More Flashbacks, More Fairies

True Blood, S05E03

Tara tried to seek help from Sam, wanting to avoid Lafayette and Sookie.  Andy began to question about Debbie's disappearance, and Sookie had to come clean to Alcide.  Eric and Bill were saved from execution, but were tested by an Authority councilor to see if they could be trusted.  Pam continued to remember how she came to be Eric's child.  Jason encountered the teacher who taught him how to have sex and realized that sex didn't comfort him like it used to.  Jessica realized that Jason wanted more than a physical relationship and assured him that she could be a friend who was also a woman.

If there was some way I could feel sorry for Tara having to adjust to being a vampire, which she hated, and trying to resist harming innocent people, I would do it.  But she is just so damn annoying!  Tara took a bullet for Sookie, and Sookie had someone she disliked help save her life in return.  When Tara takes the moment to stop freaking out over her new found hunger and abilities, maybe she'll see that people loved her enough to not want to be visiting her grave every day. Perhaps if Pam gets annoyed enough she might take Tara under her wing and settle her ass down.  Pam, at least, is a pretty cool and collected vampire and would make a good role model for Tara.

However, she did lose it when Sookie was bothering her about Tara when Eric had been missing for days.  Sookie was lucky that she didn't get her neck bitten off, pestering her about an act that she and Lafayette made her do.  But I was surprised that Sookie was able to control her fairy powers enough to retaliate against Pam and send her flying.  Damn!  I almost wished that the fight had escalated.  Sometimes Sookie pushes her damn luck.  I know that she doesn't have full control over those powers just yet, so she should be a little more careful about attacking vampires who would gladly see her dead.

I suppose what I liked best about this episode was Pam's 1905 flashback when Eric came to her establishment.  He wanted to have Pam, but she refused him unless he would take care of the vampires who were draining some of her girls dry.  It turned out these vampires were none other than Bill and Lorena!  That wasn't interesting to me until I realized this was the first time that Bill and Eric met.  Bill was still quite the greenhorn vampire who seemed to have nothing but contempt for Eric.  But Eric recognized Bill's talent, I suppose, and was gracious enough to let Lorena and Bill (who glared at Eric instead of apologizing) go without any bloodshed.  Classy.  And it adds upon the relationship between Bill and Eric which has been horrible until recently.  I wonder when it was that they met each other again (possibly when Eric became sheriff?).  I also wonder what it was about Pam that Eric felt strongly enough not to let her die, but take her on as his child.  I dunno.  Eric can't be that compassionate.

Oh, there was a random fairy who appeared.  He was fairly good-looking (as fairies are supposed to be) and reminded me that the fairies who have been on the show so far annoy me with their average looks.  But I was worried that Jessica following the fairy was going to get her killed or something.  I've read the books and I can't get over at how vicious and sadistic fairies were (though I don't think they are as bad in the TV version).  Still, I think the fact they are still floating around town is going to have some kind of dangerous consequences down the road.  Hopefully in an interesting way, not a stupid way.

I was none too surprised that Alcide didn't accept Sookie's confession too well.  Any guy with some sense would think that Sookie wasn't a very good friend.  However, just because I like Alcide, I hope that he forgives her.  She will surely need his help to keep the Pelts off her back.  Once they find out that Sookie is the one who murdered their daughter, they'll be an addition to the list of people who will want to kill her (the foremost being Russell once he gets back on his feet).

Jason also surprised me by visiting his past when he had sex with his former teacher (again), but then realized that sex being the highpoint of his life and worth didn't fulfill him anymore (if it ever truly did).  I was really happy to see that he resisted Jessica and wished to be treated like a human not a sex robot.  It was even better when Jessica wasn't so horny to not listen to his feelings and offered to lend him her ear like a real friend.  I guess she really is serious about Jason after all.  I was worried that she was all talk and might lose interest in him if he wasn't getting naked for her.  There is hope for those two yet.

I think overall this episode wasn't that exciting, possibly because nothing really happened.  Bill and Eric were still stuck on Authority grounds, Tara was still being a bitchy newborn vampire, and Arlene was no closer to finding out what was going on with Terry than she was before.  Truly, if there wasn't a Pam flashback and Jason's revelation that sex wouldn't whitewash all his problems, I would have been pretty bored.  Next time, I'd like to see Pam have a bigger role (that wasn't in a flashback) and find out what's going on with these fairies in town.  Hopefully, Russell won't make a move any time soon because I'm not quite ready for him to come in and cause havoc just yet.  That's either going to be really great or really terrible.

I Knew I Liked Gold. And I Knew I Hated August

Once Upon A Time, S01E19

With Kathryn's return, Mary-Margaret was free, but she had no desire to get back with David.  Mr. Gold thought his long-lost son was August, but quickly realized he had been had.  August was revealed to be another person from the other world who was hoping that Emma's powers to change things might cure his illness.  Rumpelstiltskin's past with his son Baelfire was further explained, shedding light on certain things about Mr. Gold.  Emma thought that she would soon have evidence that the Mayor was behind Kathryn's disappearance, but Sidney confessed to it all.  Emma got tired of the Mayor playing around with others' lives for her own goals and told her that she was going to attack her by reclaiming Henry as her son.

I think one of the best things about MM being lifted of all her crimes is the party where she mentions that there were a lot of people celebrating her freedom, but just the other day it was like no one was her friend.  Man, true dat!  If it was me, the party would consist of me drinking and demanding that everyone apologize to me!  It was also good that she wouldn't even let David in.  I thought he might try to smooth things over, and I was worried that MM might try to take him back.  Thank God she is listening to the signs of the universe.  David's one of my least favorite people on the show.  I know that the Mayor is trying to keep them apart, but maybe with good reason this time.  David needs to do something so incredibly wonderful for MM that I can forget that he's failed her so many times.  Not sure what would be good enough.  Possibly if he made a time machine and went back and fixed his mistakes.  That might be a good place to start.

Emma didn't have a lot of screen time in this episode, but she had a great scene at the end with the Mayor.  I expected that Sidney wouldn't want to stop being Regina's bitch, but I still was pissed that he came into the station and played the role of the Mayor's scapegoat.  Good thing that Emma was just as pissed as me because she set Mayor Bitch straight and told her that things were no longer going to just go any way that she wanted from then on.  I loved when the Mayor tried to interject and Emma was like "uh-uh--I'm talking!"  Not quite sure how someone like Emma would get custody of Henry with her history and the Mayor's seemingly sparkling clean one.  Still, it would be nice if the Mayor started sweating a bit.

Speaking of making the Mayor sweat, Mr. Gold was on fire in this episode.  While the Mayor complained that he had broken their deal, he let her know that he had done everything that he had promised (which wasn't killing anyone).  She then wondered why he had brought her the curse in the first place if Gold was going to be her enemy.  Mr. Gold told her smart ass to figure it out for herself.  I hadn't thought about that issue either, so I started to wonder why he would want to go to Storybrooke in the first place.

We found out the answer after looking into Rump's past again.  I was worried that Baelfire would get killed for some reason, and that's why Rump is seen son-less later on.  But I guess that was a stupid concern because Rump turned a man into a snail and crushed him just for making Baelfire scrape his knee.  There's no way that he wouldn't have been able to use his magic to keep one measly son alive.  What happened was worse than him being killed--Rump basically abandoned him and lost faith in him.  He let his son fall into a mysterious, glowing hole in the ground by himself.  After he disappeared, Baelfire might as well have been dead at that point because who knows what would happen to him in the other world?  Especially as a boy with no parents and no knowledge of the workings of the new world?  Terrible.  At least, Rump realized his horrible mistake immediately after he had no son left to protect.  Too little, too late, though.

One of the interesting things about Baelfire's disappearance and Rump's obsession to get him back was when he spoke to the Blue Fairy.  She was the one that gave Baelfire the idea that he could get to the other world by using a curse since there were no more magic beans left to use.  The Blue Fairy told him that it would never work, but he tried to smack her (Ha!) and swore that he would get it to work.  Now it makes sense that he hates the nuns in the other world.  They're all fairies.  I hadn't thought about why he was such a nun-hating miser since that story about Grumpy, but I'm glad they explained that.  I'm surprised he hasn't evicted the nuns already (or worse).

Another interesting thing is that Rump has always been plotting for this.  He has never wanted to help the Queen, but just wanted to get to the other world so that he could be reunited with his son once again.  Obviously, it hasn't happened yet, but I bet that he needs Emma's power or something for his happy ending (assuming that Baelfire will forgive him) to come true.  As much of an unsavory character that Mr. Gold portrays himself to be, I felt for him when he was pouring his heart out to Archie and when he thought that he had found his son in August.  Who would have thought he would have a tearful hug with someone?  It was nice to see, but I was highly skeptical of August.

August didn't betray my mistrust of him.  What an asshole to pretend to be Gold's son!  Mr. Gold has never shown such a vulnerable side and this guy strolls into town and manages to get him to act like a human being.  I enjoyed Mr. Gold sharing a fake, but sweet moment, but no one could enjoy August toying with people's emotions like he did.  I don't care if he wanted to use Rump's powers to cure his illness--you don't do that to people!  Of course, Mr. Gold would have never agreed to help him in the first place no matter what he told him, but it still doesn't give him the right to use such a sneaky method.  I loved when Mr. Gold had the knife on him.  I really wish he had sliced his head off.  I'm so over August and his mysterious presence.  But Gold has something in mind for him before he kicks the bucket.  Not sure how he'll be useful to him, but we'll see in good time.  August may kick the bucket any soon, so we don't have to wait too long for him to die.  If Mr. Gold still did have his Rump powers, August would so have been a snail underneath his shoe.

So where is Baelfire?  Is he in town already but just doesn't realize Gold is his father?  No.  I doubt that.  The Storybrooke people are cursed and can't leave.  Baelfire could be anywhere in the world.  The world that Mr. Gold can't even get to if Emma doesn't break the curse.  I wonder if Emma is going to start believing in magic soon, so that she can actually make it happen.  Perhaps that's what Mr. Gold intends to use August for before he dies.  Maybe if the two work together, they may get Emma to become a believer.

Also, when is MM going to confront the Mayor about her grudge against her?  After the initial joy of being free wears off, she should definitely address that again.  She has to think that the Mayor is nuts and needs to be locked away.  Perhaps she'll just start helping Emma bring her down.  She doesn't have David to distract anymore (at least for a while, anyway).

Man, this show is so good!  I'm going to be super sad when the season ends!  There's just so much that I want to know and so little time to see all the stories before the summer.  It would be nice, though, to have Emma make some progress bringing down the Mayor.  If that and nothing else is achieved, I can be a little more content to wait until next fall.

Don't See Why Dwarves Don't Use The Axes To End It All

Once Upon A Time, S01E14

In the other world, dwarfs are born from eggs and live a loveless existence, knowing little of the world beyond the diamond mines.  But, hey, they get to spread joy to everyone else in the world with the fairy dust that is made from the diamonds--it all equals out, right?  Seriously, sometimes this show depresses me.  Of course, there are many things in reality that are far more depressing than little men forced to be miners for their entire lives, but I don't watch shows like this to think about the suffering in the world.  I'm just saying--those dwarfs in the fairy tale world get screwed over pretty well.  And who in the hell is making those eggs they come out of??  I suppose they can't have factories where the full-grown men are born; this is a magical place.  Eggs it is.  Still, when a human-like creature pops out of an egg and their kind is noted for lacking females, I can't easily go along with it.

OK, enough with that head-scratcher.  I think that Leroy and Astrid's romance was cute, but awfully fast-paced (as much as it can be for a nun and a drunk).  He fell for her so easily and was ready to give her the moon in a second.  Even for love-at-first-sight, he was a little too forthcoming.  Leroy told her all about his life's dream within a few minutes.  Then again, maybe that's something he does every time someone insinuates that his custodial profession isn't the most glamorous career.  This aside, they made an interesting couple with her being a klutzy dreamer and him being a scruffy scamp.  Luckily, they seemed to make a significant connection in the current world, even though there were some hiccups.

My favorite of such bumps along the road was when Leroy tried to save Astrid by selling his dream boat to Mr. Gold in exchange for money or to extend their rent payment date.  Mr. Gold reveals another level to his status of being a heartless old miser by refusing to deal with Leroy if his intention was to save the nuns.  Apparently they were a "distasteful" group that he has a "complicated" relationship with.  God, how I wanted to know more about that!  What made me love Mr. Gold even more at that moment was Leroy pointing out how surprised he was that when it came to getting his money, Mr. Gold had no special place in his heart for the Sisters:

You don't like nuns?  Who doesn't like nuns?

 It's good that I was thoroughly engaged in Leroy's story well enough that I hadn't been wondering when Mr. Gold was going to make his appearance, but I was glad when he did and have no complaints about the length he was around.  He was there long enough to kick down another person in need of money before he shuffled away with his cane.  Gotta love him.

 Another good that came out of Leroy and Astrid's "love affair," was that MM seemed to gain a little perspective about her own harlot-status while watching Leroy fight for a romance that could never be.  In fact, Leroy was great at not giving up, despite MM wanted to throw in the towel.  He even imparted upon her some wisdom about the value of creating good moments, despite they may be short-lived:

Isn't that what life's about?  Holding on to your good memories?

Indeed.  I think Leroy was just what the doctor ordered to kick MM in the ass and make her stop wallowing in self-pity.  And in the end, after they sold all the candles that seemed impossible to sell (really? everyone managed to buy off 1000 candles in one night??), some of the townspeople seemed to be warming up to MM again.  That was a nice moment that gave me those warm fuzzies I usually don't get when watching TV.

Possibly David is headed to jail for Kathryn's disappearance and the Mayor and Sidney are trying to set him up, but who gives a damn?  If MM was smart she'd keep out of it because he deserves whatever setup they are trying to pull.  But MM won't.  She'll believe in David, despite he acted like an ass.  And speaking of asses, I was so annoyed by the Mayor telling Emma to do her job or she'd find someone else to do it.  Bitch, shut up!  So tired of her trying to tell Emma how to do her job.  I was happy, though, she was barely in this episode and not preventing more love connections.

This was an unexpectedly fairly good episode about lesser characters.  However, maybe I'm a little more inclined to enjoy this story after I haven't seen much TV lately that I liked as a whole.  Either way, I think that Once Upon a Time has a good chance of fixing a spot in my primary shows if it indeed makes it to a second season.