Once upon a Time 4.03
Oct. 13th, 2014 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which your faithful reviewer was treated to a couple of familiar (actorly) faces while the characters found out a couple of new things.
Turns it out the new blonde doesn't just look like Juliet from Lost, it is Juliet from Lost. That is: actress Elizabeth Mitchell. Who plays the Snow Queen. Clever script writers, say I. Frozen actually never called Esa this, so they could have their cake and eat it, i.e. use Frozen and still, it seems do their take on Andersen. And btw, they use Frozen really well. Hans being revealed as a villain in the movie was on one level good in the sense of "falling in love in a day with someone you hardly know = bad idea", but it still also felt like a clumsy device of getting rid of Hans as a romantic rival to Christoph. (They could have simply let him be unable to do the true love's kiss thing since having only just met Anna, he can't truly love her - lesson for the kids learned - and use the Baron von Weasel or whatever his name was as the baddie bringing on the external threat.) However, the latest flashbacks use the whole "youngest brother" tidbit from Frozen in a show, not tell manner to explain something of his inner villain (without excusing it). And the Elsa and Christoph getting to know each other and teaming up scenes were delightful (this show is just good with male and female friendship, see last week with David and Anna). Ditto for Elsa in general: her curiosity about someone with the same powers like herself in both flashbacks and present day action is all too understandable and gives her an active agenda.
So, the Snow Queen (given name still unknown): what did she say the truth about? At first I thought, about being the sister of the late Queen of Arundel, because if Anna's and Elsa's parents have already lived through the experience of having a loved relation go bad via snowy superpower, it would explain their mishandling of the Elsa situation. I also wonder whether Elsa is in fact the Snow Queen's biological daughter, not niece, and raised as Anna's sister (which emotionally makes them sisters either way)? But then I thought: what if OuaT really does go Andersen, in which case maybe the parents are really Kay and Gerda from the Andersen fairy tale, with said fairy tale altered to that instead of Gerda simply saving Kay she also traps the Snow Queen in the urn? Did we ever hear their first names? (Even if we did in Frozen the movie, the series could change them, of course.) In which case: maybe Elsa having those powers are the result of Kay having carried the splinter of ice from the Snow Queen in his heart for such a long time? And again, would explain the parents mishandling of the Elsa situation once their child showed those very same powers.
The Snow Queen knowing Rumplestilskin: of course she does. (He knows all the morally ambigious female sorcereresses.) What's intriguing is that as opposed to the last few ladies of that description, who were gunning for him, here he's holding out for making a deal and she's not that desperate yet but knows she will be. I'm curious what he could want from her. (Anything Baefire related no longer being a motivating issue.) Not surprising, too, that he continues to lie to everyone about knowing (about) Elsa and Anna and uses the dagger prop (and the big lie to Belle) to get away with it. Otoh, delightful surprise: Hook being on to him, figuring out the truth, and promptly using it as leverage. Well done, Captain. Now can we please get Belle's eyes opened, too? The show was rather good in not dragging the Elsa/Snow Queen trickery out beyond this episode, i.e. Our Heroes discover both that there's a second snow power player in town and that she's responsible instead of Elsa getting wrongly suspected for some more episodes to come.
Memory alterations: most intriguingly, not just on Elsa but also on Emma. Which begs the question: when in Emma's timeline did this happen? And, as Emma herself wonders, when did the Snow Queen get to Storybrooke? Since as opposed to Elsa she didn't come via Emma's time travel trip, it must have been during the second curse, but if so, where was she when things went down with Zelena?
And speaking of new arrivals: hello again, Will! When in your timeline does this happen? Is it before Will's reunion with Alice at the start of Once upon a time in Wonderland? Which would work with Will still being a thief. Because if this is past Wonderland, what the hell happened? (I've become of Will/Anastasia on that show and would not like them to have split up again or for her to be dead.) Anyway, it's good to see Michael Socha again. I wonder whether they'll reuse the flashback about his and Robin's fallout later on this show since they can't count on the audience having watched the spinoff. Thinking of Wonderland, though, the rabbit is an established realm and dimension traveller, so maybe that's not only how Will returned to Storybrooke but how the Snow Queen got there (pre-Elsa).
In other news: Henry being glad about the comics but also deducing Regina is up to something, Regina actually telling him the truth when asked (she can apply past lessons about Henry reacting really badly to lies!) and being pleasantly surprised by Henry deciding to support her (it also helped she phrased the whole "finding the creator of the storybook, getting him to rewrite" idea nonviolently) made for a nice subplot. Snow trying to juggle mayorhood and motherhood only got two scenes, but those were nice except I kept wishing Archie wouldn't just give her the "you don't have to work out your Emma trauma by never letting go of this baby" speech but offer practical help by getting the damm pram up from the floor. Marion suffering from the Frozen ice curse and Regina helping her (even before getting proof, so to speak, where Robin's heart truly is these days) in a way that uses a past villainous method of hers for a good purpose worked for me. (But I hope it's not a prelude for Marion getting killed off by the show as a romantic obstacle. By now, though, I have faith. There have been a few missteps - Tamara comes to mind - but in most cases the show is better than that.)
Lastly, trivial observation: David continues to be a great dad, with a good mixture of support and pep speeches without forcing said support on Emma. He's just there if/when she needs him.
Turns it out the new blonde doesn't just look like Juliet from Lost, it is Juliet from Lost. That is: actress Elizabeth Mitchell. Who plays the Snow Queen. Clever script writers, say I. Frozen actually never called Esa this, so they could have their cake and eat it, i.e. use Frozen and still, it seems do their take on Andersen. And btw, they use Frozen really well. Hans being revealed as a villain in the movie was on one level good in the sense of "falling in love in a day with someone you hardly know = bad idea", but it still also felt like a clumsy device of getting rid of Hans as a romantic rival to Christoph. (They could have simply let him be unable to do the true love's kiss thing since having only just met Anna, he can't truly love her - lesson for the kids learned - and use the Baron von Weasel or whatever his name was as the baddie bringing on the external threat.) However, the latest flashbacks use the whole "youngest brother" tidbit from Frozen in a show, not tell manner to explain something of his inner villain (without excusing it). And the Elsa and Christoph getting to know each other and teaming up scenes were delightful (this show is just good with male and female friendship, see last week with David and Anna). Ditto for Elsa in general: her curiosity about someone with the same powers like herself in both flashbacks and present day action is all too understandable and gives her an active agenda.
So, the Snow Queen (given name still unknown): what did she say the truth about? At first I thought, about being the sister of the late Queen of Arundel, because if Anna's and Elsa's parents have already lived through the experience of having a loved relation go bad via snowy superpower, it would explain their mishandling of the Elsa situation. I also wonder whether Elsa is in fact the Snow Queen's biological daughter, not niece, and raised as Anna's sister (which emotionally makes them sisters either way)? But then I thought: what if OuaT really does go Andersen, in which case maybe the parents are really Kay and Gerda from the Andersen fairy tale, with said fairy tale altered to that instead of Gerda simply saving Kay she also traps the Snow Queen in the urn? Did we ever hear their first names? (Even if we did in Frozen the movie, the series could change them, of course.) In which case: maybe Elsa having those powers are the result of Kay having carried the splinter of ice from the Snow Queen in his heart for such a long time? And again, would explain the parents mishandling of the Elsa situation once their child showed those very same powers.
The Snow Queen knowing Rumplestilskin: of course she does. (He knows all the morally ambigious female sorcereresses.) What's intriguing is that as opposed to the last few ladies of that description, who were gunning for him, here he's holding out for making a deal and she's not that desperate yet but knows she will be. I'm curious what he could want from her. (Anything Baefire related no longer being a motivating issue.) Not surprising, too, that he continues to lie to everyone about knowing (about) Elsa and Anna and uses the dagger prop (and the big lie to Belle) to get away with it. Otoh, delightful surprise: Hook being on to him, figuring out the truth, and promptly using it as leverage. Well done, Captain. Now can we please get Belle's eyes opened, too? The show was rather good in not dragging the Elsa/Snow Queen trickery out beyond this episode, i.e. Our Heroes discover both that there's a second snow power player in town and that she's responsible instead of Elsa getting wrongly suspected for some more episodes to come.
Memory alterations: most intriguingly, not just on Elsa but also on Emma. Which begs the question: when in Emma's timeline did this happen? And, as Emma herself wonders, when did the Snow Queen get to Storybrooke? Since as opposed to Elsa she didn't come via Emma's time travel trip, it must have been during the second curse, but if so, where was she when things went down with Zelena?
And speaking of new arrivals: hello again, Will! When in your timeline does this happen? Is it before Will's reunion with Alice at the start of Once upon a time in Wonderland? Which would work with Will still being a thief. Because if this is past Wonderland, what the hell happened? (I've become of Will/Anastasia on that show and would not like them to have split up again or for her to be dead.) Anyway, it's good to see Michael Socha again. I wonder whether they'll reuse the flashback about his and Robin's fallout later on this show since they can't count on the audience having watched the spinoff. Thinking of Wonderland, though, the rabbit is an established realm and dimension traveller, so maybe that's not only how Will returned to Storybrooke but how the Snow Queen got there (pre-Elsa).
In other news: Henry being glad about the comics but also deducing Regina is up to something, Regina actually telling him the truth when asked (she can apply past lessons about Henry reacting really badly to lies!) and being pleasantly surprised by Henry deciding to support her (it also helped she phrased the whole "finding the creator of the storybook, getting him to rewrite" idea nonviolently) made for a nice subplot. Snow trying to juggle mayorhood and motherhood only got two scenes, but those were nice except I kept wishing Archie wouldn't just give her the "you don't have to work out your Emma trauma by never letting go of this baby" speech but offer practical help by getting the damm pram up from the floor. Marion suffering from the Frozen ice curse and Regina helping her (even before getting proof, so to speak, where Robin's heart truly is these days) in a way that uses a past villainous method of hers for a good purpose worked for me. (But I hope it's not a prelude for Marion getting killed off by the show as a romantic obstacle. By now, though, I have faith. There have been a few missteps - Tamara comes to mind - but in most cases the show is better than that.)
Lastly, trivial observation: David continues to be a great dad, with a good mixture of support and pep speeches without forcing said support on Emma. He's just there if/when she needs him.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-13 05:32 pm (UTC)That was the only thing that got me a litttle peeved about this episode :-) Argh, just help with the stroller!
Otherwise, I'm thoroughly enjoying this season and they're getting the balance right in the eps. I was happily nodding agreement as I read this review - said everything I'd been thinking.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-14 11:42 am (UTC)