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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 1X20 - The Stranger

Hey, stranger!

Meet me under the cut to read my thoughts on this episode!

Press Release August promises to enlighten Emma and take her on a journey that will show her how she can beat Regina, and possibly take custody of Henry; and with Mary Margaret returning to work, Regina puts a plan in motion to seduce David. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, with the Evil Queen’s curse about to strike, Geppetto agrees to a plan that will save Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter, but with a proviso that could also save his own son. General Thoughts Past Gepetto is the shining beacon of this episode. I love the lengths he goes to to protect Pinocchio and the dark places he goes to in the process. I also give the episode a lot of credit for showing so much of Gepetto and Pinocchio together in the earlier bits of the flashback. We see the selfless nature of Pinocchio that grants him his humanhood and seeing the two of them bond a bit make Gepetto’s blackmail so much more tragic and understandable. That said, while I love the way he emotionally blackmails Jiminy into helping him out, I do feel like it would’ve been a touch stronger had we seen their friendship a bit more in the second flashback scene. Wow, that scene with Pinocchio really didn’t do it for me. See, I get that Pinocchio left Emma and I can understand why. He was roughly 7-9 years old and a baby is a big responsibility, especially when you’re in a new land and are a kid. But I wish that we had seen more of a lingering effect of tension with Pinocchio taking care of Emma other than just one guy who was mean to him. I feel like an additional flashback scene would’ve come in handy here - one with Pinocchio taking care of Emma and one of him being exhausted after some time had passed, being told off, and then having the offer to leave. Because as it stands, Pinocchio only has that one bad encounter that takes maybe ten seconds total with a nothing character to take him away from a baby he cares about and a promise he made to his Papa. Present I find that the scene at the tree between Emma and August was a better version of Jefferson’s speeches from “Hat Trick.” Because August - in addition to being an established character, now ten episodes in the making - is Emma’s friend. Because he’s already earned a great deal of her trust and is implementing evidence (Something that he knows will better help her believe), it feels more like an earned discussion. And while I’ll take my objections with it in the next episode, I find that August demanding that Emma step up and be the Savior works better because his motivations are more selfish.

Also, I like how Emma’s desperation is playing out in the background of the episode as Gold and August continue to fail her, culminating in such a crazy and off the charts decision to abduct Henry. It’s a great moment where it’s completely indefensible both in-universe and to an Emma fan like me and the fallout in the next episode is so well-earned for a WTF decision like that, making me feel like the writers knew damn well what they were doing. Insights -That is the coolest door lock ever and I want it soooooo badly! -”My kid needs me. I don’t have time for faith.” Say what you want about Emma, but my girl has her priorities in check! -I know people have their problems with OUaT’s effects, but they’ve always managed to capture water so well. Whether it’s practical or in CGI, it’s both realistic and beautiful. -Alongside those lines, the Pinocchio wooden toy is so expertly crafted. Given how it’s only in a handful of scenes, it’s really impressive that they went to such efforts to make it tangible. -Regina, making everyone use those old school phones that take forever to reach someone was the most vile part of this curse! -There’s such a great stark contrast between Mary Margaret from the pilot and now. Back in the first episode, she could barely talk to Regina without getting barked at, but the tables have turned so drastically. It speaks to her development over the past 19 episodes, and what’s even better is that she retains her ability to forgive, an aspect of Snow that is such a big part of her, especially in later seasons. -Damn! Henry’s determination is really something else here! While I definitely feel for Regina (It must be awful seeing the child you raised turn on you and call you evil, not matter how true it actually is), Henry has clearly reached a limit and given that Regina actually did frame Mary Margaret, I can’t help but feel some catharsis out of that speech. -Gold, you bastard! That was so douchey, and I am cracking the fuck up! It’s probably some more catharsis, and not unjustified catharsis given August’s ploy in the last episode! He’s now just having all the fun in the world dicking around with August and while I love August, it’s so entertaining to watch! Oh! And when you see the clock, it all gets so much sadder! SO MANY FEELS! -To be fair, Pinocchio, I don’t blame you for tying up Jiminy. -Emma and Rumple just have the best discussions! I like how blunt Emma is with her demands and like Henry, she’s determined as hell! -I wonder if Regina got that rocky road from a certain Snow Queen. ;) -It only occured to me now that August’s presence was foreshadowed in the first episode. Why else would Gepetto speak of not having a child when in the previous scene in the pilot, he clearly did? -Regina’s fake story about finding David is like the evil version of Michael’s letter to Jane in Season 3 of “Jane the Virgin.” It reflects on themes of meant-to-be and coincidences. Also, I have to wonder how much of that story was improvised and how much of it had she planned beforehand. -The effects are on a roll here! I love how the tree in our world all but cracks open as Pinocchio enters our world. As a side note, it’s really lucky that humanity hadn’t built over his landing spot. Imagine that happening to Pinocchio at a Starbucks! XD -There’s such a sad contrast between the “fake” reunion in the past episode and the real one here. The “fake” one while...well, fake is so honest and upfront. You just know that that’s the kind of reunion August would want with his Papa, and in this episode, it’s so calm and lowkey, but tragic because it’s on a bed of lies. -Oh, Emma. That was a terrible idea! I get where you’re coming from girl, but...no! Arcs The Mystery of August Booth - Finally, all is revealed! I’m glad that they got the reveal out of the way earlier in the episode so that we could spend the rest of the runtime exploring his past and present relationships. It really helped to define August as a character. As for the reveal, it was always an engaging mystery that revealed just enough to make August’s character engaging, but not enough that the answer would become obvious. This may just be one of the most underrated twists in all of OUaT for that reason. Favorite Dynamic August and Gold I love how much resentment Gold has towards August and the petty and hurtful ways he lets it out. At the same time though, the two begrudgingly work together knowing that they’re the only other padults that they have on their side, and they’re surprisingly good at doing it. Because of that, how they work together and interact is so amusingly petty and yet coopertaive all the same and it makes me wish we could have seen more reluctant team ups between them. Their relationship is definitely a proto Season 3 Golden Hook, albeit toned down significantly due to circumstances. Writer Awww! It’s Andrew and Ian’s last episode of the season! These guys were a real treat. Their dialogue is fantastic and their theming, while it doesn’t match Fruit’s, works well here because both the latter past segments and the present segments show how far he’s fallen from his virtues and the emotional as well as physical consequences of that. But, they do a good job keeping August likable by showing just how much effort - genuine effort - he’s making to get Emma to believe here. Additionally, these guys know how to use just the right character at just the right moment. Nothing ever feels over or underused. Rating 9/10. We got an excellent exploration of character here. August comes out of this episode fully fleshed out and his dynamic with Emma really pegs home the danger that everyone is in going into the final two episodes. The pacing of the story gives us a fun adventure and every character featured has something to do or contribute to the story. I took a point off for the weak scene in the foster home as that’s supposed to be so much better than it ended up being.

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Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales for putting this together! Next time: We talk about fruits. How about apples?

Season Tally (176/220) Writer Tally for Season 1: A&E (50/70) Liz Tigelaar (17/20)* David Goodman (33/50) Jane Espenson (46/60) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (38/40)* Daniel Thomsen (8/10)* Vladimir Kvetko (9/10)* (* = Their work for the season is complete)

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 1x20 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat #basically every character in this episode is discussed

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shoottomiss · 7 years

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The Worst Ben 10 episode of all time

You know, everyone always considers Fool’s Gold and The Widening Gyre contenders for being the worst Ben 10 episodes, not just in UAF but overall (i am unsure if anyone considers an OS episode as bad as they do those ones). But you know what actually might be the worst episode from any one of the 5 series?

Breakpoint, from Omniverse.

A fitting name in itself, it was the final straw for me for Omniverse. Now anyone who knows me knows I... dislike this series, to put it lightly. I saw too many problems with them when they tried to “fix” things, Ben’s character was even worse than before, it had the opposite problem of UAF in that it never felt serious even when it wanted to be, had romance so terrible I’d cringe less if I was watching the first season of Korra, and overall felt like a hot mess. But I can understand why people like the show, and don’t think I’m better than people that do.

However, y‘all have to admit this was the worst that OV had to offer. At least you could find some fun wondering what they were thinking for Fool’s Gold, or some entertainment in how The Widening Gyre felt as preachy as a typical Captain Planet episode. But here? There’s no fun to be had.

I suppose I should start with the plot. See, there’s criminals going around committing crimes while looking like Ben (wearing the ID masks, you know?), and the plumbers don’t exactly know who is under them. Ben seems to think it’s Fistrick, because the one giving orders is doing curls, so for some reason he decides to go undercover... eeeeven though they already know it’s Fistrick and would merely have to track him down to end this. Grandpa Max is reluctant about this, since it takes self control and doesn’t think Ben is capable (which says a lot about this series’ Ben, but it gets even worse).

So Ben has the Omnitrix lock him into an alien so he can get close to Fistrick, “hangs out” with him and his mooks, and figures out they’re gonna hit Billions Tower. Ben and Rook soon intercept said hit, where Rook shoots off their ID masks, revealing them. So, undercover mission over, as well as the episode, right? I mean, they get away, but Ben knows where their headquarters are and have the proof they need to arrest them and have a squad of plumbers back them up. Even finding the stolen tech ultimately doesn’t require Ben to be undercover, especially since we see he never does find it, nor does he make it his objective, later in the episode. But nope! Ben keeps going with it, causing what was left of the logic of the plot to break into teeny tiny pieces.

But that’s not what makes this episode awful. No, see, when Max talks about self-control, you would assume he talks about keeping up the disguise, right? (which makes no sense when you remember Bullfrag from the incursean arc) But no, they take it into an even stupider direction.

Ben gets too close to the case.

BEN. GETS. TOO CLOSE. TO THE CASE.

...Excuse me for a moment.

Yes, after all the villains he encountered, the tricks he’s known them to pull, and how terrible he knows they can be, this is the time Ben gets too close to the case. More specifically, he gets close to Fistrick in a friendship kinda way. I’m sorry, what?

Why?! It’s not even like Fistrick is possibly redeemable or even likable either. He held innocent Megawatts captive, attacked Rook’s peaceful home planet Revonnah, infected Rook with “bro essence”, is all around your typical “black and white” weapons dealer villain, and worst of all, is a “bro” type of person to the point where he replaces parts of words with Bro (that alone deserves jail time). Why out of all villains is this the one that Ben is tempted to be buddies with?

Worse yet is that this really says volumes about how bad Ben’s character has become, both in universe, and on the writing side of things. He was already insufferable before in this show, either because he could be even douchier than he was in the worst parts of UAF, or just plan idiotic. That he can’t even prevent himself from feeling like becoming Fistrick’s friend though just sends those traits through the roof. Especially since he begins to snap at Rook when Rook points out how he’s changing. Though I guess I’m impressed the writing team set a new standard for how low they can make Ben’s character go. Props for the new record. The new, awful, terrible record.

The humor’s not all that good either. The running gag with Rook and meatball subs gets old very fast. Even if you find it funny, the rest of the episode and it’s broken logic and characters really sucks out any joy you get from it.

In many ways, it’s the exact opposite to what I believe to be the very best episode of Ben 10 overall- The Ultimate Sacrifice from Ultimate Alien. I’ll explain it in more detail another time, but it’s when the Ultimates accidentally become sentient, trap Ben in the Ultimatrix, and try to kill him in hopes that it will set them free. Gwen goes into the Ultimatrix to find him using an astral projection, while Kevin goes to get Azmuth.

The episode really shows how far Ben’s character has come- he’s open-minded even though it sounds ridiculous that the ultimates have become sentient, thinks of intelligent ideas while fighting the ultimates (like using many transformations to run down the watch’s energy, which will hopefully set him free), and instead of letting Gwen destroy the Ultimates, he volunteers to let himself be sacrificed (even though the ultimates treat him like crap since they think he knowingly used them as slaves). It’s the best that Ben has to offer.

Gwen and Kevin too. Gwen would rather destroy the ultimates than lose her cousin, and Kevin risks his life to get Azmuth to come and fix the watch, admitting that Ben is his best friend. Ben and Gwen even share a tender moment when they think he’s going to die, showing how close their bond has become (platonically, of course). The humor’s good too. There’s some nice gems in here, and none of the jokes ever disrupt the flow of the episode.

The episode makes sure things stay logical too. Ben sacrifices himself because the alternative is either Gwen killing the sentient ultimates, or them possibly remaining trapped. Neither is a good option, and they’re running low on time and any other possible options. Not to mention Kevin is having a hard time getting Azmuth.

But the more I look between these two episodes, the more preposterous it seems that they’re part of the same series. That Ben could go from being a selfless, intelligent hero to a idiotic and selfish one is just too jarring. And I get it, Omniverse is more light hearted and comedic, but regardless of the tone of the show changing, that shouldn’t excuse butchering the main character’s core traits and devolving him.

Breakpoint is everything that ever went wrong with Ben 10, not just in this series, but in the entire Ben 10 franchise, all rolled up into one episode. The decay of Ben’s character, the terrible logic, the weak humor... hell, I could even argue “terrible romance” considering that Ben’s bromantic (kill me, now i’m doing it) one-sided feelings for Fistrick come off as incredibly forced. It’s the lowest point the franchise has ever come to.

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