#shut up and tell me now. or at least in the season. ‘ooh ruby’s snow power will be explained next season’ NO! EXPLAIN IT NOW

[laniidae-passerine]

I’m finding that the laziest moments of Doctor Who’s writing are the ‘retroactive twists’ - when the show runner reveals something happened way back over there, in the past, before they were even running the show. And we swear it happened, way over there, far back, and you didn’t see it because of reasons but it’s definitely been happening! And it totally makes sense and I absolutely didn’t just pull it out my ass to justify my paper thin plotline! All this kind of writing does is make me miss self contained season length plots. We’ve had people complaining that Moffat was guilty of the “this thing is big and scary and it’s going to happen, oh god it’s showing up, we’re going to discover what it truly is….. next season!!!!!!” plotline (and yes. he was. twelve is my fav doctor but yeah Moffat loved a mysterious horse and a big stick) but now suddenly when RTD gets out his own mysterious horse and a big stick, it’s got to be genius! everything is eventually going to make sense! and we’re absolutely not being had by a man who used to be able to write this show and is now a hack!

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT Rewatch 4X13 - Unforgiven

Will this be the QUEEN-tesentail episode of the series or not?

Shut up! That was funny!

In any event, you can find my thoughts below the cut!

Main Takeaways

Past

I feel like this episode should’ve had more featured about bad things that the Queens of Darkness, namely Ursula and Cruella have done in the past. Snow and David are about as untrusting of them as they ever were to Regina (Snow literally says “they’re almost worse than Regina”), but the audience, even upon seeing this episode for the second time, don’t have a ton of context because so few of their misdeeds are depicted. While one can assume that more was known about Maleficent from her conflicts with Briar Rose and Aurora, Cruella (Whose misdeeds were done mostly in another realm) and Ursula don’t have that benefit. Even within the confines of this episode, it’s Maleficent who kills the guards and while our other queens agree with the decision, they play no direct part in it. It’s just “ooh badness -- how evil!” I feel like even a reference to past deeds would’ve done so much (Ex. “You destroyed the docks.” or “You had a set of beavers tear apart their dam and flood a town.”). This by no means destroys the flashback in my eyes, but it does fail when later episodes don’t provide a ton of villainy (Or any in Ursula’s case) to either woman.

“No.” Never has a singular word pissed me off so much. This singular word said to Maleficent as she begs to work together as mothers is DISGUSTING. Snow places her piety above her child as well as Mal’s and it is ABHORRENT. Jeez, even before the reveal of what happened, Snow was already coming off as so vile from this moment.

Present

It’s very interesting rewatching this episode with the full knowledge of what Snow and David did to Maleficent. It’s frustrating because Snow tries to stop Mal’s first reaction to seeing them, but because of the need for a twist in this episode, she’s not able to give her an actual apology like I’m pretty sure Snow would have under other circumstances.

”They remind of a time in my life I’d rather forget, time when I was a true villain.” I LOVE this line. I think a line like this is one of Regina’s best in regards to a reflection on her own past. She’s not falsely playing a victim, but shows that she wants to forget this time in her life because it was a time period where she did horrible things. This is a self aware Regina, not pitying herself but still trying to move on. It’s sympathetic enough as a line while not ignoring how bad Regina was. It doesn’t blame anyone for remembering these things -- Regina’s angry at being embarrassed in front of Henry.

I liked Emma and Killian’s conflict in this episode. Like with the Regina line that I mentioned earlier, it’s a good reflection on Killian’s shame over his past villainy and shows a large amount of self awareness. Killian is definitely framed as in the wrong for lying -- as he should -- and the conversations throughout this episode effectively show facets of his and Emma’s characters. Killian is someone who despite his quips and praise over his appearance and abilities does experience self loathing and Emma understands this and wants to help, provided he be honest with her. She doesn’t need the whole truth per-se, accepting his desire for the matter to stay private, but wants him to at least be truthful about that desire and not hide behind denial. And once he apologizes and tells her basically that, she’s supportive of him and assures him. I will say that I wish that at least some suggestion from Emma that Killian confront how he wronged Ursula with her was thrown out in the conversation (Ex. “And you can come back from it”), but it does make Killian’s decision to do it on his own a few episodes later much stronger for his character.

I find it interesting how Snow and David’s lie about their change in morality ends up having a positive effect for Emma. I don’t think it undercuts the truth of the moral, as it does accurately fit Emma and Killian’s dynamic at its conclusion in this episode (And that theme resonates especially well with Emma), but it is weird how it originates from a lie. That having been said, within the confines of the lie, to give no consequences at all to people who stole from a store is kind of...well, dumb, but given that it’s Storybrooke and there are bigger matters to worry about, it’s fine.

“Because they’re villains and we’re heroes.” While I HATED the interpretation of Snow’s possession in “Bleeding Through,” I did like how it was clear about how this black-and-white morality between heroes and villains was utter BS. Because of that, I find it really annoying to see this line. While I know that it’s a lie, the fact that it goes straight-up believed and unchallenged by Emma and Killian (Especially Killian, the more I think about it) makes it feel like no one learned that. And I know it’s a theme of the series, but by now, the lessons been learned a few times over so a line like that going unchallenged is really out of place.

Stream of Consciousness

-Wow! Neal sleeps in the kitchen! These guys REALLY need more space!

-Awww! I love how David is sitting on the steps right by Neal so he can simultaneously protect Emma!

-”Hello, mum.” This is Will Scarlet’s best line. Granny is everyone’s mum!

-Day-um, son! Regina’s getting one hell of a brag up (Because for them, it’s not a takedown) from Cruella and Ursula! XD

-”Chocolate frosted donuts.” I feel like if Regina wasn’t about to deal with the two Queens, she’d be lecturing Henry about not eating like crap. XD

-”I’ve been dying for a grilled cheese all day.” I appreciate that Emma has a legit appetite, especially for someone who runs around town all day!

-I love how word travels so fucking quickly in Storybrooke. What must their text chains look like?! XD

-So, you have to wonder where Mal went while she was “dead.” Thoughts? If she was in the Underworld, i bet Hades pitched a fit so big that Liam was roasting marshmallows from his bar when it happened.

-”You’re getting crumbs all over the book.” Not to be a nitpicker, but a donut with that consistency would not have crumbs! XD

-”If only your wits matched your looks.” Looks like James/Cruella had a bit of foreshadowing! XD

-Cruella’s remarks still crack me up!

-Wait, the station has security footage from Gold’s? Like, I like that that exists because it’s GOLD, but it’s just surprising is all! When was this installed?

-You guys really think two villains will just leave town with your secret after being screwed over and not reveal that secret out of pure spite?! I would PAY to see an alternate cut of this scene with Regina there to point that out with a sassy one-liner.

-I have to wonder what would’ve happened had Snow and David admitted their lie to Emma earlier. Thoughts?

-Can you imagine the Queens of Darkness sleeping in those crazy costumes?! XD

-I really like the set of the Tree of Knowledge and wish we saw it again! It’s really cool!

-Ummmm, Snow, David, shouldn’t you be concerned with why Mal’s ashes are in a convenient little pile?

-Damn, Marco’s got jokes! XD

-”I’d say she’s moved on.” I LOVE how the villains, despite working together, are still underhanded in shit like this! XD

-”You’re positively radiant, my dear.” Was I the only one thinking that Snow was wondering if Mal was hitting on her? XD

-Damn, even finding out about her pregnancy sucked for Snow! I feel really bad for her!

-Mal, if you want to torture Snow and David, why wouldn’t you reveal their secret before they have the chance to? That way, their family and the town at large would trust them less, isolating them and making your further revenge easier.

-Snow and David are so freakin’ awkward! XD

-Robert Carlyle’s acting as he sees Belle and Will Scarlet kiss was fantastic! Look at how he looks like he’s about to cry and how he basically crawls into the darkness because of how torn up he is. That is AMAZING!

-Mal rattling her little rattle breaks my fucking heart!

Favorite Dynamic

Regina and Marco. This really comes down to a singular, effective line: “After ruining everyone else’s happy ending, what makes you think you deserve one of your own?” I am so happy this line and the ensuing conversation was put in. One aspect of Regina’s redemption that I take issue with is that Regina’s smaller victims are often denied a chance to voice their oppositions to said redemption. While Snow and David do get chances to voice their frustrations, smaller victims like Leroy, Granny, Ruby, and Marco don’t get that chance beyond the occasional quip. Because of that, a moment like this really means something. And I like that while the camera pans to show Regina’s reaction to this, it doesn’t linger on her, showing that this isn’t a sympathetic moment for Regina. I also found Regina’s apology to be pretty decent. While I wish it had less excuses within it and Marco was a little too easy to forgive, it did feel authentic to Regina’s character as well as genuine.

Writer

Andrew Chambliss and Kalinda Vazquez are large and in charge today! I don’t have a ton to say. Apart from a few issues that I mentioned above, I feel like they did a decent job here. The story just needed a… ONCE OVER (AND OMG I’M THE ONCE OVER THINKER! I THINK ON WHAT THEY SHOULD’VE DONE A ONCE OVER ON! XD )! The stories are appropriately framed, tell themselves well enough, and setup the future conflicts decently.

Rating

8/10.

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Sorry for how late this one came out, but thank you for reading!!!

Shoutouts also to @watchingfairytales and @daensarah! See you all next time!

Season 4 Total (113/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (34/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (30/50) Andrew Chambliss: (22/50) Dana Horgan: (6/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (22/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

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