Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20180310015821/@comment-24593235-20180310075331

Okay, so this was a pretty good episode.

Mekia Cox is one of the best but also one of the most underrated of the new actors to join this show, so I'm glad we got this second episode to better flesh out her character. I'm a fan of Sabine, and I think she and Drew have great chemistry. Notice I'm saying "Sabine" and "Drew" rather than "Tiana" and "Naveen". The thing is, during S1 I always thought the fairytale counterparts were better than the cursed ones. I much preferred watching a scene with Snow White or Rumplestiltskin rather than one with Mary Margaret Blanchard or Mr. Gold. This season, however, it's the opposite. I'm just not as invested in the flashback stories, and I find that most of them are more lazily written. I'm much more into a Jacinda or Sabine scene than a Ella or Tiana one. Anyways, back on topic, I liked Sabine's story. It felt filler, yeah, but that's fine when it's done right, which I think this episode was. Sabine and Drew have excellent chemistry, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here. Shame that he's currently being blackmailed by Facilier. :/

Speaking of Facilier, am I the only one who found his voice oddly soothing? I don't know, I just enjoyed his presence. Don't think I felt that way back in 7x05. Anyways though, I'm into him. I'm liking what he's bringing to the show, even if his romance with Regina is contrived as all hell. Seriously, there's absolutely no way they were a thing when she was the Evil Queen. I do think there's some chemistry there, and their relationship feels different than those we've had in the past. I think it was a cheap storytelling move on the writers' part, but I just don't have the energy anymore to be upset with poor writing. There's some chemistry, I like Facilier, and I'm somewhat intrigued as to where this can go. Let me have it.

This episode didn't have much Zelena in it, sadly, but I loved all her appearances. She really just makes everything better when she's on screen, and I absolutely adored the scene where Rumple joined Regina and Zelena at the bar. It was really nice seeing those three together, and I really hope we get more of it. Lana, Bex, and Robert are hands down the show's three strongest actors, and they play the three best characters at this point. Let's take advantage of that. Give us more.

There was also the Henry and Jacinda plotline, which I honestly don't have much of an opinion on. It was there. It happened. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it. I think Henry and Jacinda have more chemistry than Henry and Ella, and Jacinda wasn't in such a bad mood this episode. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. The same goes for the scenes with Nook and Rumple investigating Blind Witch 2.0 (3.0 because of the one from 1x02).

Anyways, very solid episode! I'm really liking 7B so far, and I hope the rest of the season/series continues to be alright.