OUAT: White Out

Charming Fabio that's the name

(spoilers for s04e02)

There will be puns, sorry about that. 

Finally here's more like it, a bit frostier this time round, as we follow the path of Ana and what's currently happening to Storybrooke since Elsa arrived. It's not the frosty spectacle one surmised, but it's brewing up to quite the debacle. Charming turns out to be an old friend of Kristoff and Ana swings in there first, encouraging him to stand up against the cruel Bo Beep who keeps a debt and possible slavery hanging over the younger man's head. While Elsa has created a frosty barrier so no one can escape Storybrooke, quite literally actually, though the trio of detectives lead by Emma investigate, only to find the saviour trapped not soon after.

There are of course other problems occurring in the town - the electricity going out is one. Snow finds herself suddenly pushed forward as 'mayor', which with lack of sleep and loads breastfeeding is clearly not what she herself wants to do. There's also the fact that the kid as I call him tries to pry his mother out of her stupor, but she pre-warns him to stay away. Symbolically everyone's a bit cold and stand-offish in this episode. But I'm going to talk about what I'm wanting to talk about.

Our villain.

they're really rough at the border these days

We all know and understand by now that Elsa isn't going to be that person, and it's quite clear by the set-up of the episode there's another cold heart present. This doesn't necessarily mean our unknown blonde who literally owns an ice cream shop or well 'another sundae' is in fact a villain-villain, since Ana's path towards Rumpel clearly states some shit is going down there. I don't know to what extent, since I'm keeping myself away from general spoilers all-round.

But I am excited!

That has got to be said. The show has had fun villains all-round, all of them complex and tricky, so it's cool to see them. It's fun, though the general consensus of the show is that 'magic is not good', especially where fairy tales are concerned. But boy is it fun to see them have their sentimental speeches, the stirring music in the background, etc.

However, not all the characters felt entirely useful in this episode. Hook for example was pretty dull compared to his usual swagger, though they've really made him romantic interest to a tee. It sort of makes me happy to see a male character reduced to that, but it isn't helping anyone really. The man was poking his hook at a block of ice. A block of ice. Need I repeat myself? It felt like we were being force-fed - 'he really, really loves her folks, remember that!' Show it to me in a way that doesn't make me want to be embarrassed for the character.

One of the reasons I love the show is the fact that the female characters are awesome, and the fact that they continue to be so is wonderful. I really think the casting of Ana was done successfully. It's not usual to see something done so well, and of course Elsa, but I just hope this is the last we see of I can't do it without my sister stuff in this episode. It doesn't feel true to how the film Frozen turned out, and it's clear they're using canon here. Until next week then.

6/10