I'm noticing a pattern when it comes to Once Upon a Time; a pretty good episode must immediately be followed by a pretty bad one. Case in point: last week's "The Outsider" and yesterday's "In the Name of the Brother." Whereas the former somehow miraculously spelled some progress for the show in terms of narrative momentum and character development, the latter didn't hesitate to dash it with a story that went off into its own rather meaningless tangent, completely diminishing any positive stability the previous episode may have established. And while at this point I probably shouldn't even be surprised such a pattern exists, I must admit—this whole back and forth thing is becoming increasingly frustrating.
When we last left our fairytale gang in "The Outsider," the show still never strayed too far from a silly line, goofy image, or quickly resolved strand (I'm looking at you, Archie) as it is ought to do, but it also held signs of promise; Mr. Gold had discovered a way of crossing Storybrooke's boundary line with his memory intact, a discovery that allowed him to begin planning a journey to seek Baelfire, Belle, through both the Storybrooke plot and fairytale flashback, provided the story's powerful, albeit too-neat, moral of fighting for what you believe in and finding strength within that belief, and Captain Hook finally managed to enact his revenge on the conniving crocodile he so passionately hunted by shooting his one true love and erasing her memory completely. Also, the episode's introduction of a mysterious stranger (Ethan Embry) teased with the glimmer of a good conflict. What was even more interesting about "The Outsider" was that it managed to establish Belle as real character with honest-to-goodness depth (this show really has done wonders reimagining Disney's classic princesses, I will give it that), and more importantly, it solidified Mr. Gold as one of the characters on this show with the most impressive arc.
And then "In the Name of the Brother" happened. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I was in no hurry to return to the world established for us a few months back in "The Doctor," but OUAT's remarkable ability to divert our attentions wins out yet again, and that's precisely where we go. The next hour then is spent on a morally conflicted Dr. Whale who struggles with saving the town's newest stranger (whose cell phone ringtone is the Star Wars theme, I might add; real subtle, Disney) or letting him die, a decision that could mean long-term consequences for Storybrooke. There are other random plots sprinkled throughout such as the horribly acted Dr. Frankenstein-themed flashback, Mr. Gold's realization that Belle's memory won't be returning any time soon (ultimately motivating him to officially leave to seek out his son and allowing him to revert to full-on baddie by the end of the episode), and Regina and Cora's completely disappointing reunion. Competing only with Mr. Gold for the title of this show's most interesting character, Regina's development up to this point in the show seems completely pointless now that she seems so quick to forget all the evil her mother has committed (though I will admit, Regina's reference to "Emma, Henry, and the other two idiots" was a moment of beauty).
To read the rest (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/once-upon-a-time-2-11-2-12/
When we last left our fairytale gang in "The Outsider," the show still never strayed too far from a silly line, goofy image, or quickly resolved strand (I'm looking at you, Archie) as it is ought to do, but it also held signs of promise; Mr. Gold had discovered a way of crossing Storybrooke's boundary line with his memory intact, a discovery that allowed him to begin planning a journey to seek Baelfire, Belle, through both the Storybrooke plot and fairytale flashback, provided the story's powerful, albeit too-neat, moral of fighting for what you believe in and finding strength within that belief, and Captain Hook finally managed to enact his revenge on the conniving crocodile he so passionately hunted by shooting his one true love and erasing her memory completely. Also, the episode's introduction of a mysterious stranger (Ethan Embry) teased with the glimmer of a good conflict. What was even more interesting about "The Outsider" was that it managed to establish Belle as real character with honest-to-goodness depth (this show really has done wonders reimagining Disney's classic princesses, I will give it that), and more importantly, it solidified Mr. Gold as one of the characters on this show with the most impressive arc.
And then "In the Name of the Brother" happened. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I was in no hurry to return to the world established for us a few months back in "The Doctor," but OUAT's remarkable ability to divert our attentions wins out yet again, and that's precisely where we go. The next hour then is spent on a morally conflicted Dr. Whale who struggles with saving the town's newest stranger (whose cell phone ringtone is the Star Wars theme, I might add; real subtle, Disney) or letting him die, a decision that could mean long-term consequences for Storybrooke. There are other random plots sprinkled throughout such as the horribly acted Dr. Frankenstein-themed flashback, Mr. Gold's realization that Belle's memory won't be returning any time soon (ultimately motivating him to officially leave to seek out his son and allowing him to revert to full-on baddie by the end of the episode), and Regina and Cora's completely disappointing reunion. Competing only with Mr. Gold for the title of this show's most interesting character, Regina's development up to this point in the show seems completely pointless now that she seems so quick to forget all the evil her mother has committed (though I will admit, Regina's reference to "Emma, Henry, and the other two idiots" was a moment of beauty).
To read the rest (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/once-upon-a-time-2-11-2-12/
