FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE MOMENTS from 4X 06 FAMILY BUSINESS ?

If I said I was conflicted….

See, these are the hardest episodes to rate, IMO. On the one hand SO MUCH PLOT. You’ve got magical spells, family drama, ship drama, secret family members, prophecy, lies, revelations, wonky magic, ect. And it’s like slow down and let me breathe! But on the other hand, it was a very meaty story, if almost too complicated for a 42 min episode.

Right now, it’s getting a 7 from me.

FAVORITE

–Belle got to do something. Even though there were moments where I thought Belle was out of character–like a lot of lying and not saving Anna right away–it was an intense story for her and I’m glad they finally gave EdR something to do!

–Elizabeth Mitchell is terrifying. And I love it

–Kristoff is my favorite Frozen adaptation. Well, him and Sven. I love that his antlers kept getting in the way.

–Bobby and EM play off each other really well!

–Regina telling Robin to forget her. Wow. Now that’s character development. Of a kind….

–Belle is responsible for Rumbelle. I like that a lot, actually.

MIXED LIKE AND DISLIKE

–Henry was with the gang! Except he only got one line. Part of me wonder if A and E even remember Henry anymore.

–All the plot information. Seriously. Plot overload. It was good and intriguing but seriously SO MUCH PLOT

–Belle’s mom. Nice to see that Belle has a mother but at the same time ONCE just broke its record for fastest parental death ever. And she didn’t add much. Yes her death eventually helped Belle but for all the build up about “meeting Belle’s mother” there was almost nothing there.

DISLIKE

–No Will 🙁

–Rumbelle, Rumbelle, Rumbelle. I never thought I’d say this but I’m not sure how I feel about the ship that CAUSED me to be part of this fandom. I came here because of Rumple and Skin Deep. And now I’m just torn. Belle almost had a “ah ha!” moment and then they ruined it and now she looks like a simpleton for not believing that Rumple would lie to her and she was placing WAY too much blame on herself, turning HIM into the victim. Which is a no-no in my book.

–Rumple. Honey. Look. I’ve fought for you….for years. But you’re giving me chest pains. I call myself RumplesGirl for a reason. Straighten and up fly right, buck-o.

Who says Robin is Regina’s last chance at love?

But…this episode…right now I’m loving it more than any since Skin Deep. Everything from Captain Guyliner to Oaken vs Belle (which was the Best. Cameo. Ever.) to Belle dealing with her inner doubts (which I LOVE that they bring those back–we saw glimpses of them in Dark Hollow and it’s like, look, Belle actually has some character! USE IT, A&E!!!) to the infuriating question that RC & EM are playing so perfectly of What The Heck Does Rumple Want From HER?

I loved the Regina told Robin to forget her and find a way to love his wife again. That, people, is character development, and that’s also her actually acting from love instead of selfishness.

I loved every moment of Belle & Anna adventuring. It was as perfect as I had hoped.

I loved the clothes (the lace blue dress!!! This is so getting made eventually for me.) A little mixed on the short white coat but it was pretty…just not that practical for adventuring.

The names. The timeline clues. THE BOOK. (The same one she’s clutching in Skin Deep.)

(Does that mean Anna was imprisoned for 3 years too?)

Belle’s inner doubts: I’ve been dealing with similar feelings a LOT lately for various reasons and that resonated so powerfully with me–I can’t even explain it but it rang so true that I think I was actually trembling in that scene, and I very nearly cried when Rumple rescued her. And yeah, she cut him but you could see it in his face when her trust in him was cutting him so much worse.

Mixed:

Yeah, I wanted a bit more of her mother.

I’m scared Belle will be background again for another year…

Disliked:

I couldn’t understand why Belle was lying to everyone for a long time…but I think when the mirror brought all her doubts out, it made a bit more sense to me. Still…it did feel a little OOC for her to keep it secret, or to think Rumple couldn’t understand choosing a thing over a person in a stressful moment when she knows at least part of his story.

But otherwise…this was an amazing episode. I loved it. It was everything I hoped for, not much of what I feared, and more powerful than I expected.

Things I liked:

Regina’s snarky one-liners were great, as always.

Regina/Robin Hood – Regina has grown as a person tremendously. Hurray for continued growth and character continuity!

Belle’s reflection scene – This was excellently done. I loved it. EdR is a great actress when given a chance, and she did so well. It showed a darker Belle, which we don’t often get to see.

Rumple/Ingrid Cold War threats were intriguing. What exactly is their history anyway?

Crazy Stalker Snow Queen – Ingrid’s obsession with Emma is super creepy but also oddly fascinating. What exactly is this prophesy and why is Emma the doppelgänger of Gerda?

Hook’s line: “You spend enough time in this town, love, you learn everyone is related.” How true.

Spell of shattered sight: This ought to be interesting.

Things I didn’t like:
Too much Disney with the rock trolls. It caused an interruption in my suspension of disbelief.

Also, I would’ve liked to have seen more of Belle’s mom.

Rumple continuing to lie to Belle. While I love him, that boy has got to quit deceiving his wife or it’ll only end badly. Also, Moe doesn’t seem like greatest dad of the year, locking his daughter up and all.

Can make it short this time.

Least favorite:
Pretty much all of the episode. The Contrivance Fairy hopefully get paid for all the overtime she had to put into it.

Most favorite:
The Snow Queen scenes, Elizabeth Mitchell’s Snow Queen already has me under her spell. The story gets weaker, but she still is a joy to watch.