30 Days of OUAT - Day 28: Best Actor/Character

Day 28 - Best Actor/Character

And no one is shocked, right? Though in all honesty I probably don't even agree with my pick (really for me it's a three way tie between MRJ, Robert Carlyle, and Colin O'Donoghue), but I keep coming back to Michael Raymond-James. I mean if you've followed along with the 30 days of Once so far you know how I feel about his character Neal Cassidy, and if you follow me on Twitter you know I've been quickly catching myself up on his work. (Well, for the most part... the idea of watching his True Blood or Black Snake Moan character terrifies me. LOL!)

I don't want to do a huge gushfest considering I've gushed pretty much non stop all month, but I do want to say that I believe MRJ to be a very underrated actor (at least to the general public). He's more than just a character actor (guy is totally typecast ha ha), he's very skilled at his craft. His style is very laid back and natural on screen and that makes his characters believable. It's his warmth and charm that makes Neal a likeable guy even after all we find out about him (which in the grand scheme of things I don't believe makes him all that bad a person... it's all totally forgivable, which is what Emma does... but I digress).

If you want to see him shine outside of OUAT, I highly recommend Terriers. It was a short lived (not even a full season) show that he was a co-lead on. It's a "buddy drama-edy" about two down on their luck type PI's who end up getting a case that's way bigger than they realize. It was on FX and just didn't get the ratings (I kinda remember the promos for it, but I never watched it when it aired. Wish I had). You can stream it on Netflix (which I do regularly) - it's 13 episodes and well worth the time to take a day and binge watch. If the pilot doesn't catch your attention, keep watching. I wasn't hooked until episode 2 or 3, even with it being MRJ (I'm not a fan of Donal Logue's acting, so it took a while to get over him being co-lead with Michael).

With Neal now dead and gone (with creators Adam and Eddy both repeating the OUAT mantra "Dead is Dead" whenever asked about a possible return for the character) Michael fans are waiting to hear of his next project. He tweeted a while back that after an extended vacation he was back to work on a project he's excited about. He ended the tweet with "Details soonish"... and THIS fan is convinced it's "soonish" and he needs to spill! Especially since he keeps popping up on twitter every few days to share his "pearls of wisdom" (the latest being on washing dishes).

Whatever the project is I really hope it's a good one. Not a couple episodes arc on an established TV show where he ends up dying or some other tragic storyline. I want to see him branch out and play something that we haven't seen much of in his filmography - because judging by his interviews, twitter, and the like... he seems like a fairly happy go lucky kinda guy. So, come on, dude! A little less depression for your fans, please?! ha ha!

Oh, and totally superficial/random/weird point - as a photographer I cannot get over his eyes. They catch light perfectly and make them just stand out and are soooooooo beautiful... and I don't normally say that about dark eyes. But dang.



Oddly enough, however, I don't think Neal is the best character on the show. As much as I'm obsessed over the whole "Quiet Minds" thing, and how much I admire the actor, the character took a while for me to warm up to (not MRJ's fault, the writing didn't make him all that likeable for a long time). No, the best character award most definitely goes to Neal's Papa, Rumpelstiltskin. Robert Carlyle is a sheer genius in this role (and I probably should've given him his due as best actor... but puppy dog eyes won out on that one ha ha).

Seriously this man plays evil to perfection, and he does it in a way that the character is still so sympathetic. Even though he abandoned his son - dropped him down a portal! - and murdered a mute maid because she found out his dagger is what controls him, you still feel for him as he searches for a way to reach Baelfire in the land without magic. You cheer for him when he finds love with Belle (even if the age difference and scales make it kinda creepy), and your heart breaks each time he "loses her"... and then Quiet Minds happens where his son tells him to let go and tells him he loves him with his final breath... and we weep for him. And during his sons funeral, while he's caged and Zelena's prisoner, he feels every painful shovel of dirt burying his son - forever separating them. And you just want his pain to end.



Rumple's relationship with his son is yet another reason why I really really hope that this is truly NOT the end of Nealfire, even though I know it is.

30 Days of OUAT - Day 27: Most Shocking Moment

Day 27 - Most Shocking Moment

Pretty sure this one ranks right up there. I had thought for weeks - really since the second half of season 3 began - that Neal was the one who sent Hook to get Emma. I don't know why, but I just thought that either they had both tried to get back to her and Neal had somehow failed to survive the trip (thinking to who could possibly be the character to die that they warned us about), or that he couldn't make it and knew that the Jolly Roger was the only way to get back to the Land Without Magic. Remember, Neal is probably the one who knows best how to travel from realm to realm (other than Jefferson who is a non-factor to the story these days due to the actor not being available).

However, after "Quiet Minds" where we see Neal essentially die in his father's arms (and get absorbed by him... still weirds me out), so I figured I was wrong. Because Neal had no knowledge past the flying monkeys being a signal that the Wicked Witch of the West was around what was going on with the Charmings ("You're acting like that's normal"). He didn't know Zelina had threatened them, or that no one but Emma could defeat her. That is, until "A Curious Thing" airred. There we find Belle and the others going to Rumple for help. He's locked away in his own castle with the madness that having his son in his body/mind keeping him from being controlled by Zelina. Belle asks him how they can defeat the witch and he riddles them with the answer - Emma.

Towards the end of the episode - after Zelina finds out that the Charmings have re-enacted the dark curse to get back to Storybrooke and find a way back to Emma - Zelina comes with a memory potion for Rumple so that he can retain his memories - should he so choose. Rumple contemplates taking it, and just as he puts it to his lips an unseen force throws him back against the wall. He struggles and then that all too familiar and creepy bad CGI melds two faces together - the same two faces as in Quiet Minds. Neal rips through his father's body taking the potion, saying they aren't the ones that need to remember - Emma is. He rips his shirt, writes a message, calls a dove (some say that's proof he's a Prince(ss)) and sends the message to Hook.

Some say this shows him out of character - because he trusts Hook. Neal has only ever not trusted Hook where his father was concerned. Post Neverland, I don't even think he much cared/worried about that. Yes, he saw Hook as a rival for Emma's affection, but even towards the end of that part of the season Neal was willing to "let her go" if that's what made her happy. But NONE of that was what was being done in this scene. It was not his "blessing" for CaptainSwan to happen. Neal knew his fate in that moment (and would've known it in Storybrooke had they had their memories of the year in the EF), he needed to have someone as desperate as he was to get back to Emma get her the message. He knows Hook's capabilities (probably better than most anyone else still alive on the show). He TRUSTED him with the most important task.

Like Neal said in Quiet Minds - he hadn't forgotten all that Hook did for him (yes there was a betrayal, but Neal knows better than anyone the regret of betraying someone you love and care for). Neal did what he had to do. Neal gave up his fears, wants, desires, needs to give Emma the best possible chance she had to save her family. To, once again, come back home. He needed to know that his son and the woman he has always loved would be SAFE. Hook could give him that.



What made this shocking to me - since "I called it" - is the fact that I was RIGHT. And how it was done. As devastating as the story is in this scene... it made me happy. Not just to be right, but that because we got to see MRJ once again. We'd see him one final time in Season 3 - in the season finale. These scenes were wonderful, but ripped open the fangirl wounds all over again. I've "self medicated" by binge watching the short lived Terriers (which they really need to have clips of on Youtube!)... Britt Pollack is Nealfire in the 11 years between leaving Emma and getting found in NYC I just know it! lol

30 Days of OUAT - Day 26: Most Heartfelt Moment

Day 26 - Most Heartfelt Moment

This is not the most heartfelt, but it's definitely one of them. I love the scene where Rumple is dying in his shop, Emma and Neal are desperately trying to protect him from Regina and Cora... but it's not working. The protection spell is weakening, and Rumple is succumbing to the poison (Nightshade courtesy of our beloved Captain Hook). Rumple says he's dying, Neal frustratedly disagrees with his father and sits on a stool to pout (because, lets face it, Neal is sometimes more that 14 year old Baelfire than the adult Neal). Rumple asks Emma to let him call Belle, who is in the hospital cursed with her curse memories (after being shot by, you guessed it, our beloved Captain Hook).

Rumple's phone call to the amnesia patient is touching, and heartfelt. Full of love. Emma and Neal both hear his words, and we see Neal's demeanor soften slightly. Remember, this guy has been running from his father for over 200 years at this point, and has been haunted by his father abandoning him for all of it. There's centuries of hurt and shame that he's not dealing with.

When Rumple ends his call, Neal tells his father he believed him incapable of such feelings. Rumple tells him he's full of love. Neal truly is Baelfire in this scene, as he confronts his father with the point that Rumple broke their deal (of all the deals Rumple's made the ONLY one he goes back on is the one with his son). Rumple apologizes to his son, asking his forgiveness... and then my favorite part of the whole thing... Rumple reaches his bloodstained hand out to his son asking him to take it. Neal looks down at it and says ever so quietly (and in a voice that would fit more as a boy than a man) "I'm still angry." It's once again Michael Raymond-James acting to perfection (seriously Robert and MRJ together is magic).  There is so much being said in those three words.

Watching Neal fight his pain, his anger, his mixed up emotions and finally take his father's hand and reconnect breaks my heart. I'd always felt a sense of joy that they were reconciling when watching this scene before... Season 3b ruined that for me. Now my heart just breaks (seriously, MRJ owes me my happiness back... I blame him as much as I do Adam and Eddy for ruining my life! LOL).



Thank you, Michael Raymond-James. I'm sorry it took me so long to fangirl! You're an amazing actor, and I can't wait to see what's next! (Seriously, it's been soon-ish! Dish on your next project!)