ONCE UPON A TIME Not as Fresh as a "Lily"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

This week’s episode of ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME, entitled “Lily,” should be an exciting, awesome, come-together moment for the season. Instead, it is a mess, with plot holes galore and lots of things that don’t make sense. The problem with ONCE UPON A TIME, and this has been an issue for awhile, is that they come up great stories but fail to think them through. “Lily” is a prime example of that.

As the hour begins, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) embarks on a road trip to find her childhood friend, Lily (Agnes Bruckner, The Returned), who turns out to be Maleficent’s (Kristin Bauer van Straten) daughter (is this Disney Channel’s new Descendants series?). But Emma is really, really angry, the darkness that sprouted when she killed Cruella (Victoria Smurfit) taking root. So Regina (Lana Parrilla) offers to come along, helping Emma and picking up her in-danger love, Robin Hood (Sean Maguire), on the way home.

The thing is, Emma doesn’t have anything prompting the darkness within her to grow. The villains on the show go dark because they do something really bad, and keep making poor choices or pay a magical price. Emma kills Cruella through magic, sure, but to save Henry (Jared Gilmore), and then has no other tempting factors to drive her further onto the wrong side. If there were some sort of explanation offered, such as Emma doing bad breaks the spell that is supposed to keep her good and draws in all the bad she avoided earlier in life to make up for it, leeching it from Lily, who would turn good at the same time, that might be OK, but there isn’t.

Lily has a similar issue with darkness, always making bad choices. In flashback, young Lily (Nicole Munoz) finds young Emma (Abby Ross) again, but because she can’t stop lying and stealing, Emma sends her away. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Timothy Webber) tells Lily the truth behind why she can’t stop doing bad, darkness has been put within her magically, which makes more sense than what is happening to Emma. But then Lily never tracks Emma down again, despite living close to her in Massachusetts and the two being drawn together by fate? What? Really?

Emma finds grown-up Lily, who runs away and steals Emma’s car. But when Emma doesn’t shoot Lily, a very low bar of goodness, Lily goes along with Emma and Regina on the second leg of their journey quite cooperatively. No double-cross or trying to sneak ahead to kill Emma’s parents? No simmering anger at Emma for getting the good side of the magical deal? Why is Lily being so friendly?

Then, ONCE UPON A TIME gets to New York, where Robin at first doesn’t believe Regina, a woman he supposedly loves and trusts, then willingly expresses a desire to stay with Zelena (Rebecca Mader) just because she tricked him into impregnating her. Zelena is completely evil, and Robin’s just going to keep shacking up with her and expose his children, both the already-born one and the unborn, to her? Shouldn’t he be for capturing Zelena and then taking away the baby after its birth?

Worse than all of this, Belle (Emilie de Ravin) seems to have no clue that Regina has possession of her heart, something Belle agreed to, and then softens on Gold (Robert Carlyle) just because he gives it back. After Will (Michael Socha), not Gold, retrieves and brings the heart home, no less. We’re expected to believe that Gold saying he wants Belle to be happy is just going to turn her around, even after knowing all of the bad things he has been doing?

I love the friendship between Regina and Emma, and that part of “Lily” feels real to me. Emma has earned Regina sticking by her when she errs, even if Regina has shown reluctance to being buddies prior to “Lily.” But that is the only thing that feels right in the hour, everything else playing out with typical ONCE UPON A TIME disregard for established characters and arcs. It is extremely disappointing, especially as the program proved for awhile in the past that it could do much, much better.

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

Is This the "Best" ONCE UPON A TIME Can Do?

Article originally written for Seat42F.

This week’s ONCE UPON A TIME is called “Best Laid Plans” because the characters in it don’t always get what they want, no matter how hard they try and how much thought goes into it beforehand. Whether it’s Regina (Lana Parrilla) trying to play the villains until she finds out their plan, or Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) attempting to ensure their child ends up with a clean soul, things don’t go the way they think they will. It’s hard to control the outcome of anything in life.

In fairy tale land flashbacks, Snow and Charming ask The Apprentice (Timothy Webber) to help ensure their unborn daughter will be good. He tells them a vessel is needed to channel the darkness into, and they decide Maleficent’s egg is just the thing. By the time they realize there’s a baby within, not a monster, it’s too late, and baby, Cruella (Victoria Smurfit), and Ursula (Merrin Dungey) go tumbling into our world.

The whole magic spell in this episode makes no sense, a hole-ridden plot even more shaky than what ONCE UPON A TIME has been delivering on a regular basis lately. If Snow and Charming go to all of this trouble, then Emma (Jennifer Morrison) should be guaranteed to be a hero, right? The darkness has been removed from her. So why do Snow and Charming go to great lengths in the Storybrooke present to try to keep her that way? Why are they worried their fretting over what they did would ruin her as a child? It just doesn’t add up.

This backstory does explain how the female witches came to be on Earth, where Gold (Robert Carlyle) finds them earlier this season. However, when they meet back up with Maleficient a few episodes ago, there is no mention of their disappearance. Assuming they stay on Earth from this point until Gold finds them, why is that not a part of the story earlier in the season? Why doesn’t Maleficent ask what happened to them, or they volunteer what became of her baby, which Gold finally shows her in “Best Laid Plans?”

Lo and behold, Maleficent’s child is none other than Young Emma’s (Abby Ross) friend Lily. Is it just me, or does the coincidence seem too much? ONCE UPON A TIME already shows us how Emma and Lily meet, and it certainly seems like it’s purely by chance. Are we expected to believe there is fate involved, forcing them to come together? That’s not something the show has used before in a major way, especially knowing The Author (Patrick Fischler, Lost, Mad Men) is locked up by this point and can no longer manipulate the story.

Yep, we finally see The Author in “Best Laid Plans,” too. Or, more accurately, we see the last author. He’s the latest in a long line, but unlike his predecessors, he manipulates the story, rather than just observing and recording. Of course, somehow the book continues to be written after he is trapped in the page, as it records the events of the curse, which again, doesn’t make sense.

No amount of great little moments can make up for this gigantic plot holes. Regina and Henry (Jared Gilmore) have a terrific scene in which they communicate with a look, but that is overshadowed by what’s happening around them. Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) is deliciously jealous of Emma’s friendship with August (Eion Bailey), but it’s resolved too quickly. Gold talking to an unconscious Belle (Emilie de Ravin) would be moving, if his character hadn’t already been completely ruined, his redemptive qualities stripped away over the past year. Emma finding out her parents lied to her might be effective, if it weren’t couched in the nonsensical part of the story in which she could still somehow go bad. Ditto for Maleficent’s pain at losing her child to so-called “heroes.” I just don’t get why this show, which delivered half a season of greatness just over a year ago, could fall so far and not recover. It really bums me out.

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

ONCE UPON A TIME Needs a Long Look in the "Mirror"

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 4 Episode 8/9 Smash the Mirror on Seat42F.

A lot happens in last night’s special two-hour ONCE UPON A TIME on ABC, “Smash the Mirror.” We see the rest of the Arendelle flashback story, bringing us up to the point in which the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell) comes over to our world. We witness the battle for Emma’s (Jennifer Morrison) soul, both internally and externally. And a former villain is given hope for a happy ending. Let’s get started.

First, despite the glaring flaws in this fall’s run, the Frozen tale has been nearly flawless. “Smash the Mirror” picks back up where last we left it, Anna (Elizabeth Lail) imprisoned by her aunt. Elsa (Georgina Haig) learns of this and quickly concocts a plan to stop the Snow Queen, refusing to believe ill of her sister. Their plan fails, unfortunately, with Elsa ending up in an urn, Anna and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) frozen (hehe) in the castle, and the Snow Queen messing with Elsa’s memory before The Apprentice (Timothy Webber) sends her to our world, circa 1982.

The story of the sisters, Elsa and Anna, is a strong one. Anna goes to other realms to save Elsa, and Elsa never stops believing in Anna, even when Anna is under a spell that makes her say horrible things. There is an argument to be made that Nasty Anna is buried deep inside the real Anna, an expression of the suffering she has endured. But an essential part of Anna is that she keeps hope and moves past such issues, always deciding to believe in Elsa. Seeing Elsa pay this back is extremely gratifying, and it’s this bond that the Snow Queen will never have.

There’s very much a there-but-for-you-go-I element in “Smash the Mirror.” Had the Snow Queen’s surviving sister stuck by her, no matter what bad things the Snow Queen accidentally did, her fate might have turned out very differently. The Snow Queen desperately wants what Elsa and Anna already have. Knowing they won’t accept her as one of them, she goes to extremes to force such a relationship. What she will have to end up realizing, but hasn’t yet, is such bonds cannot be forced. They have to be given freely.

ONCE UPON A TIME does make the plot quite cohesive, providing a believable way the Snow Queen comes to our land, sets the stage for her memory spells, and provides a possible motivation as to why she does what she goes. Once the Snow Queen knows she can make people forget and start with a clean slate again, it would be tempting to do so anytime things go bad. That’s surely what happened with Emma, though we haven’t seen that yet.

The Snow Queen is a formidable foe. She goes toe-to-toe with Rumple (Robert Carlyle) this week and wins. While she herself is not the instrument of victory, she does manages to link Emma and Elsa to herself, which is the next stage in her plan, and goes against Rumple’s desires. It will be interesting to see how she can be defeated because, despite knowing she must fail, she is in a pretty good position at the episode’s end.

Emma is still a bit out-of-character in “Smash the Mirror.” After making Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) very slightly bleed, she goes into a panic, and eagerly accepts Rumple’s offer to remove her powers. It takes her forever to get to his cabin, and the others have plenty of time to track her, which doesn’t seem right, but from an emotional standpoint, these hours do a better job of illustrating the turmoil in Emma’s heart than others have. She wants to rid herself of power because she’s afraid of it, but Elsa, who has personal understanding, gets through to Emma and helps her accept herself.

It’s a little strange how easily Emma has things under control at the end of the episode, a new stage for ONCE UPON A TIME. Yet, perhaps it’s a timing thing. Finally able to see who she is and live up to her potential, she gets a handle on the powers. Even if the path to get there is a little bumpy, there are some strong character moments for Emma, and her fireworks scene is an earned triumph.

More uneven than Emma is Rumple’s plot, though. This Rumple takes Hook’s (Colin O’Donoghue) heart and seeks to destroy Emma so he can have power and take over the world. This is absolutely ridiculous. Rumple has never been shown to have these ambitions, and in fact works directly against such things in past seasons. The Rumple in “Smash the Mirror” is a completely new character than before, and not in a good way. ONCE’s biggest glaring mistake this year is to toss out Rumple’s entire arc and start fresh with an unrecognizable antagonist. It makes me ill to see how he has been handled.

Hook, to a lesser extent, is in a similar boat. His actions, from betraying Emma, to confessing to her, have bene erratic and nonsensical. I get the urge to be a hero and worthy of Emma, but then it’s more confusing when Hook acts against those interests. He has been used poorly as of late, too.

On a polar opposite, Regina’s ONCE UPON A TIME arc has been stellar. This week, she gets assurances from Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) that she’ll have a happy ending, ponders the path not taken, has a touching moment with her son, and is given encouragement by Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), of all people, who admits her own bratty past. I was worried for a bit the show would let Regina slip, negating her growth, but the other characters have rallied around her, even those who one doesn’t expect to, and in their eyes, Regina finally sees her best self reflected.

What’s more, Robin’s discovery in the library, with the help of Will Scarlet (Michael Socha), gives Regina hope. Robin finds an alternate page to Henry’s storybook, one in which Regina is not a villain. This proves the book isn’t set in stone so Regina can still change her ending! Yay!

Which begs the question, are new pages being added to the book? If so, why hasn’t anyone mentioned it? And because the page just appears in Robin’s bag, does that mean the author is still around? Possibly hiding in the magic library? Maleficent is still in the basement, isn’t she? And where is the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, who can see past and future, these days? Anyone else get the feeling the Apprentice might actually be the Sorcerer? Hmm.

For everyone awesome ONCE UPON A TIME moment, and there are many in “Smash the Mirror,” there is an unfortunate one, sometimes small, but always present. When looking at the TV schedule from last night, ONCE is only about the sixth or seventh best show on Sunday nights (behind The Walking Dead, The Newsroom, The Good Wife, and arguably several others) right now. There are a heck of a lot more than six shows on Sundays, but that’s still not a position to really brag about. If only it would get its act together, like it did a year ago, it could rise to match or exceed some of its currently-better peers. The potential is high, but the series just doesn’t live up to it as much as it should, making its wins, such as last night’s episode, bittersweet.

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

ONCE UPON A TIME Might Want to "Apprentice" Itself to a Storyteller

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 4 Episode 4 The Apprentice on Seat42F.

This week’s installment of ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME is called “The Apprentice.” Rumple (Robert Carlyle) tries to steal a magical box from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Timothy Webber, Men in Trees, Arctic Air) that would allow him to keep the Dark One’s powers, but without the limitations. Meanwhile, Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) have their first date, a thief plagues the town, and Elsa (Georgina Haig) searches the town census for signs of her missing sister.

I need to start this paragraph by saying I STRONGLY disapprove over the spoiling of Rumple’s character this year and last spring, negating his growth arc from the first couple of seasons. Still, at least “The Apprentice” finally offers a plausible explanation as to why Rumple cannot have a happy ending, mentioning that villains cannot find their bliss because that’s not how the storybook works. It would be nice if this were established before now, but still, at least it’s offered now. In Regina’s (Lana Parrilla) quest to end up with true love for herself, might she also show Rumple a way to finally, once and for all, get back to who he should be?

This week’s ONCE UPON A TIME doesn’t give us any positive signs in Rumple. His quest to get the box from the Apprentice is something every Dark One has attempted, as we see in a Zoso (Brad Dourif) flashback, and it is only done for evil purposes. Rumple is tricking Belle (Emilie de Ravin), the woman he supposedly loves, and taking out innocent men to get what he wants. These are not good signs.

Hook lets his inner villain out, too. It’s one thing for him to get his hand back (which, by the way, the fact that the hand is not really cursed is totally predictable), but it’s another for him to engage in a game of mutual blackmailing and lying with Rumple. True, Hook has never had that catalyst moment, as Rumple did, where he turns over a new leaf and truly proves himself, but fans of ONCE UPON A TIME don’t expect him to behave this badly. It’s a bit inconsistent for the character, and not a welcome development.

Henry’s (Jared Gilmore) actions also don’t make sense. Isn’t Rumple suspicious when his only grandchild, whom Rumple has strangely ignored for awhile despite Henry’s connection to Rumple’s beloved son, suddenly wants to spend time with him? Rumple is too bright to be fooled by the kid unless love blinds him, and there is no hint of that. Their family connection also should have been explored more fully before now, and that’s glaringly obvious when it is approach at this juncture.

The Frozen arc takes a sharp left turn this week when Anna (Elizabeth Leil) accomplishes her task of figuring out why her parents went to the Enchanted Forest and she returns home. One does not expect this, given Elsa’s efforts to find Anna, so there’s definitely more story in their land to tell. I like when the writers surprise me, which doesn’t happen every week on ONCE UPON A TIME, and that kicks this episode up a couple of notches.

Less enticing is the Snow Queen’s (Elizabeth Mitchell) behavior. She appears only briefly in “The Apprentice” to taunt Emma. It’s fine if the show is taking the slow-reveal approach and only giving us bits of the Queen’s motivation at a time. But it’s weird to get so much of her last week, and then just a brief look at her this one that has her behaving strangely with no discernable reason as to why she is doing so. That needs to sort itself out.

I’m sorry if this review has leaned negative, as I mostly liked it. There is just a lot more to say about the complaints than the impressive bits. There are lots of good things to say about “The Apprentice,” too, though. I love how Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) make too big a deal over Emma’s date, the Lady and the Tramp reference at the restaurant, the hints about Will Scarlet’s (Michael Socha) true mission in Storybrooke, which has to be to find the Red Queen again, and the meta references where the characters basically acknowledge their storybook roots. This style of humor is exactly what the show should strive for more of, as it works extremely well for the premise and makes for entertaining dialogue.

“The Apprentice” isn’t a bad episode, but it’s not a great one either. It is very Rumple heavy, and I like his Dark One stories, but his behavior in Storybrooke is troubling, as is Hook’s. If the characters and tone were a little more consistent, that would improve the overall presentation a lot.

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

Alice discovers new wonder(land)

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."  ~ Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

     SyFy has done for Wonderland what it did in 2007 for Oz.  This past Sunday and Monday, Alice aired.  It was clever, witty, and wholly original.  With heavy references to both Alice novels by Lewis Carroll, it also took place in a universe where the events of the books had happened over one hundred and forty years ago.  Presumably the heroine in this adventure is also coincidentally named Alice, and the denizens of the strange country don't age very much.  This new four hour miniseries was set present day in the human world, but appeared a cross between future and fantasy in Wonderland.  It was just as trippy as the book, especially the scenes with Drs. Dee and Dum (Eugene Lipinski).  In this version, the cards also inhabit a casino (apropos, no?) where the Carpenter (Timothy Webber, Men in Trees, why doesn't this man have his own Wikipedia entry?) harvests their emotions.  But he has a very surprisingly secret, revealed around the third hour.

     The cast is led by the beautiful Caterina Scorsone, playing Alice with Kung Fu action.  This Alice has fallen in love with Jack (Philip Winchester), who is mysteriously kidnapped by 'suits' from the White Rabbit company.  On a side note, Winchester did a brilliant job, having wonderful chemistry with Scorsone in the beginning, and none at all when they meet again on the other side, important to the story arc.  Predictably, Alice follows the kidnappers and falls through a mirror.  Alice begins her search for Jack, soon assisted by Hatter (Andrew Lee Potts), owner of a teashop, playing every angle.  Jack introduces her to the resistance, who wants to overthrow the wicked Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates).  The group is led by Dodo (Tim Curry in a scene stealing, but very short, performance).  Unfortunately, Hatter is loyal to neither the resistance or the royalty, which causes no end of trouble and confusion for Alice, but also sets them up for a nice romance.

     The special effects are magical, and the Wonderland realm does seem otherworldly, helped along by a fantastic cast of supporting characters.  Besides the actors mentioned above, Matt Frewer as a Monty Python-inspired White Knight stands out, as does Colm Meaney (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space 9) as the King of Hearts, Geoff Redknap as assassin March Hare, and Harry Dean Stanton as Caterpillar.

     If you are looking for a new adaptation of the classic story, wait for Tim Burton's movie next year.  If you want something wholly new, clever, unexpectedly twisty, and just plain fun, check out Alice, which will next re-air this Sunday at 5pm in its entirety.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.