‘Once Upon a Time’ season 2, episode 18 review: The sad story of August W. Booth
How great was Sunday night’s “Once Upon a Time”? It was surely one of the strangest of the season: there was no Mr. Gold, no Belle or Ruby, very little Regina, and Captain Hook was still missing in action. However, what we did ultimately end up seeing here was a supremely fascinating tale of how August W. Booth tried to rely on his survival instincts, and how he would have been okay if he had relied on virtue instead.
Ultimately, though, it felt as though the man otherwise known as Pinocchio was always doomed to fail with his quest here. After all, who can really fulfill a promise to be true and goo for their entire life? It was no surprise to see him start to become wooden again as a result of this, and the stunning part was how he managed to go about it. The Dragon, who had the power to heal him, is now in many ways the “Once Upon a Time” version of Jacob from “Lost.” Since he’s dead, we have no idea if we will ever see him again, but we hope to learn how he knows about magic, and how he got to the real world separate from everyone else.
While there were other developments this week (including Mary Margaret revealing to David that she tried to have Regina kill her), what we really think people will be talking about moving forward is the rise of Tamara as the new Big Bad for the rest of the season. Neal’s fiancee is a bad, magic-hungry woman. We don’t know why, but she killed the Dragon, tried to kill August, and it was revealed at the very end that she has been communicating constantly with Greg / Owen this entire time. Tamara is a compelling villain in that she’s completely mysterious, and for the time being, she continues to operate without anyone knowing what she really wants.
The saddest thing about this episode, great as it may be, is that with Pinocchio’s redemption comes his new form: a child. It’s almost as if the magic was a reset button on his life, which is strange for sure; really, we just see it as a way for the producers to use the character in the future without having to worry about Eion Bailey’s availability. (He does have other projects in the works, so he’d be a busy man if producers wanted him back.)
What did you think about this episode, and are you going to miss Eion Bailey? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can check out some more news when it comes to this episode over at the link here.
Photo: ABC
Tibby
March 26, 2013 @ 2:12 pm
I will definitely be sad to see Eion Bailey go – I love his conflicted character, and the layers he displayed in this episode (I was especially touched when he asked Snow about Emma and Neal) that I found it somewhat disturbing to see him changed to a child. I find it interesting that Neal made a point of saying that he didn’t want Rumple to change him back to a boy, and yet now the producers have found a way to do that to another character. I’m very conflicted about whether or not it is an effective progression of the story. While I was originally excited to see more about Neal, something about the character is off-putting to me. I felt like August had grown and become a better man as we’d watched him. I really feel like Neal is the same character that abandoned Emma. He ran when they showed up at his door in Manhattan, after all, without knowing exactly whom was there. When the curse broke, in fact, we quickly realize that nothing changed for him when he received that postcard, he just went about life as usual.
In the end, what really gets me is that I don’t like the thematic idea that our only chance at true redemption is to completely turn back the clock and become a child again. It’s one of the things about being human, or being ‘a real boy’: we take what happens to us in life and strive to do or be better.
All in all though, I liked the episode and think the last few ones will be interesting (but not happy with all the breaks!)