ONCE UPON A TIME Beset By the "De Vil"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

ONCE UPON A TIME seeks to evoke “Sympathy for the De Vil” in this week’s installment on ABC. Through flashback, we see Cruella’s (Victoria Smurfit) evolution as a villain in yet another realm, and how she came by her powers. This unexpectedly influences the present, where Cruella has kidnapped Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), stalling Regina’s (Lana Parilla) attempt to go rescue Robin Hood, but furthering Gold’s (Robert Carlyle) mission to darken Emma’s (Jennifer Morrison) heart.

Cruella’s story mostly makes sense. Locked in the attic by her mother (Anna Galvin, Mr. Young), she is delighted to meet a young writer (Patrick Fischler) who just might be the one to set her free. What neither The Author nor viewers may see coming, though, is that Cruella is a demented villain, kept under control by her mother, who may seem harsh to us, but is actually protecting the world. This is realized too late, after The Author grants Cruella magic over the animals and Cruella slaughters her mother and her mother’s dogs.

What this does is paint Cruella as perhaps the least complicated bad guy on ONCE UPON A TIME. While others have turned dark because they’ve been unable to cope with outside events, many of them still having a chance at redemption, Cruella is nothing but a psychopath. Her whole mission is to get someone to kill The Author because, after the bad stuff went down, he removed her ability to kill anyone. She’s only slightly dangerous, but every bit unstable. This makes her an easy pawn for Gold to make use of Gold’s plan to turn Emma dark is an appropriately sneaky one that she doesn’t see coming. Letting Cruella kidnap Henry may be a risky move if Gold still cares about his grandson at all, an iffy prospect, but knowing Cruella can’t kill the boy surely brings him some comfort. When a child is involved, people tend to get irrational, and Emma will do anything she must to protect her son.

It’s too bad Emma separates from the others or she may have been fine. Her friendship with Regina in “Sympathy for the De Vil” has definitely progressed to a new, satisfying level. They are looking out for one another, and that’s even before they find out that Henry is in danger. Regina is the one most capable of pulling Emma back to the light, having earned her own goodness through much effort, and with Emma on the outs with her parents. This relationship must be protected.

Even Belle (Emilie de Ravin) trusts Regina these days, and considering Regina kept Belle locked up for years, that’s encouraging. Belle lets Regina take out her heart to distract Gold, which is putting a lot of faith in someone who hasn’t deserved it for very long. On the other hand, Belle has her own issues with Gold, and being allowed to mess with him and get a little emotional revenge may be enough to sway her to participate, concerns about Regina aside.

There are some glaring flaws in “Sympathy for the De Vil.” Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) has worked with Cruella enough to know her powers, so why does she so easily allow Cruella to control her? Emma should not be turning so dark after one justifiable act, as others in the show may gain a hint of darkness this way, but never flip completely, so it seems completely out of character for Emma to do so. And Gold’s explanation about his dying heart is weak, still ignoring the arc that previously redeemed him. But, overall, this hour is better than most recent ones.

Oh, was anyone else sad that we didn’t at least see Archie concerned about Pongo? ONCE UPON A TIME just never gets it quite right, does it?

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 On the "Edge"

Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 4 Episode 13 Darkness on the Edge of Town on Seat42F.

In this week’s episode of ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME, there is “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” A down-on-his-luck Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) brings Ursula (Merrin Dungey) and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit) to the edge of Storybrooke with a plan to get them inside. If only our heroes weren’t such goodie-two-shoes, as a couple of them apparently aren’t, the hamlet might be safe. Alas, evil is allowed within the protective spell once more.

This is supposedly about the lowest Gold has ever been, yet he’s easily able to manipulate not just his cohorts’ way into Storybrooke, but his own as well. If this doesn’t give you an idea of how powerful and forward thinking the Dark One is, nothing will. He may look pathetic eating a cup of ramen noodles in Ursula’s sad apartment, but this is merely cosmetic. Gold is still very much a force to be reckoned with, and far from done with his plans.

I contend, though, that things go far too easily for Gold in “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” Gold is very intelligent, to be sure, but so is Belle (Emilie de Ravin), and he not only tricks her into releasing a demon on the town, he does so without anyone suspecting his spell. Then, while Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Regina (Lana Parrilla) do have reason to think villains can be redeemed, they don’t question how convenient it is that two baddies who can stop the demon show up at just the right time to do so? Not to mention, after allowing Ursula and Cruella in with a magic scroll, our heroes don’t get this key back, allowing the women to sneak Gold in later. This all adds up to a pretty weak story.

Weak, uneven story has been the problem with ONCE UPON A TIME for at least the past year. Ever since the excellent Neverland arc ended, it seems the writers can’t quite manage to come up with a cohesive tale that makes sense. I am very interested in Gold’s past with these villains and how they ended up in the real world, but we need a framework that makes sense to get us there. Having coincidence and laziness move characters that are supposed to be the best of us is sloppy, and it’s hard to get into the story when this exists.

That being said, there are some cool teases in “Darkness at the Edge of Town.” Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) apparently have a past with Cruella and Ursula they don’t want exposed. This is intriguing because the pair are usually so good as to be boring. The few times their darkness has come out have been among the best moments for their characters. I’m anxious to see what their secret is this time.

Also, after the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) is rescued from the sorcerer’s hat, she speaks of the sorcerer and the author of the story book being two very different people. As has frequently been the case in ONCE UPON A TIME, Blue seems to know a lot more than she’s letting on. Given the importance of the author and how the show has been teasing his or her identity for awhile, it’s heartening to see this arc moving forward.

Lastly, Gold says that the heart with the darkest potential in Storybrooke is Emma, not Regina. Given just how bad Regina used to be, that’s hard to believe, but our Emma is certainly not as pure as Snow (he he), with her own checkered past. Emma’s use of magic has been slowly growing, and we’ve seen that magic can corrupt. Might Emma be reaching a tipping point where her soul is pulled towards the wrong path? That would be an interesting plot, if done right.

“Darkness at the Edge of Town” manages to be a pretty intriguing hour, despite the flaws in the central plot. The series certainly can’t afford to let every installment be this flimsy, but if it focuses on the established strengths it possesses, Once Upon A Time could get back to being great again in short order. There is enough good stuff here to build a half-season upon. The question is, will they?

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

ONCE UPON A TIME "Heroes" Threatened By "Villains"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME wraps up its current Frozen arc in just a portion of this week’s mid-season finale, “Heroes and Villains.” The Arendelle trio return home through a portal, easily overthrow their conquers (off screen), and end with a blessed wedding (also off screen). It’s the fairy tale happy ending, one they deserve and it is satisfying to see them get. There’s even a portrait of Ingrid, The Snow Queen, shown in better times with her sisters, to add a bittersweet remembrance.

But while heroes have their dreams come true, villains do not. The rest of the hour is devoted to Rumple’s (Robert Carlyle) quest for power and Regina’s (Lana Parrilla) desire for a happy ending. It’s actually a pretty good episode, if one can finally bring themselves to accept Rumple as he is, rather than as he was. I’m not talking about Rumple developing into a different person through growth and natural story flow. He is instantly made completely different, and now the show is using revisionist history to ‘prove’ that he has always been this version, which doesn’t at all line up with the first two and a half years of the series. A mention of him changing while being under the Wicked Witch’s control is flimsy, at best, though that’s about the time the transformation happened.

I have come to the conclusion that Rumple’s devolution is made to serve Regina’s tale that villains don’t get a happy ending, but if only his shift were to be tied into the storybook, with an explanation that he got too close to a happy ending and so had to be re-written, then I could get on board. Sadly, it looks like that will not be the case and the show runners just want us to forget a rich, layered character who sacrificed himself for love. Bah humbug.

That being said, if you’re able to look past these inconsistencies and accept things as they now are, which has been a struggle to do but I’m getting there, “Heroes and Villains” provides a cool showdown. Actually, a couple of them. In flashback, we see Rumple face the Queens of Darkness, Ursula (Merrin Dungey, Alias), Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit, Dracula), and the returning Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten, True Blood), demonstrating his true colors and his devotion to power. In the present, Belle (Emilie de Ravin) figures out that Rumple has been tricking her and banishes him from Storybrooke in the most moving scene of the finale, stripping him of his magic in the process.

Runner up for emotional scene goes to the moment Regina and Rumple share in the car, which is an excellent moment, though makes no sense to the story. I’d understand it if Rumple were trying to recruit her for his aforementioned villains team-up, but Belle hasn’t caught him yet at this point.

Rumple and Belle’s confrontation has been a long time coming. She has faith in him, faith that he has been abusing behind her back. She arrives at this conclusion very naturally, accidentally seeing something that raises her suspicion. Thank goodness she has the strength to stand up to him and kick him out, something Belle should be able to do, but not something I had faith that she would, given her inconsistent handling this year. The couple now appears back on track, story-wise, at least within the confines of the new Rumple character.

Now, Rumple is out in the world and is seeking Ursula’s help. One can surmise, given the flashback scenes, that Rumple learns that bad guys cannot win on ONCE UPON A TIME, but hopes that by teaming up with others, he might stand a chance against the mysterious Author, whom only Rumple seems to know. Though it is odd that Rumple tells Ursula they have two stops when we know Maleficent is under the library inside Storybrooke, a place Rumple can’t get to at present. And how did Ursula get outside the town to New York? Hmm. Will there be more story problems going forward?

A few hanging threads from this: Rumple does abandon his plans to take Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) with him, but that makes sense. Earlier, he is saving Henry from a town falling apart. Now, Henry’s mothers are still around and Rumple doesn’t need to save the boy. Secondly, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) forgives Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) for his misdeeds, but since she catches Rumple with Hook’s heart in his hand, she can be forgiven for assuming Hook only acts under Rumple’s control, which isn’t completely true, but close enough to reality to give ONCE UPON A TIME a pass on.

Regina’s story, as has been the case for many episodes now, is better in “Heroes and Villains” than Rumple’s. Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) chooses her over a re-awakened Marian (Christie Laing) and Marian doesn’t fight back. But the Snow Queen’s lingering curse forces Marian to leave Storybrooke to be cured, and Regina isn’t heartless enough to send Marian away without her son and, by extension, Robin, who cannot be separated from his child, leaving Regina alone again.

Luckily, while not having a romantic partner, Regina isn’t really alone. Henry is still set on helping the woman who raised him, and finds the Author’s library where he (or she) writes the stories. Emma also agrees to help, and for once, Regina seems happy to accept it. I think Regina is at a low point in “Heroes and Villains,” and having Henry and yes, even Emma, on her side helps relieve the pain a bit. People care about her, and thus she will be able to go on and love again, whether it be a returned Robin or someone else.

Though it is funny to think Emma, Snow’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) daughter, is buddies with Snow’s step-mother. The age differences and dynamics on this show are some of the weirdest on television.

“Heroes and Villains” is a pretty good episode of ONCE UPON A TIME, mostly consistent with the rest of the season, tying up the current stories and teasing out new ones. It doesn’t match all the previous years, but for the direction the show is going in now, it works well. I’ll miss the Frozen people, but their time naturally comes to an end, so I’m not complaining they’re gone.

ONCE UPON A TIME will return March 1st to ABC.

NBC Sinks Fangs Into DRACULA

Article first published as  DRACULA Review on Seat42F.

NBC’s DRACULA, premiering this week paired with Grimm, is surprisingly good! It has not been taken to the modern day (although the 1890s is modern by Dracula-legend standards), does not have anyone solving crimes, allows most characters to speak with non-American accents, and is set in London, England. I never thought one of the Big Four networks would deliver something like this.

DRACULA does differ quite a bit from the novel of the same name. In this version, Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors) is awoken from his slumber nearly 500 years after the death of his wife. He is intent on stopping the Order of the Dragon, a secretive group that murdered his beloved, and are still around today. Since they are oil barons, poised to control the energy industry of the coming century, Dracula seeks to circumvent them with another power source.

Which is not to say that Dracula is fang-less, far from confined to the business world, which is conducted in parties, not boardrooms. We see him skulking the streets and rooftops, preying on those with the blood he needs to survive and dueling with vampire hunters who seek to kill him. While DRACULA is not gory, there is a creepiness about him and the show, and Meyers makes the character radiate threat.

The weird thing about the way the titular character is portrayed is that he is frequently forced to fake an American accent to keep up the persona of Alexander Grayson, the colonial entrepreneur he is pretending to be. Meyers’ lilt seems strange and off. One might say that the character is faking the accent, too, so this is OK, but he’s supposed to be faking it well, and he doesn’t. The scenes in which Meyers switches back to a European timbre are better.

Stylistically, DRACULA is interesting. It maintains some of the best elements of the character, especially the danger, but puts it in a new setting, and not a lazy one a bunch of other shows already share. Many of the variations with the source material seem well thought-out and make sense to the tale being told. The sets and costumes look pretty cool, though may not be accurate, and there’s kind of a steam-punk feel to the technology Dracula is playing with.

The major characters from the novel are present in DRACULA, but most have departed a bit from their origins. Renfield (Nonso Anozie, Game of Thrones) is still the vampire’s manservant, but he is also a former slave, and there is no sign of him snacking on insects. Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann, The River) remains an intelligent, educated man, but is willing to compromise his principals for the greater good. Mina (Jessica De Gouw, Arrow) and Lucy (Katie McGrath, Merlin) are very pretty, but are not as weak.

The one person that hews closest to the novel is Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Mr Selfridge). A dedicated reporter and boyfriend of Mina, Jonathan wants to know what Dracula is up to, but is mostly in the dark. He’s earnest and smart, and while he does come across as a little gullible at the start, he will likely rise above it, though perhaps not in a way that will pose a threat to Dracula.

The question is, will Harker be the hero of DRACULA? If not him, who? Van Helsing isn’t acting too noble in the first episode. Instead, if anything, the program seeks to make Dracula sympathetic. Immediately, viewers will begin to root against the vampire king’s enemies, hoping that he can gain some kind of revenge against them. Except, any scene where Dracula isn’t directly working on this mission doesn’t paint him in a good light, either. Is DRACULA actually daring to live in the grey, murky middle, with each player having their strengths and faults, but none clearly in the right or wrong? Because that would be amazing.

To accomplish that, the villains must be given layers, too. This wouldn’t be so hard. Yes, they are guilty of ruining Dracula’s life, once upon a time, or rather, their forbearers were. But Dracula is an undead creature of the night that deserves to be punished, right? With none of the Order of the Dragon among the main cast, I don’t know how much time might be spent developing them, or if they are merely a distraction until other roles can be grown into serious contenders.

One character that is not in the book, as far as I recall, but is part of the main cast, is Lady Jane (Victoria Smurfit, Trial & Retribution). She is fascinated with Dracula, and quickly puts the moves on him, despite being married herself. If Dracula isn’t going to feed on Lucy or Mina yet, he needs a replacement to seduce, and Lady Jane fits the bill. I’m just not sure where they are going with her.

DRACULA has its flaws. Some of the dialogue is cheesy, the direction isn’t clear, the Order of the Dragon is a very nebulous challenge, the first scene between Dracula and Van Helsing reads extremely staged, and the style and setting isn’t likely to appeal to an NBC audience. However, it’s more intelligent than much of the network’s fare, and hopefully the horror element will draw Grimm’s fans to it, allowing it time to show us what it can do. DRACULA could be really good. It isn’t quite yet, but it could be, and because of the risks it takes, it’s worth giving a chance to.

DRACULA premieres this Friday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Missing misses the mark

On this week's episode of ABC's Missing, "Ice Queen," the plane lands without Michael (Nick Eversman, Vampires Suck, The Runaways) on board. The CIA questions the woman who is on the plane, Sloane (Victoria Smurfit, Trial & Retribution), but she plays dumb. Giancarlo (Adriano Giannini, L'ombra del destino) gets Becca (Ashley Judd, Sisters, Heat, De-Lovely) out of CIA custody. However, before Becca can get information from the also-released Sloane, Mary (Aunjanue Ellis, The Mentalist, Ray) shows up, making herself a pawn in the game. Meanwhile, Michael is placed in seemingly comfortable surroundings.

Missing would like to be a cross between Alias, 24, and Taken, but it fails to reach those aspirations. The action is pretty exciting, and Judd excels at her performance, as always. The overall tone is enticing, and the pace is fast enough. In short, it's fairly enjoyable.

It is more than a simple spy show, or a basic kidnapping story. Given the format of series television, Missing can afford to toss in back story, mystery, and some twists. But it does it so clumsily that it fails to live up to its potential. The fault of Missing is not with the actors, who are all at least adequate, or the locale, which is usually beautiful, if CGI-enhanced. No, the real issue with Missing is the plot. There are so many plot holes and developments that just don't make sense. It becomes incredibly distracting for those trying to enjoy the story.

For one thing, why doesn't Becca just come out and tell Mary the truth? She wants to protect Mary and maintain their friendship, fine. Then confessing her past to Mary would not only spare Mary's feelings, other than a bit of betrayal for not having been told sooner, but would get Mary home safely and not force Becca to act like an "Ice Queen." Instead, by lying at first, Becca sets Mary up to keep digging until she is taken by Sloane, putting her in real danger. Not to mention, Becca asks Giancarlo to pose as her lover, but then doesn't give him the chance to until after Mary doesn't follow through with Becca's wishes. So Becca knows Mary well enough to know that she just won't go home? Then why even attempt that route?

The scene in "Ice Queen" where Becca and Sloane have their final confrontation is also weird. A sniper takes out Sloane to keep her from spilling the beans after Sloane tells Mary that the man who killed Becca's husband, Paul (Sean Bean, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones), has Michael. The sniper is in position long before he pulls the trigger. It's understandable that he doesn't shoot while Ashley Judd holds the diamonds over the water, but only if he then goes after the diamonds, which he doesn't do. It's unlikely this shooter can hear the girls, anyway, so why doesn't he kill Sloane sooner? The timing is strange.

Additionally, Dax (Cliff Curtis, Trauma) keeps telling Becca and Giancarlo that he will help. Yet, he seems perfectly willing to let the CIA send Becca home until Giancarlo breaks her free. Then he changes his mind and decides to intervene, though he claims total support for her. So which is it? Is Dax following CIA orders or assisting Becca? Because those two purposes do not run parallel.

Lastly, it doesn't make any sense for the Big Bad to be consulted about shooting Michael to warn versus harm in "Ice Queen." Clearly, the plan is already in place to have Oksana (Tereza Vorísková, Znamení kone) tell Michael that he will be injured if he attempts escape again as part of the plan to get Michael to trust her. It's a solid scheme, but it makes the early scene unnecessary and weird. If the scheme isn't developed until after the warning shot, which seems unlikely given the level of planning the villains show in Missing, then the logical thing to do when the Big Bad orders the next shot to hurt Michael would be to tell him this immediately.

In summary, Missing could be good if the writing gets smarter. Until then, it's popcorn fluff, with story continuity taking a back seat. Missing airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. In Columbus, ABC is found on channel 6 (antenna), 386 (satellite), or 1006 (high definition cable).

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