*SPOILERS* Season 5 Episodes 8 & 9 (2 hr Special) Press Release/Pictures/Sneak Peeks

1st hour

“Birth” – tensions in Camelot come to a head when Merlin, now under Arthur’s control, delivers an ultimatum to Emma: hand over the Dark One dagger and the Promethean spark or he will kill her entire family. Refusing to give in, Emma and our heroes face off against Arthur, Merlin and Zelena in an epic battle of magic and will. Just when the end is in sight, Emma is forced to make a gut-wrenching choice that no one saw coming. Back in Storybrooke, Zelena’s pregnancy mysteriously accelerates and Hook goes to new and desperate lengths to get answers from the Dark Swan.

Guest cast includes Beverley Elliott as Granny, David-Paul Grove as Doc, Micahel Coleman as Happy, David Anders as Dr. Whale, Ingrid Torrance as Nurse Ratched, Elliot Knight as Merlin, Liam Garrigan as King Arthur and Joana Metrass as Guinivere.

5x08 "Birth" Photos

The one thing I'm wondering about is the fact that Henry is nowhere to be seen in this pictures. The entire rest of the main cast is in the woods scene except for him

5x08 Sneak Peek 1 (Camelot): Emma, Arthur, Merlin, Zelena (Snow, David, Robin, Hook, Regina in background chained up to trees)

This is the beginning of the scene where the majority of the photos came from. So where's Henry during this?

5x08 Sneak Peek 2 (Storybrooke): Hook, Arthur, and Emma

I think Emma probably is manipulating Hook here. That's all I have to say about this clip

2nd hour:

“The Bear King”– Zelena and Arthur journey to DunBroch on a mission to retrieve an enchanted relic that will provide the advantage they need to vanquish Emma and our heroes. Their path will cross with Merida’s, who is on a journey of her own to pay a debt that her father, King Fergus, owed to the Witch when he died. Merida enlists the help of two friends, Mulan and Ruby, but, in order to satisfy the Witch and save DunBroch, she first must discover the identity of the knight who killed her father. In flashbacks, Merida learns about bravery and honor as she trains for combat and rides alongside Fergus into the infamous battle that claims his life

Guest Cast includes Meghan Ory as Red/Ruby, Beverley Elliott as Granny, Jamie Chung as Mulan, Amy Manson as Merida, Glenn Keogh as King Fergus, Caroline Morahan as Queen Elinor, Lily Knight as Witch, Richard Stroh as Edgar, Paul Telfer as Lord Macintosh, Marco D’Angelo as Lord MacGuffin, Josh Hallem as Lord Dingwall, Matthew Olsen as Brother #1, Jordan Olsen as Brother #2, Colton Barnert as Brother #3 and Liam Garrigan as King Arthur.

5x09 "The Bear King" Photos

Looks like this episode's going to be a breather episode after a lot of reveals in 5x08. This looks like it's going to be very little main cast in it.

5x09 Sneak Peek 1: Merida, King Fergus, and Mulan

The only thing I have to say about this one is it's good to see Mulan again


Upcoming posts:

5x08 "Birth" Review

5x09 "The Bear King Review

Season 5 Episode 7: Nimue Review

1000 years before King Arthur: Merlin gets immortality and magic after drinking from a chalice.


Many years ago: Merlin meets Nimue and wants to get rid of his immortality to be with her

Camelot (Past 6 weeks): Zelena devises a plan for Mary Margaret, David, Hook, and Regina to break into the castle while Merlin takes Emma to face the 1st Dark One to reunite Excalibur.

Storybrooke (Present Day): Emma reunites Excalibur



1000 years before the Age of Arthur

Merlin and an unnamed character (credited as "Young Man" in credits) are running in a desert and see a chalice on a stone. The "young man" touches the chalice and turns into smoke. Merlin looks up to the sky, asks permission, and then picks up the chalice. He is able to pick it up. Merlin drinks from the chalice and realizes it gave him magic.



Many years ago:

500 years after getting magic, Merlin is helping people in a small vilage by seeing their future with his young apprentice. There is a woman who Merlin says he can't see her future. She introduces herself as Nimue. She says someone named Vortigan destroyed her village and she brought flower seeds. Merlin makes the flowers bloom immediately. After they fall in love, Merlin tells Nimue that he got magic and immortality from the Holy Grail. He says he wants turns the chalice into a sword to get rid of his immortality to stay with Nimue because he doesn't want to watch Nimue grow old and him continue on. Merlin and Nimue go past her burned village to get to the original fire. Merlin realizes Vortigan is looking for the Holy Grail. Merlin turns the Grail into Excalibur but then Nimue is held captive by Vortigan. VNimue tries to get free but Vortigan stabs her with the sword. Then when Merlin is facing Vortigan, Nimue appears with Vortigan's heart in her hand. Nimue reveals that she drank from the Grail. Merlin tells her that if she crshes the heart, she will go down a dark path. She crushes it and her skin becomes (scaly?). She breaks Excalibur so that no one can get rid off her immortality. Merlin puts the sword in the stone and creates the Dark One Dagger by using a tethering spell on the broken half of the sword. His apprentice asked him if he knew how Nimue was going to end up, would he have not talked to her. Merlin says that all life is made up of moments and he had some of the best moments of his life with her.


Camelot:

This is going to be styled differently. I'll do the beginning of the Camelot plot where everyone isin the diner and right before Emma and Merlin leave, then I'll  do Emma and Merlin's plot, then the other plot

  Intro:

 Merlin is telling Snow, David, Regina, and Robin thhat to get the darknes out of Emma, they need to reunite Excalibur. Merlin says he will take Emma to get what they need to reunite them while the others get the sword from Arthur. Hook is getting annoyed that Merlin isnt saying anything straight. Merlin goes to Emma and tells her that the need to get the spark from mankind's original fire. Merlin tells Emma that she will have to face the 1st Dark One who has the spark. Hook comes to tell her to be careful. He gives her a ring that he believes is why he's alive. 

 Emma and Merlin:

Emma tells Merlin that she hurt her son with her magic. When they get to the place they need to get the spark and Merlin gives Emma the dagger. Emma calls up the first Dark One. Emma asks if Merlin can see him too. Merlin says yes, but it's not a him. The Dark One dagger shows the name "Nimue" and she takes off her mask.

Nimue tries to persuade Emma to kill Merlin. Emma is able to mentally beat Nimue and get the spark from her. Nimue reminds Emma that she's not dead, she will be in Emma's head if she needs her.

Merlin and Emma are walking back from the encounter with Nimue Emma asks Merlin what happened after Nimue became the Dark One. Later Emma is telling Merlin about how fast Henry's growing up when he just vanishes

Zelena, David, Hook, Mary Margaret/Snow, Regina, Robin, and Arthur.

David, Hook, Snow, Regina, and Robin are talking about how they can break into Arthur's castle to get Excalibur.  Daid says they shoul take them by suprise and go in the front gate. Hook says they should create a diversion. Regina says she can just poof into Arthur's bedroom. Regina gives Zelena her voice back. She says going in the fromt is suicide, with a diversion Arthur hides the sword, and Regina could poof right in front of a blade. Zelena says they have to sneak in so quietly they won't even know you're there.  She says that when she was a mute handmaiden, she was plotting an escape and found a way out. If she knows a way out, then she knows a way in.

They make it to a guarded gate. Regina says she will get Zelena's magic cuff off once they get the sword and is safe. Regina assigns Snow to guard Zelena while the rest go get the sword.

In the castle, Arthur is making something in a cauldron. Arthur brinngs some guards in nd asks one of them to give him his helmet. He pours some of the liquid on the helmet and it melts completely. Arthr tells the guards to pour it on any stranger they see.

Regina, Hook, Robin, and David sneak in and see the guards carrying the cauldron. Regina wonders if it's for them. Robin says they probably don't want to find out. Regina mentions that Zelena hasn't screwed them over..yet.

Outside the castle, Zelena is having a fake tantrum which Snow fals for. Zelena knocks Snow out and ties her up.

Back inside the castle, the rest of the group go into the room where Arthur is. Regina freezes him, then Zelena comes up with a tied up Snow and unfreezes Arthur. Zelena uses a tethering spell to make Arthur's half of Excalibur able to control Merlin. Arthur summons Merlin. Arthur is mad that the phropecy Merlin said would happen didn't. Merlin responds that it hasn't happened yet. Arthur commands Merlin to make Regina, David, Hook, and Robin dissapear

Storybrooke:

These were the first and last scenes of the episode:

Opening scene:
Emma is looking at the two halves of the full sword now on the stone. "Spirit" Rumple pops up to tell her that Excalibur's promiise was made eons ago

Final scene:
Emma and  Spirit Rumple looking at the sword. Spirit Rumple says that we have been waiting for this moment. Nimue shows up with all the Dark Ones of the past. Emma tells Nimue that she tried to stop her from merging Excalibur in Camelot. Nimue says back then she might have used it to take the darkness but now she can use it to snuff the light instead. Emma takes the ember and reunites the sword. She's about to touch it but remembers Merlin's warning when she was a kid. The other Dark Ones convince her to take it.


Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character:

Snow: Saying she'd give pregnancy tips to Zelena

Emma: (Camelot) Her goodbye scene with Hook and her confrontation with Nimue
           (Storybrooke) her remembering Merlin's warning and reuniting Excalibur

Regina: Remarking how Zelena hadn't screwed them up yet and her reaction when Zelena came in with a tied up Snow

David: His sarcastic choices about how to get in the castle

Belle: (Wasn't in Episode)

Hook: His goodbye with Emma

Henry: (Wasn't in Episode)

Zelena: Liked all her scenes

Robin: (Can't think of a moment)

Spirit Rumple(Storybrooke only): Liked both of his very short appearances.

Final Thoughts:

Good episode, but issues with the timeline hurt it hust like Episode 4. Emma mentioning Henry after dealing with Nimue seemed ot of nowhere. On the one hand, I liked that they mentioned him, but it didn't have anything to do with that part of the episode.

One thing I forgot to put in the review was before Emma's encounter with Nimue, she asked Merlin if there could ever be someone that could use the Dark One power for good. The first person that came to mind for that was Henry. He would make the most sense to be the person that could hold that power and use it for good. Thiss episode gets a 8/10 from me

Upcoming posts:

Preparation for the 2 hr event

5x08 "Birth" Review

5x09 "The Bear King" Review

Season 5 Episode 6: The Bear and the Bow Review

I'll try to rember to post a post about the press release, photos, and sneak peeks for next week's episode

I also just realized that I never mentioned what happened with Merida and Mr. Gold in the last review

Camelot: Belle and Merida go to rescue Merida's brothers

Storybrooke: Emma tells Merida to go kill Belle  while David, Regina, Mary Margaret, and Arthur try to contact Merlin with the Crimson Crown mushroom

Camelot:

We opened with David, Hook, Belle, and Merlin breaking into Arthr's dungeon and freeing Lancelot and Merida. Merlin compliments Belle,

Merida kidnaps Belle to get her to help save her brothers. Merida takes Belle to the witches house from Brave and find the potion that turned her mother into a bear. Merida wants to use the potion to save her brothers from getting killed by the people who don't want Merida to be queen.

When Merida and Belle get to where her brothers are being captured. Merida tells Belle that she thinks it's her fault that her father is dead. Merida and Belle confront the men and Belle reveals she switched the potion with water.

The 3 men shoot their arrows but Merida shoots hers and breaks all 3 and rescues her brothers.

Storybrooke:

Regina is telling Mary Margaret, David, Hook, and Belle that Emma let slip that they freed Merlin.
They say they need to talk to Merlin. Belle says they could ask Rumple for help, but everyone else says that Rmple has had too many chances to change. Belle storms out.

Rumple is tied up in the woods, he breaks the chipped tea cup touse a shard to break off the ropes. Emma comes up with Merida and tells Merida to put an arrow through Belle's heart.

Later, Belle is in the library wondering where Emma took Rumple. Rumple then shows up in the elevator. Belle and Rumple go to Rumple's shop and Merida comes in and tells him that Emma told her to kill Belle. Belle trips Merida with a carpet and Rumple grabs a bag from his shop.

Rumple takes Belle wanting to run and leave Storybrooke. The bag is  supposed to help against any effects the town line may have. Belle gets out of the car and runs into Merida. Emma gave Merida the potion that transformed her into a bear and Merida runs after Belle. Rumple comes in and throws the bag into the bear's mouth and it transforms back into Merida. Rumple, Belle and Merida comes back to Emma's basement. Rumple pulls Exalibur out and tells Emma that she's now made him a hero.

Zelena is still in the hospital and the nurse brings in some organic food by requested by Regina. Emma shows up in the cell and takes Zelena to her house and wants to make a deal with her. Zelena declines and Emma sends her back to her cell.

Meanwhile, Regina, David, Snow and Hook bring Arthur into Regina's fault to use the Crimson Crown to contact Merlin because it can only be done by one of Merlin's chosen. Arthur tells them that Merlinn only talked to him when he's alone. Everyone else leaves the vault and Merlin puts the Crimson Crown in the fire underneath the cauldron. He goes back out and tells everyone that the spell didn't work.

Later, Regina is trying to find out what went wrong with the spell. David sees the mushroom in the fire, which didn't burn. They wonder why Arthur doesn't want them talking to Merlin. Hook mentions there's no one who was chosen by Merlin. Regina says there is one person in Storybrooke that was chosen by Merlin: the Author "Henry". Henry comes in and says that the person who  ripped out Violet's heart wasn't his mother, bt he knows Emma is still in there somwhere and will do anything to get her back. Henry puts the mushroom in the cauldron and Merlin comes up. It's a prerecorded message and Merlin tells them to get Nimue to help them. Merlin says The Dark One's found him.

Favorite Moments From Each Character (Camelot):

Snow: (Wasn't part of Camelot Story)

Emma: Remembering Merlin as the Usher

Regina: (Wasn't part of Camelot Story)

David: Him and Hook fighting Arthur's guards and asking how Merlin knew what a bike was.

Belle: Her full adventure with Merida

Hook: Him and David fighting Arthur's guards and his reaction to Merlin knowing some of the future

Henry: (Wasn't part of Camelot Story)

Zelena: (Wasn't part of Camelot Story)

Robin: (Wasn't in Episode)

Rumple: (Wasn't part of the Camelot Story)

Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character (Storybrooke)

Snow: (I can't think of a moment)

Emma: Her scene with Zelena

Regina: Trying to figure out how the spell didn't work

David: (I can't think of a moment)

Belle: Her scenes with Rmple

Hook: Him persauding Henry at the end

Henry: His only scene at the end

Zelena: Her scene with Emma

Robin: (Wasn't in Episode)

Rumple: His scenes with Belle

Final Thoughts:

Until I did the Favorite Moments section, I never realized how much of the main cast wasn't in the Camelot story. This episode wasn't my favorite. I don't know exactly why, but something didn't feel right. There's not many scenes that I feel like rewatching. Interesting coincidence, exactly this time last year was Belle's adventure with Anna last season. This episode gets a 7/10 for me.

I'll try to get the press release post up this week.

Season 5 Episode 5: Dreamcatcher Review

1 little flashback, 2 main plots:

Camelot (Many Years Ago): A masked Dark One traps Merlin as a tree

Camelot (Past 6 Weeks): Emma and Regina find out how to release Merlin and Henry asks Violet on a date

Storybrooke (Present Day): Henry asks Emma's help in finding Violet's missing horse . Regina, Belle, Robin, and Hook break into Emma's house, and the town throws a party.


Camelot (Many Years Ago):

This episode's opening scene was Merlin being tturned in to a tree by a Dark One (by Merlin's tear of lost love) that destroyed his love

Camelot (Past 6 Weeks):

It is revealed that Emma is watching the opening scene through a dreamcatcher. Snow and David try to get Regina to give them the dagger to give to Arthur. Emma comes in and freezes them telling Regina that Arthur has them under a spell.

Henry and Violet are in the stables grooming Nicodemus (Violet's horse). Henry asks how long she's had him. Violet says her mother gave her him on her 7th birthday, but she passed away before he learned to gallop. Henry tells her that he lost his father before he got to know him. After Violet leaves, Henry tries using a sword. Violet's father comes in and tells him that Violet needs to be with someone that could protect her.


Emma and Regina figure out to release Merlin, they have to use a tear. They run into Henry, who is once again trying to use a sword. Henry tells them that he's trying to fit Camelot. Emma and Regina tell Henry that being himself is the best thing he can do and they connect it to both Emma and Regina's first loves (Neal and Daniel respectively) After this conversation, Regina decides to use her tear by watching Daniel's death through a dream catcher.

Later, Henry is setting a date up at Granny's for Violet. Violet comes in and Henry gives her some Pepsi to drink and tells her that he heated up some lasagna to eat. Violet then tells him she though they were just hanging out as friends.

Emma and Regina are doing the spell to free Merlin and Regina's tear doesnt'work. Emma tells her that even though the heartbreak is real, it's not fresh, since she has Robin now. Then Henry comes up after his date. They comfort him while he's crying and they take his tear to use in the spell.  Arthur shows up and starts a fight with Regina while Emma puts Henry's tear in the spell. They release Merlin who says he's been waiting for Emma.

Merlin tells Arthur that he was a dissapointment and Arthur responds by saying Merlin gave him false prophecies. Arthur starts puulling out Excalibur and Merlin tells him they both know that the broken sword can't hurt him.

The whole group is at Granny's and Merlin frees Snow and David from Arthur's spell. Hook asks Merlin if he can free Emma from the darkness. He says yes but only if Emma is completely ready to get rid of the darkness from her heart

Storybrooke (Present Day)

David, Snow, Regina, Robin, Arthur, Guinevere, and Henry are in the Sheriff's office talkng abiut how Grif (from E3) disappeared from the cell. Henry is texting Violet and suggests they throw a dance. Snow agrees and everyone walks out of the office. Belle comes over and tells them that Rumple is missing.

Henry goes to Violet and asks if she got his text about the party. Violet say that her horse ran away. Violet says that her father is trying to lure him with some pumpkin. Henry says he'll find her horse and goes to Emma to ask for help. Henry asks Emma if she still remembered why he brought her to Storybrooke in the first place. Henry asks her to help him find Violet's horse.

Henry and Emma go to her car and Emma asks him about his relationship with Violet. It is revealed that the song Henry plays for her is the same song Neal used on Emma. Emma takes him to a pumpkin farm and Nicodemus is there, but Nicodemus is scared of Emma. Henry is able to get Nicodemus

Regina, Belle, Hook and Robin goes to Emma's hose. There's a protection spell and Belle figures out that she let Henry through. Regina poofs up Henry's scarf and is able to go in. They find Excalibur and Belle and Hook recognises that it looks like the dagger. They're about to search the rest of the house but Henry sends a text that Emma's on her way back. On their way out, Hook sees a dreamcatcher. Regina finds out that dreamcatchers is how she took their memories.

Regina and Robin take the dreamcatcher to Regina's house, wondering whose memories there are. Henry walks up behind them not known to Regina and Robin. They see the dreamcatcher and it's Violet's memories back in Camelot. (Italicies for the scene in the dreamcatcher) Violet is in her barn and Emma comes to her and asks if she can keep a secret. Emma takes Violet's heart and tells her that she will give it back but she needs a favor. Violet asks what she wants. Emma says she needs a tear of a lost first love and tells her (while crying) that she wants her to break Henry's heart.
Regina and Robin notice Henry is behinf them and saw the scene as well.

Emma comes to Regina's house asking to see Henry.Regina tells her that she knows what she did and shows her the dreamcatcher. Emma lets slip that they released Merlin in Camelot. Regina closes the door on her. Emma walks out and looks up at Henry in the window. Henry closes the curtain

Favorite Moments From Each Character (Camelot):

Snow: (I can't really think of a moment)

Emma: Her scenes with Regina and Henry

Regina: Her scenes with Emma and Henry

David: (I can't really think of a moment)

Belle: (Only in the background at the end scene)

Hook: (Only one line at the end scene)

Henry: His scenes with Violet, Regina, and Emma

Zelena: (Wasn't in Episode)

Robin: (Only in the background at the end scene)

Rumple: (Wasn't part of the Camelot Story)

Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character (Storybrooke)

Snow: Taking Regina out of the Sherrif's office to start planning the dance.

Emma: Her scenes with Henry and the end scene with Regina

Regina: Her reaction to Henry's girlfriend, her reaction to what Emma did, and the end scene with Emma

David: Teasing Henry about having a girlfriend

Belle: Figuring out that Henry was let in to Emma's and recognizing Excalibur looks like the dagger.

Hook: His reaction to Regina telling him to not touch the sword.

Henry: His scenes with Violet and Emma

Zelena: (Wasn't in Episode)

Robin: Him catching Regina when the protection spell on Emma's door knocked her back and him watching the dreamcatcher with Regina

Mr. Gold: All his scenes with Merida.

Final Thoughts:

This was a great episode. The fact that this show focuses on family is what got me into the show in the first place, and tthis episode shows that. The scenes with Emma, Regina, and Henry and all the mentions of Neal. I also think it's great Henry got to be a big part of the episode. The only thing I'm wondering is when the dreamcatcher scene with Emma taking Violet's heart happened. Was it before Regina relived her mother killing Daniel or after? This gets a 10/10 from me

Upcoming posts:

Thursday, October 29: Episode 5x06 Press Release, Photos, and Sneak Peeks

Friday, October 30: November Sweeps Episode Descriptions

Henry Mills Appreciation Post

I really liked today's episode. I'll probably get the review up either tomorrow or Tuesday. Since today's episode was Henry centric, I wanted to do a Henry appreciation post, In my opinion, Henry is the most unappreciated character in the show and fandom. I saw a post somewhere recently that they wished they would kill Henry off because he hasn't been important in the show since S1. I've thought about the show, and I've found that Henry actually has something to do with every arc/season:

Season 1: He’s the only reason Emma came to Storybrooke and stayed there in the first place. If he didn’t find Emma, would she have just randomly decided "You know, I think I’m going to drive to Maine for no reason at all.”

Emma broke the curse with her TLK with Henry.

Season 2: Regina decided to become good for and because of Henry.

Henry convinced Regina that Emma and Mary Margaret/Snow would come through the portal back from the Enchanted Forest instead of Cora.

Henry convinced Regina to not cast the memory curse on him.

Henry was the first to say that they shouldn’t leave Regina behind in the S2 finale.

3A: It was Regina’s relationship with Henry that made her able to break from the tree and get Henry’s heart out of Pan.

Regina giving Henry up is what made her able to stop Pan’s curse.

3B: Regina’s TLK with Henry broke the curse in this half.

4A: Him talking to Belle in the winter finale led him to knocking objects off the shelf at Gold’s shop which led Belle to finding the gauntlet which led her to saving Hook’s heart from being crushed and banishing Rumple from the town.

4B: Him saving the town from from the Alternate Universe.

How Long and How I got Into Once Upon A Time

The first thing I ever saw of Once Upon A Time was promos back when the Neverland arc was airing. I was watching another ABC show online and I always saw promos for it. Much later (I don't remember the exact date), I watched a reaction video to the first episode. I enjoyed it, but I never continued the show. During the S4 mid season hiatus, I was looking  for a new show to watch, and saw that Once Upon A Time was on the "Popular on Netflix" section. Since I'm a big fan of reaction videos, I said to myself "If anyone has started reaction videos to the show, I'll start watching it" Well, there was someone.

After I had watched a few episodes, I told my youngest sister about the show. She ended up wanting to watch it, then my other 2 sisters wanted to watch it too. We were able to catch up with the show by the time 4x17 aired. We now watch the show together every week.

That's all I really have to say. The story's not that interesting, just wanted to make a post of it.

Tomorrow's new episode is a Henry centric episode, so I'm going to post a Henry appreciation post.

*SPOILERS* Season 5 Episode 5 Press Release/Photos/Sneak Peeks

Note: In the future, I'll do seperate posts for these during the week, but since I was catching up with the previous episodes this week, I decided to post it all together

Note 2: This post was written on Thursday, since I'm not going to be around my computer today (Friday) but I scheduled the post to release on Friday. There may be a 3rd Sneak Peek released on Friday. If so, I'll either edit this post to include it or put up a new post about it

Here's the official press release for this episode:

"Dreamcatcher" - In Camelot, as Mary Margaret and David attempt to retrieve the Dark One dagger, Emma uses a Dreamcatcher to look into the past to see how Merlin was transformed into a tree. Together, Emma and Regina figure out the critical ingredient they must acquire to free Merlin, but it's a race against Arthur, who does not want Merlin released. Meanwhile, with encouragement from his moms, Henry musters up the courage to ask Violet on a date. Back in Storybrooke, the heroes break into Emma's house hoping to locate Gold, but what they find will give them a glimpse of Emma's end game. Far from prying eyes, Merida sets about the mission Emma has tasked her with and begins molding Gold into the hero they need to draw Excalibur, on "Once Upon a Time," SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Once Upon a Time" stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O'Donoghue as Hook, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills, Sean Maguire as Robin Hood, Rebecca Mader as the Wicked Witch/Zelena and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.

Guest stars include Amy Manson as Merida, Elliot Knight as Merlin, Liam Garrigan as King Arthur, Joana Metrass as Guinevere, David-Paul Grove as Doc, Mig Macario as Bashful, Olivia Steele Falconer as Violet, Ryan Robbins as Sir Morgan and Guy Fauchon as Vortigan. 

We were told this was a Henry episode. Why Merlin is stuck in the tree is one of the bigges mysteries of this arc so far, so I'm wondering why they decided to pick a Henry episode to reveal it.


Link to photos: http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/10/once-upon-time-episode-505-dreamcatcher_20.html

This following section will be bolded because it contains filming spoilers:

I've come up with a crazy theory that is very unlikely to be true, but the more I think of it, the cooler I think it would be if it did turn out to be true. It involves time travel, so I doubt they'd go there again. My theory is in an alternate timeline Henry became the Dark One instead of Emma, and Merlin did something to his family for some reason so Henry as the Dark One somehow got a time portal working and went back in time and put Merlin in the tree. 

Here's where filming spoilers come in: Some of the photos above show Emma, Regina, and Henry on the bridge. They definitely look like they're fighting someone and protecting Henry from the person. I saw pictures of them filming this scene and *SPOILER* Merlin was in the scene with them. Someone who was watching the filming said on Tumblr that they heard someone, most likely Merlin, saying something along the lines of "Your ruined my life"

I know there's probably less than a 1% chance that the theory's true but hearing that is a Henry episode, remembering the filming spoilers, and the photos of the scene on the bridge  is what brought this theory to my head. 


1st Sneak Peek: Henry, Violet, and Emma

I'm wondering why Henry didn't go to Regina instead. She used to ride horses, so she could have been of some help

2nd Sneak Peek: Emma, Mr. Gold, and Merida

It's interesting to see Mr. Gold act like this, and this sneak peek proves that the creators didn't forget about Baelfire/Neal


That's all I have for this:
Tommorow's post will be my history with the show: how long I've been into the show and how I got into the show

Season 5 Episode 4: The Broken Kingdom Review

This episode is a bit all over the place with plots..

Many years ago, Camelot: The opening scene of Young Arthur and Guinevere

5 years go, Camelot: Guinevere and Lancelot go on a quest to find the Dark One's dagger for Arthur and run into Rumplestiltskin.

6 weeks ago Camelot: Snow and Charming argue whether or not they should trust Arthur or Lancelot and Hook takes Emma on a horse ride to get Spirit Rumple out of her head

Present Day Storybrooke, Emma reveals a secret weapon for her plan



Camelot (Many Years Ago)

A young Arthur tells Guinevere that a wizard is stuck inside a tree and told him that he would pull a sword from a stone and become king. He tells Guinevere that every year on her birthday, he'll give her these flowers. Some bully kids come and say that Arthur will never become a king


Camelot (5 Years Ago)

Arthur is so obsessed with finding the Dark One dagger, he forgets it's Guinevere's birthday. It's revealed that Lancelot planned the party for Guinevere because Arthur didn't Arthur comes out and tells Guinevere that he found where the Dark One dagger is, and tells Lancelot to stay and protect Guinevere.

Guinevere takes Merlin's gauntlet to track down the dagger and Lancelot comes with her. They find the Dark One vault and go inside out where some darkness attacks Lancelot which Guinevere pushes away with a torch. They go into a door which lead them to a forest where the dagger is kept. Rumplestiltskin appears and decides to make a deal with Guinevere. Merlin's gauntlet for the Sands of Avalon which makes something appear to be fixed. Guinevere takes the Sands of Avalon back to Arthur, which he decides to use on her and the kingdom.


Camelot (6 Weeks Ago)

The Dark One dagger is calling to Emma. Spirit Rumple tries to convince Emma to use her magic to get it. She tries to use magic against Spirit Rumple and almost hits Hook. Everyone else comes in and sees her lying down. Regina knows she has to hide the dagger somewhere else. They need a quiet place for her to rest. Henry says he knows a place and Hook says he'll go with them.

The place that Henry is talking about is owned by Violet's family. Henry tells Hook and Emma to hide before Violet comes in and Henry asks if she would take him riding. Violet then tells him that she's going to introduce him to her horse, Nicodemus

Hook decides to take Emma horse riding to get Spirit Rumple out of her head. After walking for a while, Emma goes up to touch the horse who is scared of her, but Hook says to trust him. They have a long horse ride before getting a to a field of  flowers.

Snow and David argue over whether they should trust Arthur or Lancelot. David goes to Arthur and tells him the truth about Emma. He later takes the box that had the dagger in it and it's empty. Snow decided to take it to Lancelot for him to help hide it. Lancelot leads Snow to the place he and Guinevere went to which is revealed to be the place Snow had seen the vision of Emma crushing her heart. Arthur reveals to have followed them there. Arthur tries to summon Emma, but it doesn't work. Snow reveals the dagger is fake. Then David shows up and reveals it was a test, even though the fight was real.

They take Arthur to Granny's which but Guinevere shows up with all the knights, frees Arthur, and uses the Sands of Avalon on Snow and David. Snow and David go back to the castle and tells Regina and Robin that they can trust Arthur. Regina and Robin are both skeptical about it.

 Lancelot is thrown in jail where he meets Merida who was also captured by Arthur.

Storybrooke (Present Day)

Emma has Mr.Gold tied up in her basement. He asks to be let go because he can't become the hero Emma needs. Emma reveals that she has a secret weapon, which is revealed to be Merida tied up to Emma's car. Emma wants Merida to teach Mr. Gold to be brave

Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character:

Snow: Her fight with David and the revelation scene  that the dagger wasn't real

Emma: Her scenes with Hook and Henry in Camelot

Regina: Her just poofing out of the room before Snow and David's fight and her skepticism at the end when Snow and David wanted her to give them the real dagger to take to Arthur

David: His fight with Snow and the revelation scene with Arthur

Belle (Wasn't in the episode)

Hook: His reaction to Henry having a crush and the horse ride with Emma

Henry: His scene in the barn with Hook, Emma, and Violet

Zelena (Wasn't in the episode)

Robin: His skepticism at the end

Spirit Rumple: Once again, liked his scene

Mr. Gold: Liked his short little scene at the end


Final Thoughts:


I really liked Hook, Henry, and Emma's scene in the barn when they were talking about Violet. The time line's a bit confusing, but I'm just going with the 5 years doesn't count the 28 years of the curse. I'll give this episode a 9/10 just because of the timeline issue.


I'm now officially caught up with the show. Tomorrow's post will be about the information we know about this Sunday's episode, which includes the press release, promotional photos, and sneak peeks. See you then.

Season 5 Episode 3: Siege Perilous Review

2 plots in this episode:

In Camelot, David and King Arthur team up to find a mushroom that will let the crew contact Merlin

In Storybrooke, David and King Arthur team up to stop a thief


Camelot:

The Camelot plot started with Regina, Emma, Belle, Snow, and David searching Merlin's tower. Belle mention looking at all his books is like talking to him. Regina finds a book that talks about a mushroom that can help you talk between barriers. Regina puts a piece of paper with a question mark on the page of the mushroom. David and Arthur team up to find the mushroom

Arthur tells David about the Siege Perilous chair, which Lancelot used to sit in.. David mentions he and Mary Margaret met Lancelot, and tells Arthur that he's dead now.

Arthur takes David to a forest and they find the mushroom which is after a very rickety bridge. David volunteers to be the one to go across it to grab the mushroom. On his way back, he fights some ghost soldiers that protect the mushroom. Arthur saves them, but loses the mushroom in the process.

Arthur knights David and lets him set in the Siege Perilous chair. Baby Neal starts crying, so Snow takes him out of the room and sees Lancelot who tells her Arthur is a villain and Camelot is not what it seems.

Arthur is then revealed to have stolen the mushroom from David.

Storybrooke:

The Storybrooke plot started with the dwarfs in the mine and Emma stealing Happy's axe. David, Snow and Regina find the book with the page with the mushroom in it. The dwarfs go to the Sheriff's office to complain. David is frustrated that they can't help Emma. Then we have a nice scene between Snow and David with their theme music playing in the background. Arthur comes in and says there was a theft in where all  the Camelot crew are staying. David teams up with him to find out who did it.

They go to Belle at Gold's shop to see if anyone has traded anything in. David asks Belle how Mr. Gold is doing. Belle says she found a spell, but she needs something that touched him before he was the Dark One. David then takes a chalice to the encampment and tells them that it will reveal who the thief was. One knight runs off on his horse and David and Arthur follow him in David's truck. David has Arthur take the wheel and jousts on top of the car. The thief, Grif, tells David why he did it (I can't remember what he had said, It's been a while since I've seen the episode). David finds the mushroom in Arthur's stuff and takes it back to Regina and Snow who are now in Regina's vault.


Meanwhile, After Emma steals the axe, she tries to get Excalibur out of the stone with the axe. Spirit Rumple says it won't work and she needs a hero to get it out

Hook sees Robin at Granny's who is conflicted about his upcoming child with Zelena. They both connect about their complicated love lives. Hook then gets an order of food from Granny that Emma ordered with a note telling him to meet on the Jolly Roger.

Emma and Hook have a scene in the Jolly Roger, where Emma tries to get Hook to trust her but he isn't buying it. He rejects her because she isn't the Emma he loved. Emma uses Rumple as an example, and Hook reminds her that he was originally the villain to Rumple before he became the Dark One.

After Emma leaves, Hook goes back to Granny's and asks for Robin's help to break into Emma's house to see what's in the basement. Belle comes in to get something to eat and her rose starts to grow back, which means Mr.Gold is waking up from his coma. She rushes back to Gold's shop and sees that  he's gone. Emma has kidnapped him and uses Hook's cutlass to wake him up. Emma then says that his heart is a blank slate so she's going to make him a hero so he can pull Excalibur from the stone.

Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character (Camelot):

Snow: Her scene in Merlin's tower and with Lancelot at the end

Emma: The only scene she had was in Merlin's tower

Regina: The scene in Merlin's tower (except for her scene with Zelena, which I'll explain at the bottom of the review)

David: Fighting off the ghost soldiers

Belle: The scene in Merlin's tower

Hook: (Only shown in background)

Henry: (Only shown in background)

Zelena: (I wasn't a fan of the one scene she was in, which I'll explain later)

Robin: His moment with Regina

Rumple: (Wasn't in the Camelot story)

Favorite Moments From Each Starring Character (Storybrooke):

Snow: Her scene with David in the Sheriff's office

Emma: I like all her scenes with the dwarfs, Spirit Rumple, Hook, and the short scene with Mr.Gold at the end.

Regina: Her small scene in the Sheriff's office

David: His scene with Snow in the Sheriff's office and the jousting car scene

Belle: Seeing that Mr.Gold is waking up from his coma.

Hook: His scenes with Emma and Robin

Henry: (Wasn't in the Storybrooke story)

Zelena: (Wasn't in the Storybrooke story)

Robin: His scenes with Hook

Note: I am counting Rumple and Mr.Gold as separate characters: 

Spirit Rumple: I liked his scene with Emma

Mr. Gold: Waking up from his coma to come face to face with Emma as the Dark One


Final Thoughts:


My biggest question is why did Regina just part a question mark in the book? That doesn't really tell you anything.

I wasn't a fan of the Regina and Zelena scene for a couple reasons:

1. Regina is being a bit of a hypocrite since she's had a ton of second chances

2. It contradicts the previous episode

5x02 Regina to Robin "They may not think of me as the Evil Queen.."

5x03 Regina to Zelena "I am the Evil Queen"

I give this episode a 8/10 because of those 2 points

My 5x04 review will go up later tonight.

Season 5 Episode 2: The Price Review

(Note: This review is a little different than my last review, I'm still trying to find what type of format works best for me)

This episode had 2 plots:

In Camelot: Right after the Storybrooke crew arrived, they find out where Merlin is and Regina pretend to be the savior to protect Emma, and King Arthur throws a royal ball to welcome the crew.

In Storybrooke: With Emma now dark, Regina has to step up to save Robin from a creature, and Hook tries TLK with Emma


Camelot:


Right after the group arrives, Arthur introduces Guinevere and announces that they are throwing a Royal Ball in their honor, and Arthur shows the group that Merlin is inside a tree and it was phrophesized that the Savior would free him. Regina steps up and says she's the savior

One of the knights, Percival give Regina a necklace that he uses to spy on her.

Snow and Charming teach Regina how to dance before the ball

At the ball while all the couples are dancing, Henry has his first crush with Violet which David urges him to go talk to her and he shows her song from his iPod

Percival recognizes Regina as the Evil Queen during the ball, Robin gets stabbed, and David kills Percival.

Regina can't heal Robin because the sword was enchanted to kill her. She asks Emma to do it for her. Spirit Rumple says magic always has to come with a price

Srorybrooke:

The episode opened up exactly like the second episode of Season 2 with the dwarfs deciding which one of them should cross over the line to see what happens with this new curse. The one that did it in S2, Sneezy, is the one that Emma turned to stone at the end of last episode.

Henry summons Emma to apologize for whatever happened in Camelot and Regina steps in. Emma baits Regina saying she can't be a savior

Arthur and everyone from Camelot arrives in Storybrooke and Excalibur is missing. Robin is captured by a Furie to take him to the Underworld

Hook talks to Belle to ask why TLK didn't work with her and Rumple. Belle explains that he wanted the power, Hook decides to try to see if it will work. It doesn't work and Hook denies Emma.

Regina, Mary Margaret, David, Leroy, and Arthur stop the Furie by teaming up together.

They all have a party at Granny's to celebrate their victory while Emma reveals she has Excalibur in her basement

Henry meets Violet (again) at Granny's while the same song that they played at the ball plays on the jukebox

Best Moments From Starring Characters (Camelot):

Snow: Her mother/daughter moment with Emma in Camelot and noticing Henry's first crush

Emma: Her mother/daughter moment with Snow in Camelot

Regina: Her scene with Emma where she explained why she pretended to be the savior, David teaching her how to dance, and her reaction to Henry talking to Violet.

David: Teaching Regina how to dance and urging Henry to talk to Violet

Belle: Her scene with Leroy at the ball. Great way to bring back that friendship that was back in S1 ad S2

Hook: His dance with Emma at the ball

Henry: His scene with Violet during the ball

Zelena: Her one scene with Regina

Robin: Him protecting Regina at the ball

Rumple: Once again, liked his scenes as Spirit Rumple


Best Moments From Starring Characters (Storybrooke)

Snow: Wanting to take care of Regina

Emma: Her interactions with Henry, Regina, and Hook

Regina: Her scenes with Emma and trying to protect Robin

David: His reaction when Dopey turned into a tree after crossing the town line

Belle: Her scenes with Hook

Hook: His scenes with Belle and Emma

Henry: His scenes with Emma, Regina, and Violet

Zelena: (Wasn't in Storybrooke)

Robin: Trying to convince Regina that she can be the savior

Rumple: His monologue at the end when Excalibur is revealed in Emma's basement


Final Thoughts:


The way they got rid of the Furie was weird. Mary Margaret said it was a lucky guess that coming together would work. What would have happened if it hadn't worked, and Snow, David, Regina, Arthur, Leroy, and Robin all died? Henry would only have Emma, who is the Dark One now and Hook and Roland wouldn't have a father. (I wonder how long it will be till someone writes an AU fanfic of that)

I do like that they are giving Henry a storyline of his own with Violet.

I give this episode an 8/10 because of that Furie scene at the end.

See you tomorrow for 5x03.

Season 5 Episode 1: The Dark Swan Review

We had 4 different stories in this episode:

We started with 2 flashback scenes:

First was the opening scene in Minneaopolis 1989 with a showing of Disney's The Sword in the Stone ,which truthfully came out in theaters around 20 years earlier, with a Young Emma and a mysterious Usher telling her not to doo something bad even it is for a good reason. He said she'd have a chance to tak Excalibur but to not do it.

The other flashback was our first appearance of Camelot characters including Arthur, Percival,Kay, and a return of Lancelot finding Excalibur which is in the same beach that Rumple and his father went to when they went to Neverland for the first time. Kay tries to take the sword but he just turns into dust,. Arthur takes the sword which is reveled to be broken and the top half of Excalibur is revealed to be the Dark One's dagger. This, I thought, is the one of the best reveaals the show has had.

So our main two plots were:
In Storybrooke, Regina, Robin, Snow, Charming, Hook, Henry, and Belle trying to find a way to get to Emma who is in the Enchanted Forest.

In the Enchanted Forest, Emma comes out of the Dark One fault last seen in 3B when Rumple was resurrected. Speaking of Rumple, the Darkness decided to show itself to Emma in Rumple's form to "help" her embrace the darkness.


Fist I'll talk about the Storybrooke plot:

Hok tries to call Emma with the dagger but doesn't work since she;s not in this world. They go to asl help from the Apprentice who gives them a wand that can travel realms, but needs both dark and liget to travel. Regina thinks it's her but, according to Hook, sshe's gone soft and ddone too much good. There's only one peson they can get to help, but Regina's not interested in getting Zelena to help.

Mother Superior gives Belle the rose from Beauty and the Beast to let her know if Rumple is going to wake up.


Hook goes and asks Henry to write the darkness out of Emma, since he's the author now. Henry tells him he brok it because no one should have that much. Then Hook recruits Henry too help them get Zelena out.

I've seen online that a lot of people seem to have a problem with Hook and Hernry's plot in this episode, saying that Hook's a bad influence on Henry, but I don't see it. Truthfully, Hook is the only one that is letting Henry do something now. This is the same kid who, at 10 years old, stole a credit card from his teacher and traveled from Maine to Boston to find Emma. Also, when he was 13 (S4 finale), driving by himself all the way from Maine to New York. Also, what danger was Henry in during their mission? Henry was just the distraction. They knew who Zelena was as well

I liked the Regina and Henry scenes last year, but think about it for a second. What did they know about the authr when they started Operation Mongoose? That he wrote a book that's completely true. They didn't know if he was a good guy or bad guy at all. And what did this lead to... Henry being tied up by this author they were searching for to be ogre food and almost killed by his own grandfather.

So in which mission was Henry put in more danger?

Back to this episode, Hook and Regina's fights kind of reminded me of Captain Swan and Swan Queen fights online, and Snow is the neutral shipper saying we should focus on what the show's really about at the moment which is finding Emma.

Regina tricks Zelena into opening up a twister for them to take to Emma, which everyone goes to Granny's to travel in. I loved Henry and Roland's interactions in this scene. The dwarves coming in and wanting to come along to Enchanted Forest with them was great.

So now to Emma's plot in the Enchanted Forest:

Emma comes out of the Dark One's vault and is greeted by Spirit Rumple, that's what I'm going to call him in my reviews. I thought this was a great way to keep Robert around while Mr. Gold is in a coma in Storybrooke. Spirit Rumple tells Emma how she can find Merlin, which leads her into running into Merida. I loved Merida in this. Emma and Merida team up for a little bit before Emma mistakenly talks out load to Spirit Rumplw with Merida right next to her. Later, right when Emma is about to crush Merida's heart, that's when the Storybrooke crew arrives and Hook stops her. Something to note: Spirit Rumple is still behind Emma when she's hugging her parents, but not when she's hugging Hennry or Hook. Snow and Charming think they should give the dagger, but Emma decides to give it to Regina because she's the only one who would do what's necessary if it came to be the only choice.

The Storybrooke crew takes Ema back to Granny's which is now in the Enchanted Forest. Arthur shows up with a couple other Camelot kniights saying that Merlin phroposized that they would be there. So he leads the whole group to Camelot

Now the ending...

We jump to Six weeks later in Storybrooke with everyone returning, and they've lost their memories of what happened in Camelot over the 6 weeks and Emma has now trned Dark.

I know some peoople have a problem with them reusing the memory loss plot, but what other ways could they do this plot?

1. They could have the present day be the Camelot adventure, but then for flashbacks they'd either have to do flashbacks for the Camelot characters or go the already crowded pre-curse timeline to do flashbacks from there.

2. I saw this somewher saying they could have had everyone come back to Storybrooke with different memories with only one person has the right memories, but if they have Camelot fllashbacks like they're doing now then right when the flashbacks match up with that one person, we'll know ho has the real memories but the characters won't.

3. If they still wanted to do present Storybrooke and past Camelot without losing memories,the writers would have to find someway for the characters to talk about what happended in Camelot without revealing it to the audience.


Best Moments from each starring character:

Snow: when she was stopping Regina and Hook from from fighting, like a mother te;;ing two kids to stop arguing

Emma: All her interaction in the Enchanted Forest were great.

Regina: Her arguments with Hook annd her reaction to Emma giving her the dagger

David: (He was kind of just in the background for this episode, so I can't think of)

Belle: When Mother Superior gave her the rose

Hook: His arguments with Regina and team up with Henry, how he stopped Emma from crushing Mrida's heart, "Spirit Rumple" disappearing when he was hugging Emma.

Henry: His teamup with Hook and "Spirit Rumple" disappearing when he was hugging Emma.

Zelena: She was mostly here purely for comedy and a way for them to get to Emma, but I can't think of one moment of hers I liked better than the others

Robin: His confusion on what happened to Emma and being able to tell right away that Zelena was posing as Regina

Rumplestiltskin: All of Spirit Rumple's scenes were great.

Final Thoughts:
I think this was the strongest premiere episode they've had since S2. Every starring cast member got some moments in this episode.

This gets a perfect 10/10 from me.

So that's all for this episode, see you tommorow for my 5x02 Review.

Introduction

I wanted to review the previous seasons before Season 5 started, but I never got started on it, so I just decided I'll start reviewing Season 5 and during the hiatus before March, I will review the previous seasons. So here's the current schedule

Monday, Oct 19: 5x01 Review

Tuesday, Oct 20: 5x02 Review

Wednesday, Oct 21: 5x03 Review

Thursday, Oct 22: 5x04 Review

Friday, Oct 23: 5x05 Sneak Peek(s) Review

Saturday, Oct 24: How Long I Have Been and How I Got Into Once Upon A Time

Monday Oct 26: 5x05 Review

Adter that, I might make a post about press releases and promo photos for the next episode. I will do reviews for sneak peeks on the day they are released and try to post each episode review the day after it airs.

I changed my twitter account to go with this blog: @OUATREVIEW

So, see you tommorow for my 5x01 Review