{"id":6038,"date":"2015-10-06T11:33:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T15:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=6038"},"modified":"2015-10-06T12:41:19","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T16:41:19","slug":"review-once-upon-a-time-s5-e2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2015\/10\/06\/review-once-upon-a-time-s5-e2\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: ‘Once Upon a Time’ S5 E2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"onceuponatimes5e2\"<\/a>When I tuned into Once Upon a Time<\/em> this Sunday, I was welcomed by an episode that felt familiar. It was only halfway through the episode that I realized the story\u00a0is extremely similar to episodes from the first three seasons.<\/p>\n

Now dealing with what I believe is their fifth curse, the dwarves, led by Grumpy, take it upon themselves to determine what the rules are of this unique curse.<\/p>\n

As is the case with every new curse, if someone tries to cross the town line, something\u00a0terrible happens to punish them. Grumpy decides that the best way to figure it out is by having someone simply cross the town line to see what happens. Poor Dopey is the one to draw the short straw and, once over the line, is promptly turned into a tree. It doesn\u2019t take the residents of Storybrook long to figure out that human-based botany isn\u2019t the only thing that comes along with this curse.<\/p>\n

It turns out that King Arthur and his subjects from Camelot have also been brought along for the ride. This is good news for Henry, since he finally gets his first chance at a romantic storyline, but probably not such\u00a0good news for the rest of Storybrook, as\u00a0Emma has clearly brought them with her for a reason.<\/p>\n

While I love Emma\u2019s new role as the Dark One (does anyone else think she makes evil look super hot?) and I love the way Once Upon a Time<\/em> has always used flashbacks to fill in the holes, I feel that this new curse is unnecessary and overplayed.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen the town have their memory wiped three times before and also\u00a0witnessed various characters discover different parts of their memories to be missing. Had the writers tried hard enough, they could have found a way to utilize Emma as the Dark Swan without having her create a new curse.<\/p>\n

I fear that this old trope of Once Upon a Time<\/em> might make this season feel too tedious and familiar. Then again, I might be proven wrong because at least the viewers seem to be getting answers behind the memory loss faster than in previous seasons.<\/p>\n

While the residents of Storybrook try to recover their memories yet again, Regina struggles with her new role of savior \u2013 a struggle that is reminiscent to Emma\u2019s from the first two seasons.<\/p>\n

Regina doubts that she has the ability to be good, and fears that everyone in Storybrook will never be able see her as anything besides the Evil Queen. Emma feeds into this doubt and says to Regina, \u201cI built this curse without the one thing you need to break it, a savior.\u201d Regina spends the first half of the episode convincing herself that everyone is right, that she can\u2019t save Storybrook.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, she\u2019s forced to stop moping around when a Fury is discovered in town. Furies are like bounty hunters for magic, they seek repayment for the price of magic when it hasn\u2019t been paid; more specifically people who are alive who shouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

We learn that, while in Camelot, Robin Hood was stabbed while protecting Regina from an angry blast from her past. After reminding Emma how terrible her luck is when it comes to her love life, Regina convinces Emma to use dark magic to bring Robin back to life. Emma does so, but refuses to pay the price for her magic with another life, which we can safely\u00a0assume is what angered the Fury.<\/p>\n

Back in Storybrook, and faced with losing another person she loves, Regina gets some of her old confidence back and decides to prove everyone wrong by embracing her role as the new savior.<\/p>\n

With the help of Mary Margret, David, and King Arthur, Regina defeats the Fury and saves Robin\u2019s life \u2013 which doesn\u2019t really make sense. Shouldn\u2019t they still have to pay the price for magic to keep the Fury from coming back? But what do I know\u2026. the rules of magic in Once Upon a Time<\/em> have always been a little iffy.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I\u2019m super pumped to have Regina as the savior. She\u2019s been my favorite character for a considerable time, and I\u2019m glad to see her staying away from her evil tendencies. It gives me hope that she\u2019s finally on her way to a happy ending. If only that was true for the rest of Storybrook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I tuned into Once Upon a Time this Sunday, I was welcomed by an episode that felt familiar. It was only halfway through the episode that I realized the story\u00a0is extremely similar to episodes from the first three seasons. Now dealing with what I believe is their fifth curse, the dwarves, led by Grumpy,<\/p>\n

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