Deus Ex Machina

Hello, fellow Irrelevants! Are you recovered from the season finale yet?

Yeah, me neither.

I’m terribly sorry for the delay in the post about the season finale, but there were several factors prohibiting me from blogging.

The biggest reason was that our Internet AND TV went down.

On the day of the finale.

WORST.

DAY.

EVER.

So then I had to wait a few days for us to figure out the Internet issue and then I was able to watch it online.

It actually turned out to be a really good thing that I waited an extra week to watch the finale. You see, there were two major finales going on that week. Once Upon a Time had its finale the Sunday before AND IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST SEASON FINALES IN EXISTENCE!!! ASDFGHJKL!!!

And then there was Person of Interest. That ended up being one of the most heartbreaking season finales in existence.

So if I had watched Person of Interest finale the day it aired, I would have had one of the craziest roller coasters of emotion ever. It would have utterly slaughtered all the excitement for Once Upon a Time and it would have just been too much.

But now it’s time to talk about the heartbreak. I’m so sorry in advance for the resurrection of the pain I’m about to inflict on you all.

So Locke and Boone have found a strange hatch in the middle of the jungle on the Island, and they’re trying to think of a way to open it and…

Whoops. Sorry. Wrong “Deus Ex Machina”.

LOST CROSSOVER!!

Sorry…I couldn’t resist. :p

So anyway, Collier is holding a “trial” of sorts, in an undisclosed location, and he’s got everyone who has been involved with Samaritan/Northern Lights/the Machine–basically anything that has to do with public surveillance. The mission? TO RESCUE FINCH!! He can’t give anything away about what he’s done! It would jeopardize everything that he, Reese and Shaw have been doing.

This “trial” was very fishy from the very beginning. Collier obviously put great effort into not revealing the location of the trial, but then he arranged for all the appropriate people to be there: a judge, a jury and the media. AND he claimed that the trial was being broadcast all over the world.

That was where a red flag went up for me. What gave Collier the right to broadcast a trial all over the world–a trial that only had to do with American affairs?

Take note of that last statement. It’ll be important later.

Then Collier started shooting people! He actually killed the first guy who didn’t answer his questions!

Fair trial, Mr. Collier? I think not!

This episode’s flashback was focused on him again, and this time, it was about how Collier got involved with Vigilance in the first place. A curious process it was, and there was a feeling of dread as to who this person was who was recruiting Collier. Or I guess he wasn’t even Collier to begin with. Peter Collier was actually the name assigned to him when he decided to join. Very strange. And after he’s been part of the group for some time, Collier finds out that one of the men in his team was involved in the murder of his brother. That spurred Collier on to take a more aggressive approach to the process of justice, and he just pulled out the surveillance system at random, if memory serves, as Vigilance’s first target. Hence, this was how his whole crusade began. He had been working up to this “trial” all this time.

The Crash the Trial movement wasn’t going well at all in the beginning. How do you find the location of an unknown building in the middle of a blacked out city? The solution was simple but quite brilliant, I think. Hersh (who was temporarily on the good side) and Reese posed as the “SWAT team” that was really with Vigilance, and they got to talking with a person in Vigilance to get the location of the court house. Once they got the location, they made a beeline there.

And let us not forget, in the midst of saving Finch and stopping the trial, the still impending doom of Samaritan being activated. Samaritan was not going to stay shut down forever, after what happened the first time it was turned on, and it would only be a matter of time before it would come back online–this time, with the same surveillance skills as the Machine. This was the task that Root took upon herself to deal with, apparently, and Shaw ditched Reese and Hersh to assist her. It was hard to tell what exactly Root was doing, but it was evidently something big, hopefully helpful and extremely dangerous. Root wasn’t expecting to make it out alive. But she and Shaw are boss. They can get out of anything. I hope.

The “trial” is still going on at this point, and more and more people are being called up. It was beginning to get extremely uncomfortable. I was not liking it at all. Any information disclosed could potentially be dangerous for the Machine. Greer said that Finch’s secret was safe with him and Control told Finch that she wouldn’t say anything either. I wanted to believe both of them, but I had some difficulty trusting Greer. I gotta say that this was the first time I actually liked Control. Up to this point, I really despised them for the programs they were trying to get approved, but with the information they had, again, it could destroy the Machine. But Control handled the trial beautifully! I loved her responses and she absolutely refused to give anything away.

But of course, that’s not how Collier wants things to be. He wants answers. And from the look in his eyes, it was beginning to look as if he was about to shoot down Control too.

But then Finch stood up.

Finch. 

Finch, what are you doing?!?

FINCH, STAHP!!!

His actions were inevitable. He would try to prevent anyone else from dying, even if it involved risking himself and his Machine. A noble move, BUT STILL!!! He shouldn’t do that! He shouldn’t risk himself and the Machine!

However, I was surprisingly pleased with Finch’s responses. He’s a very clever talker in dire situations. He said everything without saying anything. He told Collier about his motivations with creating the Machine without giving away any details, and it seemed to satisfy Collier’s curiosity somewhat.

*GIGANTIC SIGH OF RELIEF*

But no one in that trial, or the building for that matter, was out of danger. By this point, Reese and Hersh had found the court house, and they were inspecting things. Hersh found a monstrous bomb under the building that would be detonated when the power in New York City came back on. This was going to be tricky.

However, I don’t really remember how it happened, but somehow Collier found out that they had been discovered, and he hastily moved everyone to another building, I think. There, he questioned Finch further, and things were looking very grim and unpromising when a completely unexpected twist took place.

Greer suddenly came forward and said that the whole mission was over.

What?! Who is he to say something like that?

Greer eventually revealed to Collier that he had been the one who had found him and recruited him to join Vigilance.

Greer is Vigilance.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!

Okay. That’s definitely not good.

And I don’t remember everything Greer actually said, but I think it was something along the lines of he was trying to buy time to get Samaritan up and running. His plan was to blow up the court house, kill several police officers and it would look as if Collier and his gang was behind it all.

And remember the red flag about the trial being broadcast around the world? It wasn’t. The broadcast never left Greer’s office. Collier would never get the recognition he had worked so hard to achieve.

Suddenly, I felt terrible for Collier. He had been played this entire time, all the while thinking he was doing something noble for his country. And now he himself is in as just as much danger as Finch is. But there’s no time to save him, and he is shot down. Poor Collier!

But now what’s going to become of Finch?

Reese will save him, of course! And that is exactly what happened. THANK. GOODNESS. Everything is good now. The world’s back to normal.

But we as fans of many TV shows know that when there are 10 minutes left in the episode, the episode’s not over. Something is still going to happen.

*groan*

There was no stopping the inevitable, apparently. Samaritan came online. And with a lot more power than before. It now could see everything the Machine could see. And its first mission was to hunt down everyone who was involved with Northern Lights and the Machine.

BUT NO!!! THAT CAN’T HAPPEN!! None of them can die!

Oh, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, the most terrible thing that could have happened in the show happened.

They found the library.

THE library! The beloved place where Finch and Reese have been meeting for the past 3 years as their headquarters. There are so many happy memories of that library. THEY FOUND IT!! AND THEY DESTROYED IT!!

With every inch of that library they ransacked, a part of me died. They crashed that glass panel where Finch and Reese would hang up pictures of the people they would investigate, and it was the most horrible thing.

My heart made the exact same sound as that glass did when it shattered. The only thing worse than seeing that library demolished was Finch’s face when he and Reese left it for the last time.

Goodbye, library. 😥

NOOOO!!! THIS IS NOT OKAY! THIS IS THE WORST!!! How can Finch and Reese save people when they don’t have access to the library….let alone when they’re being hunted down by Samaritan, which can spot them anywhere? HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??

This is where Root came in and explained herself. There was nothing she could have done to prevent this, even with all of her computer know-how. It was never about winning, as she put it. It was about surviving. And we find out what Root was really up to, in her dealings with the building that Samaritan was in. She programmed Samaritan so that it wouldn’t recognize anyone in their team. They’re practically invisible to the system.

 

Okay. That’s all good, I guess. But what about the Machine???

By this time, Samaritan is all up and running, and it “asks” Greer what he wants it to do. Greer, however, responds by asking what he can do for it. And the season ends with Samaritan processing the request.

A typical cliffhanger, but still awfully effective. WHAT IS IT GOING TO SAY??

We have several long months now to theorize and try to reassemble our broken hearts. This was quite possibly the most traumatizing Person of Interest finale to date. But fear not, my fellow Irrelevants! I’m sure Finch has many, many tricks up his sleeve. He is a billionaire genius, after all. 😉

Snow Drifts and There’s No Place Like Home

I can’t wait to blog about this. I’m starting this post tonight (Sunday night).

GUYS. GUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYS!!!!

I am SO excited about Once Upon a Time!!!

Like REALLY excited!!

I can’t remember the last time when a season finale ended on such a terrific cliffhanger!

I don’t think I’ve been this excited since the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who! It’s that crazy!!

Just…just…ASDFGHJKLKJHGFDSA!!!!

Okay, but I have to start at the beginning here. We’ll get to the exciting stuff soon enough.

WOW. What a fantastic season finale this was!! Definitely one of my top favorite episodes in the history of the show! It definitely needed a two-hour special for the story they were doing this time! And really, it did not feel like two hours. Things were moving along so beautifully that it felt just like the length of a normal episode.

Things picked off right from where “Kansas” left off. The smoke that came from Zelena’s gem opened up that portal, and Zelena was gone for good it seemed. The big focus of the episode at the beginning was the announcement of the new prince’s name. But then it turned into a whole saving the new prince’s very existence, as Emma and Hook accidentally ended up going through Zelena’s portal, which took them back in time. The point in time, you ask? Right when Emma’s parents met. So the episode kind of turned out as a Once Upon a Time version of Back to the Future, as Emma and Hook tried to:

1. Find their way back home.
2. Don’t interfere with the past, which would change the future.

As most stories end up, you only get to choose one of the options. :p

Let me just say that I really love how this whole situation played out. From what Zelena made it out to be, and from the direction it looked like the show was going in, it seemed like Zelena’s portal would be a town-wide thing. All of Storybrooke would be swept up into this “time vortex” of sorts, and everyone would be taken back in time and everyone’s past would be changed, in Zelena’s favor of course. And I’m sure that if Zelena had had her way, that would have happened. But now she’s dead (it seems like she actually is dead), so her plans didn’t come to fruition. However, with Hook and Emma slipping into the portal, the consequences could be just as great. So I like how it was still going to be this big, terrible thing on a smaller scale, if that makes sense.

And the whole “changing the past” scenes were done absolutely flawlessly too! You could only sort of tell the difference between scenes from the first season and scenes from this season; and even then, they both weaved in and out of each other so beautifully that it was barely noticeable. A lot of thought and care obviously went into this story.

It was fun watching Hook and Emma try to dodge the awkward interactions between the characters in the Enchanted Forest, Rumplestiltskin especially because he knew the most about their situation, and yet he was still completely clueless as to what was going on. It was also interesting seeing the whole ordeal with the two Captain Hooks. From my knowledge of Doctor Who, I know that having any kind of contact with your past self results in a paradox. And I knew it was going to come up at some point, the two Hooks interacting in some way, and I was curious to see what the writers would do. Captain Hook punched Captain Hook and nothing happened. Okay. Cool. Moving on. :p

Hook and Emma’s dance at King Midas’s castle is definitely a scene very much looked forward to, from all the pictures that have been posted, so it’s a highlight and can’t be left out.

 

 

 

It was a nice scene between the two. Emma pointed out that Hook was the first one to dance with her at her first ball. As much as I would have loved it to be Neal who had shared that first dance with her, there was a little something about Hook dancing with her that was special too.

(Now it’s Monday) Things were going very smoothly and according to plan until Snow was caught trying to steal Charming’s wedding ring. Everything quickly went downhill from there. Guards were sent after Snow, Snow dropped the ring in the process of escaping and Emma found the ring, but was caught by Regina’s guards in the process of taking it back to Snow, and she was thrown in prison.

While Emma was in the prison, her thoughts went back to her days with Neal. There was yet another heartbreaking flashback with the two of them. NEAL!! I miss him so much! The longer we go on without him and the more flashbacks we see of him, the more my heart hurts. In the flashback, he and Emma were having a conversation about where home is. It was where Emma heard that home is the place you just miss. She got it from Neal! Oh, my life!! Neal, come baaaack!

Also from that flashback, Emma remembered a technique for lock picking, and she used that technique to get herself out of her jail cell. She set free the woman in the cell next to hers too. That was the beginning of something awful, I could tell. One thing was that she wasn’t supposed to be alive in the first place, but now she was traveling around with Hook and Emma, meaning they would probably bring her back to Storybrooke with them. Which definitely wouldn’t be good. And she looked familiar. We had seen this woman before. But where? Who was she?

Unfortunately, Snow was also captured by Regina’s guards and she was brought in to her. Worse yet, her attempts to use the dark fairy dust on Regina failed. Regina promptly sent her to be executed that night. This was not turning out well! And then it looked like she actually was executed!

But…

But…

Can they do that? Can they really kill Snow White?

But why was Emma still around? Why hadn’t she disappeared and been erased from history?

Maybe that bug buzzing incessantly around Hook had the answer.

It did! IT WAS SNOW!!! Somehow, she still had a little more of that fairy dust and she was able to use it on herself! YAY!!!

So then the rest of Snow and Charming’s story still had to play out. They still ended up on the Troll Bridge and the writers didn’t deviate too far from what happened in the first story, which I was extremely thankful for. They parted ways and history went back to normal. Phew!

But then there was still the issue of getting back to the future for Hook and Emma. Rumplestiltskin had promised to help them, but Hook and Emma had apparently failed to read the fine print of the rules of time travel. Only those who traveled through the portal could open it, and even then, the portal had to be opened by magic–something Emma didn’t have, apparently? Which makes no sense at all. Now that Zelena was dead, Emma’s magic should have returned to her. But it didn’t, apparently. Some deeper soul searching needed to be done by Emma to bring her magic back, I guess. Because once she acknowledged that she wanted to stop running, her magic came back and she was able to open the portal. I wanted Hook to leave the woman behind in the room Rumplestiltskin had left them in, but he brought her with him.

It was going to have consequences!

Back in Storybrooke, Emma and Hook rejoined everyone in the diner, where only a matter of minutes had passed and Charming was still trying to call Emma on her cell phone. It was a bit strange seeing everyone again, knowing that the past was slightly different now, and I had a sudden feeling that we don’t really know everyone’s back stories anymore. It was weird. But nothing drastic had changed, apparently. Emma also announced that she and Henry were there to stay in Storybrooke. Yay!

And now it was time to announce the name of Snow and Charming’s son.

The new prince of the Enchanted Forest is named Neal, after the man who had been such a hero to everyone. ARROW TO THE HEART!! It’s so beautiful! And yet so sad! One of the most bittersweet moments in all of Once Upon a Time history!

The very end of the episode was a CRAZY roller coaster of emotion! There were so many bumps in the span of only 10 minutes that it was almost overwhelming!

After the party was over, Emma explained to her parents what had happened back in their past. Then she went outside to have a conversation with Hook. He explained to her how he avoided Zelena’s curse. He knew that he had to warn Emma about what was going on back in the Enchanted Forest, and the only way he knew how to get back was to use a magic bean. Magic beans come at a price, though, and the only thing Hook had to trade was his ship the Jolly Roger. He traded his most valuable possession to get to Emma. Awwww! So touching! If that’s not an act of true love, I don’t know what is.

Robin Hood, his son Roland and Regina were all on their way to the party at Granny’s, AND THEY WERE SO PRECIOUS TOGETHER!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Regina was finally happy and she had found true love again.

But then she came into the diner.

And Emma introduced her to the woman that Hook and Emma had brought back from the Enchanted Forest.

The woman was Robin Hood’s supposed-to-be-dead wife, Marion.

*THUD*

NOOOOOOO!!!! Marion was back!! That meant that the whole Robin Hood family was still technically intact! And to see how fast Robin Hood ditched Regina to be with Marion was cruel. After all the happiness he and Regina had had together, he just left her! Utterly. Cruel. Did this change of fate mean that Regina’s second chance at true love is now gone? It had better not be!

While all this was going on, Rumplestiltskin and Belle had mysteriously disappeared from the crowd. Where could they be? THEY WERE GETTING MARRIED!!! AT LONG LAST, THE MOMENT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!! And it was an adorable little wedding! Belle’s outfit was so cute, Rumplestiltskin was nervous as can be and their wedding vows were absolutely precious! It was beautiful!

The only thing tainting this fantastic moment was the fact that Rumplestiltskin’s lie was still floating around. Rumplestiltskin had better have a plan for explaining himself! Because it’s going to come to light at some point in the next season!

AND NOW…we finally come to the end.

Back at the site of the time portal, there was a bottle. How that bottle ended up there, I know not. It could have traveled through the portal with Hook and Emma from the room they were trapped in. It had fallen over, and this blue liquid started oozing out of it. What could this be? Could this be the opening of another portal? The portal that is going to take the show where it hasn’t gone before? But blue. What could blue mean? I instantly started speculating. Atlantis? Under the sea to Ariel’s world?

NOPE!

ELSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY WORD!! IT’S ELSA!!!!!!!!!

[FANGIRLING INTENSIFIES]

GUYS, I HAVE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE MY EXCITEMENT. IT’S ELSA!!!! I couldn’t stop screaming and giggling when the episode was over! I still get in a flutter thinking about it! *screams*

It’s a bit of a shocking move, though, bringing Frozen into the Once Upon a Time universe because it’s such a new Disney movie. BUT I APPROVE SO MUCH!!!What do you guys think?

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THEY DO WITH ELSA’S CHARACTER! It looks like she’s going to be the new villain for the next season. All Frozies out there who have been dying to see Elsa as a villain–this is their lucky day!

BUT OH MY GOODNESS!!! ELSA!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEST. CLIFFHANGER. EVER!!!

And now with the hiatus until season 4, I feel like Olaf waiting on the steps of the ice castle.

One. Two. Three. Four.

“Memoirs” Makeover

As promised earlier this year, I have set up a new theme for this blog.

It’s about time too! The theme I had going on last time was just not working. It was the epitome of inconvenience and confusion. Only the blog posts were on the main page. If you wanted to get to the “Categories” or “Comments” section, you would have to search all over the blog if you didn’t know that they were under the “About the Blog” page. The blog posts were all lined up next to each other, creating a most distracting experience for the eye if you were trying to read a post on the main page. It was a nightmare!

Now, with this theme, that is all done away with. The posts are now organized neatly into one chronological column, making for much easier reading. And now all the widgets are placed to the side on the main page for your convenience, so you can navigate anywhere you want to without having to go to a whole other page to find everything. 🙂

Also, instead of having that  busy background image that really had nothing to do at all with fandoms, there is now a single simple background color and a header image of the white tree of Gondor–a tribute to my very first fandom.

Hope you guys like the new look! I still might fiddle around with the colors a bit, but this is the theme I think I’m going to stick with. 🙂 I’m excited to get caught up on my posts with a brand new look to work with!

The Machine Is in Trouble

And now it is time to get caught up on Person of Interest, the show that never ceases to simultaneously amaze and crush the heart. It’s a wonder that none of us Irrelevants are dead, with all the feels the writers are throwing at us!

But really, though, seriously, how does Person of Interest keep getting better and better?? How do they do it? What kind of magic do the writers use?? This season has been extraordinary, as it has been dealing with the question of national security and privacy that would naturally arise from the whole concept of the Machine. It’s been a tad confusing trying to keep all the names of the organizations straight (I’ve already probably gotten some of them mixed up), but overall the writers have done a wonderful job of posing all sides of the issue. Control/Decima/the government is the group most concerned about national security and they want Samaritan to go up. Vigilance holds the belief that this kind of surveillance is preying on the privacy of American citizens and that it shouldn’t exist–in any form. And then there’s the Finch/Reese/Shaw/Root team that are striving to protect the Machine so that they can continue saving people. It’s quite an ordeal!

So, going back to past weeks’ episodes, “Death Benefit” was one of those episodes that started out happy and funny, but ended in an utter shamble of feels.

The beginning of that episode made my life!! The two best friends spending a part of a case together and having a slight domestic over the types of music they like. Random Finch trivia: Finch likes opera. Random Reese trivia: Reese does not. “Can we put the screeching cats out of their misery?” XD

Anyway…

Changing the mood completely, the episode ended with one of the most intense moments in the entire show. The way Reese and Shaw saw things, the Machine was telling them to kill Congressman McCourt because of his relations with Decima. He had the power to either refuse Samaritan or give it a go. Reese and Shaw were ready to do what the Machine requested because Reese trusted its judgments. Finch, on the other hand, stands on the side of no violence, as we all know. He would never use the Machine to kill someone. If that was what the Machine was coming to, if it was beginning to take lives instead of save them, then this would be the point where he leaves their operation altogether. There was a chasm forming between Finch and Reese, and it was absolutely heartbreaking!

I could see both sides of the issue, but I leaned more to Finch’s side. Their operation has never once involved killing people. The Machine has never sent out an order to kill someone, and the group shouldn’t start killing now. There would be another way to save the Machine.

However, Reese goes in to shoot the Congressman, it looks like. It was crushing obviously, because that would mean that Finch would leave, but a part of me started thinking that Reese wouldn’t really kill him. Not after he heard the point Finch had made. He would listen to his friend.

And he did! The Congressman was still alive at the end of the episode! Score 1 for morality! :p

However, that still means that the Machine is in grave danger and that Samaritan would soon be online. Yikes!

“Beta” brought around this:

THIS MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW UNCOMFORTABLE THE SAMARITAN TIMELINE MAKES ME!!

AND THEN that awful Greer had to do the worst thing imaginable!

He made Samaritan find Grace. Finch’s fiancee who thinks he’s dead! He captured her and interrogated her! Oh, how I wanted to make him hurt! He is such a scoundrel! Luckily, Grace was awesome, as she always is, and didn’t fall for anything he told her. Good on you, Grace!

Despite all of Reese and Shaw’s efforts to rescue Grace, however, Greer wasn’t going to let her go. Not when an exchange could be made. Finch in return for Grace. THE SCOUNDREL!!

Seeing Finch’s reaction to the threat was traumatizing. My heart stopped for a good moment.

Sitting on her porch steps!! D,X

And his command to Reese and Shaw to kill anyone who harms Grace was terrifying. Again, he’s not a man of violence.

The exchange itself was cruel. Just cruel. I almost started crying. My first thought was that this would be the way Grace would find out that Finch is indeed alive. To think that this would be the way it would happen! All of my no. But then she came out onto the bridge blindfolded. The one thing that’s worse than having the big reveal be then.

AND THEN…

NOPE! *dies*

The one thing worse than that being the moment of the big reveal AND Grace being blindfolded is that Finch was there for her  and she didn’t know it!! *sobs uncontrollably*

But really, it was great having Grace back in this episode. It was about time she made another appearance! And Carrie Preston, who is Michael Emerson’s real wife for those of you who don’t know, did a  fantastic job of playing her!

So now we were having pretty much the end of season 1 all over again. Finch is captured and it is up to Reese to save him. Which we know he will do. Reese will stop at nothing to save his best friend!

But Samaritan is down now. For the moment. Phew!

“A House Divided”, last night’s episode, was even more intense than the last episode! Lots of surprises to go around!

First surprise was that I never expected to feel much for Collier except fear of what he was going to do next. I never even expected there to be a flashback for him! But it was a convincing flashback. We now know his motivation behind what he’s doing with Vigilance. I really feel for the guy now! His feelings are completely justifiable, but his actions are not. He did the wrong thing in his anger towards the unjust treatment of his brother.

Another surprise was that in this particular episode, I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I might MIGHT be starting to trust Root, be it ever so slightly. She’s going to incredible pains to assist Finch, Reese and Shaw–something she probably wouldn’t have done in her earlier days. So she may be coming over to their side, but I’m still keeping my eye on her.

Root wasn’t kidding when she said that Vigilance was planning something big. They stinkin’ turned off every single light in New York City! Who has the ability to do that?? It was both a terrifying and intriguing situation, as I’ve never seen anything like it done before in the movies or TV shows. It was all part of Vigilance’s plan, though, and they captured Control, Greer and Finch!

Before, I wasn’t too afraid for Finch’s life when Greer was holding him captive.

I’m afraid now.

Collier is the unpredictable-in-a-violent-way type, and there’s no telling what he might do.

At the end of the episode, we find out that Collier has everyone gathered in an undisclosed location, and he is about to hold a “trial” for them. Somehow I get the feeling that it won’t be an unbiased trial. I’m dreading the season finale! Dreading, dreading!!

What have been your thoughts on the last few episodes? Have any predictions for the finale?

By the way, the name of the next episode is “Deus ex Machina”. Isn’t that the name of a Lost episode? o.O Lost Parallel No. 135! :p

Wicked vs. Evil Continues

*comes crashing through door* HELLO, ONCERS!! I HAVE RETURNED FROM THE DEAD!!

There haven’t been any posts on this blog for the past month because of college. The end of the semester was getting a bit crazy there! But now that that madness is over, we should have much fewer problems now. 😀

Good gracious and green apples, SO MUCH has been going on in Once Upon a Time! Everything just keeps escalating and escalating and now we’re going to have a two hour special next week to wrap up the season. Oh boy!

Let’s recap what’s happened in this epic battle of wicked vs. evil since my last blog post.

“It’s Not Easy Being Green” was about Zelena and her past. If the writers’ goal was to make the audience feel some kind of pang of sympathy for Zelena, it worked. At least for me. Her father at least was horrible to her! Absolutely horrible! That’s not how you talk to your adopted children! Grrrr.

Well, his jerkness caused Zelena to leave and travel to Oz, where she was going to seek the help of the Wizard. She wanted to know who her real family was.

The Wizard was portrayed beautifully, I must say! Great special effects! Up to this point, no disappointments.

And I was getting really excited about the Wizard himself. The whole silhouette against the giant curtain was awesome!

And it looked an awful lot like Jefferson.

Jefferson?

Is it going to be Jefferson?

PLEASE BE JEFFERSON!!

NOPE! It wasn’t. It was Walsh!

Walsh…

Walsh. I am not sure about this Walsh.

WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE MY DISAPPOINTMENT THAT THE WIZARD WAS NOT JEFFERSON!!!

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A FANTASTIC WIZARD OF OZ!!! AAAAGGGHHHH!!!

Great opportunity. Missed.

Oh well. We all know what Sebastian Stan was doing anyway in the meantime, so it’s all good, I guess. :p

(Random side note: I have not actually seen Captain America–The Winter Soldier YET, but I know that Sebastian Stan is in the credits so…we all know what our Mad Hatter has been up to. 😉 )

And meanwhile, back in Storybrooke, the town had a funeral for Neal. Which was heartbreaking. And I guess is a confirmation that Neal actually is dead. Although I still have my doubts.

“The Jolly Roger” was a great episode because HOOK FINALLY BEHAVED LIKE A PIRATE FOR ONCE!!!

Up to this point, at least in my opinion, Hook hasn’t been much of a pirate really. Except in the way that he talks. He’s been too soft and wooful towards Emma lately that I was almost starting to forget he’s a pirate.

But in this episode, we finally get to see Hook as he’s supposed to be! He has an exciting swashbuckling with Blackbeard and then he chooses to keep the Jolly Roger over helping Ariel find Eric. Wise choice, Hook. :p

Because really, what pirate is a pirate without his ship?

It was positively amusing to hear about all the Captain Swan shippers’ decidedly horrified reactions to the end of that episode! My sister being among the Captain Swan shippers, (Captain Swan being Hook and Emma, for those of you who don’t know) she and practically all of the group were scowling and shouting at their televisions in frustration of Hook’s lips being cursed. Some have even stopped watching the show altogether, so I’ve heard, because of their rage over what happened! Being a Swanfire shipper myself who still ships Emma and Neal even from beyond the grave, I sympathized with the Captain Swan group, but had a silent little victory dance to myself. :p

“Bleeding Through” provided some much needed closure for those of us Oncers trying to piece together this new branch of the Miller family tree. Rumplestiltskin is NOT the father of Zelena, thank goodness! That would have been just…I don’t know what exactly that would do to the family tree. Probably graft a few of the branches together. Which would have been weird. But anyway, I’m glad to know that things didn’t get that confusing.

And then in last week’s episode, HENRY GOT HIS MEMORIES BACK!!! At long last, he remembers everything!! And I love that it was Regina who broke that curse this time! It was beautiful!

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow, Charming and Regina go off in search of the Good Witch of the South, Glinda, to find out how to destroy Zelena. Glinda, who looks like the spitting image of Emma Swan herself, and who I thought actually was Emma!

That was a bit weird. Oh, but then there was a completely heartbreaking moment! After a character in a show has died, there is nothing more traumatizing than seeing them alive again, like in a flashback. And that’s what happened here. Rumplestiltskin was concocting a potion in his castle that would help him keep his memories when Zelena’s curse took place. But because at this point he and Neal were still merged together, Neal separated from Rumplestiltskin and sent the potion off to Emma. He was thinking about her! Not himself! Oh, how my heart hurts!

Now last night’s episode was insane!! So much happened! It could very well have been the season finale, that’s how much happened!

The first and most important thing is that Snow was having her baby! The big day was here!!

And this new Charming baby (it’s a boy, by the way!) had almost an exact parallel with Emma’s birth. He was being born right when some tremendous event was taking place, and he was taken away almost as soon as it was born. That wicked witch!

Speaking of the baby’s birth, it was so precious how almost all of Storybrooke was recruited to guard certain areas of the hospital so that Zelena wouldn’t get the baby. Even though they were all no match for Zelena, it was heartening to see all the heroism. 🙂

The whole trying to prevent Zelena from taking the baby effort brings me to the next point. As the only person who was known to have light magic, Emma was generally looked to as sort of a final resort to protect the Charming family if push came to shove. But then that stupid Zelena had to step in and interfere! As Emma and Hook were off trying to find Zelena, Zelena actually came to them and then commanded Rumplestiltskin to kill Hook. Emma had the choice of saving Hook or protecting her family. AND EMMA CHOSE HOOK! REALLY?!? Emma’s smarter than that!! WAY smarter than that! She is NOT one to fall for the bad guy’s threats! It was either the one or the many that she could have saved and she chose the one! She surely could have found a way to save Hook after she had finished her job! Not that Hook shouldn’t be saved, and I’m glad he was saved, but Emma’s family has priority, and Hook believed so too because he wasn’t happy with Emma that she saved him. I was very disappointed in her decision in that scene.

So now that Emma’s light magic was apparently gone, who was going to save the day? No one had the power that she did. No one except Regina, apparently. Which I love! It’s finally being proven that Regina isn’t as bad as she started out. She was able to take Zelena’s power away at just the right time.

And that brings us to Rumplestiltskin. He’s free now! Finally free! It was truly scary to see what it was like when someone else was controlling him. But thankfully it’s all over now. And the scene between him and Belle was too much adorable! He was so moved that she was faithful to him right to the end. Oh, the feels!

AND THEN HE PROPOSED TO HER!! RUMPLESTILTSKIN AND BELLE ARE ENGAGED!!! AT LAST!! My entire family squealed in absolute delight!

The joy was somewhat short-lived, however, as Rumplestiltskin didn’t do what Belle requested and he killed Zelena…I think. I have mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. On the one hand, he was a complete jerk for lying to Belle; but on the other hand, Baelfire deserved vengeance for his death. Zelena needed to die. Although I did feel a bit sorry for her because she was completely powerless and she couldn’t defend herself. But we all know that she wasn’t sorry for her actions and she would continue with her plans if she got her gem back.

But I am confused about what happened with her exactly. Did she really die? That green smoke that trailed through Storybrooke certainly didn’t give the impression that she was dead. And it opened the portal that she was trying to create. And apparently, it’s going to take the show somewhere it’s never been before.

My family was throwing all sorts of Disney places around for about 5 minutes after the show was over, trying to find out where they might go next. Agrabah and Wonderland were suggested, but they’ve already done those places in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Although I would really like to see the Storybrooke folks have a turn in Wonderland/Agrabah. Mostly because I want Jefferson and Jafar back. :p

But do you guys have any theories as to where the show will go? How about names for our new prince? What do you think Snow and Charming will name Emma’s little brother? Oh, and Dorothy! Dorothy needs to be mentioned. I really liked her! She had entirely too small a part in this episode. She needs to come back. What do you all think?

Oh, I’m not ready for the third season to be over! And next week we’re having a two hour special for the finale–a movie’s length! A lot can happen in two hours, and that concerns me very muchly. There’s nothing for it, though. We have to face it. See you all next week!

 

News From the Machine: Person of Interest Has Been Confirmed for a Fourth Season!!

FANTASTIC news, my fellow Irrelevants:

CBS has confirmed that Person of Interest will be having a fourth season!!!

As if there was any doubt that there would be a fourth season! ‘Cause Person of Interest is the best thing in American television. 😉 But there’s always that little hint of uncertainty near the end of the currently running season.

So you all can sleep comfortably tonight knowing that Finch, Reese and Shaw will still be saving the day. There’s no news yet as to when filming will begin, but I’m going to assume that we’ll be getting this new season sometime late this year. Maybe October or November.

That’s the big announcement! Hope it made your life like it did mine. I’m so excited!!! 😀

P.S. Believe Status

Hi, WordPressers! Happy Thor’s Day!

And with the arrival of Thor’s Day comes the prescribed day for blogging about Believe.

And on that part, I feel I must inform any Believer readers that my announcement for the absolute certainty that I would be blogging about Believe was a bit rushed. I was really excited about it at the time, and I had all my pigeons in a flurry and I was all “YEAH! BELIEVE! LET’S DO THIS!” But now that the pigeons have settled back down, I need just a little bit more time to judge if I’m even going to keep watching the show. It’s still really early on and anything could happen at this point that could turn me off and keep me from watching the show.

I’m not saying I will stop watching it. On the contrary, I’m liking it so far (Sunday’s episode was really cute at the end!). I think it’s just one of those shows. The kind that it takes a little bit longer for you to decide if you’re going to keep watching it.

So that’s the reason I haven’t been blogging about it. Usually, it takes me until about episode 4 of a new show for me to decide if I like it or not. This one’s taking a little bit longer than that.

So I apologize if I made anyone really excited. I shouldn’t have spoken too soon. But I just wanted to let you all know. It’s always a bit awkward and wishy-washy at the beginning of a new show. :p And you’ll be the first to know about my final decision. 🙂

In the meantime…

DISCUSS!

 

Person of Interest Is Ruining My Life!!!

That’s what I kept wailing at my television after last night’s episode.

And I guess it’s really only true for last night’s episode, as the past several episodes have been nowhere near as confusing.

But really though, Person of Interest has a terrific story going on here! The whole question of the morality of the Machine has been the constant theme of this season, and it’s a good time to start addressing that issue. And I love the direction the story’s going in. I JUST WISH I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON!!! THAT CLIFFHANGER ON THAT LAST EPISODE!! GAH!!

Before we talk about last night’s episode, however, let’s do a recap of the past few episodes, shall we? It’s about time I got around to doing a Person of Interest blog post. #motivation :p

Let’s see. The last episode I blogged about was…Provenance. Ha! Ding dong! Brilliant! I loved  the episode after that one! Last Call had Finch “working” at a 911 dispatch station, I guess it’s called. And someone was blackmailing one of the operators to delete a call from a certain day’s history, or he would kill a young boy. It was uber intense and the identity of the man who called is still a mystery. It didn’t sound like Collier or anyone we’ve met yet so it’s got me really curious.

My favorite scene was when Finch threatened to kill that one assassin by dropping the live cable into the water. The reason for Finch to do something like that would have to be a tremendous one. We all know that Finch is not a man of violence at all. He still gets shaky around Reese when he brandishes his gun. But this man was about to put millions of lives at stake by shutting down the power in the 911 dispatcher building, and that is enough to make Finch bend his rule. It was a powerful scene.

*gasp* RAM!! RAM was a remarkable episode! Man, I really wish I had been on top of these posts! I would have loved to talk about this one! RAM was almost an entirely flashback episode where we get to see who the Reese before Reese was.

He was not a good Reese, though.

His name was Dillinger. Mr. Dillinger.

We do not like Mr. Dillinger.

He brought Finch coffee.

Coffee.

And then he treated the whole ordeal nonchalantly, as if he didn’t really care about Finch or what he drinks in the morning.

Mr. Dillinger just didn’t care in general. And he kept talking down to a fresh-out-of-the-hospital/in-a-wheelchair Finch, criticizing and pressuring him into telling him more about himself and how exactly they’re getting their information. Prematurely getting Finch to open up.

I wanted to kick him through the window. And leave him there on the pavement. He didn’t care about this job anywhere near as he should have.

But this is where things got really interesting. Reese and Dillinger were after the same guy in this episode. This was back in the days when Reese was working with the CIA–with that women whose name escapes my memory. It was Reese’s involvement in this case that got Finch’s attention towards him in the first place. Take your memory waaaay back to the pilot episode. Remember when Finch said “I’ve been watching you for a long time”? This is where it all started! This is how Finch first heard about Reese. Really, really cool story! One of the best in the entire show so far!

I think my heart literally broke when Finch first crawled out of his wheelchair in his attempt to stop Mr. Dillinger. He was in so much pain! And yet lives were in danger and he was willing to risk his comfort to try to save those lives. Such a hero! Mr. Dillinger, however, was no hero. And he was killed. A bit cruelly, I’ll admit, but it served him right. We will not miss him.

/ was an interesting episode. It had Root kind of playing the role of Reese, Finch and Shaw, which I don’t like. But this episode pushed the whole Samaritan vs. the Machine story further along by the new victim, Cyrus, being part of a small group of people that designed a computer chip for some kind of software that sounded like Samaritan. That chip ultimately fell into Greer’s hands. Not good. At all.

Last week’s episode, Allegiance, was really terrifying! As Root was following the British guy whose name also escapes me, he was able to manipulate the Machine by tampering with its surveillance tools. He had most everything covered: voice, telephone, cameras. It left the Machine practically blind. And it would have left it blind if the Machine’s GPA was nonfunctional. But how on earth was he able to do that?? He would have had to have extensive knowledge of the Machine to be able to blind it as he did. Where would he have gotten that knowledge? The Machine really isn’t doing so well right now.

And finally, we arrive at last night’s episode, Most Likely To…

Reese and Shaw are commissioned to attend a high school reunion to look into their new number RICHARD ALPERT!!! Matthew Reed, whilst Finch and Fusco investigate the death of the person they had just failed to save. Which was a traumatizing experience, as it’s an extremely rare case in which the team doesn’t reach the victim in time.

Oh my goodness! The high school reunion was the best!! Reese and Shaw were so out of place there. I’m sure even a fish out of water would have been able to find more in common with land than they could at this high school reunion. But that’s essentially what they were, fish out of water, and they never left each other’s side.

Things were especially rough for Shaw.

 

They hated it so much there, and Finch’s straight face explaining the situation to them wasn’t fooling me. He must have been at least a little amused at their suffering. Tee hee!

Things might not have been so bad for Shaw, however. Could it be that we have at last found a ship for her?

Hmmmm…

But their target Matthew was facing a big problem. He had a flame back in his high school days who was found dead in his car, I think it was. People assumed that Matthew had killed her, and from the uncomfortable glances he kept getting, we can assume his peers are still unsure as to whether he did it or not. It was either him or Doug who did it, in their minds. Doug being the girl’s best friend. We find out eventually that neither of them were responsible for her death, and that it was her fault that she overdosed.

But someone kept framing Matthew for her death, and we also eventually discover that he wasn’t the one being framed, but Reese and Shaw were. And that brings us to Finch and Fusco’s side of the story. They were on their own mission to crack open a safe that was taken back into FBI vaults. Reasonably simple thing for them to do. But the contents of that safe are not good. It contains papers about a program called Northern Lights. Which means either the Machine or Samaritan. I can never remember the alter egos of either one. :p

Aaaand about the same time, Vigilance shows up. Both for Finch and Fusco and Reese and Shaw. As tense as the scene between Finch and Collier was, Finch handled it very calmly and tactfully. You know, the thought never even crossed my mind that Collier and Finch have pretty much the same objectives. Collier is just the violent version of Finch, in a way. And that still makes him a bad guy. He takes the papers Finch had obtained and he leaks it out to the public. This, in turn, causes Control and her folk to panic, and she gives the order to shut down the program. Which program it is, I don’t know. The Machine? Samaritan?

Whichever one it was, it looks like it affected the Machine. Because soon, all this information comes flooding in and a bunch of technical, colorful visual elements that I have no idea what they mean.

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?? Does it mean the Machine is “free”, as Root once put it? What would that mean for Finch, Root and Shaw? Would they still be able to do what they do? WHAT IS GOING ON??? I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!

And the worst part is we don’t have another episode next week, so we’re left here in a state of utter confusion to wallow in it for a whole week! But…but what is going on? I want to know that the Machine is okay!!! This what is happening right now is NOT okay! *growl*

Well, I guess what we can do in the meantime is talk about what else is going on with the show, business-wise. Special announcement about Person of Interest next Wednesday! Make sure you’re here to see it!

Quiet Minds

I think there’s only one word that accurately describes last night’s episode:

FEELS.

ALL THE WRETCHED FEELS!!! How do I put my heart back together?? Pretty much every single one of my favorite things in the show was swept up in the twister of utter feels. I don’t think much of it has even quite registered for me yet. Post-traumatic shock.

Well, we found out what Neal has been up to in Storybrooke. Shouldn’t really have come as much of a surprise to us either. He was searching for his dad, just like Emma, Charming, Regina and Hook were. There’s something up with Neal, however. He’s got this burn mark on his hand that greatly resembles the mark of the wraith from the beginning of the second season, and he’s the only one in Storybrooke who hasn’t forgotten what has happened in the past year in the town. But he doesn’t remember what happened while he was in the Enchanted Forest. Something’s not right with him, so it’s up to Emma and the gang to take things from there. Meanwhile, we have a flashback to Belle and Bae in the Enchanted Forest trying to find a way to bring Rumplestiltskin back.

Then we get into Regina’s little side story with not Jonas Armstrong  Robin Hood. I used to not ship them. Like really not ship them. I couldn’t really see them working. They don’t seem like the kind of characters that would be drawn to each other. Ah, but now…now I’m starting to see it a little bit. There is some kind of connection there. And then later on in the episode when Regina happens upon Robin and his son, something hit me. They could be her new family. Roland could be her new son–her new Henry. She could have the family she’s always wanted. Arrow to the heart!

The flashback was full of all sorts of twists and turns. While Belle was searching in Mr. Gold’s shop for clues as to what happened with Neal, she found something that explained everything. She and Bae found out, while they were in the Enchanted Forest, about a secret vault that contains the Dark One. The only way to open that vault is with a key. Which they found. With the help of Lumiere.

Lumiere!!! He was so cool! I loved what the writers did with his character! It makes sense, him being under a spell/curse that he’s trapped in the candle wax and he can only appear when the candles are lit. Genius!!

Seeing Belle and Bae together is one of the most adorable things in the entire show. You can see the beginnings of a mother-son relationship there, and it’s just too much wonderful! They’re not even family yet, but in a way they’re already family. GAH!!

So Belle and Bae found this “Vault of the Dark One” and Bae opens it, even after Lumiere revealed to them that he only led them to the vault under the Wicked Witch’s persuasion. Ignoring the possibility of another way of bringing Rumplestiltskin back, Bae opens the vault, which causes the burn mark on his hand. Rumplestiltskin does indeed come back. And it’s beautiful!

It would be such a joyous occasion if a thousand and one things didn’t all happen at once right then.

Neal suddenly falls to the ground, a previously overjoyed Belle is now frantically trying to find out what’s wrong with him and then the Wicked Witch appears. She’s been waiting for this moment of resurrection to come so that she can control Rumplestiltskin. And now that she has him, she wants him to kill his darling Belle. Fortunately, nothing of the sort has to happen and Lumiere temporarily imprisons the Wicked Witch, giving Belle time to escape.

Unfortunately, as a result of bringing Rumplestiltskin back, a terrible price has been paid on Bae’s part. According to Belle in Storybrooke, since Neal let him out, he shouldn’t be alive. WELL, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?? Apparently, anyone who opens the Dark One’s vault dies, but Rumplestiltskin instead merged himself with his son, meaning that they were inside each others’ heads. They weren’t complete on their own because their minds partially belonged to the other. That explains why Rumplestiltskin was a bit around the bend when we first saw him in this half of the season.

Wait. That means Neal is dead? What?!

Neal begins to feel the effects of the exchange in Storybrooke while he’s with Emma, and he tells her to use her magic to separate him and Gold. She was able to do it, and Gold came back (it is so good to have you back, Rumple!), but it also killed Neal. After all Rumplestiltskin had done and risked to find his son and be reunited with him, it all ultimately ended with his son paying the price for his own actions. Neal proved his love to his father by sacrificing his own life to bring him back. And with that sacrifice, he understood the kind of sacrifices Rumplestiltskin had made for him. OH THE FEELS!

But…but…Neal can’t be dead! Not after all that Rumplestiltskin has done to be reunited with him! Not after he and Belle were already becoming like family! Not when he has Emma to look after and Henry to be reunited with! He’s got so much to live for! He just…just…NO! He can’t be dead! I really don’t think he is because if he was able to bring his father back from the dead, then surely there has to be a way to save him! It’s not over yet.

Now the gang knows who the Wicked Witch is. She’s fired as Snow’s midwife, and everyone is going to be after her in the next episode! She’s got Rumplestiltskin under her control so she has to be stopped! She’ll get what’s coming to her. Evil triumphs over wicked.

So what do you guys think? Do you think Neal’s actually dead? Have any theories for how he could possibly still be alive?

You Feed the Madness, It Feeds on You

ONCE UPON A TIME IS BACK!!!

AND IT’S MADDER THAN EVER.

And this post is late! For which I do apologize with all my heart. The last several weeks for me have been PACKED full! We had a family emergency, which called for a week-long trip to Oregon. By the time we came back, the Wicked Witch had already begun her mischief in Storybrooke.

But I’m getting ahead of the story. Things didn’t start out in Storybrooke. They began in New York. Right where we left off from the last half of the season. Emma and Henry were living happily together in a quite posh apartment, drinking hot chocolate with cinnamon and playing video games.

And Emma had a boyfriend.

Walsh.

This Walsh. I am not sure about this Walsh.

 

 

And then Hook popped up at Emma’s door, after having been gone for a year. The first half of the season ended with Hook trying to explain things to Emma, but that didn’t go too well. He ended up crumpled on the floor with a bruise and probably a bleeding heart. But as far as Emma was concerned, he could have been some drunk out-of-work Shakespearean actor looking for a shiny thing to steal. Because he was still dressed as a pirate. Not a trusty first impression.

So the first episode of this half of the season was about Hook getting Emma to remember who she was. Which he did, eventually (where on Enchanted Forest earth could he have gotten that potion??), but there was only enough for Emma. Henry still has no clue about Storybrooke or anything of the kind.

Aaaand then there was the issue of the Walsh.

HE HAD PROPOSED TO EMMA. HE WAS TRYING TO BECOME A MAIN CHARACTER IN THE SHOW.

Well, we all knew right off the bat that Emma wasn’t going to go with it.

And then, a little later on, a thing happened.

An appropriate catchphrase for this half of the season is “Didn’t see that coming!”

Because…

Um…

Walsh was a monkey.

A flying monkey.

From The Wizard of Oz.

That took a little bit of time to process. It was one of the weirdest things that has happened in the show so far. Luckily, he got deaded.

So! Apparently Storybrooke is back. Why, we have no idea yet. But everyone in the town has no memory of what has happened over the past year. In other words, everything that has happened in the show up to this point they don’t remember. The last thing Charming and Snow remember was leaving Emma in the wardrobe when the Curse hit.

But they know something is not right because something has changed about Snow.

There’s another royal baby on the way (which is a good cover-up story for the fact that Ginnifer Goodwin is actually pregnant in real life)!

There’s no doubt, at least up to this point, that the Wicked Witch is behind all that has happened. But no one in Storybrooke knows about that yet. So the next episode was about finding the person who caused Storybrooke to come back.

Emma and Henry were back in Storybrooke. But, unfortunately, Henry still didn’t have his memories back. The only thing that was more heartbreaking than his absentminded ignorance of his hometown was Regina’s face when she saw him. THAT WAS NOT OKAY! She saw him! But he didn’t know who she was! There was nothing Regina could do! *heart shatters in a million pieces*

Speaking of Regina, we learned something new about her in the flashback. She had just gotten into her castle with her supposed-to-be true-love not Jonas Armstrong Robin Hood. Apparently, the only secret passage into the castle was sealed with blood magic–something Regina and only Regina could break. But the secret door into the castle was open. HOW COULD IT BE OPEN? There’s no possible way that door could be opened!

Unless…

…the Wicked Witch is somehow related to Regina.

But the Wicked Witch can’t be related to Regina. Who on earth could she be?

How about Regina’s sister?

Wait. WHAT?!

ZELENA, THE WICKED WITCH, IS REGINA’S SISTER???

Insert catchphrase of the season here: “Didn’t see that coming!”

*facepalm* Man, that Cora! She’s just full of secrets! She made no hint to this whatsoever!

Oh wait.

NO.

Not again! Guys, we have another member of Henry’s extended family.

AS IF THE MILLS FAMILY TREE WASN’T COMPLICATED ENOUGH ALREADY!

*huff* Blimey!

Well! Okay, we’ll just slide that into the processing corner of our minds and try to let that sink in for the rest of the season.

In the meantime, Zelena is on the prowl in Storybrooke, and she just happens to come across Snow.

 

Ugh! And my family and I all cringed at this scene. *shudder*

Sometime after this scene took place, after Zelena probably placed some type of dreadful curse on that baby, she headed down into a mysterious cellar.

Where could this lead to, I wondered.

Rumple?

RUMPLE?

RUMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE’S ALIVE!!!

My family screamed so loud at the sight of him that we couldn’t even hear what he said! True story.

Okay. All is right with the world now. I don’t care what happens now. Now that we know for certain where Rumple is, there’s nothing that could break my hea…

Never mind. I’m going to stuff my face into that plush giraffe and sob my eyes out for a million years. D,X

Last Sunday’s episode was a Charming episode. And a very touching one.

Charming is a bit scared of this new baby that he and Snow are about to have. And rightly so. He and his wife had technically never raised a child. They’re essentially new parents. And Charming is scared to death that he will fail this new child, just like he failed Emma. Poor guy!

And of course the “midwife” Zelena had to step in and interfere with things. Charming was eventually able to face his fear, but only through some kind of evil magic that Zelena put into his tea. Charming had dealt with this magic object, the night root, before, but someone else was dealing with its effects. Rapunzel!

Rapunzel! YUS!! I was really excited to have her join the Once Upon a Time family. And I really liked her! She didn’t have that big of a part, though. I hope we get to see her again.

Emma, Charming and Hook are still on the hunt for whoever caused Storybrooke to return, and after Charming’s run-in with the night root, they now know that it’s the Wicked Witch who’s behind everything. They come across a strange house a ways out of Storybrooke that can only be Dorothy’s house. And they come across the cellar.

Yes. Release Rumplestiltskin! It doesn’t matter that he’s mad. He needs to get away from Zelena, WHO HAS HIS DAGGER, BY THE WAY.

They get down into the cellar, only to find the cell completely empty. Rumplestiltskin has escaped somehow. But who could have broken in to let him out?

By the looks of things from next week’s episode, it looks like Neal might have done it. And that doesn’t bode well for him because anyone who crosses Zelena gets into very serious trouble. We haven’t seen very much of Neal at all this half of the season, and it’s very disconcerting. And from the looks of things, he’s not doing well. Please don’t turn him into a flying monkey! We like the Neal!

All right, Oncers, what do you think of the season and our new villain so far? Are you Team Evil or Team Wicked?