OUAT 2.20 Analysis
Okay, since *someone* was dying of anticipation waiting for my OUAT episode 2.20 analysis, here it is! I'm just going to address a few things that were brought up on the OUAT message board before I get to my own special review of the episode The Evil Queen.
1. Villains becoming dumb, heroes dumber Yes. I have noticed this, too.
2. One villain has become Wile E. Coyote Yes. Hit by a car, knocked out numerous times, beat up, survived a 8-10 meter fall, smacked around by a re-annimated character(reminded me of Evil Dead or Army of Darkness) and yet comes out of all of this mostly unscathed.
3. Story lines are getting schizophrenic Yes. That's what happens when this series is written by a damn plethora of different writers. How is it ever going to be consistent when so many people are writing and they are making it up as they go along?
4. Why can't it be more like Game of Thrones? Because Game of Thrones was written by ONE GUY, George R.R. Martin, and it is based on books that have already been written. The stories are already established. They are not making it up as they go along. See #3 above.
5. Regina is a psychotic, psychopath, schizophrenic, homicidal maniac but sees herself as the good guy and everyone else is evil. No! Not exactly! True, she's murdered quite a few people and doesn't see herself as the bad guy, but clinically speaking she's not a psychopath or schizophrenic. Some of her traits are: cognitive dissonence, dillusional, dissociation, entitlement, sees self as victim, impulsive, "lacks conscience" i.e. preoccupied with own agenda, objectifies Henry, pathological lying, proxy recruitment, threats, scapegoating, etc, etc, etc, which is...drum roll please! Classic Malignant Narcissist! And since her mother was one as well...it stands to reason.
Okay then. On to my expert analysis!
"Sweetheart, don't you think the genocide was a bit much?" That's what I was thinking when Regina had her soldiers slaughter a whole village when they wouldn't help her find Snow White. Okay, maybe it wasn't *exactly* genocide--it was *just* a massacre--but it was a wee bit over the top in my opinion. I know the episode is titled "The Evil Queen" and we are going to be showed just *how* evil, but come on! This is supposed to be Disney!
That was the most disturbing part of the episode. What bothers me about the way they have written Regina is that there isn't any real progression from her being the nice young girl to full blown Evil Queen mode. It was all too sudden. There should have been a more natural progression into it. It's not realistic in my opinion. You just don't go zero to Evil Queen in 2.5 seconds. Now chronologically, I'm assuming this episode happened a bit after the Queen had King Leopold killed, so it's a good 10 years after she was forced to marry the king? Plenty of time to become unhinged but they never showed a gradual progression on the show. Therefore, wholesale massacre comes off a bit shocking, especially after the first half of the season we see Regina trying to rehab herself.
Now, back to item #1 up there...how everyone has The Dumb. One scene where our "heroes" discover that *someone* did *a very bad thing* and spoiled all the work that they had been doing(but *I'm* not spoilin'!) and one of them exclaims, "Who could have done this?!" Seriously? You have *no* idea who could have done this? None at all? NONE?!? Don't even care to take a guess? :::facepalm:::
And now for a little 'Scenes As Told By Xul'...
[***explanation of "As Told By Xul" from the Comments of Posts Past ***
...I got to thinking about one particular scene and how it was just so 'WTF?' that I started cracking myself up doing a "Retelling According to Xul" and I was cracking myself up so bad that I'm going to do two more scenes "As Told by Xul" and hopefully you'll see the humor. (It's funny cuz I imagine it the way I'd be having a conversation with my sister...we used a certain vernacular like we were straight out of the Roseanne show or Beavis and Butthead...a sorta early '90s teenager dialect...and it makes me LOL.]
Regina at Rumpelstiltskin's Castle just after the slaughter:
Reg: Rumpel, I'm soooo pissed! Why don't these stupid peasants love me?
Rump: Can't imagine why after you slaughtered a whole village.
Reg: This sucks! No one will help me find Snow White. I guess I'll have to do it myself.
Rump: Can't see ya having any trouble wearing *that*. /sarc (Regina is looking fabulous wearing a super awesome ensemble of tight black leather pants, black riding boots, stunningly awesome ruby-colored floor-length coat--tailored at the waist to show off the curves, and a black fez worn at a jaunty angle.)
Reg: Hey, I know! Teach me my mother's shape-shifting spell!
Rump: That took her *months* to learn. In a week you might be able to change your hair style.
Reg: Well, screw that! *You* change me. Then I can walk amongst the peasants and learn why they love Snow so much and hate me!
Rump: Okay then! But you won't be able to use magic if ya get into trouble! :::POOF!:::
Reg: Oh, total ripoff! I don't feel any different, just that I'm wearing these awful rags!
Rump: But look in the mirror here. This is what everyone will see.
Reg: (Looks in the mirror to see she's now sporting some massively frizzy hair with dreads) :::shock face!!!::: [This reminded me of Dead Like Me where the characters look normal to the viewer but "other people" on the show see them as someone else.]
The scenes between Lana and Robert are great. You can tell they are having a blast playing their characters and antagonizing each other. It's great fun to watch.
Regina and Henry scene:
R: Hey, Henry
H: Hey ma, what's up?
R: You'll never believe it! Just LOOK what David, Mary Margaret and Emma have been up to! They were ________(trying not to spoil)and they think I'm evil and were going to leave without me! That's so not cool!
H: No way!
R: I'm tired of being the Evil Queen. They made me that. So check this out...why don't you and I blow this taco stand and go back to the Enchanted Forest?
H: Sounds good, but how do we do that?
R: Well, I sorta built in a fail-safe to the curse...
H: What, like a self destruct button?
R: Yeah!
H: So what happens to Storybrooke and everyone in it?
R: They all die. But it's totally cool though, cuz you and I will be together!
H: Are you fucking whacked?!?
R: No, no...it's totally cool. It'll be awesome. You and I will be together and no one will be able to bother us because they'll all be dead!
H: O.o NO! IT'S NOT COOL!
R: Okay then. :::sigh::: I knew you'd take that the wrong way. (pulls out mother's spell book, erases Henry's memory with wave of her hand)
H: Hey, ma, what are you doing here?
R: Just came to see you sweetie! Cool bird feeders ya got there.
[okay, *maybe* Henry didn't say "fucking." He's 11 y/o after all and Regina raised him better than that.]
Don't worry, I'm not really spoiling anything cuz Regina was just talking *plans* and you know how *those* work out! The whole thing made me like O.o too, cuz she's like 'I don't want to be the Evil Queen' and then is going to kill everyone. Cognitive dissonance much?
Now, last one. Regina back at Rump's castle after reconnaissance:
Reg: (storms through Rump's door, all pissed off)
Rump: Sorry, I already have a maid! She's working out quite nicely if ya know what I mean! :::wink, wink, nudge, nudge:::
Reg: You know who I am! YOU SAID YOU"D COME AND GET ME IF I CALLED YOUR NAME!!!
Rump: I said you could call. I never said I'd come and get you! :::Rumple giggle:::
Reg: (Blows by Rump in a huff)
Rump: Caw...you're mingin'!!! Don't you peasants use soap?!?
Reg: Just change me back already! I can't even get back into my own castle!
Rump: :::POOF!:::
Reg: Damn, those peasants are SO whack! How could they love someone as evil as Snow. I'm tired of being nice to them. The Queen is dead. Long live the *Evil* Queen! That'll show 'em!
This was another fun scene. Lana and Robert have great chemistry together. And the Queen is just batshit insane delusional at this point. It's so over-the-top that you're just like WTF? But it's so much fun to watch. Ya just can't take this show too seriously if you're to enjoy watching it. In spite of what anyone else thinks, I pretty much enjoyed this episode. There were a lot of good scenes.
I already looked at a few spoilers to know that the "new" villain characters don't succeed in killing my favorite villain. I'm just anxious to see how it all plays out. I'm sure Emma and Snow will come to the rescue. I'm just curious if Regina will turn back to good guy status after all the upcoming drama.
1. Villains becoming dumb, heroes dumber Yes. I have noticed this, too.
2. One villain has become Wile E. Coyote Yes. Hit by a car, knocked out numerous times, beat up, survived a 8-10 meter fall, smacked around by a re-annimated character(reminded me of Evil Dead or Army of Darkness) and yet comes out of all of this mostly unscathed.
3. Story lines are getting schizophrenic Yes. That's what happens when this series is written by a damn plethora of different writers. How is it ever going to be consistent when so many people are writing and they are making it up as they go along?
4. Why can't it be more like Game of Thrones? Because Game of Thrones was written by ONE GUY, George R.R. Martin, and it is based on books that have already been written. The stories are already established. They are not making it up as they go along. See #3 above.
5. Regina is a psychotic, psychopath, schizophrenic, homicidal maniac but sees herself as the good guy and everyone else is evil. No! Not exactly! True, she's murdered quite a few people and doesn't see herself as the bad guy, but clinically speaking she's not a psychopath or schizophrenic. Some of her traits are: cognitive dissonence, dillusional, dissociation, entitlement, sees self as victim, impulsive, "lacks conscience" i.e. preoccupied with own agenda, objectifies Henry, pathological lying, proxy recruitment, threats, scapegoating, etc, etc, etc, which is...drum roll please! Classic Malignant Narcissist! And since her mother was one as well...it stands to reason.
Okay then. On to my expert analysis!
"Sweetheart, don't you think the genocide was a bit much?" That's what I was thinking when Regina had her soldiers slaughter a whole village when they wouldn't help her find Snow White. Okay, maybe it wasn't *exactly* genocide--it was *just* a massacre--but it was a wee bit over the top in my opinion. I know the episode is titled "The Evil Queen" and we are going to be showed just *how* evil, but come on! This is supposed to be Disney!
That was the most disturbing part of the episode. What bothers me about the way they have written Regina is that there isn't any real progression from her being the nice young girl to full blown Evil Queen mode. It was all too sudden. There should have been a more natural progression into it. It's not realistic in my opinion. You just don't go zero to Evil Queen in 2.5 seconds. Now chronologically, I'm assuming this episode happened a bit after the Queen had King Leopold killed, so it's a good 10 years after she was forced to marry the king? Plenty of time to become unhinged but they never showed a gradual progression on the show. Therefore, wholesale massacre comes off a bit shocking, especially after the first half of the season we see Regina trying to rehab herself.
Now, back to item #1 up there...how everyone has The Dumb. One scene where our "heroes" discover that *someone* did *a very bad thing* and spoiled all the work that they had been doing(but *I'm* not spoilin'!) and one of them exclaims, "Who could have done this?!" Seriously? You have *no* idea who could have done this? None at all? NONE?!? Don't even care to take a guess? :::facepalm:::
And now for a little 'Scenes As Told By Xul'...
[***explanation of "As Told By Xul" from the Comments of Posts Past ***
...I got to thinking about one particular scene and how it was just so 'WTF?' that I started cracking myself up doing a "Retelling According to Xul" and I was cracking myself up so bad that I'm going to do two more scenes "As Told by Xul" and hopefully you'll see the humor. (It's funny cuz I imagine it the way I'd be having a conversation with my sister...we used a certain vernacular like we were straight out of the Roseanne show or Beavis and Butthead...a sorta early '90s teenager dialect...and it makes me LOL.]
Regina at Rumpelstiltskin's Castle just after the slaughter:
Reg: Rumpel, I'm soooo pissed! Why don't these stupid peasants love me?
Rump: Can't imagine why after you slaughtered a whole village.
Reg: This sucks! No one will help me find Snow White. I guess I'll have to do it myself.
Rump: Can't see ya having any trouble wearing *that*. /sarc (Regina is looking fabulous wearing a super awesome ensemble of tight black leather pants, black riding boots, stunningly awesome ruby-colored floor-length coat--tailored at the waist to show off the curves, and a black fez worn at a jaunty angle.)
Reg: Hey, I know! Teach me my mother's shape-shifting spell!
Rump: That took her *months* to learn. In a week you might be able to change your hair style.
Reg: Well, screw that! *You* change me. Then I can walk amongst the peasants and learn why they love Snow so much and hate me!
Rump: Okay then! But you won't be able to use magic if ya get into trouble! :::POOF!:::
Reg: Oh, total ripoff! I don't feel any different, just that I'm wearing these awful rags!
Rump: But look in the mirror here. This is what everyone will see.
Reg: (Looks in the mirror to see she's now sporting some massively frizzy hair with dreads) :::shock face!!!::: [This reminded me of Dead Like Me where the characters look normal to the viewer but "other people" on the show see them as someone else.]
The scenes between Lana and Robert are great. You can tell they are having a blast playing their characters and antagonizing each other. It's great fun to watch.
Regina and Henry scene:
R: Hey, Henry
H: Hey ma, what's up?
R: You'll never believe it! Just LOOK what David, Mary Margaret and Emma have been up to! They were ________(trying not to spoil)and they think I'm evil and were going to leave without me! That's so not cool!
H: No way!
R: I'm tired of being the Evil Queen. They made me that. So check this out...why don't you and I blow this taco stand and go back to the Enchanted Forest?
H: Sounds good, but how do we do that?
R: Well, I sorta built in a fail-safe to the curse...
H: What, like a self destruct button?
R: Yeah!
H: So what happens to Storybrooke and everyone in it?
R: They all die. But it's totally cool though, cuz you and I will be together!
H: Are you fucking whacked?!?
R: No, no...it's totally cool. It'll be awesome. You and I will be together and no one will be able to bother us because they'll all be dead!
H: O.o NO! IT'S NOT COOL!
R: Okay then. :::sigh::: I knew you'd take that the wrong way. (pulls out mother's spell book, erases Henry's memory with wave of her hand)
H: Hey, ma, what are you doing here?
R: Just came to see you sweetie! Cool bird feeders ya got there.
[okay, *maybe* Henry didn't say "fucking." He's 11 y/o after all and Regina raised him better than that.]
Don't worry, I'm not really spoiling anything cuz Regina was just talking *plans* and you know how *those* work out! The whole thing made me like O.o too, cuz she's like 'I don't want to be the Evil Queen' and then is going to kill everyone. Cognitive dissonance much?
Now, last one. Regina back at Rump's castle after reconnaissance:
Reg: (storms through Rump's door, all pissed off)
Rump: Sorry, I already have a maid! She's working out quite nicely if ya know what I mean! :::wink, wink, nudge, nudge:::
Reg: You know who I am! YOU SAID YOU"D COME AND GET ME IF I CALLED YOUR NAME!!!
Rump: I said you could call. I never said I'd come and get you! :::Rumple giggle:::
Reg: (Blows by Rump in a huff)
Rump: Caw...you're mingin'!!! Don't you peasants use soap?!?
Reg: Just change me back already! I can't even get back into my own castle!
Rump: :::POOF!:::
Reg: Damn, those peasants are SO whack! How could they love someone as evil as Snow. I'm tired of being nice to them. The Queen is dead. Long live the *Evil* Queen! That'll show 'em!
This was another fun scene. Lana and Robert have great chemistry together. And the Queen is just batshit insane delusional at this point. It's so over-the-top that you're just like WTF? But it's so much fun to watch. Ya just can't take this show too seriously if you're to enjoy watching it. In spite of what anyone else thinks, I pretty much enjoyed this episode. There were a lot of good scenes.
I already looked at a few spoilers to know that the "new" villain characters don't succeed in killing my favorite villain. I'm just anxious to see how it all plays out. I'm sure Emma and Snow will come to the rescue. I'm just curious if Regina will turn back to good guy status after all the upcoming drama.
posted by Xul at 10:41 PM
4 Comments:
they are making it up as they go along
Well, let us hope they don't get *lost* in their imaginings.
This is supposed to be Disney!
The old fairy tales weren't exactly Safe For Work. Lots of gruesome violence in them. No massacres that I know of though.
You just don't go zero to Evil Queen in 2.5 seconds.
Maybe they're saving that for later? It's a hard question: How does one become evil? Even George Lucas botched that one up.
Scenes As Told By Xul
Excellent write up, milady. Thou artst truly a gifted reteller of tales.
Are you fucking whacked?!?
LOL :D That would be a great line for that kid.
Cognitive dissonance much?
Yes, I can tell she has a bit of a blind spot there ;P
But it's so much fun to watch.
Darned, I'm missing it already. Patience, arekino, patience. :)
I'm just curious if Regina will turn back to good guy status after all the upcoming drama.
I can't imagine her ever becoming a "Good Guy" entirely. Maybe 90% Good and 10% Evil at best ;)
*lost*
There has been much griping about how OUAT is turning into Lost. I can't comment about that since I never watched Lost.
The old fairy tales weren't exactly Safe For Work.
Ya see, I like the old fairy tales. It would be totally cool if this was a show that was based on hard core fairy tales, but they have all these Disney characters and...let's just say that it isn't Babylon 5.
How does one become evil?
I could go there , but it'd be another looooong post! ;)
Even George Lucas botched that one up.
George Lucas is an eejit. He should stop screwing with classic films already.
Excellent write up, milady. Thou artst truly a gifted reteller of tales
Why thank you, Lord Arekino! You should see me after I've had a few beers and really start to get silly! ;P
I can't imagine her ever becoming a "Good Guy" entirely. Maybe 90% Good and 10% Evil at best ;)
100% good would be very, very boring. Hell, even my blog has a 48/52 split! Moi? Well... ;P
it'd be another looooong post! ;)
I love long posts. You know I do. ;)
You should see me after I've had a few beers and really start to get silly! ;P
Yeah, I don't know, does it really count if you're intoxicated? :P
Hey, I just watched Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion and it was very much a What. The. Fuck???? experience. Have you ever seen it?
does it really count if you're intoxicated? :P
Booze is truth serum. The presses run full steam without an editor! LOL
Have you ever seen it?
Sounds familiar. I think I recall seeing some episodes on Adult Swim. My internet is running slow ATM (massive thunderstorms yesterday coming down like Niagara Falls) and I can't see any YouTubez. :(
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