Once Upon A Time 3.10
Dec. 9th, 2013 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which the show totally doesn't do what I expected it to do, and this is good!
As, I imagine, a lot of other viewers, I expected the series to drag out the Pan-in-Henry's-body-fooling-everyone tale for at least a few episodes more. While such plots have their value, they also can lose interest soon, not least because the audience knows the secret and gets impatient with the characters to catch up. But lo and behold, by the time this episode finishes, Once upon a time has already had everyone discover the truth about the Pan-Henry bodyswitch and has revealed what Pan is now up to in Storybrooke. The later is impressive, too, because it makes total sense for the character. Of course the idea of the Curse - an unchanging, frozen day in time with one person in charge - would appeal to him as the new Neverland. (He might find the reality quite different, as Regina did, but then, he didn't ask her about that.) As villainous schemes go, it not only is perfect for this particular villain but also because of the way it is karma for the two original people responsible for the Curse: Rumplestilskin as the one who designed it and prodded events to make it happen, and Regina as the one to cast it.
I suspect Felix is not much longer for this world, despite his idea he'll rule Neverland/Storybrooke with Pan, because there is that tiny pesky clause about the curse caster having to kill whom she/he loves most, remember? Which is undoubtedly why Pan broke Felix out of jail and brought him along, but I also suspect Felix won't qualify any more than Regina's favourite horse did for her, and a frustrated Pan will have to look elsewhere. Which leaves exactly one person in any dimension whom one could say Peter Pan loved or maybe still loves in however twisted a fashion. All eyes to the original curse creator, who created the "kill the thing you love most" clause to begin with, s'll vous plait. The boy will be your undoing, Rumplestilskin, indeed. As for Regina, having someone take the body of the one person she declared all her crimes to be worth for in order to recreate the curse, this time with her as a subject of it, would be a cruel karmic catch-up indeed. Mind you, I expect Pan to be stopped before he can complete the curse, but then I also expected him to go undetected for a few eps more, so who knows? Maybe we'll get a few Neverlandish Storybrooke episodes before the Curse Resurrected will be broken. I have no idea, and I love not knowing.
Other things I loved about this episode:
- Charming acted a bit David-Nolan-ish re: lying and secret keeping on Neverland, so I'm glad he's at his best now again, with the pep talks in both time lines, to Snow and Emma respectively. Making a slash joke about Hook and himself was also fun. (If not for the fact that I can't see non-amnesiac David cheating on Snow, I could totally see that.) But I really appreciate that the show takes the trouble of building a relationship between him and Emma instead of taking it for granted they now have one because they're father and daughter. (Emma had one with Mary Margaret pre Curse breaking, but saw David Nolan only rarely and then at the git who let her friend down; in s2, she had the time to bond with Snow through adventures in FTL but David was in Storybrooke.)
- It's always nice to have one's headcanon given further fodder; note that Snow is both the one to notice Regina looking a bit lost upon arrival in Storybrooke amidst everyone else getting cheery welcomes (at this point, I mentally prepared myself for all the stans who would complain Storybrookians don't socialize with their former Evil Queen) and praises her to all and sunder, and that Snow is the one who runs to unconscious Regina later in the crypt. And of course she's obsessing about Regina's threats on her honeymoon. In conclusion, see previous meta and fanfiction about why this is one of the key relationships of the show and so undervalued by fandom at large.
More observations:
- can't say I'm mourning the Blue Fairy (self righteous to the last), but I suppose the fact Pan had the Shadow kill her will have plot relevance and is a clue to how the Curse, if the show actually lets him cast it, could be broken (at a guess, something involving pixie dust, and a fairy in full command of her powers, which is presumably where Tinkerbell will come in, since regaining her confidence is an obvious arc for her and she already started; btw, am also delighted her friendship with Regina is still ungoing)
- current events aren't helping Emma's idea that she won't get a day off as the Saviour (Emma: form a club with Buffy, Harry Potter et all - they made this mistake, too, and learned better)
- Jared Gilmore is handling the body switch reasonably well, though Robbie Kay getting hugs from everyone (and giving them, in the case of Regina) is a bit disturbing to watch
- Ariel and Erik kissing upon second meeting still makes no sense; you need to be Shakespeare to pull that one off, writers
- this is definitely the season that goes Greek (now complete with Harryhousen-style Medusa).
As, I imagine, a lot of other viewers, I expected the series to drag out the Pan-in-Henry's-body-fooling-everyone tale for at least a few episodes more. While such plots have their value, they also can lose interest soon, not least because the audience knows the secret and gets impatient with the characters to catch up. But lo and behold, by the time this episode finishes, Once upon a time has already had everyone discover the truth about the Pan-Henry bodyswitch and has revealed what Pan is now up to in Storybrooke. The later is impressive, too, because it makes total sense for the character. Of course the idea of the Curse - an unchanging, frozen day in time with one person in charge - would appeal to him as the new Neverland. (He might find the reality quite different, as Regina did, but then, he didn't ask her about that.) As villainous schemes go, it not only is perfect for this particular villain but also because of the way it is karma for the two original people responsible for the Curse: Rumplestilskin as the one who designed it and prodded events to make it happen, and Regina as the one to cast it.
I suspect Felix is not much longer for this world, despite his idea he'll rule Neverland/Storybrooke with Pan, because there is that tiny pesky clause about the curse caster having to kill whom she/he loves most, remember? Which is undoubtedly why Pan broke Felix out of jail and brought him along, but I also suspect Felix won't qualify any more than Regina's favourite horse did for her, and a frustrated Pan will have to look elsewhere. Which leaves exactly one person in any dimension whom one could say Peter Pan loved or maybe still loves in however twisted a fashion. All eyes to the original curse creator, who created the "kill the thing you love most" clause to begin with, s'll vous plait. The boy will be your undoing, Rumplestilskin, indeed. As for Regina, having someone take the body of the one person she declared all her crimes to be worth for in order to recreate the curse, this time with her as a subject of it, would be a cruel karmic catch-up indeed. Mind you, I expect Pan to be stopped before he can complete the curse, but then I also expected him to go undetected for a few eps more, so who knows? Maybe we'll get a few Neverlandish Storybrooke episodes before the Curse Resurrected will be broken. I have no idea, and I love not knowing.
Other things I loved about this episode:
- Charming acted a bit David-Nolan-ish re: lying and secret keeping on Neverland, so I'm glad he's at his best now again, with the pep talks in both time lines, to Snow and Emma respectively. Making a slash joke about Hook and himself was also fun. (If not for the fact that I can't see non-amnesiac David cheating on Snow, I could totally see that.) But I really appreciate that the show takes the trouble of building a relationship between him and Emma instead of taking it for granted they now have one because they're father and daughter. (Emma had one with Mary Margaret pre Curse breaking, but saw David Nolan only rarely and then at the git who let her friend down; in s2, she had the time to bond with Snow through adventures in FTL but David was in Storybrooke.)
- It's always nice to have one's headcanon given further fodder; note that Snow is both the one to notice Regina looking a bit lost upon arrival in Storybrooke amidst everyone else getting cheery welcomes (at this point, I mentally prepared myself for all the stans who would complain Storybrookians don't socialize with their former Evil Queen) and praises her to all and sunder, and that Snow is the one who runs to unconscious Regina later in the crypt. And of course she's obsessing about Regina's threats on her honeymoon. In conclusion, see previous meta and fanfiction about why this is one of the key relationships of the show and so undervalued by fandom at large.
More observations:
- can't say I'm mourning the Blue Fairy (self righteous to the last), but I suppose the fact Pan had the Shadow kill her will have plot relevance and is a clue to how the Curse, if the show actually lets him cast it, could be broken (at a guess, something involving pixie dust, and a fairy in full command of her powers, which is presumably where Tinkerbell will come in, since regaining her confidence is an obvious arc for her and she already started; btw, am also delighted her friendship with Regina is still ungoing)
- current events aren't helping Emma's idea that she won't get a day off as the Saviour (Emma: form a club with Buffy, Harry Potter et all - they made this mistake, too, and learned better)
- Jared Gilmore is handling the body switch reasonably well, though Robbie Kay getting hugs from everyone (and giving them, in the case of Regina) is a bit disturbing to watch
- Ariel and Erik kissing upon second meeting still makes no sense; you need to be Shakespeare to pull that one off, writers
- this is definitely the season that goes Greek (now complete with Harryhousen-style Medusa).
