So... slightly behind on reviews, but only slightly. I didn't get the time to blog yesterday because, well... there was shopping to be done. However, that means that today, I've got two reviews for you. One for last Saturday's Doctor Who and one for the season finale of Once Upon a Time. If you have not seen either of these episodes, please leave the blog and come back later. My reviews are always lousy with SPOILERS. However, if you'd like to skip down to the Housekeeping section, that will be free of SPOILERS.
Doctor Who - "Nightmare in Silver" - Review
To be honest, I didn't find this episode to my liking. There were too many things about it that had me rolling my eyes.
First, Angie. Angie, Angie, Angie. I get that she's supposed to be being a typical "teenager," but that was just annoying. It was obvious you were having fun two seconds ago. Lying about it does not fool anyone. Being a brat about stuff is stupid. I hate to say this, but she kind of deserved to be kidnapped.
I had issues with a pair of older children being put down for a nap. They're too old for naps and that was a crap way to attempt to get them out of the way and then easily kidnapped. Also, telling people not to run off, especially contrary "teenagers," only makes them want to run off more. Again, easily kidnapped by the bad guys.
I sort of liked but at the same time didn't like the "punishment detail" or whatever. Ridiculous military people not acting very much like they're military annoys me. Then again, I tend to hate on the military mindset... but that's a whole other thing. I thought the individuals were kind of amusing, though really stereotypical for what they were supposed to be.
I really enjoyed Matt Smith's performance as both The Doctor and "Mr. Clever." "Mr. Clever" sent chills up my spine. Also, no one should ever be allowed in The Doctor's mind. It's not a very nice place, though the design was kind of cool. I thought the way The Doctor defeated "Mr. Clever" both times he did it were clever, though extremely contrived. It was lucky the neither entity could tell what the other was doing with each half of his body.
I thought Clara's portrayal was... interesting. She was very good doing the commanding but that bit when she found out the kids had been taken over by Cyber-bits... a little weird reaction. As someone who was a live-in nanny, I would have been much more concerned about what the "children" were up to and especially concerned when it turned out they'd been taken over. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that Clara wasn't that concerned. It seems she trusts The Doctor much more now, I suppose. What with her concern dissipating after he reassured her the kids would be fine.
Finally, Warwick Davis was awesome. I haven't really seen him in anything where he wasn't in heavy makeup so seeing him in this episode looking more-or-less like himself was nice. I'm not sure how I feel about him being the emperor, though I sussed it out before anyone else did, including Angie. Gah! That girl annoys me.
Overall, "Nightmare in Silver" was... strange. It wasn't scary. It wasn't awesome. It was just kind of there.
Once Upon a Time - "And Straight On 'Til Morning" - Review
I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but a cliffhanger at the end was not it. That said, I don't like the cliffhanger. I'm not and never have been a fan of Henry. He bugs me for a lot of reasons, which, if you look back over my reviews or initial reactions, you might see. I don't like that he's apparently more important than magic or that "The Shadow" wants him.
But, as for the rest of the episode... there were heart-wrenching bits and not-so-heart-wrenching bits.
As I said before, I'm not a big fan of Henry so him kicking up a fuss over Regina bugged me a bit. Yes, she's been his mom for all of his life, but he spent the entire last season hating her guts. As for Regina herself, I'm glad she got to do some hero stuff. I think it would have been better if she'd died doing the hero stuff, like she meant to, but it was nice. The reason I say that, before anyone jumps down my throat about it, is because she's been so ridiculously characterized during this season. I won't go into that here, because I've already ranted the heck out of it in other reviews. However, I will tell you what I wrote in my notes: "And of course Regina has to die for this to work. All I can say is, that means there'll be no more funky characterization for her."
I thought Hook was quite interesting in this episode. The backstory bits he had with Balefire were... weirdly interesting. I would have thought that he'd have realized from the off that Balefire was also Mila's kid and therefore want to help him. So I was quite surprised when his immediate reaction was "Use him to get to the Dark One." I also thought it was interesting that he just gave Bae up to the "Lost Ones" when Bae decided he needed to leave. Present day, I liked that Hook decided to help Emma & Crew. I also quite like that he'll be working with them next season.
I thought it was very nice of Grumpy to give Rumple a dose of the potion for Belle. Mind you, it was for Belle's sake and not for Rumple, but there it is. I thought the scenes we got with Belle and Rumple were heartbreaking. I teared up for them. I also thought the way Rumple took the news of Bae/Neil's death was interesting, especially directly on the tail of almost killing Henry.
Other random things: Why is Henry so dang important? It was really obvious that Hook wasn't going to give Emma the bean right off. Granny guarding Henry was kind of awesome, even if she didn't really do anything. Archie was back for two seconds! Rumple's apparently afraid of "The Shadow." Peter Pan is creepy. And finally, Neil ended up somehow where Phillip, Aurora, and Mulan are. I really hope we get the story of how they got there during next season.
Housekeeping
Sorry again about the lateness. There was stuff.
Tonight, I am planning on watching Warehouse 13. As things are going right now, I'm in a lot of pain and so I probably won't be doing initial reactions for it. Sitting up right now is just not in the cards, I don't think.
Love ya, Jessie. 
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