Alright, I will be the first to admit that I was wrong about this episode. (So there, now nobody can say that I post crap and never admit when I’m wrong.) Anyway, I was absolutely dreading that this episode would be filled left, right, and center with nothing but CS stuff from beginning to end. So I applaud Adam & Eddy for resisting the urge to plaster the entire 42 minutes with CS stuff. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Regina *(I’m just going to call her Regina, because to me she will always be Regina)* actually got a decent amount of screen time this episode. Sure, it wasn’t as much as she usually gets, but it was a MASSIVE improvement from last week’s episode. After seeing all the promos, leaks, sneak peeks, images, social media stuff, etc. I was convinced that Regina would hardly get any screen time this episode, because that’s what it looked it. I’m glad I was proven wrong. Her screen time for this episode was good enough to keep me watching. (For now.)
OK, the thing with Hook. I know a lot of people are not happy with the route they took with Hook. But it is actually the best thing they could have done. I am not the most educated person around, and I don’t really know how TV contracts work, but from what I understand they pretty much HAD to use Colin in this season, because he still had one year left on his contract. (He only joined the show in season 2 and got the same six year deal as all of the other main cast members.) So they couldn’t have left him out of this season even they wanted to. Now, before this episode aired I saw some really wild theories about Hook. Some were saying it’s Hook from the future who found a way to time-travel. Some were saying Hook found a way to clone himself. Some were saying it is an impostor using a glamour spell. Compared to those ideas the WishRealm Hook idea really is the better option. I know it’s not ideal, but the time-traveling thing and the clone thing and impostor thing would have been a million times worse. So basically we ended up with the best of a bad choice. So that’s something.
Overall the episode was not bad. It was not fantastic, but it was not bad. Because of this, and because Regina did not get totally screwed with screen time, I am willing to keep watching, for now. (Yes, I know, I’m biased. But she is my favorite character. Can you really blame me? I’m sure all of you want to see more of your favorites as well.)
Here are the things that bothered me about the episode:
-What is going on with the timeline? If anybody can present some kind of explanation I would really appreciate that. First, Adam & Eddy have said that the present day stuff takes place in 2017. Then we have the flashback stuff, where Henry is clearly much older than he was when he left home, and yet Regina, Hook, and Emma haven’t aged a day. (Note that in these flashback scenes Henry doesn’t have a daughter yet.) What is even more confusing, is that in present day stuff Henry has a 10 year old daughter, which would indicate that the present day Hyperion Heights stuff takes place at least 10 years after the Enchanted Forest 2.0 flashback stuff. But how is that possible? That would mean the flashback stuff takes place in 2007. Which is not possible, because that’s even before Henry was born. Add to that the fact that in the present day Hyperion Heights stuff Regina, Rumple, WishRealm Hook, and even Henry don’t look a day older than they did in the Enchanted Forest 2.0 flashback stuff. So… what on earth is going on here??? And the fact that they still haven’t explained this, or that the characters themselves don’t even acknowledge this just annoys me to no end. And neither Regina nor Hook seem too surprised to see how much Henry has aged, and in turn he doesn’t seem at all surprised that they don’t look a day older than what he last saw them. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!?!?!
-The reunion between Regina and Henry in Enchanted Forest 2.0. While I did love seeing the reunion between them it was way too short. They really should have extended that scene.
-No dialogue at all between Regina and Emma. WHAT IN THE HELL??????
-(Some people are going to hate me for saying this), but Gabrielle Anwar’s performance as Lady Tremaine still sucks. The less we get to see of her the better this season will be. (And what is going on with Gabrielle Anwar’s face? She has no facial expressions at all. She’s like a mannequin.) Lucy was actually much better in this episode than she was in the premiere. Let’s hope she can keep that up. Dania Ramerez was still a bad choice for Cinderella. She just doesn’t fit the part.
-Something seems very off about the way Robert Carlyle delivers his lines this season. It’s almost like he’s just rushing through his script as fast as he can. I don’t know how to explain it, something is just very off about the way he is delivering his lines. And he has this almost vacant look on his face for most of his scenes.
-A lot of the stuff in this episode just felt so rushed. I really hope that from episode 3 and onward they slow down, just a little. It definitely felt like they tried to cram too much into this episode. More so than the premiere. They really just need to slow down a little. (Though don’t slow down so much that it becomes boring.) I think that 42 minutes a episode just isn’t enough for what they are trying to do this season. They definitely need to address this, otherwise all of the episodes will end up feeling rushed.
-Now all of a sudden magic works differently in Enchanted Forest 2.0, and because of that Regina is having problems with her magic? I really hope that gets sorted out soon. What’s the point of a magic based show if “due to (lazy) plot reasons” the characters can’t do magic? I really hope Regina gets her magic working (in the Enchanted Forest 2.0) again soon.
As I said, for the time being I’ll keep watching. However, we, (the fans), really need to get into contact with Adam & Eddy, over social media or where ever, and let them know that the timeline stuff and no aging stuff needs to be explained, ASAP. I also think it’s about time this new curse and its dynamics are explained. (I’m also STILL waiting for an explanation as to how Victoria can just take Lucy away from Jacinda like that.) And, correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t Henry be able to report Weaver for police brutality for that unprovoked elbow to the face? In front of several witnesses no less. That crap would NOT fly in real life. People would be up in arms real quick, and Weaver would be thrown off the force faster than you can say “Gold Spinner”.
I’m about to make yet another unpopular statement, so brace yourself. I’m glad this episode is out of the way, and that the Emma stuff is over and done with. It was getting really annoying that they kept pandering to a character who isn’t even in the show any more. Hopefully they can now put all that CS stuff behind them, and focus on really getting this new season (and new story) started for real. Perhaps even focus on providing some much needed explanations as to what the bloody hell is going on with the timeline. And maybe giving us some PROPER Regina & Henry reunion scenes, that last for more than 2 seconds.
One final note: I hope to all that is holy that they are NOT going to make WishRealm Hook be Regina’s new love interest. Please, PLEASE don’t do that.
Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, but thanks for reading, (and putting up with my complaints). 🙂 Onward, to next week’s episode…