obisgirl

Josh and Emilie also participated.

Meliana

Thanks so much!

DigificWriter

I just finished my rewatch of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and it really was an excellent Limited Series that expanded the OUaT mythos in some fun and fascinating ways that seemed to stand alone at the time, only for Adam and Eddy to call back to/reference them in Once Upon a Time itself.

It's a serious shame that the series never got a physical home media release, but the fact that it's now available on Disney+ almost makes up for it.

Meliana

I will have to check to see if it's available on Disney+ here, seeing as it was never broadcast in the UK. The version I saw of it had incredibly bad picture quality. It would be nice to watch it how it should have looked and sounded!

DigificWriter

Knowing where the story goes, the cliffhanger of Season 3 doesn't quite have the shock value it originally did, but I'm still looking forward to starting Season 4 next week.

There are a few things that stood out to me about the two parts of the S3 finale that didn't the first time that I want to call out:
1) The actress they cast to play child Emma in the flashback that opens up Snow Drifts is way too old and tall for the age that the character is supposed to be at that point in her life

2) I don't know if it was the lighting, the makeup, or what, but Past Rumple's appearance in both Snow Drifts and There's No Place Like Home was noticeably 'off' for most of both episodes and just looked bad

3) When I first watched the majority of the series, I actively hated Hook and the 'Captain Swan' relationship, but without that judgment hanging like a chain around my neck, I actually enjoyed both Snow Drifts and There's No Place Like Home all the more

4) Robert Carlyle saying "You know what you did. Now go undo it" to Emma in Snow Drifts is a pretty clever tweak of his line to Regina in The Thing You Love Most about what she needs to do in order to cast the Dark Curse, and it's kind of funny that the line hadn't stuck out to me more before

5) I know that Rumple and Belle's relationship is not healthy, but I still found myself smiling when they got married because I now know just how much future story development that Adam and Eddie packed into the dialogue in the scene and how true that dialogue ends up being when all is said and done

Meliana

It's interesting that you had a new perspective on the episodes. I've always thought they were cleverly written, and I love them both so much. I know not everyone feels this way though!

DigificWriter

I enjoyed Once the first time around, but I more or less chose to be dismissive towards the Emma/Hook relationship as i watched, so it's not so much that I've found a new perspective on the story this time as it is that I'm watching it without my previous biases being in the way.

Meliana

That's always good to do I think. Sometimes you can see things and appreciate them differently, I've certainly done that before. Like with characters I was less sympathetic with on a first viewing, I've come to understand their position and strengths much better on a rewatch. In Once I'd say this is true for me with Neal for sure.

DigificWriter

I'm just starting Season 4 and wanted to comment on the perception that Rumplestiltskin's actions over the course of both halves of the season make him one of its Big Bads.

I've never bought into the description of Rumplestiltskin as being a villain, even when he was doing despicable things, because his motivations were always transparent and rooted, ultimately, in nobility and unconditional love, even when he himself believed otherwise, and I think we get the clearest overall example of this in Season 4, first when he sets out to tryand acquire and harness the power of the Sorcerer's Hat and then when he teams up with Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella in order to find Isaac and manipulate him into rewriting history and their stories in order to give them all happiness, since in the first instance he's trying to free himself from the Dagger and live up to the promises he made to both Neal and Belle and in the second instance he's trying to undo the damage he caused to his relationship with Belle. The execution is morally questionable, but the intent is noble and unselfish, and so I've never viewed his actions as evil.

Meliana

That was one of the main attractions of OUAT in that all characters had believable motivations for their bad behaviours and all had the capacity to change. I think that was unusual and and a delight too.

obisgirl

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars on DisneyPlus. This is the James Bond themed night, and I just realized, Dr. Facilier's cursed persona, Mr. Baron Samdi -- he was a James Bond villain from 'Live and Let Die.' <-- which also took place in New Orleans.

Meliana

I never knew that!

obisgirl

I thought it was a cool, very connection.

Meliana

These references do surprise me sometimes.

DigificWriter

The James Bond Baron Samedi and Dr. Facillier/Baron Samedi are both visual adaptations of a figure from Voodoo folklore called Baron Samedi.

I've just finished the two-part story Smash the Mirror, which works so much better as two separate, individual episodes than it did as a 2-hour Special, and believe that it ought to have been consistently presented and represented as 2 individual episodes from the start.