this season though. These episodes are starting to feel a lot like filler. We do have our mid-season end goal but it feels like the show hasn’t been working toward getting there for a while. It seems like the show is taking unnecessary side trips.
I get that it’s a twenty-plus episode show. But with a mid-season finale it’s more like one season consisting of two story arcs that are ten to thirteen episodes in length. Ten to thirteen episodes is a short enough period of time to focus on and wrap up a story without having to add filler, or at least not much of it. The show feels like it’s taking it’s cool time going nowhere fast.
Random thoughts:
- Come on Snow, of course The Evil Queen knows Regina put a spell on you and planned for that.
- How fast can Belle read?
- I am so glad that they are as grossed out by Rumple/The Evil Queen as I am.
- You could make yourself a little harder to manipulate, Zelena.
- Dang Belle!
Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 PM on ABC.
