Monthly Archives: March 2013

TV Time: Once Upon a Time 2.16

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Title The Miller’s Daughter

Two-Sentence Summary As Cora plots to stab the dying Rumplestiltskin and become the Dark One herself, we uncover the twisted history between them during flashbacks to Cora’s life as the miller’s daughter who was taught dark magic by Rumplestiltskin before betraying him, ripping out her own heart to allow herself to do so. That heart becomes the means by which Cora ultimately meets her demise at Snow’s hand.

Favorite Line “You are a hero who helped your people. You are a beautiful woman who loved an ugly man—really, really, loved me. You find goodness in others, and when it’s not there, you create it. You make me want to go back—back to the best version of me… And that’s never happened before. So when you look in the mirror, and you don’t know who you are—that’s who you are. Thank you.” (Rumplestiltskin, to Belle)

My Thoughts Ever since I started watching Once Upon a Time, I’ve loved it for two reasons: its unashamed optimism in an age of television cynicism and its ability to create a world in which fairytales are no longer black-and-white but much more morally complex. It wasn’t until this episode that I realized having morally complex characters means that their actions won’t always inspire optimism. If I love Once Upon a Time because the villains aren’t 100% evil, then I also have to accept that the heroes aren’t always going to be 100% good—not even my favorite hero of them all.

“The Miller’s Daughter” was all about the choices we make and the reasons we make them—and what that ultimately says about who we are. No one in this episode was pure good or pure evil, and that’s how I like my Once Upon a Time. This episode was one of the richest, most well-written episodes the show has ever had, which should surprise no one after learning that Jane Espenson wrote it. This woman has a talent for character development and adding layers to the Once Upon a Time mythology that I’ve yet to see matched by any other writer for this show.

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The Best Thing I Saw on TV This Week (3/3 – 3/10)

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This was a relatively slow week in the world of TV for me. Most of my shows were on hiatus, although Once Upon a Time was new and incredibly well-acted and well-paced. However, “The Queen Is Dead” was just too sad for me to think of it as the best thing I saw on TV this week. It was beautifully executed, but it was such a heavy hour of television.

With that in mind, I chose something lighter and more fun for this week’s pick for TV’s best moment of the week. Last night, Justin Timberlake came back to host his fifth episode of Saturday Night Live, and it was as enjoyable as I’d hoped it would be. I was always more of a Backstreet Boys fan growing up, but ever since Timberlake began his solo career, I’ve become a major JT fangirl. Apparently I’m just a sucker for a good song-and-dance man (with the emphasis on dance).

Timberlake’s performances of “Suit and Tie” and “Mirrors” on SNL showed off his characteristic style of performing—making doing it all look almost ridiculously easy.

What was your favorite thing on TV this week?

 

Who Run the World?

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Happy International Women’s Day!

On a day like today, I think it’s important to stop and honor the many smart, brave, and wonderful women who are helping to make the world a brighter, better place for our gender. I know that I’m personally inspired every day by the strength of the women I’m surrounded by. From the real women whose examples I aim to follow with every step to the fictional women I am proud to call inspirations, there are no shortages of powerful female role models in my life.

To those women who have made me a better woman just by being themselves, I give you my undying gratitude. And to those women who—like all of us at some point or another—are fighting to define themselves in a world that still sees the feminine as “weak” and the worth of men as greater than women, I give you a hand to hold and the promise that you’re not alone.

Women are strong and smart and funny. We’re powerful and ambitious and determined. We’re warm and generous and encouraging. We can be doctors, lawyers, and writers; teachers, CEOs, and stay-at-home moms. We can be anything. We can be everything.

Never let someone tell you that you can’t be or do something just because you’re a woman. You have just as much a right to your dreams as a man.

So here’s to the girls who know that being told you do something “like a girl” shouldn’t be an insult—it’s an honor.

Take a second today to thank the women in your life who’ve helped you see your own beauty, strength, and potential. Because you have all of those things and more. Never forget that.

Today and every day, I’m proud to be a nerdy girl. And I wish for life to give you people and experiences that make you proud to be whatever kind of girl you want to be.

TV Time: Once Upon a Time 2.15

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As I attempt to get through a hectic (to say the least) workweek, the lovely Leah has volunteered to share her talents with us once again as this week’s Once Upon a Time reviewer! 

Hi, everyone! Once again I am back to talk with you all about Once Upon A Time, and this week was crazy as usual. So let’s get started!

Title The Queen Is Dead

What Happened? In New York, bonding time for Emma, Henry, Neal, and Mr. Gold is interrupted by Hook, who stabs Gold with his recently reacquired and poisoned hook and forces them to figure out a plan to get Gold back to Storybrooke before he dies from the magical poison. In Storybrooke, Snow White deals with the simultaneous anniversary of her mother’s death and her own birthday, and she and Charming discover Cora and Regina’s plans to cause havoc and control the town. In the flashbacks to Fairytale Land, we see the circumstances that surround the death of Snow’s mother.

Favorite Lines
Charming: And we keep beating them.
Snow: At what cost? All I want is our happy ending.

My Thoughts To be completely honest, this episode mostly left me sad. There was not a lot of humor, and as you can see by my favorite lines there were not many snappy one-liners to break up the dramatic tension, as the whole episode was mostly drama-filled. While I immensely admire and enjoy the way that the Once Upon a Time writers are able to tie everyone’s backstory together so well and create all these connections that have great continuity with the series as a whole, this episode left me feeling depressed. Which, to be fair, was probably the point, as it has to spark the catalyst for Snow White’s next story arc as well as truly set up the big clash of good and evil that is likely on its way.

First, let’s talk about Regina and Cora. The end of this episode left me wanting very badly for them to just disappear and leave Storybrooke alone, because they apparently only create despair for my favorite characters. I do, however, find them to be interesting and complex characters even though I hate them at the moment. (Bravo, Once writers; this is how you write good villains.)

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The Best Thing I Saw on TV This Week (2/24 – 3/3)

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This week was a fantastic end to what has been a great February sweeps period for all of the TV shows I regularly watch. Nick and Schmidt celebrated their 10th anniversary as roommates. Once Upon a Time ripped my heart out tonight with its Snow White storyline. Even the repeats shown this week were worthy of consideration for the best things on TV: Parks and Recreation offered a second showing of “Halloween Surprise” (and yes, the proposal did make me cry once again), and Saturday night gave up a second look at Once Upon a Time‘s excellent “Manhattan.”

The best of the best, though, came from Castle. “Hunt” was a suspenseful, dramatic, perfectly-acted hour of television. Combined with last week’s “Target,” this arc gave us Nathan Fillion’s strongest performances to date. His gift for subtle, real emotion was never more evident than in his scenes with his father, brought to life by the equally wonderful James Brolin. The two actors gave their scenes a depth and gravitas that lesser actors could never have found in such a common “long-lost father” storyline.

From Casino Royale to one of the most well-placed “Always” lines in the series, the scenes between Fillion and Brolin were the most affecting, layered, and all-around-best moments I  saw on television this week.

 

 

What was the best thing you saw on TV this week? And what are you looking forward to most in the coming week in the world of television?