AHH, YOU GUYS I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!
Y'know, last week's premiere feels almost boring compared to THIS frickin' amazing episode!!
Written by the always-awesome Jane Espenson--who gave us Skin Deep, Red-Handed and The Return (among others!) last season, We Are Both was full of shocks, surprises, touching moments and, yes, teary bits!
I think Ms. Espenson loves Rumple as much as the viewers do. The voice she gives him is always perfect!
Ready, then? Here we go!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Storybrooke, the Dwarfs want to know if they can leave town. They draw straws and Sneezy loses.Okay, can I just say how happy I am that the dwarfs are once again the DWARFS?! Grumpy is grumpy and Doc is Doc...and did you see Dopey's clothes?! Haha, so dopey!
I missed them so much this summer!
With a little help, Sneezy steps over the line and starts to...well, he shimmers.
Meanwhile, the town is cleaning up. We get a glimpse of Granny's diner and the smashed-up cars in the street and wooden-August lying in his bed, blinking....Wait, wut?
WHAT?! AUGUST BLINKING??
Next we get a look at the missing persons board--and of Marco/Gepetto putting up a drawing of his son, Pinocchio.
The citizens are lingering in the street and Red is shouting directions, trying to help. She mentions to the Blue Fairy that she's sure the Prince is working on something.
And yep, he is!
Charming goes to see Regina and asks her about the hat. He says he knows she's having magic issues.
She lies and tells him she has no idea where she got the hat.
They fling insults, Regina lies again about Fairytale Land being gone and then she says that Henry will be hers again once she gets her magic back.
Charming goes back to the citizens of Storybrooke, who desperately need a leader.
They have so many questions that need answers, and they need guidance.
Charming is too focused on finding his wife and daughter to see that.
When Sneezy stepped over the town line, he FORGOT WHO HE REALLY IS!!!
He thinks he's Tom Clark who owns the pharmacy!
BOOM, WHAT A TWIST!
The townfolk freak out and Charming realizes that he needs to do something.
He tells them to come back in 2 hours...which gives him 2 hours to come up with a plan to help everyone.
Meanwhile, Regina goes to Gold's shop.
She 'needs the book to get her son back'.
Regina convinces him to give her the book and as she's walking out he tells her that she does NOW look like her mother (in not so many words).
Back at Mary Margaret's, Charming is trying to come up with a plan when Henry spies the hat. He knows it's the Mad Hatter's hat, but doesn't know who the Hatter is.
It's Charming's turn to show up at Gold's shop, and before he arrives, we see Gold packing road maps into a bag. Going somewhere, Gold?
Charming asks for a spell to help find the Hatter and the two make a deal. Charming will no longer bother Gold and Gold will no longer bother Charming.
Seems a good deal to me!
As he's leaving, Charming tells Gold about the problem Sneezy had when trying to leave Storybrooke.
Gold is NOT happy with this news at all.
With the spell, the hat leads Charming to Jefferson, who's trapped in his over-turned car.
(Jefferson has a rabbit and a tea set in his car...but he hasn't yet connected with Grace)
Back at Regina's, she opens the book and regains her magic.
Once again the Evil Queen, she goes to the town meeting, threatens the townsfolk and takes Henry home.
Regina tells Henry she's going to teach him all that she knows and that he'll never lack for friends or love.
Henry tells her he doesn't want it that way. That he doesn't want to be like her.
The townsfolk are scared and decide to leave Storybrooke and forget who they once were.
Charming stops them in the nick of time with a great speech. A perfect Charming speech.
Charming goes to see Henry and we see that Regina has had a change of heart.
Henry is allowed to go home with Charming and she wants to redeem herself.
Charming asks for proof and she tells him that, yes, Fairytale Land still exists.
The town reopens and the Dwarfs buy mining picks.
Tom/Sneezy asks them what they need them for and Grumpy replies, "Don't worry, brother. You lost somethin'. It's gonna take fairy dust to get it back. So we're gonna do what we do best. C'mon, boys. It's off to work we go!"
(Did anyone else cheer through tears here?! Okay, good!)
Henry sees Marco/Gepetto in the diner and whispers to him.
Gepetto goes to August's room at Granny's and finds...Pinocchio's hat.
AUGUST IS GONE.
And Regina...Well, Regina almost burns the magic book. But then locks it away instead.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Fairytale Land That Was, we find out how Regina meets Rumpelstiltskin and becomes who she is.
To escape her horrible mother, young Regina calls Rumple and asks him to help her get ride of Cora.
Rumple seems to know Regina.
Regina says he probably knows her because he's the one who gave Cora her magic and she's been told she looks like Cora. Rumple says no and makes a bunch of oddly cryptic remarks.
Rumple then conjures a portal to 'a specific, annoying world'.
The day of her wedding, Regina finally finds the strength and the magic and pushes her mother through the portal, freeing herself from her mother's clutches.
She gives the book back to Rumple, saying she'll never again use magic. That she never wants to be like her mother.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And in Fairytale Land That Is, Mulan, Aurora, Snow and Emma arrive at the 'safe haven'.
Emma and Snow try to escape, and Snow is knocked unconscious.
They're put into a cave where they meet a woman who wants to help.
A woman named Cora.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Seriously, sometimes I have NO words after I watch this show!
The twists and turns and shocks just overwhelm me! And SO many questions!!!
Highlights:
-Grumpy's speech at the beginning.
-August blinked!
-"Are the nuns still nuns, or can they, y'know, date?" (Dr. Whale)
-I love how strong Charming is. I love how he's taken over. I love the difference between he and David. It's amazing how they wrote David so weak for THIS reason!
-"If it did would I have come running in yelling, 'Terrible news'?"(Grumpy)
-"I knew you long ago, dearie. It's been some time, but I knew this day would come. I've been waiting for it. And I'm so happy we're back where we belong." (Rumple to Regina)
-The Dwarfs going to help Sneezy. LOVED SO MUCH.
-Charming's speech.
What questions do we have after this episode?
-WHERE IS AUGUST?!?!
-Did the spell break for him? (Was it just me, or when he blinked was he more human-looking than he was when he turned to wood last season?)
-Who put up the barrier around Storybrooke? Regina?
-Who can break the barrier? How?
-What's in the black box in Gold's shop?
-Will the Dwarfs find fairy dust?
-Will Sneezy be fixed? How?
-When will Jefferson talk to Grace?
-What did Rumple mean when he was speaking to Regina, "I'm so happy we're back where we belong."?
-Where was Cora before the safe haven?!
-Why is Cora in the cave?
-How did Cora get to the safe haven?
-Rumple said to Regina, "Someday, you'll do something for me." What will she (did she?) do for him?
-Is Regina for real? Does she REALLY want to redeem herself?
-Will evil-Regina come back to mess things up?
The opening was creepy vines...and did Rumple seem toned down to you guys at all?
There wasn't so much giggling or flamboyancy..or am I seeing things?
Here's the promo for next week's episode, Lady of the Lake:
Your turn! What are your thoughts after watching We Are Both?
See you back here next week, Oncers!
I'm seriously obsessed with this show! I'm wondering if Malificent and Cora are somehow related? (that's the evil queen in Sleeping Beauty, right?)
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved the contrast between David and Charming's personalities as well!
And I'm wondering why Regina and Rumple didn't know about the barries surrounding Storybrook?
Maleficent is from Sleeping Beauty, yup! (Played by the amazing Kristin Bauer van Straten from True Blood)
ReplyDeleteIf she and Cora are related, it would explain why Regina and Maleficent were so close in Fairytale Land That Was...although Regina does say that they're friends and there's no mention of relation.
Maleficent is also now dead--killed by Emma with Charmings's sword--so Emma would've been REALLY pissed by that, I think?
And, was it mentioned that Regina didn't know about the barrier spell?
Gold didn't know, so he couldn't have been the one to create it...but I don't recall it being mentioned about Regina not knowing.
She might be the one who cast the spell?
Hi Christina.
ReplyDeleteGood summary as usual.
Here's an oddball question for you. Why doesn't anyone in Storybrooke have a new car? They all look to be from the 80s or even 70s. As I was thinking about this, at first I wondered if our Storybrooke time isn't 2012, but then I remembered that several people have cell phones, so that's not the case. But seriously, not one mid-sized SUV anywhere? What's up with that?
Second, I've been thinking more about the Mystery Man from last week, and who sent the note. The general consensus is that it's Baelfire, and that makes sense I suppose. But again, I want to look at it from the other direction.
Who sent the note? At first thought, it's an interesting question, but then you start narrowing down the suspects. And you realize the list isn't as small as you might have first thought.
It had to be someone who knew about the curse in advance, right (well, maybe not...but more on that later)? I mean, otherwise, they don't know that it might be important to MM that the curse is broken.
So, who is on that list?
Regina/Evil Queen
Gold/Rumpel
Jefferson/Mad Hatter
August/Pinocchio
Henry
Emma?
Dr. Whale? I throw him in because he's such an enigma.
Mr. Glass/Magic Mirror/Genie? Do we know for certain he didn't know about the curse?
Anyway, that's a longer list than I would have initially thought.
If we assume it's Baelfire, we can eliminate some though. It's my impression that Rumpel still doesn't know where Baelfire is. So, he didn't send the note. I can't see why Regina would have. If Baelfire is Henry's father, that gives Henry a reason. Otherwise, no. But, does Henry know who his father is? I was under the impression he didn't. Even though I have Emma on the list, I don't really believe it's her. Or Mr. Glass. It could be August, but he didn't look like he was capable of writing anything at the time.
That leaves us:
Henry (if MM is his father & he knows it)
Dr. Whale
Jefferson
August
Frankly, I'm leaning towards one of the last two. Arrrrghhhhh...the more I think about this, the more confused I get. I'm over-thinking.
The suspect list doesn't change all that much if it's NOT Baelfire. We can add Regina and Gold back in, but then we have to ask the question "WHY?" for Regina at least, and probably Gold too.
My speculation? It IS Baelfire, who IS Henry's father, and August sent the note.
I've been thinking about the Mystery Man as well, and here's the thing--
DeleteBaelfire was 14 years old when he went through the portal.
It's been at LEAST 28 years since he went through. We know that because time stopped in Storybrooke for 28 years. No one aged for 28 years.
But Bale WASN'T in Storybrooke. He DID age.
So Bael would be a man in his 40's now.
Mystery man was NOT a man in his 40's.
So IS he Baelfire?
I'm second-guessing that now!
And the cars--Haha, weird! It must be because they've been trapped for so long? No one realized there were new cars out there to buy? ;)
28 years...that'd be 1984. Yes, I'd say that none of the cars that I saw were newer than 1984. So they're stuck in the time when they arrived? Problem is still cell phones. They've advanced in that one area. The hospital doesn't appear to be using 30 year old tech, and the Sheriff's office had a new-ish computer.
DeleteMeh. Probably nothing.
Good points about the age of Baelfire.
Oh, I forgot to make one of my points earlier.
I can expand the suspect list on the note to just about everyone on Storybrooke, if you're willing to make some leaps of faith.
1) MM used to live in Storybrooke and was known to some of the people there. But, somehow he left the town and moved to New York. I dunno how. I know it wasn't supposed to be possible to leave. Maybe Regina got PO'd at him and banished him. Maybe Gold knew how to circumvent the curse for him. Maybe there's something special about him that just allowed him to leave.
2) Once there, MM kept at least intermittent contact with a friend from Storybrooke. Neither of them knew about the curse, they were just long distance friends.
3) After the curse was broken, the person in Storybrooke remembered MM, remembered FTL, and remembered who MM was in FTL. Figuring that since all this FTL knowledge has come back to the Storybrooke residents, s/he sent the note to MM, so that MM would know what's going on too.
Of course this means that it could be just about anybody.
But why didn't they just pick up the phone, or even use standard US Mail. Why carrier pigeon??
I keep reading MM as Mary Margaret. LOL!
DeleteThe cars/cell phones...That IS weird. And with this show, you never know what's important and what's not! So, good eye!
We'll have to wait and see what--or if--they mention it!
Good question about the pigeon! Does that mean something, or were the writers just giving us yet another nudge like, "Hey, remember, pigeons mean something!" (Snow/Charming's pigeon, etc.)
I honestly have NO idea who he could be. I really don't...Not if he's not Baelfire.
The question of where August is, always presses on my brainXD I wonder if he'll be helpful in retrieving Emma.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that Regina wants to change. I'm sure that it's far to easy for that happen, but I feel she may become more heroic in the end.
Mr. Gold I'm having more issues with this season though. Last season he was improving but now....now I refuse!
I feel that the citizens are stuck in whatever time they were sent to this world. Which is rather odd considering the more modern technology that have but it could help explain the old cars. Emma is around 30 so that would match more accurately to the cars. Perhaps the town is simply a reflection of their world in the Storyland.
I'm curious to see why Gold was standing at the edge of town. Does he have an ulterior motive. Will he step over the line to forget his horrors? Push the queen over the line?
Compared to Chris my comment seems rather small and unintelligent:P
No, your comment was great. I just babble on endlessly.
DeleteAll comments are awesome! I LOVE talking about this show, and this is the only way I have to do it, so I love you guys for commenting! :)
DeleteI think Gold was standing at the town line because he knows now that he and Belle can't leave, and he was standing there, longing. (And showing us, the viewer, a simple scene that shows how much he really does want to leave.)
Remember he was packing up all those maps?
I think he was planning to take Belle and just get out. Get away from the magic and the people and temptation...and look for Bael.
I just finished watching this episode. I agree that it was amazing! My biggest emotional points were Gold considering going over the town line (I think he's trying to find a way to please Belle and thinks he can only do that by forgetting, but he doesn't want to forget.) I got quite emotional when Regina almost burned her book, but then didn't, because I think she wants to be good, but she just loves the magic too much. I'm thinking maybe with Cora at the end (which was another emotional twist for me), Regina could turn into a hero and Cora into the main villain. Regina just isn't the villain she used to be because she has a softer side and there needs to be someone to take her place. And Cora's definitely not approaching Snow and Emma with pure intentions. It will be to get revenge on Regina and other people potentially after she escapes.
ReplyDeleteI got very emotional watching the Prince give that speech because you know what...I agree! A part of me wants them to go back to fairytale land and live out the rest of their happy fairytale lives as they once were, but at the same time, if this happened, I would mourn the loss of their "real" selves. Same with if fairy tale land was fully destroyed! I'd mourn the lost of their fairy tale selves. Because to me, they are both people, too! And I don't want them to lose either part of themselves, I enjoy the stories that occur in both worlds.
I know Gold wants him (and possibly Belle) to forget all his mistakes, but they might not be in love anymore if they forget everything and that's even more tragic to me. So I don't want him to cross that line. I think he may have cast the spell and this was his plan all along because in fairytale world, him and Belle aren't together, but I don't like this plan.
Also, I got quite emotional when Regina pushed her mother into the mirror and when she said she didn't want to do magic anymore because she loved it too much. That was the true moment when she turned evil. Not when Snow told Cora about her secret lover because she was trying to resist hating Snow and disturbed by it still. I enjoy watching characters go through dramatic transformations like that.
I was shocked that Regina let Henry go. I wasn't expecting that.
Also, I freaked out when August blinked. OMG. I didn't expect us to get back to him so fast and yet it was just a tease because he was gone again not too long later....
And here's my thoughts on "theories" which I don't usually have any . . . .
Her Mom must be somehow related to the original Rumplestiltskin story we all know and love. The woman who had to weave straw into gold and sell her firstborn for it is her. The reason I think this is because Rumplestiltskin says he knows her from her past, when she was much more portable (babies are the only kinds of portable people, I know) and Rumplestiltskin has some kind of relationship to his mother. Not only that, but he said that they "belong" together and that's because the girl's first born child in that story was supposed to belong to him originally, until he was tricked. And it's why Rumplestiltskin would take pleasure in ruining Cora's life back and teaching this baby that was always supposed to be his about magic.