#1x06 the shepherd

[mlobsters]

supernatural s4e19 jump the shark (w. andrew dabb, daniel loflin)

episode should be titled 10 more reasons to hate john winchester

seinfeld s5e22 the opposite - dedee pfeiffer as victoria

another tiny role on seinfeld that i know well because i saw them all enough and at a time when my brain was better at recording things.

okay but also? i think i know her from cybill?? which i probably haven't thought of since the 90s. and sometimes i wonder how i originally knew actors like say, alicia witt and christine baranaski and something like this drags it up from the depths

cybill (1995-1998) dedee pfeiffer as rachel blanders

okay but back to dean getting shat on. dear old dad wanted to give one of his kids a normal life and take him to baseball games and go camping that didn't involve killing monsters. aw, that's nice. except for all the gross child neglect of his kids he was supposed to be fulltime sole caregiver of. granted he didn't get involved in this kid's life until sam was away at college so it's not like the nice things happened simultaneously to the neglect. still hate you, man. and the recap made sure to remind us of how john treated sam's going to college.

that look sam gave adam after dean loses paper scissors rock was cute. was feeling the sibling vibes.

also got me considering the logistics of man sized ventilation inside this random house.

sam giving this kid the dad and dean no friends no life routine is something. remember this little exchange at the gas pump:

s1e6 skin:

SAM: So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life? (DEAN shrugs.) You’re serious?

DEAN: Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can’t get close to people, period.

SAM: You’re kind of anti-social, you know that?

but also harkens back to when dean was just trying to keep everyone alive while the other two were hellbent on self destructive revenge. which dean has been selling sam is just like dad and that's why they don't get along since then, but i'm not quite sure i buy that.

from s1e22 devil's trap:

Sam: We want to kill this demon. You used to want that, too. Hell, I mean, you’re the one who came and got me at school! (Dean scoffs) You’re the one who dragged me back into this, Dean. I’m just trying to finish it!

Dean: Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you. You’re selfish, you know that? You don’t care about anything but revenge.

that line about being the one to bury you lives rent free in my head.

i mean, i get what he's putting down in regards to his revenge quests, but i don't think there's a lot of similarities outside that. maybe because i like sam and john was a child neglecting piece of garbage. that is definitely a big blinder for me 🥴

i'm sure people enjoyed all that uh, excessive wound fingering and such with sam.

but my issue is those very significant cuts through his forearms and he's all fine and dandy in the next scene. he'd have some wicked number of stitches. and i guess nothing major was cut. just fleshy bits that dean can sew back up? i know, medical accuracy is way way WAY down on the list. but when they focus on the volume of blood he's losing so rapidly, i can't help but start to think of the logistics! anyway, made me think about hannibal's big ass scars in a similar place from matthew brown.

okay but also the kid has a point, of the ghouls were only eating dead people, was it really that important to be killing them?

that turned out a lot more therapeutic than i expected. and somehow i didn't know that fate of adam so i was actually surprised. i always am glad for dean to be working through some of his dad issues. sam is full of questionable choices these days. i'll give it to him, the writers, whatever. he really does sell that he's earnestly truly trying to do the right thing. but everything is a flaming pile of shit anyway.

DEAN I mean, I worshipped the guy, you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him, I listen to the same music. But you were more like him than I will ever be. And I see that now.

SAM I'll take that as a compliment.

DEAN You take it any way you want.

i mean.

anyway. okay i liked this episode even though i'm nervously looking at the time with how close the end of the season is and here we are off killing some monsters like it's any other week. this felt like an earlier to mid season episode. quality dean and sam time, daddy issues on blast.

and forever grateful shoutout to supernaturalwiki.com, the documentation is immaculate, found the episode with the bury you line in it in under 5 minutes.

[winnie-the-monster]

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

this week on Once Upon a Time: Jiminy Cricket orders a hit. Everyone in town gathers to look at Regina's hole. Prince Charming commits adultery.

[burningdarkfire]

Hii idk if you’re still doing the wip ask game, but if you are, I’m really curious about the WFJ early heat one and the tomgreg one!

i will never turn down an opportunity to talk about my WIPs so i'm happy you asked, thank you!! 🫶

(ask me about my WIPs!)

in the WFJ fic, the iron shepherds never happen and the m9 spend notably longer doing odd jobs with low stakes. they're less open with each other in some ways but more comfortable in others - comfortable enough that caleb experiences his first heat in a long time (the title is a misnomer at this point but i'm lazy). fjord and jester get involved. painfully oblique references to astrid and eadwulf ensue. tbh this is likely to end up on the second account but here is a snippet:

"Darling," Fjord said gently. How many times had they shared a room before? How many nights fumbling in the dark, hands around cocks—sometimes each other's, sometimes only their own—desperate to understand what Caleb wanted when he made such delicious noises of pleasure, and then turned away once they were finished? "Of course. Are you sure you want me?"

"What does it look like?" His tone was petulant, but his body language spoke of desperation. He tugged listlessly at a sheet, covering up a scant inch of thigh, but then he was lying down onto his back and lolling his head against Fjord's knee. "Will it help if I beg?"

"I don't want you to beg," Fjord said hurriedly. He reached out, then hesitated. It wasn't like Caleb, that was the thing, to play at being affectionate.

the tomgreg fic is a blowjob after the dinner in 1x06 lmao it's definitely pretty straightforward as far as fics go bc tbh i never found my stomach for a longer succession fic. it's entirely outlined and partially drafted, i just have to actually finish it at some point, but here's a taste:

Tom is giggly and loud by the time they pour back out onto the streets of New York.

"Ebullient, Greg," he says, when Greg tells him something to that effect. "Let's not diminish such a night with something as common as happy. Look at you. Look at us! We had a good dinner and now I've seduced the hot young something on my arm." He does a little shimmy and Greg laughs, trying to copy the motion until Tom swats at him to stop. "Keep it under control, Greg. The world glistens before us and you're thrashing about like it's your dying days."

He insists on having the driver drop Greg off first ("What kind of gentleman would I be if I left you to find your own way home?") and then Greg surprises both of them by inviting him upstairs. 

Tom surprises both of them again by accepting.

[wicked-storybrooke]

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 4x02 “White Out” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01 3x02 3x03 3x04 3x05 3x06 3x07 3x08 3x09 3x10 3x11 3x12 3x13 3x14 3x15 3x16 3x17 3x18 3x19 3x20 3x21 3x22 4x01

So, David apparently learned his fancy sword fighting skills from Anna! Didn’t see that one coming. And Bo Peep is apparently a warlord? Who thought that was a good idea? Emma and Elsa bond while Emma almost freezes to death. And David and Hook kind of bond while trying to save Emma.

Summary: Elsa creates an ice barrier around Storybrooke so she can find her sister, but ends up trapping herself and Emma inside. In the Enchanted Forest, Anna visits David and helps him against the warlord, Bo Peep.

Opening: Ice Wall

New Characters: 

Bo Peep: I’m sorry, she’s just so ridiculous. What writer thought ‘Hey, I know! We need to create a warlord for Charming to fight. He has sheep, let’s make her Bo Peep?” Anyway, all we know is that she’s a bully and she can somehow brand people with her crook to make them part of her flock so if they try to leave instead of paying her, they won’t be able to. Bo Peep wants Charming’s horse in exchange for what’s owed, but he won’t give her that either. Charming tries to get Anna away from the farm, but apparently Bo Peep has taken her for collateral and also, she’s been branded. Charming does end up fighting and beating Bo Peep, despite the fact that he’s had one sword fighting lesson.

In Storybrooke, Bo Peep is a butcher. She’s quite bitchy to David and refuses to help him find Anna, so he and Hook steal the crook instead.

Character Observations:

Charming/David: Wow! I thought the hair was bad in The Shepherd but it’s so much worse. Anna goes to see him in Misthaven. He’s apparently a friend of Kristoff’s. Charming is pretty smart as he deduces that Anna is not who she says she is and that she is Kristoff’s fiance. Although, he does think he’s invited to the wedding, and considering it was supposed to have already happened, I guess someone got left off the invite list. Oops. Anna asks to stay in his barn, and that’s when Bo Peep shows up. She is basically extorting money from them so no one will harm their sheep, but Charming and Ruth(!) don’t have it. Bo Peep asks for his horse for an extra day, but Charming won’t part with it. If they don’t pay, the farm is hers. Charming, stupidly, tells his mother they should just leave and start over somewhere else (how, you just said you don’t have any money?) in front of Bo Peep, and she brands them with magic. Apparently she can now find them with her crook no matter where they go (well, that would’ve been useful when Snow and Charming were courting and on the run). Anna tells Charming he should fight Bo Peep, but he can’t fight a warlord and her small army with his fists. Anna teaches him to sword fight. So, I guess that answers any questions we had in The Shepherd about how Charming knew how to use a sword. Charming loses easily to Anna and claims he can’t fight. Anna tells him he can’t keep running away and that he’s never dealt with loss if he’s going to be such a coward. Charming tells Anna about how his father was a drunk and ended up dying at the bottom of a ravine and that’s why he can’t fight Bo Peep. Despite all this, Anna still wants to continue to train him if he wants. She tells him to meet her the next morning in the barn. The next morning Charming wants her to leave before Bo Peep gets there, but he’s too late. She’s already branded and apparently kidnapped Anna to get Charming to do what she wants. A few hours later Charming meets Bo Peep at some random gazebo (is this supposed to be her property? Is the manor in the background hers?). She thinks Charming is stupid for attempting to fight her guards (and considering he just learned to fight yesterday and gave up pretty quickly, I do to), but he somehow manages to dispatch them easily. Bo Peep fights him herself and almost wins, but Charming manages to move right as she comes at him with her sword and it embeds in the gazebo column. Charming ties her up and uses her crook to find Anna. Charming goes to rescue Anna who jumps on him, thinking he’s with Bo Peep. She praises him for winning the impossible battle. Charming gives Anna the horse he refused to part with when Bo Peep wanted it instead of the farm, and she’s off to find Rumplestiltskin.

David and Emma go to find out why the power went out and come across Elsa’s ice wall. Hook joins them. Hook and Emma have a conversation about dating while David goes to listen to something over the car radio. When Emma goes to look at the ice wall, David decides this is the perfect opportunity to ask Hook his intentions toward Emma. Look at David trying to be the protective dad. At least he’s not threatening Hook or telling him Emma will never like him anymore. David and Hook decide to play hero when Emma is taking too long at the ice wall and end up spooking Elsa, who basically creates more of the wall and blasts David and Hook out. Emma and Elsa are now trapped and David figures out they need magic to get them out. Emma contacts them through the walkie-talkie about finding Anna and the necklace Elsa found. Elsa threatens to freeze the entire town if they don’t find her sister, which alarms David and Hook. They go to Gold’s shop and let them know about the necklace and David realizes he knows who Anna is. David finds Bo Peep (now a butcher) and basically steals her shepherd’s crook to see if he can find Anna since she was branded back in the Enchanted Forest. David and Hook rush back when Elsa alerts them to the fact that Emma is freezing to death. Can I just say that I love the whole bromance happening here between David and Hook. See, when they work together they’re just delightful. David talks to Elsa through the walkie-talkie and uses the words Anna said to him to defeat Bo Peep. Elsa recognizes them and that gives her the courage to melt a hole big enough to get her and Emma through. Back at the loft, David shows Elsa the Bo Peep’s crook and they try to see where Anna is. It looks as though they can’t find her, but eventually, they hear her heartbeat, so they know she is still alive. Mary Margaret comes in with baby Neal and wonders who Elsa is. David explains they’re going to find her sister because their family finds people and they don’t like to give up. 

Elsa: She decides that until she and Anna are together, no one is leaving Storybrooke and erects an ice wall around the border. It knocks down a power line which apparently knocks out the power to the entire town? I’m not really sure why. Also, why are there power lines at the border that would knock out the power to the entire town? Anyway, Elsa is hiding in the ice wall for some reason. How that is helping her find Anna is beyond me. Luckily, Emma somehow sees her moving around and goes to check it out. Elsa is overly aggressive with Emma, considering she needs help finding Anna, but Emma calms her down. At least until David and Hook come over and basically threaten Elsa (pulling your gun out, not a smart move David). They sufficiently freak Elsa out enough that she causes more of the ice wall to form and an avalanche to happen, effectively trapping herself and Emma in the wall. She also loses Anna’s necklace down a crack when she and Emma are knocked over during the whole ordeal. Emma asks her to undo the ice wall. Elsa hesitates because she knows she can’t, but covers it up by telling Emma she’ll undo it when they find Anna. Elsa keeps up with the threats when Emma talks to David and Hook through the walkie-talkie, which is just getting old at this point. I know Emma, David, and Hook don’t know she’s just a soft teddy bear, but since the audience does, it just doesn’t hit right. We get no sense of imminent danger at the moment because we know Elsa won’t make good on her threats. Emma calls Elsa out on not being able to control her powers because she is the same way with hers, and just hearing that someone else has powers crumbles Elsa’s (internal) walls. She confesses that Anna helps her control her powers and that’s why she needs her. Elsa gets concerned when Emma complains that she’s tired and needs to lay down. She realizes the cold is killing Emma and she can’t do anything about it. Elsa starts asking Emma about her powers and the conversation evolves into both of them being thrust into a life they weren’t prepared for (Elsa as queen, Emma as the savior). Great girl bonding between these two. Elsa apologizes for trapping them in the ice, but Emma is getting too cold and Elsa is now worried. Eventually, David comes back and convinces Elsa that he knew Anna and they can help her if she can just get Emma out. This helps her enough that she manages to make a hole in the ice wall so they can rescue Emma. David thanks her for getting Emma out, but Elsa feels guilty for endangering Emma in the first place. She is grateful that David still plans on helping her find Anna. Elsa attempts to take down the ice wall around the town, but it won’t budge. 

Mary Margaret: In the stupidest D plot to come around, Mary Margaret, who just had a baby, like two days ago, is enlisted by Leroy, Happy, and Granny to get the power back on in the town. Mary Margaret who has already been complaining of no sleep because she has a FREAKIN NEWBORN, has been made mayor (according to the three amigos), because she was the one who enacted the curse this time around. So they head off to the power company to try and get the power back on for the whole town. I’m confused. The ice wall knocked out one power line, and instead of getting that up and fixed, Mary Margaret has to turn something on from the power grid? Maybe I just don’t know enough about how power works, but none of this makes sense. Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest start going on about how they can’t do anything without electricity and it finally reaches the boiling point when Happy just starts naming off all devices that are abbreviations and Mary Margaret loses it. She screams at them for getting so upset about the loss of power when they grew up in the EF with no power whatsoever. That’s their cue to leave and let Mary Margaret (and a sleeping baby Neal) deal with the power outage themselves. Mary Margaret attempts to read the instruction manual (that’s in Japanese) and thinks she’s got it, but it still doesn’t work. When baby Neal starts crying, she realizes that the grid needs fuel, and she finally gets the power on.

Emma/Hook: Emma’s trying to help Henry through Regina’s meltdown over Robin and Marian, but Henry is too upset that Regina doesn’t want to see him. The power goes out while Emma is trying to comfort Henry at Granny’s. She and David go check it out. Hook joins them having discovered in the short time since the power outage that the ice wall goes around the whole town (there’s a lot of town, it’s not as small as they keep making us think it is). He sees the downed power line and deduces that’s the reason for the outage and Emma compliments him on becoming a 21st century man. Emma and David ponder why the ice wall has been put up and Hook, quite seriously, says to take them out one by one. He may be charming, but let’s not forget he was a cold-blooded pirate for 200 hundred plus years. David goes to listen to the police radio (who is on this thing? Did they hire some more deputies we don’t know about?), and Hook mentions he should’ve brought champagne since it’s his and Emma’s second date. She’s confused about when they ever went on a first date. He’s counting their chasing after the ice monster as the first. He says if they only count quiet dinners they’d never get one. And then Emma suddenly sees something in the ice wall and leaves Hook to go ‘check it out’. I honestly don’t know if she really saw Elsa or if she was just trying to get out of the situation because she’s still not ready to define their relationship. Hook looks pretty devastated at her avoidance. And that’s when David decides he and Hook need to talk about his intentions. I find this whole conversation extremely funny considering Hook is older than David. Anyway, Hook clarifies that he wouldn’t fight for someone he just sees as loot (and he seems really offended that David would still think about him), and that whatever they become is just as much up to Emma as him. That’s exactly the kind of guy Emma needs. Not someone who says I’ll fight for you, but someone who wants to be on your team during the fighting. Emma gets trapped in the ice wall and Hook is pretty much hysterical trying to get her out. Luckily, David is a little more level-headed. When Emma finally gets out, she immediately goes into Hook’s arms (!!) and he bridal carries her to the car to go home. At the loft, Emma is given many blankets to warm her up, and she and Hook are holding hands. Swoon! And he continues to hold her to keep her warm and she lets him!!

Anna: Apparently, she is responsible for teaching Charming how to swordfight. Anna travels to Charming’s home and introduces herself as Joan, for reasons (secret mission). Charming immediately knows she’s Kristoff’s fiance due to the fact that Kristoff is the only person he knows in Arendelle and she’s wearing an engagement ring. Anna’s not very good at being stealthy. After Bo Peep’s visit, Anna teaches Charming to swordfight, and despite his reservations, he manages to beat Bo Peep’s henchmen and Bo Peep after one day of training. Anna being in danger gives him confidence. Anna is very surprised that magic seems to be very common in Misthaven and inquires of Ruth about someone who can help her with Elsa’s magic. She writes down Rumplestiltskin’s name for her and Anna is off to find him.

Regina and Henry: Regina is wallowing. Henry is trying to cheer her up, but she doesn’t want to speak or see anyone. I get Regina is upset about the whole Robin/Marian thing, but Henry is her son. Not to mention he lives with her part-time. And, they haven’t spent any time together since he got his memory back. Regina’s really that upset that she wouldn’t want her son there for comfort? 

Questions:

Does Storybrooke get power from outside the town? Did the ice wall cut it off? We saw one power line down due to the ice wall, did that give power to the whole town?

David mentions to Belle and Gold that they had Anna’s necklace. He doesn’t mention anything about the pendant. How does Belle pick it out of their inventory cards on the first try? Did she just assume that because there’s an ice wall, the necklace would be the snowflake one?

Anyone else think that Bo Peep had somehow put Anna in the snowflake necklace?

So, once Charming beats Bo Peep, does that mean she won’t try to extort money from her anymore? Seems a little iffy to just leave her when she could come back and harm Charming and Ruth.

Has Anna’s wedding been rescheduled? She invites Charming and Ruth to the wedding, but they hadn’t been invited originally. Had this whole adventure happened, Kristoff’s one non-Troll friend wouldn’t have been invited. 

Anyone else not hearing the heartbeat? I honestly can’t remember if I heard the previous times I’ve watched this episode, but I did not hear it the numerous times I watched it for this review. I only knew what was happening due to closed captioning.

Who is the mysterious woman with ice powers that runs the ice cream shop? A relative of Elsa’s? The Snow Queen? A random person who also has ice powers?

Observations:

Anna tells Charming her name is Joan. In the movie Frozen, Anna talks to the painting of Joan of Arc that’s on the wall.

The mobile above Baby Neal’s crib are sheep.

Emma and David think babies dream about laser tag and bullfighting, lol.

The snowflake necklace is broken in Storybrooke.

Anna does the cool little sword flip that is Charming’s signature move.

I’m assuming Anna and Kristoff never got married as David would have been at the wedding and met Elsa and known Anna was her sister if they did.

The ice cream shop is called Any Given Sundae.

Timeline Issues:

If Anna met Charming before he was even Charming, it has to have been over 30 years since that meeting. Which would make Anna older than Elsa at this point, unless she was part of the curse.

Lots of good stuff is happening in this episode. We get some development with Emma and Hook. We now know Elsa is not going to be the villain and that this half of the season’s mystery partially seems to revolve around finding Anna. But also, who is the mysterious ice cream lady?

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @laschatzi​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @profdanglaisstuff​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @mariakov81​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lfh1226-linda​

[dinneratgrannys]

EMMA SWAN & MARY MARGARET BLANCHARD Once Upon a Time, Season 1 Episode 6: The Shepherd

[sevenfifteenam]

Mary-Margaret: I hate David.

Emma: Me too.

Mary-Margaret: You don't even know what he did.

Emma: Solidarity, sister.

[lysieicons]

1 x 06

[allaboutjmo]

🦢 Jen as Emma Swan on Once Upon A Time episode 1x06 ‘The Shepherd’

[ilistentotayswifttocope]

why mr. levangie is the best greys patient:

"blondie, if you don’t marry him, i will."

[winnie-the-monster]

[once-upon-a-ouat]

OUAT Rewatch 1x06 “The Shepherd”

This review honestly sucked the life out of me. It was hard for me to put it together but I think I managed to put some coherency into my thoughts on this episode.

David’s personality was developed a lot in the flashbacks. We saw his core beliefs and his most important personality traits. We saw his compassion and bravery and his idealism. I love how he stood up to his mother in defense of his convictions but later threw them to the wind in order to protect her. Ruth also realized her mistake and apologized for it. She even encouraged him not to give up and lose hope that he’d find True Love. I really enjoy their relationship and the mutual love and respect between them and I wish we had seen more of Ruth.

With that said, some of the things in the flashbacks didn’t really make sense to me. For what we knew at the time, David didn’t know how to wield a sword but he managed to cut off the dragon’s head without problem (but considering the flashbacks from 4x02, I’ll let that slide). Also, he was standing right in front of the dragon (and that went on for good 10 seconds at least) and if it had any brain, it would have turned him to crisp at least twice for that time. But that wouldn’t have been convenient for the writers.

King George surprised me in this episode. I remembered him being an unemotional asshole but I think his grief for James was genuine here. I know he was worried about the gold too and later he acted like a complete dick towards David but I still think he actually loved James and missed him genuinely. Of course the fact that that’s never shown ever again makes you question it. And even that way you can’t deny that George did all of that for his kingdom. He wasn’t a good man but from what we saw here, he probably wasn’t that bad of a king.

James also surprised me here. He didn’t appear to be that big of an asshole in this episode either. He was a bit cocky after his ‘victory’ but not nearly as much as he is during his later appearances. And I would say that his confidence wasn’t unjustified. His men also seemed to respect him which is a factor worth considering. His death was very ironic though. “Next time make sure I’m dead.” If only he had listened to his own advice. That part annoyed me a bit with its stupidity.

Rumple was amazing again in this episode but his role was again a bit unclear for me. The writers never explained why he wanted fairy wands and I feel like they only gave him that motive because we already saw him kill Cinderella’s fairy godmother to get her wand. They needed him to make that deal with George and that seemed like a plausible enough motive that the audience wouldn’t question much given what we already saw. Well, bad news for you, writers, because I’m here to question the hell out of it. Also, I’m not quite sure how to interpret Gold’s reaction when David got his fake memories. He was obviously smug but why? I don’t think he gains anything from Mary Margaret and David being kept apart. The part with the ‘charming’ comment was brilliant though.

Emma and Henry were once again super cute in the only scene they got in this episode. David also got to interact with Emma for the first time although briefly. And later in the episode he was drawn to Emma’s mobile in Gold’s shop. I think that was really cute.

Mary Margaret and David were moving too fast for my taste. I know they felt a connection between them but he was awake for, what, two weeks or so at best? He didn’t even remember his life with Kathryn. How was he so certain that Mary Margaret was what he wanted? I know he didn’t want to wait for his memories to ‘come back’ because that could’ve never happened, but he still should’ve given himself more time to consider the situation carefully. He could’ve avoided hurting Mary Margaret.

On that note, it was cool to see Emma trying to protect Mary Margaret but also encouraging her to follow her heart when she thought it was the right thing to do. We see her take on the role of the protector in that relationship, the mother if you will, although in reality Mary Margaret is her mother. I think a bit of Emma’s realism provides good contrast to Mary Margaret’s hopeless romanticism and makes the relationship well-rounded. The whole situation was also very ironic though because Emma was actually keeping her parents apart and I think that served very well to show how much the Curse screwed them over.

In that train of thought, Regina once again played her cards well. She knew which strings to tug at with Mary Margaret to make her feel guilty and back off but I still don’t think that talk at Granny’s was a very smart move. In itself it wasn’t enough and it would’ve failed at keeping Mary Margaret and David apart had she not backed it up with giving David his cursed memories. That move was rather brilliant on her part and I love the way they used the windmill.

Also, we got some genuine Regina (in the first four minutes of the episode nonetheless). I love how you can’t really tell how much of her talk with Kathryn was real and how much was a part of her plan. She seemed genuinely happy about having a friend in Kathryn’s face though and I must say that I enjoy their friendship even though a lot of it was just pretense on Regina’s part. I really would’ve liked to see her apologize to Kathryn once the Curse broke. Also, their friendship seemed a bit rushed in here just like Mary Margaret and David’s relationship and that undermined its credibility a bit. The writers didn’t give it time to develop properly in order to be more believable.

Talking about rushed things, I didn’t quite understand Emma’s reaction when she learned about Graham and Regina. I know it hurts when you’re lied to (btw where was her superpower at when Graham lied to her?) but she looked so betrayed. I know they were trying to set up some ground for their relationship in the next episode but we hadn’t really seen that much of them for it to make sense in this one.

I liked that Whale wanted to apologize to Mary Margaret but the “If you can get over it, you know where to find me” part kinda ruined it. You can tell he just wanted to sleep with her. I still kinda enjoyed their interactions though and what happened really paid off in season 2 when David learned about it and punched Whale. That was hilarious so...

I noticed some foreshadowing here too. “Remember what happened to Frederick” clearly references 1x13. “Magic can do much but not that” is exactly what Rumple said to Regina in 2x05.

Favorite scene: David saying goodbye to Ruth. It was a very sweet scene although a sad one. It really showed the depth of their relationship and to what lengths they were ready to go in order to protect each other. And even during their last time together, Ruth managed to give him hope in the form of the ring. I love how that ring already carries so much meaning and it’s only been six episodes.

Least favorite scene: Mary Margaret and David’s meeting at the toll bridge. That was very shitty on David’s part. The honorable thing to do would’ve been not to lead Mary Margaret on. He should’ve waited to get his shit together before parading his love for her. He also gave fake hope to Kathryn with that decision of his and that led to him hurting them both. Way to go, David.

Favorite line: “As poor as we are, love is one thing I can afford.” - David to Ruth

Least favorite line: “Smile, son. You’re on the road to True Love.” - George to David

I understand his determination to marry David to Abigail but that line was just cruel and unnecessary and all it accomplished was to make David hate him more.

This episode focused more on building David’s character both in the Enchanted Forest and in Storybrooke (they managed to make some contrast between the two personalities) instead of focusing on the story. I don’t like the direction in which we’re headed with the love triangle. I dreaded it the first time around and it really makes me question my decision to rewatch the show (you can tell how much I hate it). I’m not particularly fond of this episode. I think it was a bit scattered in its storytelling. What I really liked was some of the dynamics throughout the episode although a lot of them weren’t fleshed out nearly enough. The big surprise in this episode for me was the positivity it caused in me towards George and James. I really didn’t expect that but I’m glad it happened. I’m looking forward to the next episode. There’s a reason why it’s special for me and I can’t wait to watch it.

[likehandlingroses]

OUAT REWATCH 1x06 - The Shepherd

When are you going to learn? You can’t have everything. 

[whelptimetogoapeshit]

Ep. 6 The Shepherd

Dad asking his daughter where her mom is in front of grandson

SHE AINT YOUR FRIEND. YOU ARE A PAWN, WOMAN

That hop over the fence. Are you a teenager in love trying to impress your crush? And who hangs up a bird house in the middle of the night??? Also if you feel like this, David, break up with your wife

“Make sure you know I’m dead” TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE, “JAMES”

This shit stressed me out and confused the fuck out of me the first time I watched it. Imagine how they had to tell the king, dragging him away from King Midas like “sir there is a PROBLEM”

Wow you’re just worried about the gold, not your son wtf

A secret twin. How original

“Go to bed go to bed or...go to BED go to bed” “Let’s Get It On” starts playing in the background

Yes Ruthhhhh

Rumplestiltskin to Ruth: Surprise Bitch, betcha thought you’re seen the last of me DEARIE

Whale starts talking. Me holding back my gagging 🤢

Oh shit I forgot he actually did it that fast

BAMF CHARMING IS BEST CHARMING

Come on David, not in front of the kids. That one girl in the corner by the door must be like “ooooh adult gossip”

Before Killian, there was Graham. And I miss him every day. But also Hook 🤤 can’t wait to see his leather clad ass again but ANYWAYS

She definitely gave him the wrong directions

But WHAT do you remember???

Don’t take a boy away from his Mother 😭 this poor lady lost both her sons to a ruthless desperate king. Charming was raised right she doesn’t deserve this

Ah. That’s why I forgot he left so fast. He didn’t

And Mary Margaret didn’t deserve this come on David

CAUGHT

Dang Mother and Daughter both broken hearted on the same night someone get the cocoa

BUT👏🏽SHES👏🏽NOT👏🏽SNOW

“You’re on the road to true love” yeah quite literally

GO AWAY WHALE. MARY MARGARET NO

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time  1x06 “The Shepherd” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05

Yes!  Finally, another great episode!  Tonight we have the backstory of Charming! Who isn’t really a prince!  And we get to see more of David and Mary Margaret, and David’s stupid memories coming back.  And because of that, a heartbroken Mary Margaret.  Regina is really evil. This episode basically comes down to the choices we make and how they affect the characters. Also, for the purposes of not confusing anyone, I will be referring to King George’s son as James, and the shepherd as David.

Synopsis:

David struggles with his feelings for Mary Margaret, even though he doesn’t remember his life with his wife, Kathryn. In the Enchanted Forest James must defeat a dragon to help his kingdom.

Opening: 

A dragon flying in the woods.

New Characters:

King Midas: So the nag with the bad attitude from 1x03 has a father and he is King Midas.  Midas is known from Greek Mythology as the king with the golden touch.  He seems to have a glove that won’t turn to gold to help him live with this. In most versions of the story, he has to ask the god that gave him the power to take it away because anything he touches turns to gold, including, in some versions, his daughter. But here he seems to have things under control.  There is a dragon raveging his kingdom and apparently his knights aren’t able to handle it, so he has called upon King George’s kingdom to help out. And, in true royal fashion, gives his daughter’s hand in marriage once the deed is done to help unite their kingdoms.  There really isn’t too much to say about Midas, he’s basically doing what any king would do, and he genuinely seems to love his daughter and just wants what’s best for the kingdoms.

King George:  Prince James’s father who is the biggest asshole. I’m not surprised that their kingdom has no money, he seems like the type who likes extravagance and will do whatever it takes to keep himself in it.  Although, he does truly seem to love his son.  At least, I hope he did, considering he brokered a deal with Rumplestiltskin to get him. Actually, I’m a little torn on this, did he truly love James, or was James just a means to an end for him? The way Rumplestiltskin talks, he just needed an heir and then he barely even mourned James, he just needed him alive to get help from Midas’s kingdom. So maybe he didn’t really love him. Either way, George is an asshole who is used to getting his way and will use any means to get it.

Prince James: Well, he that was a shock!  Was anyone else shocked that Prince James was not actually David? He was an amazing swordsman who didn’t seem to follow his own advice.  He told the other guy to make sure he was really dead, and then he didn’t do the same thing which resulted in his own death.  He also seems to do exactly what his father tells him to do, but he’s not cowardly about it, he enjoys playing the royalty game.  I’m sure, had he slayed the dragon, he would’ve seen Abigail as a prize he had won instead of the woman who was to become his wife.

Character Observations:

David: He’s a poor shepherd in the EF. And the hair, the hair!  Can we just forget about the awfulness that was his hair? He lives with his mother as his father died years ago.  He is determined to marry for love and not just to save his farm. As he tells his mother, marrying for love is the one thing he can afford. Unfortunately, the choices he has to make don’t allow him to marry for love. After finding out the prince was his twin, he makes the choice to pretend to be James to save his farm, but then he must also make the choice to save his mother’s life by marrying Abigail.  As Rumplestiltskin says to him earlier in the episode, ‘Oh, everyone has a choice dearie. Just make sure it’s the right one.’ Thank goodness he knew how to slay a dragon or we’d have two dead brothers.

David Nolan also has a choice to make. He seems to be in a love triangle between his wife, Kathryn, and Mary Margaret. Although, it seems to be pretty one-sided.  David is not the man who married Kathryn, he doesn’t know who that was, he can’t remember him.  All he knows is that he has feelings for Mary Margaret. He does leave Kathryn and goes to meet Mary Margaret by the toll bridge because that is where she found him.  Unfortunately, Regina and Gold seem to have other plans; plans that somehow give him his memories of Kathryn and their life together.  And David, being the nice guy that he is, chooses to try to work with Kathryn.  He claims he never meant to leave her the night he went into a coma; that he was just wanting to work things out on his own. So now they can work things out together.

Mary Margaret: Poor Mary Margaret.  She just gets beat down this episode.  She spends most of her time trying to stay away from David, then he actually leaves his wife for her, only to get his memories back right before they were to be together. She really should’ve waited a little longer than, what, a week or two, and maybe seeing if his memories were to come back before they tried their little rendezvous.  It would have saved a lot of heartache for both of them. Especially, since she seemed pretty convinced his feelings for her were only because she ‘saved’ him. And it looks like Mary Margaret is going to go into rebound mode with Dr. Whale, which, ew.  Just no.  They tried to make him backtrack from his lecherous behavior last time he went on a date with Mary Margaret, but no way do I believe she is that heartbroken enough to let anything happen with Whale. 

Rumplestiltskin/Gold: We find out that George made a deal with him years ago for his son.  Rumplestiltskin calls him a gift whereas George says it was a deal. I get what Rumplestiltskin is going for here.  Children should be considered gifts, but all George is seeing is that he had to make a deal in order to get an heir. George proposes another deal to bring his son back, but Rumple says ‘dead is dead’. Instead, he reveals that James happened to be a twin and that is how ‘his son’ will slay the dragon. Rumplestiltskin comes to David to give him a choice, basically, save your mother and your farm or get yourselves all killed.

Gold is not in this episode very much.  He happens to cross paths with David right when he’s about to make his choice to be with Mary Margaret. He somehow has the windmill in his shop that Kathryn was talking about earlier and that ‘jogs’ David’s memories.

Emma: She doesn’t do a lot this episode.  She’s basically Mary Margaret’s sounding board for her ‘relationship’ with David. She gives Mary Margaret some really bad advice by telling her to be with David since he’s left Kathryn.  I get that she wants Mary Margaret to be happy, but let the guy breath for a little bit.  He literally just woke up from a coma. She also discovers Graham and Regina’s little secret. I’m surprised that Emma’s superpower didn’t detect he was lying earlier when Graham asked her to cover the night shift.  She had every right to tell him to finish her shift.

Abigail/Kathryn: We still don’t get much from Abigail, except that she seems to not want to marry Prince James and is being forced to per royal marriage. She’s still pretty aloof and distant. Kathryn, on the other hand, is nice and warm, and trying everything she can to save her marriage, despite the fact that David clearly doesn’t want to be with her. She’s pretty ecstatic when he remembers and comes back to her.

Regina: God she is getting annoying!  She is so one note.  I get everyone putting up with her over the years because it’s technically the same day over and over, but why does anyone put up with her now that they see how she acts on a daily basis?  She’s just awful to everyone. Is it part of the curse that no one can see how awful she is unless she is personally being a bitch to you? But, it was nice to see her actually trying to be friendly with Kathryn.  I know she has ulterior motives for wanting David and Kathryn to work out, but she seemed genuinely touched at Kathryn’s words.

Dr. Whale: I mean, we’ve barely seen him outside of the hospital. The first time we saw him he was on a date with Mary Margaret but eyeing Ruby in the background.  This time he is hitting on Mary Margaret again, but with an apology and basically telling her to do the unexpected so that you’re not disappointed.  And then she asks him to buy her two drinks.  Yikes!

Questions:

Who is this Frederick King Midas mentioned?

Is there anyone Rumplestiltskin isn’t involved with?  We’ve seen him with Snow and Charming, Regina, Cinderella, Jiminy, and now King George, and at one time, David’s mother.

Where did James’s body go when Rumplestiltskin and King George are talking?  King George is seen mourning over the body with his knights, then Rumplestiltskin comes, then the knights leave and the table James was laying on is now empty, but no one took the body with them.

Have commoners never seen Prince James? Has no one ever seen that James and David look even similar?  I know David’s hair was awful, but is this like a Superman situation where people just ignore that they look identical?

How did David become such a good swordsman as a shepherd?

I know Storybrooke is lax about a lot of things, but could David really get to Mary Margaret’s classroom without having to go through the front office and a phone call to her first?  I’m a teacher and there is no way that would be allowed to happen.

I get that David is being sentimental, but why would he want to meet Mary Margaret out in the middle of the woods? Especially a place he almost died.

There is a lot riding on circumstance with David, Regina, and Gold.  How did Regina know David would get lost trying to find the toll bridge, or was she just in the right place at the right time? How did Regina know Gold would help her with her plan? How did Regina and Gold know that David would even come in the shop when Regina gave him the wrong directions? How did Gold know that David would recognize the windmill? He wasn’t even there when Kathryn mentioned it?.  Is all this subliminally planted in David’s mind somehow?

Who was Dr. Whale in the EF? Maybe he’s really the whale from Pinocchio? Or are there any doctor characters in fairy tales?

 Observations:

Regina mentions her lost love again to Kathryn.

Take your own advice James, make sure the guy is really dead.

The round table in King George’s castle is the same table that Snow and Charming had their war council meeting with the Blue Fairy in the Pilot.

Rumplestiltskin’s price for bringing David to King George is the whereabouts of a certain fairy godmother whose wand he wants.  

The headline in the Storybrooke Daily Mirror is “Welcome Home, John Doe”.  Slow news day, I guess.

King George’s knights are pretty bad at their job.  First they let James get killed, and then most of them die fighting the dragon.

David rents a room at Granny’s when he leaves Kathryn.

Items in Gold’s shop that we see: Beer Steins, a lamp (I’m assuming Aladdin’s), a tea set, the ugly puppets, the unicorn mobile.

Gold refers to David as Charming when he comes into the shop, and then covers it by saying the mobile is charming.

David’s mother’s ring has true love follow it wherever it goes.  

Graham does volunteer at an animal shelter.

David and Abigail’s scene ends right at the beginning of where ‘Snow Falls’ began!

Timeline Issues:

Rumplestiltskin requests from King George the whereabouts of a fairy godmother in order to procure her wand.  This is obviously the same fairy godmother he kills in “The Price of Gold”. We know that George would have had to give Rumplestiltskin this information sometime before David and Abigail separated (we know they did because we have seen Snow and Charming’s wedding) because otherwise he probably would’ve felt the deal with invalid. So, let’s say that Cinderella and the fairy godmother happened pretty soon after this. We don’t know how long it took for Snow and Charming to actually find each other again, fall in love, and for Snow to defeat the Evil Queen, so I’ll say that Cinderella and Thomas courted for a year before they got married.  Hopefully, that would be enough time for all the Snow and Charming stuff to happen. Basically, this is a lot to say that, while it was a fun throwback for us to get Rumplestiltskin asking George about the fairy godmother, it makes some plotlines a little hard to follow.

Once Upon a Time Firsts:

You can’t resurrect the dead.

Emma and bear claw pastries.

Names:

Abigail - Technically, this means my father is joy, but most people translate it to father’s joy.  So this works because Midas obviously adores his daughter.

George - was most likely named because of the legend of George and the Dragon, even if George didn’t slay this dragon.

I really like the backstory of this episode.  Everything with David actually being a shepherd and not an actual prince makes it easier to understand why he falls for Snow’s spunkiness. Also, on a personal note, I hated Mary Margaret’s hair in this episode.  I love her bangs, keep the bangs!

@searchingwardrobes@thisonesatellite@justbecauseyoubelievesomething

@laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81