This week in television brought us more returns of beloved shows, which started on Sunday night, with Once Upon a Time‘s season premiere jumping right into the quest to save Emma from the darkness; Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s season premiere giving us a look at Jake and Amy’s new dynamic after their game-changing kiss; and Quantico‘s pilot providing us with plenty of questions to keep us coming back next week. Monday’s Dancing with the Stars honored classic TV theme songs, and it was followed by a controversial episode of Castle that shook things up for the show’s central marriage. On Tuesday, The Muppets introduced a new love interest for Miss Piggy (Josh Groban), and The Mindy Project tackled the topic of new parenthood. Wednesday’s Nashville was filled with heartbreaking drama—from Juliette’s deteriorating mental state and Luke’s decision to cut Will from his label to its fatal final moments. Finally, Saturday gave us the return of Saturday Night Live, which will be remembered for Hillary Clinton’s impression of Donald Trump and her sing-along with Kate McKinnon.
In a week filled with captivating moments, none made me hold my breath like the climactic scene in Once Upon a Time‘s season premiere in which Emma’s loved ones reached her just as she was about to crush Merida’s heart. There were plenty of reasons to love that scene: Jennifer Morrison’s brilliant performance, Colin O’Donoghue’s ability to emotionally destroy us all with his sincerity, the way the scene made Emma’s inner darkness feel visceral and exhausting and real rather than some overly dramatic struggle against evil…
But the thing I loved most about this scene was that it was all about Emma’s ability to save herself. As Hook said, fighting the darkness has to be Emma’s choice. Only she can save herself, but that doesn’t mean she has to do it alone. Watching Hook get through to Emma and support her ability to choose to overcome the darkness in her was beautiful, and it seemed like a great piece of foreshadowing for how this whole arc could play out. Hook didn’t force Emma to do anything; he simply reminded her that everyone has demons that can be overcome, and she’s strong enough to overcome hers. The decision to put Merida’s heart back was Emma’s; she saved herself in that moment, with the support of someone who loves her helping her find the strength to save herself. That’s something I hope we see play out as this arc reaches what we all hope will be a happy conclusion. That scene (including the fact that the darkness seemed to disappear when Emma hugged Hook and Henry) gave me so much hope for the rest of the season, and that’s exactly what I needed in what was a very heavy and sad week for a lot of the other shows I watch.
What was the best thing you saw on TV this week?
Nerdy Girl Notes 
That was definitely the best moment I saw on TV this week. Well said.
Thank you!
I’ve been in a mood all week so the two best things for me this week were the things that make me smile the most.
First was the cuteness that comes with John Stamos and a baby on Grandfathered. I really loved the first episode. It was funny and sweet at the same time and I can’t wait to see more.
Second was the Huang men singing End of the Road around the dinner table on Fresh Off the Boat. I feel badly from getting so much enjoyment out of a scene where they are all sad but between the singing and Jessica’s bewildered expression, it was exactly what I needed to make me smile.
I feel like we’ve all been in a mood this past week, so here’s hoping this week is better! *hugs*
I’m glad you enjoyed Grandfathered because I know a few other people who did, too. Maybe I’ll have to check it out On Demand. If you put “John Stamos” and “baby” in the same sentence, it’s pretty much a guarantee I’ll be interested. 😉
It was a good week of TV for me, but Once was certainly the highlight. I loved having Nashville back, and Brooklyn Nine Nine was fabulous, and HTGAWM was exhausting! We actually watched a random (seemingly very important?) episode of Scandal while waiting for another show to come on – we’ve never watched before and the highlight of that was finding out that Perd is their newsreader and that he’s a former newsreader IRL! We also started watching Quantico. I really enjoyed it although I’m impatient to find out what the heck is going on! And my foolish husband walked off to brush his teeth 10 minutes before the show ended – and missed 10 minutes of HUGE revelations! Oh well. He didn’t watch the second episode at all. I guess he’ll have fun with it as a casual watcher when he has time. (I’ve been trying to train him that the last few minutes of many shows have the twists and drama, but I guess he just doesn’t care!) Oh, which reminds me that we started watched Heroes Reborn, again, while waiting for another show, despite never watching Heroes. I think I’m going to enjoy it. Hubby likes the Katana Girl stuff. I’m quite enjoying Robbie Kay not being an evil demon child (although I really enjoyed when he was). So many shows! I manage somehow to fit Mindy in this week too and it was pretty good. And I love my comfort police procedurals – NCIS and Mysteries of Laura. It’s a wonder I get anything done 😉
I love catching up with all your weekly TV thoughts in these posts! I love the fact that you’re trying to train your husband to pay attention to the all important final minutes of TV dramas. I think that’s adorable, and hopefully he’ll catch on at some point. 😉
My BF doesn’t have the best attention span for TV either. He’s constantly asking me what is going on. I am lucky if he can at least keep up with the plot…having in depth conversations about character motivations? Forget about it. And that’s why I have NGN. ❤
I watched Heroes reborn as well, but I am not sure it grabbed me as much as I was hoping. Too many characters scattered in too many places. And I don't like seeing Zachary Levi be a bad guy, haha.