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Once Upon A Time 2x17 - "Welcome To Storybrooke" Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2021-11-18 06:01:01
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2026-06
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Link: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZo52F0ZPnFDSlqk9ukTRzo1dpH0mJhWzgGX

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Heidi Elizabeth Marcum

Welcome to Storybrooke- Thank you once again for another fun reaction for Once Upon a Time, Dodo! :) Now... I really enjoy this episode, and the acting all throughout this episode from most of the characters, especially from Lana Parrilla (Regina), Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret), and from Robert Carlyle (Rumple), who are absolutely phenomenal. :) However, in all honesty... I have to admit, this episode is probably one of my least favorite episodes throughout all seven seasons, and it's not because it doesn't have some really good things about it because it really does. But because I just really don't like Greg Mendell as a character at all. Or rather Owen as we now know who Greg was before this tragedy in his life occurred when he was a boy. As Greg... he's just one of my least favorite characters in all of Once Upon a Time for a number of reasons, most of which have yet to be revealed. And while I am and had been intrigued by his plans for all of the evidence of magic throughout Storybrooke that he's been collecting so far when I first watched this show... he grows to annoy me more so than anything else with each episode we see him in. So therefore, I have a hard time with feeling too bad for him. I absolutely feel bad for him from back when he was Owen because he was just a boy then, and because his story is tragic. He lost his father, and he has no idea what happened to him. It's very sad. I have just always felt that Greg is creepy and I can't connect to his character or feel bad for him in his present day storyline now that he's found his way back to Storybrooke. And just to be clear... this is no fault of Ethan Embry as an actor. I've liked him in other movies. I just don't like Greg as a character overall. And just to be clear... his name in the present day is different than it was when he was a boy. He took on the name Greg Mendell in order to hide who he really is from Regina and whoever else might recognize him, or recognize his real name. But with all this being said... I absolutely love all of the parallels with Regina and Henry to what happened back in the first days of the dark curse. I love seeing the early days of the curse. We have never seen the first days and it is interesting that two strangers aside from Emma and August were able to come to Storybrooke thanks to them having been camping in the woods within the borders of Storybrooke where the town was formed around them as Regina cast her curse. I also absolutely how in the end it shows Owen beyond the town line unable to see any signs of Storybrooke despite knowing it is there, while Regina watches on... invisible to everyone outside of the town line because of the magic around Storybrooke that is making the town unknown to the outside world. This moment is beautifully done. And in regards to time being frozen... time was frozen straightaway the moment the curse formed Storybrooke and brought everyone over. The days passed with little differences such as the clothes people wore and certain conversations they had with one another changed, but for twenty-eight years, time stood still, making it so that the days simply repeated themselves like Groundhog Day. So no one ever ages, and Regina grows bored. Regina isn't happy because everyone is being forced to be miserable and she misses them actually fighting back against her. All because this is the price for Regina casting such a curse causes a deep hole in her heart. Just like Rumplestiltskin had warned her back in the Pilot episode. Absolutely brilliant!! Oh... and I suspect that while we see what appears to be only a few days of time pass throughout this episode, I believe that it took much, much longer for Regina to grow bored and begin to really understand that she hasn't truly won because this curse isn't everything she wanted or expected it to be. We just can't see the true length of time, given that true length of time is difficult to show in any show or movie, without words flashing across the screen to reveal to the viewers the length of time that's passed. I love seeing Regina happy and reveling in her success upon casting the curse, only for her to eventually come to be bored and unhappy with her new normal life that repeats itself day after day, and angry that no one will even try to fight back against her. Very interesting indeed. Oh... and it's interesting that this is the first episode where we see only Storybrooke with no flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest. We still have two timelines, but only in Storybrooke. Very cool. :) Also... I really love seeing Graham appear again after all this time, and I love his storyline. It is so interesting to see how Regina commands him to arrest Kurt through his heart, which we never really got to see her control Graham back when Graham was still alive within the first seven episodes he was in. I love how confused he is when he feels pain when Kurt knocks the lock box with his heart in it off the desk in trying to escape while Kurt kept trying to convince the sheriff that he is somehow being controlled. So interesting and I really feel badly for Graham. Kurt and Owen too of course. I also really appreciate that we get to see Billy, or Gus Gus again since this backstory obviously occurs before he too is sadly killed by King George, shown in this season's seventh episode... Child of the Moon. Billy... if you don't remember, was Ruby's close friend from before the curse broke, then finally revealed himself to her as Gus... one of the mice who used to live in Cinderella's attic once the curse was broken. Next... I enjoy the scene when Henry fights to convince Regina to spare Mary Margaret's life and to stop her plans to cast a love curse over him by killing his grandmother. And it's because of Henry, that everyone comes to see that magic can have the power to corrupt everyone, including heroes too. Henry's moral compass is very strong and he is definitely the heart of the people living in Storybrooke. And everyone loves him. However, I will say this... Henry is a bit annoying in this episode to me. He acts like he is entitled to know everything and that he's always right, when he is most definitely wrong in some regards throughout this episode. I agree that Emma and everyone else shouldn't lie to him, but like it is for any child, they don't have the right to know absolutely everything. Especially when their parents and those closest to him truly are trying to protect him from either harm or fear. I definitely understand why David and Emma are worried about telling Henry the full truth about what Mary Margaret has done. And unlike him, I don't see that each of the heroes want to kill Regina, but they are afraid they might have to resort to doing so if Regina refuses to back down. It's frustrating for me, that Henry is just so wishy washy in his feelings towards both of his mothers, and magic too. Also, it's just like you said... magic isn't what is evil and what corrupts people, unless of course it's dark magic like the darkness inside Gold. And yet any kind of magic still isn't really what's to blame. Only the people who wield the magic... both light and dark magic. It's the choices we make that is what saves and protects us, or what corrupts us. Regina proves this by burning her mother's curse and by allowing Henry to return to Emma and Neal. Regina has shown she can be good and a good mother to Henry. It's all of Regina's bad choices that have darkened her heart. Same goes for Mary Margaret's choice within the ending of The Miller's Daughter, and of all of Gold's dark and evil choices he's made in his long life too. I strongly believe this. Just as much as I believe that a loaded gun isn't what's to blame for the harm it causes when it's fired. So for Henry to constantly complain about magic being the problem and wanting to destroy it really bothers me too, because Regina has allowed magic to corrupt her because of Rumple and her own hatred for Snow White, and she, Gold, Emma, Neal, David, and Mary Margaret are all that's to blame for what's happened. Because of their choices they've all made. I wish that someone would have addressed this a little within this scene. More so than simply by showing that this is true. But with all of this being said... my absolute favorite moment is when Regina reveals to Mary Margaret the darkness now in her heart during their moment together in the end. The darkness that is put there because of Mary Margaret's evil deed. It's very sad, but this is a big reveal and it's powerful. It's just another way that proves heroes can become corrupted and become villains, just as villains can be redeemed and become heroes. And the acting between both Ginnifer Goodwin and especially Lana Parrilla is absolutely incredible throughout this scene. :) Regarding your insights into the blackness now within Mary Margaret's heart... I agree with you that Mary Margaret isn't one hundred percent to blame for her actions. Cora would have succeeded. She would have become the Dark One, and then she would have used the darkness to destroy everyone. This is absolutely true. And Cora's death was the only way to stop this. Absolutely. However, I believe that Mary Margaret acted more out of vengeance in the moment she lit the two sided candle and whispered Cora's name in order to enact the magic over her heart that soon killed her. Vengeance because Cora had killed her mother and Johanna. Plus... Mary Margaret wasn't the one who actually killed her, nor was Rumple. Not physically. Mary Margaret used Regina to do it and she knew very well what she had done. This is why I believe her heart is now darkened. Not simply the act of killing itself, especially if she had done it to save everyone. But because she had tricked Regina into killing her own mother, which is a cruel and an unforgiveable act. Nonetheless... I truly appreciate your insights for this moment, as well as for whether or not magic is what corrupts a person. I also really love each of the scenes between Regina and Gold. First... within the flashbacks when Regina comes to Gold wanting to understand why she's not happy after casting her curse, while Gold has no idea what she's talking about because he's as cursed as everyone else until Emma's arrival. And second... when Gold protects Mary Margaret from Regina's wrath, even if he is doing it out of obligation. As for Gold's line about the casualties of war... He isn't just talking about Mary Margaret. I believe he is talking about Henry too. While Henry is his grandson and he is now related to the Charming family, Gold also still sees Henry as a threat to him upon the revelation of the prophecy revealed back in the episode... Manhattan. That Henry will be his undoing. So a part of him wishes to see Henry die as well in order to assure that he will live. I feel that this is a factor as to why he doesn't so much care about him possibly being put under Regina's curse. And yes... because of the darkness corrupting him, Gold is still looking out only for himself and doesn't care about anyone except for when it's in his own self interest, or when he owes a debt. Fun fact... the name Kurt Flynn (Owen's father), as well as Owen himself, are nods to one of Disney's live action classics from the 70s titled... Tron, and especially to its sequel made in 2010... Tron: Legacy. The character of Kurt Flynn in these movies becomes a father of a young boy after a grand adventure upon becoming trapped inside an old video arcade game, and whose son in the sequel then seeks to find his father who has been missing for many, many years. Clearly... Kurt and Owen aren't these characters from these movies, but their names simply come from them. Once again... I really love the nods to Disney's classics. Overall... a solid episode. I still like it. It's just not one of my favorites. There isn't a single episode of Once Upon a Time that I hate. What can I say? This show is phenomenal, flaws and all!!! Thank you again, Dodo!! Until the next episode... Sincerely, Heidi