It is Tuesday, isn't it?
And we have a new Once Upon a Time to examine. It took me until the end of this episode to figure out why this one was titled The Outsider, so you all should immediately lower your expectations for any keen insights for me.
Nevertheless, let's begin:
So, this episode pretty much belonged to Claire - oops! - Belle, right? As I've said before, I've always had a soft spot for Belle of Beauty and the Beast. She's sorta my favorite Princess. And I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised by the direction the show took with this segment of her backstory.
First of all, how fun was it to see her tossing back a glass at the town tavern?
Then to have her set out with a wagon-full of men-folk after the Yaoguai actually had me perked up to see how that would unfold. I have to give the show props for an unexpected twist on Beauty and the Beast.
The only downside to the Yaoguai storyline is that it invited, once more, the show's BAD CGI to come out to play. And I know it's just a TV show, not a feature-length, big-budget movie. It's just so consistently, distractingly BAD.
But it served its purpose in making sure that we understand clearly that Belle's thing is seeing the good in the beast. Which: I can dig it. That's one of the main reasons I love Belle, so even if the writers lost all sense of subtlety in the showing of it, it was still good.
And we had Mulan really earning her stripes as Rescuer Of The Princesses. (Although in this Enchanted Forest, Belle really isn't any kind of royalty at all. Now I'm nitpicking myself. Awesome.) And Prince Phillip! And the two meet and this is the part where Mulan loses her mind over him. Gotcha.
Over in Storybrooke town, we get to see Belle flustered by modern technology (sister, the only place worse for cell phone reception than a dodgy old elevator is a parking garage, so be thankful your call at least went through), and we get to see her screw her courage to the sticking place and take on Hook himself.
And can I just say that smoldering!Hook can stay on my screen 4EVER. The scene where he reveals to Belle that Rumpel actually killed Millah (probably misspelled, don't care) was fantastically engaging. The show scored mightily in casting that actor as Hook. So dashing, so evil.
And so of course Belle convinces Rumpel to hold on to that shimmery little thread of goodness within himself and not kill Hook. Of course he does as she says because that's our payoff for the entirety of her backstory this week.
Meanwhile, just moments before Snow suggests (to Charming and Emma's horror?!) that they find a place bigger than her preciously shabby chic loft for the four of them, I was thinking to myself whhhyyyyyyy do they all still live in Mary Margaret's apartment? I'm sorry, but what happened to the house David and Katherine shared? There is obviously no intention of bringing Katherine back. That chick is long gone. And so that nice big house is just sitting there empty while the four of them are invading each other's space in the Fairy Tale Love Shack?
Oh right, right. I get it. They have to all be living there so it can set up the disagreement between Snow and Charming about do we stay or do we go now?
And let me follow that thread for a moment because as I mentioned several times early in season 2, there have been some striking similarities between Charming and Jack Shepherd. I thought it was pretty fantastic that between the two of them, it was Charming who was like WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!!
Except not really at all that manic and obsessed like Jack. More like, "Meh. Maine's fine and all, but I don't wanna die here. Whaddya say we head on back to the Enchanted Forest? We'll hire some contractors, fix up the ol' castle, fight off the ogres. Just like old times." We'll just have to see how this plays out because we all know the REAL Snow White loved putting on an apron and getting all domestic.
What else?
OH MY GOSH. What an ending! Hook, you naughty knave, you. And the car! From Pennsylvania! Whoever could it be?! I'm seriously asking here. I have no idea. But yeah, super exciting ending for The Outsider.
So, I only got a few hours of sleep last night. I'm sure I missed many a detail. What were YOUR thoughts on this week's episode? As always, I love to hear your theories, pick-a-parts, and wisdom!
