Playing Burning Room Telephone

Once Upon A Time, S02E08

Emma and the others tried to contact Henry through Aurora to find a way to defeat Cora, but were interrupted by an attack by Cora.  Once Aurora was captured and they lost their connection to the other side, Snow used Mulan's sleeping powder to return to the burning room.  She met Charming there who had put himself under the sleeping curse so that Henry wouldn't have to go through the danger again.  Hook tried to get back on Cora's good side by making Aurora one of her pawns.

I never considered that it wouldn't be so easy for Aurora and Henry to communicate, even though they are only linked once both are asleep.  Once Aurora was taken and Henry was getting all burned up, I started to doubt that Emma and the others would ever learn that Cora could be defeated by the quill ink in Rump's old cell.  It was a nice turn of events that Snow would take Aurora's place and Charming would do the same for Henry.

It was kind of funny how Rump was mentioning that Charming was going to get to take the sleeping potion in the old fashioned way--the so-called way before the days of "poisoned apples."  I loved that.  I loved that as much as him saying that Charming was going to join a "distinguished club."  Yeah, a club of cursed people!  Rump is a laugh riot.  Also, why the hell was he spinning that damn wheel?  That wasn't necessary in order for Charming to prick his finger.  But it was a nice touch before Charming went under.

My favorite thing of all is simply that Regina went to Rump and Belle enjoying some burgers (that just tickles me by itself to see him hanging out) and told him that it was time for some teamwork.  Yes! I think that Rump is still resistant to the idea, but now that they have worked together to make a sleeping potion, I think that going back to strictly enemies is too late now.  Plus, Charming is out of commission until Snow gets back, so it's not like they will have a "mediator" anymore.

I don't know how Storybrooke is going to survive without Charming around.  The townspeople are a bit of wildcards.  Like something with Spencer could happen again--any person wanting revenge on another could take this opportunity to cause havoc.  I don't know if people like Red are really going to step in and do Charming's job to preserve the peace.

Anyway, Mulan is really starting to piss me off.  I know that her main goal is to protect Aurora, but it's wrong of her to steal that compass and run off while Snow was risking her life to go back to that damn fire room!  What a bitch!  I could understand her trying that if Snow and Emma were just sitting around not trying to fix anything, but they were getting important information.  I was really happy when Snow had Mulan on her back with an arrow to her throat.  I wouldn't have blamed Snow if she had cut her throat!  Mulan needs to trust people a little more.  She can't do everything herself.

Now speaking of Aurora, what a horrible thing that has been done to her!  She can't get a damn break.  Hook took out her damn heart and now Cora's using her like a puppet.  I never saw that coming.  I didn't think that Hook was really sincere about helping Emma and the others, but damn.  He really wants to kill Rump.  Not that he wasn't already a despicable person when he was just a pirate having fun.

Wow, there was so many good things this week!  It was well worth the wait.  I don't think that Emma and the others will be able to beat Cora to returning to Storybrooke now that Cora has a spy within their group.  However, at least now if Cora and Hook do soon make their way to the other world, Rump and Regina are already in the beginning of a new alliance.  Seeing the two of them work together to help Emma or stop Cora is something I can't wait for!  I'm sure that will just as exciting as it will be humorous.

Curses Broken, Not Grudges

Once Upon A Time, S02E07

Ruby was worried that her wolf side was harming people again.  In the past, Red found her mother and learned to control the wolf inside her, but was made to chose between her new family and those like Snow.  Spencer, remembering who he was as King George, decided to get the people of Storybrooke to see that Charming was an incompetent leader of their town.  Henry struggled with his nightmare and received help from Rumpelstiltskin.

I wasn't that interested in Red's past, although it was worthwhile to know that she would continue to turn into a wolf even in the non-magic world (which I guess isn't surprising when Rump can use his magic almost as normal).  I was more concerned with the battle between King George and Charming that continued on in Storybrooke.  You would think that the old king would have something better to do with his time than hassle Charming, but apparently not.  He even went as far as murdering an innocent person just to make it look like Charming was letting wolves roam the streets killing people.  I mean, he is not playing around.  It's a little funny to see someone go after Charming in the first place because Charming's not at all intimidated by someone threatening to get him.  Charming's lack of fear was his downfall because he ultimately lost the magic hat that could have brought back Emma and Snow.  However, we all know that team Snow back in the other world is working on their own plan to get back, so the loss wasn't so great.

It's also interesting that they were able to find the diamonds? that make the fairy dust in Storybrooke.  I wouldn't have guessed they would be able to find anything in the "real" world.  Wow.  I thought after they were lucky enough to find them that they probably shouldn't be rejoicing their find in a public place because I'm worried that someone might try to use the fairy dust to do something bad.  Although I can't remember whether non-fairies can use the dust for their own purposes or not.  If they can't, I guess that's an unwarranted concern.

Rump wasn't in this episode much, but he was there to sort of solve a bit of the mystery of why Henry and Aurora were having the same dream.  It should have been obvious what their connection was (because I kept wondering why those two would be connected in any way), but I failed to remember that Henry, too, had been a victim of the sleeping curse not too long ago.  Apparently there are side effects to the curse and now Henry is entering some kind of in-between life and death world when he sleeps.  That's pretty freaky.  And what's worse is that this world is real and if he gets burned or anything else in that place, it'll affect him in real-time.  But the nice thing is that Rump helped him out free of charge (I guess he feels like he owes Henry one or something?  Couldn't be because he likes him or something), and Henry is gaining some control of his nightmares.  Plus, he can communicate with Aurora, which means he should be able to communicate with Emma and Snow!  Cool.  But I feel like there's definitely going to be more danger to him being in that in-between world.  His problem couldn't be turned into an advantage that quickly.

Well, I suppose next we'll get back to Team Snow because it's unlikely that Charming is going to find a way any time soon to get back his loved ones.  I suppose if they have communication between the two worlds now, Henry might get the word that Hook and Cora are coming for Rump and Regina, respectively.  I sort of hope not because I would love for them to be surprised as their enemies just pop into town and raise havoc.  Although, if they do know in advance, Rump and Regina might team up like old times (except not with such evil intentions).  I don't know.  I'm just looking forward to them having to work together period because they just hate each other right now.  I think they would be the funniest team together and it needs to happen A.S.A.P.

Emma, The Bad Boy Magnet

Once Upon A Time, S02E06

Emma volunteered to go up the beanstalk with Hook, and they worked together to find the compass in the giant's belongings.  Emma's sorted past was revealed, where she committed petty crimes with Henry's father.

I want to start with Emma's past.  I really didn't want to see a flashback about her, even if it did shed some light on Henry's father, until I saw that her first love (I'm assuming) was played by the same guy who played Renee on True Blood!  Wow.  I couldn't help but think of him as that character throughout the episode, especially since I failed to catch his name on OUAT and had to look it up.  Besides being entertained by Neal's actor, I was engaged in her flashback when August made an appearance and became the reason that the two split.  I was further surprised that Emma only spent 11 months in a minimum-security correction facility and that was where Henry was born (although, it might have already been mentioned that he was a prison baby).  No wonder Emma has so many walls up when she spent time in jail, lost her love, and lost her baby all in a short period of time.  She sort of has August to blame for that, but if Emma wasn't already stealing cars in the first place, she would have never met Neal.  She did get a car out of it, but that's hardly a compensation.  I'm surprised that she still wanted to use it after all the pain he probably put her through.

I did like that this episode explained who the hell that guy was in the season premiere that I didn't recognize as the actor from TB at the time.  It was Neal and he had finally gotten the postcard from August that the curse was broken and he could he could return to Emma's side.  I guess.  I doubt she would take him back very easily.  That could add some drama along the way if Emma ever makes it back to Storybrooke.

But I wonder what it was that August showed Neal in that box to make him believe in magic.  Because whatever it was, how come that didn't work on Emma?  Or was it the same as her not being able to see August turning into wood thing--because she didn't want to believe, she couldn't see the magic right in front of her.  I hope they will let us know what he had in that box (unless it's something we've already been shown and I've just forgotten).

In the present, I was glad to see Emma and Hook climb the beanstalk together because they were kinda of funny.  I mean, he was telling her that he knew her because he had experiences with the Lost Boys, who had the same look as she did.  Emma didn't care for that, nor for him openly flirting with her.  This was funny, but also a little creepy because I know that Hook has to be kinda old (he's been preserved thanks to his time in Neverland).  Anyone who knew Rump before he became the Dark One, has to be a little long in the tooth.  But Hook might have just been teasing her to get her guard down and sort of gain her trust.  I liked that they managed to take the giant down together (and that the giant was played by Lost's Jorge Garcia--cool), but ultimately when the giant was free it was Emma that got shit done and got the compass in her hand.  I loved that although Hook thought they were buddies at the end, she cuffed him and left him up there so she could get a head start.

Well, Emma and the rest have half of what they need to get home, but I don't know how they'll manage to get that wardrobe dust from Cora without suffering some damage.  Plus, I don't think that Hook will be so eager to work with them again with Emma sort of betraying him (even though she had a lot of reason not to trust him).

And what's up with that red room that Aurora and Henry were dreaming about?  It sounds really creepy and makes it sound like they are connected in some way.  Their dreams did differ slightly with Aurora seeing a man looking at her, and Henry seeing a woman (were they seeing each other?).  I can't guess what kind of disaster those dreams are foretelling.

I have to admit that I missed Rump in this episode.  Every episode can't be about him, but even with these guest stars and Hook sleezing on Emma, I wasn't so focused on this week's story that I didn't wonder what was up with the rest of Storybrooke at that time.  I'm really anxious to get back to a Storybrooke-centric story.  Emma's love story was okay, but I don't think I'll be okay to see more of her story next time.  Save that for maybe five more episodes later.  Haha.

Moms Doing What They Gotta Do

Once Upon A Time, S02E03

Charming asked Henry to stay out of the rescue for Emma and Snow, leading him to cut school to do his own investigation.  Emma and Snow were released from their prison and returned to Charming and Snow's old house to find the wardrobe Emma was sent away in.  In the past, King George continued to attack Charming by going after his loved ones.

Henry is definitely in the right family because he basically blows his nose at danger.  I can't believe how easy it was for him to fool Regina and get into her vault.  I actually felt a little bad for her because she probably really looked forward to that lunch that never happened.  I can see that she really is keeping to her word, so far because instead of going to stop Henry herself, she told Charming and he went to get Henry before his ass got bit by a bunch of snakes!  Like, is Henry crazy??  There could have been any kind of evil thing under the sun in one of her boxes and he thought it would be smart to just open one at random.  He knows that she was always up to no good, so I don't know why he thought he would find something good in her little secret lair.  What a moron (he's taking a lot after Emma who also in the episode is taking danger too lightly).  It was a little cute at the end when Charming decided he'd buy him some wooden swords to practice with (since Henry is jealous that his mother and grandmother get to go sword fighting in the other world--if only he knew he'd probably be dead in a minute with his current knowledge of that world).  I hope Charming can get Henry to settle down and stop trying to run off to do things (like his grandfather keeps doing when it's convenient for him).

Similarly, Emma was doing a shitty job of fitting into the other world and failing to listen to the experts, mainly her mother and Mulan.  I know Emma is used to handling things on her own, but I feel like that situation requires that you swallow your pride and learn from the "masters" instead of what she was doing.  I can't even believe that she was sort of bragging that she killed a dragon (which she didn't even do half as well as she thinks and should have learned that guns are useless) when warned about the ogres.  No surprise that she not only let the ogres know where they were, but almost got killed by one.  Seriously, Emma, it's time to shut up.  Hopefully by now she's learned her damn lesson and will stop acting like she knows what she's doing.

I have to also say that Aurora is so annoying.  Sure her love got killed and all, but damn.  Trying to get Snow by the throat with a knife?  I wish Snow had done more than she had before Mulan butted in.  I still think Snow needs to kick that girl's butt.  But Aurora seems to be willing to help Emma and Snow now.  I guess.  She might still be secretly bitter.

It was pretty sweet and sad when Snow and Emma were looking around the remains of her nursery.  I kind of forget that Snow had dreams of raising her daughter and had to give it up so that her daughter wouldn't be cursed.  I didn't think Emma would start to forgive Snow for abandoning her, so it was nice to see that they made some progress.  They don't have the best situation, but at least they do have each other, so they can continue to go from there.

Another mother who showed her sacrifice was Charming's mother.  I wasn't so sure why she was brought up again when she was just going to die until they had shown that King George had cursed Snow.  Then when Charming mentioned that lake that could cure anything, I knew that Snow would be the one to be saved, and Charming's mother would put herself aside.  I had wondered how the two got married and imagined it to be some big, grand thing, but it was sort of touching how simple it was with just the two of them, Lancelot, and Charming's mother looking on before she took her last breath.  Wow.  That was sort of beautiful.  She got to see her son married, Snow took the cure without knowing, and Charming's mother was able to die knowing that her son would have everything he wanted in life.  I just wonder if Snow ever needs to tell Charming what his mother did for her.  I suppose it doesn't really concern him since it was his mother's decision and there's nothing he can do about it now.

I really enjoyed this episode because it was nice to see all these different mothers in the show giving up things so their children could be happy.  But, there's no telling what Regina's crazy-ass mother is up to.  It'll be interesting to see what might happen if she's able to get to Storybrooke.  I just wonder who will be able to get to the non-magic world first: Emma and Snow or Regina's mother?  I'm little worried it's going to be the latter with her in possession of the ashes of the wardrobe.  Someone needs to stop that bitch before it's too late.

The Wraith

Once Upon A Time, S02E01

Although Emma, Snow, and Charming took a small group of friends to stop the rest of the town from killing Queen Regina, Rumpelstiltskin marked the Queen as a target for a wraith.  Emma and the others tried to honor Henry's wishes to keep her alive.  In the other world, Prince Phillip woke up Princess Aurora, but he was marked by a wraith and had to keep it from harming his princess and her friend Mulan.

It was nice to see everyone embracing each other after a whole season of being in the dark about their identities, but it didn't last for long because the town soon stormed Regina's "castle."  As much as Mayor Bitch was annoying, I wasn't ready to see her go for some reason, so I was glad that Henry respected her right to life.  I didn't think the town mob would be so easily swayed by Charming and Snow, but I guess that those people are used to listening to them (as if they were the supreme rulers of the other world).  My favorite part of that scene was when Regina coolly opened her door as if it were another day and asked "Can I help you?"  That, plus the time when she made a motion to subdue them with her failing magic, was pretty funny.

Rump was pretty funny, too, in this episode, getting to both confront the Queen about locking away Belle for all those years and setting off a wraith upon her despite telling Belle that he wouldn't kill her.  It's just funny that he explained that he hadn't lied to her because technically if the Queen died, the wraith would have done it, not him.  He's so bad.  But the best scene he had was when Emma and her parents came to complain about double-crossing them and question what the purple haze was.  I just loved when Emma, still angry that Rump had put Henry in danger threatened Rump:

Maybe I don't need answers.  Maybe I just need to punch you in the face.

That was quite a good line from Emma.  Of course, Rump tried to play himself off as a hero since he still made everything happen that she wanted:  Henry was saved, the curse was broken, and her parents were found.  Points for Rump for being able to spin the truth like that.  He is a master.  No surprise, though, that Belle heard his conversation and couldn't take him acting like the scum of the earth.  He was lucky that she came back in the end to save him from becoming a full-blown monster again (not sure if Rump can really change his ways).

In the other world, we were introduced to Prince Phillip, Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Mulan.  Mulan threw me for a loop because that was the last person I'd expect to pop up.  She just seemed so random, but whatever.  I couldn't understand why we were watching their story, nor why a wraith suddenly popped up to attack them until practically the end.  Apparently some parts of the magic world hadn't been destroyed by the curse and were frozen in time until Emma had broken it.  I don't care much for the death of Phillip (as his role was short-lived), but I wonder what Mulan and Aurora will do with Snow and Emma.  That part left me quite interested for the next episode.

I'm concerned about what Regina will do with her powers back--she already tried to kill Charming.  The thing I most wonder about is who was the man at the beginning of the episode.  I thought he was Phillip, but that can't be.  I just hope he's not someone stupid.

I waited for this premiere and I wasn't much disappointed!  Things are moving a little slower than I'd like, but I think they are off to a good start.  It'll be interesting to see Emma adapt to a magic world, and it'll be interesting to see how Charming and Henry get along together.  With Regina's magic back and Rump with his own, which of them will cause the most trouble in town while Emma and Snow are gone?  Can't wait for next week!