OUAT: The Heart is a Loney Hunter

Warning: Here there be spoilers!

Once Upon A Time is tied for my new favorite show with Revenge, both ABC offerings. They are smart, different, and the twists and mysteries keep me hanging. I love them, especially since some of my older favorites (like Grey's Anatomy, CSI, and Private Practice) have gotten a little stale. I was eagerly awaiting OUAT after seeing very early articles about it, and tuned in anxiously for the first episode...well, the next day anyway, thanks to DVR I never watch anything live anymore. I was hooked from episode one. So far they've been great about keeping the mysteries and twists coming, but last's night's episode really didn't shock me.

According to all the TV blogs, last night's episode was supposed to contain a "big character reveal" and a "shocking" death. There WAS a reveal, and there WAS a death, but I wouldn't consider either a shock.



The Big Character Reveal

Apparently, the big character reveal was that Sheriff Graham was the Huntsman. Umm...who didn't see that coming? That was my assumption for him all the way from episode one. He worked for the Mayor/Evil Queen, he said he was a tracker, instead of getting rid of Emma he got her to stay...and let's face it, he kind of looked like a scruffy woodsman. The only other possibility I ever even considered was the Big Bad Wolf, and that's only because of the previously aforementioned scruffiness and the wolf that ran Emma's car off the road. That thought really didn't last long though, especially after his bizarre relationship with the Mayor was revealed. Also, if he was the Big Bad Wolf, one would think there would be more interaction with Ruby/Red Riding Hood.

So, Graham starts getting his memories back after kissing Emma, which just brings up a whole new conundrum. Obviously Emma is the key to the curse starting to break down, but does that mean everyone has to kiss Emma? What about Mary Margaret kissing David? Why didn't that bring back any of their Snow White/Prince Charming memories? Her touch and story reading was enough to bring him out of the coma, but the kiss did nothing? How does that make any sense? And Snow (I'm just going to call her Snow because Mary Margaret is too much to type all the time) is living with Emma, her daughter, and their proximity does nothing? Grrr. I wish I understood how this memory triggering works. I want to see Snow realize Emma is her daughter!

The Death

The big "shocking" death was, again, Sheriff Graham. Like I said before, who didn't see that coming? As soon as the TV gossip sites said there was going to be a death of a fan favorite, I knew it was going to be him. Let's discuss why...

Obviously, at least to me, they weren't going to kill off the Mayor, Emma, Snow or Henry. The creators aren't George RR Martin, who totally would have killed off Snow and made a minor character into a major player. If we relate OUAT to LOST, with which it shares some creative team members, those four are the Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley of the show, without the love triangle mess. You know they aren't going to bite it anytime soon. Mr. Gold is also a pretty safe bet for longevity, as we know he's a major player in the curse. Also safe are minor characters who aren't developed enough yet to be considered "fan favorites": Ruby, Granny, Geppetto, Dr. Whale, The Mirror, etc.

So who was on the chopping block? My three contenders were Sheriff Graham, Dr. Hopper/Jiminy Cricket, and Charming. Sheriff Graham was always my number one pick because he's the Boone of this show; he's hot, relatable, and killing him off wouldn't really impact the overall storyline, as my BFF Ellie pointed out. The other two characters seemed like possibilities, but they stopped being real contenders once they were neutralized as threats to the Mayor. Dr. Hopper arranged with her to keep treating Henry his way with a veiled threat that she needed him on her side if it came to a custody fight. He was still a minor threat, but this agreement would keep him in line for the moment. Charming was neutralized by the intervention of Mr. Gold (and, we assume, the Mayor) and left Snow heartbroken to return to his real-world wife (and fairy tale fiancee). That meant there was no need to kill him off; keeping him alive and with another woman just dug the knife in deeper for Snow, which clearly was something the Mayor desired.

Just as Boone made us all go "whhhyyyyy? He was SO nice to look at and just getting interesting!", it was the Sheriff's turn to make us feel the same. And just as a season later we were going "Boone who?", I don't think the Sheriff's death will have too many long-lasting ramifications. Clearly, Emma was having feelings for him, which is going to make her wall go up even higher. And, revealing some of his memories to Snow, Emma, and Henry is probably going to advance the plot; but, like the tale of Snow White, once the Huntsman has played his part, the story works fine without him.

Answered Questions

Does the Mayor know what's going on? This episode made it clear she does. I had been wondering how much she knew, and if she had been affected by her own curse. There were some clues that she might have known, such as her apple affinity and the mirror staring, but it was never overt. She could have just been, as Ellie again observed, "a small town, power hungry single mother." Last night with her secret heart stash and with her murder of Graham, it was clear she remembers everything. I did find it interesting that her power over him carried over into the real world.


Ongoing Questions

What is the deal with Mr. Gold? Whose side is he on? This dude is probably the most intriguing character to me. Firstly, I just love Robert Carlyle. I think landing him for this show was a major coup; he's an amazing actor that I have adored for years. He plays Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin SO well. I also wonder how much the character knows. He seems, like the Mayor, to know what's going on, but he hasn't had an AH-HA moment where you know for sure. I also can't quite decide if he's good, evil or just a troublemaker. Sometimes he seems to side with the Queen, sometimes against her. He arranged for Henry's adoption, which made it seem like he did it intentionally because he knew it would eventually bring Emma there. That would seem to indicate he knows about the curse and wants it to break. But, he's living high on the hog in the real world and has been shown to help the Mayor, such as with Charming. There is a lot more going on here...

Who is Dr. Whale's fairytale counterpart, and is he romancing Snow for some nefarious reason? Here's another up-in-the-air character as far as motivation. He called the Mayor when David woke up, which would make it seem as though he has some connection with her evildoing. He was an ass on his date with Snow, but then turned around and was sweet to her after Charming dumped her. I smell a rat with him. I've seen some blog posts that suggest he might be the Beast, but that doesn't really seem to fit. The name usually means something, and the only whale I can think of is Monstro from the Pinocchio story. Is Pinocchio a possibility? That doesn't really seem to fit either. I'm stumped.

Does the Mayor know that Henry is connected to Snow? Obviously she knew about Snow and Charming's baby, and that it escaped to the real world, but does the Mayor know that Henry is connected? I can't see her bringing him back to Storybrooke if she thought he was, BUT...there's always the possibility that she wanted to stick it to Snow further by raising what she thinks is Snow's child. That seems like a long shot to me. What's more likely is that Mr. Gold knows, but the Mayor think he's totally unrelated. Which must make her wonder why everything is going haywire since Emma's appearance.

Where did the Storybook come from? We've already established that Snow gave it to Henry, but where did she get it? I know this seems minor, but it's been niggling at me. The book was the impetus for Henry's curse theory and his search for his biological mother. Something had to have set all this in motion. Is Mr. Gold behind it?

What is "the price" the evil Queen had to pay, other than her father's death, and does it have something to do with Henry? I have some thoughts on this, but not fully formed enough to make an informed guess.

That's all for now. Ironically, it's time for me to take the kids to Story Time.