Ghosts of Shepherdstown Season 1 All 6 Episodes Review

                                                        

1.1 Welcome to America's Most Haunted Town.

The haunting at the bakery/sweetshop, was a meeting of the minds: the investigators and getting to grips with what was actually happening and what they were dealing with.

Elizabeth almost fainting from the powerful energy - something dark and Nick picks up on the EMF spiking.

The local town historian, Dana commenting on German Street and Queen Street.  New also was plotting the activity on the map.  The bakery window where they threw out the body parts, where Elizabeth felt the presence, which was a hospital during the Civil War.  The safe omitting EMF energy.  The sound Elizabeth heard by the safe was audible, as if the safe was willing itself to be opened.  I enjoyed how they drove around in their truck: like a Paranormal S.W.A.T team, 'yeah we're on the case.'

There was someone breathing or sighing which Elizabeth heard, at 24.22 minutes.  Finding the shoe in the safe which was used to ward off and protect against witchcraft and evil entities. The voice recorder that Nick used and the questions he and Bill asked and to Bill's question of, "what Unit were you a part of?"  Sounds to me like it says 'First Battalion', rather more than "take the medicine." They wouldn't really have had medicine if any, around then and supplies would've been scarce.   But the EVP is more relevant.  As Lorie found in the basement that the man was a Major Alexander Tinsley and Chief of Surgery and they found the saw there too.  The Major wanting forgiveness for not being able to save the soldiers.  The EVP doesn't say anything about the saw as no ‘s’ sound comes through.  Megan resembled the woman Alexander loved.  It's so helpful to their investigation and cause when they find photographs of people who lived through the period too; further authenticating what someone looked like or their reason for being there still in spirit form.

Nick feels if they had the Civil War re-enactment they could honour him and thereby put him to rest and acknowledge him.  Nick coming up with the ideas to help these spirits find peace.

1.2 Do You Know You're Dead?

Nicole, who lived on the college campus housing heard a girl in the hallway and thinks she took her glasses, with reported poltergeist activity in the home.  As they found a collection of objects in the basement.   As well as salt lines which were keeping something evil in or out.  Then there was the shower turning on.

Next time they need their own handheld cameras, or the Go-Pros on their head, cos we don't want to see their faces every second, it's their surroundings and what they're seeing we need to experience too.  As for the rocking chair moving, there's not much to tell with that, that's not really exciting or connected to anything, which is why no one made a big deal out of it.  That sort of activity has been encountered many times before anyway. There was documented poltergeist activity anyway.

Nick finds they teach a paranormal class at the university and saw students carrying out spirit board sessions.  Which is scary in itself cos they really don't know what they're messing with and shouldn't be able to do this.  They don't need encouragement.  Even the most seasoned investigators shy away from this, including Nick.  As well as finding many suicides and hangings amongst the students, like the nurse and an exorcism in one of the halls.  A girl in a dress was reported to be stealing things at the university.

The EVP girl's voice at 20 minutes sounds like she's saying, "something, getting ready."  Nick does suggest using the spirit board but warns against it cos of the negative energy attaching itself. Elizabeth does this with Lorie and Nicole.

Lorie senses water (see later episodes as this was a key element running through the eps and the connection.)

The spirit board comes through with the name "Anne."  "Water" comes through after asking what happened to her and there was a flood in the house and she perhaps doesn't know that she's dead...

They search the gravestone with Dana and Nicole finds the fallen gravestone with 1879-1889. Elizabeth thinks they should have a ceremony to guide her home and help her move on.  Wonder if that EVP of the girl's voice was significant in the sense she was getting ready to move on and that she would be helped to do this by Nicole finding the gravestone and Elizabeth with the ceremony.

Not forgetting the thunderstorm now when Nicole felt suffocated in her home again and all the cameras when everything died.

At 43.00 sounds to me like it's saying "...trying to kill you."  Since Anne has left the house after the ceremony; there must be something more sinister there, as why would Anne try to suffocate Nicole, with her asking,      "why are you visiting?"

"Still in the room with us?"  

Answer: "yes."  As for the ‘killing’ part, was this a future warning?

Note these are my opinions and comments only gathered from what I watched and observed.

1.3 She Didn't Have A face

West German Street, near German Street where the bakery was in 1.1.  At least the police were more open to such activity in this town instead of just dismissing it.

Elizabeth sniffs the smell in the front room and experiences the ceiling falling down near the stairs, which we missed on camera, that's why they need their own cameras.  They as investigators, will know exactly what to film and what to document.  Cos they need to focus on the location and surroundings and less on their faces.  Elizabeth senses a child in the attic.

Dana finds out about the Snyder’s and Barry Snyder was a newspaper owner.  The horse carriage that his wife, Laura Ida was on, had an accident and her daughter was Ray Ray.  That decapitation was more than an accident - get the feeling Laura was pushed off the carriage.  She hit her head on the ground and died in the house.  The second photo Elizabeth shows the others looks like a woman from a distance.  Lots of the cases, such as the last two, concentrated on and led to the discovery of a child and shoe.  Nick tells them Laura was with her daughter when the 'accident' happened.

That doesn't appear to be a coincidence. [I just thought of the faceless woman I saw!  Yikees!   Briefly as I tweeted Elizabeth: "few summer’s ago someone rang bell 2am twice, told them to stop, looked like woman without face when she stared back. Scary!"]

The great grandson of Laura has Ray Ray's journal and she was 12 at the time, as well as being a psychic.  In the journal where she wrote that, "death was looking over my shoulder...I got it out of the house but not away from my family."  Meaning she managed to keep it away from the house but couldn't keep it away outside. She closed all the doors and windows and felt "death following me all summer."  Like Harry and Susan in 1.4.

Could that "killing" EVP from 1.2 be relevant here in reference to "death following" and got its hands on her mother.  Such an eerie feeling though and I only said that since all of the cases were related in some form or another.

Nick again feels they need to guide Ray Ray to her mother so they can move on.  Why the activity was increasing now was just one in a series of questions.

There was that orb behind Elizabeth in the window reflection that came from her head causing her anxiety, trouble forming sentences too and pressure on her chest.  Upstairs in the attic, there are also two orbs seen either side of Nick and Elizabeth, almost as if one was chasing the other. Or as Ray Ray wrote, "following her..."

This episode affected Elizabeth a lot emotionally and also cos of Ray Ray and her heartbreak over losing her mother after having to pitch a battle against death but couldn't keep her mother safe.

     

They also find the shutters were moved in the downstairs window, which was opened and now halfway closed and catch it on video. There also appears to be a shadow on the wall and it doesn't appear to be light from the outside, just before the shutter closes and isn't a car light.  

Lorie senses a negative entity over the entire town also in reference to Ray Ray's mother and the voice in the attic telling them to "get out."  As well as the rain contributing to heightened activity and as I said, one orb seemed to be chasing the other around the attic...

Dana discovers that Laura fractured her skull, broke her neck and ruptured a blood vessel.  See I don't think it was an accident.  Elizabeth also picked up on Ray Ray's eyes, like we did.  They looked so haunted.

1.4 Grave Stalker

A gunshot is heard near the clock tower.  Nick with his investigative notebook and Elizabeth had one too, making them look very investigative!  Ha. Cari hears a woman cry and a gunshot and has a feeling of being followed.  Cari being the only one who heard it.  Elizabeth uses her pendulum to sense energy.  If the answers are a 'no' then there's circular movement, 'yes' is a straight line and if the answer is ‘unclear’ then it won't move.  Once again they find themselves near the river and Elizabeth commenting it's a spiritual conductor.  The bridge overlooks the town run; she senses energy from the wall.  Nick's compass spins on the wall instead of finding a direction and stopping movement.   The EMF also spikes up to 19.

Dana tells them Thomas Shepherd built the fort and the wall is a remnant of the fort.  Love the board stringing, relevant for solving clues. Paranormal CSI.  [Sorry.]   The wall seems to have an energy vortex which Nick feels is kicking up activity across the town.

There was Prospect Street and the student housing.  Then the train tracks where they followed the activity to, the EMF leading them here. That figure by the rock was creepy almost as if it was dragging something.   They are led to a house which was built in the 1890's and is haunted.  Dabney Chapman, the owner, tells them of a young woman Susie Farrell, was who walking with a friend and saw a man she knew, Harry Smoots.  (Dabney sadly passed away later after filming. RIP.)  Elizabeth and her notebook too!  She has a sinking feeling inside the house, falling off her feet as Susie was brought into the house as well.  She would've had that feeling when she was shot, though it was outside. Nick hears a female cry on the EVP, which wasn't played back for the audience!!

Cari is being stalked and they think it's Harry.  Elizabeth gets cold spots at Cari's house where she saw a man in the window.  Also they get an EVP reply, "don't ask the question."  Elizabeth outraged and warning the spirit to not touch her without her permission.  

Dana says Harry had mental problems and he OD-ed on morphine.  The library used to be a jail and Elizabeth said Cari was by the library.  The photo Elizabeth took with her camera (again on my Twitter and below) and is also explained there: where you can see a bearded man and a woman.  Susie was shot by Harry, explaining the gun shot heard and Susie died in what was now, Dabney's house.

                                       

Dana also mentions the figure at the train tracks and about being thrown in front of the train, which is what Harry tried to do?  Nick feels it was residual energy leading them there and then to the town. To Dabney's house.  Dana mentions circling the tracks and back to town in the same route over and over. Nick refers to it as, "his hell - his dark energy is still out there."   There's a man in the photo Elizabeth took over Lorie's shoulder with a beard and she uses a sage ritual to get rid of Cari's attachment. Elizabeth's photo (which I mentioned earlier) she thinks might have a light shutter speed issue, but you can definitely see faces there!  Nick talks of tracers, tracing the light sources and can cause blurriness.

Elizabeth questions why she saw a figure in the house and her dog barked, when Cari saw the man inside her house in the window when she was outside.  There must be another dark presence affecting the town as Lorie said in the previous episode.  Elizabeth accompanies Cari and her daughters to the river for a picnic, where the dog barks near the river.  Again more water activity.

1.5 It's Behind You

(September 2015)

A DB floating in the water is spotted, a woman with dark hair.  One of the Vic's was named Elizabeth.  

Nick saying, "Shepherdstown is a weird Twilight Zone of paranormal experiences."  The town run leading to the river and Nick was in hot pursuit of what he saw, something in the river, which vanished from the thermal camera and could be debris.

Lorie says the energy drew her to the river and there was an angry man in the water.  There's a splash and he was dumping a DB.  She sees a woman in the water, named 'Izzy or Lizzy'.  As well as another woman and the angry man has a scar on his face, shouting, "you little bitch."  He killed them. Elizabeth, yeah creepy with the same name.  (See next ep about the EVP saying 'Elizabeth' which I'm sure I heard; but don't know if it was in reference to this Elizabeth (Lizzie) who was murdered or in reference to our Elizabeth?)

The murdered girl's name was Mary Elizabeth and she was 18.  Shelby was the other one who was 16. Dana researches they were from Maryland, just as she is, from Dana's hometown of Beltsville. Clippings from 19 June 1956 and 1st June 1956, show they were picked up by a man in a car and Lorie had the sense it affected their throat.

Elizabeth has an IR case over her phone becoming a thermal camera when they go investigating in the woods.  Lorie says Shelby was killed first and Lizzie tried to get away.  They hear lightning and then what sounded like a tree falling or could be a body being dumped or falling too. Lizzie ran to the water.  

Nick heads off to check out the sounds in the woods at night.  They find an upside down cross on the rock which is a sign of evil witchcraft.   So they had rituals here.  Nick feels his body is in a whirlwind near the cross.  Nick has two figures surrounding him on the thermal (my Twitter pics again) in a dress, they definitely look female.  Nick runs off after a red light he sees and there's a figure behind him, as said.  As well as a woman touching Bill's shoulder causing him nausea and dizziness. Lorie adds they need to lay their spirits to rest and release them to the light.  It was so brave of Nick to go running off like that into the woods, as he always does and to be surrounded by the two figures, creepy still, even if they may have been Shelby and Lizzy.  Or could just as easily have been a witch or two.

             

Dana finds an article from 16 June 1956, mentioning a scar faced man and he was never arrested.  SO he got away with it and even in death he still appears to haunt this place.  That was sad that they didn't get justice for what happened to them and he just went free, perhaps to murder some more.  He doesn't even appear to have gotten his comeuppance in death either still lingering here.  But with the ceremony releasing Lizzy and Shelby hopefully he can't harm them anymore and make them re-live their pain over and over.

The upside down crosses perhaps something to do with the witch, see next ep and Nick was spot on with that connection.

Tweets to Elizabeth re ep 1.5:

Me: "you mentioned shutter speed, it may be matrixing.  I see man's face in your pic."

Elizabeth in reply: "I do see that.  It is interesting it happened at that moment because none of my pictures did that before or after. 25 July 2016

Me: Hope you get a S2 & if u do, get your own handheld cams!  Miss 2 much action and makes head spin with some filming! ha"

Elizabeth: "Haha yeah I hear yah!" 4 July 2016

1.6 Redemption

Princess Street near woods

Claire heard a baby crying in the basement.  The taps turned on, re the shower at the student housing in 1.2, what I said as well.  Elizabeth heard a woman and a baby crying, she was trying to be a mother.  The presence of the well remnants in the basement and she felt the woman had done something wrong.  Nick commented on how Elizabeth is the strongest in the whole group to experience or sense spirits.

The stringing on the map almost looked to be forming a pentagram: star shape and I emphasis almost. Who knows if that would've happened if they needed to, or had to continue with their investigation; if they hadn't found the connection and gone on for longer.

Elizabeth got a sense of remorse and Nick comes up with the witch reference again.  Elizabeth explaining the use of the Ghostbox and how it scans through frequencies.  She finds another shoe in the wall, the shoe find of the century! - But seriously another shoe: reaffirming the witch theory.

The female voice definitely says, "poison."  At 32.41 sounds like the voice says, "Elizabeth"?? and the high pitched screaming can also be heard at around 32.44 minutes.

They find the town run at the back of the house. It was alleged the woman poisoned the town children.  Lorie mentioned how in colonial times they accused a woman of witchcraft and poisoning the town's water supply.  However she wasn't a witch.  Claire reminded the woman of her own baby as she was pregnant.  Dana found there was an outbreak of dysentery and this caused the deaths of the children.  The water was contaminated from an unnatural source.

Elizabeth suggests a ceremony and Lorie feels a potency charm will release the woman and lift the curse.  Which they do.

Nine days later there's no reported activity.

Nick commented on how he's been investigating all his life and Shepherdstown isn't like anything he's seen before.

At the end of the ep, and as Elizabeth and I said in a tweet, why did they float the shoe on the river?

Doctor Who 10.7 "The Pyramid At the End of the World" Review

                                              
This episode alternates between Previously and Now as Bill (Pearl Mackie) goes on another date with Penny (Ronke Adekoleujo) talking about her lecturer and his dreams.  How he's an alien, a space alien and also tells her about the Pope in her flat.  Which they find hilarious, until this time she gets a visit from the UN Secretary General (Togo Igawa) who wants to see the President of the World.  Who just happens to be the Doctor (Peter Capaldi).  He plays guitar, as we get another narration from him about the end of the world.  He's double locked the TARDIS so she can't get in but tells him the UN is here.  He's told about Turmezistan and how there's a giant pyramid there that wasn't there before.  The region being bordered by the three biggest armies of the world.  The Doctor flies there in the plane, with the TARDIS within the plane.

When they they arrive he goes towards the pyramid and it opens with a Monk coming out.  Telling them the earth is doomed and humanity will destroy itself.  As the clocks on their phones reset to 11.57 all around the world.  The Doctor mentioning it's the Doomsday clock and somewhere a disaster will lead to the earth being destroyed.  Yes, but not on his watch.  Oh sorry did that sound like an unintentional pun there?!  They come up with a strategy and the Doctor agrees with the Chinese that they need to demonstrate a show of strength and unity, to avoid World War Three.  Yeah it's the Doctor he doesn't approve such action, but says this time they must since the Monks are not here peacefully.  Each time he tries to tell her about what's wrong with him, they're interrupted.  As Bill asks Nardole (Matt Lucas)but Nardole tells her to speak with him which the Doctor surmizes as much.  As the plane flies in and they're ready to bomb the pyramid, there's a beam of light that shines into the sky and the Monks take over the plane.  Landing it safely and releasing the pilot and crew. As with the other crew.  The Russian saying they tried that action before when they sent in a submarine.

Whilst all this is happening, in the UK, a woman, Erica (Rachel Denning) has her glasses broken after she leaves her bag in the door to pry it open and a man shuts it.  She's a scientist and heads to work with a fellow scientist, Douglas (Tony Gardener) who is too tired to do much work.  She tells him to go home but he can't leave here.  They're developing some sort of a bio-organic enzyme.  As she suits up and tells him to do the readings cos her reading glasses are broken.  Well that was a mistake as we'll see later.  As well as human error.

As they enter the pyramid to find out the Monk's intentions the Doctor knows that they've been watching them for an eternity practically and are also watching that particular lab.  The Monks show them a strand of time a year into the future, where they see destruction of the earth and all of humanity has been wiped out.  They tell them humanity ended itself in this way.  Which comes as a shock to everyone, but the Doctor is still holding onto the strand.  As he would!

They want them to consent, to power consent and invite them in.  So that they can help them avoid this catastrophe as they've been doing so for years.  With power comes consent and with consent comes love.  They must show the Monks their love.  The Secretary General is afraid and he gives them his consent.  However the Monk notices it's not consent or love but he's consenting out of fear and destroys him.  The Doctor takes them back out and tells them there must be some event somewhere they've got to find and stop it from taking place.  Putting secret documents onto the Net and tells them to Google.  However not everyone's willing to do this and the American, Col BRabbit (Eben Young) says he's ready to surrender to them, as is the Chinese, Xiaolian (Daphne Cheung.) Including the Russian, Ilya (Andrew Bryon).  Even after the Doctor tells them it's a bad thing.  In the lab, after they spray the plants, they all die.  Douglas grabs a sample as they exit the chamber. Analysis shows an increase in bacteria which has destroyed the plants.  It will be released into the air when the cycle for venting (as I call it) comes round.  Douglas falls to the floor and is disintegrated.

They go to the pyramid again and the Doctor tells Bill to go with them to watch them.  A bit of a bad idea cos what's she really going to do, when you know she's going to eb the only one left.  As he tells Nardole to hack the feed and stop the Monks from watching the labs, which he narrowed down to 48.  Adding that when the camera in one of the labs comes back online, that's the lab they've been watching.  As they arrive in the TARDIS, he tells Nardole to leave since he won't be able to take the release of the bacteria.  The TARDIS isn't able to leave and Nardole is affected by the vapour.

As the others surrender, they are all destroyed and Bill is left.  But she refuses to consent since she's a nobody.  The Doctor calling himself handsome, intelligent and clever finds the way to destroy bacteria is to burn it and so sets about doing this.  Adding Erica may even ask him out after this.  He's going to blow up the lab before the bacteria can be released into the air.  However he finds he can't get out of the airlock chamber (Crystal Maze anyone?? ha) and needs to override it with a code. Which is a combination and he can't see to enter it.  Nardole is out cold and Bill can't help him.  He tells her to leave the pyramid and in the process has to tell her he's blind since Chasm Forge and she goes back to save the Doctor from dying.  She asks if the Monks can restore his sight and he says yes, so she gives her consent after making an executive decision.  Of course she was going to do this and she also has love for the Doctor in her heart, so the Monk makes him see again, as she saves him.

Next week's episode looks more exciting than this one.  Couldn't help thinking it's been done before.  As Missy finally gets in on some action and the Doctor turns evil-ish.  The Monks demanding love, but why, saying how "fear is inefficient, we must be loved."  Also what is the link they told Bill about when she agreed to giving her consent.  Consent they require before they can conquer the human race.  Obviously she wasn't going to be destroyed.  But it wasn't really love for the Monks, it was more for the Doctor, in my opinion.

This ep also has the title of the 2005 episode The End of the World contained within it.  The Doctor's role as President goes back to 2014 and UNIT needed a President of the Earth for such emergencies and the Doctor was the only one who could do this.  Having also saved Earth on some many occasions.  The Doctor also telling Bill that he's meditating, which past Doctors have done on numerous occasions too.  Pyramids also feature heavily in Doctor Who, ranging from the episode with River, The Wedding of River Song which contained Area 52 within it.  In The Dalek's Master Plan, the Doctor went up against the Monk at the Pyramid in Giza.  Funny part was Bill saying they probably need to be invited in like vampires.  But the Doctor dismisses that idea since he's already dealt with vampires before, in State of Decay.

Once Upon A Time 6.21/22 "The Final Battle" Parts 1&2 Review

                                             
The beginning opens with a father running to save his daughter and telling her to take the book and run...

The Black Fairy's curse struck and Once turned back the clock to the beginning, all the way to season 1 for the most part and did a doubletake on the Evil Queen's curse!!  People were in Storybrooke (some of them) and could recall nothing of their past except that Fiona/The Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) was now Madam Mayor taking over from Regina.  Also as Regina (Lana Parilla) did she locked people up in the hospital.  This time, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) cos she believed in fairytales and fantasies and was loony!  But hey last time I looked, what you believe in didn't make you a crackpot.  To the point where Henry (Jared S Gilmore) remembers everything and visits Emma there. Only once again she doesn't want to believe in the book or fairytales and is having trouble remembering anything too.  Especially since all she can do now is paint a swan!!  Much the same as the early episodes and Henry trying to convince her about the real stories in the book and who she really is, i.e the Saviour, he had much the same bad luck in trying his best again this time round.

Fiona now taking over Regina's role as said and even telling everyone she's his mother, as Regina is/was.  Henry tells Emma not to do anything Fiona tells her to do but that's easier said that done. Emma was nothing more than a shell of her former self and once again just gives up one everything too easily.  I mean later she said she doesn't want to return to the hospital after Henry breaks her out, but she wasn't even trying to get out, even swallowing the pill Fiona convinces her to take.  As well as Henry trying to show her the new page with the runes.  You wouldn't blame Henry if he just gave up!

It appears she has even got Rumples (Robert Carlyle) round her little finger with everyone calling her Madam Mayor including Rumples and Gideon (Giles Matthey).  Who's bitter cos Belle (Emilie de Ravin) is meant to have just left them, you know the story, went to the store one day and never came back.  Though Rumples tries to convince him that she loves him and wouldn't just do that by showing him the book, 'Her Handsome Hero' and reading the inscription.  But Gideon doesn't want to believe either, content in fixing watches, as Fiona gives him one to fix as well.  But you know there's always something more going on with Rumples, as last time he was one of the people who recalled everything and still had his memories intact.  SO if we're going on the basis of the first curse, then Rumples still remembers everything.

The others, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) Charming (Josh Dallas) Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) and Regina all find themselves in the Enchanted Forest.  Reggie dressed as the Evil Queen in her 'rock' outfit from the musical ep.  Hook wants to find Emma and Henry's not here either.  Regina saying they've got to owe it to the Black Fairy as she took them back to he Charming's wedding day and where they got married.  There's no way to get out and Zelena (Rebecca Mader) turns up with the Mad Hatter's hat.  Regina commenting it was 'destroyed'.  Well at least she got to use her favourite word again in the season finale.  Zelena tells her he was a hatter, he'd have more than one.  However they can't create a portal to Storybrooke and as she pulls away the curtain, she find there's nothing behind the curtain, Oz is all gone.  All of the worlds are being destroyed as Jasmine (Karen David) and Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) also find they got out before Agrabah vanished too.

Regina thinks she can find a way back with a spell but finds most of her ingredients are missing and someone's been stealing them.  Only it's her other half, the Evil Queen who's here with Robin.  She had to turn up here cos everyone thought she was really her and so she and Robin turned to a life of good and stole from the rich to give to the poor.  Together they think they can muster something. After Regina refuses to listen to Hook and his idea.  Charming follows him as he climbs the beanstalk cos he's his son-in-law now and can't let him go alone.  He recalls Hook, the pirate tried to kill Emma and Snow and that was back then.  He's changed now and he didn't even realize he and Emma would have any sort of a story together, or were even destined to be together with a happy ending.  He retrieves the magic bean but as they descend the beanstalk, the stalk shakes since the giant was awakened.

Back at the castle, they find that everything is being engulfed and Regina says it's cos Emma's losing hope and the Black Fairy is making her forget everything.   Back in Storybrooke, she convinces Emma to return to Boston where she was happy and takes the book from Henry.  After Henry rescues Emma, he takes her to the rooftop where they were married and tells her to meet him back here as he'll help her escape.  Unfortunately Henry goes back for the book, where the Black Fairy is waiting for him and she pushes him down the stairs with her magic.  Henry in hospital with a broken arm, she again convinces Emma to burn the book since it's the right thing to do.  As she does, the book opens on a picture of Hook.  Emma packs to leave and Henry can't make her stay.

Hook falls off the beanstalk, as does Charming and as he gets back to the castle, he finds the bean is no longer magical but shrivelled up, again cos of Emma's actions.  Snow returns to find Charming and does so, cos they always s find each other and uses true love's kiss to revive him with flashes to when he did the same for her.  The Evil Queen tries to help them and Regina doesn't want her to be left behind cos she'll be killed.

The Black Fairy returns to the store for her wand telling Gideon that Rumples doesn't know but she still has Gideon's heart.  He has to do everything she tells him and he finds the wand, which will help her in translating the runes Henry drew.  Rumples is shown photos of Belle travelling around the world cos that's what she always wanted to do.  Also proving he was right about his mother all along. As he returns to the shop, she realizes he does remember after all and after finding Belle who was hiding out in a house where the Black Fairy was keeping her.  Using a spell to follow her favourite book there.  The Black Fairy thinks he will choose her over Belle and she tells him she's sent Gideon to kill Emma since it's not a battle over light vs darkness, but light versus light.  Also saying she can reverse everything and help him get Bae back, bringing him back from the dead.  But Rumples isn't falling for it, as he kills her.  Belle walking in to see what he's done.  They must find his heart so that he doesn't kill Emma, he's going to save his son once again.  Emma having returned from Boston after seeing the book Henry left for her.  Henry also knowing Rumples remembers everything as he's been whipping up spells and he asks for two things from him, cos he's also his grandpa, walking away with the sword.

Rumples finds his heart but is met by the Crocodile Rumples and says that he can go travelling the world and have power and then destroy the world later on as well, but he's not convinced.  He  has Gideon's heart and he wants to do the right thing.  As Gideon and Emma fight, and the others return and Regina convinces Emma that she has a third choice.  That when they fought over Henry when she first arrived here, they came up with a compromise, they could both be his mother.  She also says that in the final battle she loses either way, since either way light will end. Emma throws the sword down and Gideon kills her.  With lots of light around, Rumples finds his heart is shrivelled and tells Belle he made the right choice but it didn't help.  Henry kisses Emma and wakes her up again with true love's kiss no doubt.  As Rumples and Belle hear a baby crying.  It's Gideon so they can spend their time with him all over again as they should have done.  As Belle tells him it's not the end but a very happy beginning.

                                    

With all the lands replaced including Agrabah, Wonderland.  Everyone gets their new beginning and Snow says it was always about hope and now they'll get to find what happens next.  Meeting at Granny's (Beverley Elliott) for dinner.  Grumpy (Lee Arenberg) Sneezy (Gabe Khouth) and Sleepy (Faustino Di Bauda)  give Regina a new sign on the door reading 'Regina Mills Queen.'
The girl from the beginning rides on the train in Boston and ends up at her 'father's house since Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) told her she'll reunite with him one day and she doesn't know what will happen then. The door is opened but he doesn't know her.  Only he does really, she tells him he's Henry (Andrew J West) her father.  She's Lucy Mills (Alison Fernandez). As we return to the beginning again when Henry tried to convince Emma of her destiny and who she actually was! Coming round full circle in what was to be the series finale in season 6, but fear not, Once returns for a season 7 as we all know by now, but without at least half of the cast.  As we're probably now going to get 'Henry's Story.'  I thought the girl was Baby Robin for some reason!  But then that wouldn't have been her father, who was Robin.

Doctor Who 10.6 "Extremis" Review

                                      
A fitting picture as Peter gave an interview not too long ago about how the Doctor could defeat the current President!!

This ep opens again with a narration, this time about death.  Timely obviously since the blindness and the regeneration foreshadowing, mentioned here again.  As the man, Rafando (Ivanno Jerimiah) who was also kind of priest-like (okay more from an ep of Stargate SG-1) on another planet asks the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to kill another Time Lord, as only a Time Lord can do this.  At first glance it appears the Doctor is the one being sentenced to be executed.  This being Missy (Michelle Gomez) as we know.  Before proceedings begin, the Doctor returns back to the present day where he gets a visit from the Cardinal (Joseph Long) telling him about the Veritas book, which when read, leads the reader to commit suicide.  As well as a visit from the Pope.  With Nardole (Matt Lucas) having to act as his eyes.  The Cardinal reminds the Doctor about Pope Benedict IX in 1045 and the Doctor adding he couldn't help it, he was lured by her castanets!  [Ohh Doctor Who and an innuendo.]

Bill (Pearl Mackie) goes on a date with Penny (Ronke Adekoluejo) and brings her round to her flat, saying she moved out but it didn't work out.  Her mother thinks she's got a man in the bathroom but is fine when she finds out it's a woman.  Penny is nervous and Bill reassures her this isn't really anything yet.  Until she hears the TARDIS in her bedroom, saying it's the pipes.  However the Pope pops out and there are other priests in her room.  Bill tells the Doctor he can't do this and Penny runs away.  Nardole programmes the TARDIS to the Vatican library and the Pope wants him to help with the Veritas and to read it.  However that's a problem cos he's blind.

The Cardinal telling them to follow him since they'll get lost in the vastness of it all.  Then they see a blue light and the Cardinal says there's no door there, just a wall.  The Doctor having to 'see' through his shades but can only see rudimentary read outs of what's ahead and also the read outs of the people.  With Nardole having to guide him and tell him what's happening since the Doctor doesn't want anyone to know and especially not Bill, since she'll worry about him and he doesn't want anyone to worry about him, only about themselves.  Nardole adding, if she finds out then it'll make his blindness real.  Funny he should refer to real as they're in a world of games which aren't real, as we'll find out.

The Cardinal vanishes into the wall removed by some shadowy creature.  As the others find a priest in the cage.  One of the lost translators who has a gun and has shot the lock off.  He says he 'sent it' and runs away with the gun.  Inside is a laptop and it has wifi, of course it does, the Doctor adds this is a library.  The chair also ash restraints and the Doctor tells them to check on the priest as a gunshot is heard.  Nardole saying he's dead anyway, as the Doctor's glasses read he's terminated.  He reassures them he won't read the book without them here.  The Doctor plugs a device onto his head which he hopes will help him see for a little while and the strange creature approaches him.  As the Doctor tries to readjust his sight and gather his bearings.  He asks the creature, thinking it's the Cardinal to strap him into the chair.  But the creature is revealed as being some sort of mummified zombie-ish alien and takes the book.  However the Doctor has his trusty Sonic and runs away with the laptop, which has a copy of the Veritas.  He opens it and the text reads ;"The Shadow Test."

Nardole and Bill find themselves in the Pentagon and leave when asked if they have clearance. They're in a place with light portals and Nardole sticks his head into another one, walking through it. This leads them to 'CERN' where the scientists who received the email are in the canteen, having their last booze up before they explode.  Nardole tells Bill to look under the table and finds explosives under all of them.  The scientist asks them to think of  a number and they both end up thinking of the same random numbers.  Finally running away before the explosion.  Nardole says the portals are projections and they're in some sort of a computer game and aren't real.  Like Grand Theft Auto.  He puts his hand behind the projector and vanishes.  Mentioning he's some sort of a hologram as in Star Trek.  (That reference gain.)

The Doctor is meant to kill Missy and at the last minute is approached by a hooded figure who tells him about hope and being a witness.  It's Nardole who has River's journal and has been instructed to kick his arse if need be.  Missy begs for her life as she's his friend and she will change.  She will give up all hope and not bear witness.  The Doctor electrocutes her.  However she's revealed not to be dead, merely sleeping.  The Doctor asks Rafando to look up how many fatalities he's had and the computer keeps searching.  They all run away and the Doctor tells them he didn't kill her as she's his friend.  In the present day, the Doctor tells Missy he needs her now.

Bill finds the Doctor in the oval office with the President dead after taking pills.  Now that was a deft allusion if ever there was one to the current one, okay tongue-in-cheek.  But gosh darn it, if it's all a game, then that President wasn't real!  He tells her this isn't real and explains how the numbers are generated on the computer with everyone coming up with the same numbers, only a computer can't do that.  She says this is real and she's real, she's really here and she can feel it.  The Doctor explaining by reference to SuperMario just giving up playing the game by deleting himself.  Bill disappears in the same way Nardole did.  The Doctor being approached by the alien.  The Doctor being told he's not real, but he says he is.  Recalling Missy's words of 'no hope and no witness...'  The Doctor tells the alien they're all shadows and practising their end game which is to take over the world (isn't it always.) But he has everything on his glasses including the book, which he sends via e-mail to his glasses and his future self so he can warn himself of what's happening.  He finds himself back at the vault and needing Missy.

The Doctor borrowing his eyesight from the future even if he doesn't know the consequences of doing so, like dying within the next 20 minutes, being blind still or anything, was to move us and as said especially since the episode was mentioning death quite a bit, including that of Missy.  As well as the Doctor urging Bill to call Penny now and she says he's out of her league.  However he replies she's not and to do it.  Knowing what will occur.  It was almost like the end of time.  The Doctor also not having to read the book as he could listen to the audio on the computer.  Does this mean it doesn't and won't have the same effect of the Doctor wanting, needing, well having to kill himself as he hasn't actually 'read' it.  Also as he tells Bill those people didn't kill themselves but needed to escape.

Then there was Bill's reference to Harry Potter when she sees the size of the library and the Doctor mentioning religion. As well as getting to see that he made his promise to guard the vault for a thousand years.  Though who exactly wanted Missy dead isn't revealed at this stage.

With Nardole also telling him River had him followed from Mendorax Dellora, where the 2015 Christmas Special was set, The Husbands of River Song.

Most importantly perhaps was how the Doctor explains he may have also messed up his future regenerations, leaving us thinking...since "something is coming, something big and very bad."  Said creatures known as 'Monks'.  What else really considering we've had the Pope and the Vatican.  Well speaking of shadows, had pangs of Silence In the Library here and with River's journal floating around, which the Doctor now kept with him.  So if he wasn't real that journal wouldn't have been real either.  Silly Monks!  Didn't realize that.  More to come as this is meant to be a three-part story, taking us up to episode 8.

Doctor Who 10.5 "Oxygen" Review

                                       
Another ep about being stranded in space and poignant opening words from the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) about "Space: the final frontier, final because it wants to kill us, sometimes we forget that, start taking it all for granted, the suits, the ships, the little bubbles of safety as they protect us from the void but the void is always waiting..."  Not at all like Star Trek, I say sarcastically, ha, but he lectures on the dos and don'ts of what you should do in space, as he draws a nice neat-ish skull on the blackboard!  As if anyone but him is ever going to find themselves in space.  But also cos he misses travelling.  Perhaps one distress call he shouldn't have answered but of course as he said it's the distress call that shows how you react to it that shows your humanity.  Well I paraphrased it quite a bit.  This time Nardole (Matt Lucas) tags along cos he hasn't been doing much of anything lately, but also to remind the Doctor that he has to look after the vault since no one else can do it and he promised.  Telling him he took out the fluid link from the TARDIS, however he's got the real one, so they can still travel. Reminding us too that the Doctor lies.  Just incase you'd forgotten.

Another episode of course where they have to do a lot of running around on the space station outpost after everyone has been killed due to lack of oxygen in their suits and become walking zombies. Known as Chasm Forge, a copper mining community and as is explained by ?? they have a helluva lot of mining to do before they make any profit.  Which should've sent warning bells sounding since they wouldn't be making much money and having 40 people there too.  Thus a new commodity, oxygen.  The life force of most every living creature on the planet and most definitely in space.  Out of 40 people only 4 survived and he must find them since Bill (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole wanted to leave.  Don't know why they feared being there, Bill and Nardole that is, not like they haven't been through anything worse than this.  Though as a consequence of saving Bill, the Doctor suffers again. This time going blind, which he says is temporary.  As her suit malfunctions quite a lot.  Funny it should be hers and no one else's.

Some more references to discrimination and racism since the blue person, Dahh-Ren (Peter Caulfield) calls Bill a racist.  Her replying she's the one who goes through it.  Nardole adding "some of my best friends are blue-ish" in that typical 'I'm not a racist fashion, but I am really' people do!  As well as Abby (Mimi Ndiwini) being rather uppity and not letting the Doctor do what he has to without questioning him. He was there to rescue them after all.  Finding that the station is based on capitalism and money. Having to pay for the oxygen they use up.  Then having their suits depleted of oxygen.  As they run about from section to section, the Doctor demands to know what happened and needs a map of the station.  Obviously they would be chased by the suits, again for money.  Nardole saying he recognizes the voice of the Bill's suit as Emma, who is now Velma.

As the zombie chase ensues with the zombies after them to kill them, the Doctor realizes it wasn't about a hack or malfunction, the suits deliberately deprived the wearer of oxygen and the depleted oxygen was put back so that it could be sold off again.  And as each section they escape to is by the zombies, they enter the air hatch but they need proper helmets to withstand the pressure outside, as they'll be exposed to the vaccuum of space. Obviously Bill's helmet can't be placed on her head (why was Bill a target?  Just cos she got pot luck with that suit, the luck of the draw.  But she also flashes back to her mother's photo from last ep.)  As she can't move her arms.  The Doctor and Nardole tell her not to breathe deep as she'll explode her lungs and as she begins to pass out, she comes too and is okay.  Nardole telling her that the Doctor gave her his helmet, as he would and has suffered blindness as a consequence.

He has to struggle on as he always does and finally gets an idea, he plugs all five of them into the station supply, thus he explains they will die but it is better to die like this.  As he tells Bill he has to leave her stranded with the zombies since her suit won't let her move and cos of the gravity she can't be carried.  He tells them there's no rescue ship and the ship was dispatched before their distress call, which Ivan (Kieran Bew) confirms.  Thus effectively it's their replacements that are being sent out now.  More commodities for payment.  Actually they were seen as organic and their suits telling them to "please remain calm whilst your central nervous system is disabled."

The Doctor tells the zombies they can't kill them otherwise the whole station will explode and it will cost them more to lose the station than it will to keep them alive.  So the zombies give them their own oxygen and Bill didn't die really.  He soldiered on with "no TARDIS, Sonic screwdriver, ten minutes of oxygen left and now I'm blind."  The Sonic being bent out of shape when the zombie got hold of it and it clung to him.  And the TARDIS being on the other side of the airlock, as it would be.  He drops Abby and Ivan off at head office since they're going to complain.

He tells Nardole he can't see and the TARDIS couldn't fix his eyesight.  But what of his guarding the vault now.  (Yes sneak peak of Missy at the end!!)  As Nardole is worried whatever's in there will pick up on his disability.  Probably seeing (sorry) he's not strong enough to control it.  Does this signal the start of his regeneration since his eyes are damaged.  Or is it more a reflection on his inability to regenerate with his eyes not being restored.

Written by Jamie Mathieson, who also wrote the excellent eps, Mummy On The Orient Express, Flatline and The Girl Who Died.  But my fave one was the mummy ep and this was similar in many ways as the Mummy on the train.  As for the Star Trek references, there's also another cool part where the Doctor and Nardole speak of how the doors should sound when they open and Nardole refers to the "shuck, shuck" just like Enterprise!  But the Doctor prefers the 'whoosing'.   Nardole also admitting he does have a criminal past as he was on the run with his girlfriend, Emma and he got his 'new face' too.

Impressive speeches by the Doctor about "the end point of capitalism" and how this is it.  "A bottom line where a human life has no value at all.  We're fighting an algorithm, a spreadsheet...we're fighting the suits"  Since that was a not so subtle reference, well metaphor,  to corporations rather than the spacesuits.  He said similar last ep about humanity and seems to be quite a theme this series.

Next ep reminds me Silence In the lIbaray what with River's journal, Missy too and the vast amount of books in the Vatican.  How will the Doctor fare without his sight?

Once Upon A Time 6.20 "The Song In Your Heart" Review

                                                    
OUAT's musical episode and I have to say it was much better than I expected it to be, though some did leave a little to be desired with their singing,  (yes Emma and Reggie was a little 'deep' at times) but did an amiable job!  Infact Regina (Lana Parilla) kinda reminded me of Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd for some reason, but then I heard Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) sing and I thought he was more a Johnny sound alike for some reason, or perhaps it was just me (as always!  ha).  As Colin told TVLine, "just as the show takes those sort of characters that everybody knows and makes them fresh and new, in a sense that's what happened [with the music.]"

This one went back to the curse but also to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) when she was an orphan and her humming the Once tune, Emma's Theme,  into the recorder.  Okay don't want to boast here but knew that music and that tune would have an impact on her years later and as a piece of foreshadowing earlier on it did work, since it was always in her heart, hence the title.  So expected that would happen and the way Henry (Jared S Gilmore) kept looking at the tape recorder, and they kept showing it too.  Strange that Emma should bring it out now.  Also how the book depicted that page where the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) visited Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) and gave her the gift of song so she wouldn't be alone.

The songs going back to the time of the curse and how Snow and Charming just began singing one day after Snow wishing upon the star and finally thinking they had a way to defeat Regina: with a song.  Though she didn't like the singing aspect of it, Reggie as the Evil Queen did get fully into the musical swing of things.  Snow and Charming wanting passage to her castle and looking for Hook to do it.  Clearly he was still focused on getting revenge on the Crocodile (funny they didn't know that the crocodile was the Dark One until he said it.)  Still it was a fitting song of Revenge Is Gonna be Mine, cos that's what he had in his heart.  Then as Hook also confronts Rumples (Robert Carlyle) back in Storybrooke with the dreamshade and yet Rumple's still managed to bounce back and steal the curse remedy that Regina had concocted along with Zelena's (Rebecca Mader) help.  Thinking she can turn back time, it's always about time as the clock tower will strike 6 and the curse will be let loose as the final battle between Emma and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) will ensue.

Though once again the Black Fairy gets one over on Emma as she freezes all her loved ones and she tells her she's been listening to them on her magic ball.  Emma's powers once again being lost as her hand freezes and trembles again.  It takes Henry to convince her that she can do this, but she decides the Black Fairy wants her heart so she will give it to her and then Henry won't be alone and she will have saved everyone as the Saviour.  But as the Saviour that's not up to her, she has to do everything she can to save the world, (or just Storybrooke) but it doesn't mean easily giving in to self sacrifice. Of course spoilt sport Rumples didn't sing!  As did none of the other cast aside from the main characters.

Zelena had a catchy song as the Wicked Witch, you see "Wicked Always Wins!"  Hey I said wicked too and then she sang it.  Giving a spell to Regina that would make the singing stop. Which Regina uses on the Charming's when they come to confront her.  Expecting to have their way and win with love, which didn't quite go according to plan.

By now everyone knows by now that Rumples didn't deal with his mother cos he wants to keep his family together.  Also the page appearing for Henry out of nowhere really and he finds that Emma isn't alone and she can have her victory over the Black Fairy but she already takes her heart as Henry plays the tune for her and shows her the page.  Emma bursting into song and realizing they never left her and she always had her parents in her heart.  Thereby bringing them out of their frozen state as the Black Fairy vanishes, but not for long.

So it's a wedding in Storybrooke and Hook finally wore a decent tux instead of that old, white ugly thing!  And yet more singing, this part reminded me of Grease and Charming in his leather pants earlier on! ha.  But after the happy new beginning, all hell breaks loose with the curse finally being released and Emma says no matter where they end up they will be together one day.

                                         
See did this not remind you of Grease?!
Not a bad episode after all as I said and Regina even getting to sing "bitch" in her Love Doesn't Stand A Chance song, will have to listen to those again.  So with the season (or series) finale we have to see if the curse will be the end and if the Black Fairy be sent back to oblivion.  But not if Rumples has anything to do with it.  Also Belle didn't get a song and wasn't even in this ep!

Doctor Who 10.4 "Knock Knock" Review

                                            
Ye olde haunted house ep but not in the sense of ghosts, which made a change.  Though we did get the spooky sounds and creaky floorboards just what you'd expect in an old house.  Another one of those Doctor Who eps where you get the mass of potential Vics, like the hotel ep The God Complex, with Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith) and a few other eps too.  Bill (Pearl Mackie) decides she an d her five friends all need to move in somewhere and can't find a suitable house, until they chance upon one owned by a old codger who's willing to give them all a lease, subject to signing of course.  Which means not only signing away your life, well literally it did, but also everything you own, cos you won't be needing it!  Ha.  Of course Bill was right when she queried why it was being rented dirt cheap, always the case with such properties in real life too.  No it's true, you have to know what you're getting into cos there's not much you can do after you've bought it.

Bill waits for the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) to arrive in his TARDIS so she can move her things, well he can move them and also get a chance to suss something's not quite right with the tower or the house.  The tower being off limits.  Then the trees are moving but there's no winds so he's staying, as she has to introduce him as her grandfather, the Doctor.  But surely they all know him from the uni anyway.  Paul (Ben Presley) has got a bit of a thang for her and asks hr out to the freshers party in     the park, as well as helping her with the boxes.  Pavel's (Bart Suavek) locked himself away with his music, but he's already missing, the first Vic.

Everyone heard noises and some tiny footstep like sounds from the floor above Harry's (Colin Ryan) room.  That sound to me was like someone's false teeth chattering, seriously not insects at all or lice as the Doctor referred to them.  Of course they were wood lice of the alien variety, what else would you find in wood and the walls.  The Doctor's staying for Chinese too as he tries to eat a prawn cracker without too much noise. As the old codger landlord (David Suchet) turns up again with his tuning fork.  There's plenty of things need fixing and the  Doctor is right, so he says he'll get onto that as a landlord cos he can't have them moving out. They haven't noticed Pavel missing since they say he spends ages in his room trying to get used to it.

The house tries to shut them in as the others go to bed, Bill tells Paul that she's into girls and he's not really disappointed cos yeah he wasn't rejected for a fellow bloke!  Though Shireen's (Mandeep Dhillon) into him.  He makes sounds and then he vanished too when they knock on his door and there are knocks back (ha that could've been a pun, sorry!)  Then knocks are heard from all around them and as the doors close they try to find the way into the tower, which had to be behind a bookcase naturally.  Here they find abed and a musical box which Shireen opens, as well as the man's daughter, Eliza (Mariah Gale).

The Doctor and Harry try to stop Felicity (Alice Hewkin) from leaving but she manages to get out through the window only to be swallowed by the tree outside.  The Doctor then discovers the lice, which he thinks could be wood nymphs or triads as he calls them cos it's better than lice.  As the kitchen's infested with them, the Doctor and Harry escape through the lift or rather the dumb butler kinda lift, surprised that worked and is met with the Landlord again.  The Doctor talks about his daughter and how she couldn't be saved but he's a Doctor so he can help.  As Harry runs and is swallowed up in the stairs by the lice, okay alien triads!  Bill and Shireen meet Eliza and she's all wood, anyone think Pinocchio here?  They end up in the tower and the Doctor tells them the story of how he found the insects in the garden and bought them in to show his daughter, which helped her. Asking why a father would bring in insects to her when she was ill.  And what would he be doing pottering around in the garden, maybe some gardening.

The Doctor realizes she's not his daughter but he's her son, since he's older than her but is still younger.  Only a boy would bring in insects from outside to show his mother.  They made her wooden and also the vibrations from the music brings them out, as the Landlord does so now using his tuning fork.  The Doctor tells her she's the parent and she needs to control this now and she makes the insects disappear.  He tells her she needs to see the world outside, after all what's the use of surviving if hes' stuck inside.  Eliza tells him she has to make this right and this is their time to end this.  She brings the others back as they run out of the house and it destroys itself.

The Doctor gets back with takeout as Nardole (Matt Lucas) tells him he doesn't need to go off world since terr are plenty of threats and enemies here.  He tells him to have a break cos he's hungry and he wants to look after the vault now.  Which plays Beethoven's Fur Elise on the piano.  Nardole commenting he put a piano in there.  He tells whatever's inside the vault the story with plenty of death and it begins to play again, this time, Pop Goes the Weasel.  Still can't help but say it just looks like it's all be done before.  As for the 'knock, knock' jokes well, there was one funny bit when the Doctor says what?  Doctor What??  Ha.  Okay maybe it was just me then!

Clearly the Doctor will always be around to solve whatever mystery or event needs to be unfolded even if he drops massive hints for grandfather to leave, he thinks he's too old to be a grandfather, but of course we know that in his 'real' life he is one.  Also how  he needs to be here cos he helps earth as we know.  He also tells Bill about the Time Lords, that's his species and they have big collars.  Bill: "sounds posh, do you wear robes and big hats?"  Although Bill wasn't too curious to know more about them and what happened to them, if anything.  She'd rather just have this time to spend with her flat mates and herself.  Bill does mention the puddle again and the robots, as well as the big fish.

David Suchet was menacing and not a hint of Poirot anywhere (though the little grey cells must've been working overtime!  ha.  Bill is knocked for having Little Mix on her phone and the house was the same one from the ep Blink.  Let's not forget Bill muttering "Indiana Jones" when she was at the bookcase.  Also we got the Doctor's allusion to regenerating here, so that was a bit too timely a mention, saying, "sleep is for tortoises, unless we've regenerated or had a big lunch."  Which would've been a little cryptic for Bill.  But we knew what it meant and means for the future!  Funnily enough or not, the Doctor brings Mexican food back and not Chinese, so who has a penchant for Mexico, though we know the last series had a trip to New Mexico with UNIT and the Zygon
invasion, though Mexico isn't the same thing I know.  Also Rose (Billie Pipe) had a friend named Shireen too.

As for the Landlord saying who wouldn't try to save their mother, a reference to Bill and her own mother.  Sure there's some foreshadowing going on here and scope for an episode with her mother. The Landlord could've been a great spin-off series here with David Suchet in the title role, continuing his dastardly removal of humans! In a little Psycho-esque mode!

Once Upon A Time 6.19 "The Black Fairy" Review

                                     
At least this ep had quite a bit going on.  With Rumples  (Robert Carlyle) using dragon breath to awaken the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) since she's the one who knows where the rest of the wand is and the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) getting agitated cos she knows her dark secret. Obviously we were going to find that out too since it wasn't conducive to have that drag out for weeks, especially nearing the end of the season.  So we get flashbacks to his mother, Fiona/Black Fairy, giving birth to Rumples and always singing a song to him, but not even naming him.  As the Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) arrive, Tiger Lily being his fairy godmother and his protector since Rumples is the Saviour and destined to be a great hero! Of course Fiona wasn't too happy with this since she didn't want to lose him and they shouldn't have told her, with hindsight, cos she really lost the plot when she found this out and not in a good.  She reads all the magic and spells and wants to find the child with the crescent tat who will kill her son.

Tiger Lily tries to stop her since she's here to protect him, but Fiona tricks her into taking her wand and using her powers on herself to become a fairy too.  Yeah it wa s more important to become a fairy than a mother.  Travelling the land looking for the tattooed child born that winter, but not finding them. Also explaining why she kept stealing all the babies!  The Blue Fairy and Tiger Lily interfering again when she wants powers and has a spell to help him, but Tiger Lily finds it's a spell to cast a dark curse.  As they try to stop her, Tiger Lily also gives her the shears to sever her powers and stop this.  As the Blue Fairy arrives to stop her from crushing Tiger Lily's heart.  But Fiona takes the shears and removes Rumples' powers instead.  Knowing that's what she wanted all along.

As the Blue Fairy awakes she tells them wand is at the heart of Storybrooke, which was cryptic so leading the others to look for it.  However, Snow tries to strangle her, was going to say why is Snow's hand on her throat.  Turns out Snow is the Black Fairy and Charming was Gideon (Giles Matthey). So she searches for the wand too but why bother when it's just easier to come out and take the spoils after they've already been found.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) the real ones arrive at the clock tower cos it's the heart of town but don't find anything.  'ere Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) was desperate in getting answers from the Blue Fairy as to where the wand was, barely giving her time to  recover let alone open her eyes.  See the Black Fairy got that trick from Reggie about pretending to be someone else!

Regina (Lana Parilla) has Zelena (Rebecca Mader) staying with her now as she tries to assemble a flat pack cot for Robin.  She regrets not having any power and Regina tells he it'll take time to get used to it.  She didn't have any powers for 28 years during the time of the curse.  However she has an idea how she can help during the final battle.  Regina buys her a car so she can leave here when things go wrong and take Henry (Jared S Gilmore) with her.  So he can look after her!  Does Henry still need looking after though, he's old enough isn't he.

They realize the centre of the heart means something different for fairies and that it's at Granny's (Beverley Elliott) who isn't too happy with Regina messing up the lunchtime orders!  Hook and Charming find it under the jukebox and Regina takes it.  However the Black Fairy turns up again and Regina challenges her.  However she can't do much and is about to be taken care of until Zelena arrives and runs her over, making the Black Fairy vanish for now.  Appears it was easier to learn to drive for Zelena when aiming at something.

Rumples finds the way he can see where Gideon's heart is by using Morpheas' sleeping powder.  As he tells Belle (Emilie de Ravin) he must do this and asks if she trusts him.  He takes Gideon and Emma with him.  He tells her he couldn't have her killing the Black Fairy when he wasn't around until he finds his heart.  Ending up in the house where he was born.  Emma telling him she knows what it's like to be an orphan and have no one.  But he tells her it's not the same.  This isn't Gideon's dream but Rumples'.  She wasn't a good mother at all, she didn't even name him.  Seems Rumples doesn't have much of a track record when it comes to women, especially since Milah left him in the lurch too with their son!  He finds Gideon but it's Rumples' basket and Emma says he needs to find out for himself and to do it for Gideon.  Rumples finds out her secret, that he was the Saviour and she took his powers and made him a coward.  Emma tells him he must fight her and not her fight. Obviously it won't turn out that way.  He's not going to kill his mother no matter what he thinks of her.  Oh and as for his father, will he wasn't much of a father, makes you wonder why Fiona married him.  Again the same with Milah too cos Rumples wasn't much of a father, even though he tried to do the right thing by Bae.  Rumples' father being the one to name him, Rumpelstiltskin.

Heading back he's given the wand and he meets with the Black fairy but she convinces him otherwise.  He's not happy she took his powers cos she wanted powers for herself, of course it's the same with him, he could never give up his powers either.  So like mother like son.  Though he does get Gideon's heart back, which he did for him for once but then promptly lies to both Belle and Gideon!  Including the others, as he gives them a shrivelled black heart saying it's her's.  Snow now saying the wedding can go ahead.  How could Rumples not see she was still lying and manipulating him!

Oh no just thought the OUAT musical ep, it's not going to be the wedding?!!  Cos you know, the alternate dream reality ep where Emma was wondering around as a princess singing!
Hook wants Henry as the best man cos they've been through quite a lot.  As the Black Fairy prepares for the showdown and now has Rumpels on her side too.  Seems the meddling fairies had a lot to answer for with their interfering and blabbing!  I mean remember Sleeping Beauty, they couldn't save her either.  Although Cinderella go to go to the ball.  Let's not forget we haven't had Tiger Lily's story yet about how she arrived at Neverland!  Oh and it says plenty about why Rumples' father ended up as Peter Pan.  Thus maybe her story has something to do with him, seeing as the Lost Boys were after her too.  So Rumples could take care of his father, but couldn't take his mother's life!  Yet still lied to his family straight to their faces, so much for wanting to give his son a fresh start.