‘Once Upon a Time’ season 3, episode 6 review: Ariel, Neal, and is Regina really Ursula?
You have probably been waiting to see the arrival of a certain Little Mermaid on “Once Upon a Time” for some time, and on Sunday night, it finally happened. Ariel is on the show, but we have to say for the vast majority of this that we were very much wondering how in the world she was going to play into the story. It was not exactly obvious at first.
As it turns out, Ariel (as so many people suspected), is the link between Neverland and Storybrooke. After knowing from her past with her that she has the ability to travel between worlds, Regina offered to give her a voice again, and to also have the ability to sprout a set of legs, in order to visit Storybrooke, help out the team fighting Peter Pan, and find her one true love in Prince Eric, who was taken from her thanks to the Queen posing as Ursula. For now, Ariel seems to be game to go along with it.
Most of Ariel’s backstory was at least somewhat similar to the Disney movie, and there were some little references throughout for good measure. But what we felt was most interesting in here was the reveal that Regina is not really Ursula; as a matter of fact, she was threatened by the sea witch over an impersonation that she did. Being that this is someone that even Regina fears, we kind of want to see her come back.
Seeing Ariel’s story was fun, and it at least helped to offset the fact that save for Neal getting released from his cage, and Emma admitting that she is too afraid of her emotions to get back with him. We had some confessions in here, such as Charming admitting that he can’t leave Neverland and Snow saying that she wants another child almost to bizarrely suggest that she has to make up for Emma. The entire Snow character remains the most frustrating part of the show, largely because her perpetual optimism is not only annoying, but it can’t be that much fun to play someone who constantly is so predictable. She sees the good in everything … all the time! Ugh.
This was still a good episode that probably satisfied the hopes of many, and while we still have questions about Ariel’s role long-term and what in the world happened to Tinker Bell, we at least enjoyed a good chunk of the episode. Grade: B-.
If you want to read some more “Once Upon a Time” news, including a preview for next week, just be sure to visit the link here.
Photo: ABC