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Once Upon a Time: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

“Love makes people do foolish things.”

Freedom; it never comes cheap, and it always comes with a hefty price tag. That’s what this episode was all about. Is it all worth it in the end? And what is it to truly be free? With a few masterful twists and some wonderful performances, "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" maintained the creative revival of "7:15 A.M."

The Genie knew the price of freedom. He said it himself, he had seen it play out countless times before, but in the face of love he was blinded by his emotions and was oblivious to the Queen’s deception and the possible repercussions of his actions. There was something so bizarre and horrific about his wish backfiring on him, trapping him in the mirror he had once given over in love. Again, the theme of freedom is given a lot of attention, and it seems Sidney will never be free from Regina’s iron grip. Even though I kind of saw it coming, his deception of Emma tore me up a little. Though she’s not short of allies, seeing what the Queen had done to him in Fairytale land just before his true motives were revealed made her hold over him all the more prominent.

Giancarlo Esposito is one of the show’s greatest supporting actors, and "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" gave him the perfect outlet to show us what he was truly capable of. A lesser actor would have gotten lost underneath all of the Genie’s outlandish costume and accessories, but a certain amount of dignity and respect resonated throughout, which in turn meant that all of his suffering was real and painful. Hopefully the writers can think up a nice way to keep him a part of regular proceedings.

In her quest to destroy Snow’s life, the Queen has gone to some serious lows to get what she needed, whether it was killing her own father, or deceiving someone into doing her dirty work for her, she’s done it all without any perception of the consequences that will be suffered later on. Emma faces that dilemma in a way Regina never could. She constantly fights her better judgement and plays dirty to get ahead of Regina, and it blew up in her face. Whether or not she’ll learn from this mistake remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain, she’s going to have to up her game. Up until now their rivalry was beginning to stagnate, but now that Regina’s finally taken the initiative to prevent Emma from seeing Henry, there’s even more at stake.

"7:15 A.M."’s ending didn’t seem to get much attention during this episode which was slightly disappointing, but it at least paved the way for our unspoken characters to make more of a statement which is pivotal for a freshman series with such a diverse cast.

Plus

The new playground looked way too metallic and sharp. There’s no way that’s safe for kids to use.

I can’t imagine Regina’s restraining order will keep Emma away from Henry for too long, but the principle of it was still pretty damn sad.

I wish I could write as nicely as Queen Regina does.

Seems the mystery man is a bit lazy. It appears he’s going to rip off Henry’s story book rather than write his own; so much for “inspiration.”

Lana always nails that creepy pod person smile, doesn’t she?

He Said, She Said

Genie: “Life as a genie is not as magical as it may appear.”

I wonder what life was like in a lamp. Did it have bathroom facilities/cable? It seemed very well furnished, though.

Sidney: “Sometimes doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?”
The application of such a justification to what he’s been doing is seriously debatable.

Regina: “Learn your place in this town, or soon enough you won’t be in it.”

I know that the story characters can’t leave, but has Emma tried to leave Storybrooke herself yet? Will the curse actually let her?

4 out of 5 golden lamps.

Previously posted at PandaTV.

3 comments:

  1. I had the same thought about the playground! It looked way more dangerous than Henry's castle. That thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

    I wish they gave Giancarlo Esposito more to do; he's so good! He has a new show now, so I'm guessing we won't be seeing too much of him next season. :(

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  2. I never saw Sydney as the Genie, but I loved it. I was actually hoping, against my better judgement, that the Queen genuinely loved him. I should have known better.

    My only concern with this episode is that the plot, especially the beginning, seemed to be a direct homage (rip-off?) of The X-Files genie episode -- especially the wish-maker freeing the trapped genie. It took me out of the story a bit.

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  3. I can’t believe Emma fell for Sydney’s trick. Right away, I knew it was likely a trap.

    How and why does the stranger have Henry’s book? And what is his real purpose?

    ReplyDelete

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