rebecca mader

Once Upon A Time 6×21-22 “The Final Battle” Recap

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And they lived happily ever after.

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screencapped.net

Episode Summary: The Black Fairy’s curse hits Storybrooke trapping Killian, Snow, Charming, Regina, Zelena, and co. in the Enchanted Forest while Emma’s in a Psychiatric Hospital and it’s up to Henry to help her believe again. As it turns out, if Emma stops believing that the life she once had is real, it’ll fade from existence. Rumple faces his mother one last time. The families reunite. And they live happily ever after.

Review | Analysis: Once Upon A Time is a special show — for six years it has allowed us to begin our weeks with the faith and belief that no matter how hard things get, there’s always a happy ending in store. And while the “The Final Battle” was anything but a perfect episode, the stories it told were beautiful. Once Upon A Time may not be over for good, but a prodigious chapter has ended — a chapter that’s changed lives. A little bit of happiness in the midst of dark days where television series are uncertain, but where Once Upon A Time was concerned, we always knew it’d end well. It’d end leaving us with a surplus of hope. It’d leave us braver, kinder, better than ever.

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Once Upon A Time 6×20 “The Song in Your Heart” Recap

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TVLine.com | Edited PS6

When Once Upon A Time’s 28th episode “Tallahassee” aired, it was easy to imagine that we’d end up here today, but in some senses, it was still very surreal. For five years we’ve dedicated time, tears, and happiness to this exquisitely beautiful couple’s journey in love. We’ve been captivated over and over again through their innately gorgeous, profoundly moving love story as we watched them effortlessly heal one another through love and selfless devotion. And today, we watched them embark on a new beginning to forever. Today, we watched them become husband and wife. And episodes like this deserve special kind of treatment. “Weddings are beautiful, but marriages between two people who’d take every opportunity they get to do whatever is necessary to express their love are immaculate.”

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Once Upon A Time 6×18 “Where Bluebirds Fly” Recap

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Episode Summary:  In flashbacks we’re introduced to the Tin Man and the Lion allowing us to understand that when Zelena had the opportunity to keep a friend safe, she turned it down believing her magic was more important. In present day Storybrooke, when the Black Fairy gets one step ahead of the heroes, Zelena’s sacrifice helps them out.

Review | Analysis: Once Upon A Time has continuously reiterated the fact that strength isn’t power but rather bravery and selflessness. Through its intricate characters and their gorgeous arcs it’s reminded us of the fact that strength is never to be measured by magical abilities or carelessness, but rather love and courage. And “Where Bluebirds Fly” reminded us of this detail through Zelena’s character allowing Rebecca Mader to shine wonderfully.

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Once Upon A Time 5×21 “Last Rites” Recap

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“Keep your chin up, there will be happiness again.”

Episode Summary: When our heroes return to Storybrooke, Zelena is hesitant to believe Hades has actually teamed up against them, and after replacing the Olympian Crystal, Hades attempts to use it to kill everyone in order to create a new kingdom with Zelena. Back in the underworld, a newly deceased Arthur teams up with Killian in order to help the heroes defeat Hades. One soul dies, while another returns.

Review | Analysis: Once Upon A Time is a show about hope — a reflection of the real world, only with fairytale characters. And much like in the real world, there are genuinely dark, hopeless times. To be quite honest, when a series like this leaves us in a hopeless state, it isn’t easy to write. And it’s not something that happens often, which is what makes it so jarring and too emotional. Funny thing is, Once Upon A Time is a show that knows how to kill people with closure — especially when it’s a character we’ve grown to truly care for. But perhaps, we’re simply meant to believe that sometimes, there is no closure.

“Last Rites” was simultaneously satisfying and emotionally numbing — two juxtaposing mindsets that feel incredibly wrong together. But that’s life: where there’s childbirth, there’s also death somewhere else. Where there’s happiness, there’s also deep sadness. But on Once Upon A Time though there may not always be hope, True Love is always strength, and where there’s strength, there is always a natural desire to be selfless. True Love is sacrifice.

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Once Upon A Time 5×10 “Broken Heart” Recap

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It’s a dark, dark world out there.

Episode Summary: In Camelot, we see an upset Killian enact the curse through Nimue which then forces Emma to wipe everyone’s memories in order to take care of everything on her own. In Storybrooke Killian takes away Emma’s memories and resumes his revenge while the heroes attempt to figure out his plot.

Review | Analysis: The episode’s left a good majority of viewers puzzled, but in a way, that’s a good thing — a “penultimate” episode is supposed to be a massive conundrum. And while we’re on the edge of our seats as well, we have to believe that this is a series about hope. We have to believe that at the end of the day, true love always wins and darkness can never come close to being as powerful. “Broken Heart” was meant to break viewers. It was meant to make us feel angry and hurt, but thankfully, this isn’t where it ends, and with a climax this intense, we’re bound to see a lovely resolution. Once Upon A Time is a series that’ll always remind us of the importance of families, friends, forgiveness, and love — it’s the series where good always wins. It always comes down to the power of choices and they are what define us. As much as this series is a fantasy, the flawed characters add the realism we all need in order to connect with them, and in this story, even the heroes make mistakes.

If this were any other show, we’d without a doubt be addressing the episode differently, but for five seasons Once Upon A Time has taught us to have hope, and it’s what we’ll choose to do. That said, this review features theories and we normally hate writing without valid context, so please take things with a grain of salt.

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Once Upon A Time 5×06 “The Bear and the Bow” Recap

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Adventures and fierce ladies always make for great episodes.

Episode Summary: In Camelot, Belle convinces Merida to courageously fight for her kingdom without the use of magic. In Storybrooke, while still under the Dark Swan’s control, Merida attempts to bring the courage out of Rumple by threatening Belle. Arthur lies to the group about making contact with Merlin and when they learn the truth, they get Henry to do it — only they reach his “voice mail”. Rumple manages to pull Excalibur from the stone. And unanswered questions leave us at the edge of our seats.

Review | Analysis: “The Bear and the Bow” featured some fantastic performances, but most importantly it showcased women at their best. It reminded viewers that although we all have our weaknesses, at the end of the day, there’s courage inside everyone. And when there’s someone to believe in you, it’s always easier to see the strength within you as well. What we’re forever grateful for is great moments of females supporting females and Once Upon A Time does that remarkably well. “The Bear and the Bow” not only gave us wonderful relationship developments but it once again illuminated the power of choices and the importance of nobility.

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Once Upon A Time 4×17 “Heart of Gold” Recap

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Moment of appreciation for the fact that no series does plot twists the way Once Upon A Time does.

Enchanted Forest Flashbacks: We see Robin’s first acquaintance with Zelena as he attempts to steal a potion from her for Rumplestilskin. And during his journey to her castle in OZ, he meets Will who tells him about his broken heart form grief. The flashback concludes with a beautiful scene of Marian assuring Robin that she’s in it for the long haul with him.

Present Day Storybooke and New York: While Robin, “Marian”, and Roland are trying to get used to their new lives in New York, Rumplestilskin pays them a visit, but things go south when he has a heart attack. And once he’s bedridden in a hospital, he asks Robin to find an elixir that can fix the heart from Walsh’s apartment by assuming that Zelena wouldn’t send him into our world empty handed. However, what he doesn’t know is that the elixir was switched out for cold medicine (probably DayQuil since it was non drowsy and everything), and Zelena has the real one. As it turns out, Zelena’s still alive and thanks to a six-leaf clover necklace that can transform a person, she’s Marian.

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