Hear that
sound? It’s the sound of everything falling into place. By bringing together
characters, past and present, bringing the season’s largest story to a climax
and capping it off with a nice twist, Once Upon a Time has achieved all of the
right things it needed to before its season finale next week. The stage is set,
the stakes are high, and everyone has a part to play.
In the
penultimate episode of the season, ‘An Apple Red as Blood’, Regina tries to
find a way to keep Emma out of Henry’s life and protect the curse. Snow White,
the Dwarves, Granny and Red fight to free Prince Charming.
Everything
about this episode screamed set-up but in the greatest way possible. Though
some aspects were a little dodgy, and it took a while to get going, the episode
itself seemed to go from high to high, bringing so many stories into the fold
and tying them neatly together. Who knows about the curse? Who needs it to be
broken? And, most importantly, whose life hangs in the balance?
Emma’s screen-time
isn’t diminished this week, which is especially important given the significance
that’s being placed on her role as saviour these past few weeks. She’s the key,
and though it’s been a long time coming, all of the build-up and teases seem completely
worthwhile and necessary. She’s still facing some sort of fear of taking on responsibility,
but here its responsibility for making Henry’s life too distracting and difficult.
It’s great seeing how well the writers have handled that bond between Emma and
Henry, that’s grown from easy friendship to something a lot deeper. It’s not
parental yet, but to say it’s familial isn’t too much of a stretch.
A lot of ‘Apple
Red as Blood’ was dedicated to Regina’s motivations, and her desperation to
keep the curse intact, the first few minutes even going so far as to highlight
a sense of fear Regina feels over the town’s unknowing vengeance towards her. I
don’t think for a second that any of her feels guilt over what she’s created,
but the fear, that weaker, more human side to her, is what’s going to make her
characterization more believable over the course of the next few seasons.
Flashbacks
and present day antics meshed together as wonderfully as they ever have, too.
Not just with regards to the great visuals of Snow and Henry’s fruity
intolerance, but the episode’s little call-backs to small character developments
that have been given to us already, like Red’s wolfy instincts and Grumpy’s
call-in to the fairies. It made it clearer than ever that this is just as much
a character orientated show as it is a high concept fantasy.
There’s a
great sense of excitement building on both sides this week, with the fight for
Snow’s life driving the flashbacks forward, and the curse’s unravelling
bringing the present day story to a swift climax. It seems as though the
writers have played their cards just right, and haven’t dropped the ball like I
had initially worried they would after ‘Heart of Darkness’. My excitement for
the finale is palpable, but I still need some big event to change the show up
significantly next season. Sticking to a winning formula isn’t always the best
course of action, especially where potential long-running TV shows are
concerned.
9/10
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