#underbrooke

And if so, do you think it would transcend any realm? Like Neverland… where time doesn’t move so idk if it would work 🤔

red filter on same sets as main town for different world/universe... where have I seen this before...

The rest are the Fazbear Frights books victims.

Where We Started: The Underworld (Underbrooke)

Where We Ended: Storybrooke, Maine

Curse Count: 6 (I’m pretty sure no complete curses happened this half season)

Dwarf Count: We might be back up to 7, we saw #8

There are SOO many things I want to start with. So maybe, I’ll start with, it’s been so long since I reviewed 5A, because I’m an idiot. Why, you ask? Because I watched all of 5B up until the final two episodes of the season cause I saw Hyde’s face on the Netflix thumbnail and I was like...I have exams and I hate Hyde. I watched half of Full House, and all three seasons of Fuller House. Tonight, before I watched the last two episodes, I watched an entire Christmas movie on Netflix (A Holiday Calendar, filmed in North Bay, where I live half the year). And yet, I LOVE these final two episodes. And I just forgot that I like them, because of how much I think I dislike the Hyde storyline next season. But that’s next review’s problem.

I guess I’ll start with ROOOBBBIIINNNNNNNN! OUAT did Regina as a character, Sean Maguire, and us as viewers all dirty when they killed off Robin of Locksley. I actually love that he’s never been replaced with a new love interest, but I’m still so disappointed that he was killed off at all. It was a hard blow, and while it brought some intense development for Regina, hadn’t she developed enough???

Second, I’d like to shout out @onceuponapodcast, who’s podcast I’ve been listening to (still on their season 3 episodes, even though I’m at the start of season 6. I’m just really enjoying their podcast, every time they make a correct prediction I lose my mind a little, they were really good at it.

I guess third, prepare yourself for a Greg Germann lovefest. He’s in Grey’s Anatomy now and I love him there just as much as I love him here. He’s wonderful in this role as Hades and ugh I love him.

Honestly so much happened so quickly this season. Like the final two episodes (they originally aired together as like an event of sorts) were more season 6 storyline. This season ended when Hook and Emma were reunited in the graveyard, no matter what airdates and Netflix tell me about it. But again, getting ahead of myself. Quick note to point out, that while this part of the series was airing is when my BFF Faith and I were blogging about what were were watching weekly, so if you’re curious, that’s here, it has from 5x18 to 6x01 consistently, and then sporadic throughout the first half of season 6.

This half season started with the shows 100th episode. And it was off to the races, hitting me with a final Swanfire scene that I didn’t know I needed, right in the first sequence. There’s the whole Underbrooke thing, that could have been super cheesy, but they made it work. Right off the bat we run into a whole host of people who are dead that are not going to be making any of the protagonists feel welcome: Cruella (WHEN AM I NOT HAPPY TO SEE VICTORIA SMURFIT ON THIS SHOW?), David’s douchebag twin brother James, Peter Pan (ROBBIE KAY’S EYEBROWS, STILL GORGEOUS), the blind witch (the one from Hansel and Gretel) running Granny’s, Cora (I mean, even Regina wasn’t that excited to be reunited for long). Both Henry Mills meet one another for the first time. Lots of moments with Regina and her parents. The Enchanted Forest scenes with Regina’s parents trying to guide her down different paths were good. It’s still 8:15, even in the underworld, until our heroes start helping souls move on. We meet Hades and did I mention I love Greg Germann? Cause I frigging do. 

Overall, like a lot was happening, but not a lot was happening. I wish we’d had a lot more Herc and Meg. Ruby and Dorothy were an amazing coupe, I would really have liked more follow up at some point in the series on them. I honestly lost track of the number of people who we dumped in the River of Lost Souls (but some memorable ones were Milah, Aunty Em, and James).

I guess I’ll give a quick moment to say I loved every Milah and Emma scene. Everything about it was so awkward, and like you know that Rumple, who is hundreds of years old is at least on good enough terms with other dead people, picked her on purpose. I wish we’d gotten a scene where Hook had reunited with Emma, came back to the boat, and seen Milah. Knowing what we now know, that Emma and Hook’s love was deemed true by whoever is the judge of that stuff, it would have been interesting to see his reaction. Also Milah was about to move on, and it’s sad that she didn’t get to. Plus she says her unfinished business was Bae, but like Bae’s been dead...I mean at least a few months, Season 4 wasn’t very long in Storybrooke Time but there was like a couple weeks Rumple was in New York (assembling the Queens, and six weeks in Camelot in the first half of this season, so... I’m just inclined to think that maybe a portion of Milah’s unfinished business wasn’t her son, but the man who spent a couple hundred years trying to avenge her. I think she really could have moved on if she and Killian could’ve said their goodbyes and she could have heard about the time her spent with Bae and seen how loved and how he’d sacrificed and loved Emma. But also it was all just awkward lol

Um, honestly I’m having a hard time with this recap and review. Hades and Zelena were in deep like in Oz, and yeah they were confirmed to be True Love. Honestly a lot happened because of this, but there isn’t a whole lot to really say about it. Zelena’s change was because of finally meeting her mother and having a bond with Cora and Regina instead of resentment. Hades’ change was entirely superficial. Aw man, did Greg Germann sell it or what though? I do not blame Zelena for falling for it, but I’m not ready to talk about that yet.

There were some character centric episodes for a lot more minor characters, in a very season one way. Some characters, we thought we had all the backstory we needed and got more. Milah in Devil’s Due, Killian and Liam in The Brothers Jones, the volume of Zelena we got in Hades’ backstory that we weren’t (or at least I wasn’t) expecting in Our Decay. But like we had a Ruby/Dorothy episode (I think before this people shipped Mulan and Ruby, and their ship was Red Warrior, but I think there were some people who used Mulan Rouge, and like, that deserves some real props.There was even a Belle-centric episode, which mde sense in the context, but like if you’d been guessing who was getting episodes based on Souls of the Departed, she wouldn’t have made my list. Regina and Zelena found out they had a backstory we never knew about.

Which is what I’m going to talk about now, because like...this was all I wanted for Zelena. She had this moment of healing and Regina and Cora both benefited so much from it. Cora was healed enough to move on. Zelena and Regina suddenly felt like sisters in a way that wasn’t an obligation or burden. I honestly loved that this happened, that it was worked in in a way that made sense. That little Regina and Zelena didn’t magically know how to wear makeup and looked exactly how I look every time I try to dress up (the holidays are coming, prepare yourself).

Um, okay... I don’t want to talk about Emma and Hook’s tearful goodbye at the elevator. I already provided you a link to my reaction in 2016, when I didn’t know Hook was coming back. It’s a REALLY BEAUTIFUL scene. That’s all I got on that.

Um, Hades kills Arthur immediately and I’m not at all sad. Also he was Charming’s bro, and Hook was Charming’s bro and they took Underbrooke by a bromance storm. Cruella was me during this entire sequence. Also all that work, and all Arthur had to do to finally get his Kingdom was die. 

ROBIN’S DEATH. I’m not over it, not then, not now, not any time in the foreseeable future. His last interactions with Regina were a fight, then making up with her before saying “Regina, you are my future” (RIGHT BEFORE HE DIES, SOOOBBBB) and then they go to get his daughter and he sacrifices himeself o save her. And he doesn’t even get the luxury of like going to Underbrooke and resolving any unfinished business, he just gets obliterated.

Okay, Regina’s devastated, she’s crying, Zelena is crying because her sister is devastated and her True Love is telling her to finish Regina off. Hades says he wants to have it all and Regina tells her sister Hades won’t give up anything for her (”Like you said, he wants it all.”) Zelena says “All I ever wanted was love, you told me that was enough for you, but now I realize, NOTHIng EVER WILL BE!” She kills Hades and then the sisters cry over Robins body, both having lost their True Loves. Regina gave this big speech about true love and sacrifice, and it makes me think that Zelena and Regina have a little sliver of that in there for one another.

There’s a funeral. Then Hook is reborn or whatever. And then Gold starts fucking things up for everyone with the shard of crystal (THEY ARRANGED AN ENTIRE FUNERAL FOR ROBIN AND DIDN’T SWEEP UP HADES’ ASHES OFF REGINA’S CARPET???)

And in my opinion the final episode(s) of the season aren’t part of this season. Not that I don’t love them, just I honestly watched 2 episodes into season 6 before remembering that I hadn’t reviewed this season yet. 

So quick recap. Henry and Violet go on an angst fueled mission to destroy magic (understandable feeling, but like Henry has flip flopped on this magic issue so frequently, and destroying magic has never once been the right answer). Which prompts a second Regina-Emma road trip to Boston and then New York. Gold is causing a Ghostbusters-like cloud over the hotel in NY in an effort to get Belle awakened. (PAUSES TO GIVE SHADE TO THE PEOPLE REVVING THEIR SNOWMOBILE BETWEEN RESIDENCE BUILDINGS AT 1AM DURING EXAM WEEKEND). Henry kinda succeeds, only to find out that Snowing, Hook, and Zelena are all trapped in another realm we’ve never been to before. Its the Land of Untold Stories, Jekyll and Hyde are there. Henry makes a portal out of belief in the middle of New York.

Rumple just trades away Storybrooke to Jekyll. Since when is this not Regina’s town? Like I know in season 1 everyone was like, Mr. Gold owns half this town, but like, what about Regina’s half? Nobody consulted her. Anyways, he brought some friends to make next season interesting.

I’m so tired right now, all I can say about Regina splitting herself, is that she should’ve realized she never needed to do this, but it made things hella interesting. The Dragon was magically not dead after Tamara killed him, just in time for the Evil Queen to kill him again. (probs should’ve checked her ash pile too, that should be standard protocol. Ash-ify your enemy and then idk, sweep them up, dustbuster, I don’t care, lets just stop with the near deaths and near destruction)

And have it air during the summer so I’m not driven mad during hiatus.