Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20161107020008/@comment-24674051-20161107184934

Ok, this episode delivered on all counts.

1. The Snowing backstory. no retcon, but filled in a small portion of time between when Snow escaped from the Huntsman and she became the Bandit Snow that we all love, and in fact loved that David played a small part in leading Snow to become the Bandit. They did not know they met, and I liked that it was because Snow was protecting David. Solid reasoning. The character continuity was good from that side. Also, David's ineptness in fighting the woodcutter matches up with what we know from "White Out". As a shepherd, he would be able to deal with an untrained foe (like say a bear or a wolf) one-on-one (something all shepherds have to do to protect their flock), but he would be somewhat clumsy and would likely fail against a trained opponent (which he would have failed had he not had a bit of help). Only thing I did not like from a continuitiy standpoint is that he didn't have the longer hair of his youth.

2. Water from the river of lost souls - ok, Gold obtaining a vial of that makes sense for his character. nice little callback to 5b (one of the parts that worked better, anyway). A bit of a deux au machina or magical mcguffin, but at least this time it's one that is pulled from the story we've already seen, so is not completely out of the blue.

3. Zelena turning green. Ok, not sure what she was jealous of more, but just the fact that something finally got under her skin enough to make her take action was good. plus her warning to Belle was a nice move. I wouldn't mind them building up a Belle-Zelena friendship, it is just odd enough to work. and it looks like it might have set in motion a mini story line that will pit Gold against Zelena. That can't be good for bystanders or miatas.

4. Belle is definitly more involved this season. first, the heroes turn to her to find a way to defeat the water from the river of lost souls (yay heroes making use of the best resources). and then at the end she is really all up in Rumple's business and calling him out yet again. I'm liking the version of Belle with a backbone more.

5. Killian's pep talk to Emma. That is one of the best written CaptainSwan scenes I've seen, and that little moment really did a lot to show where Killian is in the relationship, in a good way. And I liked that he actually planned for the talk, and had brought Henry's book, and opened it to ALL the right pages (interesting that Emma's birth is now restored to it's proper position, must be a result of the Time travel from Season 3). It was really well done. Though I will echo something that I read in another review, and that is that KIllian pointing out all of the things about Emma is just going to magnify her identity issues rather than resolve them. But at least Emma knows that she's not alone in her journey, that there is someone that is invested in her for the long haul.

6. The EQ solution to gaining Snow's heart. Ok, the EQ without Regina's 'conscience' was able to do what Regina herself never could. She got Snow's heart. and what she did was, I thought, quite ingenious, and also quite fitting with her character. Of course, the solution is really quite simple, and I think everyone is going to think of it before the end of the next episode. My initial though was that Emma, who is the product of their true love and their daughter, would implement TLK on the sleeping parent break the curse (others have pointed out why that would not work). But the real fix is for Emma to take both halves, Regina immediately put David in a preservation spell (similar to what she used with Henry when he lost his heart), then reunite both halves and restoring them to Snow. She would fall asleep. Then, and only then, would Emma (or ironically Regina if they can set it up) deliver TLK to Snow. Once Snow wakes up, Regina takes Snows heart and splits it again, and reinserts the halves where they belong.

7. Regina confessing (with what I would say is the right amount of shame and embarrasment) that she had a secret thing for Rumple. and everyone's OMG reaction to that reveal. that scene was just well done, particularly Killian's face.

8. Wilby. 'nuf said. And it actually explains even more why David Nolan working at the Animal Shelter makes sense. (as if him being a Shepherd was not reason enough)

9. the Woodcutter. the story tie-in was somewhat subtle, but they did link him into the Red Riding Hood story (he was a bounty hunter best known for hunting werewolves).

There really was nothing that I disliked about the episode.

Stray question: Who decides when David and Snow trade places sleeping? Or does Henry use his Author powers to help communication. OR... does Regina help Snow (or David) and/or Henry to enter a sleep deep enough to allow communication in the Dream realm (remembering Season 2 and using the Dream Realm to communicate from Storybrooke to the EF)