Spoilers Ahead
As always Once Upon A Time resumed with a strong premiere reminding its viewers that this is a series filled with an insanely talented cast and fiercely badass women.
Enchanted Forest Flashbacks: Rumplestilskin lies (shocking) and the Queens of Darkness manage to escape from the Chernabog.
Present-Day Storybrooke: Things are finally calm in Storybrooke and it sadly doesn’t stay this way for long. Killian helps Belle search for a way to free the fairies from the hat. Emma continues to help Regina find the author of the book. Snow’s teaching again. And the lovebirds manage to have a quick moment a quaint stroll. It was unbelievably nice to get a glimpse of what their lives are like now as it did a great job of taking us back to the show’s first season. Domesticity in Once Upon A Time is one of the primary reasons we fell in love with the series in the first place and it was incredibly nice to see our heroes living their lives uninterrupted in our world. If there’s one thing we’d like to personally see more of throughout the season it’s the quiet moments.
Our favorite part this week was without a doubt what appears to be the beginning of a great friendship. Killian and Belle have always been on the opposite end of things because of their different associations with Rumple, and it’s interesting to see the change in their relationship today.
First things first, Killian Jones continues to prove just how much he’s grown by showcasing immense remorse in the form of frustration. Even though he knows he cannot be fully blamed because his heart was in Rumple’s possession, it doesn’t change the fact that it genuinely bothers him to know he’s trapped innocent people in a hat. However, what we loved most was the two of them comforting one another — Belle reminding him that it’s okay because his heart wasn’t where it should’ve been and Killian reminding her that love had blinded her.
On the topic of love, it was also lovely of Killian to reassure Belle that although Rumple’s evidently chosen power, his love for her was true. At the end of the day, what made it a pleasant touch to their conversation was the fact that Killian’s generally a selfless being — it doesn’t matter how much he dislikes Rumple, he’s not blinded to the truth. it’s clear that he doesn’t enjoy watching people suffer, and his choice to brighten her mood and alter her state of mind for a bit was honorable. It’s truly going to be so nice to see this friendship grow further and we can’t wait to see what’s in store.
Next up let’s get into discussing how epic these villains already are. We cannot wait to get the backstory on each of them and understand their characters even further because so far what we’re seeing is incredibly entertaining. Victoria Smurfit is so fierce as Cruella de Vil. Merrin Dungey is charming to a whole new level as Ursula. And Kristin Bauer is as amazing as ever as Maleficent. If this premiere promised anything, it’s that we’re not prepared for the fantastic performances that’ll grace our television screens for the next three months. The spotlight-stealing scene of the entire week and quite possibly in Once Upon A Time villain history!? Drive Thru in the De Vil mobile. The only word that comes close to describing how grand it truly was is epic. Bring on the thousands of gifs.
Rumple fails to tell the team that they cannot enter Storybrooke unless they’re somehow invited in and when the 2/3 Queens of Darkness reveal they know how to get rid of the Chernabog, Regina and Emma agree to take their plea into consideration. Here’s where the most interesting and slightly complicated part comes into play: the Chernabog is after the heart with the greatest chance of becoming dark, and contrary to everyone’s belief of it being Regina, it’s actually Emma. For the time being, we aren’t sure how we feel about this storyline and how it’ll be executed but that’s a whole different story and we trust that the writers will do it right. It’s interesting, however, that we’re presented with this idea once Emma’s finally at a place of pure contentment and self-love. She’s surrounded by her family, son, loving boyfriend, and friends. She’s confident in her magic. And she’s finally found a home. Wherever this journey leads, we’re certain that her loved ones would never let her heart go dark but the complexity is going to be incredible to dive into — we also cannot wait to see Morrison deliver a variety of emotions with this.
Snow and Charming had us on the edge of our seats this week as they spoke of a secret that must never be brought up with Ursula and Cruella. We could try theorizing but it’d require us being here all day. The point is, there’s no storyline we’re more excited for because their journey has always been a favorite of ours. Whatever it is, Snow White doesn’t mind ripping a heart out and that’s left us both highly intrigued and terrified.
Additionally, we’re back to the idea of who wrote the book and it’s interesting to us that Blue brought up the idea of it potentially being a woman. And we’re kind of, sort of definitely hoping it is. If there is a writer of course — because a part of us definitely feels as though the book’s a magical object on its own that writes as the stories present themselves while the people in them live their lives.
Despite all the dramatic moments the best part of the quiet moments was seeing the level of casual intimacy Killian and Emma have reached. The two of them deserve time off from all the chaos that’s continuously come in the middle of their happy moments. There’s a profound understanding between them which from the very beginning we’ve said is the reason they’re so beautifully compatible. It was gorgeous to watch Emma reassure Killian of his heroic status despite the fact that he was doubting himself. That’s what healthy great couples do – they cherish each other, adore each other, make selfless choices for each other, bring out the best in each other, and bring each other home. The two of them genuinely see each other for the marvelous beings they are hence making them the most incomparably amazing couple on this show.
What are your thoughts on this week’s episode?