It looks like we get a short break before the big rush to the finish.\u00a0 For that reason, I’m spacing this review and analysis out just a bit to fall midway of the hiatus.\u00a0 This should also give people a chance to get caught up on any episodes before reading this review.\u00a0 I will note that this write-up is going to be more analysis and less review than some of the prior.\u00a0 I am assuming you’ve seen and remember the episode.<\/p>\n
Selfless, Brave and True was an episode that had a lot happening.\u00a0 Though a few new questions were raised, we got a lot more answers — some of which have been hanging since season one.\u00a0 Not only that, but one story thread seems closed and the pieces are mostly in place for the final sweep of towards the end of this season.\u00a0 Personally, I think there is also a bit of set-up for season three as well.<\/p>\n
Before getting into the analysis I do have to make a comment or two about Eion Bailey.\u00a0 In nearly two seasons, I have to say he has probably turned in the most wooden performance of any actor on the show.\u00a0 Sorry, couldn’t resist… Seriously though, he did a great job in both the present and the past.\u00a0 His motion and expression was accenting just enough in the present to make the CGI overlay quite convincing.\u00a0 Also, my sympathies have to go out to any of the Emma\/August “shippers.”\u00a0 The ending certainly yielded a major Ewwww<\/i> moment.\u00a0 At least I’m sure Emma will be creeped out at some point, considering that she had the hots for August at some point.<\/p>\n
The Joan Jett kick back was a nice touch.\u00a0 Not the music you might have expected Mary Margaret to choose, but certainly fitting for Snow, whether Black or White (thinking back to her huntress days for the latter).\u00a0 Even though much of the episode was about August it was still pointing towards her.\u00a0 In a lot of ways Augusts’ redemption story is an object lesson or mirror for Snow.\u00a0 She certainly sees the parallels, hence her concern for his redeeming himself.\u00a0 Sadly I don’t think she quite got it at the end.\u00a0 He didn’t “lose” anything.\u00a0 He gained everything.\u00a0 He truly had his innocence restored and even Geppetto only lost a year.\u00a0 They have their full life as father and son given back to them — a true gift.\u00a0 Snow’s own redemption one would expect to take a very different shape.\u00a0 I would expect it t to be one that not only is appropriate to her circumstances but that aligns itself with the path that she finds for it.\u00a0 Remember, that redeeming oneself is just that — something one must do for them self.\u00a0 Though it is worth noting that August not only redeemed himself in his action, but in a way, Geppetto as well.\u00a0 Of course, Blue was there right on cue to be the Deus Ex Machina for his transformation.\u00a0 As I’ve said in the past, it’s not a bad technique when used properly.\u00a0 This is an example of that.<\/p>\n
There is also more than a little theology connected with August and his redemption.\u00a0 First, the “finding your own path” wasn’t so much a specific action, but his choices.\u00a0 It wasn’t anything<\/i> he did rather it was choosing what was Good and Right and True that led to his salvation.\u00a0 The other point that really needs pointed out is what the result says<\/i><\/b> about redemption. \u00a0Pinocchio was in effect, \u00a0born again<\/i> in a very Christian sense.\u00a0 He was restored to a state of innocence.<\/p>\n
There are two huge questions, though, concerning Pinocchio’s returning to childhood.\u00a0 First, I don’t think this had anything to do with Eion.\u00a0 Rather it was driven by the story and we’ll see the results in both this season and the next.\u00a0 Gold has been assuming that the boy who will be his undoing is Henry.\u00a0 Though he hasn’t been willing to harm him, he has certainly become a bit more cold towards him.\u00a0 My theories to this point had been based around Henry being that boy.\u00a0 With this development, I have to backtrack it a bit.\u00a0 Perhaps it is Pinocchio and especially his loss of memory regarding Tamara that is going to be Gold’s undoing.\u00a0 I still believe that “undoing” doesn’t mean death in this case.\u00a0 I also still believe that it involves losing the Dark One’s powers, which will end up being a good thing.\u00a0 I suspect the young Pinocchio will also end up being used in season three.\u00a0 He’s just the right age to be involved with Henry and Neal in Neverland.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 This means I’ve been fully converted to the Neal is Peter Pan theory.<\/p>\n
This all brings us to Tamara.\u00a0 First, I knew<\/b> she was “Her” from her first appearance.\u00a0 The first question regarding her, why does she believe in magic as she does.\u00a0 It’s not a casual belief.\u00a0 Rather it’s a sufficient one that she can see the wood in August.\u00a0 It not just why does she believe, but how does she know so much about magic.\u00a0 She clearly knows more than she has let on.\u00a0 Her reactions have been those of seeing what she expects to see now that she has found real magic.\u00a0 Neither is she afraid of magic.\u00a0 Instead she confronts it straight on.\u00a0 And her taser is more than a little suspicious.\u00a0 Not only does it (seemingly) kill The Dragon, but she uses it to “kill” August.\u00a0 Obviously there is much more to this since I cannot possibly believe the writers would do something as cheesy as having a taser kill a block of magic talking wood.\u00a0 If she was able to kill August so easily and coldly, then why is she so anxious for him to leave and never come back?\u00a0 Perhaps she is from the Land Without Color, which may be dominated by science based on what we’ve seen of Dr. Whale.\u00a0 Her comments about analyzing the potion could point to that.\u00a0 For myself, however, I am holding to my wraith theory.<\/p>\n
Let’s face it, the idea of Tamara as the wraith got a bit of a boost this episode.\u00a0 At the least, it is not quite as “wingnut” as I thought it was when I first mentioned it.\u00a0 It could connect with her knowledge and interest in magic here.\u00a0 It may be connected with her killing both the Dragon and August.\u00a0 Plus, as I’ve said, the writers are bring the story threads together and she really fits the mindset of the creature best.\u00a0 I don’t believe the Aurora\/Mulan story is going to be dropped this season and that means we have to address the wraith.\u00a0 It would be a delicious twist to have had it\/her sitting under everyone’s nose and<\/i><\/b> to be connected to Neal — the Dark One’s own son.<\/p>\n
Let’s move on to one of the more interesting characters introduced, though he didn’t have a lot of screen time; The Dragon.\u00a0 I know some have hypothesized him as the wraith, but I don’t think so.\u00a0 As I’ve explained, I’m staying with Tamara.\u00a0 Is he from the Enchanted Forest?\u00a0 That still wouldn’t explain how he would know that August is Pinocchio.\u00a0 Why did The Dragon need something from “his soul” as part of the price?\u00a0 And what happened — or more properly phrased — what is going to happen with that enchanted thread?\u00a0 The Dragon seems to know a lot of the events happening, so I also wonder if he knew how August got the money and if so, then why did he not have any issues giving the potion anyway?\u00a0 That could be a big part of the “cure yourself” message for August, which even makes more sense if he knew that Tamara is not what\/who she appears.<\/p>\n
The most surprising thing about The Dragon is just how easily he was killed.\u00a0 For someone as powerful as he was implying, blowing smoke and closing in to the foe seems about the dumbest things you could do.\u00a0 Unless a) Tamara is much more powerful than anyone imagines or b) he’s not really dead.\u00a0 It should hardly be a surprise that I’m going with the former.\u00a0 However it is worth remembering that this isn’t the first dragon about whom we’ve wondered if it was dead or alive.\u00a0 Anybody remember Maleficent?\u00a0 And don’t forget that the ancient Chinese dragons wandered about the world disguised as men.\u00a0 While I do hope to learn more about this character, I can certainly understand if he is just a one-time plot mechanism.<\/p>\n
I do have a few closing thoughts to wrap this analysis.\u00a0 I’m glad to see Emma and Henry make up.\u00a0 It was good of Emma to address it up front.\u00a0 I just wish Regina could apologize like that and mean it.<\/i>\u00a0 I think that all this talk about redemption should be telling us something about Regina, as well.\u00a0 The key point in Augusts’ redemption is that he choice was motivated by what was right.\u00a0 While Regina had started down the right path, too much of her motivation was based on what she wanted to get from being good rather than choosing Right for its own sake.\u00a0 I still hope that all the development earlier in the season isn’t wasted.\u00a0 This especially matters to me after seeing the utter evil that was Cora.\u00a0 If Tamara is the wraith this could put Regina on the same side as the Charming family and Aurora\/Mulan.\u00a0 This would almost certainly give her the chance to make new choices.<\/p>\n
We will see in a few weeks.\u00a0 As we have seen already, there is a lot that can happen in four episodes!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It looks like we get a short break before the big rush to the finish.\u00a0 For that reason, I’m spacing this review and analysis out just a bit to fall midway of the hiatus.\u00a0 This should also give people a chance to get caught up on any episodes before reading this review.\u00a0 I will note […]<\/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-6i","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390"}],"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=390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}