Once Upon A Time 6.18 "Where Bluebirds Fly" Review

                                             
An episode that concentrates on Zelena (Rebecca Mader) just to drag the final battle out a little bit longer.  Once again showing she's made mistakes in her past but she'll make them again cos there's a kind of arrogance that comes with being wicked and possessing so much powerful magic.  Beginning with being better than Regina (Lana Parilla) and more powerful and that their mother should've kept her for this reason.  Obviously she was going to come down to earth with a thud.  Anyway as a little girl she's seen as an outcast by the rest of Oz and is considered a freak for her magic.  One day she's helped by Stanum (Alex Desert) who found a nest with an egg in it.  She puts it back finding it was the local bullies who did that.  She makes a friend.

However years later when he needs help cos he accidentally knocked down the Wicked Witch of the North's tree and she turned him in tin.  He needs the crimson heart which will help him become human again.  She doesn't want to help him and as he walks away she agrees, but only to show that she should be feared and her magic is stronger and she fears no one.  When they gets there they meet a lion along the way and frightens him thus becoming the cowardly lion.  Yeah just as I said where's the lion, out he pops!  Ha.  Stanum tells her she needs friends and not to be alone but she doesn't listen.  When they get to the heart, she finds it's worthless and it's draining her magic away so she lets Stanum become tin and suffer as a tin statue.  Taking the heart with her.

In Storybrooke the Black Fairy (Jaime Murray) wants Zelena to help her, but she refuses, again thinking she could destroy her withe her magic but she disappeared.  Obviously she's forgotten that the final battle will be with Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and only her.  Regina needs eye of newt, she still hasn't stocked up on that, though last time she told Henry (Jared S Gilmore) to get if from Emma's shed.  This time she goes to the Pawn shop where she finds Zelena has left Robin and has entered the Dwarf mine on her own.  Belle (Emilie de Ravin)  being left to look after Robin. Rumples (Robert Carlyle) still hasn't found away to get the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) her magic back as she's older than him and will know things about his mother.

Henry finds his author powers have made him powerless, he can't write anything, the words vanish. He's been working on what he drew in Regina's crypt.  Charming (Josh Dallas) tells him he should take a break and come back to it, he can't write anything even if he tries he couldn't change anything. Charming thinks he recognizes part of the symbols for a moment.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) is busy making wedding plans and interrupts Emma and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) in their romantic interlude in between making pancakes.  She wants her to have the perfect wedding which wouldn't exactly be at Granny's or the Town Hall cos that's so romantic a setting.  Charming wants Emma to have one in a palace at least cos she's a princess.  Oh enough with the class defined roles already! Ha. They decide, well Emma decides they will have a wedding after the battle cos even if the wedding is about hope, it's best left until then and even if it's not, it will only be shortlived anyway.

Regina finds Zelena and they notice the fairy crystals which are what the Black Fairy has been mining.  Being interrupted by her and Gideon (Giles Matthey) she tricks Zelena into using her powers and turning all of the crystals black and thereby becoming part of dark magic.  She knew Zelena's powers were unstable and that's why she tricked her.  Regina's angry and tells her to go back to Oz cos she has to fix her mess now and tell the Charming's what she's done.  Zelena magics a tornado but she doesn't return.  She tells then to take her power and make it better with the use of the heart.  As the crystals turns back into light they have an idea to wake the Blue Fairy.  Said that minutes ago!!  Belle tells Rumples that they've lost time with their son but she won't let the Black Fairy make them lose anymore time with him.  As Emma uses the crystal on Blue.

As said, a bit of a stretch in getting Zelena to relinquish her powers as it's the right thing to do and to reverse the Black Fairy's magic in feeding off the crystals.  Of course she would be listening in on their plan and Gideon just came across as so weak as usual.  Even if she does have his heart.  He's not so determined anymore as he once was when he first arrived here.  Zelena getting to learn that magic isn't everything and to act before thinking has consequences, as does arrogance.  Can't believe Gideon could keep Regina down like that and she couldn't use her magic on him.  Only know she thought to cover the Blue Fairy with a blanket!  As Zelena and Regina landed on those sacks instead of the ground when they were expelled out of the mine.  No snow and then suddenly the land's covered with snow!  It's magic.  Wish we could get some magic snow here!  Ha.

The title of course being a line from the song Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz.  Suppose the bluebird's nest was shown at Oz, the egg that was rescued.  Did like Zelena's line about the last one who crossed her is peeling bananas with their feet!

Doctor Who 10.2 "Smile" Review

                                             
Getting topical with the ep this week as we find emojis are the future of the world, or the world in our future.  Couldn't help but notice some aspects had been covered before like the bones ground into bread...fe fi fo fum!"  Or a take on Soylent Green.  Turns out there's always a spaceship involved and the destruction of the human race.  Clearly the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is getting bored of guarding the vault, whilst we still ponder the age old question of 'what's in the vault?'  A bit of a Pandorica mystery me thinks.  As he takes Bill (Pearl Mackie) on a journey to the future (so only fitting at the end they end up not back in their own time, but the past - yeah so how'd that happen?)

Lots of other questions pondered yet again as to why the Doctor does this and is able to do this, interfere in other planets and people etc!  Since he tells Bill he's not a galactic policeman or anything of the nature, as she thinks she's sussed out what the words on the Policebox mean: "assistance immediately given."  She also thinks the seats should be nearer the control panel in the TARDIS which he says is a negotiation with the TARDIS when it comes to flying.  Nah then it'll be too Star Trek-y, we don't need to get comfortable in seats, he's not exactly in there long enough to need them.

Nardole (Matt Lucas) offers to make him a cuppa, but not for her, he's not going to be a slave to humans, but slave to an alien is fine!  Ha.  So the Doctor sees it as his chance to escape the monotony and go exploring and being back in time for tea, as in English tradition.  Ending up on the planet where the workers who live there have been erased since they didn't smile and the emoji badge gave them two tears.  Cos mother died and they needed to grieve but instead had to try and smile.  Well that didn't work.  As the swarm of nanabots, which comes out of the sky and after them.  Knew the storm was actually what the city was made from even before it broke away and chased them.

Then we get the whole exposition about the badges and smiling and the expressions changing, not so much wearing your heart on your sleeve, but wearing your expressions/feelings on a badge on your back.  As the emoji changes with your mood.  Two tears and you're out, it seems, or more likely taken out.  Also having a conversation about the magic haddock and the food, as to why Bill gets one piece of blue jelly on her plate and he gets too.  No it wasn't a sexist food thingy for the future but the Doctor tells her he's got two hearts.  And why not, why one heart he asks?  Algae being the future food source or so she thinks.  Er, did she just eat a piece of human?  And the Doctor saying he's not into fish when she says it smells fishy, but he was into custard and fish fingers, Doctor Eleven (Matt Smith)!

As they set about exploring and the emojis change, finally being chased by the robot with their 'revenge' face, the Doctor takes her back to the TARDIS and returns to blow up the city, cos the colony ship can't be (probably need some Colony Gin now! after this ep! Re The Apprentice!) left to arrive here and suffer this fate.  Of course we get the obligatory bit first, about discovering the garden and how the robots were sent on ahead and had to cultivate and prepare for them.  The twist being the ship was already here and the humans were in cryogenic status.  Then he finds out what happens to the 'skeleton' crew who were meant to get sent here ahead to control the robots.  Which he finds in the cupboard.  So why not burn their remains?  Peter looked good with that skull in his hand, hey I'm sensing a future Hamlet??!!  Of course she's not going to stay behind in the TARDIS.

He shows her the wall and how the swarm is part of the walls, chancing upon the ship as it has nuts and bolts which is what he likes.  That city reminded me of a ship.  (Which is actually the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.)  The ship is reawakened as it senses the presence of humans and he leaves Bill there to read the map and guide him, naturally he doesn't need guidance, but he sees the humans bought everything with them, their little nick knacks.  Even the letterbox!  Bill figures out she can take a photo instead of standing around.  Then she meets the boy that the Doctor saw in the locket he found in the ground.  He wants his mother.  Bill also finding the room with the old woman and the history of what happened to the humans.  Doctor: "Grief! Grief as plague...the Vardies’ job was to maintain happiness, so they identified grief as the enemy of happiness and everyone who was experiencing grief as a problem… A grief tsunami."  They all carked it!
The Doctor realizing that he can't blow the ship up cos the humans are already in there and they all come back to life now.  Taking matters into their own hands with guns, what else, after he "lectures" them about what happened to their families.  The swarm surfaces since they shoot a robot and attacks them, where the Doctor gets the idea of resetting the robots.  Then negotiating on behalf of the humans with the Vardies and the humans.  Asking how much rent they want, cue pound signs!  Yeah that was so human greed induced!!

Oh and the magic haddock: apparently it was akin to Aladdin and the genie in the lamp. With the fisherman getting three wishes and wanting his son back from the war and a hundred pieces of gold. He got his son back, dead and the gold thanking him for his service.  The magic haddock not being able to reverse wishes.  Again the age old story of be careful what you wish for, even if you can't reverse them.  Obviously.  But the Doctor shows at the end how he could reverse them but turning the button on and off on the robot and making them forget their memories of everyone they killed.  That they have feelings, well he killed one then when he three it over the bridge!  So much for Bill asking if he's ever killed anyone, to which we didn't get a reply for obvious reasons!  The magic haddock reminded me of the WW Jacobs story/movie of The Monkey's Paw.  You can't undo a wish, it just gets worse.

Sharp viewers would've caught the David Bowie tribute from Ashes To Ashes as the Doctor tells the Emojibot; "I'm happy, hope you're happy too."  As well as references to Aberdeen and if there's a Scotland in space, well clearly there's everything in space! As well as letting us in on guarding the vault cos " a long time ago a thing happened.  As a result of the thing I made a promise.  As a result of the promise I have to stay on Earth guarding the vault."  But 'I have my moments of escape,' probably one reason why he took on Bill as a student.  The Doctor also warning her to stay away from his browser history, what's he been browsing some more Beethoven tracks?  ha.  (Clara's in the vault!  Well I can speculate!)

This one was just a typical story in a return to the 'older' style eps in some ways even though was typically topical with computers/Internet speak.

Once Upon A Time 6.17 "Awake" Review

                                               
Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) hate having to keep waking up and falling asleep for each other to be awake, as Regina (Lana Parilla) shows Emma (Jennifer Morrison) the book and what was said about Henry (Jared S Gilmore) last ep.  She thinks they should head to the library to check it out whilst she realizes she'll be the one facing the final battle alone; her tremors begin again.  Snow and Charming both want to be here for her final battle and help her but they know they need to defeat the curse to do this.

The Curse Before it was Broken  shows Mary Margaret heading for the hospital with a sunflower, obviously for David and she says hello to people along the way like Granny (Beverley Elliott) and Archie (Raphael Sbarge) who are all grouchy.  Before bumping into Regina.  Wrecking her flower. Snow then spots a pink flower growing by the side of the road and picks that for David instead, leaving it by his bedside and walking away, the pollen from the flower touches his hand and he wakes up.  Breaking the curse.  He recalls who he is and who Snow is and she finally remembers with the use of the flower too.  As they leave the hospital, Regina shows up asking where he is.  Snow agrees to meet with him at an abandoned cottage as she's got to put Regina off the scent, telling her she saw him head towards the woods.

Regina calls a search and thinks something's amiss with Snow and tests her by preparing to detonate the explosives in the mine.  Snow gets ready to stop her with a par of scissors as she thinks Snow is  a hero and would save everyone.  But the others show up and Archie comes out of the mine.  In the chaos Snow runs away and meets David.  They decide they must find Emma and the only one who can do this is Rumples (Robert Carlyle) (a la wig!  ha.)  David heads there and he claims he doesn't recall anything but hearing the name Emma he seems to be lifted from his bout of forgetfulness.  He says they can't get to Emma since she isn't 28 yet and won't become the Saviour if they interfere in her life.  He gives them a potion to make them forget until the time's right and they see Emma through a portal.

Snow agrees with Rumples, that they can't interfere cos it's not just about them and their family.  The others in the town also have families and hey can't be selfish, so they close the portal. Back in present Storybrooke  Regina tries to find a spell to break the sleeping curse and comes up with one by putting both their hearts into the potion with Zelena's (Rebecca Mader) help, however it only makes Snow weaker and she will be asleep by the end of the day.  David awakes and says that Snow found a cure to he curse but didn't realize it showing Regina the photo of the flower on her phone.  It's a pixie flower and blooms when there is severe evil in town, i.e. the Black Fairy (Jamie Murray).  Thus they search for one.

The Black Fairy surprises Rumples telling him he'll come back to the family when he's ready and she won't force him.  Gideon (Giles Matthey) saying that she's his mother and he won't come and join Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and Rumles.  Also telling Emma that she'll face the final battle with her, it's her destiny, but that won't be yet.  When she and Snow find the flowers in the woods, an abundance of them.  The Black Fairy gets Gideon to destroy them and they're too late.  Well if they hadn't stood around gabbing so much!  Just when all else seems lost they find a solitary flower and Regina makes a potion from it.  It should be enough to help them both beat the curse.

Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) is rescued by Tiger Lily (Sara Tomko) on Neverland and she takes him hostage.  He pleads he needs to get back to the woman he loves and she finds it funny, that a pirate should be in love.  He tells her he needs to help her and she says he has  a ship and needs to get the wand to the Saviour to help in her battle.  The wand forms part of a larger one.  When she realizes Emma and the Saviour are one and the same, she releases him.  The Lost Boys are even more violent now after losing Pan.  But she says there should be some of Pan's magic he can use to get back.  He manages to use the magic to make a shadow of himself, as he's about to fly off he's caught again, as is Tiger Lily.  She was the fairy who was meant to help with the Black Fairy but failed.  Hook tells her if he got a second chance then so can she.  As he gives the wand to his shadow and tells it to fly.  The shadow reaches Storybrooke as Snow is about to take the potion, but she stops.  The shadow has Hook's hook and gives her the wand, as well as touching her face.

Snow says she must get Hook back since she deserves her happiness cos he should be by her side even if they can't.  Giving her the potion to locate Hook and through the portal she rescues him and Tiger Lily escapes.  He's not here for long he tells her but he proposes to her again saying he should have stuck around instead of running off.  She accepts and Snow falls asleep.

Regina thinks the rest of the town should share in their curse and perhaps they will make them come out of it, as Snow and Charming were selfless in not thinking of their family.  She takes a sip, as does Hook, Emma and Henry, before everyone else does the same.  Where was Belle.  Snow and Charming wake up, as do the towns people.  The Black Fairy says the same to Rumples about joining her when he's ready.  But he tells her he knows Gideon isn't loyal to her, she might have his heart and he will get it back, but he left a flower for Emma and she doesn't have his loyalty and he gets that from his mother.  Which infuriates her.  

So how long is this showdown going to take to get here cos we just seem to be getting endless flashbacks and some of them are even flashbacks of flashbacks!  Ha.  Wouldn't really have expected Charming to be so forgiving of what Hook did to his father even f it was a long time ago and he has changed.  Especially considering he was so determined to find out what happened to his father after getting the coin and being told he was murdered.  Well it was Hook, so that's okay then.  Anyone else he wouldn't have been so forgiving of since he was always so gung ho in doing the right thing, as well as in exacting revenge.  As he very readily picked up the sword in Rumple's shop to make him remember who he is during the days of the curse.

It was this easy to break the sleeping curse and yet Regina just seemed to struggle with it as much and the use of the pixie flower appearing was timely.  How come Snow didn't recall it before now if it can reunite true love.  How come Rumples always manages to 'lose' his dagger and someone always ends up with it so easily.

Doctor Who 10.1 "The Pilot" Review

                                            
A new series, a new companion.  As far as companions go most of them grow on you even if you don't like them at first.  As for Bill (Pearl Mackie) well not your usual companion material and yes we've seen it all before. Gullible, in trouble, had fun, wanna stay! So nothing different there, a side from her being gay, the rest is just old.  Which sin't really meant to be relevant at all.  This one won't really grow on me, sorry if it sounds harsh but as I said, she's not someone new or original and we haven't seen before.  Okay I'm very discerning when it comes to companions!  Same with the plot/story!  Stumbling onto the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) by attending, gate crashing his classes, which obviously have to be about time and space and TARDIS!  He's up to something again on Earth with that vault and probably using his teaching gig as a cover and perhaps even to keep an eye on Earth as usual and silly humans.  As well as wanting to get away from it all, so seems easier blending in doing something he loves: talking!  Ha.  Everyone saying that this episode was 'fresh' and it didn't seem that way to me, maybe I was in the minority, but it just didn't!  Still have to see what this new reboot will be like though with new cast etc coming next time.

Obviously all the clues were there and was he really grooming Bill as a companion?  Waiting for that moment Nardole (Matt Lucas) said waiting for her to realize it 's bigger on the inside than the outside, wish someone could say that about peoples' brains!  Ha.  SO maybe eating chips contributes to a higher power and purpose of not wanting to remain boring and stagnant in the same life.  Or perhaps seeing the TARDIS interior as a posh kitchen with metal!  Really?  Anyway this week's big bad wolf was the puddle, a puddle remaining from a spaceship, the scorch marks and requiring a pilot and passengers, so she looked at the puddle and the reflection, so why didn't so-called puddle take Bill and not Heather (Stephanie Hyam) would've been more interesting.
As for chips, a foodie reference from the Doctor on the planet that is on the other side of the universe but love's ties and bonds surpass even the time and space of endless galaxies in finding each other. Okay a silly reference from me about time and space but someone's gotta be silly!
Doctor: "Hardly anything's evil.  Most things are hungry.  Hungry can look a lot like evil from the wrong end of the cutlery.  Do you think your bacon sandwich loves you back?"  Not bloomin' likely, but not everyone's into bacon butties.  Sticking with the chips as a subtle harkback to Sherlock's newly acquired taste for chips a few series back!
Maybe we're too busy watching the 'penguin's arse"  ha.
Doctor: "ergonomics."
But the toilet next to the macaroon vending machine!!

This series for me I think will be a little tedious cos a great companion always makes it better, but alas, no!  The Daleks were a bit of a great addition, but poor Dalek, as said, was exterminated by Heather, the thing taken her over.  She was like a water wraith or something and again not like something we haven't seen before.  Maybe not in this show but obviously in others.  Of course she would follow her around after making that promise and yet she broke it though when she vanished into the puddle, so a bit lame in saying she made her promise to stay there, even if it was the last thing she mentioned in her conscious/subconscious.  Nardole: "That's the Doctor for you, never notices tears."  Oh but he did and of course he used to, but noticing the tears will just make him seem weak and where did tears get him anyway?  Losing River, Clara who isn't even a distant memory for him.  At least with River he remembers!

As for the mind erase, again seen before with Donna, and yes even with the Doctor when he forgets Clara.  Ahh Clara,  was a moment there which made you think if he stopped from doing the same to Bill cos she asked if he'd like it done to him, but then he wouldn't really recall that.  Cos it was done to him, but...as there was meant to be a photo of Clara on his desk but we got River and no Clara.  As well as his granddaughter, Susan Foreman (Carol Anne Ford) someone he 'promised' to visit, so maybe he needs to fulfil that promise for himself too.
The people fighting the Daleks were the Movellans from the story, Destiny of the Daleks (1979).
As for Bill being a 'person of colour' as the press described her, well, she's not the first companion to be as such, remember Martha was already this and it's not a big deal either.  People just like to make out that it is.

But really Heather appeared to be just cobbled together and 'the star in her eye' was perhaps just a talking point for Bill to notice her and immediately develop a crush on her, since the puddle didn't really seem to have any other agenda for being there, stranded, looking for a pilot or whatever.   Perhaps also a bit of a sci-fi reference with the star cos Bill was into that too.  Anyway am looking forward only to the Master(s) both of them and what more we have in store with the Doctor's storyline.
Some of the Doctor Who allusions in this ep:
The Doctor also has an abundance of sonic's now in that jar.  Plus behind that is the raven, a not too subtle reference to Clara and the raven from 9.10 Face the Raven.  There's also the busts of Shakespeare and Beethoven again from series 9 Before the Flood and the Bootstrap Paradox, using Beethoven to illustrate his point.  To the Doctor playing his Fifth in this ep.  Let's not forget Clara's little musical reference as Bill talks to him about wiping memories.  The blackboard is from Class. Then there's Nardole's explanation of the small box within a larger box and then having to make it, reference which was used by the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in Robot's of Death.

Ghost Adventures 14.3 "Samaritan Cult House" Commentary

Looking back at the GA Route 666 post I wrote last year, (see link below) there were many things there that manifested at the Samaritan Cult House investigation and lockdown.  Such as the three figures Zak saw in the basement through his mind's eye.  At the Concordia cemetery, Billy saw three robed figures in the graveyard, with a sense of ominous purpose. 

Jay said here how this was on the pentagram they came up with back on Route 666 also.  Not to mention Billy sitting by the 666 to conduct the paranormal puck session at the Samaritan Cult House.

Remember the investigation at the De Soto Hotel and the fan being thrown in the basement falling, being pushed, the poltergeist activity.  The same as at the house here with the wooden board.

Let's not forget Jay losing his temper in the Route 666 investigation too and how we've never seen that before. Jay seems to be a 'target' or being targeted since then on.  As well as after he performed the non-Satanic ritual at Goatman Bridge.  Jay also bought up the pentagram passing through Oklahoma reference.  When Darren was using the Ouija board and the letter 'J' came up I immediately thought it would spell out Jay, but that wasn't to happen until later.  Also I tweeted Jay when the ep was being aired in the US and asked his most memorable moment.  Of course that wasn't being insensitive of me, not having seen the ep until the next day!  I just felt I had to tweet that and ask for some reason.  As I later tweeted and told Jay.  It really becomes very personal when family is named and almost used by negative forces as a means of instilling fear and control.  The more it attempts to reel in others unconnected to the paranormal.

The dowsing cards in the basement, as if the figures Zak saw were leading him there, the cards referring to Jay with his initials, once again unknown entities having it all neatly packaged up for themselves, all of this seemed a foreboding in many ways, even before the lockdown began.

As for the barcode suppose many will steer away from those self checkouts at the supermarket when it says, 'suspicious item in bagging area.'  Just a little joke to break the monotony. But then many could say the same about the vampires on the phone reference too, preached by cult leader, Linda Greene, you know I didn't even want to say her name, forget about the 'Zozo' demon being mentioned!  (As I also wonder why I write this during 'devil's hour'?!)  I mean come on do vampires even need phones for communication or other purposes?  Flying is much easier.  Zak not mentioning this vampire aspect on the show.
As Zak asked, "how could a woman think she could dispel negativity when she was the epitome of it?..."  That being the crux of the question, the same way she could control the masses in the Cult itself being one possible answer.  And why people signed up to join to begin with.  It wasn't about logic or reality.

As well as Zak thinking he could get Darren to use the occult and her evil to conjure up evil in her own dimension.  Which however, sadly backfired on Jay.  Seems Greene was still reaching out and doling out her control from the other side, not wanting to let go of her evil ways even after death.

This GA ep was also trending in the UK on the Sunday morning, again at devil's hour and the ep wasn't even aired here.

Anyway just a few allusions to be mentioned in relation to the Route 666 ep.

Linda Greene was married five times and her fifth husband was Allen Ross, she killed him and her friend, Julia Williams helped bury his body.  She was charged with accessory after the fact.  Linda's fourth husband Denis Greene reported what she had done to the police, she maintained he killed Allen.  Apparently two psychics were involved,both said he was alive in Dallas somewhere and the other one said he'd been hit on his head with something and suffered some form of trauma.  He had been shot twice in the head.  The police found his DB where Denis said it would be.  Greene believed she was 'Christ' and that she gave her soul to save others!  She died in 2002 at the age of 50, from liver failure which people put down to her excessive drinking.  Not to mention how many people will now steer clear of soy milk, phones, barcodes, videos, even!  Seriously how can anyone be duped by such nonsense?!

As for the building being a jail, the Black Jail built in 1892, housed some famous inmates such as the Dalton Gang and Bill Doolan.  There indeed was a prisoner named James Phillips who died of heart failure after he was due to be hanged in 1907.  The jail also had no insulation thus explaining the prevalence of black mould, in the Summer, the prisoners suffered from dehydration and in Winter from flu and respiratory diseases.

Link for the Route 666 ep.

http://mila255.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/ghost-adventures-route-666-halloween.html

Once Upon A Time 6.16 "Mother's Little Helper" Review

                                               
Emma (Jennifer Morrison)gets fooled by Gideon (Giles Matthey) so what's new, as he says she must help him, but she doesn't demand Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) to be returned first before she helps him out in the other realm against the Black Fairy (Jamie Murray).  Noooo that'd be too easy.  Instead she goes along with him even though he tried to kill her and then she also tells Rumples (Robert Carlyle) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) about what he's done, but they don't do much of anything, except for Belle pleading with Emma not to kill him cos he's a good boy, he's just been led dark by his grandmother, whom he has to call mother!  Ugh.  Then we have more flashbacks of how he became a coward when he didn't help his friend, Roderick after he was dragged off by her into the 'mines for you laddie!'  ha.  That's why she needs child labour, to mine the magic dust for her.  I mean you've heard of pixie dust but this was a little over the top.

Of course Gideon is a coward, he still is in many ways since he was forced to grow up without his mother, but also in a land where time works differently, probably why the Black Fairy hasn't aged! She finds her key is missing and tasks Gideon with finding out who stole it.  Of course this leads him to find Roderick again whom he thought was dead.  Apologizing to him for not helping, well it's too little too late and he asks Gideon to help them in their fight against the Black Fairy.  Gideon wanting to destroy her (in another use of Regina's fave word by another character!)  He tells Gideon about her orb which will help them.  He finds the orb, but she finds them and she turns Roderick into a bug and squashes him like the bug that he was in her eyes!  Spoiling her boot in the process.  Then she takes Gideon's heart, a la Regina and this is why he's so dark.

Back in Storybrooke, Gideon takes Emma to the sorcerer's house and she falls for it without caution or a second thought just cos he gives her the sword back as a gesture of trust and here he lets her do the spell but she conjures the giant spider through the portal, which begins weaving its web and if that wasn't enough starts firing web pellets at them too.  She is pushed into the web by him (well we've all seen Lord of the Rings etc by now) and is helpless.  She does manage to break her hands free, but not for long as she's caught out by the web of deceit.  Which is what all these was to begin with anyway. No the spider wasn't Charlotte either, or she could've defeated it easily!  Ha.  As she loses consciousness, Gideon uses the sword to create a portal, but Rumples turns up with his powers and his dagger and saves Emma from the spider, as well as shrinking it to size, whereupon Emma squishes it.  Just when Gideon thinks nothing else could go wrong, in walks the Black Fairy who was able to squeeze through the portal and get here!  Well bully for Rumples!

Elsewhere Hook turns up at the tavern in a bid to get home and offers jewels from Agrabah to Blackbeard (Charles Mesure) who isn't buying the tiny gems!  They play cards and he gambles the Jolly Roger if he wins and Blackbeard will give him a magic bean.  Of course Blackbeard cheats after Hook's exposition about having to get back to the woman that he loves, the same woman, however he can't.  Blackbeard cheats and sees hook tricked him since the ship is back at Storybrooke.  So they jump through the portal together and end up in Neverland.  See Hook can't go back and will always end up somewhere else in a cheesy version of The Time Tunnel!  Ha.  They're chased by the Lost Boys who have gotten even rougher without Pan around and Blackbeard steals the boat after knocking Hook out, see as useless as Emma at times.

Regina (Lana Parilla) tries to break the sleeping curse but it's tougher than it looks, whereas all the other ones were easy to remove.  She asks Henry (Jared S Gilmore) to get some ingredients from Emma's shed, like tongue of newt and not eye and as Henry writes them down he ends up in a trance writing down symbols instead.  She takes him to the author, Issac (Patrick Fischler) who will only spill once he gets a sports car and a free trip to New York, one way.  He doesn't get a sports car, but a car and he tells her Henry will become like this so she should leave here too.  He tells her the answer's in the book and Henry sees it's the final chapter but he doesn't tell him the ending.  Just that Emma will fight the biggest battle and the outcome won't be good for anyone.

Just can't get into these episodes which just seem tagged on stories adding things onto what we already know, I mean Gideon told us about Roderick and not saving him, so this ep we had to see it visually.  Emma as the Saviour always too trusting and she doesn't tell anyone where she's going or what she's doing, when we know she'll always end up needing help.  Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) was being very un-Snow-like agreeing that it's okay for Emma to kill Gideon if he comes after her a third time.  Well this time she'll be facing the Black Fairy.  Clearly Rumples is not prepared for unexpected arrival and dearie you're 'dearie' needs more practice!!  Haven't quite mastered it like Rumples.  Also with Hook ending back up with the Lost Boys, do they still really need guidance and don't they want to get back to their homes.

Supernatural 12.16 "Ladies Drink Free" Comments

                                                
Supernatural's werewolf ep, a story that's been done before but this one was meant to have a twist, with the girl in the hospital, Hayden (Abby Ross) being killed by Mick (Adam Fergus) cos Men of Letters: ridding every monster off the face of the earth one at a time.  But also keeping that from the Winchesters in not telling Deano (Jensen Ackles) that the girl, Magda (Paoloma Kwiatkowski) they saved in 12.4 American Nightmare, was actually killed by Mr Ketch -Up (David Haydn-Jones) (yeh Dean needing a ketch up here on what's gone on in the past with them not to be trusted) hope we get a conclusion to the Men of Letters: Brit Chapter pretty soon, but they're so widespread that they'll always be around.  I mean kill one and another will take their place, as we know.

However as said this plot was done before, let's find a cure for Claire (Kathryn Love Newton) cos she's one of Jody's children now and she won't be too happy about losing her, especially since she's been lying to her about hunting, instead of hunting for unis, just as Sam (Jared Padalecki) was at uni and came into the hunting 'game' cos of Dean and his search for Dad.  Also Jo (Alona Tal) did the same going behind Mommy Ellen's (Samantha Ferris) back and hunting when she was abducted by HH Holmes in season 2.6 No Exit.  (Yeah the Supernatural eps and title just roll off the tongue for me, it's my useless memory stores everything ha!)  My sister said I should go on Mastermind and choose Supernatural as my selected topic!  Ha.  Then embarrass myself when the mind loses the plot and can't answer a damn thing!!

No mention of Sam and Madison (Emmanuelle Vaugier) from season 2 Heart either and how she had to be shot by a silver bullet to be free of her transformation, no hope of her being saved even if she was one of Sam's loves. Not even considered and Dean being the one who wanted to do it for Sam but Sam insisted he should end it for her.  In that respects they were in a sense on the same path/wavelength as the Men of Letters, killing the only option available.  Claire went through the same motions as Madison in wanting to be killed and begs for Mick to do this, bit of course Dean already warned him off doing this.  Dad had a cure for werewolf-ism in his journal where he believed that if the werewolf who turned the Vic could be killed, then this would save them.  However this was a failure and didn't work.

Here it was find the one who turned her and there may be a cure.  Going back to 6.5 Live Free or Twihard ep where Dean was bitten by a vampire and was in danger of becoming one himself, especially if he drank human blood and turned someone.  However Dean actually ingested blood and wasn't actually bitten.  Again same storyline here (yes we remember, at least most of us do!) Secondly there was a cure for this vampirism, find the one who turned him too, so nothing different to this werewolf storyline.  That's how they chanced upon the Alpha (Rick Worthy) vampire too.

(Going off by one's lonesome only leads to being saved by Sam and Dean, as mentioned see Jo et al.) Here Claire did the same when she walked away from Sam, come on Jody would've found out sooner or later she was hunting and not for unis, they always do.  Seems new writers should've come up with something at least a little different to what's gone before and with a bit of different exposition.  Perhaps the title should've read Ladies Write Better eps!  ha.  Sorry I know the experiences of Garth as werewolf were already shown but Claire shouldn't have gotten off so easily and then what does she do, carry on hunting, which was to be expected.  In many ways trying to make her the epitome mirror image of Sam.  He wanted to be stop hunting, then continued and now it's his life's blood (no pun!)  There is more to life than hunting yes and she'd have plenty of time for this later.

As you have guessed not too enamoured with Claire!  Was waiting for a Cas (Misha Collins) appearance, but also no!  Since Claire was Jimmy's daughter and he would've had a vested interest in seeing her safe.  But he's got devil spawn to hunt!

Once Upon A Time 6.15 "A Wondrous Place" Review

                                       
Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) tries to get back to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) as the Nautilus is pulled through some sort of a vortex portal but stops short of going anywhere since they're out of Kraken blood to fire the engines!  Should've called Captain Jack Sparrow, he's had ample practise wrestling the Kraken!! ha.  Just as all hope is lost Hook decides he's going to harpoon one.  However he doesn't count on Jasmine (Karen David) and Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) getting in the way.  As Jasmine wishes for Agrabah to be revealed to her since she needs to help her people.  They spent all this time searching and couldn't find it until now.  A ring drops out of her coat pocket as she turns away from kissing Aladdin.  As well as a boat turning up so they set sail.  Pretty soon they chance upon a Kraken and Hook too who had to save them.  See another hero for Jasmine to add to her collection.

Interspersed with flashbacks to when Jasmine saved Ariel (JoAnna Garcia) from a stroppy stall keeper and helped her search for Prince Eric (Gil McKinney).  However it's actually Jafar (Oded Fehr) in disguise.  Who once again wants Jasmine to marry him or he'll destroy her city.  Er, which he already tried in the previous flashback when he turned one of her suitors into a wooden stick using red magic powder.  Must've been red chili then!  Ha.  Later she agrees to tell Jafar she will marry him, but he said she was a fool as he just wanted to destroy the city and he didn't even want her!  He shrinks it into the ring she has with her now.  Jafar being given Regina's use of her fave word, 'destroy' here!

The Nautilus takes on water and Nemo (Faran Tahir) is ready to sink with it, but Hook, who's designing a harpoon decides they can't but must fight to keep the vessel afloat.  Jasmine wishes for them to get to a nearby island instead.  Nemo must return to his vessel as Captain and help his crew. Once again Liam (Nick Eversman) and Hook don't get to spend any time together, well why doesn't he visit more! And they happen upon Ariel's hut again, after she found Eric and came here.  They recognize her trap.  Jasmine is told she needs to fight for herself but she's not alone now and Aladdin also asked Hook for romantic advice, if Jasmine said anything about him.  Look Hook's got his own problems in that department without having to advise!  Anyway Jasmine thinks Jafar will help them now but he's no longer a genie and when she wishes for him, he breaks free of his cuffs!  Knocking the others out, Jasmine uses the red powder on him and turns him into a wooden stick now.  Which Hook leaves in the market place.  She thinks she can get Agrabah back with true love's kiss, well more with love and as she kisses Aladdin, the city appears.  Ariel asking for the ring!
Ariel tells Hook someone might be able to get him back home.  So why couldn't she swim back with him?  She gives him a piece of her oyster shell which is a horn, similar to what Hook has on his ship.

In Storybrooke Regina (Lana Parilla) wants a girl's night out and Emma needs to vent,  So Emma's told Charming (Josh Dallas) about Hook and his father, Reggie says he should go back to sleep and let Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) come with them.  After only just waking up.  Regina's working on the sleeping curse but for now she wants to party at the new pub, Aesop's Table!!  Really what a name for a pub.  Obviously they had no qualms about checking out that dump of a dive!  Regina calls Emma there in the guise of an emergency and they drink.  Emma later spills all to the bartender, as you do and leaves her tears on a tissue at the bar!  Agh magic tears, can't believe she'd do something so stupid and man who leaves their dirty rags in public places!  Yuk!

Emma's packed Hook's belongings away including his rum!  But Henry (Jared S Gilmore) hasn't take them back to the shed!  So she does it herself when she hears the oyster, she can't reply to him but she hears what Hook says and that he loves her and he's trying to get back to her but didn't want to leave. Warning her about Gideon (Giles Matthey) but is too late, cos the bartender turns up who's really Gideon.  He wants her to do what he can't, kill the Black Fairy.

I'm a little peeved with Once delving so much into the past just to come up with a new or continuing plotline which isn't very interesting at all.  Here they bring back Jafar and wow, turn him into a stick. But he was taken care of in Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.  Hmm was the ep title an allusion to that show?  On top of that Jasmine didn't even ,wasn't even, hero material at all.  Talk about indecisive and not being able to say no to Jafar.  Or be able to stand up to him and this was a potential leader.  Not to mention her fears were just another manifestation of Emma and her own doubts about being the Saviour and being able to help people, especially her family.

Yeh Regina you made Emma go to that pub!  But Emma didn't think it ironic Aesop would whip up a a sob story about an artist not being able to be with the woman he loved.  Exactly like her.  I mean the fables had morals and she's just drinking when they could've had a perfectly decent booze night at Regina's!

Once Upon A Time 6.14 "Page 23" Review

                                              
Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) still wrestles with his conscience about telling Emma (Jennifer Morrison) the truth and Nemo (Faran Thair) finds him at the docks.  He tells Hook he needs to either tell her or suffer the guilt which can't be as hard, but still would be than actually not telling her.  He might get forgiveness which is easier to live with.  As he sees the past events in his dreamcatcher. Emma catches him trying to burn it and burn his memories along with it.  She finds out what he did and he admits he was ashamed and he already hurt his family and he didn't want to do the same to hers.  Not being able to sit across the table from them and conceal what he'd done.  Emma would've preferred to know cos as she said before she doesn't want any secrets between them.  Easier said than done.  She returns him the ring until he decides what he wants to do.  Emma having already told Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and the others about the ring too and being engaged.

The Evil Queen tells Robin (Sean Maguire) about herself and Regina (Lana Parilla) and he finds she too has a double like him.  Well, yes but far worse.  He wants to get out of here and head to New York and he thinks she should do the same.   However she kidnaps him and uses him in her plan to get revenge on Regina once and for all.  Also taking Henry's (Jared S Gilmore) quill pen so he can't write her into a happy ending or worse still, an ending befitting a villain.  He doesn't know what he wanted to write but he wants the pen back.  But she gives him a message for Regina instead.  Regina wants to tell them about the Queen and she's decided on what she's go to do but  Zelena (Rebecca Mader) notices the ring on Emma's finger detracting from Regina, who is truly happy for Emma. Yeah hugs and kisses all round.  The message is a page from the book depicting Regina and Robin's happy ending.

Evils keeps Robin tied up until Regina shows up for their showdown.  Then sends him away with a spell.  During this there are flashbacks to that same village again when Regina was hunting Snow, who was always not within her reach.  Her father tried to stop her but she wasn't listening to anyone and was hell bent on destroying Snow and anyone who got in her way and nothing could help.  Not even Tinkerbell (Rose McIver). Yes Regina's fave word, "destroy" uttered five times in this ep alone!! He tells Regina he can help her and he says he's got her mother's spell book.  Instead of a portal leading to darkness it's one of light and she senses Tinkerbell was at work here.  He shows her Cupid's arrow and it can help the person she loves.  Well that was only Daniel then and it won't exactly lead her to him.  Regina had a thang for these outdoorsy types didn't she.  First a stable hand and then a thief, not that there's anything wrong with a stable hand.  Her heart wanted what her heart wanted.

Instead she uses the spell book for a spell of her own since the lines between love and hate are so close.  She conjures up a spell which will lead her to the very thing she hates.  She follows the arrow to her wardrobe and the mirror inside shows her the very thing she hates is herself.  She breaks the mirror.  No wonder she had untold bad luck and this was her comeuppance for sparing Tinkerbell's life, who told her she'd find true love with the tattooed man at the tavern.

Regina and the Evils Queen go head to head with swords in her office and finally Regina gets the better of her.  Regina takes her heart and says she knows what she has to do, once again she sees her reflection in the mirror shards on the floor.  She takes her own heart and combines it with love before putting it back in both their bodies, respectively.  The Evil Queen is no more and apologizes for wrecking her furniture.  She sent Robin back to where he would be happy.  Regina calls quits on their battle and Evils decides she needs a fresh start which Henry will write for her.

She apologizes to Snow and everyone for the spell and Regina has information from her in trying to break the sleeping curse.  As Henry writes her away to somewhere she can be happy, still referring to her as the Evil Queen.  As well as well as calling her mother, twice and he's never done that before. Snow and Zelena aren't too happy about Evils being allowed just to vanish somewhere.
She ends up at that tavern again where Robin buys her a drink.  Seems sad that she got Regina's happy ending with Robin even if she was her 'double' in the sense of being a part of her.  Regina left alone once more, especially after Emma got her happy ending again with Hook - almost and she didn't bear any grudges against her.

Hook tells Nemo he's not going with him and will be sticking around after Snow talks to him about the engagement and is so happy for her.  Emma deserves happiness and she also tells him about the Evil Queen being vanquished by Regina.  As they get on the Nautilus, Gideon (Giles Matthey) appears and submerges the vessel since he can't them around, viz Hook, for what he's got in mind. Yeah as if Emma needs Hook around now to help her.  Should've known he'd be around since he was mentioned this episode.  Still up to his no good tricks again even after Rumples told him last ep he didn't want to be dark like him.

Turns out that page was mostly about Evils and Robin, at least it appeared to be, or maybe just Regina giving away her happy ending since she couldn't have it with her real Robin and being selfless.  As for Page 23, thought we were back in Alias territory again what with their Page 47 ep title!  ha.