OUAT: A Tale of Two Sisters

Crying while looking in the mirror gpoy

(spoilers for s04e01) 

Last series we had Regina aka Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) spiraling towards evil after losing something her heart desired. We had Mr Gold (Robert Carlyle) saying he'd do something but he did the opposite and then some unknown earth shattering source of evil appeared. Basically the same thing as always, though let's hope it doesn't take many episodes for people to figure out why certain things are a bad idea (we've had loads of character development to get past that, haven't we?). In the summary of the episode Elsa (Georgina Haig) is referred to as a frozen evil, which considering - Frozen - is a very wrong conclusion. It does feel a bit strange to bring in a character that's still so popular so soon after the film, and when I saw spoiler images I thought it was fan-made, turns out I was wrong.

You completely understand why Regina is 'freaking out' so-to-speak, riddled with self-loathing, though wishing for a happy ending for herself, since every time she does try, she loses. One does want one for her, as well, because it's starting to get old having her revert in any way. The same goes for Mr Gold, though I have less patience for his story, because he does have his happy ending, but he still takes the time to be dagger-happy (idiot). Everyone else in this episode were pretty much just attacked by the block of ice lugging himself about, though I love the nifty little on-screen reference to Frozen - Regina behind a locked door and Emma knocking, trying to get her out (unfortunately not enough snow for building of snowmen).

I lost it during this obviously 

For a opening, it's not their best, and it's certainly not memorable. After the series three finale where one thought that perhaps Emma and Hook would finally get somewhere, we're taking several steps back and claiming patience, which is fine, but a bit overused (look at any other pairing, gosh). In some ways I'm glad I do not take this show seriously, because it's just a huge bit of fairy tale soap, which amuses and vexes me on a weekly basis upon its return every time. Hopefully things do become a bit colder and interesting, especially if Elsa is supposed to be our villain.

Her backstory hasn't exactly convinced me of anything villainesque or the fact that she was holed up in Mr Gold's cellar. You know she's going to get back at him for what he did, basically. I suppose it's just an intro episode, but I feel things would have been a bit interesting if they'd begun with a 'later' - the whole of Storybrooke turned into a frosty paradise and everything else being a flashback. Hopefully they know where they're headed this season, or else it'll get dull fast. I enjoyed Elsa's story though, and it's a lovely piece of 'fan-fiction' in a way.

5/10