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Once Upon a Time: Lost Girl

“Just who are you, Swan?”

It’s an interesting parallel that this identity crisis that Emma’s been facing is very similar to Snow’s past struggle with her role as the leader of her father’s kingdom. So far it seems as though this trip to Neverland has been less about a rousing adventure and more about the journey and personal struggles that these characters will be facing while trying to save one of their own.

Last week it was all about the hostility that still plagues this little rescue team. Now that they’ve decided to shelve their indifferences – for now – we focus in on each of them individually. We’ve seen Emma face different levels of acceptance of who she really is, but this is the first time that it’s been something wholly negative. Even though her parents are back in her life, she still grew up alone and her parents are pretty much the same age as she is; not normal familial circumstances.

It makes sense that Neverland would be where she finally comes clean about this loneliness she’s been feeling, and why she still can’t connect with Mary Margaret and David. Even though she’s accepted that, after a push from her mother, there’s still hope that their family can be brought back together. Mary Margaret made that much clear to Emma when she acknowledged that it’s her job to make Emma feel like part of a family.

It took her longer to accept her destiny as the leader of a kingdom, though. It’s been a while since we saw Snow make the declaration to reclaim her father’s land, and it’s nice to finally see what struggles she faced along the way. Like I said, there were some interesting parallels here between Snow and Emma’s individual struggles to come to grips with hard truths. Though being a strong leader isn’t as painful as accepting that you feel no connection with your family, it’s going to be a long road for Snow before she gets to that wedding day we saw in the pilot.

I’m happy with this personal approach that seems to be driving this Neverland plot, but at the same time there is a serious lack of excitement, and the show is paling in comparison to this time last season, where things were in overdrive. I think we need to step things up a notch, especially since we’re only getting started.

3 out of 5 floating maps

Plus

Looks like Hook has a past with Pan’s favoured henchman.

I know he meant well, but Charming manipulating Snow like that was a little sneaky, right?

Will we be learning more about Rumple’s father?

David’s been shot. How long has he left before he starts to show signs of dreamshade?

He Said, She Said

Peter: “It’s not about finding Henry, it’s about how you find him.”

Mary Margaret: “You were an orphan. It’s my job to change that.”

Hook: “Just who are you, Swan?”
Emma: “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Also posted at PandaTV.

5 comments:

  1. Just not feeling it this year...not sure why. During the whole flashback I was thinking "Who cares anymore? We know what happened..." (for the most part anyway). Maybe it is the lack of "action" - especially when the ads for OUaT in Wonderland are being thrown at us and it looks so action packed...

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  2. I thought the parallels between Emma and Snow were a little bit too obvious, but otherwise I liked it! Good fun with Hook, and Pan is definitely creepy! Nice to see Belle again, even if just a vision...

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  3. I never expected to give up on this show, but this episode was the last one for me. All the soul-searching with Emma is just annoying - sure she had a terrible childhood, but since the other alternative was dying, it seems pretty unreasonable to pout about her parents abandoning her, especially when it's so obvious how much they love her.

    Equally annoying was Charming deciding not to say anything about his wound. What good is that going to do? Maybe Hook knows an antidote, but they'll never find out this way. It's just manufactured tension.

    But worse than that is that it's just so boring. Wandering around in the wood is so dull, especially when it's obvious Pan could kill them anytime he wanted to - why have that big fight at all when Pan let them survive? It's all so pointless.

    I hoped for big things once the curse was broken, but instead the story's mainspring has just been winding down and down. For me, it's stopped altogether. Robert Carlyle is the only reason to keep watching, but there's not enough of him in it to get me through the boring bits.

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  4. I have beens struggling with this season as well. The stories all feel as though they have been told and much of the tension (like David's wound) is false. What are the chances that he is going to die? I would guess slim.

    My other problem is Pan. To be a Big Bad, you need to be menacing. During the whole "battle" in the woods, all I could think about was that they were fighting a bunch of young boys and I just couldn't invest in the tension of it.

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  5. Emma is the product of true love. She has also been abandoned/betrayed by everyone that has ever loved her (i.e. Snow, Charming and Neal).

    This is where I start grabbing straws...

    Neal is the product of cowardice. Rumple was a coward (before he became the dark one) and his mother ran off with hook instead of staying with her family. Neal on the other hand is continuously brave. He went to Neverland in place of the Darlings and let go of Emma's hand to save her from falling in the portal.

    Both of Henry's parents were orphans which makes him the product of orphans, and Henry never gives up on anyone. Even with all the evil that Regina does, he still believes that she can become a hero.

    It's just a thought I had while rewatching the episode that I thought was interesting.

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