The Mastermind, Mr. Gold

Once Upon A Time, S01E22

Emma finally believed in magic once Henry was in a coma after eating the poisoned turnover.  She confronted the Queen about her actions and asked her to fix the situation, but Regina couldn't do anything without magic.  The two went to Mr. Gold for help, who gave Emma a sword and told her where to find the last bit of magic snuck into the Storybrooke world.  The magic was in an egg, which was hidden in the belly of a dragon held in secret underground  location by the Queen.  Emma managed to reduce the beast to ash and get the egg, but Mr. Gold tricked her into handing the egg over to him.  Emma and the Queen didn't have the time to take it back from him because the hospital called with news about Henry.  When it looked like Henry was dead, Emma gave him a kiss that cured him and removed the curse.  All around town, everyone remembered their original lives.  However, Gold used the last bit of magic in a well that can bring back lost things.  We also saw the story of how Charming saved Snow from her own poison apple and how they were engaged.

As much as I wanted Emma to believe in Henry, I was just a little disappointed in the way that she realized that the stories were true and who the Mayor really was.  It just seemed so simple that she would hold the fairy tale book once again and only at that moment would the truth be revealed to her.  Then again, August did say that Emma was only seeing what she wanted to see, so I guess if she had even the faintest desire to want to see past the illusion of the curse, that was when she would come to her "senses."  I got over this disappointment when Emma took the Mayor into a closet and was throwing her around.  It was funny and it was nice to see that after all the crap that the Mayor had pulled.  Most of all, it was nice to see the Mayor defeated by her own game and Emma the one calling the shots.  Of course, since Emma is new to the game, she had no idea what to do to help Henry (since the Queen was useless then), but I knew that Mr. Gold would be able to help.

You gotta love how Gold was putting the Queen in the corner when Emma went to him for help.  He basically told her to shut up and let Emma handle everything.  Made me laugh.  Gold wasn't surprised that Emma had realized the curse was real and already had her father's sword prepared for her to take.  This man really was just sitting around until things just fell into place for him.  It doesn't surprise me at all that he managed to hoard some magic into their current world, but it did surprise me that it was in a dragon that existed in both worlds.

The scene where Charming puts the egg into the dragon and Emma is trying to retrieve it were so similar that I got irritated that they kept switching back and forth.  I like when the stories from both worlds blend, but this was too much.  What was good about those scenes was seeing Kristin Bauer as Maleficent again.  She doesn't have much of a role on this show, but I think she plays a witch quite well.  It's too bad she had to be a dragon in both worlds.  How is it that she remained a beast in the other world as well?  I suppose that everyone was reborn in the way that the Queen saw fit and that was how she chose to keep her.  Still, Gold must have really been scheming well to know that the Queen would bring her to Storybrooke in that form so that he would have a way to get his egg back.

Unlike her father, Emma was not an impressive dragon slayer (not that he was there to kill it).  She thought it would be a better idea to shoot at the dragon before she used the sword that Gold (someone who freaking knows how the magic world works) gave her to use.  But I'll give Emma a break because it's not common knowledge on how one should defeat a dragon.  I wasn't too impressed that one random throw of the sword landed in the dragon's belly and destroyed it.  Emma basically ran around for a little bit and threw the sword one time and won.  I wanted her to work a little more for it.  It was supposed to be the cure for Henry's condition anyway.

I loved that Mr. Gold so easily stole the egg from Emma and had the Queen tied up.  Everything he does is so simple, yet it is very smart.  I mean, he didn't have to hide the egg himself in the magic world, nor did he have to do the work to get it back in the other world.  The Queen was a fool not to buddy up with Gold better; he's the one with the smarts to make everything move according to his own wishes.

Since a kiss worked on Snow before, it was not too surprising that Henry came back to life from Emma's kiss.  I expected more of a big reaction from the townspeople as they regained their memories and less of Regina's easy retreat back to her empty mansion.  I would have at least loved to see someone throw some old fruit at her for all the crap she's done!  But the biggest fireworks from the curse being lifted were Snow and Charming embracing each other in the middle of the street.  I wish that it moved me as much as it should.  I was still unable to forget about Charming as David, the weasel.  But I'm sure that Snow has no intentions of ever holding that against him.  At least "David" as we know it is gone.  I will miss, MM, though.

I think I was more moved by Belle finding Gold and their reunion.  It was even sweeter when Belle realized who she was and they both said that they loved each other.  Of course, that moment was diminished by the fact that Rump seemed to be bringing back magic to their world for nefarious reasons.  There was something very sinister about that purple smoke rolling over the town.  It looked more like a new curse than Rump simply bringing back magic to their lives.  However, it must have been just that because the Queen looked upon the fog with satisfaction.  Nothing good can come out of her having her powers back.

I wonder what will happen to Jefferson after he arranged for Belle to escape and sent word to Gold that the Queen was behind her being locked up (and seeming to be dead)?  The curse has been lifted, so he should go back to being with his daughter, but surely the Queen won't let him get away.  He also seemed to have something to do with Henry taking a turn for the worst before Emma saved him.  I hate that he needed to get at Henry to punish the Queen, but he is a little obligated after the way she used him as she did.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I expected a little more emotion when Charming awoke Snow from her kiss.  Snow woke up so casually, and Charming just as casually responded to her being alive again.  Neither of them knew that would happen!  Why weren't they more shocked??  And Charming should have shown a little more joy and appreciation, rather than be almost cocky about curing her curse.  Maybe it was just me, but I was bothered by that scene.

I wish that the season finale was twice as long because they were just starting to get into some new drama!  We knew that Henry would be saved, but it took nearly the whole episode to see him cured.  I wanted to know more about Rump's ultimate plan and what he has in store now that the curse is lifted.  He has Belle back at his side, but he surely doesn't look like a man who is going to kick back and enjoy his happily ever after.  There was little shown of everyone's reactions to their memories being returned, and I desperately wanted to see what they thought about how they had conducted their lives for the last 28 years.  And of course, I wanted to see the Queen pay more for her crimes beyond losing Henry.  I simply can't wait to see what Gold has up his sleeve and what the Queen will do to try to regain her position on top.  It was a good finale, but they left me wanting for a lot more!

Nick, The Crappy Dragon Slayer

Grimm, S01E14

I knew from the preview that in this episode Nick was to face a dragon, and Juliette would be kidnapped.  You would think that would make for a superb episode, but it didn't.  I figured Nick would stick his nose into some creature business he wasn't supposed to and make a new dragon enemy who would kidnap Juliette to get back at him.  Well, that's not exactly what happened...

Nick's investigation of a dragon breaking into a warehouse to steal copper, led him to his flame-dancing daughter, Ariel, at a club (where Monroe is a regular customer).  She was a little flirty with him, which I thought was just an attempt to fluster him because he was a Grimm and a cop, but she later jumps him and halfway opens his shirt.  Granted, Nick was acting like a stalker himself (he had no legal right to follow her home and trespass in her yard), but the last thing I thought she would do was kiss him.  To make things worse, Ariel answered his phone and made Nick sound like he was fooling around.  He kinda was, so I'm glad he was whipped enough to run home and explain himself.

Thanks to that stunt, Ariel started stalking him and lured him to her house so she could sneak into Nick's house, abduct Juliette, and sneak into his bed.  You knew it had to be Ariel in his bed, but Nick was less furious and shocked about her being there than I would have thought.  He did chase after her into the street (shirt open for all those lady fans), but I feel like he could have been a bit more freaked out.  She wasn't just a psycho who had his girlfriend; she was a dragon psycho.  For all he knew, she could have burned her up already!

The rescue part of Juliette was beyond moronic.  If Monroe wasn't there at all, I'd think Nick had lost his damn mind.  He didn't even have a plan on how to defeat the dragon (I suppose he didn't find any information on their species' Achilles heel) and figured because he was a Grimm, he'd be all right.  Monroe made a huge deal out of this point, thankfully, so it wasn't as if the writers were dismissing Nick's brash actions.  In the end, he just winged it or either the old dragon just wasn't on top of his game enough to burn Nick into ashes, despite he only had like a copper rod to fight with.  Nick managed to run the dragon through and took his sweet time escaping before Ariel burnt the whole place up.

Juliette finally met Monroe after he helped her escape, but you could tell that she was curious about the relationship between him and Nick (as she well should be).  She also seemed to realize that being with Nick had a lot of drawbacks that she probably hadn't noticed before.  The way Nick and she talked after the rescue, it looks like they may break up indeed.  Well, I can't say that I would blame Juliette one bit, nor do I feel bad for Nick.  After all, they haven't invested a lot of time into the depth of their relationship.  Perhaps if they did some kind of flashback to when they first met or something of the like, I might cheer for them to stay together, but right now I don't know the extent to which Nick loves Juliette and vice-versa.  Nick obviously values his job (and I think being a Grimm) more than he does Juliette, so why would anyone demand they stay together?

Aside from this pitiful rescue that didn't do anything to give me a thrill nor fill me with romantic adventure, Monroe pointed out something that seemed very significant:  another Grimm was decapitated recently and the reapers seemed behind it.  Or at least, I think he said "reapers."  If he did, when did Nick and he discuss about reapers coming after Grimms??  When I heard that I was like, "Hold up!"  It's very possible that I missed something because Grimm is pretty boring at times, but there's no way I can be sure without re-watching the episodes (hell no) or searching the internet for the information.  Does this mean that Captain Renard all this time was supposed to be getting rid of Nick or something?  So confused!!  And not in the good way that makes me want to continue watching.  In the angry way, like I've been fooled.

Ariel also didn't die, which sucked.  I don't want her to come back.  Her brand of deadly seduction wasn't clever or creative or even entertaining.  She was just crazy and her plan seemed scattered.  I would have much rather the spider lady had gotten away than her.

One last thing.  I didn't get why the dragon were hoarding copper.  It it because copper has some kind of heat-resistant property?  OK, I don't remember much from school, so I'd have to look that up.  I'd rather a character blurt that information out like I'm an idiot (which I am, I guess) instead of me having to do the work.  I was so confused about that too.  And now I'm annoyed because Grimm is making me feel dumber than I am.

This episode was decent, at best.  We still have yet to see Nick release his true Grimm powers (whatever those are) and put up an interesting fight.  I think he did a better job as a gladiator than he did as a dragon slayer.  It's time for him to Grimm up and impress us with his battles against the creatures, instead of fumbling around like a moron.  Or at least if he is going to continue to do this, he needs to make better use of his unofficial sidekick Monroe.  As weak as Nick is, I'd rather watch an entire episode of Monroe fixing clocks at this point.