30 Days of OUAT - Day 30: Favorite Season Finale

 Day 30 - Favorite Season Finale

I'm going to miss gushing about OUAT every day on here. Though there are other Once themed Memes I could do (I assume there are since I've seen one for Swanfire... maybe there's one that's JUST Neal? That'd be fun ha ha). Still, like all good things, there must be an end - or at least a hiatus (which is a very very very bad word in the world of OUAT).

My favorite Season Finale is still season 1's. Season 1 just had a lot of heart and a good beginning, middle, and end. Season 2 was all over the map and the finale felt more like an epilogue to me. Season 3 had two finales, the mid season, and the 2 hour movie (which was a whole lot of CaptainSwan messing up while SwanFire kept Emma going... which was a nice picture and all... but all it did was make me sad all over again once MRJ's final scene - and most likely final episode - came up. It's all about the tumblers).

Season 1's finale has Emma rushing her son to the hospital after he collapses from taking a bite of the apple turnover that his adoptive mother gave to Emma for her trip home. Emma is willing to leave Storybrooke to once again give Henry his best chance as she believes she's fueling his crazy ideas of everyone being fairytale characters. Henry takes the turnover to prove to her that he's not crazy. It's what finally gets Emma to realize it's all true. She beats the snot out of Regina and then the two of them go to get the thing that will save Henry.

Only Gold steals it from them, and they get a call from the hospital saying they need to come right away. By the time they reach the hospital Henry has died. Emma goes in to say goodbye and gives her son a tearful kiss on his forehead. The "twu love" rainbow airburst breaks forth and Henry awakens... as does the town. Now they know who they are.

And it cliffhangs right at the best part. They've found each other, and Gold has poured his "twu luv" potion into the well that restores all. A purple cloud falls over the town and... then we had to wait for Season 2 (which would open with a mystery man walking through NYC till he gets home and a dove delivers a postcard that says "Storybrooke, Maine" on the front and "Broken" written on the back... it's Neal, and August has kept his promise to let him know when Emma's done her job).



And, that's a wrap. I'm sure I'll be revisiting OUAT on the blog soon... but I think next up is Disneyland related... and hopefully MRJ will finally play nice and break radio silence with his new project. I WANNA KNOW! ha ha...

Only 120ish days till Season 4? I think?

30 Days of OUAT - Day 23: Cutest Character

Day 23 - Cutest Character

I screwed up, this was supposed to be yesterday's prompt. I apparently flipped them. Oh wells, it works out in the end.

Cutest probably meant for the "hottest/most attractive" but I'm not going to go there with this one. I'm going for actual cuteness, and that has to go to Robin Hood's adorable son Roland. We met the boy early in Season 3 - he helps Neal get from the Enchanted Forest to Neverland by calling in Pan's shadow. He became more and more adorable in the latter half of the season when we got to see him almost each week. He not only won the heart of Regina (who was on her way to becoming his stepmother - because THAT family tree wasn't convoluted enough - until the season finale), he's won the heart of every Oncer! His fandom is called "Team Dimples" and seriously, LOOK at those DIMPLES!

I'm really excited to see how they use Roland in Season 4. His mother is back (brought back to life by Emma, gee... we can save EVERYone from "dead is dead" but ONE? Come on! It better be found out that it was MRJ who wanted to be released or I'm never going to get over it - of course he said outright that that claim was false so... ugh!) so for at least a little while next season is going to be awkward for all parties involved. Way to go, Swan. Way to mess everything up! (Hook and Emma should NOT be let loose in the past EVER again.)



I may not agree with Neal's methods on summoning up the shadow, but I'm glad he did - because Roland is just stinkin' cute!


To play the game a little more the way I think the creator of the meme was thinking I'll cheat and list my favorite attractive male characters... with their "superlative" title in the caption... because I'm a dork.

Hottest - Captain Hook
Prince Charming - Prince Charming
Brooding - Jefferson (Mad Hatter)

Hottest guy who's gonna die.

Nuf Said - August Booth (seriously it's a good thing
he's cute or I'd hate him.)

AND just because I can I'll add a "most adorable" category... and that goes to the man who has the BEST puppy dog face EVER (yes that is a compliment). Dark brown eyes lookin' all sad, and the best worried expression ever... he's pretty cute when he's not playing tragic. His personality and energy is what's most attractive about him (actor/character, not sure which one I'm crushing on really right now...)

Seriously of all the guys in the show, I want an MRJ hug
most. I'm a dork, I know... but he's just so adorable.

And now that I've been creepy and superficial... I'm gonna go watch Big Bang Theory to feel better about myself...

30 Days of OUAT - Day 17: Favorite Cliffhanger

Day 17 - Favorite Cliffhanger

Once Upon A Time is King of the Cliffhanger. I have a love hate relationship with it because of the cliffhangers. This show gets my creative brain going in overdrive (probably part of the reason why I can't "let go" of Neal's death. There are SO MANY plot/loopholes that could bring him back. So many quotes that suggest that it's a possibility or the thought... and then so many that suggest that nope, he's gone for good. But I can't shut off that creative side of me!)

With Season 3 we got two mini seasons in one. And the mid-season finale (episode 11, "Going Home") was by far the best. It actually felt like a series finale. It was so sad and yet hopeful at the same time. I haven't rewatched season 3 much - just the clips on youtube over and over and over again... (stinkin' Neal... I was not this obsessed with OUAT until he up and died. Thanks a lot MRJ!) I mean, they wrapped up the Neverland arc, saved Henry, Rumple finally releases his cowardess and reconciles with his son professing his love for Belle... it was a great "happy ending moment"... until Peter Pan enacts a reboot of the dark curse and Regina is forced to stop it. But to stop it, she has to let go of the thing she loves most - her son, Henry.

The reset will send all of Storybrooke back to the Enchanted Forest - all fairytale characters must go. Yep, even the two that were not part of the original curse (Emma & Neal)... knowing that that would leave Henry alone, Regina can save Emma from that fate... but there's a catch - they will not remember their family and friends from Storybrooke. They won't remember Neal coming back with them (FOR them). They will have good memories of Henry always being with Emma, but none of the Charmings... or Regina... or... well... Hook. They'll have never known that the odd little town ever existed or that they were once part of it. That it was once home.

After Emma accepts the inevitable, and a round of quickly said goodbyes (with Emma clearly being more upset about saying goodbye to the pirate than to her first love) Emma and Henry get into the yellow bug and drive across the town line with their family and friends watching. As they cross the town and everyone disappears as do the memories, Regina counteracts the curse. A purple haze falls over the town destroying everything in its path - including Henry's book.

The last seconds of the episode the EF is filled with its (formerly) missing characters, and then we see Emma and Henry in their NYC apartment. Happy, healthy, and a whole year has passed. A knock at the door and some weirdo in leather is at the door saying he knows Emma, that he knows she doesn't remember him, but her family is in trouble... and he goes in for a kiss, and she knees him in his misters. And then we had to wait through an insanely long hiatus for the creators to rip our hearts out slowly and crush them throughout the second half of the third season.

The obvious was that there was a way to get back to the land without magic from the EF... but how? And why was it Hook that left the EF to come get Emma?! We got most of our questions answered by the time Season 3b ended last night (great two hour season finale... though there were some major timeline issues... and a lot of plot/loopholes left open for people to get their hopes up for a future resurrection).

30 Days of OUAT - Day 12: Favorite Storybrooke Male Character

Day 12: Favorite Storybrooke Male Character

Dr. Archie Hopper. You almost don't need to go any further than that. I think he is such an under utilized character - though for good reason, the actor is in several projects these days it seems - especially since he was so important to the story in Season 1. He is more than just a cricket, or a shrink. He genuinely cares for Henry, and is probably the closest thing to a father figure the kid has consistently had. In any case, he's the best friend a boy could have - just ask Geppetto (or Marco).

When I first saw the Pilot episode Archie was the character I was most excited about, and it was because I actually recognized him. Ha ha. I've loved watching Raphael Sbarge on TV since his turn on The Guardian (CBS). To be able to see him as a classic fairytale character (with a great twist) has been so much fun. Though I did have trouble figuring out who he was until Henry told us - his dog Pongo threw me! Ha ha.

Archie is soft spoken and something of a pushover when we first meet him. He allows Regina to manipulate him into entrapping Emma by giving her his confidential files on Henry's therapy - then calls the Sheriff (RIP Graham) to report an assault and theft. He feels guilty and apologizes to Emma, but is still afraid to cross the Mayor - who also employs him to treat Henry. His bond with the boy in wanting to take care of him and help him clouds his judgement and he does whatever Regina wants so that he can stay in Henry's life. He thinks he's helping, and it takes Henry running away and getting caught in an abandoned mining tunnel for Archie to realize he owes the boy so much more.

With Sbarge on three shows, we've seen less of Archie this season. While the show as in Neverland it made sense as Archie didn't go with the heroes to that realm. However in the battle of Wicked vs Evil one wants more of Archie. He was seen briefly in the 3b opener, and then he was not used by Emma to keep Henry out of the crossfire (which to me seems silly as he'd probably be the best one to "lie" to the boy who has no memory of these people). Archie did finally reunite with Henry in this week's episode, which was sweet, but it remains to be seen just how much we'll see of the good doctor in the future... or even if he's just the cricket (at this point I will take what I can get).




As I said in my post yesterday, I did not choose Neal Cassidy for the reason that I don't count him (or Emma) as a "Storybrooke Character". There's a separate category for Neal and Emma, I'm not sure what they should be considered, but they aren't part of the Dark Curse (which was created so Rumple could get to Nealfire, and Emma was put in the magic wardrobe to escape it). I'm still confused as to why Neal had to go back to the EF since he was not part of the original curse, but whatever. What's done is done. They at least answered the question this past week as to why they decided this season that Neal needed to die to "advance the story". Some fans argue that it was so that Hook would have an easy way to Emma's heart - but let's face it, that was written long before Neal's death was decided on. Neal needed to die in order to revert Rumple back into the creepy bad guy we all know and love. I actually have a whole rant on his final few scenes in this week's episode... but that's for another blog for another day I suppose.