Once Upon a Time - "Quite a Common Fairy" - Review

Intro

Okay so... tomorrow is my first day actually at work. Should be interesting, to say the least. Meantime, my internet decided I didn't need to watch Once Upon a Time last night, so I had to watch it today instead. That means my review will most likely be haphazard and not entirely well thought out. Just a warning.

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Once Upon a Time, Season 3, Episode 3: "Quite a Common Fairy." If you have not seen it, please leave the blog, watch it, and come back. My reviews always contain spoilers for the episodes and for the previous Seasons of the show.

Once Upon a Time - "Quite a Common Fairy" - Review

Characters:

• Emma Swan - Played by Jennifer Morrison. Daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. Birth Mother of Henry Mills. Product of True Love. "The Savior."
• Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold - Played by Robert Carlyle. Father of Baelfire. Grandfather of Henry. The Dark One.
• Regina Mills - Played by Lana Parrilla. Mother of Henry Mills. Step-Mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen.
• Prince Charming/David Nolan - Played by Josh Dallas. Father of Emma Swan. Husband of Snow White.
• Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Mother of Emma Swan. Wife of Prince Charming. Step-Daughter of Regina Mills.
• Henry Mills - Played by Jared Gilmore. Son of Emma Swan, Baelfire, and Regina Mills. The Truest Believer.
• Captain Killian "Hook" Jones - Played by Colin O'Donoghue. Pirate.
• Neal Cassady/Baelfire - Played by Michael Raymond-James. Son of Rumplestiltskin. Father of Henry Mills.
• Mulan - Played by Jamie Chung. Companion/Body-Guard of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Currently following Neal around.
• Princess Aurora - Played by Sarah Bolger. Former Sleeping Curse victim.
• Robin Hood - Played by Sean Maguire. Found squatting in Rumpelstiltskin's castle. Helps Neal get to Neverland.
• Peter Pan - Played by Robbie Kay. Big Bad of Wonderland.
• Little John - Played by Jason Burkart. Robin's right-hand man.
• Roland - Played by Raphael Alejandro. Robin's son.
• Tinker Bell/Green - Played by Rose McIver. A fairy who lost her wings trying to help Regina.
• Felix - Played by Parker Croft. Peter's messenger... or something.
• The Blue Fairy/Reul Ghorm/Mother Superior - Played by Keegan Connor Tracy. The head fairy.

Review:

Alright, "Quite a Common Fairy" was... interesting, let's say. Although I wasn't surprised Tinker Bell had a past is Regina (because of promos), I was surprised at the reason Tinker Bell had a past with Regina. I thought it made complete sense. I really liked that bit of backstory, actually. It made me like Tinker Bell more than I previously did, given how much of a bitch she was in Disney's Peter Pan. I liked that she attempted to give Regina a second chance, even if Regina didn't end up taking it and Tink ended up losing her magic over it. Speaking of which, I thought The Blue Fairy was being extremely judgemental and ridiculous about Tink trying to help Regina. If Tink had succeeded, Regina wouldn't have ended up being The Evil Queen.

I liked that we got some play out of Charming's Dream Shade wound. It's kind of annoying that he's hiding it from Snow, but his reasons for doing so made sense to me. I found it especially amusing that Snow could tell Charming was attempting to get her to stop so he could rest there at the beginning of the episode. It made me smile as it's one of the few times we get to see them acting like a couple that's been together for a while. I found it interesting that Hook was the one who figured out Charming had been poisoned, though I can't really put my finger on why exactly.

I loved all the little moments between characters in this episode. The bit between Emma and Regina made me smile. It's about time they had more of a discussion about Henry. I enjoyed the bit between Emma and Snow when Snow explained the she hadn't slept in "canopy beds and palaces" all her life. Of course, my favorite scene was between Regina and Tink in Tink's cave. I'm glad Regina found someone she could finally be vulnerable with, even if that person was holding her heart/life in her hands. It was a nice scene that totally made me tear up.

And uh... not sure what exactly to make of the scenes with Peter Pan, Henry, and the Lost Boys. It was cool to see Henry try to kill Peter, though I'm pretty sure catching the arrow would have sliced, or at least, nicked Peter's hand. That bit was a little... eh. Other than that... not really much to say about them.

As for The Enchanted Forest, I liked that we picked up pretty soon after we left off last time. I wasn't so sure about Neal's plan, but I'm glad it came off without a hitch. My favorite moment was right before Roland tried to rehearse his line and Neal, Mulan, and Robin were all "NO!" It amused me. My other favorite bit was when Mulan returned to Aurora. It was heartbreaking to have Aurora break her news right as Mulan was about to confess her love for the princess. I cheer the decision to have Mulan actually be in love with Aurora, but I'm not entirely happy with the decision to have Aurora stay with Phillip and not know Mulan's in love with her. It was a crap move that, sadly, made sense with Aurora being so devoted to Phillip.

I would be remiss if I didn't discuss my feelings about the last reveal of the episode. I guessed as we moved off Regina's shocked face and back into The Enchanted Forest that Robin was the man with the lion tattoo. Lo and behold, I was right and... meh. I'm not sure I can see Robin and Regina as a couple, though I'm sure we're going to end up seeing that happen down the line. I do understand Tink's statement about Regina's decision ruining both their lives, but at the same time... Regina was married to King Leopold and so wasn't a free agent at the time. I'm sure he would have gone looking for her had she disappeared. Regina and Robin's happiness would have been short lived and it looks like Robin managed to find some happiness without her anyway. Sure, Regina's miserable, but... that's her own fault... plus Rumple would have had none of it.

Overall, I really liked this episode. I didn't think I would when I found out Tinker Bell was actually going to be in Once Upon a Time, so I was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to see what happens next week.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Explanation of the difference between Fairy Dust and Pixie Dust was nice.
• I loved both Tinkerbell's outfits.
• Blue's dismissal of Tinker Bell really disturbed me.

Favorite Line:

"Well, look what the Queen dragged in." - Tinker Bell

Housekeeping

I did not get to watch Sleepy Hollow this evening. I hope I get a chance to watch it tomorrow before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but tomorrow's review might end up being a really late one.

Love ya, Jessie.