I agree that Ella and Thomas were very bland. I was more invested in Cinderella than Thomas, though. I thought she was at least A LITTLE better.
I had a bit of a problem going along with their HEA because, in the real world, he got her pregnant and then bailed on her. Why? Because his daddy told him to? I'm being a bit more lenient about it because it was really the force of the curse keeping them away from each other so I guess when you think it through, it wasn't really volitional. But still...even with that in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think he came off as a bit...dou...dirtbaggy. It's hard to just hit the pause button on my brain and suspend my natural response to these situations, even when it's for the reason that there was a curse involved.
Though she was a bit of a nit, too. Making a deal without really caring about the terms. And she said something about how Rumple tricked her because she thought he'd want jewels. When...correct me if I'm wrong...but I'm pretty sure he told her he wasn't really interested in such things. When she flat out told him she didn't have any, he was like, "Yeah, that's cool. Not really what I had in mind. Also, did you notice that I'm a creepy leprechaun? Seriously, I couldn't get any creepier. And you think a pretty bracelet will make me happy? Srsly? Well, it's okay. The prince won't love you for your brains!"
I'm not totally writing off Thomas. I didn't get enough of him to care one way or another. I do think Cinderella had a bit more personality, but also seriously lacked in the brains department.
But, then again...I can't really say that was a flaw in the writing. Isn't it the basic idea of being a fairy tale princess that you get your HEA and...well...you live happily...ever after. There really isn't a "what comes next" for those stories. Nobody ever really asks if Cinderella and her prince are happy together for the rest of their lives or if she eventually gets to the point where she pictures him choking to death on pickled herring because she can't stand the way he can't put his damn dirty socks in the laundry basket where they belong.
I will say that I enjoyed the bit with Snow talking to Ashley at the dance far more than I should have. I'm quickly finding Snow to be my favorite of the main cast...at least in terms of fanfic fodder. Though Rumple is the most intriguing, I can't really picture writing a story about him - or from his POV - quite yet. But in that dance scene, I was like, "Awww...Snow!"
I will also say this came after my mom and I discussed - at length - how much it had to suck to be a costuming department that spent a long time making a big elaborate blue dress only to have it worn on screen for all of ten seconds and then never seen again. Then I thought about what they probably get paid to do it and went, "Eh...fair enough. Moving on."
Where was I? Oh, Cinderella. Right. But she seriously didn't tell her husband about the deal she made until after he got her knocked up? Okay, granted, I can't imagine how one would go about approaching one's husband with that bit of bad news. "Hey, honey, could you pass the peas andbythewaydidImentionImadeadealwithacreepyguytogivehimmyfirstbornsoIcouldmarryyou? Mmmm...this could use more salt."
But, still. She came off as remarkably short-sighted and not the brightest apple in the basket, if you catch my drift. She knows that Rumple's going to claim their firstborn and yet it seemed clear to me that she still went ahead and ACTIVELY hoped to have a child with Thomas. While not meanwhile saying, "Oh, you know, BEFORE I get a bun in my oven, maybe is there something we could possibly do about the blood debt I owe? Did I mention I signed a contract because I was REALLY wanting you to marry me?"
True. Although I REALLY liked Charming in episode 3. I thought there was equality in bantering, and that's very important. I mean, I got the feeling he could hold his own against her in the banter department.
I would say so. I don't get the feeling it took very long for Snow to get pregnant, after she got married. And in fairy tale land, it's reasonable to suspect it didn't happen BEFORE.
Yeaaaaaah...I'm having issues with that too. In an odd way, it almost would have made more sense for it to have been Charming. Because then, you could see that NOT ONLY did she take away Snow's HEA, she's - in her own mind at least - totally just...driving the point home, so to speak. Still...SO glad it wasn't Charming. I'm apparently fully on board the H.M.S. Snow/Charming.
Yeah, I think that's a large part of it. Though one would think she'd at least watched The Godfather at some point in her life...
I also don't think it had as much to do with brains as it did with the fact she overidentified with Cinderella, I think. She was willing to do whatever it took. She was definitely conflicted.
But MY question was...is it possible Rumple did everything he did with Cinderella - even in fairy tale land - in order to eventually get that promise from Emma? It's a credit to his character, I suppose, that one has to wonder if he's really thinking THAT many moves ahead. But here's the thing...
- So he makes a deal with Ella ... ostensibly at that time thinking he wants her first born child. What Rumple plans to do with it is anyone's guess, and my mom's suggestions were not helpful.
- When it comes time to collect, she tells him she's carrying twins. He touches her stomach and "seems" to go along with it...but he'd known that Snow was going to have a daughter. Just what kinds of freaky magic is that man able to do?
- Ella comes to him with a "deal" and he's clearly a man who likes to make deals. But even as he's making the deal, he seems to know where it's going. He mentions "whatever world that is" at least 2-3 times. So he ALREADY knows that the curse is going to be done and they'll be taken to an alternate world, it seems. Even though he hasn't yet had his conversation with Snow - and thus he hasn't yet told the EQ how to get the curse to work (as this happened AFTER he had already spoken with the Charmings). Because THAT all happens after he's imprisoned. But it also seems he knows that the deal is really a trap, because he even says something about how, "You know, even if you trap me..." So I think he knew EXACTLY what was going to happen.
- So why? He went though all that just to get a first born he was going to give up anyway? And it's not like Mr. Gold accidentally waived a deal Rumple had made back in FTL (fairy tale land...I'm gonna start abbreviating more with these things). It's pretty obvious that Mr. Gold remembers FTL, as well. So I can't help but imagine that even as Gold, he's pursuing Rumple's interests.
Weeeeeeell...yeah. Although, again, I did have a bit of a mental break at the end, there. Look, we're all sitting around going, "He left her because of a curse" if we're able to reconcile ourselves to that at all. But from Ashley's perspective, he knocked her up and bailed. I guess that's why they make it very, very clear that these people are young. Because if they were any older, there'd be no excuse for the monumental stupidity that comes with being in that situation and then going, "Oh, you're back now? Then we're all good! No worries!" But that is a very...teenager thing to do, I suppose.
Still...I had a harder time sympathizing with Ella and Thomas and emotionally investing in them than I did Snow and Charming, even before I fell in lurve with them. (By the way, which brother is older, I wonder?) Of course, part of that is just the amount of time spent on them...and the way the story was structured. But I really felt for Snow and Charming in the Pilot, with their struggle to find a way to break the curse - or evade it - to keep their child safe. With their willingness to do anything to be together and to protect Emma. When I watch the scene in bed where Snow SOBS after Charming takes their daughter away...I still tear up. And that moment where Charming is willing to die to get Emma to safety...
And then I still love that moment where Snow comes in and finds him and kisses him. Like, "This will make you better now, right?" And it doesn't work, so she tries again. I just love that because it's so heartbreaking and she's so confused...because in her world (and PARTICULARLY for her), true love's kiss DOES fix these pesky problems like..."death."
Anyway...I didn't have that this episode. I mean, I didn't want Gold to get the kid because he seems a bit of a smarmy git, even if you don't realize he's Rumple. And you REALLY don't want Rumple to get the kid because, even if you don't know why he wants it...well...actually, that's the problem. You don't know why he wants it. And with Rumple being so deliciously...well...all that he is, you figure he's probably not wanting a kid because he's always had a hankering to nurture the paternal side of his nature.
But even in the real world...Ella's had it hard. Because she's a teenager who got knocked up and her boyfriend left her. And nobody believes she can take care of herself or the kid. Well...given that she presumably sold her kid to the PAWN SHOP OWNER for, I dunno, a packet of Tic Tacs or something (it seems pretty clear she didn't do it for enough money to live high on the hog)...I don't think it's all that surprising or even inappropriate for the rest of the world to say, "You know...this kid might be just a bit too young to be playing house with a baby. Given that the baby would be totally dependent upon her for absolutely everything when it comes to basic survival."
I dunno. Maybe Mr. Gold gave her rent money or something. I hear that's a solid reason for making those kids of decisions. But anything less than rent money, and that's just damn stupid.
But, back to the point...she's sold her kid and - if you remove the fact that it's due to the curse and just look at it as how it would appear in the real world - it seems she did so because it kinda sucked to be a teenage mom and she wasn't ready for it. Okay, fair enough. But she still made a deal with a guy who practically wears a flashing neon sign that says, "Do not trust this man with your half-dead ficus, let alone a baby." And then, when you go, "Well, really...it wasn't her that did it. It was Ella. This was a carryover of the curse, and so she didn't make a deal with Mr. Gold at ALL she just THINKS she did..." Well, while that's true...? It's also actually WORSE when you think about it.
Because while Mr. Gold may LOOK like he's wearing such a sign, RUMPLE ACTUALLY IS WEARING THAT SIGN. Loud and proud, man! And if his visual appearance isn't enough of a sign...and you even manage to overlook the creepy voice he uses...and you actually bother to listen to the words he SAYS...well, anybody with the intelligence of your average houseplant would go, "Ummm....could I, like, read that contract before I sign it? In fact...lemme call my lawyer. Or, hey, is there a number for the Fairy Godmother Agency? They've gotta send me a new one...Even a temp with an attitude problem would be more trustworthy than this."
And, look, it's not even entirely that she made the deal to begin with. She was in a miserable situation, and she wants out. And she's young and not really thinking much past going to the ball and falling in love with her fairy tale prince. And, really, in the storybooks, she is supposed get get her HEA.
But it's also her actions afterwords that make you think that this Ella just wasn't the pick of the litter when it comes to the brains department. And then you add Thomas, who was...okay...in FTL but came off as equally an unreliable dou...word I shouldn't say on a family board...
I just had a hell of a time trying to emotionally connect with either of them. The thing I liked best about Thomas was that he was related to James. And, let's face it, that's not exactly the highest praise because in all of Thomas's scenes, I was wanting to have more Snow and James instead. I dunno, maybe when I do a rewatch when Sana and I get around to episode reviews, I'll feel differently about this fairy tale couple. But likely not.
For the record, I didn't hate them. I just...honestly, if they had just been putting their kid up for adoption in the regular world, with anyone other than Mr. Gold, I'd have probably thought in all honesty that might be best. And in fairy tale land...well, I'd have hoped that they found a way out of the baby-trading contract because WHATEVER RUMPLE WANTS WITH A CHILD CANNOT POSSIBLY BE GOOD. But otherwise, I'd have been like, "Well, here's hoping Thomas is the younger son and the kingdom doesn't fall to them one day because...she's pretty (and he's...okay looking...I guess. I honestly can't remember what he looked like now). But I wouldn't trust her with my kingdom or anything. Thank heavens Snow comes off as smarter than that.
In other news, her loyalties and actions may have been a bit misguided, but I was pleasantly surprised that Ruby was willing to try to protect Ella. That was nice. I wouldn't mind finding out more about Ruby, actually. I suspect she'll be a bigger character than it initially seemed, given that she's been in every episode so far, I think.
Enough of my ramblings for tonight! ... maybe.