User blog:Rena Charming/Miniview - "The Snow Queen"

So since I obviously can't commit to doing a review for the show every week - Mondays are a hard day, reviews themselves are hard, and if they don't come out the day after then what's the point? - I wanna try to dedicate myself to writing small reviews. This isn't to say that I'll never do a full-blown review again. Heck, if the winter finale is any bit as laughable as season 3's, with the extra time I'll have after it airs I'll be sure to review it completely and have a ball mocking the silliness. I am still beating myself hard for not reviewing 4.06, when there was soooooo much I could have poked fun at.

This episode, however, blew me away from start to finish, because it was virtually flawless. It now stands undoubtedly as one of the best episodes of the whole series, which is quite an accomplishment considering the mediocre batch of shows that preceded it. We are now past the halfway point of this arc and it is finally getting good: things are falling into place as the revelations are laid out before us, and the core characters find themselves in more interesting places. I guess that's the appeal of the Snow Queen and the gradual interest we have in her: it took me quite some time to warm up to her (does that count as a pun?) but now I find myself deeply intrigued with her plans and satisfied enough with her motivations. That's saying something, I suppose. Zelena was a very entertaining villain, but she was about as entertaining in her first true appearance in 3.13, when almost everything about her was laid bare, as she was when she was finally defeated. Pan was very intriguing from the beginning but then his story was a complete letdown, both in his plans and motivations. And Cora just wasn't really that interesting a villain because it took us so long to get a real story on her (but when we did, damn, what a good story it was). In that respect (and excluding her ridiculous appearance in 4.04 - I get it, she has a history with Emma and was taunting her and trying to get in her head, it was still forced and unnecessary), the Snow Queen is now proving herself to be a solid, relatable and compelling Big Bad.

And like I said, this episode actually made almost all the characters more interesting. Emma is now unable to control her powers because as we have all learned magic = emotion (or something along those lines), and she's in a dark place right now, and it actually wasn't as contrived as I thought it would be. Rumple is now the most interesting he's been since the Neverland arc: how fricking eerie was the last scene with him and Ingrid? Man, I'm sold - I wanna know what his deal is. Awesome turn of events. Mary Margaret's fear was palpable but so was her guilt over showcasing said fear, which is just the kind of stuff we want to see the great and underused Ginnifer Goodwin tackling, and for once Robin Hood didn't annoy the hell out of me. I have to learn to make peace with the fact that this Marian ordeal didn't go in the direction I thought it would, and try to enjoy the ongoing story for all I can. And with that in mind, I do sympathize with the fact that it is hard to fall out of love with someone, and it must surely be equally hard to fall back in love with a popsicle. Sean Maguire was quite good in this episode, and his scenes with Will were long overdue and nice. I'm not, however, satisfied with the backstory we got on Robin and Marian, it's the kind of thing I woulda liked to have seen in a centric episode of his, but now a) it could still be shown and I don't care anymore cos I already know what happens or b) they're just not gonna do a Robin episode anytime soon until they officially make him a regular which is sucky cos we all thought he'd get at least two episodes this season d'oh. It's always annoying when this show strings huge, iconic characters along without giving them focus (Aurora and Mulan anyone?). But I digress. Oh, and one more thing: Belle didn't make me wanna bash her brains in with a heavy book this episode. For once, her contribution was valued by me. I loved her tagging along with Storybrooke's own Scooby Gang, and hope to see more of that. It's refreshing when she's not hiding out under Rumple's skirt. Still, how weird was the one scene they did share together? She barges in with the Charmings and he mocks their entrance, despite the fact that his wife is visibly in the midst. And the way he said "How could I turn down the 'please' of my beloved wife?" was just creepy. Like he didn't mean it at all, there was no emotion in his face. He looked bored saying that. What's his appeal again, Belle? Certainly not the smooth talking. Anyway, yeah, let's have Belle help out more with the heroics and discoveries. It's weird enough that Ruby used to do that and now she's just MIA all the time. Doesn't even make sense offscreen anymore either, cos, what the hell does Meghan Ory have going on right now?

The cherry on top of this scrumptious cake of an episode was of course the anxiously awaited "mommy and me" class with three Disney princesses, an unprecedented moment in the series. I didn't exactly get my hopes up for this one because I expected it to be brief fanservice taking place in the first act of the episode, and whereas that was true, Ashley still got more lines than I expected (including a neat "Cinderella" reference to maybe clue in the softcore viewers on who she is, well done) and Aurora was delightfully adorkable in her modern-world naïveté. How lovely that they either end the "Goodbye" song by mentioning the three little princes in a row, like saving the best for last, or not even acknowledging the other babies at all. Still, the baby in the Mickey Mouse get-up looked precious, and took away our confusion over Ashley's post-op tranny baby for a split second. Phillip Jr. though? Ugh. I can't for the life of me undestand why some fathers give their babies their first names. Seems so vain. I am likely the most self-centered person you will ever meet and I'd still never name my child Renato Jr. I shall name it Renatito.

The flashback story in this episode was wonderful, though it's upsetting that they didn't bother to make Elizabeth Mitchell look younger. Did she like, spend 50 years hiding in that bedroom? Looked like it. Sally Pressman just looked incredibly familiar to me. Either I know her from some other project, or it's because she's a dead ringer for Kristin Chenoweth. Can she be on this show please? How awesome was the inclusion of the Duke of Weselton as a younger man? The show has actually done a nice job incorporating the minor characters of the movie, and we've often overlooked that. He was so wonderfully awkward, and his turn for the wicked in the end was awesome. I loved the sisterly bond between Ingrid, Helga and Gerda. It's a testament to the flashback story that it made me care so much about them in such a short time to the point that I actually teared up when Helga died in such a tragic fashion. Now, a lot of people will probably take issue with what Gerda did in the end, but I get it. She was horrified by what Ingrid did, and rightfully so, and feared for her own life, which is probably made all the easier with her being the youngest and probably most impressionable. And the memory-wipe thing, well, the Duke was putting the kingdom in jeopardy, and there would be questions about what happened to her sisters that she would have a hard time answering, so, sure. I'm good. Your choices are morally dubious, Gerda, but your justifications solid and convincing. Can her future husband be confirmed as King Kai already?

Another thing I have to point out: this episode wasn't just entertaining story-wise, it was remarkably well-written. We have come to expect Adam and Eddy episodes to not be nearly as well-written as Jane Espenson ones, for example, but this one might have been their best writing job so far. As I said already, the Ashley and Aurora lines were good. The dialogue exchanged between Emma and Ingrid, and between the latter and Gold included some of the best lines ever written for this show, and their delivery by the actors was top-notch. For once, the Snow Queen didn't speak solely in clichés. The only exposition-heavy lines came in the teaser (which, okay, gotta move stuff along, was set in fairytale world, and also children acted it out, so they get a free pass) and when Mary Margaret pretty much repeated Elsa's lines about Emma seeing fear in their eyes. Everything else was done very well, so, kudos, Adam and Eddy, keep up the good work.

All things considered, it is a bit silly how the press releases keep making big deals out of little things: did Henry need to be mentioned at all? It's not like he actually did much working for Gold this episode. Regardless, this episode was a sure winner. Here's hoping the upcoming 2-part special can manage to keep me as engaged as this one did.

Rating the Episode:
 * Flashback story = 5 out of 5 stars. Honestly one of the best and most interesting flashbacks, one that I know won't be boring upon rewatch: from the creepy pedo in the beginning to the sisterly ties to the shocking conclusion that added up to everything we knew happened, everything worked out wonderfully.
 * Present-day action = 4 out of 5 stars. "Mommy and me" was a wonderful treat, the story shared between Emma and Ingrid was engaging, and it's made me more excited about what's to come. Rumple wanting "everything" was surprisingly dark and awesome.
 * Usage of cast = 4 out of 5 stars. Belle's and Will's contributions were good, the core cast was well used, the Disney princesses better used than I expected, Elizabeth Mitchell's talent better handled, and overall performances quite riveting.
 * Writing = 4 out of 5 stars. Save for some clunkier, exposition-heavy lines (the soup du jour with OUaT), the dialogue was remarkably good for the most part.

Overall rating = 17/20. Fantastic.