By: Tibby

Tibby — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:12:01 +0000

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!)

Comments on: ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 2, episode 18 review: The sad story of August W. Booth

By: Tibby