Well before getting hit by this flu bug, I did manage to properly enjoy last night's episode of "Once Upon a Time." I've been meaning to do a mid season analysis post, and with the holiday break commencing this seems the right time to do it.
Cue SPOILER WARNING
Properly warned? All right, lets carry on.
While each episode has had it's own surprises and revelations, I think last night's episode might be the most shocking yet. From the moment Sheriff Graham kissed Emma and started getting flashbacks, I knew we were in for a crazy ride.
For a show that is about fairy tales, we really haven't had much for kisses yet. I should have known that Graham kissing Emma already meant that bad things were going to happen...
Yes folks, he's dead. As in Storybrooke dead. It's been confirmed by the actor that he will not be reappearing as Sheriff Graham, although he reminded us that there is still plenty of room for him to show up in flashbacks. Considering the heavy influence LOST has had on this show, I think we can count on seeing him again. (In LOST it didn't matter if someone died, the actor ALWAYS came back for SOME reason.)
Still... what a shock! I always liked Sheriff Graham. When he first appeared on the screen I was livechatting with my friend Amanda about the episode and we both went -- "CUTE BRITISH GUY! WHO IS THE CUTE BRITISH GUY?" My first instinct was that he was the big bad wolf, but considering how the writers denied any connection to the comic book Fables (where the sheriff IS the big bad wolf) I realized they would likely give him a very different fairy tale origin. The huntsman/woodsman from the Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood tales struck me as most likely.
(Interestingly enough, the writers originally wanted a different origin for Graham, but had to change it, citing rights issues. Hypable theorizes Robin Hood, but I think it is far more likely that they originally DID want his backstory to be the big bad wolf and had to change that to avoid similarities with Fables)
So he's dead. And at the very moment when Emma was finally about to open up her heart to him. What does this mean for her? Will it make her harder or will it break open that wall she's built around herself? We're due for an Emma-centered episode soon which I am very much looking forwards to.
Also last night we learned a bit more about why Regina hates Snow. Apparently she entrusted Snow with a secret... and Snow told someone else. I suspect this has something to do with Snow's father. Snow felt it would be betraying her father to keep Regina's secret, so she told her father. Whether Snow's father is Regina's lost love, or whether there was someone else in the picture is another question entirely.
What about the show as a whole thus far? I'd say overall I'd give it a B, or B-. It's lot a lot going for it, but the writing could stand to be a bit tighter in places and it shows. Some episodes are pure gold, whereas others stray too close to bland. However, overall, it's doing a pretty good job and has lots of room for the future.
Coming up in January we'll be getting an episode centered around Mr. Gold, which should be fantastic as he's been a well acted and intriguing baddie. I'm looking forwards to learning how his brand of evil came to be!
5 comments:
I could't beleive they killed Graham!! I thought he was the big bad wolf at first too, my younger sis calld it though, she said he was the huntsman!
I may be cluless but the whole Emma Graham thing came out of nowwhere for me!
I know he shows up in all 22 episodes this eason, s am rather intrigued as to how!
That makes me so sad. I really loved Graham. Even if he does reappear as the huntsman, it just won't be the same.
I am also wondering if this means Emma will become the sheriff. I'm sure there will be some interesting tension there.
I know IMDB has him slotted for 22 episodes, but they get things about future episodes wrong quite a bit, so I wouldn't put much stock in that.
I can't believe we don't get any more episodes until Jan! This most recent episode was definitely my favorite. My friend predicted that Graham was the hunter, and I thought he was the woodcutter from Little Red Riding Hood.
Also, you said that Graham was British...but I thought he was Irish? *shrugs* I may be mistaken on my accents here though. ;)
Lol, going to try to save myself on a technicality here and point out that Ireland is a part of the British Isles.
Actually I would say that you're right and he does sport an Irish accent... part of the time. It seems inconsistent to me though, so I'm not sure if the actor just is bad at accents or what.
Post a Comment