A Land Without Magic
Reactions to A Land Without Magic
(I should point out I wrote most of this right after watching, hence the slightly hyper reactions to things)
1. OH GOD
2. I feel sorry for Regina now... or at least, I did until the very end.
3. Most of the episode was fairly Mooring, but the end seriously Jossed me. It really is a game-changer.
4. I am going to accept Graham being dead on the show; him returning might make sense as a s2 finale thing, but for right now I'll just play with it in fanfics.
5. WTFFFFF RUMPLE, DO YOU THINK BAE WILL BE HAPPY WHEN YOU TRACK HIM DOWN WITH MAGIC, HAVING BROUGHT MAGIC INTO THIS WORLD THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WITHOUT MAGIC? AND BTW, MEET YOUR NEW MOM! OH GOD RUMPLE REALLY IS INSANE.
6. So Rumple set up the true love potion (being the most powerful magic) to be stored in stasis in Maleficent (knowing, apparently, that Regina would alter her form in the new world), and was invested in Snow and Charming and Emma's futures because he needed Emma to retrieve the potion and give it to him and he STILL HASN'T USED THE FAVOR YET. OH GOD HE'S NOT ACTUALLY ON HER SIDE AT ALL REALLY. THIS IS TERRIFYING.
7. I guess the Dark One curse and most of the other non-human-ifying curses/spells are broken now? So Rumple broke his curse, but is trying to regain the power without the curse? WHAAAAAAAAT
8. Emma has totally seen Sleeping Beauty.
9. Who in the world is Dr. Whale? Is there any particular reason that Regina decided to cry into his shoulder, or will it be hilarious in hindsight? (He looks like a pretty good guy in this episode, which lends credence to the 'prince and misplaced chivalry' vein of reasoning for his identity, although I feel it's entirely possible to invent a sympathetic Bluebeard. Also, if all Disney movies are fair game I think it'd be awesome for him to be Ichabod Crane.) I want to see all characters freaking over their sudden memories and everything. I will not be pleased if the show skips over a bunch of time between seasons.
10. The episode is not my favorite of the season, nor do I think it was the best of the season (I think both would be Red Handed, maybe). It was basically jam-packed with stuff happening, with very little time to develop or dwell on events. The stuff that happened was much more awesome than last week, but I still feel like the season's pacing was a little odd. Too many plot elements were put off in favor of filler episodes, only to run out of time to do justice to them in the last few episodes.
11. I don't think Emma has even had time to process the idea that all these things are true. She's focused on Henry in this episode. I hope to high heaven that the next season premiere will have loads of shoes dropping and things like Snow and Charming descending on her like “WE ARE YOUR PARENTS” and Emma having trouble adjusting.
12. I am thinking/hoping that next season will be more Fables-like, with Snow and Charming struggling to maintain order in Storybrooke as the population freaks the fuck out, trying to prevent the rest of the world from noticing the magic, figuring out whether and how they can get back home. It makes sense, as it appears that the next flashback arc will be about Snow and Charming taking over the kingdom/s and deposing the queen, and these two arcs would be a wonderful parallel to each other. I really hope these ideas are not also squashed down into one episode. They are too big for that.
13. Things I want answered/explained/to see next season: Was the wolf in the pilot Graham's wolf, and what's the significance of that and/or the way Rumple insisted Emma keep Graham's jacket? (And is there any way we can get Graham back from the dead? And if not, can we just see lots of the Huntsman in flashbacks?) Who is Dr. Whale? What happened to Bae? Who is Henry's father? What is the Blue Fairy's agenda? What were Henry's, Emma's, and August's childhoods like? Did breaking the curse and/or the flood of magic restore August, and if so which one did the trick? How exactly did Jefferson and Regina meet? What happened to Jefferson after Hat Trick? Who else is in the asylum? Are the citizens of Storybrooke familiar with their Disney movie counterparts, and if so what do they think of them (especially Snow and August)? With the return of magic, is Red an uncontrollable werewolf again? Was FTL actually destroyed for the curse? Why does everyone else on the internet think Maleficent is so awesome when I think she's just a weak, pale imitation of the actually strong and menacing Disney villain? Couldn't they have just had the potion be guarded by a dragon and be done with it-what was the point in using Maleficent for that?
I think I will spend the off-season, when I'm in the fandom still, writing fics about Graham coming back from the dead, and obsessively trying to figure out who Dr. Whale is.
(I should point out I wrote most of this right after watching, hence the slightly hyper reactions to things)
1. OH GOD
2. I feel sorry for Regina now... or at least, I did until the very end.
3. Most of the episode was fairly Mooring, but the end seriously Jossed me. It really is a game-changer.
4. I am going to accept Graham being dead on the show; him returning might make sense as a s2 finale thing, but for right now I'll just play with it in fanfics.
5. WTFFFFF RUMPLE, DO YOU THINK BAE WILL BE HAPPY WHEN YOU TRACK HIM DOWN WITH MAGIC, HAVING BROUGHT MAGIC INTO THIS WORLD THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WITHOUT MAGIC? AND BTW, MEET YOUR NEW MOM! OH GOD RUMPLE REALLY IS INSANE.
6. So Rumple set up the true love potion (being the most powerful magic) to be stored in stasis in Maleficent (knowing, apparently, that Regina would alter her form in the new world), and was invested in Snow and Charming and Emma's futures because he needed Emma to retrieve the potion and give it to him and he STILL HASN'T USED THE FAVOR YET. OH GOD HE'S NOT ACTUALLY ON HER SIDE AT ALL REALLY. THIS IS TERRIFYING.
7. I guess the Dark One curse and most of the other non-human-ifying curses/spells are broken now? So Rumple broke his curse, but is trying to regain the power without the curse? WHAAAAAAAAT
8. Emma has totally seen Sleeping Beauty.
9. Who in the world is Dr. Whale? Is there any particular reason that Regina decided to cry into his shoulder, or will it be hilarious in hindsight? (He looks like a pretty good guy in this episode, which lends credence to the 'prince and misplaced chivalry' vein of reasoning for his identity, although I feel it's entirely possible to invent a sympathetic Bluebeard. Also, if all Disney movies are fair game I think it'd be awesome for him to be Ichabod Crane.) I want to see all characters freaking over their sudden memories and everything. I will not be pleased if the show skips over a bunch of time between seasons.
10. The episode is not my favorite of the season, nor do I think it was the best of the season (I think both would be Red Handed, maybe). It was basically jam-packed with stuff happening, with very little time to develop or dwell on events. The stuff that happened was much more awesome than last week, but I still feel like the season's pacing was a little odd. Too many plot elements were put off in favor of filler episodes, only to run out of time to do justice to them in the last few episodes.
11. I don't think Emma has even had time to process the idea that all these things are true. She's focused on Henry in this episode. I hope to high heaven that the next season premiere will have loads of shoes dropping and things like Snow and Charming descending on her like “WE ARE YOUR PARENTS” and Emma having trouble adjusting.
12. I am thinking/hoping that next season will be more Fables-like, with Snow and Charming struggling to maintain order in Storybrooke as the population freaks the fuck out, trying to prevent the rest of the world from noticing the magic, figuring out whether and how they can get back home. It makes sense, as it appears that the next flashback arc will be about Snow and Charming taking over the kingdom/s and deposing the queen, and these two arcs would be a wonderful parallel to each other. I really hope these ideas are not also squashed down into one episode. They are too big for that.
13. Things I want answered/explained/to see next season: Was the wolf in the pilot Graham's wolf, and what's the significance of that and/or the way Rumple insisted Emma keep Graham's jacket? (And is there any way we can get Graham back from the dead? And if not, can we just see lots of the Huntsman in flashbacks?) Who is Dr. Whale? What happened to Bae? Who is Henry's father? What is the Blue Fairy's agenda? What were Henry's, Emma's, and August's childhoods like? Did breaking the curse and/or the flood of magic restore August, and if so which one did the trick? How exactly did Jefferson and Regina meet? What happened to Jefferson after Hat Trick? Who else is in the asylum? Are the citizens of Storybrooke familiar with their Disney movie counterparts, and if so what do they think of them (especially Snow and August)? With the return of magic, is Red an uncontrollable werewolf again? Was FTL actually destroyed for the curse? Why does everyone else on the internet think Maleficent is so awesome when I think she's just a weak, pale imitation of the actually strong and menacing Disney villain? Couldn't they have just had the potion be guarded by a dragon and be done with it-what was the point in using Maleficent for that?
I think I will spend the off-season, when I'm in the fandom still, writing fics about Graham coming back from the dead, and obsessively trying to figure out who Dr. Whale is.