- This topic has 12 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I think that, here, we should post our best and worst of Season Two.
Please keep it in this format:
BEST EPISODE:
Explanation
Best Runner Up:
Explanation
WORST EPISODE:
Explanation
Worst Runner Up:
Explanation
BEST EPISODE: And Straight On ‘Til Morning
Hands down, the best episode of season two had to be the finale. They really did save the best for last. While there wasn’t any Swanfire, it was a terrific and emotional episode.Best Runner Up: The Miller’s Daughter
While Corumple was disgusting, this was a well done episode, especially after The Queen is Dead was such a disappointment in terms of the Storybrooke storyline. Loved the way Rumple stood, watching Cora die, cane in hand like a boss.WORST EPISODE: Selfless, Brave & True
The flashbacks were informatively boring, and Mrs Plot Device (aka The Blue Fairy) returned to turn August into a child. Well play, A&E, it was definitely worthy of the title. CGI August looked pretty cool, though.Worst Runner Up: Lacey
Robin Hood was useless, but the Rumpbelle moments were kinda sweet. The flashbacks were fairly boring, and the present day storyline really didn’t do much to advance our mythology.[adrotate group="5"]This is gonna be tough! But awesome idea!
BEST EPISODE: And Straight On Til Morning
Explanation Lots of emotion, we finally got Hook backstory and there was something for pretty much every character/ship fandom out of the main ones so a little something for everyone. It also had a nice balance for the ensemble of the cast as well as getting the character-centric arc in which doesn’t always happen. There was a lot of suspense as well as lighter, sweeter moments / callbacks (ie: Grumpy & Belle’s friendship, Chip, etc etc) which were great. Gave us some answers, left us with some questions to ponder and kept us wanting more. Absolutely wonderful episode! So many feelings for so many characters / pairings. *still recovering*Best Runner Up: Tallahassee (with Manhattan being a close 3rd)
Explanation The episode that launched a thousand ships (OK, technically just two). Regardless of which side of this triangle you fall on, CaptainSwan & SwanThief turned SwanFire fans can agree that this episode was pretty good. It gave us some much-needed Emma backstory, revealed the identity of Henry’s dad (to a degree) and also setup some new stuff as well. I enjoyed Anton a lot (he’s such a sweet guy it’s hard to hate him!) and love the parallels of the past to the present regarding Emma, since she’s one of the only characters who we don’t know her canon True Love yet. I loved getting to see her on a mini-adventure and her interactions with Hook were great! (Especially after seeing And Straight On Til Morning *so many CaptainSwan feelings*) I love that we got to see Emma at her most vulnerable in the past (still have some questions but it was a good story to share to get it started) and seeing who she became and in what ways her past with Neal affected her judgement and whether she could trust someone even when her radar (which is *usually* pretty good) was telling her to and she couldn’t take the chance she was wrong. It was heartbreaking but still encouraging because you could see she wanted her walls to come down and was too afraid of getting hurt again. I usually only like the episodes that have something exciting with FTL to work with, but it started my CaptainSwan ship and at least they were in FTL in some capacity and on an adventure, even if it was in present day.WORST EPISODE: Selfless, Brave, and True
Explanation Remind me not to ask for characters I haven’t seen in awhile to come back. I was looking forward to finding out August’s story but there was way too much randomness, weirdness, and far too much Tamara in it. I like August, I loved his storyline last year, but this episode fell very flat for me. Maybe it was because there were 2 episodes in a row (around a LOT of breaks) that didn’t have any FTL stuff to work with, but this episode fell very flat for me.Worst Runner Up: Welcome to Storybrooke
ExplanationI wanted to like this episode. I really did. It had Sheriff Graham back! And we were getting to see the beginnings of Storybrooke! But it just…I don’t even know how to describe it. Kurt seemed sweet and Owen was alright and the catalyst for Regina wanting Henry etc etc but I just didn’t feel overly attached to them (especially seeing who Owen became…) It wasn’t as exciting as some of the other backstory we’ve seen and while it was important to the present / future, it just kinda dragged for me more than I thought it would. Again it was one I was looking forward to but it fell kinda flat for me, especially with everything else we’ve seen so far. I guess I just don’t love episodes that don’t have exciting flashbacks (basically FTL flashbacks with the exception of Tallahassee – see above). I guess it was just SB-overload and involved a character I didn’t really care about all that much.Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
This is a great idea, MysteryKat I love your analysis, you seem to have a great insight into Emma in particular as a character.
Best Episode The Doctor
Absolutely loved the flashback in this episode, with Rumple, Frankenstein and the Mad Hatter working together, what a great combination of characters. And, it is interesting to see just how much Rumple has affected Regina’s life, and how little he cared about doing so. Also some great character development for Regina in present day, I feel this really was the transition away from a vengeful Regina (until Cora’s death). I am somewhat biased in this choice of episode though because I love Regina.Best Runner-up Second Star to the Right
It was nice to see things more from Nealfire’s perspective because so far we had only seen parts of his story from Rumple and Emma’s point of view. Also it is interesting to find out how important family is to Nealfire as this explains his behaviour as a character (like trying to help Emma “by getting her home”, and probably why he got engaged to Tamara so quickly because he is desperately looking for a family). Family seems to be the reason for his strengths (he is proving to be a good father) and his mistakes.Worst Episode Selfless, Brave and True
I agree with the above posters, this episode was a bit too soapy for me and not enough of the usual fairy tale magic that ONCE has. I understand that the story was told as a way of getting from A to B as it were, but as an individual episode, it is unfortunately my least fave.Worst runner-up The Evil Queen
I love Regina and thought I would love this episode (so I probably had very high hopes) but just didn’t work for me. I enjoyed the flashback for this episode, and I find the relationship between Regina and Snow very interesting, however it was present day that was a let down for me. Regina’s actions didn’t seem to make sense, I understand that they wanted to introduce a device that could destroy Storybrooke and explain how it works but I don’t think having her tell Henry and then remove the memory was the best way to do that, but then again I am probably biased because I hate to see Regina slip so far from her redemption earlier in the season.Keeper of Sidney's Agrabah Vipers, Regina's Curse of the Empty Hearted, Mulan's Poppy Dust, Wonderland's Mellow Marsh, and Nealfire's Lighter
Best Episode
Manhattan
I loved everything about this episode. This episode is the whole reason for the TV show, though we didn’t know it until last years The Return. MRJ is amazing actor and I think he’s brought a lot to the table. The story between Emma and Neal, for me, was very fresh and rewarding. MRJ, RC, and JMo killed all their scenes. My favorite scene of the season was the 3min convo between Rumple and Nealfire. It was heartbreaking and raw and very sad. Henry learning the truth about his dad felt very “real world.” The flashbacks were well done and I wasn’t bored by them like I often was with them this season. The ending was chilling and set up the rest of the season.Runner Up for Best Episode
And Straight On Till Morning
Say what you want about some of the other episodes this year, H and K KNOW how to write a season finale. It was emotionally driven, jam packed and had some awesome moments. Emma and Regina, The Charmings, Rumbelle, and even Hook and Bae’s adventures. It left us with a mystery we’ll be unpacking all summer. And even if they did split my OTP, I have faith that everything will turn out all right.Worst Episode
Selfless, Brave and True
This episode was a disaster. So many missed opportunities for character growth! Ugh, a three second convo between August and Emma before he turns into a little boy from Deus Ex Machina Blue Fairy?? And he didn’t apologize for what he did?? The flashbacks were decent but mostly frustrating. Some of the lines were a wreck, like Emma’s “he will not have died in vain!” Really?? The only good thing I can say is that it still didn’t bean S1’s True North in terms of ick.Runner Up for Worst Episode
Tiny
While I admit I loved the B-plot of Emma, Henry and Rumple, the rest of it was just boring and useless. Jorge is amazing and I love him but I didn’t care about the giant or Jack (please never give me her back story. I beg you). It was slow and obvious filler. It was saved from being my least favorite of the season only b/c of S,B, and T and the stuff that happened outside SB was actually really good."He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"BEST EPISODE: The Outsider
Belle + Mulan — two of my favorite Disney Chars, teaming up in the fairyback, filling in gaps in the story and building Belle’s character as a hero who uses brains and books as well as compassion to save the day. I just loved it and it gave me something to cheer for, and while the story itself was pretty simple, it connected threads everywhere with Phillip, Dreamy, Regina & Claude all tying into other episodes and events, which is my favorite thing that Once does.And the SB side was also fun–Belle got to be heroic again, with lots of Hook and Rumple, and the whole plot actually set up the main plots for the rest of the season–finding Bae, the outside threat, the inner struggle between good and evil, and (sadly) the whole Belle’s memory arc. I found it riveting and pivotal, and, honestly, that’s when my affection for the show became scary obsession where I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I love/hate the ending because it was so powerful but so sad. I found it brilliant.
Best Runner Up: Tie: Manhattan or Lacey
This is hard for me–Manhattan was incredible. But the Belle-centrics are all my favorites, and Lacey’s fairyback was incredibly fun to watch. I didn’t really like Lacey or what she did to Rumple, but I didn’t like them in the same way I didn’t like Belle getting shot in the Outsider–it was the good kind of not liking, if that makes sense. The kind that makes you want to find out how the characters will deal with this obstacle and what happens next and come up with 90 million scenarios in your head. And the sass between Gold and Regina–they need more scenes together. Many more. And Hook came back. And we got acknowledgement of the relationship between Gold and Regina and actually got her REACTION to it which I thought we wouldn’t. Also, adorable Henry + Neal bonding. Honestly, it was a pretty much perfect episode.I kinda want to put in a word for Tiny, too–a lot of people hated it, but Tiny was a much needed happy story in the midst of a lot of tension. Tiny with the dwarves just made me melt and I actually watched that one over and over a lot because sometimes we do need a happy ending in there somewhere.
WORST EPISODE: In the Name of the Brother
Partly I think my dislike for this episode is because it was the followup that I’d been waiting for after The Outsider, right when my obsession started to get scary and I needed to know stuff. I don’t fully hate it–the SB side had some great moments (and heartbreaking ones–the cup!), but when I rewatched it, I kept skipping a lot of the scenes because they were either to painful or just…not worth the time to rewatch. I like Victor, but the stuff with his father felt flat and badly acted, and while I want to hug Gerhardt so much, I couldn’t deal with the scene where Victor tries to kill him. Hurt too much to watch. The SB plot of not even knowing where the only doctor is was…annoying at best, though I did appreciate Ruby’s saving the day and perhaps a real start to Frankenwolf. Something about Greg rubbed me the wrong way from the start, though–I don’t actually enjoy watching him, and it’s more irritation with him than anything else; the other villains of the show tend to inspire emotions other than irritation most of the time. Oh, and better forgotten entirely: Cora kissing Gold. Ew. The good moments in that ep were really good–Gold’s insistence that he is insane, Emma and Hook chatting in the hospital, Gold’s desperate attempts to bring Belle back, and Gold’s announcement/threat at the end; also little things like Ruby encouraging Whale and Leroy’s everything and Rumple’s amazing red coat against the Black and White of Victor’s lab–but the problem was having to skip all the stuff that hurt too much to get at the good stuff.Worst Runner Up: Tie for me between Lady of the Lake and Selfless Brave and True.
Lady of the Lake brought back George as a villain, being exceptionally villainous, and that I appreciated. But killing off Ruth hurt, especially when they could have found another way to reverse the effects of the potion, surely? And the secret marriage felt like a negation of the Big Marriage in a way–I know it’s not really, but that’s kind of what it felt like. The fairyback really didn’t do anything except tell us Nostos was dried up due to the Siren’s death, and the division between past, present FTL, and present SB was a lot for one episode. I did like the Four Princesses’ Adventures a bit, and the Jefferson stuff that wrapped up his story a bit was beautiful, so I didn’t completely hate the episode…it just wasn’t as strong as many others.Selfless Brave and True wasn’t completely awful, either (and I’ve been somewhat won over by the idea that August would have wanted to be little Pinocchio again), but what I hated most about it was that it completely failed to resolve some of the issues between August, Emma, and Neal. It seems like Neal’s picked up the slack some, but there were a lot of things that needed to be said between them that they closed the door on prematurely. Oh, and Tamara’s more likeably evil than Greg, but boohissboo. Also, is it just me, or was some of the dialogue just completely, er, wooden? So what I hated about the episode was more the wasted potential than anything else. (Also, the complete dropping of Rumbelle at a time when Rumple really, really should’ve been following up with her and/or his son–a week passes and he doesn’t talk to EITHER? What was he so eager to be doing when he was stuck guarding Snow instead then? Plus, episodes with minimal Regina/Rumple are just never as good–they’re the backbones of the show, and Regina had like two minutes, Rumple was absent entirely, and you didn’t even have Hook to make up for it.)
Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing
RumplesGirl pretty much nailed my thoughts for Best episodes.
Best Episode
Manhattan
This is the payoff to everything that Rumple’s been doing for hundreds of years. This is the entire point of the curse. As RG said this is the point of the whole show. MRJ is a fantastic addition to the cast, and the way he and RC and JMo played off one another was heartwrenchingly fantastic. The conversation between Rumple and Bae was raw and painful and done with beautiful detail, right down to Bae copying his father’s flourish-y movements. The conversations between Neal and Emma were equally amazing, and you could feel the history between all these characters. Nealfire finally getting to meet his son, and seeing how affected he is by finally having that connection of family he’s longed for for hundreds of years is another fantastic payoff. Then you get the prophecy from the seer, and that sets this ominous dilemma into motion for Rumple, and you can see that fate isn’t done with any of these characters just yet. This one was just perfect.Runner Up for Best Episode
And Straight on Til Morning
This was a tough call, because really you could just pick anything from ASoTM, SSttR, or Tallahassee for me. Those three were all great, imo. ASoTM gets the nod, because there are so few series that give me season finales that actually live up to what a season finale should be. The cliffhanger didn’t feel forced or soapy to me, and all the characters are getting the development they need. Bae and Hook’s backstory was the highlight of the episode for me, and I love how that experience and the regrets he carries from it informed Hook’s change of heart. Even with Rumbelle and Swanfire separated for the time being, I feel it’s set the show into a good place for many promising developments.Worst Episode
Child of the Moon
I hate setup plots. I hate mobs of lobotomized characters lining up to lynch some poor innocent character while an annoying villain twirls his Snidely Whiplash moustache from the sidelines. I hate that they killed off Gus/Billy for a completely pointless filler plot. I couldn’t even tell myself that any of this annoying stuff served a greater purpose for an ongoing story arc. It just took time away from anything I might actually want to see happen in the series. I love Ruby. I loved Red Handed. I love her interactions with Dr. Whale in In The Name of the Brother. I want better a better episode than this if she’s going to be featured. I like the B plot about Regina, Henry, Gold, and the dream… but this is my most hated A plot from either season. Really, hated that plot.Runner Up for Worst Episode
Tiny
Anton’s a sweetie, and I bear him no ill will. This was just a really bad time for his plot to be explored. It’s a struggle to sit through an A plot that I’m not particularly invested in, when the B plot and the entire next episode are probably the most anticipated events of the season for me. I spent most of Tiny wishing it were next week already instead of being able to enjoy it for what it was. The beans are an important concept for this season, but I wish they’d been introduced at a different time or something. The plot just wasn’t strong enough to be interesting when much more interesting plots are right there on the horizon.Best Episode: The Lady of the Lake- I loved the back story and it opened up so many possibilities for King George/ Charming back stories, also it was the first time besides the curse and wedding that we got a Snow White story after the events of Snow White. Jefferson connecting with his daughter was satisficing and summed up his story greatly for now. Charming and Henry bonded over this episode and that was perfect grandfather/ grandson time, more so since Charming wanted a son. Charming’s mom was great and her connection to Snow was prefect for a mother and just what Snow always wanted. This episode warmed me up to Aurora and Mulan, and I loved the Lanecolot and Cora moments. But mainly it was the Snow/ Emma moments because I loved them together and I was crying by the end of the episode
Best Runner Up: Three way tie between Manhattan/ Tallahassee/ and Second Star to the Right. Love Swanfire and all the moments between them in these three episodes.
Worst Episode: Selfless, Brave and True, though it had a couple of good moments, hated how August turned out and the taser. Also I was mad at Snow for most of the episode, but I loved her hitting Gepetto, since he did deserve it, and thought August was cruel saying he wanted Emma and Neal to be together but not doing anything to support it
Worst Runner-up: Lacey, it seemed like a filler episode to me even though I love Rumbelle. but I hated how Rumple just excepted Lacey instead of trying to get Belle back, and how he jut left Neal alone. I like Robin Hood but I was mad that they just brought it up and didn’t address it in anyway during the rest of the season. Also too little of the Charming clan .
Keeper of Swanfire's dream catcher, the Blue Fairy Plot Device, the contact name "Her", the lanyards, the trigger, the Netherworld room and necklace, Charming's quote on Thanksgiving, and PP's pic of Henry
Love everyone’s analysis so far!
Best Episode
And Straight on Till Morning
This episode had so much to offer every fan. We got to see a lot of back story, which was well done and engaging. The Rumbelle scenes were true to their characters and showed us that Rumple really did have a redemption arc this season. The way Emilie played the scene where she turned from Lacey to Belle was incredible. The writers gave us so much of what we were hoping to see – Emma calling Snow and Charming “mom” and “dad” and Henry turning to Regina, noticing that she was alone. That was amazing. And let us not forget the return of Chip! I have to also say that it was a pleasure seeing Colin act the whatever out of his scenes. He gave a finely nuanced performance and I have to say it’s about time that we got to see that! Loved seeing his eagerness to be a family with Bae.Runner Up
The Crocodile/i]
I absolutely love this episode and rewatch it often, in addition to Manhattan and Tallahassee, which are right up there in my opinion. Seeing RC go from pre-Dark One Rumple, to full-on Dark One to Mr. Gold just amazes me every time. And the introduction of the character of Hook, especially the moment when he puts on the Hook and says “Neverland!” That’s one of my favorite moments in the entire series. Again, we got to see a lot of backstory and explanation as well as setting up the revenge arc for Hook. The only thing I didn’t like was that Milah was such a one-dimensional character here regarding Rumple. We only get to see that she was once a loving person later in Manhattan.Worst Episode
In the Name of the Brother
I am so puzzled about the acting in the episode. Did anyone not realize that Victor’s father can’t act? I can’t get past that in a show that delivers stellar performances across the board. Someone really missed the mark here. I am also not a fan of the Frankenstein storyline. David Anders always does a great job, but I just don’t care about his back story that much, especially two episodes in the same season.Runner Up
Child of the Moon
Again, more backstory of a relatively minor character (although I love Red as a character). I think some characters do better relating to others and not having their own story line. I really enjoyed S1’s Red-Handed but thought this one was a little too wolf-centric and too violent. (Just re-read this and realized that Red killed Peter in RH so that was pretty violent too!) What it conveyed about Red/Ruby could have been condensed. Overall it is pretty hard to find episodes to call “worst” in a show I love so much. I have to give Honorable Mention to Tiny here because I hated the character of Jack so much. But the scenes with Anton in SB, the reveal of David’s name, and the scenes with the dwarfs redeemed it in my opinion.
@SmallWhiteButterfly wrote:
This is a great idea, MysteryKat I love your analysis, you seem to have a great insight into Emma in particular as a character.
Wow, thanks! *faints*
Loving the explanations people are giving & look forward to more chiming in!
Even if it seems that while our tastes may generally vary, one episode in particular is getting a lot of flack as least favorite (from me as well). Always happy when Oncers can agree on something but poor August. *shakes head*
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.
Best episode: The Miller’s Daughter – Cora’s flashback might be the best ever on the show. While her death in present day is genius in so many ways, with so much from the past coming forward – Rumplestiltskin, Regina, Snow, the candle, etc. A stunning episode in a lot of ways.
Best episode runner-up: Welcome to Storybrooke – Regina’s centrics dominated the season and this one was my favorite. Such a great expose of both her desires, flaws and mistakes at once.
Worst episode: Child of the Moon – Talk about a pure filler episode and added little to Ruby that her first centric didn’t.
Worst episode runner-up: Selfless, Brave & True – Tough for August to go out in an episode that’s all over the place and feels like it’s from a worse show.
The topic ‘A Season In Review: Best & Worst Episodes’ is closed to new replies.