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Once Upon a Time: Rocky Road

“When you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, it can be hard to let people in.”

Everything about this season’s major arc has been great so far. I just wish all that was happening outside it was more relevant.

Right now the series lead has been shoved aside. I like Snow’s struggles with motherhood, and I think her taking over as mayor has been long overdue, but the entire story is being drowned out by Frozen-mania.

All the smaller residents seem to be showing up just to give us even more of a reason to hate them. It’s like they’ve all eaten a copy of “angry brainless mobs for dummies,” and it all seems so stupid that I can’t help but wonder why someone like Granny, who is part of a family that has to control their own dark powers, would ever go along with Leroy and his even slower lackeys.

Looking to the positives, the Arandelle centric plot has been fantastic, and this episode was easily the strongest. Elizabeth Mitchell seems to be doing a good job of conveying someone as – this isn’t a pun, I swear – cold as the Snow Queen without coming across as wooden and I think she’ll provide a great nemesis for the remainder of the arc. You’ve got to laugh at this show sometimes though; of course she’s related to Elsa. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Leroy turned out to be Hook’s son.

Will Scarlett, one of the brightest parts of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, finally showed up after his inclusion in the mother show was confirmed before season three finished. I’m at a complete loss as to how he ended up in Storybrooke after he (spoiler alert for those who have plans to watch the spin off at some point) walked off into the sunset with his true love. Will Anastasia show up at some point, or is all of this a part of his past?

Either way, he fits right into the show, and bringing him back was a stroke of genius. He lights up every scene he’s in, and he’s just as wry and sarcastic about how absurd magic is as Emma, so it would be great for him to stick around for as long as possible. I just wonder what story he’d become a part of right now?

The smaller character arcs are being tied into the Frozen one more each week, and because of that each one is becoming more relevant, like Regina and Robin trying to save Marian. I just need to see those that aren’t being given more purpose in light of the excitement elsewhere. I mean, who really cares about Snow’s inability to fold a buggy when there are Snow Queens running amuck?

3.5 out of 5 icicles

Plus

Will Ruby ever show up again? Or Cinderella, for that matter? Maybe with their stories being resolved there isn’t a reason for them to come back.

Poor Hook still can’t use a cell phone. He’s worse than my Dad.

He Said, She Said

Kristoff: “Anna was right, logic and reason do work on you.”
Regina: "Seems like the saviour needs saving these days.”

Originally posted at PandaTV.

4 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying the "Frozen" story arc more than I expected to, though I admit I was a bit cynical about it when they gave us that teaser at the very end of Season 3. It still seems like a shameless attempt to capitalize on the success of the movie, but at least they seem to have come up with an interesting story so far.

    Panda, I agree that a lot of the established characters have really taken a backseat lately, this was happening last season too, especially during the Neverland arc. Snow's reduced screen time is particularly noticeable, though there might be a reason for it. Ginnifer Goodwin did just recently have a baby, after all(born at the end of May). Perhaps she requested a lighter schedule so she could have more time with her new son? Plus, she definitely looks like someone who's recently had a baby. Not judging, just observing. But her altered appearance might complicate having Snow appear in flashbacks, thus limiting the stories they can tell with her. Hopefully we'll get some nice mother/daughter bonding scenes with Snow & Emma to make up for it at some point.

    More than that though, I agree that the secondary characters have gotten a LOT more annoying of late, it's as if the writers have gotten lazy with them.

    I'm definitely interested in seeing where the Frozen story goes, though. They've cast the main characters quite well. Elsa's plenty sympathetic, and both Kristof and Anna have been totally charming(pardon the pun). The introduction of the Snow Queen was a nice touch, as well as pointing out that she *didn't* come via the urn, so why was she already in Storybrooke? And clearly she recognized Emma by more than reputation, whassupwitdat? Kudos to them for getting Elizabeth Mitchell, I've been a fan of hers since before Lost. She definitely looks like she could be related to Elsa, and she looked FABULOUS in that white dress, holy cow!

    A couple of notes going forward though. I wish they'd be more consistent when it comes to Emma's control over her magic. Last episode she couldn't use it at all and this week she's blasting people around without breaking a sweat. I get that last week she was under a fair amount of stress, slow freezing in an ice wall, but still. That's quite a swing. The other thing is, can we PLEASE get Elsa a change of clothes? We all recognize her from the movie now, it's time to put her in something slightly more practical for walking around town. I get why the Snow Queen felt the need to change into proper witchy attire, villains gotta be stylin' and all. Elsa can still be wearing the classic dress during the flashback scenes, but in Storybrooke it's starting to look silly.

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  2. Not that I don't have insightful comments to make, but I was seriously digging Elizabeth Mitchell's cleavage. She's always so pretty.

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  3. Patrick, that's a good point about Ginnifer Goodwin, I didn't even think about that! I just wish if she was getting reduced screen time it was to do something a bit more exciting and more relevant to what's going on elsewhere, you know? Right now it feels a little pointless and blah. Though I did think it was cute in 'White Out'.

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  4. I agree with Patrick, Elsa should change her dress.

    I also find Hook's outfit is starting to look silly and out of place in Storybrooke. Although I like the character, I can't take his romance with Emma seriously until he changes into more grown up clothes. I suggest a biker outfit, he would still have that rakish/bad boy vibe.

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