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jackiestarsister · 16 days

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Thoughts while re-watching the live-action "Beauty and the Beast"

I am a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, from the story by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve to Jean Cocteau's black-and-white film to Disney's animated movie and stage musical. When Disney's live-action remake came out in 2017, I was delighted by it, and failed to understand why so many people hated it. I've watched it a few times since then, but it has been a while, so I decided to give it a rewatch and take notes.

Be warned: this is pretty long!

My thoughts:

~ I love that the castle in the Disney intro is actually the Beast’s castle. On this watch, I noticed that it is topped with a statue that seems to be St. Michael slaying the devil/a monster, which is so appropriate for this story's symbolism!

~ Interesting that the first object seen is a rose being plucked. I assume that was the Enchantress’ hand? Did she pluck the flower from the prince’s own garden before entering the castle?

~ I love the way the servants are introduced in the prologue! Although they are in shadow, Cogsworth is there with his watch and Lumiere holds up a candelabra!

~ This film really leaned into the ostentation and extravagance of pre-revolution France, and it works so well in the context of this story about true inner beauty versus shallow, superficial appearance.

~ Is that Emma Thompson narrating the prologue? It sounds like her, but her accent is not the same as when she voices Mrs. Potts.

~ The actors must have had an interesting challenge acting out the curse scene, which has no audible dialogue between the Prince and the Enchantress!

~ I like that they added an explanation for why the villagers are unaware of the castle despite the relatively short distance between them.

~ I do not understand why people hate Emma Watson as Belle! She looks just right for the part, and while she is no Broadway-caliber singer, her voice is very pretty and she carries the songs quite well!

~ It almost looks like Belle is deliberately ignoring the people talking about her, marching past them as though trying not to care. But she stops to show kindness to the outcasts and the animals! She even waves to a criminal being escorted to jail!

~ I like that they gave Belle and Maurice one real friend, the local priest. I only wish he was a little more effective in his attempts to help them.

~ The entire sequence of “Belle” is just fantastic! It’s not easy to shoot such a complex scene with so many moving parts.

~ The trio of Gaston fangirls remind me of the silly younger sisters in Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

~ Although they made him an artist instead of an inventor, Maurice is still absentminded and a bit obsessive. It is easy to see how Belle would feel lonely despite his loving presence, since he is completely absorbed in his work.

~ Hearing that her mother was “fearless” might have inspired Belle’s own fearlessness later, first to save her father and then to save the Beast.

~ Why is Belle’s reader in English and not French? And why does she have a children’s book with her when she goes to do laundry? Did she hope to find someone to teach? Was she actually studying the English language?

~ Gaston crosses so many lines, literally and figuratively, when entreating Belle. And he does not even help her or defend her against the villagers’ abuse, he just tries to pressure her at a moment when she is upset and vulnerable.

~ It’s interesting that Gaston plays the “I can change” card, and Belle insists that “no one can change that much.” She will be proven wrong, but not by him!

~ The tree being struck by lightning and blocking Maurice’s path really makes his going to the castle seem like a result of magic or divine intervention!

~ Maurice seems remarkably calm throughout the wolf chase and when stumbling upon the castle!

~ The lamps held by sconces shaped like arms are a nice nod to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film La Belle et La Bête!

~ I’m surprised that Maurice would feel bold enough to take a rose after being so spooked by Chip! It would make more sense if he either saw the animated objects and accepted their extraordinariness, or did not see anyone at all and assumed the inhabitants would remain hidden.

~ Maurice must have been coughing very loudly for Belle to hear him all the way in the foyer!

~ Belle holding the light up to see the Beast gives off Psyche and Cupid/Eros vibes!

~ “Forever can spare a minute” is an interesting choice of words considering the name of the song “How Does a Moment Last Forever.”

~ The Beast is so selfish and had such an unhealthy relationship with his own father that he cannot wrap his mind around Belle sacrificing herself for her father.

~ I like Ewan McGregor in general, but his French accent is ridiculous. I get that it’s in keeping with the original film, where Lumiere was the only character with a French accent, but aside from the English characters Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth, they’re all supposed to be French, so it doesn’t really make sense.

~ I don’t like that Lumiere is the one to give Belle a room, behind the Beast’s back. Giving her a room is supposed to be the Beast’s first gesture of decency and kindness toward Belle.

~ Lumiere is much shrewder and actually comes off smarter than Cogsworth, who is so by-the-book that he reveals the one place Belle ought not to go!

~ Belle’s expression when Madame la Garderobe dresses her up says, “I did not sign up for this!”

~ Belle’s simple beauty and country/provincial style contrasts strongly with her bedroom and the lavish style Madame tries to impose on her. That seems to be a kind of arc over the course of the film, with a sort of meeting in the middle by the end.

~ A big difference between the two films’ versions of “Gaston” is that here, LeFou pays the people in the tavern to play music and sing along, instead of everyone joining in freely! I like that, because it suggests that Gaston may not be as well-liked admired as he thinks.

~ When LeFou sings that he does not know how to spell Gaston’s name, it’s written right on the wall behind him!

~ Chip rolling around on his saucer in excitement reminds me of Aang on his air scooter! (Which is funny because I actually gave Aang the role of Chip in the Avatar/Beauty and the Beast crossover I wrote years before this movie came out.)

~ Why does Belle sit and hug her knees self-pityingly, in between moments when she is busy devising her escape? It’s pretty convenient timing for the Beast to see her that way in the mirror.

~ I'm sure it's been pointed out and laughed about before, but I find it quite funny that Emma Watson and Emma Thompson, who played Hermione and Prof. Trelawney in the Harry Potter films and had a whole scene involving tea leaves, got to act together in this film and dealt with teapots and teacups again!

~ Mrs. Potts’ advice about whether to listen to people when they are angry … makes sense when it comes to insults or harshness, but not when it comes to rules and boundaries.

~ Maestro Cadenza is so sassy! “Are there any other tasteless demands you wish to make upon my artistry?” I may need to use that next time I get a negative review for my work!

~ “This is France” followed by the knife falling like a guillotine made me laugh!

~ Lumiere seems clumsier, less confident, and more oblivious in this version of “Be Our Guest.”

~ Poor Belle can’t get a full bite of food while the staff objects are showing off! I choose to believe that after that performance, Mrs. Potts made sure she got to relax and eat a proper, comforting meal.

~ Belle breaking the rule about the West Wing feels more in-character in this version. Here, she is more headstrong, and she intends to break her word and leave. So it’s not just curiosity or fascination with the castle that drives her to investigate. She may be hoping to find out the Beast’s weakness and find a way to escape.

~ Belle is not very sneaky when going to the West Wing; her footsteps are very loud!

~ The Beast ruined the image of himself and his father, but he left his mother’s image intact!

~ If Philippe was still at the castle, how did Maurice get back to the village? Did he walk the whole way? There was no weird palanquin like in the animated movie.

~ The sequence of Belle, the Beast, and the wolves is kind of rushed. Even though it hits the same beats at the original scene, there is not a lot of room for the emotional reversals of the Beast going out to save Belle and her decision to save him in return, even though it costs her the chance of escape.

~ I’m glad that in this version, Maurice opposes Gaston as a suitor for Belle. He knows that the guy is bad news!

~ They gave the line “If you like it so much, then it’s yours,” originally part of the lyrics for “Belle,” to the Beast in the library scene!

~ Belle helps the Beast to see his home and possessions with new eyes, both because she is a newcomer seeing it for the first time, and because she reads with him. I like that a poem (“A Crystal Forest” by William Sharp) helps him look at the castle’s environment in a new way.

~ Belle literally lets sun into the castle when she cleans the windows!

~ The “something there” could have been friendship, but the fact that Mrs. Potts won’t tell Chip what it is makes me think it’s really sexual chemistry/attraction!

~ Has the Beast considered why laughter dies when he enters a room? Did that happen before the curse, or only after he became a beast? Is it because the staff are afraid of his temper, or of his monstrous appearance?

~ The magical book feels like a nod to the magical rooms Belle visits in the original story of “Beauty and the Beast”

~ Personally, I like that this version provides some backstory about Belle and the Beast’s parents. Belle’s journey thus entails not only new relationships but also healing and closure regarding past relationships. Losing their mothers at a young age becomes a point of commonality between Belle and the Beast. Learning of Belle’s mother’s sacrifice, urging Maurice to take their baby away for her safety, may have inspired the Beast’s willingness to let her go later.

~ I know it’s in keeping with the original film, but making Belle’s dress yellow creates a good contrast against the blue and white tones of her usual outfits and the wintry setting of the castle grounds.

~ The Beast’s smile when he sees Belle dressed for their dance is so soft and sweet!

~ The dance sequence is beautiful!!! They don’t look quite as happy and content as they do in the original, but somehow it feels appropriate to where they are at this point in their relationship. The choreography involves trust and teamwork, so it shows how much they have grown from where they began. Belle was not even willing to be in the same room as him, and now she is getting really close and letting him lift and twirl her!

~ I like that the Beast explicitly, if indirectly, broaches the subject of whether Belle could care about him, and that she affirms that she could. It’s more personal than just asking if she is happy there, which is a pretty odd question to ask someone who is technically a prisoner.

~ Unlike in the original, where the Beast is pained and takes a long moment to decide to let Belle go, in this version he says it immediately, almost without thinking.

~ Why doesn’t the coat holder (I think they call him M. Chapeau?) give Belle her cloak, at the very least, as she leaves?

~ “Evermore” is such a beautiful, powerful song! I realized that throughout it, the Beast keeps climbing higher in the castle so he can watch Belle as long as possible. My only criticism of the sequence is that the Beast’s CGI face does not emote very much. Some of the lyrics are pretty angsty, but his expression is almost stoic. Maybe he is supposed to be at peace with losing Belle?

~ How long did everyone stay in the tavern while the asylum carriage was summoned? Why do the villagers have torches at that point? And why do they all follow Gaston’s lead?

~ The magic mirror’s actual glass is quite small and clouded! The images aren’t clear at all.

~ The standoff with Gaston is a bit awkward in its direction, but the actual “Mob Song” sequence is excellent! And this was the first time I wondered: is it meant to be an allusion to the mob mentality of the French Revolution?

~ Cogworth’s “man the barricades” has got to be a Les Misérables reference, and “third-rate musketeers” must be a Three Musketeers reference!

~ Do the household objects sing part of the “Mob Song”? Did they do that in the original movie too?

~ How did Belle carry the magic mirror and her mother’s rose thingy while riding her horse? She doesn’t seem to have any kind of bag on her. Does her ballgown have pockets?

~ Maurice and Belle’s scene in the wagon is so sweet. He seems to be convinced a little too quickly about the Beast becoming kind, but it underscores how much he trusts and supports her.

~ It’s not exactly original, but Belle turning a fashion accessory into a tool is so in-character!

~ LeFou mockingly talking to Chip and Mrs. Potts reminds me of Olaf, another Josh Gad character, pretending to address the rock trolls in Frozen!

~ I swear, Maestro Cadenza’s music as he pins LeFou down sounds like “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)”!

~ Great symbolism of books being used as weapons against the literacy-hating townsfolk!

~ If Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza were able to come out of their respective rooms to participate in the battle, why weren’t they able to see each other sooner?

~ Where did Belle get that jacket? Was it Maurice’s?

~ Although it was shown earlier in the movie, I think the castle crumbling should have been revisited the night of the dance. It seems too random when it happens during the climactic fight.

~ I like that Belle participates in the fight, taking away Gaston’s weapons and trying to protect the Beast.

~ The “death” of all the household items … it’s like the writers asked, “How can we make the Beast’s death even more devastating than it already is?”

~ I like how the rose petals become part of the Beast’s transformation. But the transformation itself seems a bit rushed. In the animated movie and stage musical, it’s a pretty long sequence with a lot of awe and emotion. But I guess there’s only so much you can do with the live-action medium.

~ Mrs. Potts’ first name is Beatrice?!

~ As a human, Chip has a tooth missing, like his chipped rim!

~ It looks like Madame de Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza ditched their wigs and decided to wear their natural hair after the curse broke!

~ I had not realized that Gugu Mbatha-Raw was in this movie until now, after seeing her in Loki!

~ There are many beautiful shots of the sky throughout the film!

~ The score is so beautiful! I love that it weaves in melodies of songs from the original movie, the stage musical, and the new movie.

My conclusion: it’s not perfect, but it is a beautiful movie and a wonderful retelling of a classic story that long predates Disney’s interpretation!

#Beauty and the Beast #live-action remake #live-action Beauty and the Beast #Beauty and the Beast remake #Emma Watson #Disney remakes

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jackiestarsister · 16 days

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Oui! C'est vrai! I love the original, and while it has its own magic, the live-action built on it beautifully. It harkened back to aspects of the original story by Madame de Villeneuve, and brought out some themes (like the communal nature of the curse) even more strongly. So many aspects of it (music, cinematography, costumes, sets, character dynamics) are beautiful, and while there is room for criticism, it does not deserve such harsh treatment.

I don’t care what anyone else says, the Beauty and the Beast live action (2017) is the best Disney live action and doesn’t deserve the hate it gets 🤷‍♀️

#Beauty and the Beast #live-action #live-action Beauty and the Beast #Disney remakes #Beauty and the Beast remake #live-action remakes

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jackiestarsister · 19 days

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Wait, hold up. You wanna run that by me again? People are saying he didn’t deserve to be turned into a beast? When he literally was rude for no reason to that “old lady”?

Yup. Like he was just a teenager, he should be cut some slack, she was setting him up.

But it’s like

Yeah

She was setting him up because she knew he had no love in his heart. Do you know how horrible a King with no love in his heart would be when the Prince grows up? Do you know how awful the “little poor provincial town” would have it in the shadow of a Prince who reaches adulthood with the kind of character and heart that shuts old women out in the cold? The Enchantress did. So she cursed him so that he’d develop into a kind, gentle, loving man. There’s a reason the curse lasted until his twenty-first birthday. That’s adulthood. He had till then to learn to love.

And you know what else?

Of course the castle and servants would be cursed too.

That’s the Beast’s first lesson: you’re being cursed because when you have no love for anything but yourself, it’s the people closest to you who suffer for it. His household is a living object lesson for him to be faced with, day after day, for ten years, about how the consequences of your actions affect more than just you—they affect the people who depend on you. Really important lesson for the King of a kingdom to learn.

And even if that weren’t enough, which it is, don’t come griping to me about the servants being cursed for something the Prince did. Riddle me this: why is the Prince answering the door? Why isn’t a footman doing that? Why isn’t Lumiere doing that?

Why is it they’re turned into furniture instead of little beasts? Why is the first scene they’re introduced in an old MAN begging for shelter from the bitter cold, and choosing to welcome him in despite “The Master?”

Why is their big number “Be Our GUEST?”

The answers to those questions aren’t given but it’s strongly implied that, instead of doing their jobs, and instead of standing up to their Master up to and including the incident with the Enchantress, they used to just stand to the side, making no sacrifices, taking no risks.

The theme of the movie is “true love is self-sacrifice.” Hospitality is one of the most self-sacrificial practices you can engage in. You’re literally making yourself vulnerable: you’re inviting someone into your home, you’re putting their comfort before your own, you’re giving them your hard-earned food and heat and drink and time, you’re allowing them to come into your sanctuary, your safe space, and judge it while you make them comfortable. Be Our Guest, indeed! Standing up to the Master, indeed! They’ve learned their lesson by the time Belle and her father are on the scene.

The thing is, we love to try and excuse away the responsibility of the main character because we love to try and excuse away our own character flaws. Blame it on trauma. That’s not the point. The point is, for the story to work, and for the fictional kingdom to have a happy ending with a Prince who’s like that, the Beast has to grow out of his character flaws. He has a problem, and it needs solving—how he got the problem is irrelevant.

And there’s just so little chance that a Prince, who has everything in life that he could ever want and is dependent on nobody, for anything, would ever feel the need for love. Or worse, he’d never feel the need to correct himself, or change, or grow in any way. He needed to have some discipline—some MAJOR discipline, some KINGDOM-SAVING discipline—in order to even be the kind of guy that could notice a peasant girl’s self-sacrificial loving nature, much less value her and fall in love with her.

Thank goodness for the Enchantress and the Curse. Or else this fairy tale could’ve turned into the French Revolution.

#Beauty and the Beast #fairy tales #character analysis

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jackiestarsister · 23 days

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"A Time for Everything" new chapter: "Acceptance"

Between Episodes 4x03 and 4x04, Emma talks to her family about her love life. Graham's death is acknowledged, David's conversation with "Prince Charles" is remembered, and Henry faces the reality of his mother dating Captain Hook. Ultimately, Emma accepts her feelings, and her family accepts her relationship with Hook.

Read on FFN

Read on AO3

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jackiestarsister · 1 month

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"A Time for Everything" new chapter: "Warmth"

This chapter covers the events of Once Upon a Time Episode 4x02, "White Out." Hook and David must get along as they race against the clock to free Emma from an ice cave. Afterward, Hook is invited to stay while Emma recovers.

Read on FFN

Read on AOC

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jackiestarsister · 2 months

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"A Time for Everything" now covering the Season 3 finale

So much happens in 3x21 "Snow Drifts" and 3x22 "There's No Place Like Home" that I gave each episode two chapters!

"Portal" - on FFN and AO3. Emma reflects on her decision, and a new crisis sends her and Hook on an unexpected adventure.

"Partner" - on FFN and AO3. Emma has to distract Hook's past self and attend her first royal ball.

"Fire" - on FFN and AO3. Hook reflects on what he knows about Snow White, and tries to comfort Emma as they grapple with her apparent death.

"Epiphany" - on FFN and AO3. After her time-travel adventure with Hook, Emma makes an incredible discovery, and introduces two very important people.

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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A Catholic, two Baptists, and two Orthodox Christians walk into an Episcopal church.

That's not a joke. That happened today, as my friends and I got to witness and celebrate a friend being ordained an Episcopal priest in a multilingual ceremony. It was a beautiful instance of ecumenical fellowship brought about through genuine friendship.

#ecumenism #Christianity #fellowship

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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09.05.2021

A stained glass window for the Swan-Jones family. What do you think, maybe this will be in baby Hope’s room?;)

#Once Upon a Time fan art #OUAT fanart #Captain Swan fan art #stained glass window design #Hope Swan Jones nursery

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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You are mine and I am yours

REDBUBBLE

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT/CROP/TWEET/ RE-POST/ INSTAGRAM WITHOUT CREDIT OR PERMISSION

#cs fanart #Killian Jones fan art #Once Upon a Time fanart #Hope Swan Jones #next generation #Papa Hook

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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OUAT Rewatch: Overall Thoughts

~ The difference between binge-watching and watching it week by week, season by season is huge. I was more patient with the drawn-out storylines and filler episodes.

~ I don’t think a series like this would have been made after the Trump presidency, covid pandemic, and other events since the mid/late 2010s. Its themes of hope and redemption already seem old-fashioned and idealistic, but I think they may be needed now even more than when it first came out.

~ There are great themes throughout the show: seizing the present moment, being open to love, giving people second chances, looking to the future with hope rather than fear.

~ This time around, I was more aware of the music score and how different characters have their own leitmotifs. I love it!

~ For many shows, the pilot/premiere episode is not great, and it takes a while for the story to find its footing. But the first episode of OUAT is absolutely perfect and one of the best in the series.

~ The first few seasons and last couple seasons were great. I much prefer the seasons when the characters are in Storybrooke dealing with a variety of problems and antagonists, rather than introducing a particular world and/or character and focusing entirely on them for half a season. The writing suffered most in Seasons 4-5, to the point that it felt like the writers were creating drama purely for the sake of drama, even at the cost of consistency in themes, plotlines, worldbuilding and characterization. But even in their worst parts, there are still great moments here and there.

~ Although I don’t always like the costuming choices, some of them are great! The Camelot styles are probably the closest to the European medieval fairy tale style one would expect.

~ It’s great to see a show with so much emphasis on parenthood and family, including the breaking of intergenerational cycles of trauma.

~ It’s great to have a female-centric show (Emma, Regina, and Snow White are the main characters for most of it), but it sometimes feels as though they would have benefited from more women in the writers’ room and wardrobe department. This is most painfully felt through the duos and trios of sisters during the “Frozen” arc; it sounds like men trying to write about the bond of sisterhood with no actual understanding of that dynamic.

~ The most compelling thing about the first few seasons is Emma’s effort to connect first with her son and then with her parents. The later seasons explore other aspects of her identity, particularly her fear of losing the people she loves.

~ Cora Mills is the best villain. All the others are just trying to live up to the standard she set, and they all start to sound repetitive after a while.

~ As someone who was obsessed with “Peter Pan” as a kid, I wouldn’t have expected to enjoy a story that depicts Captain Hook as a hero and Peter Pan as a villain, but it works so well! Colin O’Donoghue’s Hook is fantastic, and Robbie Kay’s Pan is truly sinister.

~ Rebecca Mader was great in “Samantha: An American Girl Holiday,” but I hate her as the Wicked Witch. She’s so sickly sweet and poorly written in her first few seasons, only becoming tolerable later on.

~ As a lover of “Beauty and the Beast,” I loved Belle and her relationship with Rumplestiltskin in the first few seasons, and was saddened to see both the characters and the relationship decline later on. They try to make Belle a strong, active character, but she is still too often swept off the chessboard, and their relationship devolves into toxicity and abuse before finally being resolved in the end. It feels a bit demeaning, like it’s living up to modern, literal interpretations of B&B rather than leaning into the symbolism and psychology of the story.

~ Emma and Hook’s relationship strikes a beautiful balance between epic love story worthy of legend and ordinary couple navigating the day-to-day difficulties of dating. I think Emma’s struggles with trust, vulnerability, and commitment are very relatable to young adults today.

~ Rumplestiltskin did not need that many love interests. Seriously. I lost count of how many women Robert Carlyle got to kiss in this show. He’s supposed to be a physically and morally repulsive villain, the Beast that only Belle can truly love. Making him an object of so many women’s desire undermines that.

~ The script throws around a lot of religious/spiritual words—like hope, faith, grace, redemption—without really digging into what they mean.

~ The worldbuilding is inconsistent and illogical, particularly with the Dark One, the Author, the rules of magic, and the existence of different realms.

~ I don’t like that they treat the Disney versions of so many stories like they are the official canon, rather than retellings of much older stories. The incorporation of characters from more recent movies like “Brave” and “Frozen” is kind of hit or miss. I will say, though, that the casting for Anna, Elsa, and Merida was spot-on!

~ The writers and characters go back on their own word a lot. The biggest example: the first few seasons emphasize that “magic comes with a price,” but the later seasons use magic as a cheap plot device and shortcut.

~ It’s great to see redemption arcs for many villains, but many of them involve character regression just for the sake of stretching out the drama. And because sometimes they simply kill of characters

~ The writers seem unable to decide whether they want the show to be idealistic or realistic.

~ I don’t like how the show leans into negative stereotypes and misconceptions of foster care. I remember watching the show back when my own family was hosting foster kids; it was extremely awkward hearing the characters such awful things about foster homes.

~ It seems like the writers struggled to decide which characters should be leads, supports, recurring, or limited to a certain period. They kill off characters that might have been better off staying alive, and resurrect characters that might have been better off staying dead. It makes me wonder if they looked at Grimm’s fairy tales and thought “Hey, these are full of people dying and coming back to life, we could use that!”

~ The show sometimes seems to reinforce the very labels it tries to transcend, particularly the concepts of “hero” and “villain.” It tries to be deep and nuanced but sometimes ends up sounding shallow and dissonant instead.

~ I was prepared to thoroughly dislike the seventh season, but I found myself enjoying it a lot! It managed to capture at least some of the sense of intrigue and suspense that characterized the first season. My main critique is that it should have been a separate spin-off, not tacked on to the rest of the show. It doesn’t really build on the previous seasons’ storylines; it just puts the action in a new setting and mixes old protagonists with new ones.

#Once Upon a Time #ABC's Once Upon a Time #analysis #reactions #OUAT reactions #Once Upon a Time reactions

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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OUAT Rewatch Reactions Masterpost

Over the last six months, I watched Once Upon a Time from start to finish. I had watched the first four and a half seasons when they first aired a decade ago, but had not seen the final two and a half (though I learned some spoilers from online clips I came across). I posted my reactions season by season, but thought I would put all the links in one place for easier navigation:

Pilot

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Overall Thoughts

#Once Upon a Time #ABC's Once Upon a Time #OUAT reactions #Once Upon a Time reactions #analysis

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jackiestarsister · 3 months

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OUAT Rewatch: Season 7

I finally finished my rewatch today!

Overall thoughts:

~ I was thoroughly prepared to dislike this season, since it started with such a weird and repetitive premise, and got rid of some of the most important characters (Emma, Snow, and David). To my surprise, I really enjoyed the season, and it actually had some of the best bits of writing and acting in the whole show!

~ The actor playing adult Henry does a pretty good job of maintaining the same mannerisms and personality as young Henry!

~ Lana Parilla really shines in this season!

~ I can’t believe I’m saying it, but this season felt kind of like the first! It captured some of the sense of intrigue and suspense that characterized Season 1, when there were so many stories coming together and so many mysteries being unraveled.

~ The biggest plot hole is the existence of Henry’s book. Did he really write it? Did he really publish it? How does it exist within the cursed Hyperion Heights? It seems like part of Henry’s cursed persona, but it wouldn’t make sense for that to be part of the curse, because it reveals so much. Did fate or other forces make it appear, like the first storybook, so the curse could be broken?

Episode 7x01 “Hyperion Heights”

~ Regina wearing purple!!!

~ If Henry has just finished high school, and he was 13 or 14 at the end of Season 6, then four years must have gone by! What was it like for his extended family? Did he split his time between Regina’s house and Emma and Hook’s? How did he and Hook get along as stepfather and stepson?

~ Henry seems very much like Steven Universe, in the way he strives to help others find their happy endings, yet feels out of place and unsure of his own.

~ I have such mixed feelings about Henry and Regina’s scene. On the one hand, it’s natural for emerging adults to want to leave home for a while, and Regina letting Henry go shows her amazing growth from the first couple seasons, when she was doing everything she could to keep him with her. But for Henry to say he doesn’t belong in Storybrooke sounds contrary to everything he did and said about himself and Emma belonging there in the early seasons, particularly the end of Season 3.

~ Where did Henry get the motorcycle? Did August give it to him and/or teach him how to ride it? And what was Regina’s reaction when she found out he was learning?!

~ How can a realm be “new”? Can they simply be created, like the Wish Realm?

~ Henry really brought a motorcycle to a fairy-tale land?

~ Total The Devil Wears Prada homage!

~ It’s so strange to have Regina/Roni witness the same kind of feud between a biological parent and stepparent that she and Emma once had!

~ Victoria referring to “this street” makes it sound like a turf war rather than gentrification!

~ “When someone needs help, I help them.” Nice sentiment but could have been better written. Katara did it better in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

~ “You’re waiting for the perfect first sentence, but no story is perfect. It just needs to start.” Now that’s a great line!

~ Why did Alice bother trapping Henry if she just let him go?

~ Where did Cinderella learn how to fight? And how could anyone fight in a dress like that?!

~ So this cursed version of Hook has a functional left hand?

~ “Operation Glass Slipper is a go” made me laugh! Henry may have grown up, but some things about him haven’t changed.

~ I can’t believe that Regina is now the character giving inspirational monologues!

~ That last shot seems a little too upbeat. Roni’s cursed life is framed as though it is her real life.

Episode 7x02 “A Pirate’s Life”

~ The name of this episode sounds like an unoriginal reference to the silly song from the Disney ride, but it actually has a dark element since Wish Realm Hook tries to steal original Hook’s life!

~ I love that Hook continues training Henry in swordfighting! But Henry’s self-deprecating angst feels so OOC.

~ Such a sweet scene with Hook and Emma!

~ I love that when Henry is in trouble he immediately calls for his parents—all three of them!

~ Finally a Captain Cobra hug!

~ Hook has no patience for other versions of himself, whether past, future, or alternate reality!

~ Hook is still way too easy for other people to overpower and/or capture. You would think a “survivor” like him would be better at defending himself and evading capture.

~ I’m surprised that it’s so easy for Wish Realm Hook to permanently take on the appearance of original Hook, to the point that it carries over into the Land Without Magic. What happened to “magic always comes with a price”? And if it were that easy for a non-magically-gifted person to take on someone else’s appearance, wouldn’t lots of people take advantage of it?

~ “You never have to see me again” sounds like a callback to Snow White’s words to Charming when they first met!

~ Weaver’s words about a daughter being the greatest vulnerability is huge foreshadowing when spoken to Rogers/Hook!

~ Whose little cottage is that? Did they just find an empty home and decide to use it?

~ I never thought I’d see Regina telling Hook to act as a father to Henry in any way, let alone to give him “a pirate-y heart-to-heart”!

~ Henry is wise to be suspicious of someone not acting like themselves: he and his family have encountered many people who were impostors or controlled by someone via their heart.

~ Emma is so nervous and excited, and sounds like she is repeating her own train of thought about becoming a parent!

~ “Let’s see who you are” seems to be the theme of Hook’s arc throughout the show, and now of this Wish Hook too!

~ Each Hook learns to have compassion for his other self!

~ Who ever would have thought that Henry, Regina, and Hook would form their own fellowship? It’s odd, but I love it!

~ Was that ballet music from Swan Lake? That would be quite fitting!

Episode 7x03 “The Garden of Forking Paths”

~ If Cinderella drove the motorcycle from the ball, how could the knights or Tiana have caught up to her?

~ I didn’t expect Henry to find Cinderella so quickly!

~ I can’t believe they recycled the plotline of Archie and Henry in the mines, and acknowledged it in the script!

~ Cinderella should have realized it was way too easy to get into Lady Tremaine’s manor.

~ How did Cinderella guess that Henry was the one with the purest heart?

~ Why would Jacinda even trust such an offer from Victoria? She should at least get it in writing that there would be a condo for her and Lucy.

~ Burning the petition is actually a betrayal of everyone who signed it.

~ Regina stopped someone from making the same mistake(s) she made, particularly sacrificing her father’s heart! So great to see!

~ Jacinda’s speech scene is really cheesy, and kind of overdramatic. Little to nothing has been shown about why the community garden really matters.

~ It’s amazing to see Regina acting as a mentor to someone, and I wouldn’t have expected it to be her future daughter-in-law!

~ They act as though a petition would immediately resolve everything, but that kind of red tape takes time to process!

~ This episode almost feels like a movie.

Episode 7x04 “Beauty”

~ How fitting that Belle’s first episode was called “Skin Deep” and this one is called “Beauty”! I think those are the only episodes of the show that take place on a holiday, and each one is appropriate to its theme: the Rumbelle romance starts during a Valentine’s Day episode, and Belle dies in a Halloween episode. And both episodes reveal Rumplestiltskin/Gold to be “awake,” that is, aware of his true identity!

~ Belle and Gold always talk about how she wanted “to see the world,” but there are actually several worlds they can visit!

~ “I’d rather eat carbs” = They’re totally milking the Devil Wears Prada parallels!

~ Never thought we’d see a blonde Regina, or a Regina who gives “hope speeches”!

~ They seriously used a Frozen costume?

~ Tilly seems like the “wise fool” archetype.

~ THEY FIXED THE TEACUP!

~ I wouldn’t have expected Up to be paired with Beauty and the Beast, but it works for these characters!

~ How sad that the same action that sparked their attraction in her first episode, Belle falling as she opens the curtains, is what signals her death in this episode!

~ Someone walks by in a (cartoon) Belle costume!

~ The scene between Henry and Ivy could have been better written. She wouldn’t open up to him that quickly.

~ So, according to Belle’s interpretation, the only way she and Rumple can be together forever is in death? That’s pretty bleak in one sense.

~ How could Belle continue to age if time was practically still? In other worlds like Neverland, or situations like the Dark Curse, no one ages when time is frozen.

~ Was Gideon offering to kill Rumple with the dagger?!

~ Rogers moves the rook next to the knight!!!

~ Henry and Ivy’s scene at the end feels unnecessary. They already hit the necessary theme and characters beats. The episode could have ended with Weaver and Victoria’s scene, which would have been more ominous.

Episode 7x05 “Greenbacks”

~ Comparing belief to a weed is an interesting, unusual analogy. I doubt it’s meant to tie in with the Parable of the Sower; it kind of implies the opposite meaning.

~ Tiana being a fairy-tale princess from the start feels weird.

~ Tiana’s mother’s lines are too expository, telling rather than showing.

~ Wouldn’t “chaos in the land” create more opportunities for heroes to show up?

~ For Tiana and her mother to pin their hope on her finding a prince to save them, through marriage or otherwise, seems way out of character for them. Movie Tiana did everything she could to pull herself up into a better life all by herself.

~ Why would Tiana seek out Dr. Facilier’s help if she had no way to pay him? Couldn’t she give her necklace or earrings?

~ If Dr. Facilier wanted the ruby in the medal, he could have just named it as the price for his service.

~ Drizella/Ivy being a double agent and playing both sides is a pretty good twist!

Episode 7x06 “Wake Up Call”

~ Henry really kept his Tron lunchbox when he left home for his adult adventures?

~ Regina looks like a completely different person, like a warrior instead of a queen or witch!

~ It’s so funny to see Regina ready to swoop in and protect her son, only for him and his girlfriend to protect themselves!

~ Whereas Regina wanted to crush Henry’s belief in the curse, Roni wants to encourage Lucy’s belief in the hope that it will fade on its own.

~ The season's theme of plants and gardening really becomes apparent in this episode! Drizella refers to magic as something to “cultivate,” and the next scene deals with gardening! And the missing girl’s last name is Gardener!

~ Henry is still drawing on old movies for his real-life actions! Was that fist pump an homage to The Breakfast Club?

~ Regina teaching Drizella to lift rocks = obvious Star Wars reference! But instead of threatening Drizella’s safety, as Regina did with Emma and some Star Wars villains used with their apprentices, Regina endangers herself instead, showing trust that Drizella will save her.

~ “Things are always more fun when you start in the middle.” Sounds like the writers justifying their own story format!

~ “A curse is never worth the cost” seems to go against how it worked out for Snow and Charming when they cast the Dark Curse to return to the Land Without Magic.

~ The way that Roni snarls as Ivy leaves is her most Regina-like moment so far this season!

~ Roni is now in a similar situation to Jefferson in Season 1, knowing the truth that her child does not.

Episode 7x07 “Eloise Gardener”

~ Was Victoria aware that Lucy knows/suspects the truth about her?

~ “Abandoning people just isn’t my thing.” Hook proves the truth of his words in this episode!

~ Good setup/payoff with the lullaby!

~ Gothel pretending to be a victim of Victoria is kind of like Hook pretending to be a survivor of Cora’s attack in Season 2.

Episode 7x08 “Pretty in Blue”

~ I didn’t expect Alice and Hook to find each other so quickly, or for their reunion to be shown so soon after the revelation that she is his daughter!

~ That dialogue between Jacinda and Lucy is pointless. It would have been enough to just show them hugging and crying as they say goodbye.

~ Henry and Ella getting caught in the net together is not only a callback to Snow White and Charming, it’s also a nod to the net trap in Return of the Jedi—especially when one of them asks the other to reach for the sword!

~ “No one wants to be the Kathryn.”

~ Lucy sounds so grown-up and mischievous when she says, “I think I know another dragon you could slay.” It’s the kind of line that Emma, Regina, or one of the other adult protagonists would say.

~ Hook being given a possibly poisoned cake is so ironic, since that’s how Captain Hook tries to kill Peter Pan and the Lost Boys in J.M. Barrie’s novel! Regina even gets rid of the cake with the excuse of “Too much sugar isn’t good for you,” just like Wendy!

~ So many parallels between Henry & Ella and Snow & Charming!

~ Another person named Jack who had a bad run-in with giants? That makes him the third.

~ (Spoiler Alert:) Henry and Jack imitating Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back may have been foreshadowing the eventual betrayal!

~ Henry not being there when Jacinda comes to see him is so sad, particularly because it didn’t result from some miscommunication, just from lack of communication.

Episode 7x09 “One Little Tear”

~ I really like that they drew on the original story of Rapunzel, beginning with the theft of the witch’s garden by a desperately poor family and the deal they make with her.

~ Lady Tremaine being Rapunzel was NOT something I saw coming! Now their interactions with Gothel as her prisoner make so much more sense. But how can Drizella be working with the person who took her mother from her?

~ Rumple/Gold/Weaver manages to put Victoria off-balance by revealing that he knows the truth about her at the same moment when he admits the truth about himself.

~ Rogers questioning Victoria about how she escaped, and her saying that she didn’t wait for anyone to help her, perfectly describes the preceding scene of her escape from the tower!

~ Throwing objects at mirrors is supposed to be Regina and Snow’s thing, not Rapunzel/Tremaine’s!

~ Sisters building a snowman harkens to Frozen, but sisters falling through ice harkens to Jo and Amy in Little Women.

~ How did they retrieve Anastasia’s body from the ice? For that matter, how did Marcus and Ella survive their dunk in the water? They both would have died from hypothermia without immediate care.

~ It’s really interesting how Victoria doesn’t try to destroy Lucy’s belief in the fairy tale reality; instead she tries to destroy her belief in happy endings. It’s like the difference between faith in God and faith in God’s goodness; in fact, having strong faith can make the disappointment of suffering even harder to bear.

~ It’s nice to see that Rumple/Gold/Weaver is aware of and cares about his great-granddaughter!

~ I wasn’t expecting Anastasia to awaken and Lucy to be at death’s door so early in the season! Those seem like the kind of events that would happen in a season finale.

Episode 7x10 “The Eighth Witch”

~ I’m so confused by the opening scene. Did Henry and Ella get married before having Lucy? Did Lady Tremaine team up with the resistance against her? Did Henry, Ella, Regina, and Wish Realm Hook really stay with the resistance throughout Ella’s pregnancy? Did they raise Lucy in that realm, or were they just visiting Tiana’s castle for Lucy’s birthday?

~ What makes Drizella’s threat a “prophecy”? She doesn’t have clairvoyance, does she?

~ Is Lucy really supposed to be eight years old in the present day? She looks like she could be ten or twelve!

~ Why would Tiana have statue-Drizella in such a prominent place in her courtyard?!

~ The Wicked Witch of the West running a cycling class is so OUAT!

~ That was a pretty great entrance for grown-up Robin! It’s nice to see that she has a good relationship with Regina. But I have to wonder what she knows about her father, and whether she knows her brother Roland.

~ “She sure has grown up fast.” “Not in our realm.” What is that supposed to mean?! Which realm did Zelena settle down in, and which one are they referring to?

~ “I’m not here to discuss timelines.” What a cop-out!!! The writers really don’t even care about the passage of time anymore, despite the fact that this show’s theme and structure are centered around time!

~ Zelena is now in the position that Emma was in with Walsh and her fake life in New York!

~ So Zelena is the one giving heroic pep talks now?

~ I’m surprised they showed that flashback scene again!

~ It seems odd and unusual for Ella, Henry’s own wife, to stop the others from going after him in order to focus on the bigger problem.

~ So Regina doesn’t have to give up the heart of the thing she loves most again? It’s enough that she did it once?

~ Regina and Henry are basically in the same situation Emma and Hook were when she made him a Dark One to save his life.

~ Hook gave up the chance to be a father to Alice so Ella would be able to remain Lucy’s mother! That’s an incredibly selfless sacrifice.

~ They really decided to make Alice and Robin a couple without any prior buildup.

~ It’s ironic that Gothel once imprisoned Rapunzel in a tower, but now throws her into a pit!

Episode 7x11 “The Secret Garden”

~ “… and we’re going to do it together” is Snow and David’s line, not Regina’s!

~ What makes Zelena suddenly change her mind about teaming up with “Nook”?

~ It makes sense for Hook to decide to trust his gut, since that is the same advice his counterpart gave to Emma in Season 3. But the gut feelings in each situation are opposites: Emma’s told her something was wrong, but Hook’s is telling him that the illusion is the truth.

~ Hook saying “Memento mori,” Latin for “Remember your death,” is pretty ironic—almost uncharacteristic—since everyone talks about how he is a survivor!

~ I laughed out loud when Madame Leota was revealed! Now they’re drawing on Disney rides, not just movies? What’s to stop them from including Jack Sparrow, then?

~ Who was Gothel trying to raise in the séance?

~ “I won’t let them take you” could be interpreted two ways, as protection or imprisonment!

~ The Resurrection Amulet looks like something out of a Marvel movie, not a fairy tale. It reminds me of Tony Stark’s arc reactor heart or the Eye of Agamotto.

~ The part when everyone is shouting at each other while Gothel tries to kill Zelena doesn’t come across well. But the action sequence afterward was cool.

~ “You were going to risk your life for me.” No, she was going to outright sacrifice her life!

~ It’s interesting that Robin met both of Alice’s parents before meeting Alice herself!

~ Once again, the show breaks its own rules. Characters have said before that no magic can bring back the dead, but apparently the Resurrection Amulet can do exactly that.

~ Robin is the first “next generation” character we see dealing with the legacies of her parents.

~ I can’t believe the writers made Gothel the one to wake Lucy, and gave Victoria the “atonement through sacrifice” treatment.

~ I totally saw the blood test confirmation coming, but not Dr. Sage’s death, though in hindsight it was clearly foreshadowed!

~ This might actually be one of the best episodes of the season!

Episode 7x12 “A Taste of the Heights”

~ Henry producing a podcast makes complete sense! If he had been a bit older at the start of the show, he probably would have done that kind of thing about Storybrooke!

~ I knew that man was Naveen as soon as he appeared onscreen!

Episode 7x13 “Knightfall”

~ It’s fascinating to see a version of Hook approach a version of Rumplestiltskin for help, without them having any shared adventures or mutual friends or relatives.

~ I’m surprised to see such a young Ahab, young enough to call Hook an “old man.”

~ Now Maui is real too? Does that mean Moana is real?

~ It’s so good to finally see Regina and Lucy together, both knowing the truth!

Episode 7x14 “The Girl in the Tower”

~ Alice blowing out the candles is a clear parallel to Emma in the pilot episode!

~ Ivy is actually quite sweet with Henry in this episode.

~ It seems like the writers really like the trope of future lovers attacking and/or trapping each other when they first meet.

~ I’m very surprised that Rogers and Henry would leave Tilly unsupervised, even if they believe in her innocence.

~ Regina letting Lucy snoop around a dangerous voodoo doctor’s lair … seems quite risky, and miles away from the Regina of the first few seasons!

~ Robin hotwiring Sheriff Emma Swan’s yellow bug = a truly legendary feat!

~ So the yellow bug just showed up without a driver to provide a getaway? Like the Weasleys’ car in Harry Potter?

~ How is the tower still intact? Wasn’t it in ruins before Alice and Hook saw each other and Henry and Ella went on their Wonderland adventure?

~ So many actual Alice in Wonderland lines and allusions in this episode!

~ The question of whether you actually exist is more relevant for Alice/Tilly and Wish Hook/Rogers than anyone else, since they come from a realm that only exists because of a wish someone made!

~ I love how this episode explores Alice’s complicated and contradictory emotions about leaving the tower.

~ Alice says “bloody” just like Hook!

~ OMG Alice and Robin read each others’ books!!!

~ Finally, someone offered Tilly an actual, safe place to stay!

~ This may have been one of my favorite episodes of this season!

Episode 7x15 “Sisterhood”

~ It seems weird that Henry has probably spent more time with Wish Hook than with his actual stepfather Hook, to the point that Wish Hook is one of his best friends. How does OG Hook and the rest of his family feel about that?

~ Lucy is just like Henry in the way she sets people up with phone messages and fake invitations!

~ Henry says he “can’t tell if Jacinda and I are meant for each other anymore.” When did he ever feel that they were?

~ I was not expecting Jacinda to walk in after Henry agreed to that ridiculous rom-com-style challenge!

~ So many different characters talk about fate in this episode!

~ Is Henry quoting Star Wars again when he says it’s “an impossible shot”?

~ Gothel is just like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, making people turn on each other by planting fear and doubt about each other’s intentions.

~ The special effects used for Anastasia’s magic are pretty awesome! We don’t often see those kinds of feats in the Land Without Magic, or practical effects in the series as a whole.

~ Drizella’s lines at the climax with Anastasia are uncharacteristically cheesy. And her final line, “I guess you underestimated the power of sisterhood,” is completely unnecessary, just verbalizing what was already implied.

~ I’m surprised that they took Tremaine/Victoria, Drizella/Ivy, and Anastasia out of the story at this point. Was there simply no more room for them?

~ I knew something big would happen with Nick, but I wasn’t expecting him to be the “candy killer”! I had actually wondered, when Gretel talked about her brother traveling under another name, whether Jack/Nick might be Hansel.

Episode 7x16 “Breadcrumbs”

~ This episode plays a lot with what is real and what is fake.

~ Ella kissing Henry for luck is definitely a Star Wars reference!

~ Would it really be so bad to be a character in someone else’s story? It seems rather self-centered for Henry to want to be the heroic main character. And many great stories are about not just one person, but two or more; that’s how it is with most love stories.

~ Why would the killer leave his annotated book behind at the scene of the crime? Did he want it to be found? It seems far too convenient.

~ Hook/Rogers is basically doing the same thing in both timelines, trying to help his kids!

~ If the map and the ring were real, why couldn’t Hook take Henry on a real journey to find Davy Jones’ locker? Just so Henry could have the satisfaction of beating a pirate captain?

~ “I don’t need a great story. I just want a great life.”

~ It’s great to see Henry, who has always been into great stories and grand gestures, to realize he does not need all that to impress Ella or get what he really wants, a family.

~ Is that realm simply called the “magical kingdom”?

Episode 7x17 “Chosen”

~ How can there be starving children in Arendell? How dare that witch malign Elsa that way!

~ That teaser seems positively cartoonish.

~ Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes!

~ It’s interesting to see Zelena be one of the characters that is trying to move on from her past but feels it catching up to her, like Regina, Rumple, and Hook in previous seasons.

~ Shouting that Kelly has a real daughter and fiancé was a really dumb move on Henry’s part.

~ I was wondering when Chad would show up; but I’m surprised that he turned out to be a truly normal guy, unconnected with the fairy tales. This show has made me expect twists.

~ I guess the title “Chosen” refers to both Weaver’s joke about Zelena and Chad choosing to be with her.

Episode 7x18 “The Guardian”

~ Weaver saying “Be my guest” probably wasn’t an intentional Beauty and the Beast reference, but it’s still funny!

~ That rotating shot of Alice entering Facilier’s house is pretty cool!

~ I had wondered whether Alice could use magic, since her mother is a witch!

~ Alice’s test scene is fascinating! Rumplestiltskin’s impish form comes out as he slips into that old, crazy way of talking. It’s also kind of the opposite of how he pushed Regina to crush hearts in order to turn her evil; instead he’s trying to prove that Alice is pure of heart.

~ Aside from the irony that this series actually showed the Underworld, it’s interesting to see characters in a TV show talk seriously about what the afterlife might be like.

~ Belle’s echoed lines might have been better delivered as a flashback in Rumple’s head.

~ It’s amazing that after all the times Rumple grasped at the dagger because he was afraid of losing his power, he now chooses it against his own self-interest, because he does not want to burden someone else with it.

~ I wouldn’t have expected any Hook’s child to have Rumplestiltskin as a father figure, but that’s what their dynamic ends up feeling like! I guess Alice/Tilly is like the daughter Rumple/Gold/Weaver never had.

~ What I don’t understand is what Hook and Rumple did for the eight or so years before the curse. Did they simply put their respective quests on hold?

~ Regina/Roni and Weaver’s scene is amazing! Regina is finally fed up enough to cut ties with him.

~ They just had to give Henry another Star Wars allusion!

Episode 7x19 “Flower Child”

~ It’s so exciting and satisfying to see the various characters piecing together the truth! It’s a different direction than the first season went in.

~ Why/how would the curse bring Henry’s belongings from Storybrooke and Ella’s glass slipper into Jacinda and Lucy’s home?

~ So, Gothel is the origin of the magic beans, and the Land Without Magic? But how does she fit into the Wish Realm?

~ I wasn’t expecting Samdi/Facilier to actually do something good! I thought he was using Lucy for his own ends.

~ So, Jacinda just lets Lucy run off unsupervised?

~ I don’t like that Facilier was killed off. We never get a definitive answer about his intentions, whether he was good or evil at his core. I guess he’ll forever be a mystery.

Episode 7x20 “Is This Henry Mills?”

~ Regina was part of that coven?!

~ So Storybrooke has a college! I had wondered about that, since no one aged during the first curse. Did it open after the curse was broken?

~ How does Lucy even know Weaver? Is she aware that he is her great-grandfather Rumplestiltskin?

~ GRANNY!

~ Time travel?! So that’s why the story is still in the “present day” rather than a decade or two in the future. But wasn’t that supposed to be impossible, outside of the one time Zelena succeeded in casting such a spell?

~ Regina and Henry’s scene in the bar might be one of the best in the whole series! The writing and emotional acting are fantastic.

~ I guess if Alice from Wonderland had magic, she would use it to change people’s sizes!

~ Tiny was the one who gave Henry the magic bean!? Where has he been since Season 2?

~ How can Regina/Roni say she has nothing left to lose? Her family is still alive!

~ I knew Henry was going to break the curse by kissing Regina!

~ Henry’s letter to Regina is beautiful!

Episode 7x21 “Homecoming”

~ They never provide a caption for time or place when it would actually be helpful! I spent the whole teaser wondering if it was Henry from the Enchanted Forest or the Wish Realm.

~ Friendzoning is painful no matter what realm you’re in!

~ Starfish sounds like such a silly nickname, but Colin O’Donoghue manages to deliver it with so much sadness, it’s heartbreaking!

~ How long was the curse in effect? How long did it take Lucy to figure out that they were cursed?

~ It’s so weird to see Rumplestiltskin, with scaly skin and old-fashioned clothes, in a modern-day setting!

~ Regina, Gold, and (a version of) Hook—the three villainous protagonists throughout the series—drinking together and toasting to revenge is oddly fitting!

~ Why would Hook assume that this rescue mission is a last grand adventure?

~ Cruella de Vil using a sword is not something I ever expected to see!

~ The music during Henry and Cruella’s fight is my jam!

~ I love that Henry raises the question, “Who really deserves a happy ending?”

~ “The one enemy I can never defeat is myself.”

~ This finale feels like Avengers: Endgame, with all different minor characters making appearances and past formative events being revisited!

~ I can’t believe how self-aware these lines were, while still managing to sound poetic: “That is indeed a complicated story. The timelines alone would make one’s head spin. Only a true Author could weave such a tale.”

~ I love the Apprentice’s next line, “Every story an Author has ever written lives in his heart.”

~ The way the Apprentice leans on his sword at the end of his scene makes it look almost like the Sword in the Stone!

~ Ever since Regina killed the Wish Realm versions of Snow and David, and took Emma back to Storybrooke, I wondered what happened to Wish Realm Henry. No one ever seemed concerned about what happened to him, which was really weird. I’m glad they finally addressed that!

~ ABOUT BLOODY TIME they got back to Storybrooke!

Episode 7x22 “Leaving Storybrooke”

~ Grumpy/Leroy is unusually cheerful!

~ Having a “Leaving Storybrooke” sign for the title sequence pulled at my heartstrings!

~ Pulling others to wallow in one’s darkness sounds like the Devil being lonely in Hell.

~ Regina and Robin Hood’s dream scene is beautiful!!! “Our story was so short.” “That doesn’t make it any less epic.”

~ Regina finally got the feather from Robin!!! It only took two seasons!

~ Rumple saw Hook as the closest thing he had to a friend? I can’t really buy that.

~ Was there some deleted scene of Zelena helping Robin and Alice get to the Wish Realm? And how did they get Maui’s fishhook to the others?

~ “Aren’t spells just stories of a kind?” More like the other way around: stories are basically spells that entrance the audience. I’m pretty sure there’s an etymological connection.

~ They brought the Blue Fairy back just so they could kill her off?

~ Hook and Robin’s scene is so sweet! Since she grew up without a father, it’s nice to see her gain a father figure.

~ Wait, so Snow and David came from Storybrooke to help Henry? Why weren’t they with Zelena, Robin, and Alice when they arrived in the Wish Realm?

~ Does that roundtable meeting at Regina’s castle take place in the original Enchanted Forest, or the Wish Realm version?

~ How did Snow and David get the storybooks without Wish Rumple or Wish Henry noticing?

~ How would Wish Rumple’s plan work, if there are alternate versions of everyone across the realms?

~ “You don’t do the right thing for a reward. You do it because it’s right.”

~ Rumple giving his heart to save (a version of) Hook and Hook’s child is an amazing twist, given their history with hearts and children!

~ If they were taken back in time, how was Rumple able to be reunited with Belle? Wouldn’t she still be alive at that point in the timeline?

~ What about Gideon?! He and Rumple never got to say goodbye! Does he now have to spend the rest of his adult life without either of his parents?

~ So, the young version of Henry seen at the end is the Wish Realm version, right? Because the present-day young version is off having his adventures in other realms?

~ How do they reconcile Regina becoming the Good Queen and all the future and alternate versions of everyone being in Storybrooke, without messing up the timeline? They pretty much let go of all the Back to the Future logic that characterized Emma and Hook’s time-traveling.

~ Did they really hold an election for a single queen to rule all the realms? What about the established leaders of the various realms? And how could Regina be elected without knowing about it?

~ Regina didn’t want to be crowned without Emma and Hook there!

~ Smee is back!!! But is it the original Smee or Wish Realm Smee? ~ That ending montage of flashbacks with Regina’s voiceover was beautiful. This season began and ended with voiceover monologues from Regina.

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