DAMIEN Rises?

Article first published as DAMIEN Review on Seat42F.

A&E has had decent success with its horror movie prequel, Bates Motel, so it’s no surprise that it is doing another show spun-off from a film in the genre, even if it’s taken awhile to do so. This week, DAMIEN premieres on the cable network, a sequel to Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976). Set thirty years later, young Damien has now come of age, just as the end of the world is upon us.

It’s very early in this show so I could be wrong, but I think the central conflict of DAMIEN is flawed. We are introduced to Damien (Bradley James, iZombie, Merlin) as a compassionate war photographer, with none of the baggage of his past or origin. Gone are the creepy things surrounding him from the movie, seemingly having stopped just after the events of the film. He doesn’t know who he is or what his purpose is supposed to be.

Obviously, that must change, so DAMIEN introduces a number of startling, creepy things to begin popping up around Damien, bringing back his memories of the past, and sending characters to tell him who he is. Damien is expected to fulfill his role as the anti-Christ, even if it’s not clear what that means yet to him or to the viewer.

I just don’t understand. Are we supposed to root for Damien to descend into darkness? Or do we want to see him heroically deny his heritage and be a force of good? Would that even be possible?

With Bates Motel, we know the lead character will go bad, but it remains entertaining to watch his growth arc. In DAMIEN, Damien seems completely resistant to his fate and at odds with what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s not showing signs of changing based on events, at least not yet, so if he does go dark, it will be against his will, making his character’s journey meaningless. Unless Damien is supposed to save the world, but again, that doesn’t seem likely.

All of this adds up to nothing captivating, as near as I can tell. If the story is destined to be a tragic one, and not in a natural, progressive way, but because of supernatural forces so powerful they cannot be stopped, why do we want to watch? To see some faceless power destroy a character we’ve been made to care about? Who wants to see that?

It also makes no sense to me the huge gap in Damien’s life. People he loved were harmed or killed early on and now, but nothing in between? Why not? It seems to me either nothing would occur around him until this time, or it would occur constantly throughout his life. Am I right?

(Yes, I realize The Bible has a similar gap in the life of Jesus Christ, but he was the catalyst for much of what happened in that tale, not just the non-participant center of the storm.)

This is unfortunate because the roster behind DAMIEN is a promising one. Glen Mazzara, a former showrunner for The Walking Dead, is the creator leading the charge. The cast includes the terrific Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead), the intriguing Barbara Hershey (Once Upon a Time), and reliable players David Meunier (Justified), Omid Abtahi (Argo), and Megalyn Echikunwoke (The 4400). Those names made me hopeful, even though The Omen is a move I’d never watch all the way through (I find it more disturbing than scary). But despite a decent looking production, it just doesn’t do what it needs to do as a story, lacking cohesion and clear direction.

As such, I sadly cannot recommend DAMIEN, as I likely won’t ever give it another chance.

DAMIEN airs Mondays at 10/9c on A&E.

ONCE UPON A TIME Needs a "Mother"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

More than one “Mother” makes a tough decision in this week’s ONCE UPON A TIME on ABC. The story has reached a pivotal moment for several characters. The lines of good and evil have been blurred, but now some players must pick a side, either going back to who they were or moving in a new direction. Do any of the bad guys really have the power to sabotage anything else?

In flashback, we see Cora (Barbara Hershey) return to apologize to Regina (Lana Parrilla) for killing her one true love. But instead of tracking down Robin Hood (Sean Maguire), Cora tries to pass off the Sheriff of Nottingham (Wil Traval) as her daughter’s destiny. Regina sees through it, makes herself barren when she thinks her mother’s plot involves taking control of Regina’s yet-to-be-conceived child, and banishes Cora forever.

I’m not really sure Regina and Cora are well served in “Mother” based on where they were at the time this plot takes place. Cora is truly evil in past installments, and this Cora seems sincerely repentant. This Regina is in the height of her days as the Evil Queen, and seems way too eager to give up what she has achieved for true love. It just doesn’t gel in the continuity.

The present Regina has a much more satisfying story. She considers having Isaac (Patrick Fischler), the Author, write Zelena (Rebecca Mader) out of the storybook entirely. But when Zelena brings up Cora, Regina realizes that part of being a hero is not taking petty revenge on one’s enemies, and she decides to drop the scheme, showing her growth. Unfortunately, Isaac is not at all consistent, first raving about how much he loves Regina’s shades of grey, then immediately fleeing back to Gold’s (Robert Carlyle) side when Regina does the right thing. Also, Regina seems to have achieved her happy ending without the Author’s intervention, which was supposed to be impossible, no?

Gold himself is nearly dead at this point, something that also doesn’t really add up with who he was, especially given his redemption arc in the early seasons, and the fact that we’ve never seen anyone die of a black heart before, no matter how evil they are, even ones much more so than Gold. But I guess we need to suspend disbelief here and hopefully the ending of the season will make sense for ONCE UPON A TIME, at least in the context of recent episodes, though I’m not very optimistic about it.

Speaking of uneven characters, Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) bypasses a redemption arc entirely, so happy to have her daughter, Lily (Agnes Bruckner), back that she abandons all thoughts of revenge. Even when Lily doesn’t seem to share Maleficent’s vision, Maleficent stays tame and reasonable, ready to be there when Lily does calm down and decide to give a family a try. This is moving, sure, but oh so ridiculous for a villain.

The one subplot that does kind of work in “Mother” is when Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) helps Emma (Jennifer Morrison) forgive her parents. Even though Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) has a completely unnecessary injury at the time and Emma directs her healing words only at her mother, ignoring David (Josh Dallas), who is standing right there, the way this turns out still works well for Emma, resetting her back on the right path.

ONCE UPON A TIME is so frustrating because I feel if the writers either concentrated a little bit on continuity or were allowed to do so (I really don’t know who exactly is to blame for the piece jumping all over the place) it could be very good again, as it once was. Yet, even in an episode like “Mother,” which seems to make sense in theory, there are way too many things that need fixed for it to be praised. I kind of hope Isaac resets everything entirely, wiping the slate clean so the show can start all over again, though I’m sure that’s not what will happen.

ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Once Upon A Time there was "The Miller's Daughter"

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 2 Episode 16 The Miller's Daughter on Seat42F.

Grade: 98%

This week’s installment of ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME, more than most, is about the past. Every episode of ONCE UPON A TIME gives us glimpses of how the characters were, back in fairytale land. But this one, “The Miller’s Daughter,” finds the meat of the plot taking place back then, even as important things happen in the present.

“The Miller’s Daughter” is the classic Rumplestiltskin tale, where the evil imp helps a poor girl spin straw into gold in exchange for her first-born child. But now we learn that the poor young girl was none other than Cora (wonderfully cast as Rose McGowan, Charmed, in flashback). And Rumple (Robert Carlyle) fell in love with Cora, which left him vulnerable to her trickery and cruelty.

We now know why Cora (Barbara Hershey) hates the royals, especially King Xavier (Joaquim de Almeida, 24) and his son, Henry (Zak Santiago). We see her looked down upon and tripped by a young Eva (Eva Allan), who must not have been taught kindness yet. We see her heart turn black and bent on revenge, which is why she removes her heart, which she sees as a weakness, so she can resist the temptation of Rumple’s love and become a royal herself.

I don’t think this is enough to justify Cora’s bad behavior, not by a long shot. She can be annoyed and not like the royal family without becoming so focused on their destruction. Even as a young woman, Cora is not nice. Yes, her lazy, alcoholic father contributes to a heart full of bitterness, but it is her decisions and her attitude that result in her fate. Cora really is just not a good person.

Rumple knows this and knows that she must be stopped. He has a plan for doing so, and that’s to get Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) to use a candle to trade Cora’s life for his own. Why does Rumple choose Snow in this moment? Is it because of one of the future glimpses he has seen? Does he take one look at her and realize what a dark path she is considering? Either way, unlikely Snow is his weapon of choice.

Poor Snow is the purest heart in all the land, until “The Miller’s Daughter.” Not only does she curse Cora’s heart, but she lies and tricks Regina (Lana Parrilla) into putting the heart back into Cora’s body to complete the spell. This is an act that will ruin Snow forever. Yes, she may be able to come back from this, but she will always live with the knowledge that she is capable of evil, and that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

How might this change Snow’s marriage to David (Josh Dallas)? He loves her, of course, but he does everything he can to keep her from this act. Now he has to look at his wife differently, her not being the purely good soul he thinks of her as. This will knock her off the pedestal, and could alter their dynamic.

Snow’s actions have an even more dire consequence for Regina. Getting a moment to see that Cora actually does love her (and did love Rumple), and given the knowledge that love would be enough for mother and daughter, Cora then promptly dies in her daughter’s arms. Regina always struggles with her evil side, but having Snow murder Cora so clearly will stamp out any good embers still glowing within her. The feud is no longer about custody of Henry (Jared Gilmore), and no truce will be had. For the foreseeable future, Regina is the evil witch who will do everything she can to destroy Snow.

Snow remains on the side of good and Regina remains on the side of bad, as has long been the story in ONCE UPON A TIME. But now viewers will sympathize somewhat with Regina, knowing Snow makes her into the current monster she is. It means so much more when the story becomes blurry like this, the hero having caused the villain’s descent in such a direct way, not by accident, but through an intentional choice. It’s an interesting move for the show to make, and it really shakes things up as we head into the home stretch of the season.

Rumple, for his part, has never been closer to good, despite turning Snow black, and will definitely be on the right side of the war this time. On his deathbed, he pours out his heart to Belle (Emilie de Ravin), revealing for this first time the depth of his love and desire to be a good man. This happens in front of Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Bae (Michael Raymond-James), which is enough to soften both towards their son’s grandfather, and to prompt Bae to begin to forgive his father.

Is Rumple’s quest back to the light essentially over? He has Bae, the person he has worked so long and hard to find, and even if Belle can’t remember him, she has to be deeply moved by his words, and will begin to fall for him all over again. Surrounded by family, finally allowed to embrace and show his love, Rumple has a chance to be a hero.

Except, he knows Henry will be his undoing, and despite his doubt in “The Miller’s Daughter” if he should continue living, the Dark One inside of him won’t allow him to give up so easily. I worry this is the wild card left in the year.

Finally, we see Emma embrace her power in this episode. She is able to conjure up a protection spell to save (for a time) Rumple from Cora and Regina just by willing it so. It doesn’t seem a difficult feat for her, and through Rumple’s urging, Emma is getting a small taste of what she can do. I expect this will be explored quite a bit in the coming episodes, as the good guys will need every tool they can to fight Regina, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Emma is capable of.

“The Miller’s Daughter” is a compelling tale of good and evil, of love and revenge. It spills a wonderful back story that fills in some gaps in the plot, and changes a couple of characters to their core. Episodes this good, even in ONCE UPON A TIME, which is a great series, are rare. The acting this week, especially from Carlyle, is Emmy-worthy. The writing by Jane Espenson is smart and tight. Brilliant job, all around.

ONCE UPON A TIME airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Once Upon a Time "The Queen is Dead"

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 2 Episode 15 The Queen is Dead on Seat42F.

Grade: 92%

This week’s ONCE UPON A TIME is entitled “The Queen is Dead,” and, for the first time, we see Snow’s mother, Queen Eva (Rena Sofer, 24, Covert Affairs), albeit on her death bed. She doesn’t have much time left, and young Snow is desperate to save her mom’s life, the doctor (Duncan Ollerenshaw, Hell on Wheels) being clueless as to an effective treatment. However, when tempted with dark magic, Snow remembers the lesson her mother taught her, and chooses good over evil, allowing her mother to die rather than trade another’s life to save Eva’s.

“The Queen is Dead” reveals that Rumple (Robert Carlyle) isn’t the only one who plays the long game. Cora (Barbara Hershey) murders Eva and poses as the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) to tempt the child Snow White (Bailee Madison). Then, Cora continues to offer Snow chances to make the wrong decision throughout her life, presumably, always trying to ruin Snow’s spirit and turn her dark.

Why does Cora go to such lengths? What does she have against Snow? Does she just delight in destroying a good person, or does it go deeper, an old feud with Eva perhaps? We have to believe that Cora and Eva have a past that causes this rivalry and sets Cora on such a destructive path. Otherwise, she is just plain cruel.

Quick side note, Bailee looks a lot like grown up Snow, so for that, I appreciate the casting, but can’t the actress dial it back just a bit? I know she’s only a child, but the overacting does detract from the story a little, and it’s more obvious here than in past installments.

In modern Storybrooke, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) is once again tempted to not do the right thing when Cora and Regina (Lana Parrilla) hold Snow’s old friend and servant, Johanna (Downton Abbey’s Lesley Nicol), hostage, offering to trade Johanna’s life for the Dark One’s dagger, which Snow has, so that they can control Gold. Snow chooses to hand over the weapon, despite the possible repercussions, but Cora murders Johanna anyway, and Snow vows revenge.

ONCE UPON A TIME often flirts with motivation and gray areas, making the good characters not completely good and the bad ones not completely bad. Snow is the epitome of the hero, the lightest of the light, and to send her down such a dark path is surprising and disturbing. If Snow can’t keep her heart pure and pass Cora’s tests, does she deserve to be the ruler of the kingdom? Or, more likely, is this just another obstacle she needs to overcome on her journey?

Snow asks Charming (Josh Dallas) why she should be good if she keeps losing the people she loves as a consequence. What Snow is having trouble seeing right now is that a victory is hollow if you can’t live with yourself afterwards. It’s better to lose righteously, no matter the cost, than to win by cheating. This is a hard lesson, difficult to understand, and one most people will never be able to live up to. If Snow can, in fact, stay true to herself, it’s what will separate her from others and prove that she should be queen.

Regina seems destined to learn the opposite lesson. We see her waver when Cora murders Johanna, but only for the briefest of moments before firmly sticking to her mother’s side. I wish we would get a little more conflict in Regina’s character, considering how hard she has been working to be good, and she clearly doesn’t trust her mother completely. Yes, Regina has spent a long time on the wrong side, and Snow’s approach of “generously” offering her one more chance backfires. But if others would actually be kind to her, and treat her like a friend, even if she hasn’t yet earned it, I do believe that Regina could still be saved.

In New York, Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) catches up with Rumple / Gold and stabs him with a poisoned hook. The only cure is in Storybrooke, and the only transportation swift enough to get Gold home in time is Hook’s ship. Neal (Michael Raymond-James) surprises everyone by offering to sail it.

There is a really great scene in “The Queen is Dead” when Emma (Jennifer Morrison) asks Neal why he would help Gold, his father, whom he hates. Neal tells her that it’s different to hide from his dad versus letting him die, and he’s doing the right thing. This is a moment where we see Neal, despite his flaws, is a hero. He may also be a petty thief, but maybe he has his reasons for that, and he now chooses to save someone he doesn’t like when he can so much more easily allow him to perish. This is an interesting development, as Neal seems a shady character prior to this, even more interesting than learning Neal has a fiancé.

Neal hints that he has many travels between fairy tale land and ending up in New York, and I’m curious to see them. He obviously spends time in Wonderland, given the décor of his apartment, and I find it likely that he is in Oz for awhile, based on past dialogue, even though Oz has not yet been established as a realm in ONCE UPON A TIME. What events have shaped his life? Should Neal be sticking around, as I hope he will, this will have to be explored.

It’s very disappointing that Gold now hates Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) so thoroughly. I had hoped there would be some internal conflict for Gold, since he seems to have a soft spot for Henry before now, and Henry is his grandson. Yet, realizing that Henry will be his undoing, as foretold by the seer, Gold has turned completely, all of the sudden showing a lot of hostility towards the boy, who of course deserves none of it. Unless, perhaps, Gold thinks the poisoning is the ultimate destruction Henry is connected with, which doesn’t seem likely, but could explain the anger in the moment.

It could very well ruin Gold and Neal’s relationship forever if Gold makes a move against Henry, even should he fail, which he most likely will. Neal seems quite happy to get to know his son, and will surely want to protect him. Considering the low regard in which Neal already holds Gold, any attempt Gold makes to hurt Henry will only alienate him further.

By contrast, Gold is willing to tell Emma, who tells Snow, where the dagger is. This is a show of trust. It may be for selfish reasons, but I’m not so sure Gold would have given away this information before now, because whoever possesses the dagger can control him. It’s a big sacrifice of free will on his part, and he has to know that giving it over to Emma means she can use it to stop him from hurting Henry, should a showdown occur, and thus lead to his own destruction. So it doesn’t seem like his soul is completely gone, even as it bends the wrong way in this episode.

There is lots brewing in “The Queen is Dead,” and the same arc will likely continue next week in “The Miller’s Daughter,” which, based on the title, should involve Regina and Cora in the flashbacks. ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Once Upon a Time in "Manhattan"

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Recap Season 2 Episode 14 Manhattan on Seat42F.

Grade: 94%

ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME finally aired the much-anticipated episode “Manhattan” last night. In this installment, Mr. Gold / Rumple (Robert Carlyle), Emma (Jennifer Morrison), and Henry (Jared Gilmore) travel to New York City on their quest to find Gold’s long lost son. But when they get there, they uncover unexpected connections, and secrets are revealed.

I’m still angry at ABC for spoiling the twist that Baelfire is Neal Cassidy (Michael Raymond-James) in their preview for “Manhattan,” which aired following last week’s episode. This is something some have suspected, but it seemed a little far-fetched at first, which is why it was dismissed by many. To give away such an important part of the story in a commercial is nearly unforgiveable, and just plain ridiculous.

However, that reveal did come very early in the hour, and there is still lots of great story to the episode that has not been spoiled. While light on action, “Manhattan” is heavy on drama, as Baelfire, Emma, Gold, and Henry all try to sort out their feelings for one another. It’s a complicated mess, Emma having lied to Henry about his dad being dead, Gold learning for the first time that Henry is his grandson, Baelfire furious at his father for abandoning him, and Emma not sure she wants Baelfire in her, or Henry’s, life.

ONCE UPON A TIME is about fairy tales and quests and magic, but it is also very much about family. This is evident right from the beginning, when Emma is known by viewers to be the daughter or Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), even if she doesn’t yet believe it herself. Since then, we have seen lots of plot involving interactions between children and parents in a variety of settings, including other characters, such as Regina (Lana Parrilla). There is quite a knot of relations tied up in this tale, and watching the characters try to unravel it, only to see it get tangled up further, is a great way to keep things moving along.

Bringing Baelfire into the picture, with his connection to multiple main characters, will further shake up the dynamics of the show. As Charming says, it’s a good thing they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, as getting them all together at once would be a mess. Assumedly, Bae will want to be in Henry’s life so he doesn’t abandon his son, like Bae’s own father did, and Bae’s father’s father. Even if Emma and Baelfire don’t get back together, this ties them to Gold, and expands their clan.

Bae’s reasons for staying away from Emma all these years have to do with a curse and wanting to avoid his father. Learning about Henry changes that. Emma still has some justifiable anger at Baelfire to work through, but Bae’s reason for staying away from Emma have been lifted. This means a step in the right direction for the legion of fans whom are already likely rooting for them to be a couple, healing the divided family.

One moment during the whole New York sequence that really stands out is when Henry tells Emma that she is just as bad as Regina with her secrets. ONCE UPON A TIME does a great job of making their central characters complex, rather than black or white. But Emma hasn’t done anything on the level of the evil carried out by Regina. Are these just words of a child said in anger? And even if that is the case, can they easily be gotten over?

Regina would sure hope not. She is with Cora (Barbara Hershey), who has a scheme to get Gold to kill Henry’s family, leaving the boy for her. Clearly, this is a disastrous plan, as Henry would eventually find out the truth, no matter what Cora says, and there would be no coming back for Regina in Henry’s eyes then.

While I understand why Regina would listen to her mother, tempted back to her dark side, I am very pleased with the efforts Regina has been making this year to be a better person for Henry’s sake. Secretly killing his family, leaving herself as the default guardian, is the shortcut way to get Henry’s affection back, and she should know better than to take a shortcut again, because they don’t work. As is oft repeated, magic always has a price. Hopefully, she will come to her senses before she does something that ruins her forever.

During “Manhattan,” we also finally get flashbacks as to why Gold / Rumple left the Ogre War, a plot long referenced, but not seen before now. He did not do anything terribly noble or important, as some fans assumed, but instead, hurt himself to get sent home after a seer warns him that his actions will leave his son fatherless. Unfortunately, the seer’s gift and words aren’t explicit, and it’s actually the self-injury the sets Rumple on the course of events that causes his son, Bae, to grow up fatherless. Rumple tries to do what he thinks is best, but instead loses both his wife and son.

This makes Rumple an even more tragic character. He isn’t, at heart, good or evil, but is instead the embodiment of the two sides, a good man who has an evil power trapped inside of him, influencing his words and actions. We see why Milah (Rachel Shelley) loves him in the first place, and why she falls out of love with him. It’s a tragic, moving story that only deepens how much we care about the character.

But rather than letting Rumple / Gold end “Manhattan” on such a nice note, a father sacrificing his reputation and health for his son, no matter what anyone else thinks, we instead get a bit more of his dark side when the seer tells him that the boy who helps him find his son will be Rumple’s undoing. Rumple, in the flashback, flippantly replies that he’ll kill the boy. Now, knowing that the prophecy applies to Henry, his grandson, Gold still has a look on his face that isn’t pleasant, even if we can’t tell what he’s thinking.

Surely Gold would not go so dark as to kill his own grandson? We’ve seen that Gold has a soft spot for Henry, so it would make the murder even more difficult. Plus, we don’t know exactly what “undoing” means, and as Gold has seen, the glimpses of the future that he gets are sporadic and uncertain. Yes, the Dark One inside of Gold may want to off Henry, but hopefully the lighter side will win out. It’s a shame Belle (Emilie de Ravin) doesn’t remember who Gold is, and so can’t help talk him out of it.

There’s also the matter of destiny. The seer tells Rumple that he can’t escape his destiny. As viewers, we don’t yet know the destiny of each of the characters, but assumedly that plays a role in whatever the end game ends up being. Some things cannot be avoided, and this is the wild care that could change everything at a crucial moment.

Between the revelations, the family dynamic shifts, and some very dark hints of things to come, “Manhattan” is a truly excellent episode, one of the best of the series thus far. Which means you definitely shouldn’t miss the rest of the season. ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Once Upon a Time tugs at our hearts

ABC's Once Upon a Time ended its fall run this week with "Queen of Hearts." The various plots that have been playing out for the past few months all converge and mostly end, avoiding a dramatic, violent showdown (though we get a small taste of such a thing), instead playing more to the emotional depth of the characters. It's also an episode heavy on revelation, making it a tasty treat that should tide fans over until January.

The biggest message to come out of "Queen of Hearts" is the power of true love. Emma (Jennifer Morrison) discovers her name written in magic ink in a cell, which enables her and her friends to escape after being locked up. Cora (Barbara Hershey) learns that she cannot remove Emma's heart. Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) admits he has nothing to do with, and doesn't even know the full extent of, Emma's power. It feels like a bit of a Harry Potter rip off, but clearly true love is the most powerful force in Once Upon a Time, and it will make sure, as Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) asserts, that good will always triumph over evil.

This means that Emma's focus in the series should not lessen as the show goes on. She already plays out her role as the savior last year, and her family relations to several other main characters mean that she won't be going anywhere. But now that magic has returned, and the fairy tale and real worlds begin to intermingle, one might think that Emma's lack of experience with the former would handicap her. Instead, she will still likely be the best hope everyone has of surviving, given this new development.

And survive, they must. Cora and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) are temporarily defeated in the fairy tale realm, but by the end of the episode, they are sailing into the harbor of Storybrooke on Hook's ship. This does feel a little liked a cheat. So much effort is exhausted to thwart them, and yet, off screen, they suddenly manage to achieve their goal anyway. However, there is still a battle to wage, so the excitement will not lack concerning them when the show returns.

Cora and Hook's emergence in Storybrooke points to signs that Once Upon a Time may not visit the fairy tale world for awhile, other than in the frequent flashbacks. True, Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Aurora (Sarah Bolger) are still there and have a new quest to embark on, but they are not main characters, despite what it has seemed like this fall, so it is likely that we will see very little, if any, of their mission. Instead, the bad guys have broken into our world, so that is probably where most of the action will stay.

Emma has huge talents that we are just beginning to glimpse, but she cannot stop Cora and Hook alone. She merely holds them off so that she and Snow can make their escape before, and now that things will be deteriorating, she will need all the help that she can get. The problem is, most of the talents of good guys on the show are limited, standing little chance against great mahic, so her best bets for helpful allies are Rumplestiltskin and Regina (Lana Parrilla), whose allegiances are circumspect.

Rumple just wants to find his son. He can't leave Storybrooke, so he's stalled in this desire, but he has no particular loyalty to anyone else here, save Belle (Emilie de Ravin). He helps in "Queen of Hearts" and the events leading up to it because of his soft spot for a boy, Henry (Jared Gilmore), who may remind him a bit of his own child, and because he really doesn't want Cora coming to this world, as she could get in his way. If he can run away and avoid confrontation, he likely will, just as he is coldly willing to sacrifice Emma and Snow in this episode if it will keep Cora from crossing over.

Regina is a bit more of an enigma. She desperately wants to be good again, at least in Henry's eyes. But no matter what she does, she isn't figuring as an important person in his life. She absorbs Rumple's deadly spell so that Snow and Emma can get home, which could cost her something that hasn't been revealed yet, given her looks of pain. And yet, after a quick hug and word of praise, Henry runs off with Emma again. How hard would it have been to invite Regina to come along with them, considering how much she played a role in their safe return? By excluding her, they risk alienating Regina, leaving her vulnerable to Cora's influence. If Regina sides with her mother, Storybrooke could really be in trouble.

Much praise has to be given to Parrilla, who can definitely be argued to be this season's MVP, much as Carlyle dominated last year. She plays the layers of complexity that make up Regina expertly, balancing all of the facets of her personality so, so well. She makes us care about someone who started off the series as the most villainous member of the world, and her vulnerabilities as a mother, no matter who Henry's flesh and blood are, make her someone to root for. Even if Regina trends dark again, I hope that Parrilla is given the opportunity to make her a hero in the end.

The "Duh!" moment in "Queen of Hearts" is when Cora is revealed to be the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland. Given her penchant for stealing the blood pumping organ from people, this is something I should have seen coming from a mile away. And yet, like many of Once Upon a Time's great twists, I somehow did not put the pieces together until the last moment. It's touches like this, the seeds planted months, even a year, beforehand, that prove that this show has some of the best writing on television. Other awesome callback bits in "Queen of Hearts" include a return to the lake, Rumple's use of the fairy wand, seeing Cora create the dome that saved part of fairy tale world, and the logic leap many viewers are making that Rumple planned very well in advance, allowing himself to get captured before the curse.

Once Upon a Time will return in January on ABC.

Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!

Article first posted on TheTVKing

Once Upon a Time in "Tallahassee"

Last night's installment of ABC's Once Upon a Time may have been called "Tallahasse," but not a single moment of the episode took place in that Florida city. Instead, "Tallahassee" is a dream. It represents home and family for Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a chance to be with the man she loves and raise a kid together.

But this dream is dashed eleven years ago, as we see when Emma finally gets her own flashback. Yep, the backstory of "Tallahassee" tells a fairy tale in the real world. Thief Emma meets another criminal, Neal (Michael Raymond-James, Terriers, True Blood), and together they become a sort of Bonnie and Clyde. Seeking to prevent a tragic ending, August (Eion Bailey) arranges for Emma to end up in jail and Neal to step back until Emma has fulfilled her destiny.

How might Emma's life be different if August hadn't been "protecting" her? Neal seems to really love her. Maybe they could have had a happy ending together. Yes, a content Emma might have been harder to drag to Storybrooke, but she would have been a less angsty person. If August really wanted to help, shouldn't he have thought about this? Not to mention, why couldn't August get her to her destiny much sooner?

That aside, though, we now know the meaning of the opening scene of season two, and who the Mysterious Man is. He will surely come for Emma, as his apartment showed no signs of him having moved on without her. Will Emma be able to start to forgive him, the way she is doing with Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas), who abandoned her for equally noble reasons? As a "normal" human, what will Neal's introduction to the fairy tale world be like? What has he been doing in the intervening years? And what is in August's box that moved Neal to listen?

In this very Emma-heavy episode, Once Upon a Time also follows her in the story book land. She climbs a beanstalk with Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) to get a compass from the last giant (Jorge Garcia, Lost, Alcatraz). She completes the quest, of course, in her own unique way, and earns her battle stripes in this world, no longer the fish out of water she began as a few episodes ago.

What viewers are reminded of in this episode, though, and what Emma already well knows is, people are complicated, and you can't always take what they say at face value. Who is the real bad guy in "Tallahassee," the giant or Hook? The giant hates people and almost kills Emma, but his people were slain by men, so there's no wonder he holds a grudge. And once Emma spares his life, he does her a favor AND allows her to leave. So he's clearly not unreasonable.

My question is, though, how believable is it that the giant learns to trust Emma? He is described as the baddest of them all, the only survivor from the war. Would he really, after so much suffering and loss, be able to strike a deal and some sort of trust, slim as it might be, with Emma? Wouldn't he just kill her? The fact that he doesn't makes him not only a good guy, but a hero of the highest order. Which means he should definitely return again.

Hook, on the other hand, I do not trust. I think Emma is right to have the giant keep him for ten hours and allow the ladies to escape. I don't care what he tells them, I can't help but feel he is still playing out Cora's (Barbara Hershey) plan. And while I think there is some real grief behind Hook's motivations, and do think that he is sincere when he tells Emma about his motivations to get to Storybrooke, the story behind it all cannot be discounted, knowing his love began in the most unorthodox and sinister of ways.

And I guess there will be no Jack in the story of this giant and beanstalk, given the pile of bones on the floor.

There is another danger revealed in "Tallahasse." Both Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) and Aurora (Sarah Bolger) have nightmares about a red room with burning curtains. Are they seeing each other in the room, or a villain we have yet to meet? What does it mean? When did premonitions enter into the mix? When will this go down? Scary stuff, a level of danger that might just edge out everything we've seen so far.

There are a few weak points, such as characters making leaps not fully explained, but overall season two of Once Upon a Time has been an exciting thrill ride. I'm ready for Emma and Snow to get back to their friends, but definitely excited about what's to come next. "Tallahasse" is not as good as recent episodes like "The Doctor," "Crocodile," and "We Are Both," but is still a fun time.

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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