Once Upon a Time REACTION - S01E21 - An Apple Red as Blood

Fabulous!!! Thank you so much for another reaction for part one of the season one finale!!! Overall... I love this episode so much because, there is a lot of good and excitement in it. First... I felt that Emma didn't appear so smart in this episode towards the end in regards to Regina giving her the apple turnover... especially after Henry had once tossed away another apple that Regina had tried to give her back in episode two, The Thing You Love Most, upon stating that she shouldn't eat it on account of Regina being the Evil Queen. And back then, the apple wasn't even poisoned. I don't really care how foolish Emma appears to be upon taking this turnover from Regina now, after everything they've been through, and even though she doesn't believe Henry about Regina being the Evil Queen, Emma does know that Regina is evil for doing all she's done especially against Mary Margaret. You would think she would be smart enough not to accept anything from Regina. Emma even said back in The Thing You Love Most, that she could read between the lines when Regina had come to her room at Granny's Bed and Breakfast to offer her the apples, as she sensed Regina was threatening her. Yet both times... Emma was this close to eating the apples before Henry stopped her. Yes... this moment with Emma appearing foolish enough to believe Regina here about anything was strange. But with that all being said... I still absolutely love this episode and its set up for what's to come in the final episode for season one. And were it not for Emma accepting the apple turnover, then Henry never would have eaten it to try to prove to Emma that everything he's been saying about the curse and who everyone in this town really is... is true. Now... as for the backstory with the battle between the heroes against King George's soldiers to save Charming from George and the Evil Queen, after Regina takes Charming from King George so she can use him against Snow... I really like the overall battle a lot. I think it's really quite exciting and fun to see Snow White, the seven dwarfs, Red Riding Hood, Granny, and the fairies all come together to save Snow's True Love. Again... it does seem strange that there would even be a fight if the fairies all along had the power to put everyone to sleep as they did. However, back in the episode, Dreamy... Blue tells Nova that fairy dust is rare and hard to come by, so most likely, the fairies only had so much they could spare to knock the guards they had unconscious. And few people within the Enchanted Forest were capable of casting sleeping spells or curses, like we see with the Evil Queen giving Snow the poisoned apple, which is rare as well and explains why the Evil Queen can't just poison any other apple. Or like we also see from the Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty as Maleficent puts Aurora to sleep, then the three good fairies later put the whole kingdom to sleep until Aurora can be awakened by True Love's Kiss. With all of this in mind... the fight had to happen so that Snow and the others could take out as many of the soldiers as they could before the fairies swooped down to take care of the rest of them. I hope that all of this makes sense. Next... I really love how Snow finally makes her way down into the dungeons to save Charming, only to discover that Regina has already taken him to her castle and is using a mirror to reflect his image long enough for Snow and Charming to see that she had beaten them once again, and then to talk Snow into a parlay. When Snow and the Evil Queen meet at the stables where their rivalry began upon Daniel being killed, Regina at last admits to Snow why she truly hates her so much, as she reveals how Daniel had died instead of running away all those years ago. I really love this whole scene between them. Both Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow) and Lana Parrilla (Regina) are brilliant actresses and while they play well off so many of the actors throughout this series, they especially play so well off one another. I love how Regina explains the poisoned apple to Snow. How it's rare and how it works to put its victims into a death like sleep where Snow's body would become her tomb, as all she can dream of is her regrets. I also love that Regina makes a point of saying that Snow must eat the apple willingly in order for it to actually work, and that she threatens Snow into doing so by threatening to have Charming killed. And she succeeds. As for why Snow falling to the apple's poison affects Charming when he suddenly feels Snow's supposed death... I feel it is because they share True Love. In the real world and in other shows or movies, there are people who say they can feel when someone they love dies, or if they're still alive when others believe them to be dead. So, Once Upon a Time took this idea and made it so that those who share True Love can literally feel when those they love die, or if they're still alive. Charming feels Snow's supposed death as much as if he himself were dying too, but I believe that a small part of him also can sense she's still alive, which is why he screams out, "What have you done to her?", and why a part of him senses he might be able to save her when he leans down to kiss her in the glass coffin from the opening scene in the Pilot. Again... I hope this makes sense to you. I really like this idea. Back to the moment Snow falls upon taking a bite of the poisoned apple... I love how this scene leads us to the next scene in the present day storyline between Regina and Jefferson, as the apple slips from Snow's hand, rolls down the hill, then falls through a portal opened up by Jefferson through his hat, and lands right into Jefferson's hand as he catches it. It's a brilliant moment and scene. I also absolutely love that Jefferson is brought back again. But to back up a little... one of my favorite moments within the present day storyline, is between Henry and August, when Henry goes to August for help with Emma. This is a very bittersweet moment in the episode, because August regrettably states he's failed and that he's dying, as his infliction with becoming wood again is growing worse. We see that his arm has now become wood as his legs have, and that he's having a difficult time riding, walking, and that soon he won't be able to breathe well. And he says that he wants to spend his last hours with his father. It's very sad. But it's also a very powerful moment too, because while Henry has always believed in the curse, it isn't until this moment that the truth is actually proven to him as he sees the wood of the puppet August is turning back into. I love how August states that he's becoming wood again because he had essentially been a bad boy, then how compliments Henry by saying he's a smart kid, and encourages him to keep fighting as he tells Henry that it's all up to him now. A brilliant scene... and you can really see the determination on Henry's face the moment August closes the door on him once Henry leaves his room. I love that Regina calls on Jefferson, using the playing card with the White Rabbit on its face as she tapes it to his daughter's bike to alert him, knowing he would be watching Grace. I like seeing them come together again despite the Evil Queen's betrayal of Jefferson the last time they worked together. It's not really smart of Jefferson to accept Regina's deal again either, but then he is so deeply ashamed of leaving his daughter back then, that he's desperate to gain a new life with his daughter where neither of them will remember their true lives. Plus... Emma also failed to help him before during the events of Hat Trick and even almost killed him, so he feels no sense of duty to helping her now and doesn't care what happens to her. At this point, he believes Regina is the only one who can help him. As for the moments between Regina and Gold... I really love them as well. Because like I've stated many times before.. Regina and Gold play off one another really well. And in regards to why Regina wouldn't use Belle to convince Gold to help her... she might have done so, had she not then come up with the idea to use Jefferson to help her get the poison apple from her past in the Enchanted Forest. She could have used Belle against Gold, but a part of her most likely also feared the repercussions that would most likely come from her revealing to Gold that Belle is still alive after her lies. Gold may be as powerless in this world as Regina is, but he's made it very clear to Regina that he has ways of getting what he wants as well as she does. So telling him the truth about Belle wasn't a risk she could take. I really like this theory as well. As for the magic shown to still exist in Storybrooke despite them being in a land without magic... each of the items Regina uses to power up Jefferson's hat so that he can use it to get the poison apple for her, were already enchanted back in the Enchanted Forest and they came over as they were within the curse. The protection spells over however many hearts Regina might have possessed... the few unknown trinkets she dropped into the hat... and Daniel's engagement ring... They are all the magic that exists in Storybrooke that isn't possessed by Emma, and yet they are powerless to use against Emma or Gold, or anyone else to hurt them, aside from Regina being able to crush Graham's heart to kill him. I hope this makes sense. And lastly... in the final scene between Emma and Henry, Henry takes the ultimate leap of faith, believing in Emma being the Savior so much that he is willing to risk his life to convince her to believe in the curse and the magic that truly exists. Once again, I love Jennifer Morrison's acting in this scene, as Emma breaks down and pleads with Henry to understand why she can't stay. She's scared and while she doesn't trust Regina with much, she does believe that Regina truly loves Henry and would never hurt him. Despite Regina being willing to frame Mary Margaret for a murder that didn't actually happen, and despite Emma knowing Regina would have no qualms in hurting everyone else... Emma does believe that Regina would never hurt Henry because she senses that Regina truly does love him. But she also knows that Henry will continue to pay, as will everyone else in the town, if she doesn't leave town and let Regina keep Henry. I understand Emma's reasoning here, even though we know that Regina has no intention of honoring their deal. She's not like Gold, or Rumplestiltskin, who keeps true to his word when he makes deals as a way to honor his son after failing to honor their own deal between father and son, even if he does use loopholes within them to get himself something out of them . Regina has no sense of honor in these regards. Overall... a brilliant episode and I really enjoyed watching your reaction to all of it. I'm having a blast watching your reactions, so thank you so much again!! I can't wait for your reaction for part two of season one's finale!!!

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum