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shadowkatDecided I like Resurrection, so am DVRing/watching it. Plus my co-workers watch it.
Once Upon A Time was even better this week than last week. It focused on David Nolan, fatherhood, fear, guilt and did a nice twist on the Rapunzel storyline. Plus continued to build the plot.
In this episode, David/Charming is afraid of letting down his second child much like he did his first. It's not just fear though but also guilt. Understandable. He's seen the cost of his actions. When he was about to be a father the first time around, he was fearless and thought he was doing the right things without question. Then 28 years later, his 28 year old daughter shows up and breaks a curse - and he realizes the cost of his choices. Now, he's about to have a child again and he prays he doesn't fail this one the way he did Emma. (Which considering there's another wicked witch wandering about with an agenda...who can blame him.)
It's important to realize that two things are intertwined here : Guilt and Fear. The same two emotions that motivated Rumplestilskin - his fear of becoming his father, and his guilt that he had become his father. David's is his guilt at letting Emma down and his fear he'll do it again with the next kid.
[Have some nice bonding moments here - between Charming and Robin Hood, and between Hook and Emma. Also Regina and Henry have a great moment.]
Mary Margaret, on other hand, is grating on my nerves again. I struggle with that character. She's almost too sweet for her own good. I like Snow White better - she's smarter and sharper. Mary Margaret trusts just about everyone. Seriously, you are in Storybrook, you have no memory of what happened, you also know that the Wicked Witch of the West is wandering about, and you trust some woman you've never met who randomly approaches you to be your midwife??? AND...you never saw her before in either the Enchanted Forest or in Storybrook? Granted you lost a year, but one would think you still remembered everything you learned prior to that. David at least was a bit uncertain. She's acting a bit too much like Mary of S1. Hmmm...I just remembered, what David Nolan of S1 lacked was courage. Cursed David (S1) - had no courage to stand up for his convictions or to fight for anything. While Charming was all about courage. Mary Margaret in S1 was too trusting, insecure, convinced she was always in the wrong and couldn't do anything right. And afraid to trust herself.
While Snow was a bit edgier, secure in herself, and trusted her ability to be a mother.
Both are depicting new parent syndrome. I admittedly am not a fan of baby storylines in fantasy series - mainly because the writers don't know how to pull them off without getting sentimental or silly. Also the kid seems to sort of disappear. Then magically pops up five-six years later all grown up. We call this SORAS in the soap opera world. (Soap Opera Rapidly Aging Syndrom...but it works in fantasy serials too.). For some reason, once the kid is born, no one knows what to do with them. The only shows who seem to deal with this well are family dramas such as Brothers and Sisters, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and family centric sitcoms.
OUAT though, may make it work. Mainly because unlike most fantasy/sci-fi serials, it's focus is on family and parent issues. But I am worried that we'll do the cliche baby-napping story.
Wicked/Selena looks like she wants that kid and is doing everything possible to lay claim to it. Not quite sure why, though? Is she doing it for the same reason Regina did? To fill a hole in herself?
But back to the Rapunzel/David story line. I liked the metaphor utilized here a great deal. While hunting for a mystical root which will help he handle his fear - he stumbles upon Rapunzel, who already dug it up and used it. (Demonstrating why Robin Hood's statement that he prefers to stay away from magic is a highly sensible one.) What's important her is Rapunzel's fear stems from her guilt. And guilt - I learned recently - is nothing more than unexpressed anger directed at oneself.
Rapunzel's guilt and fear, which become intertwined, locked her in a tower. The evil witch keeping her in the tower was herself. Just as later, the evil witch hunting David in the woods is himself. She took the root to face her fears, and it reflected herself. Her monster was inside. This echoes the conversation with Selena and Rumple - where she tells Rumple that in the Enchanted Land, they wear their monsters on the outside. Their rotten core is on their visage. While here, in Storybrook, they can hide that other self. Selena and Rumple's fear, guilt, anger, revenge is reflected in their visage in FTL.
Anyhow, Rapunzel's fear locked her inside a tower. A high, ivory, tower. Where she was isolated and alone and cut off from the world. And the longer she stayed in the tower, the stronger her fear and guilt became. It caged her inside it. Crippling her. She gave it all her power. This is not the first time fear, guilt and courage are addressed. Rumplestilskin's fatal flaw after all was his cowardice, his fear - which isolated him from everyone. And over time, literally crippled him with Guilt. (Not remorse - not the same thing.) David equally has been trapped by his fear and guilt, but his courage conquers it and he's happy. Giving in to one's fear, as Rapunzel and Rumplestilskin did...causes you to be alone and miserable. Cut off from love, family, connection. Once Rapunzel conquered her fear - she was reunited with her family. (Nice twist.)
Meanwhile we are dealing with a couple of other fears...Emma's fear of love. As she tells Hook, she'd fallen for Walsh. She was in love with him. Then, once again, found out that he wasn't who he purported to be. And got her heart broken. Now, she's in protective mode again.
Henry is worried about her. He knows something awful happened with Walsh. She was about to accept the proposal. Then all of a sudden she takes him out of school and drives him to Storybrook. (Something, he tells Regina, is out of character. Emma would never take him out of school, not even for a vacation. So he feels something bad happened there and she got hurt but isn't talking to him about it.) Emma is afraid of what happened to Neal, who has not popped up yet - and she hopes hasn't turned into a flying monkey. (Right there with you. He better not be a frigging flying monkey. Neal frustrates me as character. He's so interesting - and the writers aren't doing anything with him. I don't know why. I'm half tempted to hunt down fanfic or better yet, write it myself. Stupid writers. Grumble, grumble, grumble. According to the previews - he's supposed to the focus of next week's episode. So I've a smidgen of hope. But if he gets turned into a flying monkey, I'm going to be annoyed.)
Hook, clearly, is still head over heels in love with Emma. But restraining himself. I'm guessing the kick in the groin in the first episode most likely is the reason. She appears to have feelings for him too...but is understandably reluctant. The poor woman has been burned one too many times. She must be annoyed, finds an upstanding, good guy, who has no criminal record, Henry likes him, he's good father material.. and he turns out to be a flying monkey. What are the odds?
Then there's the rather interesting tid-bits between Selena and Rumple. (Maybe he isn't her father - or if he is, she doesn't know about it. She appears to have known her father - Cora abandoned her to whomever he was. A drunk, who wasn't very nice, I'm guessing.) Selena shaves Rumple, when he'd prefer to spin gold. And that conversation echoes David's with Rapunzel - the monster within, for them, was always the monster without. Power brought out their monsters.
Selena drugs David with root that forces him to face his fears in himself, so that she can steal his broken sword, a symbol of his courage, which Regina states is a powerful token.
And later, we discover that Rumple has either broken out of his cage or Selena has let him out - when the gang finds it, and realizes Selena has brought back Rumplestilskin. Belle still thinks he's dead though - but is running his shop in his absence. Selena wonders if Belle is Mrs. Gold. But Belle tells her no.
Not sure what Selena's game is - except that it has something to do with Rumple, Regina, and Snow's baby. The curse in this story is a lot less clear than it was in S1, as is the mystery.
Once Upon A Time was even better this week than last week. It focused on David Nolan, fatherhood, fear, guilt and did a nice twist on the Rapunzel storyline. Plus continued to build the plot.
In this episode, David/Charming is afraid of letting down his second child much like he did his first. It's not just fear though but also guilt. Understandable. He's seen the cost of his actions. When he was about to be a father the first time around, he was fearless and thought he was doing the right things without question. Then 28 years later, his 28 year old daughter shows up and breaks a curse - and he realizes the cost of his choices. Now, he's about to have a child again and he prays he doesn't fail this one the way he did Emma. (Which considering there's another wicked witch wandering about with an agenda...who can blame him.)
It's important to realize that two things are intertwined here : Guilt and Fear. The same two emotions that motivated Rumplestilskin - his fear of becoming his father, and his guilt that he had become his father. David's is his guilt at letting Emma down and his fear he'll do it again with the next kid.
[Have some nice bonding moments here - between Charming and Robin Hood, and between Hook and Emma. Also Regina and Henry have a great moment.]
Mary Margaret, on other hand, is grating on my nerves again. I struggle with that character. She's almost too sweet for her own good. I like Snow White better - she's smarter and sharper. Mary Margaret trusts just about everyone. Seriously, you are in Storybrook, you have no memory of what happened, you also know that the Wicked Witch of the West is wandering about, and you trust some woman you've never met who randomly approaches you to be your midwife??? AND...you never saw her before in either the Enchanted Forest or in Storybrook? Granted you lost a year, but one would think you still remembered everything you learned prior to that. David at least was a bit uncertain. She's acting a bit too much like Mary of S1. Hmmm...I just remembered, what David Nolan of S1 lacked was courage. Cursed David (S1) - had no courage to stand up for his convictions or to fight for anything. While Charming was all about courage. Mary Margaret in S1 was too trusting, insecure, convinced she was always in the wrong and couldn't do anything right. And afraid to trust herself.
While Snow was a bit edgier, secure in herself, and trusted her ability to be a mother.
Both are depicting new parent syndrome. I admittedly am not a fan of baby storylines in fantasy series - mainly because the writers don't know how to pull them off without getting sentimental or silly. Also the kid seems to sort of disappear. Then magically pops up five-six years later all grown up. We call this SORAS in the soap opera world. (Soap Opera Rapidly Aging Syndrom...but it works in fantasy serials too.). For some reason, once the kid is born, no one knows what to do with them. The only shows who seem to deal with this well are family dramas such as Brothers and Sisters, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and family centric sitcoms.
OUAT though, may make it work. Mainly because unlike most fantasy/sci-fi serials, it's focus is on family and parent issues. But I am worried that we'll do the cliche baby-napping story.
Wicked/Selena looks like she wants that kid and is doing everything possible to lay claim to it. Not quite sure why, though? Is she doing it for the same reason Regina did? To fill a hole in herself?
But back to the Rapunzel/David story line. I liked the metaphor utilized here a great deal. While hunting for a mystical root which will help he handle his fear - he stumbles upon Rapunzel, who already dug it up and used it. (Demonstrating why Robin Hood's statement that he prefers to stay away from magic is a highly sensible one.) What's important her is Rapunzel's fear stems from her guilt. And guilt - I learned recently - is nothing more than unexpressed anger directed at oneself.
Rapunzel's guilt and fear, which become intertwined, locked her in a tower. The evil witch keeping her in the tower was herself. Just as later, the evil witch hunting David in the woods is himself. She took the root to face her fears, and it reflected herself. Her monster was inside. This echoes the conversation with Selena and Rumple - where she tells Rumple that in the Enchanted Land, they wear their monsters on the outside. Their rotten core is on their visage. While here, in Storybrook, they can hide that other self. Selena and Rumple's fear, guilt, anger, revenge is reflected in their visage in FTL.
Anyhow, Rapunzel's fear locked her inside a tower. A high, ivory, tower. Where she was isolated and alone and cut off from the world. And the longer she stayed in the tower, the stronger her fear and guilt became. It caged her inside it. Crippling her. She gave it all her power. This is not the first time fear, guilt and courage are addressed. Rumplestilskin's fatal flaw after all was his cowardice, his fear - which isolated him from everyone. And over time, literally crippled him with Guilt. (Not remorse - not the same thing.) David equally has been trapped by his fear and guilt, but his courage conquers it and he's happy. Giving in to one's fear, as Rapunzel and Rumplestilskin did...causes you to be alone and miserable. Cut off from love, family, connection. Once Rapunzel conquered her fear - she was reunited with her family. (Nice twist.)
Meanwhile we are dealing with a couple of other fears...Emma's fear of love. As she tells Hook, she'd fallen for Walsh. She was in love with him. Then, once again, found out that he wasn't who he purported to be. And got her heart broken. Now, she's in protective mode again.
Henry is worried about her. He knows something awful happened with Walsh. She was about to accept the proposal. Then all of a sudden she takes him out of school and drives him to Storybrook. (Something, he tells Regina, is out of character. Emma would never take him out of school, not even for a vacation. So he feels something bad happened there and she got hurt but isn't talking to him about it.) Emma is afraid of what happened to Neal, who has not popped up yet - and she hopes hasn't turned into a flying monkey. (Right there with you. He better not be a frigging flying monkey. Neal frustrates me as character. He's so interesting - and the writers aren't doing anything with him. I don't know why. I'm half tempted to hunt down fanfic or better yet, write it myself. Stupid writers. Grumble, grumble, grumble. According to the previews - he's supposed to the focus of next week's episode. So I've a smidgen of hope. But if he gets turned into a flying monkey, I'm going to be annoyed.)
Hook, clearly, is still head over heels in love with Emma. But restraining himself. I'm guessing the kick in the groin in the first episode most likely is the reason. She appears to have feelings for him too...but is understandably reluctant. The poor woman has been burned one too many times. She must be annoyed, finds an upstanding, good guy, who has no criminal record, Henry likes him, he's good father material.. and he turns out to be a flying monkey. What are the odds?
Then there's the rather interesting tid-bits between Selena and Rumple. (Maybe he isn't her father - or if he is, she doesn't know about it. She appears to have known her father - Cora abandoned her to whomever he was. A drunk, who wasn't very nice, I'm guessing.) Selena shaves Rumple, when he'd prefer to spin gold. And that conversation echoes David's with Rapunzel - the monster within, for them, was always the monster without. Power brought out their monsters.
Selena drugs David with root that forces him to face his fears in himself, so that she can steal his broken sword, a symbol of his courage, which Regina states is a powerful token.
And later, we discover that Rumple has either broken out of his cage or Selena has let him out - when the gang finds it, and realizes Selena has brought back Rumplestilskin. Belle still thinks he's dead though - but is running his shop in his absence. Selena wonders if Belle is Mrs. Gold. But Belle tells her no.
Not sure what Selena's game is - except that it has something to do with Rumple, Regina, and Snow's baby. The curse in this story is a lot less clear than it was in S1, as is the mystery.
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 02:55 am (UTC)The brains part is going to be more difficult - no one in Storybrooke seems big on logical thinking...
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 04:12 am (UTC)Really? I'd pick Emma for that role. Snow would definitely be the 'heart'.
Plus, if you're collecting totems, Emma is the child of David and Snow-- all of a family, plus there's Snow and David's new child on the way. Seems there might be big magic potential in a collection like that.
Perhaps, Zelena is attempting to do what the evil sorcerer is doing in the Wonderland series-- attempting to disable/destroy the "Laws of Magic".
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 09:46 pm (UTC)I think the three are metaphors for Emma's journey. OUAT really is about Emma's journey, she's the focus point, I think. Right now, she is struggling with three things: heart (she gave her heart and got it broken again), courage (to come back to Storybrook after everything that has happened and to be the hero, the savior), and three brains (the ability to figure out the puzzle and use her magic.)
The three people who symbolize this in Emma's life and who are responsible for her path are:
Charming - courage, the hero
Snow - heart, the mother
Rumplestilskin - magic and the knowledge to wield it.
I hope they aren't doing the same storyline that they are doing in Wonderland. You hope the writers are a bit more creative than that...
But my guess is she wants power - for what means, no clue.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-03-24 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 09:33 pm (UTC)I think it will be: Charming's courage, Snow's heart (heart as pure as Snow? Although not so much any longer), and Rumplestilskin's brains.
Emma - she was attempting to keep out of Storybrook, and is the curse breaker.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-25 01:50 am (UTC)So that makes sense.
Not sure Neal works as the "heart" - since he doesn't appear to follow his. He reminds me a little of the tinman though. Also, that is a bit of a repeat of Sheriff Grahaem - whose heart was removed and quashed by Regina way back in S1, just after he declared his feelings for Emma and the return of his memories.
Snow works better...I think.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 09:40 pm (UTC)Heart? I'm going with Snow White (heart as pure as snow). Emma - I think is the curse-breaker. Also it's going to focus on Snow's love for her child. Just as David's focused on his courage - for his child.
Courage - definitely David
Brains - most likely Rumplestilskin
So what is she after - with all of this? The same thing she wanted with the ruby slippers? Which is what exactly? In the books it was to rule OZ. Here, not so clear.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-24 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-25 02:10 am (UTC)Snow's mother had silver slippers? Interesting. Although I think it would be a stretch if she was Dorothy or the Witch of the West.
I know they've cast Glinda, so we will get back-story. I sort of was hoping for the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion - but maybe that will be Storybrook characters: Rumple as Scarecrow...Neal as the Tinman, and maybe Hook as the Cowardly Lion? Actually, Hook makes me think more of the Tinman and Neal reminds me more of the Cowardly Lion. With Emma as Dorothy?
no subject
Date: 2014-03-25 04:19 am (UTC)While I agree with you that it may very well be Rumple as the "brains", for the sake of general contrariness I'm going to stick with my choice of Emma for the time being. I think the Rumple as brains concept may be a red herring, so we stop looking at Emma.
Have you noticed how completely dismissive, even contemptuous Zelena is of both Regina and Rumple? Two of the most powerful practitioners of magic in all the worlds we've seen-- even capable of creating and casting a spell to create an entire town in another dimension, alter people's memories on a massive scale and more-- and it's like "Pooh! Amateurs!"
Also notice how perfectly at home and at ease she seems in our world, but she's not under the control of any curse, like the Storybrookers? I'd guess she's been here before.
The baby, by whatever means, is likely the key to the ultimate power she wants, and my guess is it's to rule all of the worlds. Why stop at just Oz?
I don't think she needed Rumple for his brains, which may very well have been scrambled simply by being disconnected from The Dark One. She wanted his knife, and the power it wields. Rumple may just be a toy to amuse herself with. (Which-- could be a big, maybe fatal mistake, likewise to dismiss Regina.)
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