OUAT MEGA POST, PART 2: Pirates, Ships, and Witches, Oh my!

Just what you wanted from us: MORE THOUGHTS! Part 2 is under the cut (also, just in case you don't make it all the way to the bottom: Once Upon A Time is officially back tonight as of 33 minutes ago). Have fun watching (and possibly reading)!

Good Grief: The final thing that I would like to discuss are the questions that this season has posed for the audience to mull over. The first being the postcard at the start of the season. Viewers finally got a glimpse into Emma’s life before Henry pulled her towards her destiny. We find out that out there in the real world so wasn’t quite on the up and up but that she has someone who just might be meant for her; though he isn’t the typical picturesque prince, he did let go when bequeathed by August Booth (Pinocchio, who is still alive for those wondering). Which shows that at the foundation he cares and he happens to be the father of her child. Also, we have gotten a small sliver of a glimpse of what Snow and Charming have to overcome in FTL; the first being combatting a curse on her womb.

Still to be answered is how exactly will Cora exact her revenge or does she truly want to reunite with her daughter? Why is Rumpel afraid of Cora?  Will Hook become the good guy we saw on the beanstalk and get over exacting his revenge? Will Regina stick to being good for the sake of Henry or will turn back to magic? Or will she be welcomed into the fold of Team Good? Will Rumple be able to find a way to leave Storybrooke and track down his son? Now that Snow, Charming, Emma and Henry are back together in Storybrooke what new hurdles will they have to face? Snow posed a question to Charming when they were both in the place of endless sleep whether or not their fate was to keep finding each other, or was it truly that they would always be ripped apart. That makes me wonder? How do Prince James and Snow overcome their enemies and take the throne? And finally now that we know that FTL still exist can they ever return to happy days or FTL and will they want to?

Robert Carlyle doing what Rumpel does best: spinning what could be a schlocky part into gold.

Ultimately this series does a great job of breaking preconceived notions, weaving stories together and keeping viewers enticed by the subject’s struggle. So what will the new year bring to Storybrooke and what new conflicts will we see?

Lea: So what can we expect from the second half of the season? Hopefully Mulan/Aurora kissing! What? You’re telling me you didn’t see the sexual tension these two have been having all season? I mean, come on. On a serious note, I really enjoyed the addition of those two characters and they ended up being my faves by the end of the season. Especially Aurora. I know, I can hear Good Grief rolling her eyes from here. But I’ll admit I was always a bit biased with Aurora since I’m a fan of Sarah Bolger from her work on the Tudors, and I’m distracted by pretty things and gosh, she’s pretty. And her dress and cape and hair thing (I know they were impractical, Good Grief, but I don’t care!) were so gosh darned beautiful. I just liked looking at her! And then someone did a bad thing and compared Mulan and Aurora to Arya and Sansa from Game of Thrones.
If there is one thing you should know about me, it’s that I am a rabid Sansa defender and will act completely irrational if anyone says anything bad about her. And when I realized how well the comparison between these 4 awesome ladies matched up, well, I was gone. I love the dynamic between the 2 princesses: one who is physically strong and stoic and not a traditional “lady”, matched with one who is more gentle and ladylike and not outwardly strong but has an inner strength. An inner strength that Aurora cultivated throughout the season, and that Mulan learned to trust and appreciate and ultimately caused her to soften her tough exterior. They are perfectly matched! And arrgh! Effin’ Phillip! If ABC isn’t going to let Aurora and Mulan make-out (even though they should!), I just hope they don’t do a love triangle. That would be the worst! But really, they don’t need Phillip! Just be awesome lesbian warrior ladies together! I’d watch the shit out of that.

Good Grief: Like Xena and Gabrielle :P

Lea: Ok, so what can we really look forward to in the rest of the season? Not sure. But I’m liking where things are going. The show is pretty far from perfect, but it’s enjoyable and fun and that’s all I ask of it right now.

Zozizzle: For the rest of the season, I’m hoping for a few things. First: an epic showdown between Cora, Mr. Gold, and Regina. 

 Season 3: Unofficially subtitled as "Regina Has All the Sads"

Or Cora, Mr. Gold, Regina, and Hook. Mainly, as long as Barbara Hershey and Robert Carlyle are involved, I’ll be happy, because I think both actors would chew up some serious scenery together. Can you imagine a flashback FTL scene where Rumpelstiltskin is teaching young evil witch in training, Cora??

Anyways, about her. As we’ve learned over during the first half of this season, everybody is scared stiff of Cora. Being her daughter, Regina is perhaps the most aware of how twisted and manipulative she is, which is why she ordered Hook to assassinate her in the first place (she couldn’t even bring herself to do it). Rumpel, even though he’s sure he could best her, doesn’t want to take any chances of her making it to Storybrooke. When the two of the most powerful characters in the story are that afraid of another character, you know some shit’s about to go down. Also, she rips people’s hearts out. So, there’s that.

What I’ve come to enjoy about Cora is her unpredictability. This is not to say we don’t know whether or not she’s evil. Just as the world is round, Cora is unapologetically evil. She’s not above killing, well, anybody. Whenever she’s around, she shakes things up, no matter the realm. In flashbacks of FTL, a young Regina was sure that she’d marry Daniel, the humble stable boy, who was her true love. Cora intervened by ripping Daniel’s heart out of his chest, and Regina got betrothed to the king instead. The mere possibility of her arriving in Storybrooke through the well instead of Emma and Snow made Rumpel, ally himself with Regina (whom he cannot stand) temporarily. So, who knows what’ll happen when Cora steps off that boat with Hook, kills the Maine Coast Guard (she’d probably roll that way), and touches down in Storybrooke. The general population of Storybrooke will probably band together against her, but I’m more interested in how it’ll affect the dynamic between Mr. Gold, Regina, and resident savior, Emma (and the rest of the Charmings). They all have history with her and know she’s dangerous, which could provide some interesting tension. Who will Cora go after first? What’ll her approach be? Could poor Henry be thrown into harm’s way once Cora arrives? She certainly seems like the type to have an elaborate plan that will play on what she perceives is others’ weaknesses, mainly their love for someone else. Come January, I really have no idea what she’s going to do, but I look forward to watching the ripple effect.

This season’s new characters intrigued me, so it’s no surprise that another thing I’m looking forward to is Hook’s arc. At the end of the winter finale, it seemed like he was still committed to seeking vengeance on Rumpelstiltskin, but who knows? As Lea said before, in his flashbacks, he’s not completely evil. And in the finale, he tells Emma he never would’ve abandoned her in the giant’s lair if he’d managed to escape. He also caught Aurora’s heart before it fell into the portal. (Of course, he did rip it out first while she was imprisoned, so he wasn’t entirely benevolent.) Perhaps the pirate has a code of his own. How that code manifests itself once he meets the residents of Storybrooke and faces off against Rumpel could be interesting. 

Is his heart as dark as his eyeliner?! Only time will tell.

Lastly, two words: Sleeping Warrior. For those who are unfamiliar, that is the ship name for Mulan and Aurora, and it is a ship I will go down with. Like Lea said earlier, character-wise, they complement each other, and I’ve enjoyed watching their character development the most. I’ve always enjoyed Disney’s Mulan, so from the get-go, I thought OUAT’s Mulan was awesome. (I covet her cape in a major way. The wardrobe people outdid themselves with her costume.) And in the last episode, I enjoyed seeing how being around Aurora has softened her sometimes harsh, blunt personality. When she put Aurora’s heart back, I felt like it was the most viewers had ever seen her smile. 

Could that be indicative of something going forward? I’m hoping so.  

Possibly looking for a girl worth fighting for??

It took me a little while to come around with Aurora, since she started out, as Good Grief mentioned, a damsel in distress. However, thanks to Aurora fans on the interwebs, I began to consider how much fortitude she has and how much tragedy she’s overcome. When we first meet her, Phillip wakes her up to a world where her kingdom is a shadow of what it once was, her entire family gone. She’s alone, save for Phillip and his fellow soldier (and possibly more than a friend?), Mulan. Then, on the very same day she wakes, she loses her prince to a wraith, and she is left with only this stoic stranger to protect her. The early episodes show us how ill-equipped she is for the journey ahead as she stumbles around the forest in her flowy dress and tunic; how misguided and impulsive she is in her attempt to avenge Phillip by attacking Snow. Out of the four that travel through FTL (Emma, Snow, Mulan, and Aurora), she’s physically the weakest link and the easiest to capture. Early on, Mulan points out how she can’t keep up. But as the season continues, she shows loyalty and courage by constantly braving the netherworld to talk to Henry and refusing to give up her friends when Cora promises information that could bring Phillip’s soul back. 

Take notes, PLL. Let characters hit on people around their own age.

Aurora and Mulan’s dynamic has been interesting to watch since I don’t know exactly where the writers will take it, especially after what transpired in Queen of Hearts. Mulan started out the season being cold towards the princess, but then (especially in 2.08 Into the Deep) started to show increasing concern for Aurora’s safety alone (not Snow’s or Emma’s). At that point, it seemed like the writers were allowing for the potential of romance (or at least deep friendship) between them. Then, the winter finale happened, and all the Sleeping Warrior fans seemed to hold their breath as ‘friendship’ was seemingly thrown out the window for ‘romance’, then tossed back in all with one scene.

First, the writers gaveth (and sparked the creation of a thousand tumblr gif sets):


After Aurora discovers her heart has been ripped out, Mulan LITERALLY promises to get Aurora’s heart back for her, and then SHE DOES, AND THEN SHE PUTS IT BACK INSIDE AURORA’S CHEST.

But then, the writers took’st away.
Because not more than a second after getting her heart back, Aurora then tells Mulan she knows how they can recover Phillip’s soul. It seems the writers stepped right to the line only to leap a foot back. Or maybe it’s all part of their plan. Even though they’re not a pair now, perhaps on their quest to save Phillip next year, Aurora and Mulan will realize they don’t actually need him since they practically complete each other. It could happen, writers! Right??

Though Sleeping Warrior isn’t officially a romantic pairing, I guess I can find consolation in the fact that at the end of the day, they’re two princesses who helped each other grow, and THEN decided to save their prince. In that way, their storyline still shows what OUAT does best--turning a traditional fairy tale on its head while showcasing strong female characters. And I guess I could be placated if the writers end up turning them into a BroTP. But, like Lea said, any love triangle action is out of the question. In fact, anything resembling a love polygon will only earn my ire because it’s so tired, and I feel like this pairing has the potential to go beyond a typical love story rehash.

Hopefully, Aurora and Mulan’s new mission to rescue Phillip won’t lead to the sinking of Sleeping Warrior. Granted, this is ABC we’re talking here, and to make the pairing official would take these two Disney princesses in a very bold, perhaps controversial direction, so the chances of it actually happening are miniscule. Still, come the season finale, I hope the writers prove me wrong and let the ship sail.

In many ways, watching this show is like discovering new depths in familiar waters. OUAT has so much promise because it shakes up the pairings and characters we’ve known since childhood and reintroduces them in somewhat unexpected ways. I never would’ve thought to put Hook with the Queen of Hearts or to throw Aurora together with Mulan. Yet, as random as they are, these pairings and stories kind of work. And come January, they will hopefully continue to make for a fun and mostly enjoyable hour of TV on a Sunday night.

Good Grief: All I have to say is that I hope the New Year brings continued awesomeness from Storybrooke and the amazing dynamic duos they have created. And yes Hook is a hottie with eyeliner; yet there is one thing I have to add is that now that Rumpel and Regina used all the fairy magic from the cave, the showdowns will provide primitive forms of magic and that has to put Cora at an advantage. Right?

I am really excited that finally Snow and Charming have a chance to be together--they are my One True Pairing for sure! I love them to bits--and Lea is so right, Charming or James is way, way more sexy, appealing and brilliant than David. Also what was up with Cora inability to rip out Emma’s heart? That truly was intriguing, and I await to see and understand the writer’s choice in regards to this. Lastly, I really want to see how Cora and Rumpel came to be. Seriously, I love the flashbacks of the show as much as I love the fact that we finally have a truly terrifying and not simply vindictive villain (ahem, Regina). Whatever Cora brings to Storybrooke, it will be anything but boring.

That’s a wrap!