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GENERAL: What a frustrating episode. This season is going in circles and I’m tired of logic problems, things popping into existence as quick fixes that weren’t thought of several episodes ago. I’m tired of character motivation being vague at best and insulting to the audience at worst. I’m tired of the writers retconning past experiences and character growth because it suits their current season. And I’m really tired of poor world building that only leads to endless questions about how this universe functions when the writers clearly have no intention of answering them!
RATING: 6/10
LIKED
–“Wingless glow worms.”
–Squid ink. *Drink!*
–“I cannot lose another son, Belle.” See, that motivation makes sense. Baelfire should absolutely be informing ALL of Rumple’s deeds over the past few years–it’s the only way Nealfire’s death could truly resonate. But instead the writers just go with “dark magic is addictive!” and “Rumple’s gonna Rumple!”
–Baby Gideon is not named after someone who died!
MIXED
–So fate really does exist for everyone? It’s a literal thing that can be cut, modified, changed, and un-fated? But what if you’re not magical or what if you’re fated to just leave a normal, every day life? Do peasants have lines like this? Can they be cut by the shears?
–So Regina’s heart controls the Evil Queen? And she hasn’t put this into practice until this very moment? Like she didn’t bother to use this trick when the EQ was threatening Snowing?? Or literally at any point during these first 8 episodes??
–Aladdin is now the Genie. Okay, sure. Whatever. I’m sure if I cared about Aladdin that’d matter to me.
DISLIKED
–I think the CGI for the Dark Castle gets worse every year. I swear you can see Belle’s outline.
–When do the flashbacks take place? And how can I believe that Belle ever fell for Rumple when she literally watches him use an innocent infant for his own devices?
–The inconsistencies in Belle’s character are utterly frustrating. In the span of 5 mins she said she’d “never go back” to Rumple and then moments later, trapped in the elevator, she said that if Rumple “did this, you’ll lose me forever” as if she hadn’t already declared that she’d never return to him!
–Dear writers: What you’re writing with Rumbelle is not “normal romantic angst.” It’s romanticizing mental and emotional abuse and normalizing it to the extent that those in these types of relationships will think “this is how it’s supposed to go.”
–Blue can pop into Rumple’s Dark Castle and free Belle…but she couldn’t free Belle from Regina’s prison…?
–Of course the Black Fairy is Rumple’s mother. It’s never been hinted at, he had no reaction to the mention of the Black Fairy back in S3, but OF COURSE she’s his mother! This is total fan service because everyone keeps pestering the writers about Rumple’s mother. It doesn’t matter to the plot at large, it doesn’t matter to Rumple’s character because it’s never been hinted at after SIX years, it doesn’t matter except as shock value and make the audience stop asking those annoying questions during Hot Seats.
–“I would never hurt you, Belle. Never” Writers, read this and understand it: not all abuse is physical! Get this through your heads already. Rumple HAS hurt Belle. A lot! More than anyone–Regina, Moe, ect–ever have!
–I’m really excited to not see JMo fake shake anymore.
FRUSTRATIONS
I’ll get into this a lot next week during our mid-season review: but what is the POINT of this half-season?? Is there one? There are three stories running concurrently and none of them are moving anywhere or had any point! Jekyll/Hyde and the Land of Untold Stories ended as soon as J/H died; the EQ has done nothing except waltz around and deliver one liners/mack on Rumple; Emma’s Savior story–that incorporates Aladdin and Jasmine–is at an utter standstill with nothing being fleshed out or developed. There are good things in this season but overall this doesn’t feel like there was any sort of point except to get to the Winter Finale next week.
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Anyway, one can hope
Always
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. As always your metas are well worth a read 🙂
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I finally managed to sit down and watch episode 8. As usual lately, my notes are three pages long and I’m not even sure where to start.
Maeve is becoming more and more fascinating by the second. Was there always something special about her because, in the past, it took her a long time to settle down after the MiB killed her daughter. And now that she can control the story by simply speaking her plans what else can she do? And where does this rank her in the hierarchy of life? So far only Ford seems to be able to walk into a landscape and change it with a flick of his wrist of a quick whisper! Like…did Maeve just become a god…?
Speaking of Ford, I like his take on consciousness. There is nothing separating Hosts from Humans because consciousness does not exist, you can’t create it in a lab. I’m not sure I agree (but I’m also not sure I disagree!) because to one extent he might be right. There is no point at which “real” occurs for us. We simply grow up and develop and evolve because of our interactions with the world and its inhabitants. But at the same time, I am more real, and alive than say the laptop on which I am writing this post (though, maybe my Cortana would disagree. Note to self–disable Cortana!)
I think we got a lot of evidence that the MiB is really William but I also think it’s all a red herring. The show wants us to believe that they are going that route (that William left the park after his adventures with Dolores, went home and married his fiancee, had a family, become a wealthy and powerful individual almost out of spite to Logan and what he said a few episodes back but was forever tainted by his experience in the Park.) The Maze though…so it’s literal? A very literal maze in which, from what I can gather, the Hosts and Humans are equals and there are consequences to the actions of both parties that aren’t a part of the Westworld Park. Why did the Maze reveal itself after Maeve was “alive. Very much alive” in the MiB’s flashback? Does it reveal itself to Hosts at the moment “real” kicks in (and again, is that even a thing that really happens?)
Can’t believe we only have two episodes to go!
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Pretty sure that’s the same armor Rumple wore in the Author-created AU. Either it’s just being reused (incredibly likely) or it’s tying Henry to the Stiltskins (which still doesn’t make any sense no matter how you spin this)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I am thinking this is the BLACK FAIRY and EQ recognized her as such……
Two different actresses.
Also, you know what slightly bothers me? The little pause in between Rump poofing the fairy away and the poofing her back tied up
Yeah, I thought that was very odd editing.
Incredibly odd.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"LOL the new!fairy thinks Blue Fairy can do anything to stop Rumple. LOL. She’s the most useless plot device to ever plot device.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Maybe this AU is just in Emma’s head and isn’t real at all and means nothing and has no impact on the plot at all except it keeps Emma out of the game for a little bit. That is where i am at until we hear otherwise.
Even if it’s not all in Emma’s head, it’ll still have little impact on the plot past a few episodes. These things never stick and the consequences of them never stick–just look at the last AU
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"So the prediction was simply a prediction. That settles that.
Good to know. Who know what it means for May, but good to know.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"…almost no one knows it, but somehow Belle’s mother knows a little and taught it to Belle. Convenient.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"3×10 “Time Bomb” thoughts!
GENERAL: You’ll notice that most of my likes are catchy one-liners and very little to do with plot. I agree with @thedarkonedearie in that as the season get further from Mad Hatter the poorer it’s getting. There are still good moments–Penguin’s story is still watchable, or at least more watchable than it was last year. I still really enjoy Nygmobblepot, even if it’s not going to ever go in the direction I want. In short: we went from me being excited and eager to watch episodes to once again being okay if it’s days before I watch my recording.
LIKED
–“This meeting is for grownups so I’m going to need you to leave.”
–“Love makes people do crazy things!” Coming from Oswald, pretty telling line.
–“Just eat it, will you!” Alfred used to really bother me but his snarky “ain’t got time for this” relationship with Selina is hilarious.
–“Keep an eye on Mario!” *beat* “Don’t look at him!”
–“Who said anything about a woman?” I like that it’s Barbara who figures everything out. I’m not sure it says anything bad about Nygma’s character (he is supposed to, objectively, be the smartest villain) but rather that he can’t conceive of disloyalty in Oswald.
–The plot of Nygma and Butch might be really mediocre but there’s no denying that Cory Michael Smith sells the heck out of it (also might developing a slight celeb-crush on CMS). He and Robin Lord Taylor are both breakouts as far as I’m concerned.
MIXED
–I wish the show had moved more seamlessly from the Mad Hatter to the Court of Owls without going into the Barnes and Mario territory. The CoO story is taking forever when it should be the natural inheritor of the narrative given Tetch/Indian Hill.
DISLIKED
–How did Ed even find Butch when he was unable to for so long?
–I’m finding Ed’s devotion to Isabella…lacking. With Kringle we had an entire season and a half to watch him fall in love and obsess over her before killing her. Kringle being Ed’s motivation for turning into a killer made sense; Isabella was literally a broadly-drawn plot device whom Ed knew for less than a week. The idea that he’d turn to the level of torture he does against Butch and Tabitha is unsound, narratively speaking. Now, if they want to go with “Ed’s actually insane who revels in blood and mayhem and will find any excuse for an outlet” then okay, I think that works (we saw his downward spiral in S2 after killing Kringle) but they didn’t go that route which makes me question Ed’s character.
–Machete-wielding motorcycle murderers. That’s new.
–Am I supposed to care about Mario? Or Tabitha?
–Ivy. Just…Ivy.
–OMG I don’t care about Lee and Jim. And yes, I am a broken record on this topic but really…don’t care! (Also, is Morena leaving? I heard she got a new gig on NBC?)
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
