"Broken"- Season 2, Episode 01

 First blog ever! 

Hello, my dearest #Oncers- @yourouatsource here! So, I have had this idea of writing blogs each week, expressing my opinion of the newest OUAT episode in them (favorite scenes, effects etc). And this is my first attempt of trying to write such a thing ever, so, please, bear with me if there's something wrong with it. ;)

I am starting with the first episode of SEASON 2 of Once Upon A Time today and if this turns out good, I will probably do blogs about all the episodes of SEASON 2 as well- first, let's see how this turns out.

I love how interestingly the first episode started- this random guy (and not anybody, but Michael Raymond-Jame from "True Blood" ) , casually walking down the street, almost making us feel as if we are actually watching another TV Show ( yes, I had to check again if this was actually OUAT ).  And then bang, all of a sudden, a white pigeon ( probably the same one shown earlier in episode 10 when Snow received James's letter) comes through the window and drops a card, showing us the episode title itself "Broken" , right in front of him, informing the stranger about the existence of Storybrooke.

And judging by the man's look on his face when he actually read the card- it looked like, somehow, he actually knew about this town. My theory is that this might be Henry's father ( And many seem to think that Henry's father is Baelfire).

And the first fairytale we meet is "Sleeping Beauty" - we see Prince Phillip (played by the handsome Julian Morris) giving Aurora a true love's kiss:

 And of course he breaks Maleficen't sleeping curse- it's true love we are talking about after all. But my attention is focused on the mysterious warrior we see being by Phillip's side- judging by the little we see of the face, it seems to me that it is a woman. ( and of course, we find out that indeed it is a "she" later in the episode). The writers now put a slight intrigue- what is that mysterious woman doing with him?

Then, we get transfered back to Storybrooke- where all the characters face the consequences of the curse being broken and magic being brought back to town. Starting from where we were left- Snow and Charming trying to figure out what the purple smoke is.

 And lovely scenes follow- we see Snow and Charming meeting with their fellow fairytale friends Red, Granny and the seven dwarves. But then, the really emotional moment comes when Emma shows up, asking them if Snow and Charming being her parents is actually true. Personally, I found that particular scene absolutely touching, making me tear up and smile at the same time- the actors couldn't have played it out any better than this! First, the way Emma looked down (just like a sad, lost, slightly confused and angry child) when Snow got closer and cupped her face in her hands, made me literally "Awee..." at the screen:

And then when they actually hugged- seeing the whole Royal family finally reunite- made tears of joy roll down my cheeks, a goofy smile, playing on my lips. The quote "You found us.", all the feelings, emotions, the incredible acting and the soft piano music playing on the background pretty much made that scene perfect.

And then of course we get back to Rumplestiltskin and Belle- her telling him how all these years she's been so close, yet so far from him. And as his bitterness and anger towards Regina grow stronger, Gold makes a promise to Belle of not killing her majesty ( which I was sure he would break- I was convinced that he wouldn't forget such a thing that easily and I could see the lie in his eyes.) . Don't get me wrong, I loved that moment between the two of them, but Rumple lying to Belle was a cheap shot.

Afterwards, we go back to Fairytale Land (or what's left of it) to see Phillip fighting a wraith, who suddenly appears and knocks the mysterious warrior on the ground. But all he accomplishes is cutting  a strange necklace of the creature's neck and takes it in his bare hands, not knowing of the ugly following consequences.

We go back to Storybrooke, now being transfered to Gold's Pawn Shop and, by no surprise, it turns out that he actually has that mysterious necklace, seeming pretty pleased with it, but notice that, putting gloves on as he holds it (Seems like he really knows what he's dealing with) .

And then comes my second favorite scene- Regina, with a pleased smirk on her face, greets all the people, coming to her residence to "kill" her. She does her well-known jacket flip (yes, I am crazy about that) and pushes Whale (who is he?) , who persistently speaks that she wouldn't be that happy and confident soon enough, thinking that now that magic is back she would easily confront them all. But, alas, she is wrong- as we know magic in Storybrooke is unpredictable. And Whale gets his moment of trying to strangle (?) her.

But then (thankfully) bang, Emma shows up, screaming "Let her go" ,holding Henry's hand, and pushes Whale aside, saving Regina's life. (my #SwanQueen shipper heart explodes out of feelings! )

And of course, Snow and Charming come as well and defend Regina, deciding that her place right now is in jail (I find that particulary funny since Gold is the actual evil in town ). But what grabs my attention is how arrogant Whale acts and the words he says to Charming: "You're not my prince." Who is Whale? Could it really be Dr Frankenstein as I and many other Oncers think? Hopefully, we'll learn that in the next episodes.

The next scene actually shows us how Rumple breaks his promise by marking Regina with that necklace (from the wraith), meaning that the creature itself would go after her and kill her by draining her soul (as we learn further in the episode).

And then, we go back to FTL once again, learning that the mysterious warrior is indeed a woman- Mulan. (YAY). Immediately, we notice the jealousy in Aurora's behavior- would there be a reason for that, hmm?

Back in Storybrooke Rumple officialy finishes breaking his promise by summoning the dark creature (a soul-sucker) which mission would be killing Regina since she was marked ( Phillip holding the bracelet in his bare hands? Not a great idea). 

Forward in the episode, we are sent back to Fairytale Land again- Phillip, Aurora and Mulan, finding a place to rest for a bit. But something's wrong- Phillip kisses Aurora as if it's the last time he's seeing her and then, on top of everything, as he goes to "pick some wood for the fire" we see tears, rolling down his face (interesting?) .

We then see how Belle leaves Gold once again, because she is deeply disappointed with him breaking his promise and actually thinking he didn't do anything. 

Another scene in FTL follows where Mulan figures out that Phillip is in danger after touching that necklace with his bare hands (being marked).

And my third favorite scene in "Broken" comes- Emma, Charming and Snow find out that there's a dark creature, destroying the whole town, so they decide to go and check up on Regina, who is actually into big trouble. The creature, which mission is to drain her soul, has now found its prey. However, just as it starts killing Regina Charming shows, hitting it with a chair- the scene finishing with Snow banishing away the creature, but only temporary as "You cannot kill something that is already dead.", saving Regina's life once again.  And then, oh my, oh my (poor #SwanQueen heart of mine, not being able to handle all the feelings for the two of them) Emma helps Regina to get up and defends her, saying that she's made a promise to Henry not to let anything happen to his mother- Regina) when Charming wants to let her be killed as the creature returns.

So in the end, the whole Royal family decides to help the Evil Queen herself by sending the soul-sucker back to the FTL through Jefferson's magic hat, which can create a portal. Yes, but that means using magic and magic in town is, as we all know, unpredictable. That's why Regina needs Emma to make the hat work as the savior is the only person (and Gold) who has magic in town. And lucky for all of them, Emma puts her hand on Regina's arm ( SWAN QUEEN? SWAN QUEEN!!) on accident or not and BOOM, we have MAGIC BACK! And the portal appears.

But before getting back to Storybrooke we see Aurora and Mulan finally finding Phillip, who is waiting for the creature to kill him, that way saving both of them. But the thing that makes me wonder in that scene is who he says "I love you" to - was it either Aurora or Mulan?

Anyways, the worst part ever comes when the wrath actually gets sent to FTL, BUT drags Emma with it as Mary Margaret jumps as well, not wanting to leave her daughter ever again. And, of course, David tries to do the same, but it's too late and the portal closes- leaving a confused Charming and the Evil Queen, who doesn't even know where they've been sent to.

Expecting a sharp reaction, David snaps at Regina, but she , having magic back after Emma's touch, throws him against the wall, using a spell, and is about to kill him when Henry walks into the room and calls her "Mom". She immediately turns softer and leaves Charming alone, giving all her attention to Henry, who seems pretty disappointed and now convinced that she is indeed the Evil Queen.

But, as we all know (or at least, as I've always known) , she truly loves him and she is willing to do anything for her son, by promising him that she would change, she would redeem herself (yes, that's right, it's all because of her love for Henry) . And even let's him stay with his grandfather- Charming- while she tries to prove she can change. 

You want to know what my guess is? That this season would be all about Regina's redemption by her wanting to win Henry back. And I think that she will- I've seen enough proof that she is capable of love for him.

And the episode finishes with, first, Mulan explaining that this is Fairytale Land NOW- a land, filled with all kind of dark creatures, but there's also a place where all the living characters, calling themselves survivors, gather- and, then, Mulan and Aurora find Emma and Snow in their WORLD, thinking that the two of them are actually responsible for the appearance of that soul-sucker. (Shocking, I know right?!)

NOTES: 
1) I highly disliked the fact that they didn't show Maleficent, not even for a second, it was the Sleeping Beauty fairytale we were seeing after all.
2) Did you see how many SWAN QUEEN scenes there were? Pure Heaven!
3) I love the fact that Regina is doing everything she can to get Henry back.