Tor Post: Once Upon a Time Special

After recovering from Gallifrey One (which I will be posting about later, both here, and at Tor.com), I finally posted the next installment of the Battle of the Network Fairy Tale Shows! It’s a Once Upon a Time Special, as Grimm didn’t air a new episode this week. Shame, as this was Once Upon a Time‘s weakest outing thus far.

Excerpt:

I often take issue with people using the word “soap opera” with regard to genre shows. Usually it’s code for Any Time A Show/Episode Explores Feelings, which I think is ridiculous, as human emotion is a part of our experience, and sci-fi/fantasy would be boring if all it did was focus on tech or worldbuilding. However, David H. Goodman’s “What Happened to Frederick” actually felt like a soap opera, not just because it dealt with feeling feelings, but because of the plot and structure of the episode.

For the rest of my review of Once Upon a Time Episode 13, “What Happened to Frederick,” CLICK HERE.

Tor Post: Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Fairy Tales!

Hello there, everyone! I’ve got a new post in the Battle of the Network Fairy Tale Shows over at Tor.com, and it just so happens that both Once Upon a Time and Grimm had very love-centric episodes this week!

It’s Once Upon a Time Ep 12, “Skin Deep,” vs Grimm Ep 11, “Tarantella,” each with a quality genre guest star. OUaT had Lost‘s Emilie de Ravin and Grimm had Angel‘s Amy Acker. Both ladies were awesome in their roles!

Once Upon a Time:

Emilie de Ravin was a brilliant guest star as Belle. She gave a beautifully nuanced performance, capturing gentleness, strength, stubbornness, and insecurity, and making this new version of Belle stand head and shoulders above the animated Disney version, even as they have similar wardrobes.

Grimm:

Amy Acker, Amy Acker, and Amy Acker. She played Lena with a deep sadness around which everything else was built, making everything she did compelling as she balanced hatred of her biological imperatives with her feelings for her husband and her desire to do the right thing.

For the rest of my review in full, CLICK HERE! And, as always, if you have comments, please leave them over at the post.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

 

Tor Post: Once Upon a Time Vs. Grimm #10

You know what I used to do? I used to put posts up with links to stuff that I’ve written elsewhere so that people who read my blog can check out what I’m doing on other sites.

You know what I suck at lately? See above.

Allow me to correct that.

Over at Tor.com, I’ve been writing the Battle of the Network Fairy Tale Shows where week after week I pit Once Upon a Time and Grimm up against each other in a fierce battle for fairy tale domination. It’s actually not that fierce as I genuinely love both shows (with a slight preference for Grimm), but conflict attracts eyeballs, right?

This week, I compare OUaT Ep 11, “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” to Grimm Ep 10, “Organ Grinder,” and it was a really strong week for both shows!

Once Upon a Time:

An engaging, entertaining episode that spoke to issues larger than the show. Is it okay, as Shakespeare writes in Merchant of Venice, “To do a great right, do a little wrong?” Because the actions are so extreme in this episode, both fan and casual viewer alike are drawn in to the morality debate. Was Emma right to break into Regina’s office to find proof of wrongdoing? Is Mary Margaret right to continue seeing David? Was The Genie right to kill the king that was keeping his wife a prisoner? Yes. And no. And yes again. “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” is one of the most thought-provoking episodes of Once Upon a Time thus far.

Grimm:

“Organ Grinder” made me wholeheartedly and unabashedly love Nick. From his wanting to tell Juliette about his double life sooner rather than later, to his acknowledging that sometimes it’s better to act as a Grimm than a cop, we see more evidence of his growth here than we have in the nine episodes before it. It was a great choice to have Monroe become concerned that his friendship with Nick was limited to interaction about creature-related cases, and I’m thrilled that we and Nick now all know that his favorite color is red.

For the full review, as well as my crackpot theories about The Stranger on OUaT and Captain Renard on Grimm, check out “Once Upon a Time Vs. Grimm Ep 10: Wishes, Organs, and My Crackpot Theories”

And if you have any comments, leave them over at the post! Thanks for reading!