I continue to be impressed by Once Upon A Time<\/i>‘s willingness to take chances.\u00a0 They certainly did that again in this episode in creating Dr. Whale\/Frankenstein\u2019s Land Without Color.\u00a0 To take the idea of black and white films then extrapolate a whole land that exists in black and white was utter brilliance.\u00a0 It also provides a perfect jumping off point for the third part of my discussion on magic; this time the nature of magic within the series.<\/p>\n
But first some comments on the episode itself.\u00a0 First of all, I was utterly stunned at the ease with which Cora put Rumple to a “truce” as well as worming her way back into Regina’s world.\u00a0 This seemed totally<\/i> out of character for both Rumple and Regina.\u00a0 At first I just put it down to an uncharacteristic sloppiness in writing, but then I considered what we’ve seen of Cora so far.\u00a0 We’ve seen her just a easily get what she wanted from Emma, Snow and even Hook in the past.\u00a0 She seems to have some unusual power in that regard and so far I’ve only seen one<\/i> person resist it openly:\u00a0 Aurora.\u00a0 Remember, too, that Cora did not take this one failure kindly.<\/p>\n
I’ve been surprised before at how rapidly they are moving the plot along and tonight was another of those instances.\u00a0 I was sure that Rumple would call in his favor with Emma and that it would be to look for his son.\u00a0 What surprised me was that it happened so fast.\u00a0 I expected more time to be spent on Belle and her loss of identity.\u00a0 This is progressing solidly along the path I predicted in my previous analysis.\u00a0 It is clear that Belle is going to have to fall in love with Rumple again on the terms of the curse if the curse is to be broken.\u00a0 I wonder how long this will take to resolve.\u00a0 One of the things that stand out about this season has been the lack of “filler” episodes.\u00a0 Even the episodes setting events up have been packed with development.\u00a0 The one thing in this arc that surprised me was Rumple’s threat at the end of the show.\u00a0 There of few people in Storybrooke who might have any degree of sympathy for him.\u00a0 Every one<\/span><\/i> of them was in the loft when he leveled his threat.\u00a0 And regardless their feelings toward him, they do<\/i> like Belle.\u00a0 It’s a sign of the rage and stress he’s under that he is threatening the only people that could possibly be allies.<\/p>\n Since I’m obligated to say something about him, I’ll just say this about Greg Mendel.\u00a0 For me, he’s more of a distraction than anything.\u00a0 No, I don’t think he’s simply a “Red Shirt.”\u00a0 They wouldn’t have given him such a significant name if they were going to quickly dispose of him.\u00a0 Keep in mind that Mendel is the Father of Genetics.\u00a0 I suspect this is going to have a payoff later in the series.\u00a0 Though the way the story is moving, I’m not going to make any bets.<\/p>\n Finally regarding the story; until In the Name of the Brother<\/i>, if you had asked me who the most uninteresting character in the series was, my answer would have been Dr. Whale\/Dr. Frankenstein without hesitation.\u00a0 In this world he had been just a drunk letch.\u00a0 In the other Land, he’s just your typical mad scientist.\u00a0 It is clear now – especially since it has come out that David Anders knew who Dr. Whale was from Day 1 – that they have been keeping this character on hold for some time now.\u00a0 Rather than Emma’s “bolts on the neck” image of Frankenstein (the monster) that is so common with the public today, we got the deeply conflicted scientist dealing with the consequences of his actions that we see in Mary Shelly’s classic novel.\u00a0 In fact, he notes to Ruby what may well be one of the key themes of the book; that, “all science comes with a price.”\u00a0 Keep this version of Rumple’s phrase in your mind.\u00a0 It is going to be as important as the original version.<\/p>\n Perhaps my sudden interest in this character comes from the fact that I can so deeply relate to him now.\u00a0 You see, I understand his conflict very<\/i> well.\u00a0 In my younger days, I was the senior clinical scientist developing automatic defibrillation technology.\u00a0 What that meant was that I was quite literally having the docs stop patients’ hearts to see if our creation could bring them back.\u00a0 Like Whale, bringing back life with bolts of electricity was part of my daily work.\u00a0 I can tell you first hand that the price of that kind of science is two-fold.\u00a0 First is that holding that kind of life and death power in your hand leaves you susceptible to an arrogance that can quickly grow into hubris.\u00a0 Also that even if you do good and nobody is harmed from that kind of research, the stress will eventually break you.\u00a0 No, I wasn’t going to throw myself from a pier, but I was found under my desk crying once.\u00a0 So yes, I can attest first hand that all science does come with a price.<\/p>\n This takes us directly into the discussion of the nature of magic in Once Upon A Time<\/i>.\u00a0 All magic comes with a price; even good magic<\/i>.\u00a0 We’ve already seen it.\u00a0 Nova and Dreamy paid the price of good fairy magic; unrequited love and Dreamy’s change into Grumpy.\u00a0 (I wonder if we’ll see any more of that<\/b> arc?)\u00a0 Pinocchio becoming a living thing also had a price; living a life of integrity and truth.\u00a0 What will be Emma’s price for magic?\u00a0 Will she be seduced by the power?\u00a0 Though her magic is based on the love in her heart, will that love be corrupted as was Regina’s?\u00a0 Even power used for good can<\/i><\/b> corrupt man’s fallen hearts.<\/p>\n It was Arthur C. Clark that said any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.\u00a0 In the case of OUAT<\/i>, we see this reflected in that science and magic seem to extract prices of a similar nature.\u00a0 I think we see a similarity between the two in another sense.\u00a0 Science and magic are something both learnable and an inherent part of one’s nature.\u00a0 We see that with Regina studying under Rumpel for the former and in Emma’s defeating Cora as an example of the latter.\u00a0 I know that many speak of science as something learned, but there is also the “art” of science — that something you are born with which cannot<\/i> be learned, that makes a true scientist.\u00a0 It is something that inherently drives how you look at, and interact with, the world.<\/p>\n If you take this view then magic items become the magical equivalent of our technology.\u00a0 Almost anyone can learn to use a computer.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean you know how to program them.\u00a0 We’ve seen this demonstrated again and again in OUAT<\/i>.\u00a0 It’s also pretty strongly implied that even magic from items also has a price, though apparently the price from “good” items may not be necessarily negative.<\/p>\n This brings up a question that may not be so easily answered.\u00a0 Is there a distinction between good magic and evil magic?\u00a0 Or is the distinction in the person and how they use it; incidentally affecting the price one pays?\u00a0 Emma’s protection of her heart and her blasting Cora away was an act of self sacrifice.\u00a0 An act of love for her mother.\u00a0 It was the power of unconditional love made manifest.\u00a0 Something I believe was called “the ancient magic” in Narnia when Aslan made his sacrifice.\u00a0 Cora and Regina’s penchant for ripping out hearts is the other end of that spectrum — clearly<\/i><\/b> an act of evil.\u00a0 This tells me that it is the intent and soul of the person that is the determinant.\u00a0 That does NOT mean that it’s ok to rip out someone’s heart if you have good intentions.\u00a0 If an act is inherently evil, then masking it with good motive does not change its nature.\u00a0 Indeed considering man’s fallen nature, this is likely to be one of the inherent prices of OUAT’s<\/i> magic.\u00a0 Just like science.\u00a0 I think this applies to both inherent magic as well as most magical items.\u00a0 I’ll discuss the exceptions later.<\/p>\n In fact, another real-life example may be in order.\u00a0 In my defibrillation experiments we were also hooking up high risk patient in hospital rooms.\u00a0 The intent being that if that patient had a code – a cardiac arrest – it would be able to respond far faster than any human.\u00a0 That’s a good thing, right?\u00a0 But what about when instead of saving a life, you’re prolonging the death of a brain-dead body where the “person” is long gone?\u00a0 Very similar to the situation Regina found herself in with the golem Daniel.\u00a0 A situation with which I’m familiar.\u00a0 Regina’s use of magic there, I would argue, was a good thing.\u00a0 The pain and grief that was its price, also was a good<\/i> thing.\u00a0 Grief is a cleansing process and in this case was a necessary first step of many towards her redemption.<\/p>\n This discussion would not be complete without looking at Rumpelstiltskin and his magic.\u00a0 While he has tried to use his magic with good intent at times — indeed, he acquired his magic with the intent to save his son — his efforts seem to always corrupt themselves.\u00a0 Why is this?\u00a0 Remember where Rumpel got his magic.\u00a0 The knife of the Dark One.\u00a0 A magical item<\/b>.\u00a0 Rumpel’s magic is not inherent; it is the result of the use of that item.\u00a0 The magic of the knife is inherently<\/i> evil, as is the act required to gain its power.\u00a0 That is what makes his path of redemption so different than Regina’s.\u00a0 In his case, he will have to give up his corrupt power it is not something with which he was born.\u00a0 Unconditional love is still the key, but it will be down a very different road.<\/p>\n And this brings me to one last question.\u00a0 What of fairy dust?\u00a0 We saw fairy dust of evil fairies used to turn trolls to cockroaches.\u00a0 While it was done to save Charming and could even be considered a necessary act, I’d question if it could be considered “good.”\u00a0 But what about the dust made by the good fairies?\u00a0 Can<\/i> it be used for evil?\u00a0 Would it even work if it was tried?\u00a0 Personally, I’d like to see more exploration into the world of the fairies at some point in the show.<\/p>\n So to summarize, magic in Once Upon A Time is the typical magic of children’s stories and fairy tales.\u00a0 It’s a mechanism to move the plot along and a tool to address the moral questions that are such an integral part of these types of stories.\u00a0 And while its moral compass draws from the user’s heart, certain acts – just like in our real world – are still inherently evil.\u00a0 So what are your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I continue to be impressed by Once Upon A Time‘s willingness to take chances.\u00a0 They certainly did that again in this episode in creating Dr. Whale\/Frankenstein\u2019s Land Without Color.\u00a0 To take the idea of black and white films then extrapolate a whole land that exists in black and white was utter brilliance.\u00a0 It also provides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[25,39,46],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ymfK-4N","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}