#this episode was a real game changer in so many ways. the dynamic shifted even more

[wicked-source]

[consoledacup]

AoS Episode Showdown -- FZZT

This episode is so damn good I was almost late to work because I wanted to keep watching. Even though I’ve seen it at least 10 times. There’s a lot to say.

In this episode, 1x06, Skye says that FitzSimmons is psychically linked. Fitz scoffs at that and then looks on horrified as Simmons does a Ward impression almost exactly like his. In 2x06, that psychic link is completely subverted. Any sort of attempt Simmons gives to finish Fitz’s train of thought is immediately squashed by him. In 5x06, the psychic link is well intact when they both propose to each other at the first opportunity. And then, of course, 6x06 literally has Fitz and Simmons psychically linked. 

Fitz tells Skye she “made the rounds” and apologized to all of them. I love the idea of her going up to May, Ward, Fitz, and Simmons individually and apologizing to each of them. Although, my guess is FitzSimmons is in the same room when she approaches them.

FitzSimmons both imitate Ward with their hands on their hips. When the team arrives on the campsite, Ward has his hands on his hips. 

When Coulson, Ward, and Skye are talking about Adam Cross, Ward says that “everyone looks clean on their first go-round.” While, yes, this is a clear foreshadow about Ward, this also applies to the show as a whole. Up until 1x17, the team and the audience were both lulled into a sense of trusting that everyone had good intentions. Over the years, both the team and the audience have learned to trust. no. one. I love it.

In 1x06, Simmons tells Fitz that as a scientist she “has to dissect something.” In 6x06, Id Jemma literally cuts into Fitz, claiming, “I like dissection.”

In 1x06, FitzSimmons has the dynamic of a bickering married couple. In 2x06, Hunter and Bobbi take on that persona, while Fitz and Simmons maintain a dynamic far less friendly. In 5x06, Fitz and Jemma have a brief married couple spat involving who proposed first at the very end of the episode. In 6x06, they are literally a bickering married couple. 

Tony Diaz’s death is heartbreaking. His realization when he repeats his friends’ names and thinks about what happened to them... 

In 1x06, when Tony asks Coulson about what death was like for him, Coulson says, “It’s beautiful.” In 6x06, when Jemma is pleading with Fitz, she says that there was “a lot of death, yes, but there was beauty too.” I just really like that word used when coupled with death.

When May tells Coulson he did everything he could for the fireman, Coulson gives a little nod that breaks my heart. He’d like to believe that she’s right, but he knows he could’ve done more. 

In 2x06, even though we don’t see Imaginary Jemma in the outfit first shown in 1x06, there’s a scene where Fitz is turned away, caressing his shoulder and murmuring to himself before the real Jemma arrives.

1x06: “Oh, Fitz. It’s the most perfect opportunity to see the world. We’d be fools to pass this one up.” 6x06: “Chin up, Fitz. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I’m sure these were both said during the same conversation. Both show Jemma’s insistence that they join and Fitz’s reluctance. And in 1x06, Fitz does not disguise his blame, and Jemma does not disguise her guilt.

“You’ve been beside me the whole damn time.”

When Jemma requests that Coulson tell her dad first, he says they’re not there yet, and he refuses to listen. You can tell he’s still harboring guilt for what happened to Tony and will be damned if it happens to Simmons. But then Jemma emits a little please, and Coulson gives the second devastating nod of the episode. He’s already so attached to her, and his helplessness is killing him.

Ophelia describes Fitz’s true nature as being a romantic, and she’s right. The moment Jemma’s life is threatened, Fitz barrels through the lab doors, risking viral infection, and then prepares to jump out of a plane. Without question. 

But there’s something else about that too. From episodes 1-5, Fitz has a crush on Skye. In this episode, his feelings shift dramatically, and I’m one of the herd that believes that that last shot of Fitz was him discovering his feelings for Jemma. Even if Iain didn’t play it that way, I think the script does. That doesn’t mean the last shot isn’t layered and nuanced, and there are more things about that last look that can be discussed. His affection for Jemma does not waver until the end of “Self Control” when his memories are displaced, and he’s devoted to Ophelia. Once he’s out of the Framework, he’s all in with Jemma again. There is not a single episode where Fitz is not romantically into someone. I wonder if part of that, the desire to be with someone, has to do with the lack of affection from his father that he endured as a child. 

When Fitz is struggling with the parachute straps, Ward appears with a thump, so I think he jumped from the top stair of the spiral staircase, and I gotta give him props. 

Skye hugging Simmons is everything. Even though Fitz is Jemma’s person, and Coulson is Skye’s, Skye and Simmons care a lot about each other, and their relationship subtly grows into something beautiful. And when you think that in the prior episode, Skye was betraying her team to save her boyfriend, it’s a nice touch to see how much Skye cares for Simmons despite everything she’s done. 

Also, aesthetically, in 1x06, Skye hugs Simmons after Ward and Simmons lightheartedly talk about Ward saving her. Ward is off to the side, allowing Skye and Simmons to have their moment. In 2x06, the three of them have another short scene. But this time, Jemma steps in front of Skye, cutting off contact between the two, and tells him the next time she sees him, she’ll kill him. Oh, the times... they are a’changing.

In 1x06, when May asks Coulson how Simmons is doing, Coulson answers that she’s “amazingly resilient. You’d never know she almost died.” I have to give the writers all the props with this because what Coulson says displays the main way Jemma handles trauma from here on out. And not only is that seen time and time again, It’s discussed and addressed as incredibly unhealthy in 6x06.

“Don’t let anyone know. That’s the whole idea.” 

In 1x06, May intuits that the traumatic experiences both Simmons and Coulson endured have affected them in a big way, whether they acknowledge it or not. In 3x06, May has a similar discussion with Bobbi about her traumatic experience with Ward. May is the quickest to catch on to these changes in mood and action for incredibly obvious reasons. 

In 1x06, Fitz laments that he couldn’t have done “the whole James Bond in mid-air type of thing.” In 5x06, Fitz leaps from the balcony, shoots the laser barrier control in mid-air, and lands on the platform. 

In 1x06, when Jemma says, “you’re the hero,” Fitz gives her a little yeah. The last shot of him shows how much he doesn’t believe her. I think this is a gorgeous last scene.

Not only is the FitzSimmons storyline incredible with phenomenal acting, but the rest of the team have nice character moments too. And if that wasn’t enough, the monster-of-the-week plot is incredibly engaging, and the actor playing Tony Diaz gives such a beautiful performance. In many ways, this episode is a game changer, I’m not going to even play coy about ranking it:

FZZT

Eye Spy

Pilot

Girl in the Flower Dress

The Asset

0-8-4

[briangroth27]

iZombie Season 3 Review

Full spoilers...

iZombie's third season started off with a personal game-changer after Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) learned Liv (Rose McIver) and Major (Robert Buckley) were zombies. I thought that would be the extent of this year's changes, but I was way off. I liked that the season premiere somewhat functioned as a recap/primer for the show after such a long hiatus, but it was great to get back into the cases (and brains) of the week by episode 2. I enjoyed all the episodes, but I especially loved the twist resolutions to the mysteries in “Wag the Tongue Slowly” and “Eat, Pray, Liv.” I liked that Liv, Clive, Ravi, and Peyton all got to investigate the main plot from different angles over the course of the season, even though they didn’t initially know it. It felt a little like Liv was excluded from big portions of the main arc for a lot of the season because of her need to be tied to the cases of the week, but this balanced the leads’ involvement in the run-up to Discovery Day. The threads that led to the public reveal of zombies were really well-developed and came together perfectly. I’d heard the season finale would “reboot” the series, but man…I didn’t expect this! I loved that the writers were willing to be so daring as to change everything by outing zombies to the world and even making Seattle a zombie-run city. There’s no going back now, and the show will be healthier for it.

Liv Moore As always, McIver gave an acting tour de force. Her ability to incorporate different character traits from the brains she eats into her baseline Liv personality is outstanding and it’s a shame she hasn’t gotten more awards recognition for this role. If they ever recast Rogue in the X-men films, they should absolutely ask McIver. The gossip, father, and dungeon master brains were among my favorites this year, but the pre-school teacher brain was easily an all-time top five brain: that was hilarious and included many of my favorite comedic Liv moments of the whole series!

I liked that the brains didn’t always give helpful visions—a fun twist to the show’s formula—or made Liv forgetful: I was really worried the scatterbrain causing Liv to constantly forget to get the materials Ravi needed would make Major’s rapidly deteriorating condition even worse. If it did have an effect it wasn’t commented on, but I loved that they explored the negative effects of brains. Liv getting visions of having sex with Ravi (Rahul Kohli) thanks to eating the brain of his dead ex Katty Kupps (Christina Cox) was super awkward. Drake’s (Greg Finley) ghost appearing thanks to the Weckler (Gordon Woolvett) brain was a fun way to interrupt her relationship with Justin (Tongayi Chirisa), dig into her psyche, and force her to confront the dangling emotional threads from Drake’s death. I liked that Liv and Justin’s first date included eating the brain of a daredevil (Robert Ri’chard): that was a sweet and fun zombie twist on couple bonding. The brains made things even worse for Liv’s personal life as, just as she’d gotten a taste of a normal relationship with Justin, she cheated on him with Chase Graves (Jason Dohring) thanks to Kupps’ brain. I liked that it wasn’t black-and-white that she cheated on Justin due to the brains’ influence on her and thought that was an interesting development. With so much else going on at the end of the season, I understand why this didn’t get a bigger moment, but I wanted to see them at least try to work through this fact of their zombie existence. I liked Justin, but once he called the guards at the Fillmore-Graves packing facility on Liv, I lost all interest in them salvaging that relationship.

Even though Ravi invented a cure that worked, I didn’t think Liv would take it—the show would be over—but I was intrigued to see if they could make an arc out of a temporarily-cured Liv. I’d still like to see that someday, particularly in the zombie-run Seattle. It could be a cool way to make her the underdog again, though Major’s already done the “human pretending to be a zombie” arc this year. I absolutely loved that Liv and Ravi shared the last scene of the season; her agreeing to scratch him to test his zombie vaccine was perfect, touching, and funny! Their platonic “I love yous” were great; their friendship is one of the best parts of the show and I’m glad it’s been so prominent over the years.

I liked Liv’s development over the course of the season and enjoyed her getting to have a normal relationship after Drake last year. It’s great that the show has allowed her to truly be friends with Major, even under the influence of a paranoid brain: it’s healthy to show that exes can be friends if they respect each other. With Clive in on the secret, it was awesome to see her finally able to be open and honest with all the people closest to her. Liv’s begrudging alliance with Blaine (David Anders) to keep zombies under wraps was also a fun development of their antagonistic relationship. I hope next season puts Liv into a leadership position as one of the veteran zombies in town: she deserves a chance to not have to hide herself anymore and she has the experience to be a leader in the zombie community. Liv being out about her zombie status would create the perfect opportunity to bring her mom (Molly Hagan) and brother (Nick Purcha) back for more family drama. Liv coaching Johnny Frost (Daran Norris) through the announcement that many of Seattle’s residents had been turned into zombies was a great moment and I hope that trajectory continues. On a side note, that scene was the most serious I’ve ever seen Norris act and he absolutely nailed the weight of the situation; that was simply stellar. The comparison of becoming a zombie to a person contracting a disease—that those people are still your friends and loved ones—harked back to the beginning of the show, where Liv was essentially a woman who used her illness to help others after it derailed her life plan. I’ve always loved that metaphor, and Liv taking that experience and becoming a guide to the city’s new zombie population would be a powerful way to elaborate on it. 

Ravi Chakrabarti My least favorite part of Season 2 was the Ravi-Peyton-Blaine triangle (I wished both Ravi and Peyton (Aly Michalka) had more of their own subplots than this), so I wasn't super happy it continued into Season 3. Ravi came off as very unlikable in “Eat, Pray, Liv,” and I was hoping the love triangle would be resolved before he got worse. So, I was glad it ended relatively early on. I don’t mind that he made mistakes with Peyton, but I definitely wasn’t on his side here; even if Blaine was faking, Peyton was right to admonish Ravi about constantly trying to say he was bad and derail that relationship. It wasn’t a good look on Ravi, but nothing says characters always have to be perfect and it didn’t ruin his character for me. I was just hoping that plot would end sooner rather than later, and that he’d get some perspective and growth out of it.   

On the other hand, I loved Ravi's undercover work with the militant zombie truthers once Liv couldn’t safely infiltrate them! Getting him out of the lab and into the field—and into danger—was great and I loved seeing him interact with the truthers. That group felt like a smart parallel to real-life hate groups and Don E (Bryce Hodgson) getting captured by Harley Johns (Andrew Caldwell) and nearly broadcast online as a full Romero zombie was a great climax to the arc! The arc also introduced Rachel (Ella Cannon) to the show and I didn’t see her using Ravi to out zombies to the world at all! I wanted to like her and was sorry she was just in it for the story. Kohli was great at playing the spy and feeling the sting of betrayal after Rachel’s true intentions were revealed, but his scenes with Major, about to lose his memory after taking the cure, were some of his finest work on the show to date.

I was hoping they’d expand on Ravi’s expertise in zombie science beyond his experiments with the cure, so developing a zombie vaccine after offering it up as part of his truther cover was a great angle and I hope it leads to him being something of a zombie doctor next year. With Major getting a big role with Fillmore-Graves, I was hoping Ravi would get something similar in a bigger lab, so perhaps zombies becoming public knowledge and him being the preeminent zombie expert will lend itself to that. It’d change the CSI dynamic of the show, but maybe it’s time for Liv to take over the M.E. lab and move Ravi up the science food chain somehow. Perhaps he could lead a Seattle branch of the CDC specializing in zombie affairs. Experimenting with the memory serum and the creation of the blue brain juice was a fun way to change up the visions as well. It was cool to finally see Liv’s vision expression and the affect it had on zombie visions was a great way to play with the concept. I’d love to see more of this sort of experimental zombie science next season and I’m sure that Ravi’s zombie vaccine is going to be a huge part of that. I think it will work…but maybe not the way he’s expecting. While it would be really cool to have a zombie-“Hulk” Ravi, I think the vaccine will fail to turn zombies back into people, but will permanently vaccinate people from becoming new zombies. That will create a massive problem for Chase’s zombie paradise, creating a divide between the living and the undead “species.”

Clive Babineaux I loved Clive getting in on Liv’s secret this season and his reactions to her eating brains—and knowing how they affected her—were gold. I’m sure it was a blast for Goodwin to finally get to play reactions to what was really happening with Liv’s wildly shifting personality and he did an excellent job with that development. Moments like Liv, Clive, Ravi, Major, and Peyton playing Dungeons & Dragons were a lot of fun and couldn’t have happened as purely even last year. Clive’s germophobia was another fun running gag and I liked how it rolled into his reaction to the city-wide vaccinations that triggered the zombie outbreak. The Clive arc I liked the most was his quest to avenge the deaths of Wally Tuttle-Reid (Mataeo Mingo), his mom (Caitlin Stryker), and his uncle (Michasha Armstrong); the show did an excellent job of making me care about them and Clive’s connection to them using flashbacks in just one episode. Wally and his mom were very likable and well-established, and I’m sorry we (and Clive) didn’t get to spend more time with them. I was impressed by how well all the actors involved in those scenes made me care for them. I also loved that exploring detrimental brains, like Liv’s scatterbrain experience, allowed Clive to showcase his detective skills and solve the case of the week on his own. While I wasn’t a fan of the resolution to the case that brought Dale Bozzio (Jessica Harmon) back into Clive’s life—the Russian hacking seemed too far outside this show’s realm of criminal activity—I liked that they got back together. It’ll be great to explore a serious relationship between a human and a zombie; whether Clive and Bozzio can make it work should be very interesting (and a relevant parallel to real-life couples in which one partner has an incurable illness). They seem happy, but for how long? Is he going to be able to stand by her? Will his germophobia get in the way, or is this a way through it for him? Will he get infected accidentally? How would that change his dynamic with Liv? And will his role as a cop bring him into closer concert with Fillmore-Graves now that they essentially run the city?

Major Lilywhite Robert Buckley only got to play one Brain this season, but it was a great one! Liv and Major on dad and teenage daughter brains, respectively, was an awesome change to their dynamic, bolstered by hilarious performances by both actors! Not only was it good to see Major affected by a brain, but I liked that he didn't enjoy getting visions: it gave us some nice variety in zombie reactions to needing to eat brains. Major finding a place to belong with Fillmore-Graves was a cool arc and a nice rebound after the Chaos Killer plot. I really liked that he found a true brotherhood there: even after his status as a cured zombie was revealed and he was forced out, the friends he’d made still truly cared about him. The cure/memory loss portion of Major’s arc was particularly sad and showcased some of Buckley’s (and McIver and Kohli’s) finest acting on the show to date. I loved his trip back home to see his parents, his final night with Liv, and Ravi’s aborted speech. I was interested to see what reboot Major would be like, but I preferred the happier twist that he ended up OK. I was also expecting a downside to the cure, but I suppose he’d suffered enough just waiting to take it and thinking he was going to lose himself completely. I liked that he and Liv spent the night together before he took it and I thought he definitely still felt something for her, so I was surprised he was so cool about her dating Justin (and that things weren’t weirder between the guys). I know Major and Liv weren’t able to be together again since he’d been cured, but they’d also just slept together and neither one of them really got a moment to process their moving on so quickly. I suppose that goes back to the two of them genuinely supporting each other in their relationships, but I wish we’d seen them have a conversation about it. His rebound relationship with Shawna (Sarah Jurgens) was a smart way to remind us of just how alone the Chaos Killer made him; I liked that she crystalized the isolation of his life, both by initially presenting as being attracted to him for his notoriety and then by further ostracizing him by cashing in on it. In fact, his isolation worked so well that, along with being booted out of Fillmore-Graves, I would’ve been content with Major and Natalie (Brooke Lyons) leaving town together. I liked her and their relationship, and this felt like a natural point for him to depart the series. Her death (and the explosion in general) was unexpected, but I thought it was a waste to kill her and the rest of Major’s friends rather than an unavoidable tragedy (and it was odd Liv and Co. were waiting at Ravi’s house watching the news instead of being at the explosion site, searching for Major and Justin’s bodies). However, Major choosing to turn back into a zombie because he had nowhere else to go was a great, sad moment. It’s also an interesting parallel to Vivian Stoll (Andrea Savage) scratching herself to stay by her husband’s side. I’m sure the season’s closing moments—Major and Justin preparing to open fire on a group of anti-zombie humans attacking a brain transport—are going to propel his character into a completely new direction next year. I can’t wait to see if he’ll regret siding with the zombies or if the humans’ actions will convince him he’s on the right side!

Peyton Charles I liked that Peyton was firm with Ravi’s inability to accept her past with Blaine. However, I didn't think Peyton needed to apologize to Ravi when the truth about Blaine’s amnesia came out; even though he was right about Blaine, she didn’t have anything to apologize for. I'd like her to get back to being Liv's best friend in the coming year; though Liv helped her by eating Weckler's brain, there wasn't much chance for them to hang out and it would've helped to center Liv in a bit of normality. Like Ravi, I’m glad Peyton got a meatier subplot this season. The Weckler case felt awkwardly abrupt in its initial episode, so I liked that it was designed that way and Peyton spent a good deal of time pulling at that thread. Getting to see her as a lawyer—and eventually bringing her into Baracus' (Kurt Evans) mayoral circle as his Chief of Staff—were great uses of her role and development of her career. I can't wait to see how that thread continues next season as she helps keep the peace in Seattle. It seems like she’s set up for the most involved plotline of her time on the show now that she’s at the center of the zombie government and I can’t wait to see Michalka play with that!

Blaine DeBeers I liked memory-loss Blaine and wouldn't have minded if he'd stuck around in that form. While at first I thought he was probably lying, the show (and Anders) convinced me he’d truly lost his memory before long (I was sure the memory loss was real up until he took Ravi’s memory booster). I definitely bought his reluctance to try that serum for fear of reverting back into the criminal he’d heard he was, and I was sorry he’d lied for most of the season. I’m not sure I believe him about his feelings for Peyton or the chance to reshape his life being real, but if they choose to explore that to some extent next year, I’d be on board. Making Blaine a lounge singer of all things was an unexpected development, but I liked it. Maybe next season he should open a piano bar (with ample room for dancing, given the zombie flash mob!) called Dead Beats.

I was interested to see where Blaine’s antagonistic relationship with his father Angus McDonough (Robert Knepper) would go, but unfortunately I thought it fell a little flat. Angus initially seemed more intimidating than Mr. Boss (Eddie Jemison), but he eventually came off as sorta one-note. Plot-wise, Angus seemed to plateau with the establishment of the Scratching Post zombie speakeasy (a cool bit of world-building) and I’m surprised he wasn’t a bigger deal for the rest of the characters. I guess I expected more complexity and evil scheming out of him (having Blaine shot notwithstanding), but locking him in a well and periodically giving him chunks of brain was a great, twisted moment of revenge on Blaine’s part. I also expected more from Boss’ return, but his new position as Blaine’s international broker for brains should be fun, if the Discovery Day events haven’t rendered this plotline inert. I guess Seattle will still need brains, though, and it’ll be great to see the Blaine/Boss relationship inverted. I’m definitely interested to see where Blaine goes in this new world order!

Fillmore-Graves First of all, what an awesome name! This show and its puns have been consistently fantastic, and this is no exception. I loved that they provided another twist on the brain mythology with their brain-blends that didn’t produce side-effects; that was a clever evolution of zombie food. I thought we could’ve spent some more time with original FG head Vivian Stoll, but I liked what we got of her. I did think that both she and Chase should’ve had a bigger response to learning there was a zombie cure, though, given it could either eradicate their “species” or solve their problems completely, depending on how they looked at it. It makes me wonder if Fillmore-Graves operatives stole it from Ravi: their non-response to Major suddenly being human again would make sense if they knew a cure wouldn’t be an issue for long. I don’t think they want to be human again.

I knew Fillmore-Graves was behind the deaths of Wally’s family and Katty Kupps the whole time (minus a brief, last-minute thought the Weckler murders could actually be Baracus), but I didn’t suspect Carey Gold (Anjali Jay)! I wish we’d known her better, but Baracus just trying to cover his indiscretions would’ve been underwhelming and Chase Graves would’ve been too obvious. I liked the twist that Chase—who I was absolutely prepared to hate, since Dorhing seemed to be doing something similar to his slimy Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars—was a cad, but was also truly trying to create human/zombie peace and essentially got forced into following through with Gold’s plan since it was so popular among the F-G zombies. Initially I thought Fillmore-Graves was staging zombie murders to justify the existence of its military force, but I didn’t see Discovery Day being the endgame. I thought the Weckler case plot would lead to Fillmore-Graves blackmailing/controlling public officials, not to them turning nearly everyone into zombies. The flu outbreak was definitely an unexpected plot point on the road to Discovery Day, but it was a genius Trojan Horse move. Chase’s plan to supply Seattle with brains is ambitions, but I wonder how long it’ll last. Will he be forced to turn to illegal channels like Blaine, or will he be in conflict with those “unofficial” sources of brains? Will the rest of the nation continue to agree to let Seattle be a zombie city, or are we looking at a war here? How big could that get?

  This was a great season! I'm excited that we're fully into a post-zombie world and can’t wait to see what it brings. The long wait for Season 4 is going to be rough! 

[anothershadeofpurple]

Henry: The curse is keeping them apart with the coma. Now they’re stuck without each other. We know who they are. Now they have to know. Emma: And how do you intend to make that happen? Henry: By reminding him. We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he’ll remember who he is.

Considering all the wild spoilers going around, I figured I’d do a little post on it and this seemed like a good place to start. Once again Emma & Regina’s story follows that of Snow and Charming. In season one, their names were changed to David and Mary Margaret, they were stuck in a world that wasn’t theirs, separated because they didn’t remember who they were. Henry suggests to have Mary Margaret tell David his own story to have him wake up and remember who he is. 

Fast forward to now. We see Regina and Emma in a world where they don’t belong. Here they are the Evil Queen and the Princess. Just like David and Mary Margaret need to become Snow White and Prince Charming again, the Princess and the Queen need to become Emma and Regina again. Regina has split from the Queen, Emma is struggling with being the Savior. Just like Mary Margaret, Regina ends up telling Emma her story. Except, just like Charming, Emma doesn’t respond to her story. She responds to their story, the love story, the story of their family.

So what can we make of that?

“The pitch was it’s gonna take 6 years to break the curse.” Jennifer Morrison

Well, for one thing, that they didn’t actually lie to their actors. Emma completely losing herself suggests that we have been experiencing the curse from within this whole time. Emma is in the same position as the entire town of Storybrooke was in Season 1.

So she is in a haze - she’s hasn’t been herself and is dating... Captain Hook of all people - not aging - permanent infant baby Neal is not a mistake - with screwed up memories - there was so much more to Emma and Lily’s story - stuck in a cursed town that’s keeping her oblivious - check! Emma has slowly come under the same curse without us - or her - realizing it.

Since Emma now remembers who she is thanks to Regina, we are getting closer to the moment when the curse will be broken, just like for Snow & Charming. Everyone will finally return to their rightful state and their rightful world.

“The basic story line of Once will be completed this season.” Eduardo Castro

The basic story line has always been about breaking the curse, that is the big conflict set up in the Pilot. That doesn’t mean it is the last season, quite the contrary, because we need to see Emma, Regina and Henry return to Storybrooke. It won’t be as easy as just being back. Magic and wishes come with a price and narratively it would have to be a season with challenges to prove Emma has benefited from the lessons she has learned in her cursed state. She has to learn how to navigate in a world where the magic that remains are the lessons about hope, belief, fate and love she learned. It would also have to reframe the rest of the show we have just seen and clarify things.

She will end the series [current storyline] in a newer version of the classic red jacket. Eduardo Castro

Emma’s jacket was always a symbol of what was happening to her. It suddenly changed along with her when she took on a new role, which is something that isn’t possible in the real world. In the Firebird episode - even though Hook seemed to be the Phoenix rises from the ashes - it was really Emma’s rebirth when she put on her jacket from the Pilot.

Note that the shot is composed to show us what’s going to happen this season. The flower patterns are just a cover and they will be removed to reveal the real Emma Swan again. This moment shows her intent to fight back and find her way out of her cursed state. She seems to have little moment of awareness where she takes control again.

“There will be a little bit of closure in this particular narrative regardless of what happens with Season 7.”  Channing Dungey

The curse being broken would be a really big shift in the story, so this makes perfect sense. It will feel like a different show if the Evil Queen’s first curse is broken completely and magic leaves again. That doesn’t mean they can’t continue telling the story of the people who were always their only real dynamic - and since the split all original - characters Emma, Regina and Henry. And it doesn’t mean they can’t choose to follow some of the fairy tale characters when they’re back in the Enchanted Forest... but it would definitely be a little bit of closure and it could easily be described as a reset.

“Executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis would be looking for the seventh season to be a springboard in a new direction from a narrative standpoint, which doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not bringing cast back, it’s just how do you kind of hit the reset button in a way that gives you opportunity to expand the stories that we’re telling?” Channing Dungey

Adam Horowitz said on Twitter they weren’t going to do a reset. It makes sense he wouldn’t call it that or see it as such. This would simply be them telling the story they set out to tell from the beginning, except we were fooled into thinking the curse was broken in season one. It’s logical that they may want to make the audience aware a big change is coming. Especially casual viewers may have long forgotten about the initial curse. Many people are watching for the Disney live action, so it makes sense to give a bit of an advance warning that change is afoot without giving anything away.

If they break the curse, it would clarify things, it would potentially bring viewers back and it might bring in a new audience if there is enough of a buzz. Especially since as mentioned in the beginning, Regina and Emma are like Snow and Charming. Regina is the one making Emma remember who she is, so it’s not exactly out of the realm of possibility there’s a little True Love kissing involved in order to break that pesky curse. Media would be talking... and in these days of queer people’s rights being in jeopardy in places where we hoped we’d be fine, they might get more support for it than ever. The timing would be perfect given the current state of the world.

This explains why they don’t want to set the show up for cancellation, but they do need a new concept. The Pilot was built with all the elements of the story that is coming to a close. As this cycle ends, a new one begins. They need a new premise. A new challenge. A new conflict. Season 7 would have to give closure, but set up an entirely new story that could go on for season. That’s simply what all this talk is about. They just need to pitch a new show, because season 7 would be a pilot and closure at the same time. It’s unusual because tv shows don’t usually have set endings, but Once Upon a Time was created with 7 seasons in mind, it seems. Hence the odd communications and decision making process. It’s an ending and a beginning tied in one.

“My contract ends in April on Once Upon a Time. I don’t know what that means. They haven’t picked up the show officially yet — they might, they might not. We are just waiting now to see if the network decides to continue with the show — and if they do continue with the show, if they’re going to rework it to be something else, or if they’re going to invite people to stay. We’re just in a holding pattern right now.” Jennifer Morrison

We have been seeing everything from Emma’s perspective and as the curse is broken, we will still be in her life. She is the hero here. So the new concept they are working on will have to either still revolve around her or be transitioned away from her to another character. They could be doing anything, but a new contract would probably be about season 7, but also about guest spots for any future seasons. So it makes sense that everything is up in the air until they know what to do with season 7 creatively. If they’re unsatisfied with what the writers come up with, they could still announce season 7 as the last one.

I am collaborating with my costume maker about a corset and skirt for [the] Evil Queen, plus three sets of Fairies, plus a Wedding I have to deal with as well. Eduardo Castro

They are not being very secretive about their wedding at all, which tells you that... the wedding itself isn’t at the heart of the season finale. They’re not hiding the spoilers, they’re not afraid to talk about it. It’s not a secret. Something that gives narrative closure after 6 seasons? It will be more explosive than that. So while it is an important plot point... it just won’t be where the story ends. It always comes back to Emma, Regina and Henry. The wedding seems to be linked to the musical episode, which is not the finale... The musical episode is the 20th of the season, just like Firebird, it was a game changer, but the finale was all about the family again.

It does seem like they aren’t bringing everyone back, so who is going to leave? Anything is possible, but since the entire show really was about Emma coming to town and meeting Mayor Regina, I would say the resolution to this story heavily involves them. It’s not because people aren’t regulars anymore next season, they won’t be coming back for guest spots in a few episodes. Lana Parrilla or Jennifer Morrison leaving seems unlikely to me, simply based on the narrative and the fact that fairy tales do have happy endings, because they are a guideline for life. Something to give us hope. Leaving the fairy tale world behind is enough of a sad message to have a modern audience accept something sweet and romantic where Emma finally finds her home with Henry and Regina, where Regina dares to believe in love again and Henry has both of his mothers. You know, just to give a completely random example.

Hook dying still makes most sense to me, simply because he was found under a pile of dead bodies and has now died twice. As Emma is his happy ending, I don’t think it’s beyond the writers to show how very twisted they can be and put more emphasis on ending than on happy in his case.

I also don’t think the Charmings are safe, simply because of some of what they’ve shown us.

They have been shown as the villains in the AU. While they’re not actually villains, they’re subtly shown as the reason why Emma is afraid to be herself.

This scene heavily suggested they’re going to end up in the Underworld. It could also mean for Emma simply that she will have to be separated from them.

This line by Snow suggests that if they get to keep Emma, she loses. Meaning she cannot have both her new family and her parents. She has to choose. As well all do, I would take this as symbolically being forced to let go of your parents to start your own life, but since this is a fairy tale, Emma would have to choose between her own world and the world of her parents. It’s like Hercules who chooses a life on earth with Megara instead of a life with the Gods. Eventually her parents have to go back to the fairy tale world and she has to go home.

This scene was very telling. Snow and Charming were actually killed, Emma has to accept they are not real - they belong in the story world. The very fact she didn’t choose to save them, but she did choose Regina, tells us on some level Emma already knows. She has already made her choice. She has to say goodbye to her parents in order to live her own life.

As for Gold and Belle go, I expect Belle to be very prominent, because she has been a symbol of life throughout the show. Gold was a symbol of death, but death isn’t necessarily bad, it’s a natural part of life... So I am expecting balance between these two characters, but Gold would at the very least take a backseat because we’ll be focusing on life.

Let’s wait and see...