References and Shipping in Once Upon a Time “Dark Swan”

Our turnaround is going to be little longer this season. The premiere is allusive. And Swan Queens get their first tear jerker.

Cassandra’s “Always… no, no… never… forget to check your references.” (now with a sound file)

I wanted to address a couple references that weren’t technically part of the premiere episode that nonetheless bear on the season and the show. These have mostly to do with the promotional materials both online and off. And they might provide some insight into the overall arc. Or not.

Black Swan

The imagery on the first promo poster draws heavily from 2010 Aronofsky film, but goes for a slicker, more stylized look.

The storyline requires Emma, the embodiment of good as the Savior, to portray her opposite, The Dark One. Oddly enough, there was another Black Swan in 1910 about a reformed pirate. Writers are nerds.

The Dark Knight Rises

This is mostly about color scheme and graphics. What you’re seeing below is clearly twister imagery but the particular monochromatic palette hollers Nolan’s trilogy. The word choice cinches it. Batman plays for the other team, but he can still function as an archetype. Modern Batman is always walking the knife edge between heroism and villainy and I bet that’s what we’re going to see in this story.

Batman

One of maybe three truly iconic caped crusader poses. It’s unbelievably convenient that it’s often depicted on a circular or spotlighted place. So not only do we get a knowing nod to 3×15 “Quiet Minds,” we get a secondary reinforcement of the whole Dark Knight thing.

The Sword in the Stone

Full disclosure. I want missing Merlin to be in Bermuda. They’ve got a really sweet looking poster out with a beautiful blue robe and a serious looking Elliot Knight. But. But. Listen, Once, I never ask you for anything. Give me this.

Anyway, We first see stony faced prophesying Merlin the magician in Minneapolis at an unusual marquee rerelease of the classic adaptation of The Once and Future King. We get a good look at Merlin in the film and young Arthur drawing Excalibur from the stone

Sir Kay, the treacherous knight that tries to draw Excaibur in Fairy Tale Land and gets dusted Buffy style for it is a nod to Arthur’s thuggish foster brother in the film. Nice touch.

Speaking of foster kids, Emma. Merlin’s got a tic.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

A previous Dark One, Gorgon the Invincible, is or looks like a bandersnatch.

Fantasia

Mickey conjures the want Merlin gave him on the day he became the apprentice with the now familiar broom music playing over the scene.

Star Wars

Emma Force chokes the traveling peddler with her uncontrollable dark magic. The fear, excitement, and comprehension in the scene mirrors Anakin Skywalker’s descent toward the The Dark Lord of the Sith. Kitsiss and Horowitz are all over Star Wars.

Killian references the old wookie prisoner gag, nicely grabbing the reference within a reference to “Operation Mongoose,” which was also about altered circumstances in Fairy Tale Land. So this is technically an Inception reference, too.

Not enough? Zelena slying slips in, “So, this is a Rogue mission?” It’s all about word choice in context. Right here, it’s more writerly nerdery.

Rumple’s evil ghost-of-Obi-Wan urges Emma to use her anger. Classic Sith move.

Beauty and the Beast

Ruehl Gorm: “This Rose is now linked to your beast, Belle. As long as it still has petals he lives.”

Shut up. I’m not crying. You’re crying. Seriously, they do this just to incite fans of the original. The imagery is so powerful that catching it in other stories evokes an emotional reaction. Rumpbelle should be over, but it’s not. Look!

Brave

The Will o’ the Wisp and the Hill of Stones are repurposed to force Merida and Emma into conflict.

Her trailer, oddly enough, pulls a shot directly from the film; which was itself a reference to the classic Robin Hood shot. Here’s hoping we get to see them both at a tournament.

And, of course, she mentions transforming into a bear. Because she has to. And her people’s lack of confidence in her suitability. Because this is what we want out of Merida. But both an uncontrollable transformation and faithless fraternities are themes for the season. Turning throwaway lines into major points is one of the things Once does best,

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Henry finally makes Nurse Ratched an official reference rather than a sight gag bolstered by a doppelganger of Chief Bromden.

Goodnight Moon

Robin’s carrying a copy when Zelena stops by. I’m gonna pretend it’s all a subtle reference to the death of the Apprentice. Goodnight mouse.

The Wizard of Oz

Zelena summons a tornado to cross realms. Because of course she does.

Garden Gnomes

Emma turns Sneezy to stone, fulfilling some sort of apotheosis for Regina, who no longer would do that, but probably always wanted to.

Erin’s Happy Shipper Moments

The tables keep getting turned. Villains turned heroes. Savior turned dark. But in the end, the enduring question remains: can love save us?

Captain Swan

Hook’s focus to get Emma back is unwavering. It makes him snarky, sexy, and stupid. He’ll scrap with anyone in his way, mostly Robin and Regina. His initial attempt to call her to him using the dagger fails, indicating she’s not in this world.

Then he’s willing to be all manner of sneaky and stupid to open a portal to get her, even trying to take Zelena’s heart, but getting hoodwinked while Zelena escapes.

When he does reunite with Emma, he talks her down from killing Merida. Emma is surprised they have reached her. Hook responds: “Has anything ever stopped me before?” And to convince her to return the heart: “We can find another way…together.” Aww.

They hold hands into Camelot.

Sadly, things are not so romantic six weeks later.

Outlaw Queen

Regina snarls at Zelena at mention of the baby.

Even more tantalizing is the fact that when Zelena glamours herself to look like Regina and kisses Robin, Robin knows it’s Zelena immediately. He might have been fooled by a faux-Marian, but Regina’s kiss is far more memorable. Zelena hangs a nice bell on that fact.

Rumpbelle

Rumple is still comatose. I can only assume he’ll awaken, but the point here is that his lack of consciousness echoes the end of Beauty and the Beast. Belle holds Rumple’s hand, not wanting to leave his side should he die in her absence. “If he goes, I want to be with him.” And to make all the shippers swoon, the Blue Fairy gives Belle THE ENCHANTED ROSE to let her know that Rumple is still alive. You should already know the drill: as long as the rose has petals, Rumple lives.

But has he survived six weeks?

Swan Queen

Regina is set up as the lynch pin to saving or destroying Emma, depending on what the situation calls for. Hook is not. Regina’s failure to wield the wand due to too much light in her heart is a testament to the effect Emma has had on her. Swan Queen OTP. Ignore how distracted Regina is by her (faux) romance with Robin. She uses Zelena’s affection for Robin to open the portal to Emma, despite the danger to Robin.

When they do find Emma, and they offer her the dagger (idiots), Emma only trusts Regina with it, knowing that Regina cares enough about her to use the dagger well, whether that means command or kill. “Someone needs to watch me,” Emma says. “I saved you. Now you save me.”

Star Wars Saturday: Redlettermedia’s Critique of ‘The Phantom Menace’

Redlettermedia’s video review of The Phantom Menace is not new to the world, since it was uploaded to YouTube in 2012, but it is new to me, and I definitely think it’s worth sharing with anyone who has yet to experience it.

It’s no secret that I think The Phantom Menace is a waste of digital space. I have, though, not always found the words to express my disdain. Part of the problem is that I haven’t revisited it since seeing it in the theaters. I believe I saw it twice back in 1999 but have had no desire to see it since. So I have a hard time being specific in my complaints.

Redlettermedia’s now somewhat infamous critical take on The Phantom Menace is full of specificity. About character, plot, and cinematic visuals. It’s delivered as a satire of film critique. The narrator is a constructed persona with a “funny” voice and a sketchy background. He gets things like William Shakespeare’s name wrong, but the points he makes are dead-on accurate.

The full video essay is 70 minutes, so you can just imagine the level of deep criticism he offers. Part 1 deals with the character problems–no personality, no connection. Part 2 discusses the overall criticisms of the story and how it’s presented–too much stuff thrown in. Parts 3 and 4 and beyond make scene-by-scene analysis of plot and its many, many inconsistencies and holes. Part 5 takes on the characters of Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Anakin Skywalker. Part 6 returns to the completely nonsensical finale. Part 7 addresses the multiplication effect of the endings of the Star Wars films and the catastrophe the cross-cutting of four tonally different scenes in the finale of The Phantom Menace.

I’m going to embed the first two parts, because they are truly spot-on analysis. The others you can seek out on your own, because unfortunately the narrator’s “comedic” persona is a violent psychopathic misogynist, and the “jokes” that are made in this arena get more pronounced and offensive starting in part 3. If that won’t bother you, forge ahead! If on the other hand, you’d prefer not to, end your fun with part 2.

Star Wars Saturday: Considering the Order of Presentation for Newcomers

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we introduced our toddler to the Star Wars Universe with A New Hope. Because we started with Episode IV, we already made a major choice in how we would present the story. But as young as he is, we could easily start again. Our options are manifold and the decision weighty. Since he’s coming into the story with both the original and prequel trilogy available to him, we could:

1. Show him in the order they were made: IV, V, VI, I, II, III. After all, that’s how WE experienced them. But obviously we also know that great disappointment came upon us with watching the prequels, so that’s not ideal.
2. Show him in linear order: I, II, III, IV, V, VI. But then the prequels will take precedent, his expectations of the original trilogy will be deformed by the prequels. And that order makes the story all about Anakin, which is lame. Due to a combination of poor writing and poor acting, Anakin is not a compelling central character. Luke is. Anakin is only interesting at all in terms of the journey Luke takes. Plus all sorts of spoilers are given away in the prequels. So that’s not a great choice either.
3. Ignore the prequels. Pretend they don’t exist. But like with Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, he’s going to find out. And then we’ll be the parents who lied to him, or at least gave him the truth “from a certain point of view.” So that’s no good.
4. Show him in Machete Order. That is: IV, V, II, III, VI. This gets my vote. Here’s the full explanation of Machete Order from the man who originated the idea. His reasoning is multi-faceted. I shall summarize what I love about it below.

The merits of Machete Order:

• The story, by opening and closing with original trilogy films, remains about Luke. The prequels just become the sort-of flashback that they really are. They show the parallels between Luke and Anakin and intensify the final battle between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor without making the whole story about Anakin.
• The prequels don’t ruin the surprise at the end of Empire that Vader is Luke’s father. That surprise remains intact, and then we get to see that story. Of course, the surprise of Luke and Leia being siblings is still ruined, but that’s smaller potatoes.
• Yep, you’re reading the order correctly–no Phantom Menace. If you think about it, not only is Phantom Menace the stinkiest of the prequels, it’s also largely irrelevant. Both major hero and major villain die at the end–Qui-Gon and Darth Maul. The whole thing is about a trade embargo (WTF). Other than identifying that Anakin has mad piloting skills, there’s just not much there of substance. And any information that is important gets reiterated at the start of Ep. II.
• And consider the benefits of what gets dropped with Ep. I: the midichlorians explanation, the bulk of the annoying Jar Jar scenes, the weird age divide between Anakin and Padme. Totally worth getting rid of. There are many other junky inconsistencies and pointless plot diversions that detract from the mythic arc in Phantom. Get rid of it, and the whole span is much more streamlined. Again, check out the original article above to see more of those.

Next week on Star Wars Saturday, I’ll offer up a few alternatives to the alternative of excising Ep. I. The fans of Star Wars are mighty, and they’ve worked some magic on Phantom that’s worth a look.