Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170501005830/@comment-24593235-20170501052223

I... loved the episode? I think? I'll have to re-watch it another time and maybe wait for the finale until I make my official judgement honestly, but for now...

The Pros
 * Zelena - Absolutely adored this little B-plot with Zelena getting accustomed to life without magic. Building the crib, learning to drive, all comedy gold. I'm perfectly content with Zelena just serving as comic relief so long as they keep SHOWING her like they did this episode, unlike most of Season 6 unfortunately. And of course plowing into the Black Fairy with her car, never has anything in this show satisfied me more. I've known about this ever since it was filmed (thank you, set spoilers), but actually seeing it go down was just... wow. Iconic. Legendary. Show-stopping. Also enjoyed the bit between her and Regina about going to New York with Baby Hood and Henry should Regina not survive the Final Battle. (Henry would raise Zelena, lol.)
 * Flashbacks - I personally really enjoyed the flashback story of the episode. Some think that it was rushed, which I can see, but I think they handled this episode far better than they've handled some in past. Merlin 5x07, for instance. But yeah, Fiona's origin story was pretty fun, even if I did have to suspend my belief for some parts. For the most part what happened aligned with the events mentioned in 3x11, so that's good. Again, much better than the Dark One/Sorcerer mythology. I'm also really glad they were able to get Stephen Lord back as Malcolm, as well as the origin behind Rumple's name. Malcolm naming his son "Rumplestiltskin" just be cruel was pretty funny tbh. Side note: I love the name "Fiona". It just seems so fitting, in my opinion - certainly more so than "Ingrid" was for the Snow Queen.
 * Emma & Rumple - 6B has given us quite a bit of these two interacting and I gotta say that I've really enjoyed it. I've never been less of a fan of Emma than I am now, but all of her interactions with Rumple this back half have been pretty interesting. I enjoyed the connections made between the two and their time spent together in the dream world. Also Rumple being a former savior was a really cool, interesting, and honestly shocking reveal that I fully welcome. When looking back at past seasons and storylines I think it's still believable enough to work, as we have seen in the past that Rumple has the potential to be a hero.
 * Gold Family Reunion - Out of context with what happens next, this was a really sweet scene and I'm glad Gideon got to reunite with his parents and get a nice moment of happiness with the two of them.

The Cons
 * Tiger Lily - I'm sorry, but what the f*ck? Six seasons we've been waiting for the Blue Fairy to receive some sort of backstory and they sideline her for this? I'm sorry, but no. Tiger Lily being Rumple's fairy godmother and a fairy at all was an entirely unnecessary decision. That should've been Blue. We should've been focusing on Fiona and her history with Blue. Not Tiger Lily. Tiger Lily hardly makes any sense existing as it is. Where was she during 3A? We still don't even know why she quit being a fairy and how she ended up in Neverland. If anything, they've made her a knock-off Tinker Bell. I'm sorry, but I just can't get behind that story decision.
 * Rumple, in general - This is the part of the episode where I'm going to have to wait until the finale before I properly judge. It seems that, again, Rumple is making the wrong choice and betraying the heroes by working with Fiona. What I hope Rumple is doing is simply playing Fiona in order to protect Belle and Gideon. At the moment it seems that that just isn't the case which is honestly a real slap in the face because I genuinely believed this time things would be different with Rumple. I let myself have hope. Now if he does pull through in the finale then you can entirely disregard this part of my post, but for now I'm pretty pissed.
 * I am relieved though that Belle and Rumple didn't get back together which is what I thought would happen this episode, especially after the reveal of Rumple being the Savior. If Rumple pulls through in the finale and proves himself a hero then I will fully welcome a reunion between those two (oh, how much I hope Rumple pulls through), but if not then yeah Rumple can choke.

So yeah, that basically sums up my thoughts of the episode. I thought it was really good, filled with plenty of twists, emotions (@ Robert Carlyle), and pretty good comedy (@ Rebecca Mader). Since next week's episode goes against pretty much everything that I stand for I won't be watching again until the finale. Here's to having hope that it's a great one!