Just as it felt wrong earlier this season to still call Killian “Hook,” it now feels wrong to call Killian while under the influence of the darkness “Killian.” Therefore, for most of this post (from the moment he said he was playing Emma on), I’ll be referring to him as “Dark Hook” as opposed to “Killian Jones.”

Source: ign.com

Title Broken Heart

Two-Sentence Summary After Hook becomes a Dark One, his centuries-old feud with Rumplestiltskin rears its head once again. However, there appears to be much more to his motivations than simply vengeance, as his ultimate plan seems to be the release of all the former Dark Ones from the Underworld, and nothing—not even Emma’s love—is enough to deter him from that plan.

Favorite Line “There’s never been a moment where I didn’t believe in you, where I didn’t trust you. But you clearly don’t believe in me anymore, so how am I supposed to fight this?” (Killian)

My Thoughts “Broken Heart” was so much more than an episode title. It was a mission statement. By the end of the hour, there were broken hearts all over the place: Killian’s, Emma’s, Rumplestiltskin’s, Merlin’s, and everyone watching. It seemed the goal of this episode was to break everyone, and to that I will say: Mission accomplished.

Once Upon a Time has always had its dark moments, but it’s also done a nice job of having hopeful moments amid the darkness to keep dramatic stories from turning into bleak ones. But “Broken Heart” was about as bleak as this show gets. In fact, it’s tough to find things to feel hopeful about after that episode that don’t sound like the ranting of a desperate fangirl grasping at straws. But until this show gives me a reason to stop grasping for those straws of hope, I’ll keep doing so. Because otherwise, why bother watching? There are plenty of other shows on TV to watch if you want bleak, hopeless storytelling. I’m still going to believe Once Upon a Time isn’t one of those shows, but I can understand why “Broken Heart” might make some doubt that belief.

There’s a fine line between angst that’s believable and moves the characters and story forward and angst that just exists to twist the knife in further. While “Birth” was a wonderful example of the former, parts of “Broken Heart” felt like the latter. Some of the dialogue (especially Dark Hook taunting Rumplestiltskin about Milah—even more than anything he said to Emma) felt a bit too callously mean, even for a Dark One. I know the whole point was to make viewers uncomfortable, and it worked. And to include Belle walking away from Rumplestiltskin in an already devastating hour of television felt like overkill—even if I was proud of her for standing up for herself. I know this is what penultimate episodes are all about; they’re the “darkest before the dawn” episodes. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a bit overwhelmed by the darkness.

Ultimately, this isn’t an episode we’re supposed to like. We’re supposed to respect it, find meaning it, and appreciate the performances in it. However, we’re not supposed to think this was a particularly likable or enjoyable hour of television. It was supposed to leave us feeling devastated, confused, and heartbroken. It said so in the title!

But that’s the way it goes in most fairytales, right? There’s always that moment when hope seems lost—Henry “dies” after eating the turnover, Emma and Henry lose their memories and their family, or Charming and Snow realize they can’t break his sleeping curse while they’re in different realms. Those moments are needed in order to make the hero’s triumph feel like it’s a triumph over something big and important. And what bigger triumph is there than a victory over the darkest force to ever exist? The stakes had to be raised in this episode because—let’s be honest—Dark Swan isn’t really the best representation of a Dark One at their worst. (That’s what happens when the darkness is in the same body as the lightest Savior magic ever created.) Dark Hook, however, is a different story. He had to be even worse than we could have imagined in order to make us long for the destruction of the darkness like we’ve never longed for it before. And to that, again, I’ll say: Mission accomplished.

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Source: ABC/Jack Rowand

Title Birth/The Bear King

Two-Sentence Summary In “Birth,” Killian’s desperation to learn the truth about what happened in Camelot leads to a surprising revelation not just about why Emma fully embraced the darkness but what happened once she did. In “The Bear King,” Merida’s quest to find her father’s killer and retrieve his lost magical helmet brings her, Mulan, and Red together.

Favorite Lines
Emma: But our future…
Killian: I’ll just be happy to know that you have one.
Emma: That’s not enough for me!

My Thoughts “Birth” and “The Bear King” highlighted so many of the things that make Once Upon a Time special: its ability to be both intimate and sweeping, its darkness and its light, its focus on creating beautiful romantic love stories and its focus on the bonds of family and friendship, and—most of all—the talents of its cast. From a thematic or even a plot perspective, there was very little tying these two episodes together, but their different elements helped create a comprehensive picture of all the things fans have come to love about Once Upon a Time. And, let’s face it; we needed an episode like “The Bear King” to give us time to process everything that happened in “Birth” without worrying that we’d missed anything too important for the main characters.

“Birth”

“Birth” was a perfect one-hour tragedy. Everything about it was carefully crafted and expertly acted to inflict maximum heartbreak. But it wasn’t just heartbreak for heartbreak’s sake; it wasn’t just for shock value. Every decision and every line made sense for the characters, and that’s where the best angst comes from. Even if I didn’t agree with certain choices or the actions of certain characters throughout the hour, I understood why they all acted the way they did, and that’s a sign of writing that reflects complex and well-developed characters. And even though I know the road ahead will be rocky and perhaps even more heartbreaking than this episode, I still believe that all hope is not lost. “Birth” might have been a tragedy, but it’s just one tragic chapter in a larger story—a story that has always been about the power of love and light to defeat darkness, even when things look bleak.

Let’s not put off the pain any longer: The title of “Birth” referred to so much more than just the birth of Zelena’s baby girl. (I need one second to say how adorable Sean Maguire looked holding that baby before I continue to talk about sad things.) It also referred to the birth of a second Dark One—none other than Killian Jones himself, the man who spent centuries trying to destroy the Dark One. The way the episode built to that reveal, amplifying the sense of dread with each scene, was nothing short of brilliant. It used the contrast between the bright daytime scenes in Camelot and the midnight scenes in Storybrooke so well, visually creating a captivating tension between the past and the present. And Colin O’Donoghue’s increasingly desperate performance as the hour went on was some of his best work on the show to date, painting a picture of a man rapidly coming apart at the seams until he reached a chilling depth of pain, hopelessness, and simmering rage in the episode’s final moments.

What made the revelation of Killian’s fate even more painful was the way it was preceded by incredible moments of faith, hope, and love in both Camelot and even in Storybrooke. This was the saddest chapter in Killian and Emma’s love story so far, but there were still so many reminders throughout the episode that their love is a powerful force against the darkness and something worth fighting for. Besides, what’s a good fairytale without darkness to overcome? In this case, that darkness is something Killian and Emma will have to fight within themselves and not something an outside villain has set upon them—and that reinforces the idea that this is a new fairytale romance with relatable roots. And that’s what makes it so special.

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Source: tvfanatic.com

Title Nimue

Two-Sentence Summary While most of the Storybrooke crew attempts to get Excalibur from Arthur in Camelot with Zelena’s help, Merlin takes Emma on a quest to face the original Dark One in order to get what’s needed to make Excalibur whole again. In flashbacks to Merlin’s past, we discover the identity of that original Dark One and her connection to Merlin.

Favorite Line “I am not nothing! I was never nothing!” (Emma)

My Thoughts Belief is everything in the world of Once Upon a Time. And most of the time, that belief is rooted in the same idea: that love is strength and that love can be enough. Those who choose a dark path don’t believe that love can be enough. They want power, too. They always want to be more powerful because they don’t love themselves for who they are—with their weaknesses, flaws, and human vulnerabilities. They believe they’re nothing without an outside source of power because they never believed they could be enough exactly as they are.

The beauty of Once Upon a Time is the way that damaging belief has been proven wrong time and time again. Love is strength. Love is power. And yes, the love of those around you can help you find that strength, but the real power comes from loving yourself and choosing to believe that you’re good enough and strong enough as you are.

“Nimue” was the best episode so far in this fifth season of Once Upon a Time (and that’s saying something because I’ve really enjoyed this season), and so much of its beauty and emotional power came from the way it wove the theme of choosing to believe you’re enough as you are through the episode’s three main stories. It came as no surprise to me that an episode as tightly written as this one was came from Jane Espenson. If you’re looking for episodes that capture the true spirit of Once Upon a Time, just pull up every episode she’s written for this show.

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Source: http://www.tvequals.com

Title The Bear and the Bow

Two-Sentence Summary Emma’s quest to turn Rumplestiltskin into a hero takes a dangerous turn when she sends Merida after Belle. In flashbacks, we see a better side of Merida and Belle’s relationship, as Belle helps Merida believe in her own ability to save her brothers and take back her place on the throne.

Favorite Line “You can make your own fate.” (Belle)

My Thoughts Heroism takes many forms. Sometimes, it’s a brave woman with a bow and arrow fighting for her family and her right to rule her people. Sometimes, it’s a group of people who will never stop fighting for the person they love—even when it seems she’s stopped fighting for herself. Sometimes, it’s a brilliant woman with a gift for seeing the best in people and a heart that’s always ready to forgive. And sometimes, it’s a man who spent his whole life running and hiding who finally chooses to stand up and believe that he—even with all his past misdeeds—can change his fate.

There are so many ways a person can be strong, and Once Upon a Time has always embraced the idea that emotional, inner strength is just as important as the kind of strength it takes to shoot an arrow or wield a sword. “The Bear and the Bow” was all about different kinds of strength and how they all contribute to different kinds of heroism. The bravery it takes to face down a bear or a group of warriors is important, but just as important (if not more so) is the bravery it takes to admit your faults and failings without trying to justify them and to apologize to those you’ve hurt.

Taking ownership of your actions and your choices is such an important theme on Once Upon a Time. But it doesn’t stop at just admitting the bad things you’ve done. You also have to believe that you have the strength within yourself to be better than those bad choices. You have to believe, as Belle told Merida, that you can make your own fate. You can define yourself on your own terms by believing you can be worthy, brave, and strong enough just as you are. Regina learned that last season. Killian learned it, too. Merida and Rumplestiltskin both learned it in this episode. And it’s a theme that’s been at the heart of Emma’s character since she first told us all the way back in Season One:

People are going to tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say, ‘No, this is who I am.’ You want people to look at you differently? Make them. You want to change things? You’re gonna have to go out there and change them yourself…

Emma seems to have twisted that beautiful sentiment into punching back and telling people she’s the Dark One now. But that’s not Emma talking; it’s the Dark One talking through her. The darkness convinced Emma that she needed it, that she was stronger and better with it than without it. And she let it creep into her heart and define her, to the point where she’s now trying so hard to convince everyone that this is who she is now, when we know Emma is still there underneath the darkness. But that little bit of Emma seems resigned to the idea that she’s fated to be the Dark One and live the lonely life that comes with that identity.

How a person decides to change their fate and the fate of those they love has always been an important theme on Once Upon a Time, and the stories of both Merida and Rumplestiltskin might prove to foreshadow what made Emma fully embrace the darkness back in Camelot. Both Merida and Rumplestiltskin believed they had to use magic to make themselves stronger to change their fate and the fate of those they loved. They wanted to use dangerous magic to protect their loved ones because they believed they weren’t strong enough to save them from almost certain death on their own. While Rumplestiltskin made the choice to become the Dark One to protect Bae hundreds of years before Merida tried to turn herself into a bear to save her brothers, both of them were fueled by desperation to save the people they loved. Could that be what pushed Emma to fully embrace the darkness? My gut says yes.

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I’m sorry for my delay in getting this one posted, fellow Oncers. Sometimes life doesn’t understand that it needs to slow down so I can write about TV! Hopefully this post proves to be worth the wait.

Source: ABC/Jack Rowand

Title Dreamcatcher

Two-Sentence Summary In Camelot, Emma’s desire to get rid of the darkness in her by freeing Merlin causes her to step further into the darkness by breaking Henry’s heart. When Henry finds out the truth about what Emma did to him, it ruins the relationship they were trying to work on back in Storybrooke, while Merida works to make Rumplestiltskin brave and the heroes discover Excalibur hidden in Emma’s house.

Favorite Lines
Emma: I didn’t have a choice.
Regina: There’s always a choice, Emma. You’ve said that to me a thousand times.

My Thoughts Innocence is a precious thing, and its loss is something to be mourned. “Dreamcatcher” was all about the loss of innocence and what that does to a person. It reminded us of the intense grief we feel when first loves turn into first heartbreak, but it also touched on one of the most painful losses of innocence that comes with growing up: the discovery even the people we believe in the most are capable of letting us down and hurting us.

Henry has always been defined by his faith; he has the heart of the truest believer, after all. And that’s never been clearer than in his relationship with Emma. He was the first person to believe in her as a both a hero and a mother. He believed in her so much that he was willing to eat a poisoned apple turnover because he knew she would save him. And that act wasn’t just an act of a boy believing in a hero; it was an act of a boy believing in his mother.

But Henry isn’t a little boy anymore; he’s growing up. And—just as we saw his relationship with Regina deepen in recent seasons as he explored the complexities of his adoptive mother’s capacity for both good and evil—it was time for him to face the idea that his birth mother has both good and evil in her, too. “Dreamcatcher” brought Henry face-to-face with Emma’s dark side, and, while it devastated me, it made for incredibly compelling television.

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For future reference, I’ve decided to start referring to Hook by his real name (Killian) in these posts. It feels right to stop calling him by his more villainous moniker now that it couldn’t be clearer that he’s the romantic hero of this arc. In the same way I refuse to call Snow “Mary Margaret” and I tend to favor “Charming” over “David,” I want to use “Killian” to reflect who I think this character is at his core. But feel free to call him whatever name you feel most comfortable using in the comments!

Source: avclub.com

Title Broken Kingdom

Two-Sentence Summary In flashbacks to Camelot’s past, the truth of the legendary Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle is revealed, shedding more light on Arthur’s obsession with finding the Dark One’s dagger. In the more recent past, Snow and Charming face a challenge when they don’t know who to trust, and Emma and Killian work to fight the darkness in her together.

Favorite Line “You tried to trick me with a catchy title and a comfy chair.” (Charming, to Arthur)

My Thoughts “True love isn’t easy, but it must be fought for. Because once you find it, it can never be replaced.”

Those words from Charming all the way back in Season One of Once Upon a Time were on my mind throughout much of “Broken Kingdom.” Once Upon a Time has always focused on the “true” part of “true love.” It’s something that cannot be faked; it must be chosen by both parties from a place of trust, hope, and belief. Love is a choice, and the truest love is chosen and fought for even when it’s hard—especially when it’s hard. That concept—fighting for love instead of taking the easy way out, accepting the imperfect realities of love instead of living with a façade of perfection—was at the heart of “Broken Kingdom,” which was my favorite episode so far in this stellar fifth season.

I’ll get this out of the way now: Yes, the timeline was ridiculously confusing in this week’s episode, and I hope one of the writers decides to address it at some point to clear things up. How could the Dark One appear to Guinevere and Lancelot when Rumplestiltskin was in Storybrooke five years ago? And even stranger, how could he just get possession of the gauntlet five years ago when he had it in flashbacks with Belle over 30 years ago? My explanation is that Camelot has always been considered a land outside of time, so maybe the passage of time is different there. But it would be nice to have an official word on that. However, I am more than willing to forgive inconsistencies like that if the story keeps me emotionally engaged, which this one definitely did.

This episode told the story of four romantic relationships: Arthur/Guinevere, Lancelot/Guinevere, Charming/Snow, and Killian/Emma. The way the writers created parallels and direct foils between those relationships was brilliant. It seems that one of the major themes of this season is “Love is a weapon,” and it’s clear that love is a weapon for good when the love is pure, true, and healthy. But it can be used as a weapon for evil when it’s twisted by darkness and manipulated by a desire to control rather than truly love. The same can be said of Excalibur, I think. It seems the Dark One wants to wield it for evil purposes—to snuff out the light and free itself from any ability to love. But there’s also the idea that Excalibur could defeat the darkness once and for all, which is a truly heroic goal.

Excalibur has always been associated with a worthy hero, and it was clear in this episode that Arthur is not worthy of wielding the re-forged sword. In order for the sword to become whole again, light and dark have to be combined, which I think is an interesting metaphor for heroism. A true hero is someone who understands darkness and light and knows that both exist in every person. A true hero chooses to be their best self and not their worst with full knowledge of both. While Arthur seems obsessed with maintaining the façade of perfect heroism and the Dark One seems to believe it can create a hero with Rumplestiltskin, I think Excalibur will only be able to be re-forged and wielded by someone who accepts their own capacity for good and evil and wants to wield the weapon for the right reason—as a weapon of love and light and not one of darkness and destruction.

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Before I get started on this week’s post, I wanted to take a moment to offer my condolences to the family and friends of a fellow Oncer who passed away over the weekend. Adri, you are loved and you will be missed. 

Source: mashable.com

Title The Price

Two-Sentence Summary As flashbacks to Camelot reveal that Regina pretended to be the Savior for Emma’s safety, Emma in all her Dark One glory puts the full pressure of being the Savior on Regina in Storybrooke. This involves coming up with a plan to save Robin from being taken to the underworld after Regina asked Emma to save his life using her new dark magic in Camelot.

Favorite Line “I spent over a century trying to kill the bloody Crocodile. I can spend at least that long trying to save the woman I love.” (Hook)

My Thoughts “All magic comes with a price.” This is one of the founding principles of Once Upon a Time. But like all good fairytales, this theme is actually about so much more than magic. All actions have consequences. All choices have ramifications. And the question becomes, what price can we live with?

There’s a defining line on Once Upon a Time between the heroes and the villains in terms of how they handle people who make choices that hurt them. The heroes choose to forgive and to move on. Villains revel in doling out punishment, in making people pay for their choices. There’s a reason “All magic comes with a price” is attributed to Rumplestiltskin at his darkest. And whether it was Regina’s desire to ruin Snow’s life after Snow told the secret that got Daniel killed, or Hook’s quest to seek vengeance for Milah’s death (which led to him trying to kill Belle), we’ve seen time and again that darkness often manifests itself in a desire to hurt those who hurt you. We even saw that last season with Emma, who turned her back on her parents as a way to punish them after learning that they transferred her darkness onto Lily before the girls were born.

Thematic continuity is a beautiful thing, so I’ve loved that Emma’s version of the Dark One is an extension of the darkness we saw in her when she learned her parents’ secret last season. Emma is the most empathetic character on Once Upon a Time; at her best, she understands the reasons people made the choices they did, and she doesn’t hold those choices against them. But at her darkest, Emma wants to make the people who’ve let her down pay. There’s a righteous anger to this version of Emma that’s fascinating. And that righteous anger is allowing those who love her to confront their own missteps and become better versions of themselves in the process, as they work to rectify the mistakes they made in the past—even if they can’t remember exactly what those mistakes were.

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