By: Kelanie Cuadrado, Staff Writer
After a long summer without the show Once Upon A Time, it finally aired on ABC network on Sep. 29th at 8pm. The show took us into Neverland, but in a much darker version. We see the evil mermaids and the lost boys. However there is something that is different from the original Peter Pan film in Neverland. Hook seems to be the good guy, while Peter Pan seems to be the bad guy. They seem to have switched roles! There have only been a few episodes and so far the show is amazing! The more I sit down and watch this show, the more suspenseful the show becomes.
Henry is flanked by his kidnappers when they arrive on Neverland Island, but the Lost Boys dispose of Greg (Ethan Embry,) and Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) only survives long enough to have her heart ripped out and crushed by Rumple upon his arrival on the island. Henry escapes with a mysterious boy, who doesn’t tell Henry his name. However, as we watch the show, we get more clues such as how he knows the island very well and has pixie dust. If you were a child that loved the movie Peter Pan, you would easily guess that the mysterious boy is Peter Pan.
Peter Pan is meant to be the season’s antagonist, but why go to such lengths to deceive Greg and Tamara into bringing Henry to him only to kill them right off the bat? What does he need with “the heart of a true believer?” Why is he willing to risk so much, and cross the other villains such as Hook, Regina and Rumple just to get his hands on Henry? As we go through the show, I start to see that Henry is someone who is important. Someone worth killing people for. The biggest question I ask myself throughout the show is why Henry is so important and what can he do?
Emma finally called her parents out on their naïve belief that good always wins. Whether she’s right to be angry at them or not, she must be fed up with their fairy tale ideals. Emma still has a hard time believing that she is the savior of the princess world but she has a harder time accepting that she feel is no longer an orphan. Even though she is with her parents, she still feels left out because she didn’t exactly grow up in the fairy tale world. However, with her son Henry missing she must be stronger than she has even been. Also, Emma got to deliver one of the smartest moments in the series. We’ve heard the “everyone needs to believe in each other and work together,” business before, but she brings a new perspective by telling everyone to be who they are. Don’t try to be good if you’re not, don’t be apologetic for being morally questionable – everyone’s talents are needed to find Henry. She is now leading the pack and making sure that they all don’t kill each other, even though we did come quite close to losing all the fairy tale characters over a ship fight. She needs to step up and do what she needs to do to rescue Henry so that she can get another chance at raising him. Will Emma’s love for Henry help her find and save him from the dark one known as Peter Pan?
Regina and Rumple are both much powerful and angrier now that they both have nothing to lose. They have both lost their sons. Rumple thinks that his son is dead and wants revenge, and Regina wants Henry back in her hands. I actually started to feel the pain of the villains. It seems like they are only the bad guys because so many bad things has happened to them that they are so fed up. They no longer care and just want to take the easy way out, which is killing and making people feel their pain.
The show isn’t known for its comedy, but the premiere had a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. One of the parts that made me laugh was when Neal was telling Mulan about her movie, forgetting that movies doesn’t exist in the world; and even if Snow and Charming are playing archetypes with their optimism, it gets old. I delighted in hearing Regina call out Snow for wanting to make things better with “rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers.” It was hilarious. Gold stars, Regina. She’s saying what the audience wants to say.
I am very impressed with the way the show is going. They never stop pleasing me with their new ideas. I can’t wait to see what kind of plan they will come up with to rescue Henry. Will they kill Peter Pan? Will we see the true powers of Henry and Emma? Looks like we have a few more episodes to watch!
