Once Upon A Time SEASON 2 EPISODE 21 FULL LENGTH REACTION

Second Star to the Right- Another fun reaction for Once Upon a Time!! Thank you so much, Tim! Now... I have to admit, this first episode within season two's two part finale, isn't one of my favorite episodes from this season. I enjoy it a lot and it's really good, but I also have a few issues with it as well, which I will come back to shortly... However, your reaction for this first half of the season finale is really great, my friend! So, thank you so very much! First... I have to say that I never really liked the idea of Emma and Neal getting back together again. While Emma's admittance that she loves Neal again is kind of sweet... In my opinion, Neal's admittance just feels a bit too forced. I can certainly understand why the creators and writers wanted to write this for Emma's and Neal's storyline. However, Neal has moved on with Tamara enough to want to marry her. Because he didn't know who she really was and that she's been playing him this whole time. Even though she has been truly a villain throughout their entire relationship. Neal didn't know this, and he had asked her to marry him, which proves he loved her and moved on enough from Emma. In spite of him still having some feelings for her deep down. So, for Neal to suddenly confess his love for Emma first and so suddenly, it just feels even more forced than even Emma saying she loves him back. I just don't feel that kind of chemistry between Emma and Neal any longer. I've always believed I was alone in feeling the same way, until recently with a few other reactors who also watch this show. So many people love Emma and Neal together. For me personally... I never really saw that Emma is still in love with Neal. Only that she simply still cares about him and is happy he can be a part of Henry's life in spite of what's happened between them. And when she tells Neal she loves him, I just don't feel she means that she is in love with him any longer. Just that she still loves him because of their connection from their past relationship. I hope this makes sense. Also... Neal is extremely naïve and kind of an idiot in regards to his relationship with Tamara, which I really hate too. I know that Emma has no proof of the truth behind Tamara's treachery, but we know she is right and that there is no way she is going to ignore her instincts. This is one of the main reasons why I struggle with really liking Neal as a character. He's an okay character. And I do like his relationship with Henry, as well as his backstory between him and Rumple, sometimes. I just don't like Neal's relationship with Emma, and I hate even more his relationship with Tamara. Emma and Neal have been through a lot. And for the most part, I feel that they've been through too much just to simply put everything behind them so they can get back together again and become the loves they used to be. I feel that their story together has been told for the most part. I hope this all of this makes sense. My other biggest nitpicks with this episode simply comes from my dislike of Greg and Tamara, and wishing to see them disappear from the show all together. I really couldn't care less about any of their scenes. I understand Greg's hatred of magic, having seen it for himself upon what happened when he was just a boy between him, his father, and Regina. But Tamara... What exactly are her motivations? Why is she so gung ho to destroy magic too? Is she simply one of those crazy believers who believe magic is evil? Why? Her character just makes no sense to me. Now with all of this out of the way... I really enjoy the overall backstory with Bae and the Darlings, and with the Shadow. I love most of all, that we get to see what comes of Bae immediately after he lands in our world once he falls through the portal shown back in season one's episode, titled... The Return. And like most of the characters seen throughout all of Once Upon a Time, Wendy, John, and Michael are all well casted, and it is amazing to see old London, England become a part of the Once Upon a Time world. If you recall... Rumplestiltskin is well over two hundred years old, and so like him and Hook too, Bae is over two hundred years old as well in the present day timeline. This is why the setting of London is from an age within the 1800s. I'm so happy that they show us so by having the carriage ride past when Bae first arrives from the Enchanted Forest, and I love seeing the Victorian era costumes. Especially given the time period that the Peter Pan story is originally set in, as well as when it was originally written by J.M. Barrie. Also... Neal mentions in a previous episode this season, titled... The Queen is Dead, while they're still in New York, that he knows Hook somehow. And from how he talks about Hook then, it's clear Neal and Hook have a history together. So, this was a storyline that I was most definitely excited to learn about, along with Bae's time in Neverland. Now... I really like the idea of Pan possibly being a villain by how the Shadow behaves, and from how Wendy speaks of him, the Shadow, and Neverland itself. Yet I have to admit... I didn't like this idea of Peter Pan and Neverland being evil at first, because while Peter Pan is known to be a mischievous character and a bit darker in some versions of the Peter Pan fairy tale, depending on the books you've read, or shows and movies you might have seen bringing this fairy tale to life. In movies such as the original animated Disney movie... Peter Pan, in Hook with Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, and in all other movie versions, as well as play adaptations of Peter Pan, Peter Pan is still mostly seen as a hero. So, it just took me some time to wrap my head around the idea that Peter Pan within Once Upon a Time, might very well be a villain. However, I very quickly became used to the idea that Pan could be a villain because of all that's to come. Especially because of Captain Hook and him being the villain he is as well. And while Captain Hook is a villain, we also see a softer side to him. Even in this episode, when Hook could have stayed with Greg and Tamara to relish in torturing Regina, and yet he doesn't. He certainly hates Regina and she's given him plenty of reason to. And yet I sense there's more to him choosing not to stay to watch her torment, than him simply being bored by Greg's and Tamara's plans. I sense there's a side to Hook that shows he's so much more than who he appears. Just as I've felt from him ever since he was first introduced back in episode four this season... The Crocodile. And especially in the sixth episode, titled... Tallahassee, where Hook and Emma climb the beanstalk together to seek out the compass. I have always gotten the sense that Hook is a man who wears a mask of smugness, pride, and conceit to hide his true pain and how he truly feels, especially towards himself. There's so much more to him than meets the eye. And for the most part, Once Upon a Time is phenomenal with the development of all their characters. Especially the characters who we all have known and loved since we were children. And I have always loved Captain Hook from all the movies and books I've read about him and Peter Pan. However, Hook in Once Upon a Time is so much more complex. And we have begun to understand why he is the man and villain he is, and we will continue to do so as the show continues onward. This is why I love his character so, so much!! :) Also... I do like that Bae gives himself over to the Shadow to protect Wendy, John, and Michael so that their family wouldn't be split apart and broken like his is. So sweet of him to be willing to sacrifice himself to protect their family. His newfound family. And more so... I love that Bae manages to escape from the Shadow, and that he lands in the ocean beyond the shores of Neverland, so that Hook could find him and bring him aboard the Jolly Roger. I love this moment in the episode, as it is my absolute favorite moment throughout this episode in spite of it being so short. I was so happy for the prospect of getting more of Hook's and Bae's past storyline together!! :) As for Neal being shot and him falling through the portal to someplace unknown... This scene has a few flaws in my opinion as well. If Neal had grabbed hold of Emma, then immediately stepped back with her away from the portal, or if Emma had just backed away from the portal as it began to open instead of her jumping up to grab hold of something above the portal, making it so that Neal had to help her down, then Neal never would have fallen through. But I get the reasons for what comes about in this scene. And I do really like the parallels in this episode with Neal, to Bae shown back in season one's episode... The Return, too. I also feel so sad for Emma. I can really feel the emotion coming from her upon her feeling loss when he falls through the portal after Tamara shoots him. Jennifer Morrison is amazing with showing her emotions, and I've always been able to feel for her, and feel like we're meant to feel from her. But because I feel about Neal as I do, I can't help not feeling too heartbroken by his possible death. Especially since we don't know that Neal is actually dead. I am really only sad for Emma, for Rumple, and for Henry. Again... I'm pretty much alone with how I feel towards this moment. I have my reasons. Next... I don't care much for Greg's storyline at all like I've said before a number of times. And I don't care that Greg's father turned out dead, despite it being sad. He was a good man, who loved his son. It's just that his death for me was pretty much a given from the get go. I knew he would turn out being dead. I certainly wasn't surprised that this was the big revelation for Kurt Flynn's character. I just don't care too, too much about these three characters, so it doesn't really matter to me. Same goes for Tamara's storyline, even in this episode. However, I am glad that Emma never stopped believing Tamara is a villain, and that the truth has finally been revealed about her to Neal and to everyone else. Even though no one apologizes to Emma for doubting her. As for Regina giving in and telling Greg the truth about his father's death... I love this moment for her too. I don't believe she told Greg the truth simply because she was being tortured. Because Regina's shown strength the entire time. I believe that she only tells Greg the truth about his father being dead and buried out at their campsite, because she wanted him to feel some of the pain he has been inflicting upon her. She tells him the truth out of spite and to be cruel. Not because of the torture. It's a really great Evil Queen moment. And then... I really love that Mary Margaret does as she does to find and save Regina, in spite of everything that's gone on between them. Because she and David both have hope that in saving Regina, it will help to rid Snow's heart of some of the darkness she's feeling guilty from. And I love that Mary Margaret and David find Regina and bring her home so that Blue can heal her, and remove the cuff so Regina can regain her magic again in time. Mary Margaret does still care for Regina in spite of everything, and I love seeing this. And lastly... I am still not a fan of the Rumple/Lacey storyline. It annoys me to see Belle/Lacey encouraging Rumple to be bad. Especially in the moments she encourages Gold to get rid of Henry because he may be standing in the way of him gaining more power. And I hate when Lacey asks Gold for the magic to become immortal like him as well. I just really don't like this part of their storyline at all. I understand it from a writer's point of view as being good storytelling, but I just don't care too much for it, nonetheless. But at least Gold has helped Mary Margaret and David so they could save Regina. And I love the idea of magic being created from one of Regina's tears and one of Mary Margaret's tears, and that this magic he creates allows for Mary Margaret to see and feel everything Regina does too. Very cool. While I absolutely love season two overall... Especially for its introduction to Captain Hook and seeing his developing storyline, as well as for the first half of this season that I very much love more so than its second half of the season... I feel that season two is the weakest season of the entire show because of this second half of this season. Not only does this season... Especially the second half of this season, bring in two major characters I really hate (Greg and Tamara), and two other characters who are just okay (Neal and Cora)... The second half of this season also focuses so much on each of these characters, that it becomes a bit annoying to me. Plus... Even some of the characters I absolutely love, like Regina and Henry, are written poorly at times too, I think. As if the writers didn't know what to do with them for the time being. Overall... For me, this episode has its flaws, but I still really do enjoy it, nonetheless. So, thank you again, so much, Timothee!!! Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum