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shadowkat1) OUAT Season Finale
Well, the ending surprised me. I'll give it that. [I was admittedly aggravated through most of it -- mainly because I've grown weary of the writers treading over the same ground - and from every vantage point imaginable. Seriously, how many different ways do we need to tell the Snow White story? Aren't there any other fairy tales or stories that we can reference? The Snow Queen - this fall was a breath of fresh air. And, I'm tired of Rumple and Belle's love story -- it's hard to root for it, when Belle is written so badly.]
That said, there were a lot of rather clever ideas expressed about the nature of storytelling and writing. As well as the function of stories. With the evil villain (if you ignore Rumplestilskin who appears to be complicit in all evil doing) being the author of the text.
In retrospect, I think the episode was a nifty satire of self-indulgent storytelling, where characters are acting out of character, or the author's favorite/representative character in the text is a sort of Marty Stu, who can do no wrong and has absolute power. It also, as a side-note satirized "the retcon" and "characters serving plot-twists or theme". So, I was somewhat impressed by that. Enough to not delete the episode, and rewatch at a later date. I think it sort of needs to be rewatched to be fully appreciated.
* So the whole episode was basically Rumplestilskin's fantasy. He clearly hates Emma and Regina or doesn't care about anyone but Belle and himself. This character is beyond narcissistic and I'm not sure he is even redeemable at this stage. Although maybe they'll try next season. At any rate, Carlyle has his work cut out for him.
Also, considering how much he wanted Baelfire to respect him and see him as a hero -- I'd think he wouldn't want to hurt Henry, who is Baelfire's son. And his only link to his son. That bothered me. That he would give Selena, who killed his son, a happy ending, and try to kill his grandson.
How can Belle love this guy? They say love is blind...but...there are limits.
(I don't like how they've written Belle at all.)
* Did however enjoy, quite a bit actually, Snow White and Charming as the Evil Queen and her henchman. The actors most likely had a ball. And the finally got to wear cool and attractive costumes. While poor Regina got stuck with that weird, not to mention ugly, furry white number that Snow was always running about in. While I'm tire of retreading over the Snow White story, I did find it amusing to see Regina and Snow White flip roles, hopefully they remember it and realize that neither had it easy.
Regina has been fully redeemed now. She sacrifices herself for Henry. And she finally gets out of her own way. Did like the fact that having a man was not the key to happiness, just part of the package. You had to get out of your own way first and find your happiness on your own.
Regina's arc has been the best so far and the most satisfying.
* Hook and Emma were also great. In Rumple's fantasy, Hook is the coward and incompetent.
Except - he still shows more courage and competence than Rumple ever did in defending his loved ones. He sacrifices himself for Emma and Henry. And Emma gets to wear cool clothes, and fight with a sword. Didn't understand why she didn't jump in front of Henry, when Rumple went after him? I may need to rewatch that.
* The flip of the villains becoming the heroes in order to have their happy ending, at first felt lame to me. Because wouldn't villains winning mean they stayed villains?
Then I remembered something -- no, in the villains' heads, they are the heroes. Rumple wants to be the hero, in his head he is the hero of the story or should be.
And the author, Ian Heller, who clearly isn't as clever as he believes, plagirizes an old 1960s television show "The Glorious Knight Valant" possibly a take on Prince Valante (the comic strip?) to give Rumple his fantasy. Then he writes himself as a best-selling writer with a huge somewhat goth fanbase. (He probably shouldn't have done that, because Henry wouldn't have been able to find him if he hadn't. Writing his own happy ending doomed him.)
He fears losing his story, having it undone. When Henry imprisons him in his own book, he struggles to survive by manipulating his creations, and attempts to prevent his work from being undone or erased. Henry is able to do so, through Regina's act of selflessness. And of course, Henry is the natural inheritor of the quill or the role of author. Since he believes in the stories, and respects their power and truth. For him, the storybook is his family's history - he knows that changing it, or manipulating it, removes their choices and free will.
I still don't understand why they couldn't bring back Baelfire - whose death was in some respects the result of the author's manipulations. Probably couldn't get the actor back, who has moved on to other things.
* The ending surprised me. Although I knew they had to do something about Rumple's magic. But I honestly thought they'd just make him completely dark or someone else.
Didn't expect Emma to take it into herself and became tethered to the darkness.
It may effect her differently, since she chose it for different reasons than Rumple did.
Her choice was one of courage and self-sacrifice and love, while Rumple's was one of cowardice, greed, vengeance, and envy. That has to make a difference.
And I love that she did it to save Regina. To protect Regina from going down that hole again. The Regina/Emma platonic love story has admittedly been my favorite relationship.
More so than the romantic ones.
Actually there were two things I loved about this episode - Henry solving the problem and going into the book to save his family from Rumple's fantasy, and Emma saving Regina.
The core relationship in the series is Regina/Henry/Emma. Which is sort of cool, if you think about it. They didn't go the traditional route.
And...the Hook/Emma relationship is working. Their eyes light up when they look at each other. They actually do sell it.
Not sure why they felt the need to save Rumple. But maybe they were afraid of what would happen if the dark magic just took over? Of everyone present, I think Emma was the safest vehicle for the magic. And the least likely to use it in a horrid way.
Really didn't want Regina to go dark again, been there done that.
Now, next season Regina et al have to find a way to save Emma from the dark magic. The Socerer appears to be Merlin. (At first I thought he said Meredith, but alas, wishful thinking on my part. Meredith would have been funny and cool.). Are we going to Camelot now?
Overall, an interesting episode. Lots of things to play with -- and it surprised me.
2. The Good Wife Season finale
Not as good as the last four seasons. And I sort of saw the ending coming a mile a way.
Been waiting for that twist for a while now. Overall this has been an uneven season, with just few well-written episodes scattered throughout. The political satire almost overtook the series, along with the cases ripped from the headlines.
* Alicia said no to Peter running for President. Thank god. I don't blame her. Enough is enough. She's been ripped to shreds by the press. And now, she no longer cares what people think and is tired of them ripping her kids apart and her marriage apart. She's in short tired of playing the Good political Wife to Peter's increasingly pompous politician. Not sure Peter does anything except run for office.
* Kalinda said goodbye and was able to extricate herself from Bishop without looking over her shoulder. Or worry about her friends.
* Diane, Carey, and David Lee royally pissed off Canning. Although why his wife thought it would be a good idea to work for Canning's old firm, I've no clue.
So now, Canning has approached Alicia to be his partner. Run, Alicia, Run. Although I sort of hope she goes for it. Since Finn has turned her down. Dang it.
I would have liked a Carey, Canning, and Alicia partnership that has a nice symmetry to Will, Diane and Stern.
Whatever happened to Nathan Lane's character? Did he just jump ship?
* The case of the week was aggravating. But realistic, and a good satire on police practices.
Well, the ending surprised me. I'll give it that. [I was admittedly aggravated through most of it -- mainly because I've grown weary of the writers treading over the same ground - and from every vantage point imaginable. Seriously, how many different ways do we need to tell the Snow White story? Aren't there any other fairy tales or stories that we can reference? The Snow Queen - this fall was a breath of fresh air. And, I'm tired of Rumple and Belle's love story -- it's hard to root for it, when Belle is written so badly.]
That said, there were a lot of rather clever ideas expressed about the nature of storytelling and writing. As well as the function of stories. With the evil villain (if you ignore Rumplestilskin who appears to be complicit in all evil doing) being the author of the text.
In retrospect, I think the episode was a nifty satire of self-indulgent storytelling, where characters are acting out of character, or the author's favorite/representative character in the text is a sort of Marty Stu, who can do no wrong and has absolute power. It also, as a side-note satirized "the retcon" and "characters serving plot-twists or theme". So, I was somewhat impressed by that. Enough to not delete the episode, and rewatch at a later date. I think it sort of needs to be rewatched to be fully appreciated.
* So the whole episode was basically Rumplestilskin's fantasy. He clearly hates Emma and Regina or doesn't care about anyone but Belle and himself. This character is beyond narcissistic and I'm not sure he is even redeemable at this stage. Although maybe they'll try next season. At any rate, Carlyle has his work cut out for him.
Also, considering how much he wanted Baelfire to respect him and see him as a hero -- I'd think he wouldn't want to hurt Henry, who is Baelfire's son. And his only link to his son. That bothered me. That he would give Selena, who killed his son, a happy ending, and try to kill his grandson.
How can Belle love this guy? They say love is blind...but...there are limits.
(I don't like how they've written Belle at all.)
* Did however enjoy, quite a bit actually, Snow White and Charming as the Evil Queen and her henchman. The actors most likely had a ball. And the finally got to wear cool and attractive costumes. While poor Regina got stuck with that weird, not to mention ugly, furry white number that Snow was always running about in. While I'm tire of retreading over the Snow White story, I did find it amusing to see Regina and Snow White flip roles, hopefully they remember it and realize that neither had it easy.
Regina has been fully redeemed now. She sacrifices herself for Henry. And she finally gets out of her own way. Did like the fact that having a man was not the key to happiness, just part of the package. You had to get out of your own way first and find your happiness on your own.
Regina's arc has been the best so far and the most satisfying.
* Hook and Emma were also great. In Rumple's fantasy, Hook is the coward and incompetent.
Except - he still shows more courage and competence than Rumple ever did in defending his loved ones. He sacrifices himself for Emma and Henry. And Emma gets to wear cool clothes, and fight with a sword. Didn't understand why she didn't jump in front of Henry, when Rumple went after him? I may need to rewatch that.
* The flip of the villains becoming the heroes in order to have their happy ending, at first felt lame to me. Because wouldn't villains winning mean they stayed villains?
Then I remembered something -- no, in the villains' heads, they are the heroes. Rumple wants to be the hero, in his head he is the hero of the story or should be.
And the author, Ian Heller, who clearly isn't as clever as he believes, plagirizes an old 1960s television show "The Glorious Knight Valant" possibly a take on Prince Valante (the comic strip?) to give Rumple his fantasy. Then he writes himself as a best-selling writer with a huge somewhat goth fanbase. (He probably shouldn't have done that, because Henry wouldn't have been able to find him if he hadn't. Writing his own happy ending doomed him.)
He fears losing his story, having it undone. When Henry imprisons him in his own book, he struggles to survive by manipulating his creations, and attempts to prevent his work from being undone or erased. Henry is able to do so, through Regina's act of selflessness. And of course, Henry is the natural inheritor of the quill or the role of author. Since he believes in the stories, and respects their power and truth. For him, the storybook is his family's history - he knows that changing it, or manipulating it, removes their choices and free will.
I still don't understand why they couldn't bring back Baelfire - whose death was in some respects the result of the author's manipulations. Probably couldn't get the actor back, who has moved on to other things.
* The ending surprised me. Although I knew they had to do something about Rumple's magic. But I honestly thought they'd just make him completely dark or someone else.
Didn't expect Emma to take it into herself and became tethered to the darkness.
It may effect her differently, since she chose it for different reasons than Rumple did.
Her choice was one of courage and self-sacrifice and love, while Rumple's was one of cowardice, greed, vengeance, and envy. That has to make a difference.
And I love that she did it to save Regina. To protect Regina from going down that hole again. The Regina/Emma platonic love story has admittedly been my favorite relationship.
More so than the romantic ones.
Actually there were two things I loved about this episode - Henry solving the problem and going into the book to save his family from Rumple's fantasy, and Emma saving Regina.
The core relationship in the series is Regina/Henry/Emma. Which is sort of cool, if you think about it. They didn't go the traditional route.
And...the Hook/Emma relationship is working. Their eyes light up when they look at each other. They actually do sell it.
Not sure why they felt the need to save Rumple. But maybe they were afraid of what would happen if the dark magic just took over? Of everyone present, I think Emma was the safest vehicle for the magic. And the least likely to use it in a horrid way.
Really didn't want Regina to go dark again, been there done that.
Now, next season Regina et al have to find a way to save Emma from the dark magic. The Socerer appears to be Merlin. (At first I thought he said Meredith, but alas, wishful thinking on my part. Meredith would have been funny and cool.). Are we going to Camelot now?
Overall, an interesting episode. Lots of things to play with -- and it surprised me.
2. The Good Wife Season finale
Not as good as the last four seasons. And I sort of saw the ending coming a mile a way.
Been waiting for that twist for a while now. Overall this has been an uneven season, with just few well-written episodes scattered throughout. The political satire almost overtook the series, along with the cases ripped from the headlines.
* Alicia said no to Peter running for President. Thank god. I don't blame her. Enough is enough. She's been ripped to shreds by the press. And now, she no longer cares what people think and is tired of them ripping her kids apart and her marriage apart. She's in short tired of playing the Good political Wife to Peter's increasingly pompous politician. Not sure Peter does anything except run for office.
* Kalinda said goodbye and was able to extricate herself from Bishop without looking over her shoulder. Or worry about her friends.
* Diane, Carey, and David Lee royally pissed off Canning. Although why his wife thought it would be a good idea to work for Canning's old firm, I've no clue.
So now, Canning has approached Alicia to be his partner. Run, Alicia, Run. Although I sort of hope she goes for it. Since Finn has turned her down. Dang it.
I would have liked a Carey, Canning, and Alicia partnership that has a nice symmetry to Will, Diane and Stern.
Whatever happened to Nathan Lane's character? Did he just jump ship?
* The case of the week was aggravating. But realistic, and a good satire on police practices.
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Date: 2015-05-12 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-13 01:27 am (UTC)Was so happy to see Alicia tell both Peter and Eli that she was done and not doing it anymore. Been there done that...four times already.