When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
After such a brilliant Season 3 opener in "The Heart of the Truest Believer", part of me couldn't help feel somewhat let down watching "Lost Girl". It is a very enjoyable and well made episode with a lot of interest points. At the same time, not everything works and it feels somewhat uneven. Much of it is done very well and most elements work, however particularly in the first half it's not the most exciting of 'Once Upon a Time' episodes and compared to what one imagines reading the episode summary or reading of it it all feels a bit safe.
Other episodes do better at advancing character development, the closest "Lost Girl" gets with that is with a more conflicted and relatable Emma and to a lesser extent Rumplestiltskin. Less successful is the Evil Queen, here one-dimensional and the whole vengeance thing was getting repetitive at this point and both needed to have more variation or actually go somewhere, this felt like going round in circles when much of everything else was moving forward. Likewise with plot progression, Emma's search for Henry is again the closest and the whole Neverland stuff is entertaining, emotionally investable and leaves one glued to the chair, if not quite on the edge of the seat quality.
"Lost Girl" is at its weakest however with the Snow White/Evil Queen flashback. Both stale and dull, and not only didn't feel necessary to the rest of the story but also like it belonged in another different episode because it's one of not many early season examples of the show for the past scenes to not hold much relevance with the present. Peter Pan's motivations perhaps could have been slightly clearer, but that was most likely a deliberately ambiguous decision to be explored later.
However, Emma's character conflict and her plight are very compelling and easy to relate to. Everything with Rumplestiltskin also reminds us of why he is one of the show's best and most interesting characters and a reminder of that there is more complexity and humanity to him than a "stock villain". Am continuing to really enjoy very interesting, and not disrespectful considering the premise of the show, interpretation of Peter. This Peter is a darker, more manipulative but also conflicted, with questionable motivations but ones where it's not so hard seeing how he came to be that way, version, not the reasonably likeable and mischievous but flawed and cocky Peter Barrie imagined and that fans are used to.
Throughout the acting is very good to great. Robbie Kay and Robert Carlyle give excellent performances, even more so Jennifer Morrison in a quite affecting turn here. Lana Parrilla though is one of the consistently great cast members given little to work with.
Furthermore, "Lost Girl" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme. Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
On the whole, enjoyable and well done, if at times too safe and uneven with the Neverland scenes being far more interesting than the flashback. 7/10 Bethany Cox
After such a brilliant Season 3 opener in "The Heart of the Truest Believer", part of me couldn't help feel somewhat let down watching "Lost Girl". It is a very enjoyable and well made episode with a lot of interest points. At the same time, not everything works and it feels somewhat uneven. Much of it is done very well and most elements work, however particularly in the first half it's not the most exciting of 'Once Upon a Time' episodes and compared to what one imagines reading the episode summary or reading of it it all feels a bit safe.
Other episodes do better at advancing character development, the closest "Lost Girl" gets with that is with a more conflicted and relatable Emma and to a lesser extent Rumplestiltskin. Less successful is the Evil Queen, here one-dimensional and the whole vengeance thing was getting repetitive at this point and both needed to have more variation or actually go somewhere, this felt like going round in circles when much of everything else was moving forward. Likewise with plot progression, Emma's search for Henry is again the closest and the whole Neverland stuff is entertaining, emotionally investable and leaves one glued to the chair, if not quite on the edge of the seat quality.
"Lost Girl" is at its weakest however with the Snow White/Evil Queen flashback. Both stale and dull, and not only didn't feel necessary to the rest of the story but also like it belonged in another different episode because it's one of not many early season examples of the show for the past scenes to not hold much relevance with the present. Peter Pan's motivations perhaps could have been slightly clearer, but that was most likely a deliberately ambiguous decision to be explored later.
However, Emma's character conflict and her plight are very compelling and easy to relate to. Everything with Rumplestiltskin also reminds us of why he is one of the show's best and most interesting characters and a reminder of that there is more complexity and humanity to him than a "stock villain". Am continuing to really enjoy very interesting, and not disrespectful considering the premise of the show, interpretation of Peter. This Peter is a darker, more manipulative but also conflicted, with questionable motivations but ones where it's not so hard seeing how he came to be that way, version, not the reasonably likeable and mischievous but flawed and cocky Peter Barrie imagined and that fans are used to.
Throughout the acting is very good to great. Robbie Kay and Robert Carlyle give excellent performances, even more so Jennifer Morrison in a quite affecting turn here. Lana Parrilla though is one of the consistently great cast members given little to work with.
Furthermore, "Lost Girl" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme. Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue.
On the whole, enjoyable and well done, if at times too safe and uneven with the Neverland scenes being far more interesting than the flashback. 7/10 Bethany Cox
