Thursday , March 28 2024
In Once Upon a Time's “Quite a Common Fairy,” our intrepid heroes Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Charming (Josh Dallas), Regina (Lana Parrilla), Emma (Jennifer Morrison), and Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) continue their search for Henry.

TV Review: ‘Once Upon a Time’ – ‘Quite a Common Fairy’

In Once Upon a Time‘s “Quite a Common Fairy,” our intrepid heroes Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Charming (Josh Dallas), Regina (Lana Parrilla), Emma (Jennifer Morrison), and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) continue their search for Henry. (Mr. Gold, Robert Carlyle, is absent from the quest this week.) Stymied by Pan (Robbie Kaye) as he continues to play games with Henry’s location (well, he is Peter Pan, after all, and everything to him is a game), Hook suggests they enlist Tinker Bell (Rose McIver). Except there’s one problem: Regina.

It seems Tink, also known as the Green Fairy, and the Evil Queen have quite a dark history. Back in the days just after she married Snow’s dad, Regina continued to mourn the love of her life, killed by Cora (although Regina blames Snow, and deservedly, albeit indirectly). Tink sees Regina’s sadness and resolves to help her find her “happiness,” which Tink defines as finding true love.

Tink finds Regina while she’s training with Rumple. Although she seems uncomfortable following a dark path, Rumple reminds her that it’s too late to backtrack. She is trapped by her own rage — the darkness of her heart.

“The darkness has tasted you,” Rumple tells her, and it’s unlikely to let her go. (Even if there is a hilariously meta roast swan on the table upon which to dine!) 

Now, meanwhile the Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) is none to pleased with Tink for helping the Queen. Because Regina is in bed with the Dark One, Tink is forbidden from helping her. The idealistic and and naive Tink is undaunted however, and steals a bit of pixie dust to help Regina find her true intended — her soul mate.

For this, Tink risks Blue’s wrath, and Blue is not a fairy with which to be trifled. No wonder she’s Mother Superior in Storybrooke! Yikes, she is one tough fairy! Tink is punished severely by the uncompromising Blue Fairy and she is stripped of her wings, her magic and plunged into Neverland. This series of events makes us understand why it is so important to Tink that people believe in her. For it is this lack of belief in her, both from Blue and from Regina, who calls her a “bad fairy,” that has brought Tink so low.

And for all Tink’s effort, Regina doesn’t even cross the threshold to happiness, her fear and anger overwhelming her. She is afraid of happiness because if she is happy, her anger will be stripped away, and what is Regina without her anger and hope of revenge upon Snow? She reminds me here of Hook, who asks philosophically and literally “what am I without my anger and desire for revenge?”

She would rather give up on happiness and love than to relinquish her fury, which over the years has corroded her heart, so that by now, in Neverland, when she again encounters Tink, it is blackened and small. Our understanding of the relationship between Tink and Regina, informs our understanding of Regina’s reluctance to call upon Tink in Neverland. Ultimately, however, it is about Henry, and Regina, unselfishly for a change is driven solely by pure parental love as she tells Emma to go ahead without her, because Tink would never help them if she knew Regina was about.

But Tink knows exactly what’s going on. And in a lovely, emotional scene between Tink and Regina in Neverland we begin to understand that Regina is beginning to show remorse and regret for a live not well lived. And Tink gets that.

In the meantime, back in the decimated Enchanted Forest, Baelfire continues seeking a way to Emma in Neverland. That way comes in the guise of Robin Hood, or rather, his son Roland. Roland “believes,” and is ripe pickins for Peter Pan’s menacing shadow. But Robin is understandably reluctant. However, when Bae reminds Robin that Rumple spared his life, Robin relents and allows Roland to be the conduit for Bae’s journey back to Neverland.

And in a way only possible in Once Upon a Time’s interconnected storytelling ways, turns out that Robin is Regina’s forgotten soul mate. As Tink tells the evil one, Regina has not only ruined her own chance at happiness, she has ruined the life of the one with whom she belongs.

Of course the question becomes, what will happen to ultimately bring the two of them together. If they do come together at some point, with Bae perhaps as a conduit, will that reverse the decree brought upon Tink, and bring happiness (finally) to Regina?

At this point we have several pairs of star-crossed lovers: Rumple and Belle, Regina and Robin Hood, Baelfire and Emma amongst the main characters. Add to that Red and Doctor Whale, Grumpy and his lovely fairy love, and we have a whole lot of unhappily separate soul mates. Then there is poor Mulan, who has an unrequited love for Philip, but with the news that Aurora is with child, her hopes, too, are dashed.

Snow and Charming are happily together, but not, it would seem, for long. Right now, Charming is dying — poisoned by the same stuff that nearly killed Mr. Gold. The slow-acting poison, rampant in Neverland is working its way through Charming, but he won’t tell Snow. Only Hook knows the truth. So, right now, not much happiness at all.

Where is it all going? I’ll ask Once Upon a time Consulting Producer Jane Espenson when visits Let’s Talk TV Live BlogTalk Radio show tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET. Listen live or to the podcast after the show airs.

Once Upon a Time airs on ABC Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET.

 

About Barbara Barnett

A Jewish mother and (young 🙃) grandmother, Barbara Barnett is an author and professional Hazzan (Cantor). A member of the Conservative Movement's Cantors Assembly and the Jewish Renewal movement's clergy association OHALAH, the clergy association of the Jewish Renewal movement. In her other life, she is a critically acclaimed fantasy/science fiction author as well as the author of a non-fiction exploration of the TV series House, M.D. and contributor to the book Spiritual Pregnancy. She Publisher/Executive Editor of Blogcritics, (blogcritics.org).

Check Also

The Essex Serpent

TV Review: ‘The Essex Serpent’

'The Essex Serpent' starring Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes is far better than your average television show but tries to cram too much into too little time.

6 comments

  1. Unrequited love for Philip? Um. No. She didn’t WANT to talk to Philip. She wanted to talk to Aurora. Go watch that scene again, please.

    • After speaking with Jane Espenson earlier this week (on the radio show), it has become clearer that she is pining after Aurora. Very ambiguous (and Jane tried hard to make it even more so) but I think if you listen to her comments, the second time the question comes up about that scene, she does make an interesting implication about it!

  2. People seem to have gotten the impression that Mulan was going to tell Aurora that it was her that she loved, even though it was pretty clear in the beginning that Mulan was pining for Phillip. The aborted confession was confusingly well done, ambiguity wise.
    I actually liked the Green Fairy. The casting has been great (for the guest roles). Barbara Hershey, Rose McGowan, Rose McGiver, Sean Maguire and Robbie Kay have been great. Next week will hopefully have more Rumple, since Lana had to carry most of this episode (and she did quite well). RC just makes this show so much more exciting (though Peter Pan has been particularly great). Can’t wait to see RC and RK square off against each other.
    As a side note, OUAT in Wonderland did not have the same appeal to me as the original. I was unprepared for the Kill Bill version of Alice.

  3. Thank you for the review – I always enjoy reading them. I too think Mulan is in love with Aurora, and hats off to OUAT.

  4. Loved the episode! I thought it added yet another layer to Regina. I know I did mention that Regina was somebody who is constantly seeking acceptance, but after watching episode I now think that it’s more complicated than that. I think subconsciously she wants to love and be loved but, she is afraid of taking any action because she believes that her anger and bitterness is what defines her. I think it also goes back to what her mother Cora preached, that “love is weakness”, and I think at this point, after everything that has happened, she believes that. The only thing I disagree on is the last part where you said that “Mulan has unrequited feelings for Phillip”, I don’t think that’s true. True in season 2 it was made clear that Mulan had feelings for Phillip (I don’t remember which episode where it was mentioned but it was made clear), but she also mentioned that they’ve fought many battles together. My theory is that Mulan felt a sort of bond with Phillip because they had a comaraderie. Maybe she was attracted to him at one point but that can always change based on the circumstances. Personally I think Mulan is in love with Aurora; she only wanted to talk to her. Plus when Aurora told Mulan she was pregnant Mulan almost broke down in tears. This situation can be the other way around and I could be wrong but, based on how the OUAT fandom is reacting and the chemistry these two characters had in season 2, I honestly think that although Mulan has “feelings” for Phillip her heart belongs to Aurora.

  5. We just found out about ‘Once Upon a Time’ and watched the entire first two seasons in two weeks. We were excited about watching season 3. However, after 5 episodes of endless meaningless drama on the same island, this season has just turned into a low budget serial. Don’t think we will even watch the remaining episodes.