Source: spoilertv.com

Title Page 23

Two-Sentence Summary Regina faces off against the Evil Queen as flashbacks reveal the moment Regina realized the extent of her own self-hatred. Meanwhile, Killian battles his own past demons as they rise up to threaten his relationship with Emma.

Favorite Line “You are a part of me, and I’m a part of you—whether you like it or not. And now I love myself, which means so should you.” (Regina, to the Evil Queen)

My Thoughts Once Upon a Time is—at its very core—a love story. And what has always made it stand out is that it’s a love story that acknowledges that romantic love is just one kind of love; it’s not the only kind of love. In fact, Once Upon a Time has often shown that the most important kind of love—the kind that can change villains into heroes and lost girls into saviors—is the love we have for ourselves. True growth, happiness, and hope are only found when we are able to look at ourselves in the mirror and love the person looking back—the whole, messy, flawed person. Until that happens, a true happy ending can never be possible, because how can you be truly happy if you’re not happy with yourself?

There are no better characters to bring this theme to life than Regina and Killian, so I was thrilled to see their stories so thematically intertwined in “Page 23.” At the very beginning of Season Three, those two characters had a conversation about whether or not happiness could ever be possible for people like them—people who did terrible things but are working every day to be better than their pasts—and ever since then, I have enjoyed watching their parallel stories of redemption, hope, and self-forgiveness unfold. Those stories haven’t always been easy to watch, but they have provided much of the narrative depth in these later seasons of Once Upon a Time. And they served as the emotional core of “Page 23,” which seems fitting since the titular page was meant to be a symbol of the possibility of a happy ending for a former villain.

This was an episode that probably didn’t need a flashback (How many times do we have to revisit this period in the past?), but at least it tied in beautifully with the theme of self-hatred standing in the way of happiness. I think we could all see it coming that the person Regina hated the most wasn’t Snow White but herself, yet it was still a powerful moment to see her staring at her reflection in the broken glass. Lana Parrilla did commendable work in this episode playing three different versions of the same role, and that moment—with Regina gazing upon her broken self in the broken glass—was among the most emotional of the hour. Regina hated herself so deeply that she cut herself off from anything that could have made her truly happy—namely, a second chance at love with Robin Hood. She self-sabotaged because she felt unworthy of happiness, choosing instead to continue down a dark path because she felt that was the path she deserved to be on.

That same sense of self-loathing was a defining part of Killian’s story for so long, too. He spent centuries hating himself and falling deeper and deeper into darkness because of that self-hatred. In fact, it has been even harder for Killian to let go of that self-loathing than it has been for Regina, which almost surely comes from the fact that he spent many more years doing many more things that made him hate himself. And like Regina in the flashbacks, Killian’s self-hatred caused him to sabotage his own happiness because he felt unworthy of it.

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Source: spoilertv.com

Title Ill-Boding Patterns

Two-Sentence Summary As Gideon tries to fix the sword that he plans to use to kill Emma, Rumplestiltskin is reminded of a time in his past when he watched another son struggle with the siren song of darkness. Meanwhile, Killian is torn between his desire to be honest with Emma and his fears that his past will stand in the way of their happy future.

Favorite Line “How did I ever think removing my evil half would change anything? I thought I was rid of you for good, Queenie. But I guess I’ll always be paying the price for what you did…What I did.” (Regina)

My Thoughts Can I have some of the memory-erasing tea that was being passed around in this episode?

Some episodes of Once Upon a Time get better the more you think about them and analyze them, but some episodes simply don’t hold up to much—if any—deep thinking. “Ill-Boding Patterns” was sadly an example of the latter. What started out as a promising exploration of the pull of darkness and the strength it takes to resist it turned into an exploration of people doing bad things for what they believe are the right reasons or when they believe they’re backed into a corner. And while that’s an interesting topic to explore, it made for quite a depressing episode that seemed to rewrite some basic traits in beloved characters for the sake of fitting this theme.

Let’s get this out of the way right now: Killian and Emma’s proposal was one of the moments that was tainted in this episode for the sake of fitting the narrative about making the wrong choice for what you convince yourself is the right reason. Should he have come clean before proposing? Of course. But he did not want to hurt Emma by telling her he killed her grandfather when she thought he was asking her to marry him, so he made the choice to do the less honorable thing to protect the heart of someone he loves, which was completely aligned with the theme of this episode, even if it was not very fun to watch.

Killian proposed to Emma under no small amount of duress. Of course he wanted to ask her to marry him; he bought the ring, talked to Charming, worked out some of his issues with Archie. But this wasn’t how Killian wanted it to happen, and, I’ll be honest; it’s not how I wanted it to happen. I don’t ask for much when it comes to proposals for my favorite television couples (or at least I like to think I’m pretty easy to please on that front); I just want it to be a moment—as it should be in real life—of genuine happiness for both parties. And no matter how much Jennifer Morrison and Colin O’Donoghue sold their characters’ love and excitement at the idea of getting married, this couldn’t be a genuinely happy moment. The fact that it seemingly was one for Emma actually made it worse; she came to him with her walls down and totally open to the idea of getting married, showing how far she’s come as a character in such a beautiful way, but that openness was met with a major piece of information being withheld from her once again by someone she opened her heart to. The culmination of this part of Emma’s character arc deserved better; it was such a huge moment for her to be the one to take that first step toward lifelong commitment by telling him she would say yes, but it was tainted by this contrived drama and angst.

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Source: nerdspan.com

Title Murder Most Foul

Two-Sentence Summary When Charming enlists Killian’s help in discovering the truth about who killed his father, Killian sees an opportunity to earn Charming’s respect before asking for Emma’s hand in marriage—until a terrible truth is revealed. Meanwhile, Regina struggles with the complications of bringing Wish-Realm Robin to Storybrooke.

Favorite Line “Someday, may we all be reunited with our sons.” (Rumplestiltskin)

My Thoughts What does it mean to be enough, to have enough, to do enough? When you spend your whole life chasing the idea of being “enough” (respected enough, powerful enough, good enough), what happens when you discover that sometimes “enough” isn’t enough? Bad things can still happen even when you try your best to be good enough. You can still lose those you love even when you try to be powerful enough. Your past can still come back to haunt you even when you try to be respected enough.

A discovery like that can break you, or it can open your eyes to the idea that you don’t have to chase anything; you’re enough exactly as you are.

With its central theme avoiding the temptation to give in to darkness, it made sense for “Murder Most Foul” to deal heavily with Killian and Regina. However, I loved that it actually focused most closely on Charming. He’s a character we don’t get to explore with great depth that often, but when we do, we are shown a picture of a man who is often tempted to give in to darkness when he feels he isn’t doing enough to protect his family. And in this case, he felt he wasn’t doing enough to avenge the one member of his family we knew the least about until this episode: his father.

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Source: spoilertv.com

Two-Sentence Summary As Emma and Regina try to find a way back to Storybrooke from the Wish Realm, they encounter various alternate-reality versions of familiar faces. Meanwhile, Charming and Killian team up back in Storybrooke to hunt down Gideon, as his parents try to work together to find a better fate for their son after he reveals his master plan.

Favorite Line “If you believe in something strongly enough, we all have the power to change our fate.” (August)

My Thoughts Once Upon a Time has always been about finding the power to write your own story, to believe that you can change your life for the better by taking the first step and believing good things are possible for you. That entire ethos was summed up all the way back in Season One by Emma Swan’s famous words:

People are gonna 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…

Part of my problem with this season so far has been that it’s felt like Emma has forgotten her own words at times, buying into the idea of being fated to die protecting her family instead of believing that she has the ability to punch back and change things—change her fate. So imagine my delight when this episode focused on the idea of choosing your own fate and creating your own story right from the very start. As such, it felt like a true return to form for Once Upon a Time.

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Source: spoilertv.com

I apologize for the brief hiatus that caused me to miss the last episode, fellow Oncers! I was off having a magical Disney adventure and then having a very non-magical adventure catching up on all the work I missed during my time away. But I’m back now and ready to talk about all things Storybrooke!

Title Changelings

Two-Sentence Summary As Belle is faced with the threat of her pregnancy being sped up so Rumplestiltskin can take her baby and Emma is faced with more detailed visions of her death, both women find the strength to fight for the fate of those they love. In flashbacks to Belle’s time in Rumplestiltskin’s castle, she witnesses a confrontation between the Dark One and his long-lost mother.

Favorite Line “I never wanted you to be perfect. I just wanted you to try.” (Belle, to Rumplestiltskin)

My Thoughts Love is not easy. It calls for sacrifice, selflessness, and the knowledge that sometimes you have to put your own pain and fear aside to do the right thing for the person you love. Love asks us to be brave, to try, and to believe. To love fully and truly is a hero’s calling, and Once Upon a Time has always shown that the most heroic thing a person can do is open their heart to love.

“Changelings” was an episode that proved that the strongest, bravest heroes on Once Upon a Time are the characters who are willing to do the difficult thing for the ones they love. And it did this by contrasting the heroes and villains in incredibly stark ways.

At the center of this episode was the conflict between Belle and Rumplestiltskin over the fate of their child, and that conflict has its roots in Rumplestiltskin’s inability to understand what Belle clearly does: Love does not demand perfection, but it does demand effort.

No matter how much power he amasses, Rumplestiltskin will always be a coward. He’s afraid that his son won’t love him, so he wants to force him to love him by cutting the ties to his fate. He’s afraid of losing his son, so he goes to drastic measures to keep him—including threatening Belle with an expedited pregnancy. And he’s afraid to put the hard work in that it takes to truly love someone, so he takes the easy way out—hiding behind the idea that he’s “unlovable” instead of trying to be a better person for his wife and unborn baby.

That’s always been Rumplestiltskin’s way—he always looks for a magical solution instead of making sacrifices and working hard to do the right thing for the people in his life. His actions in this episode were no exception. As Belle stated so perfectly, she never asked for him to be perfect; she just wanted to see him trying to be the best version of himself. Once he stropped trying and clearly stopped believing in himself, she stopped believing in him, too. As sad as that is, it also fills me with a sense of pride for Belle. This season has been all about her standing up for herself and her child, and it was powerful to see her refuse to give in to her husband’s demands and tell him that he would lose her forever if he used magic to take away their son.

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Source: spoilertv.com

Title Heartless

Two-Sentence Summary When the Evil Queen gives Snow and Charming an ultimatum—give up their shared heart or force all of Storybrooke to suffer from the water of the River of Lost Souls—it allows several characters to think and talk about what True Love really means. In flashbacks, it’s revealed that the first sparks of True Love were ignited between Snow and Charming long before they even saw the other’s face.

Favorite Line “Knowing you believe in me means I’m not alone.” (Snow, to Charming)

My Thoughts For an episode titled “Heartless,” this had more heart than any other Once Upon a Time episode so far this season. It was another beautifully romantic chapter in the sweeping love story of Snow and Charming—the love story that first sold me on this show and the love story that will always hold a special spot in my heart. And as this episode allowed us to focus on the True Love between Snow and Charming, it also reminded us that their daughter is living out her own love story with a man whose belief in her echoes the belief that makes her parents’ love so strong.

Most of us who watch Once Upon a Time didn’t start watching it because we thought it would add more realism into our media-consuming lives. We started watching it because we needed an escape. We needed a fairytale. And sometimes it’s nice to watch episodes of this show that give us exactly that—the fairytale, the epic romance, the beacon of hope even when things seem to be at their worst. When life is hard (like in the final days before a presidential election that has everyone in America on edge), it’s nice to turn on the TV and watch something that makes you feel good. And even though “Heartless” ended with quite the heartbreaking twist, I still walked away from it feeling good, feeling uplifted, and feeling hopeful. This is why I watch Once Upon a Time and will continue to watch it as long as the TV gods keep it on the air.

“Heartless” was an episode about True Love, and, as such, it felt right that a quote about belief played such an important part in it. True Love and belief have always gone hand-in-hand on this show; to truly love someone, you need to believe in them, and you need to open your heart to let their belief in you help you grow stronger. Snow and Charming have always exemplified this idea—going so far as to believe in their love to the point of sharing a heart. But this episode showed that their belief in each other goes back even further than they knew.

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Source: spoilertv.com

Title Dark Waters

Two-Sentence Summary After Henry discovers that Killian kept the shears that could cut Emma’s ties to being the Savior, the two of them are forced to work out their issues 20,000 leagues under the sea while being held captive by Killian’s half-brother. Meanwhile, Belle faces her first ultrasound appointment, and Emma and Aladdin bond over being reluctant Saviors.

Favorite Lines
Killian: What made you come back?
Henry: You said you couldn’t ruin one more family…Neither could I.

My Thoughts One of my favorite things about Once Upon a Time is that it is uniquely focused on women and their relationships with one another. However, that doesn’t mean that its male characters are left without proper development and compelling relationships in their own right. “Dark Waters” was an episode that centered on the complex family dynamics between some of the male characters on this show, and, its tight focus on one compelling relationship in particular (the often-underdeveloped one between Killian and Henry) made it one of the best episodes of this sixth season.

First of all, say what you want about the Evil Queen (and all I’ll say for now is that her Southern accent in this episode was the weirdest acting choice I’ve ever seen Lana Parrilla make), but she gets things done. I appreciate a woman who doesn’t let secrets stay secrets for long, and if having her around means no unnecessary angst lasts longer than an episode, then I guess I can handle her meddling in the lives of our heroes for a little while longer.

The Evil Queen will never be successful, though, because she consistently underestimates her opponents. If you’ll permit me a Harry Potter reference, it’s like Voldemort’s weakness being his inability to understand love. The Evil Queen thinks that everyone will react to things the way she would—with grudges that last a lifetime. But that’s not how heroes operate. As Rumplestiltskin said, forgiveness is a virtue, but it’s one the Evil Queen does not understand, which foiled her plans to drive the Charming Family apart.

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