[arkham258]

I once said in a thread about a previous episode that Emma never really apologized to Henry for lying to him. Nice to see it happen this episode.

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I’ve already said most of my thoughts in the Initial Reactions thread. I will just reiterate a few here I guess

Favorite:
Rumpel speaking to Regina and actually trying to give her some genuinely good advice for the first time ever in his interactions with her. I’ve never seen that side of him come out in any scenes they’ve had together. He’s usually trying to indulge her dark desires rather than abate them

Least favorite:
The weak response the guy gave for why he wasn’t willing to stick around in Storybrooke with Regina. Really? Your life in New Jersey is better than staying in a town where you could have a relationship with a beautiful woman who is the major of a town and can give you and your son anything they need? Seriously? Wow. He just sounded like a moron to me. Keep in mind that scene occurred before Regina started acting crazy, at which point he had good reason not to want to stick around

I thought Snow was a bit melodramatic in this episode. She did a terrible thing, but I don’t know if I buy into her wanting to kill herself. That seemed slightly out of character for someone who cares so much about her family to just abandon them like that. I loved what her scene with Regina sets up for future episodes, but it seemed a bit contrived how they got there.

I don’t really understand the hate for Henry. Everything he does makes sense to me. I guess I must have the mind of a child 😆

I just think Henry is the conscience of this show. Maybe he doesn’t see the world as it really is, but he does see it the way it should be. He’s a lot like Clementine from The Walking Dead video games by Telltale, who is a sweet and adorable young girl who plays a very similar role in those games as Henry does in this show.

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@AngieBelle wrote:

I feel for Henry- poor kid was raised by Regina and is blood related to Rumple! His words to his family were great, mirrored the things I wanted to say to the characters myself. I completely understand his behavior- none of the adults in his life really know how to parent.

I actually think David has been the best parent for Henry on this show. When Snow and Emma were gone he did an admirable job taking care of Henry and even teaching him a few things. Also, he actually managed to keep some level of peace with Regina. He even allowed her to spend time with Henry, making him seem smarter to me than the rest of them who keep pulling Henry away from her which only makes her more lonely, angry, and spiteful. Nobody seems to realize that being alone only brings out the worst in Regina, but I digress. As a guy myself, I think it would be cool to see an episode just with David, Bae, and Henry doing some male bonding without the ladies around. Maybe you could have Mr. Gold with them. I could see an entertaining comedy episode there with Gold playing the straight man

@AngieBelle wrote:

Speaking of Rumple, I really liked how he was trying to be a voice of reason for Regina, encouraging her to give up on revenge already. I like that he was genuine in this moment, paying respects to Cora and not taking the opportunity to knock Regina down further.

I feel like everyone is just going to talk about the scene where he protected Snow, but this was a more defining moment for him in my eyes. To see Rumple talking to her and trying to genuinely help her in a positive way is such a dramatic change for him. He wasn’t manipulating Regina. He wasn’t playing her. He wasn’t being the little devil on her shoulder encouraging her to just give in to her dark desires. I think this goes back to the core of his character, which is family. Realizing he has one now may end up being more important to his character development in the long run than his relationship with Belle was. If Belle ever does get her memory back, she may be happy to find a whole different Rumpel waiting for her. I also think that if Gold was motivated enough, he could help Regina lose that darkness of hers the way he seems to be losing his. Frankly, I think he OWES her that, since him and Cora are largely responsible for setting her on her dark path. I really wish he’d take some responsibility for some of the awful things he has done in his life, but I could say the same thing about Regina.

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This may be the first time I saw an interaction between Regina and Mr. Gold where he wasn’t trying to goad her towards doing something bad. Maybe he is FINALLY changing, and without Belle’s influence too.

I always feel bad for Regina. Notice how everyone always walks away from her like she’s got leprosy or something. She tried to get the father and kid to stay, and it was only after they rejected her that she took more drastic action. That whole, “our lives are in New Jersey thing” was so pathetic and made me roll my eyes. You have the beautiful mayor of a town getting close to you and your son and offering you a place to stay where she can literally provide you anything and you say no? Really? 😕 Heck any woman who can cook me lasagna already has my heart. That guy was an idiot. If I knew nothing about her being an evil queen I’d have taken up that offer, assuming the kid was okay with it.

I think there is still a chance for Regina to turn around and not be evil. She relented once again in her evil scheme for Henry, and by the well again. Seems to be a theme. Her not killing Snow, despite all the reasons she gave, is still significant. Also, it appears like Mr. Gold is no longer going to be the little devil on her shoulder pushing her to be bad. Lastly, if there is some kind of dark story arc coming for Snow, it may create some more understanding between her and Regina

That, “thank you mommy” line from Regina was creepy. I love her, but there are those moments where she really does seem a little insane. Just the way she delivered that line.

Snow seemed a little melodramatic with the, “Kill me!” stuff. I know she’s guilt ridden, but that seemed a bit silly, like she suddenly doesn’t even care about the fact that she has a family who needs her anymore, especially David. I don’t want to see this Snow story arc rushed. Trying to commit suicide in the very next episode after she killed Cora is a bit extreme for my tastes. It’s like she’s all emo now jeez, and I don’t even like using the word emo. So thanks for that Snow 😆

Great interaction between Henry and Bae. They have a natural chemistry and are really hitting it off as father and son. I loved Emma’s line, “He’s your son!” Now we know where Henry gets all his sneakiness and cleverness from

Did you guys notice Henry say, “you can’t kill my MOM!” Wow, quite a change from how he used to think of Regina in season 1. Is some of this stemming from his disappointment in Emma?

[arkham258]

Boba Yaga – Let’s get another powerful,scary witch to replace Cora.
Shakespeare characters – I would like to see OUAT incorporate mystical characters from Shakespeare like they did brilliantly on Disney’s Gargoyles with characters like Puck, Macbeth, and the three witches
Elizabeth Bathory – The legends surrounding her are even more interesting than Dracula. She might be too dark a character for OUAT to take on though
Scrooge – from a Christmas Carol
A succubus!
ATLANTIS! – I’d take that over the little mermaid
Death – or some sort of grim reaper character http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyNge7RF_lA

I’d love to see a fully animated, 2d land with a character like Giselle from Disney’s Enchanted. Hey, if they can do a black and white version of our world with Frankenstein, why not? Fringe has had a fully animated episode, and Angel had an entire episode with Angel as a Jim Henson-like puppet.

I’d like to see OUAT do a take on old Saint Nick, right around December
As someone else said, I’d like to see Snow’s long lost sister, Rose Red.
Another vote for Cheshire Cat
SINBAD!!!!
Lady Luck – As an actual person
Prince of Persia – It is a Disney movie now, and I would LOVE for the show to use the sands of time.
Rupunzel – Tangled was such an awesome movie
A Valkyrie from the land of Valhalla

I’d love to see some creepy, obscure stuff on the show too, like a kushtaka. Remember the weird, Chinese, fire animal thing that turned into Philip? More stuff like that. Japanese culture has tons of occult stuff they could play around with. We need some ghosts on this show, like that wraith thing they had

I also want to see some fun references on the show, like references to works of Neil Gaiman or Princess Bride

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I think it’s going to take a new character to get Regina back on the road to redemption. Someone with a new perspective, or a potential love interest.

I think her obsession with Henry is a lost cause. He has his own family, and she’s not a part of it. Also, she can’t be redeemed if her ONLY motivation is winning over Henry. Also, Henry’s ties to Snow will definitely cause problems. At some point, she’s going to have to realize she CAN’T have Henry (perfect time to introduce a love interest for her as a NEW motivation for redemption).

I’m also expecting a falling out between her and Rumpel. That rivalry isn’t over, especially with the part he played in Cora’s death. Also, he has always, always, ALWAYS been a negative force in Regina’s life. Even after going on his own road to redemption with Belle, we still see him trying to get Regina to give herself over to her inner darkness every chance he gets. I said this in another thread, he’s Regina’s enabler.

“Give it up Regina, they’ll never accept you.”
“Kill whoever gets through the portal Regina, Henry will be all yours”
“I bet they’ll never invite you to dinner with them will they Regina?”

He is still the little devil on her shoulder

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@RumplesGirl wrote:

That’s a good point, Slurpeez. Maybe anybody has the potential to use magic but Snow and Charming choose not to. So, maybe being able to use magic can take several paths: You are either born with the ability to use magic (Emma and the fairies), you learn (Regina, Cora, and Hook who can at least take hearts)

Hook doesn’t know how to take hearts. His hook was just enchanted by Regina. That was a nice swerve by the writers by the way. Hook is as clueless about magic as David.

@myril wrote:

@RumplesGirl wrote:

I like how this episode confirmed the use of magic — good or evil – depends on the persons’ emotions.

Makes me think that those who able to wield magic most effectively are those whose emotions are really close to the surface. Someone without strong emotions probably wouldn’t be able to use magic as well.

I am thinking best a it are those types with a sort of hot boiling emotional volcano beneath a seemingly tough and calm surface. Rumple and Cora have shown once in a while a bit of temper, especially Rumple did, but otherwise they seem like people bottling things up in some ways. Regina is emotionally less controlled on the outside but not that much outspoken about her emotions either. And Emma has bottled up much of her emotions for most her life as well, and still has her walls high up.

I sort of agree with you. I think the fact that Emma bottles up her emotions so much is why magic hasn’t come naturally to her. Look at the effort it took for Rumpel last episode just to get Emma to feel something. With Regina and Rumpel, their emotions are so close to the surface as you said. Rumpel flys into a rage at the drop of a hat. He looked ready to tear Henry’s head off last episode. And with Regina, there is always pain and anger in her eyes even when she is trying to act calm and composed. Her eyes tell you everything about her. There is never any happiness there. Rumpel and Regina are ruled by their darker emotions, especially Regina (since she doesn’t have someone like Belle in her life) so dark magic comes naturally to them. I’ve been kind of getting into astrology lately, and Regina and Rumpel are like dark water signs. Their negative emotions consume them and inform most of their actions and they can so easily manipulate people because they are so intuitive. Regina seems like the classic, revenge obsessed, uber powerful Scorpio. Rumpel is either a family obsessed Cancer, or cowardly Pisces. Think I’m rambling now LOL

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You guys really have to read the comic book series Fables, which deals with this very idea in some very interesting ways. The connection between human fairy tale stories and real life fairy tale characters is one of the more fascinating things about the comic book series

From a conceptual level, Once Upon a Time is VERY similar to Fables. It has the same basic ideas as Fables, but takes the characters and stories in completely different directions. It’s one of the reasons I started watching OUAT, because it sounded so similar. Now I love them both!

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@Keb wrote:

Princess Ozma. She’s not in the first book so she missed out on the 1939 movie (which is what most people know of Oz), but she’s pretty epic in her own right. (She’s not in Oz the Great and Powerful, either, but I didn’t really expect her to be.)

I’m more familiar with the Fables version of her, which is quite an interesting and powerful character. Makes me want to see OUAT utilize her as well.

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I’m not really a huge Star Trek/Star Wars fan like a lot of other people. I’m a bit rebellious and I think part of me has always hated how ridiculously popular they are. They’re like the go to franchises every time someone on any podcast I listen to wants to compare a movie or TV show to something and I always feel like, “Can’t you guys reference something that DOESN’T have the word Star in it?” I’m starting to see that a lot with Lost as well. It’s always, “This is just like that thing in Lost!” ALL THE TIME. It annoys me a little bit.

That said though, I did used to watch a lot of TNG episodes and I liked the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie too so I’m not a total hater (and I’ve seen all five seasons of Lost as well and think it was a great show that unfortunately had a lousy series finale). So TNG is really the extent of my Star Trek fandom

On a side note, as someone who watched a lot of TNG I geeked out a bit when I used to watch Disney’s Gargoyles back in high school and recognized many of the voice actors as people who were on TNG

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