‘Once Upon a Time’ season 5, episode 13 review: Dirge of Cerberus

Before we get any further into this “Once Upon a Time” episode review, bonus points to anyone who gets the reference in the title.

Now, let’s talk about an episode that, while interesting, was probably a step down for us in terms of quality from the midseason premiere. The show has a challenge sometimes when it comes to introducing some elements from the past, especially ones that we did not know about previously. One of the big character reveals in the hour was that Snow White wants to actually be called Snow white again, which is weird to us mostly in that we never stopped calling her that. For us, it just felt like a natural extension of who she is, and that this and Mary Margaret are a part of who she is.

Apparently, Snow had this WHOLE history with Hercules that we never knew about before now, but the two of them were able to use this connection to not only stop Cerberus, who was keeping Meg and Captain Hook hostage, but also get Herc and Meg out of the realm once and for all. This was mostly a standalone tale, and while we like these for the show, we prefer them for the most part when they are about someone we knew about previously. We had no real investment in these people.

In the end, Hades was clearly not altogether pleased with some of what he was seeing here, and as a result of the heroes’ actions, the end of the episode gave us a twist: For every person the good guys free, he will sentence one of them to remain in the Underworld. He’ll trap them, and force Hook to change. Pretty mean, right? Still, this is the sort of twist the show needed to give us a further spark after an episode that at times felt a little lifeless (pun intended). Grade: B-.

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