Bit late but here goes….
My overall reaction to this episode is one of deep ambivalence.
Liked:
– The LGBT pair having a TLK. I half expected them to avoid a kiss altogether, so a TLK exceeded my expectations in every way. Furthermore, the scene paralled the Snow/Charming TLK in S1 and the writers have said that they consider Snowing to be the ultimate example of true love.
– Snow and Ruby’s conversation. Great to see that Snow White is a supporter of love, any love.
– Zelena sitting and drinking.
– Meghan Ory’s performance.
Mixed:
– Ruby Slippers. In my opinion, it should’ve been Mulan Rouge. We don’t know Dorothy, so it’s hard to care about Dorothy. Until very recently, she was no more than a plot point in gingham. Then there’s the fact that their relationship progressed at supersonic speed. I know it was meant to be love at first sight, but I prefer a slow burn – with previously established characters. But they did have some cute moments, so I can’t bring myself to hate it.
– Belle putting herself under the sleeping curse. This was just so weird. I don’t mind the drama it’s set up, but it seems so impulsive and harebrained. How is Maurice/Moe supposed to get to Underbrooke to give Belle TLK? Or is he already dead?
Disliked:
– What they did to Mulan. Others have encapsulated my feelings in their posts, so I will just say that I am very, VERY disappointed. Such a waste.
– Multiple storylines coming together in one episode. The episode was supposed to be Ruby/Mulan/Dorothy-centric, yet there were at least half a dozen scenes involving Snow/Charming/Hook/Zelena/Hades/Belle/Rumple. There were several more where Ruby just stood around with the gang not doing very much. It wasn’t that I disliked the scenes with the others, but I thought they should have been saved for another episode. This is the only episode where we’re seeing Ruby/Mulan/Dorothy, so it would’ve been nice to focus more on them. It felt like their story, including the relationship, ended up getting more like half an episode.
– How certain lines from the initial Hades/Zelena scene promised high drama and didn’t deliver. Examples:
Hades: “I’m going to take care of that wolf.” I found this line slightly chilling and was quite concerned for Ruby. But he didn’t do anything – not specifically to her anyway.
Zelena: “What I did was beyond wicked.” From the way that she said it, I thought she’d destroyed the entire population of Oz and had Dorothy strung up in a torture chamber. But it was just a sleeping curse. Not nice, for sure, but this is Zelena. Maybe she’s just going soft.
The Underbrooke portion of this episode would have been more exciting if Hades/Zelena had actively tried to kill Ruby, instead of having everyone wandering around looking for Aunt Em.