From the moment it was revealed that Marian was actually Zelena posing as her I knew this episode was an automatic A. Whatever small detail that bugged about the episode was little in comparison of the greatness of this twist because: A) Rebecca Madder is back!, and B) It makes for an incredibly tight and entertaining hour of television.
Though I have a rule of the dead staying dead and OUAT has often violated this rule with poor results, this is the time where they actually pulled off a resurrection greatly, because it ties up with several past episodes arcs and makes the story all the more connected and interesting. As such, can I be mad that the writers resurrected Zelena? Not a chance!
If there could be any complains about the episode that would be that Will Scarlet, even in a flashback that seems key for him, still has almost no place in this show and essentially expendable, and that every Storybrooke plot halts on the expense of Robin Hood and Rumple’s storyline on New York over the time gap.
But as I said, those complains are so minor in comparison to the grand schemes of things, so I honestly couldn’t care less. Even the flashback, which isn’t really stellar, manages to build up to the big Zelena twist in a good manner; at first I rolled my eyes a bit that we got what seemed another boring flashback about Robin Hood being both a thief and an honorable man, but the importance of it is how it connects with the rest of the episode.
If Robin Hood didn’t go for the potion on real life like he did in the flashback, then nothing would have been set in motion for this half back of the season. And while I thought that it was quite dumb for Robin to help Rumple, OUAT has created enough suspension of disbelief to let it slide; besides, Robin’s character hasn’t been brought to his darker sides as Snow and Charming have been lately, so it’s understandable why he would help.
Last summer I said that bringing Marian back was one of the worst choices the writers made, but now I think is pretty worth it to get to the glorious moment in which it turns out that it was Zelena all along. We’ve been told that magic can never be destroyed, so it does follow with the show's logic, and while some of you may be bugged that she was brought back for shock value, I actually think she has a lot to offer for the show, and the way the show rolled with it was just filled with inspiration and excitement.
I honestly couldn’t have enough of it, and Rumple twisting Regina’s hand by telling her that Robin’s fate was hanging in the balance, and that she had to help him turn Emma dark is moving the plot forward in a very interesting direction.
There’s no better Regina than a conflicted Regina; she doesn’t want to do Rumple’s bidding, she honestly cares for Emma and I’m sure she’ll do anything possible to help on her situation, but everything is so messed up, with Robin's life pending on a thread, and it open so much possibilities that, even while I feel a lot for Regina, I just can’t see past the fruitful storylines up ahead.
A few weeks ago I said that OUAT has struck gold with its current storyline; I think now we have finally saw what the show can be when it’s pushing its potential, something similar to what happened during “Fall” on the first half back of the season; there’s just so much possibilities and it was thoughtfully entertaining that I just can’t help but smile as I write this review.
There is nothing I love more than to write a positive OUAT review: I love the show and I love when it delivers. And though I know not everyone feels the same - I checked the “What did you think?” section -, I just can’t be more happy.
Every line landed, the worst scenes on the episode were carried either by thematic continuity and/or humor, and the highs came from the smartly developed twist that made this episode so worthy and so delightful. This is what I want to feel with OUAT every single week.
Grade: A
Stray Observations:
-David and Snow tell Emma they met the author. I like how David says “we are only human!”, it ties back with what I have stated multiple times during this season that the writers are trying to humanize the heroes.
-Rumple has the author; now that was easy.
-Modern things Robin Hood doesn’t approve of: alarms, they make his ears hurt and make his tasks as thief harder. He also isn’t fond of thieves on bikes.
-I love how at one point Zelena imitated Rumple’s voice.
-At the moment where Rumple’s heart stopped I honestly thought that Zelena would disguise as him and it would have turned out that she was assembling the queens of darkness all along; it would have been like when Lost killed John Locke. It would have been pretty bold, but I’m still happy with the direction they went with.
-Rolan is essentially lifeless during this episode. I hope that he is the one to figure out that Marian is Zelena and that he tells Robin, that would give him some purpose. Though Will is the first priority on which characters need purpose.
-The show had an unusual strong moment with Rumple and Robin as Rumple told him to grab on his happy ending. It makes one wonder if one does truly have one happy ending or if there are multiple ones waiting around the corner, as at one time Marian seemed to be Robin’s. I guess there’s plenty of directions for it to work out, and in rather unexpected ways.
-Next week we have Cruella to look forward to: I wonder what they’ll do with her backstory,
