Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Recap Season 3 Episode 6 Ariel on Seat42F.
ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME introduces viewers to “Ariel” this week. The famous mermaid’s story doesn’t quite play out the way fans of the original expect it to, of course, as this show rarely presents a fairy tale in a traditional, straight forward manner. Instead, she is tied into Snow White’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) past.
ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME introduces viewers to “Ariel” this week. The famous mermaid’s story doesn’t quite play out the way fans of the original expect it to, of course, as this show rarely presents a fairy tale in a traditional, straight forward manner. Instead, she is tied into Snow White’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) past.
On the run from Evil Queen Regina (Lana
Parrilla), Snow dives into the sea and is pulled out by Ariel (JoAnna
Garcia Swisher, Better With You, Reba). Talking to the fish-woman, Snow
learns Ariel is in love with Prince Eric (Gil McKinney, Friday Night
Lights), and decides to help her new friend get her man. Ariel and Eric
hit it off, but upset about returning to the ocean and leaving Eric
behind, Ariel accepts help from Ursula, who is actually Regina.
It’s cool that Regina is tied into The
Little Mermaid tale, but isn’t actually Ursula, merely pretending to be
that persona. Ursula is a sea creature, and it wouldn’t make sense for
Regina to spend so much time under the water when her kingdom is on
land. It’s unknown if the real Ursula, who makes a cameo in CGI form,
will be involved in Ariel’s story, but some of the familiar elements,
such as Ariel temporarily gaining legs and losing her voice are
included.
What is disappointing is that Ariel’s
underwater kingdom is not shown. It’s not necessary to this particular
tale, and ONCE UPON A TIME has yet to introduce us to any other
characters who could or would go there, so it seems extraneous. Yet, for
a series about magical realms, one may be forgiven for being curious as
to what Ariel’s home would like, and sad that the show chooses not to
show it. Thus, Ariel’s tale is only partially explored.
ONCE UPON A TIME frequently tries to
strike a balance between serving the fairy tales it chooses to cover and
its main cast. The back story in “Ariel” says something about Snow, but
it is mainly a set up because Regina needs Ariel going forward. As
such, it doesn’t really serve Ariel as much as it might.
Regina leaves the group when they take
yet another side path on the way to saving Henry and finds Rumple
(Robert Carlyle). Is it a little convenient she comes across him so
easily? To be sure. But we now have “the heroes” and “the villains” as
two separate groups working towards the same goal. This should make the
next few episodes even more interesting, though I hope they combine
forces in the end to defeat the evil Peter Pan (Robbie Kay).
Regina thinks that she knows Rumple,
speaking of his strong sense of self-preservation, yet, I don’t think
she knows him as well as she believes. Yes, Rumple is less eager to
sacrifice his life than he was when he got to Neverland, but that’s
because he finds out Neal (Michael Raymond-James) is alive, not because
Rumple loses his nerve. There is still a chance at redemption for
Rumple, and even as his own son rejects him, Rumple has the opportunity
to win him back, at least a little, by being noble. Sticking with
Regina, while creating a very powerful and entertaining twosome, might
be a step backwards on that mission.
It’s very interesting that Belle (Emilie
de Ravine), who has appeared to Rumple for the past several episodes,
is actually Pan’s shadow. I wouldn’t put it past Pan to try something so
devious, of course, but what does Rumple think Belle is? Does Rumple
really believe he’s hallucinating? At first, the Rumple / Belle
conversations seem sweet and a good plot device, but now that Regina has
exposed Belle’s physical manifestation and the trick, it makes me
wonder about how sharp Rumple still is and how vulnerable he may be.
Something is wrong with him that he fell for this, which seems a tad out
of character.
Across the island, Emma (Jennifer
Morrison), Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), Snow, and Charming (Josh Dallas)
must spill their secrets in order to rescue Neal from the Echo Cave.
It’s a great device for ONCE UPON A TIME, forcing hidden things to come
to light, and it’s brilliant for Pan, who wants to create divisiveness
in the group, preferring to win the game by setting the others up to
lose through their own actions, not his. What happens in the cave will
have impact far beyond “Ariel.”
Emma and Neal have find each other again
and confess their love for one another, but they aren’t together. Emma
is still hurt by him, and while Neal can offer explanation for
abandoning her years ago, he cannot heal her pain so easily. One might
think losing Neal, whom Emma thought was dead, might make her reassess
and forgive, but her admission that she hoped he was dead proves that
isn’t the case. She is too deeply broken to move past this quickly, and
it’s good the show doesn’t try to do that. Thank goodness Neal is
willing to be the patient one, because Emma just needs more time.
This does allow an opening for Hook, who
admits Emma has helped him finally get over his last love, but also
sets Hook up for disappointment. Should Hook even try to move in, having
heard Emma and Neal express their feelings out loud? He is clearly the
third wheel, but his affections are real, too. Will he gallantly step
aside? Will he redouble his efforts? Will he be angry at Neal, someone
Hook is clearly fond of, too? Emma may not be Hook’s next romance, but
now that he has moved on, might that leave him open to someone new, or
will he obsess?
While a love triangle can never truly by
a fresh story element, “Ariel” makes it more complex and intriguing
than most, and leaves the door open for development that could go in
multiple directions.
Charming and Snow have bigger problems.
She wants a baby, which has to be painful for Emma to hear, considering
that Emma is the daughter that Snow and Charming left on her own,
inadvertently or not, though Emma has a lot of other things on her mind
at present. More importantly, though, Charming must admit he can’t give
Snow what she wants because he’s stuck in Neverland due to an injury he
lied about. Suddenly, there is a large chasm between them.
Will Snow be willing to stay behind with
Charming, thus ending their time as main characters on the show? That
wouldn’t be so bad, since they’ve been the most boring of the central
cast since the beginning. Or, more likely, will they find a way for
Charming to get back to Storybrooke? With their home in the Enchanted
Forest mostly destroyed because of Regina’s curse, the couple’s future
is uncertain anyway. Why not build it here, though that would mean
giving up other family and friends?
Of course, first Snow must forgive
Charming for his lie. He hid the truth for the right reasons, but he was
stupid to do so in the first place, and Snow has every right to be mad.
She’ll forgive him eventually, though, so let’s hope their rift doesn’t
drag on too long.
“Ariel” is an excellent episode mostly
because of the Echo Cave, which really lets the series dig into the
personalities of its players. There are weaknesses in story structure
but not in the way the actors handle their roles, or the doubts and
complexities of the parts. This makes it easier to overlook the flaws in
the writing, much more so than when the strengths and weaknesses are
reversed.
Next week, we finally return to Storybrooke, which viewers have not seen since last May!
ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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