Well, for the moment I’m sitting pretty smug.\u00a0 Not only did I get a lot of predictions right, Charming and Snow were actually discussing exactly the holiday situation and family relationships that I did just a few blogs prior.\u00a0 I know I may sound a bit “gushy,” but I continue to be impressed by this show.\u00a0 Pretty much everything<\/i> in this episode has been telegraphed at some point, sometimes as early as season one.\u00a0 Then the writers made the “Big Reveals” of the show at or near the beginning.\u00a0 A cynic could argue that the episode was essentially over within the first 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
And yet, my family and I were riveted until the very last moment.\u00a0 It requires a great deal<\/i> of courage for writers to risk the approach they did in this episode.\u00a0 It also takes great planning.\u00a0 When it’s done right, you get great television.\u00a0 The consequences of a great many actions came due and the bulk of the episode was spent in the ramifications of those consequences.\u00a0 This episode easily<\/i><\/b> falls into my top three best.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m going to start with the secondary stories – or at least what appears to be secondary – first and tackle the main drama of Bael last.\u00a0 So let’s start with the Greg\u00a0Mendel\u00a0thread.\u00a0 I’m not sure how much he is going to matter this season considering all the other threads in progress.\u00a0 Dealing with the outside world coming to Storybrooke could<\/i> make a great season 3.\u00a0 Still, he’s following a very dangerous game in spying on Regina.\u00a0 When you consider how tempted the rest of Storybrooke was to let him die, I wonder how easily they would be willing to look the other way if he becomes a threat.\u00a0 I think the real point of the character is going to be as a “complication” in the “Belle’s Memory” arc.<\/p>\n
Mary Margaret and David provided a good conscience for Emma during this episode.\u00a0 I don’t really consider this being parental as much a simply honest advice from a friend.\u00a0 Remember that it was Mary\u00a0Margaret\u00a0that had warned her about being honest about Henry’s father back in season one while still under the curse.\u00a0 Her advice has been 100% consistent as both friend and mother.\u00a0 Oh, and I am<\/b> claiming bragging rights on the “holidays” comment.\u00a0 Go back and read my review on 16 January for episode 11, The Outsider<\/i>.\u00a0 I made almost exactly the same observation as David.\u00a0 Of course the script had been written well before my article, but I do think I’ve earned some\u00a0analytical\u00a0bragging rights!\u00a0 That said, keep in mind those family relationships<\/i>.\u00a0 So much of this show is about family so I’m sure it’s going to be important in the end.<\/p>\n
Now on to the heart of this episode.\u00a0 So Neal is Baelfire.\u00a0 I called it.\u00a0 My 9 year old son called it.\u00a0 So did probably 90% of the fans, many back in season one.\u00a0 The reveal for us wasn’t so much the surprise of the information but how the characters<\/i><\/b> are going to react when they find out.\u00a0 I know the show runners have said that they didn’t expect us to work it out that soon, but I’m glad they stayed with the planned story.\u00a0 It raises the bar for the writers, but it can be a really fun time for the fans when we know something crucial that characters do not.\u00a0 Both the writing and the acting have to be spot on for it to work.\u00a0 In this case, both script and acting were flawless.<\/p>\n
Mary Margaret warned Emma to tell the truth about Henry’s father in season one.\u00a0 It was no surprise that the truth did come out.\u00a0 It always<\/i> does and we saw the realization as she watched her world fall to pieces before her eyes.\u00a0 Being the eternal optimist and hopeless romantic though, I wonder if this is not for the best.\u00a0 The only time I can think of when I’ve seen Emma truly happy was when she was with Neal.\u00a0 Except for that one time, there is always a certain sadness to the character.\u00a0 Perhaps now, with everything laid bare, there is a chance for her to find that happy place in her life again.\u00a0 She has some real work to do, not just with Henry but with every significant person in her life, still I am a believer in happy endings so I hold out hope that she will get hers.<\/p>\n
Rumpelstiltskin has some real soul searching to do as well.\u00a0 Seeing his\u00a0back-story\u00a0does give us a much greater understanding of the character.\u00a0 His state of cowardice seems to be something of a cloak that he has assumed rather than his inherent nature.\u00a0 There is an odd sense of courage in his self-maiming based on what he heard in the seer’s prophecy.\u00a0 This episode really defines Rumpel as a tragic<\/i> character more than anything.\u00a0 That though cannot excuse him for his actions.\u00a0 Let’s be honest; he is responsible for more death and misery the Cora and Regina combined.\u00a0 And he has acted so even more casually.\u00a0 While I can see a path of redemption and making of amends by Regina, it is much more difficult to see for Rumpel.\u00a0 Yes, I can imagine a redemptive path for him, but I don’t see how the good man we saw last night will easily reconcile the guilt for all the blood on his hands.\u00a0 His need for forgiveness goes far beyond just Bael and Belle.\u00a0 Is there peace for him that doesn’t include his death?<\/p>\n
That brings us to the prophecy of his undoing.\u00a0 Remember, that Mr. Gold did not<\/b> want Henry to go with them.\u00a0 I think that is due to his awareness of that prophecy.\u00a0 Truth is, regardless of his flippant comment in the\u00a0Enchanted\u00a0Forest, I really don’t think that even after all the years as the Dark One, he would be able to kill Henry.\u00a0 That, before knowing Henry was his grandson.\u00a0 Now?\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0 Besides, Rumpel has already knows those prophecies seem to have problems with “pesky details.”\u00a0 You cannot take them at face value.\u00a0 Henry will be his undoing.\u00a0 That doesn’t mean his death.\u00a0 There’s a lot of room for interpretation there.\u00a0 Personally, I think a bit of “undoing” will make him a lot happier.\u00a0 I think it means that the power of the Dark One will be gone – at least for him.\u00a0 That will be important if there is to be any\u00a0reconciliation\u00a0with Bael\/Neal.\u00a0 It will also be important if there is any hope for his repentance.<\/p>\n
That said, I’ll go out on another limb.\u00a0 Just because he loses the powers of the Dark One, does that mean he will lose all his magic powers?\u00a0 I think not.\u00a0 True there is a lot of power he has as the Dark One, but he has also spent a couple hundred years studying and learning on his own.\u00a0 Consider; his ability as a seer is not dependent on his power as the Dark One.\u00a0 Nor, I think, are his skills with potions.\u00a0 Magic learned from book or other sources make me wonder, as well.\u00a0 So I think there are going to be people very\u00a0surprised\u00a0when they think they have beaten Rumpelstiltskin by eliminating the Dark One’s powers only to find there is more to him than they realize. \u00a0My theory is that this is going to play a part in The War that Rumpel prophesied in the very first episode.\u00a0 The wildcard in this is going to be Regina.\u00a0 I still think that we will see her pulled along Cora’s path for awhile, but at the end of the day, she will chose what is right.\u00a0 Redemption is never an easy thing.\u00a0 That’s why it makes for such good stories.<\/p>\n
I’m going to close with some thoughts on one topic that has been going around the fandom for some time now.\u00a0 Is Baelfire also Peter Pan?\u00a0 Initially I was very much in the NO crowd.\u00a0 Though with Hook coming into the story I fully expected to see Pan showing up.\u00a0 Part of my hesitation has been that Pan has none of the aversion to magic that we see in Bael.\u00a0 Another part is that this just felt too much like a cop-out to me.\u00a0 The time difference I had put down to simply being due to the fluid nature of time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 However, as this season has progressed, I am far less certain.\u00a0 It seems that there is a consistent correlation between Lands as far as time is concerned, so a connection from the far past to the near present appears less likely.\u00a0 That means we need a way for him to have lived a few hundred years and the only option at this point seems to be Neverland.\u00a0 I’m hoping it will be the case that Neal is just one of the Lost Boys rather than Pan, but I’m going not be surprised to be wrong.<\/p>\n
To be honest, I fought the idea of August being\u00a0Pinocchio\u00a0tooth and nail for much the same reasons.\u00a0 However, I found myself very happy about how it was done.\u00a0 At the end of the day, I’m going to trust the writers to tell an excellent story that my family and I can enjoy and discuss.\u00a0 Until next time, remember to say “Federal Express.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, for the moment I’m sitting pretty smug.\u00a0 Not only did I get a lot of predictions right, Charming and Snow were actually discussing exactly the holiday situation and family relationships that I did just a few blogs prior.\u00a0 I know I may sound a bit “gushy,” but I continue to be impressed by this […]<\/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":[12,9],"tags":[25,39,46],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ymfK-50","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310"}],"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=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}