Jim Jiminy

Once Upon a Time 

Season 1 episode 5- "That Still Small Voice" 

Hello gentle blog readers (I know there is at least three of you); I start this recap with an apology. No, you have not accidently sat in a time-travelling Delorean, following the shooting of your eccentric scientist friend. It seems that like Cinderella, my fairy godmother too, was murdered by Rumplestiltskin for her magic wand, and instead of going to the ball, I still had to work at all hours of the day, therefore I very far behind on my Once Upon a Time and The Vampire Diaries episode recap/reviews, I'm really sorry! But on the flip side that means you get double the reading this week, YAY! I know you’re very excited, so let’s begin looking at a magical episode of OUAT, in which we learn that you have to be very careful what you wish for, as you might end up causing a natural disaster or be turned into a CGI cricket. 

Once upon a blue fairy, Jiminy cricket was not born a cricket. That sound right there, is a thousand Disney writers scrambling wondering whether their research was wrong. In this very special flashback, of what I assume is the beginning of Pinocchio’s story, Jiminy spends the first half of his life travelling around with his creepy, puppeteer, con-artist parents, Helena Bonham-Carter (Carolyn Hennesy) and Mayor Wilkins (Harry Groener- quick someone tell Buffy the high school thing didn't work) wishing he could be free of their evil doing ways and be free like the crickets. 

At a town his parents have chosen to "entertain" Jiminy meets little boy (Michael Strusievici) who will have no importance later on in the episode and who is very excited to see the puppet show. In a moment of kindness, the young chap offers Jiminy an umbrella(!) and demonstrates to him just how far down the rabbit hole, away from being the good person he wants to be, he has gone. 

Not strong enough to just run away to a different circus like a grown man, he instead turns to our favourite imp Mr Rumples. T. Iltskin, wheeler and dealer, since the beginning of the show. In a fantastic moment that looked straight out of a storybook (not Storybrooke) Jiminy brings his parents stolen wares to Rumple to trade for a thread of gold. Because he was sitting at a spinning wheel, spinning threads of gold. See what they did there. Why Rumple was trading stuff for gold is not addressed, but I think we should just take a moment and be grateful it's not newborns. A sucker for a lost cause he can exploit Rumple trades a Jiminy a vial of magical liquid for whatever it turns his parents into. Why? Because it’s awesomely and creepily vague, that's why. 

After robbing a young, happy couple blind in exchange for some fake medicine, Jiminy finally having had enough, tosses Rumple’s magic brew at his wicked parents. His parent’s final scam it seems has been played on him. His Father swapped the real magic with the fake magic and now the young, happy couple are creepy, wooden puppets. Just then, when you think it can't get any worse, the little boy, who gave Jiminy his signature umbrella, walks in the door looking for his parents. 

Let’s leave Jiminy, as he reflects on how badly he messed up and move over to Storybrooke where his alter ego, Archie Hooper spends the episode reflecting on how badly he keeps messing up.

In the "real" world Archie is still treating Henry, while Henry is trying to recruit Archie to Operation Cobra. It involves a lot of staring and awkward pauses. Regina, not happy that her son still thinks she's evil or because she knows she's evil and doesn't want anyone else to know (it will do your head trying to figure it out, trust me) bullies Archie into crushing her son's "delusions" a move which absolutely destroys Henry and leads him into the arms of his real mother, Emma.

Emma, who recently expected a job as deputy in the Storybrooke police department, starts this episode, causing trouble for Sheriff Graham, before she even gets her badge. 

-Side bar- Is it actually possible for someone with no police background to come in and just be a deputy or is this something we just have to go along with? -Answers welcome- 

As she complains about her wardrobe options to the ever so stylish Sheriff, she cautiously accepts the metaphor of her choosing to stay in town, I mean her new police badge, an act that causes a nearby mine to sink into the ground! It goes to show how important it is to choose the right accessory.

This is where our two (or three if you count Fairy Tale Land) meet. As it happens in all TV show small towns everyone goes to where the action is. Emma and Sheriff, meet Madam Mayor at the diseater site, as she is desperately trying to cover up the hole. That is when she’s not giving the sink eye to Emma over her new job (it’s because of Henry, not jealously over the Sheriff Graham, because remember that didn’t happen.)

Henry convinced that down in the sunken mine there is the proof he needs to convince Artie of his fairytale past. Upset and determined, he goes into the mine and what should happen, but nearly as soon as he goes in, he and gets trapped inside with Mr Hooper.  

On the outside there is a power struggle between Regina and Emma until both women find that they have common ground in the fact that they both want to save Henry.

 On the inside Archie and Henry have a heart to heart, where Archie confesses that he was pressured into crushing Henry’s heart and mind into teeny tiny little pieces. Like in Fairytale land he is trying but failing to be the good man he wants to be. It’s like the writers are trying to draw parallels between the stories or something

While in Storybrooke, Archie learns an important lesson from Henry, that he should always let his conscience be his guide. An idea that infuses him with such new confidence, that he straight up blackmails the mayor into submission as soon as he is rescued.

 In Fairytale land we end with Jiminy, truly upset over the fact he’s screw up lost the little boy his parents, so he makes a wish upon a star and who should appear but the Blue fairy, in all her weirdly dressed glory (the costumes on this show are ridiculously wonderful and for that I love them.) She says she can’t bring back the boy’s parents, but she does know, that in his long life he will have to make some tough choices and could use some help. It is after he agrees that he makes his second wish, to be free and she turns him into a cricket and sends him on his way to find the little boy, whose name just happens to be, Gepetto.

I really, really liked this episode. From Jiminy’s parents wonderfully twisted dialogue to Archie saving himself from certain death by the hook of his famous umbrella. Both worlds were very well done separably, but tied together perfectly. The new back story for Jiminy was an interesting development and brought a fresh take to a character we already know. The only bits I found to be off-putting, was the fact that Jiminy while it might be true to the weak nature they were trying to give to the character, never discussed the option of just running away. The other was that the dialogue between Henry and Archie in the cave while sweet and poignant, was a bit ham fisted, spelling out the notion of the small voice inside over and over. Other than that A pluses and congratulatory stickers all around, well done. It was touching, it was funny, it sweet, just like a fairytale.

Extra Fables:

- In other news, while Emma may be growing closer to her own son, her parents are in a bit of a mess. Mary Margaret and David Nolan are flirting over games of hangman and therapeutic walks, all while he is trying to remember his old life with his wife, Kathryn. Things get a little too close to ‘whoa I’m falling for a married man’ territory for Miss M, so she gets out of the line of fire by resigning from the hospital. This is a sensible move on her part, but as she is a fictional character on a TV show, any logical decision is not going to last for very long.

- Unlike Jiminy and Henry, I don't like the sound of crickets, because the only time I usually hear them is after I try telling a joke. See, that's them now. 

 

- I really liked the seeing the friendships between all the Fairytale characters in Storybrooke,  last week it was Red Riding Hood (she’s Red Riding Hood, they are not even trying to hide it) and Cinderella and this week it was Archie (Jiminy Cricket) and Marco (Gepetto) which has carried over from Fairytale land.

- Pongo the Dalmatian was back and it might just be me, but didn’t Regina’s office look suspiciously like Cruella de Vi’l’s.

- Is Regina playing the part of a worried mother or do you actually think she was really concerned for Henry’s safety? And what does the fact that Snow White’s coffin is sitting at the bottom of the mine mean?

That’s it for now, until I finish my next post everyone, always let your conscious be your guide and make sure that when you wish upon a star the Fairy in charge does not take things so literally.  

If you do decide to follow me at Hanniebee852 on Twitter or here at Pop and Fizz, I cannot guarantee that a sink hole won’t appear outside of town and threaten to ruin your evil plans- it’s just one of those things.

Keep Calm and Don’t Stop Believing

Downtown Abbey

Season 2 episode 4

Imagine a world in which you crossed Downton Abbey with Glee?

I know!

Lord Grantham running around in a never-ending supply of sweater vest, encouraging his girls as they get ready for regionals! Lady Viola strutting around in a track suit, insulting Isobel and everyone else in sight through a megaphone, while Cora reassures the servants with soul lifting power ballads, as they all clean her house.

Luckily, this world will never exist. Instead, we have the right and proper version of Downton Abbey, with only the one timely and appropriate musical number. We begin with the Crawley sisters organising a performance for the injured troops currently residing in their house. As it goes hell freezes over and despite all other tragedies that grow to surround them during the episode, Mary and Edith come to together to sing a song. The musical swells, and everyone is captivated as Lady Mary, sings a song about a love so strong that nothing else in the world could matter. Then Mary’s own lost love walked in. Bravo! Encore! End scene

Ah, Downton Abbey.

All the drama and angst of a musical. Less of the choreographed dance numbers.

With this musical moment in mind, I started thinking about other shows that have memorable musical moments, which in my tired state created the Gleeful Downton Manor illusion I mentioned above. So to honour that to frame my review, I have taken the best parts of Glee, the music, and thought of songs that may have been used during the main plots points of this episode. That is if the creators of Glee, ever wanted to go back to England again after they were done filming it.

So, if you were too busy crossing Mrs Matthew Crawley out on all your notebooks, here’s what you missed on Downton Abbey: Europe’s at war, nobody’s happy about it.

Hit me with your best shot by Pat Benatar

Well that was fast. Last episode I was predicting an all out brawl between Cora and Isobel, with no survivors, but no, Isobel tapped out after the first round. It seems in the mythical land where fictional characters live in-between episodes, slowly but surely, Cora the heiress, who has never worked a day in her life, has become an impressive and effective caretaker. A fact that causes Isobel to lose her mind. After being pushed more and more out of any authority position, it all results in Isobel telling on Cora to the principal, Dr Clarkson. Issuing an ultimatum, her way or the highway, everybody else chooses the highway. So Isobel, the ever caring humanitarian, storms off in a huff to a place where her help would be appreciated. I’m sure Cora and Violet were heartbroken. Though, someone might want to have warned France. 

Too Much Time on my Hands by Styx

Isobel leaving to single handily stop the war left her staff, Mr Moseley and Mrs Bird (Christine Lohr, last seen chumming it up with Mrs Patmore before the war,) with an empty house and nothing to do. For people whose entire lives were about serving others, this was the darkest timeline.

Since reorganising can get old after a while, both Crawley house servants were looking for an outlet. Mrs Birds came in the form of an injured farmer, who wandered into their house looking for food. Earlier in the season we had seen the consequences of the men leaving for battle and now we are shown the aftermath when they return. Former soldiers, who were poor before they left, are now out of work and forced to beg for food.

Having discovered a treasure trove of hospitality, the farmer does what any could guest would do, he tells a few dozen of his closest friends. And so the super special secret soup kitchen is born. Well, sort of secret, by the fact that Daisy and Mrs Patmore walked two metres into town and saw what was happening and joined in. Since forcing Daisy into marriage is clearly not enough to help the war effort, Mrs Patmore starts syphoning food off the government, an act that sets of O’Brien’s spider senses. After a fact finding mission, in which she literally goes into town and glares at the building, reports all that she glared to her lady in chief.

But like all villains, O’Brien is put into her place by the increasingly, wonderful Cora, instead of shutting down the venture, gets in and helps out after ordering  that they start using Downton’s own food supply instead.

Lonely Boy by the Black Keys

While Mrs Bird is feeding the poor, Mr Moseley is trying to feed his ambition. With nothing but time Mr Moseley, volunteers his services at Downton Manor.  You can see the great pride he has in his work and the unbridled joy he has about the fact he may have the opportunity to be valet to Lord Grantham. But like everything else, it is not to be. Was there anything more heartbreaking, then when poor Mr Moseley, ran into the kitchen all excited to find everyone welcoming Mr Bates back. The he took his shoe horn. Poor Mr Moseley, I really hope he gets a love interest next season.

You’re My Best Friend by Queen                                                                                                                                      

But I couldn’t stay sad for long ladies and gentlemen because, BATES IS BACK. All right control yourself people. We witnessed the continuation of a great Bromance this episode. Like all relationships, it’s had its ups and downs, but they always find their way back. From Robert accepting the blame for their fight and confiding in Bates how he was coping, you could see that they had definitely broken through the great divide between employer and friend. Sorry dust in my eye. Let’s move on. 

Secret Love by Doris Day

Oh Ethel. When I went to high school we had a program called Choices, Decisions and Outcomes. Ethel may just have benefited from a class or two. The moment you saw her flirting with Major Bryant, the pregnancy warning lights flashed all around them, but I don’t think she could see them over his moustache.

Grenade by Bruno Mars

Lady Violet, the magical lady she is (it was the time at Hogwarts) suddenly got the notion that Sybill must have a secret beau, despite the fact that no one has mentioned anything of the sort before. It wasn’t long after she shared this theory that Mary spotted Sybil and Branson in a heated conversation, the kind that was probably more than watch the potholes.

 Branson is clearly a smitten kitten, but I am finding his approach off putting. There’s no romance, he just gets very forceful in his declarations and barks at her than she must be in love with him. Just because the over the top intense thing worked for Edward Cullen, that is no reason to use him as a role model.

 

Where’d you Go – Fort Minor  

And now to the main percussion piece of the episode, maestro.

After going on patrol, just because, Matthew and William mysteriously disappear from the front. I’m not sure what was scarier about the situation, the fact that they were missing or that fact that people just disappeared all the time and turned up in random locations.

When Robert discovered that once again, he may have lost an heir, in the first scene I can remember him sharing with just Edith, the heartache was written all over his face. Hugh Bonneville was on fire this episode, portraying a man trying to maintain his composure but opening himself up and letting out the pain and grief little by little. He wins all the prizes.

Or he can at least share them Michelle Dockery, whose heartache over the possibility of having lost William and the rapid joy at his return and happiness as he joined in the song then sadness knowing that she does not really have him back anyway, was beautiful.

Congratulations Downton Abbey creators, you played my heart strings like a profession musician.  

So what did you think? What do you think will happen once Mrs Bates returns? What songs would you have the cast of Downton sing if this was a musical? Will the thoughts of losing Matthew forever drive Mary to confess her feelings? What else does Violet know that she’s not telling us?  Do you remember when glee was good? Do you miss it too?

Well, the song must end eventually until next episode my friends, you can’t stop the beat. 

Welcome Home

The Vampire Diaries 

Season 3 episode 9 – “Homecoming”

Dear Diary, it’s the Homecoming dance tonight. I’m so excited; I hope nobody dies, because that would be a downer. Who am I kidding; it’s Mystic Falls, everybody is probably going to die, then come back again. At least they will all still be attractive.  

Now, before we start desiccating this episode, I’m going to be honest, I’m Australian, so any knowledge about these dance proceedings comes from a lifetime of watching American TV. What I assume usually happens at a Homecoming dance, is that it involves some sort of football game, dancing, dressing up, someone gets elected King and Queen, someone will be kidnapped, another person will kiss the wrong person, someone will die or give birth secretly, a natural disaster will strike, identities will be mistaken and a cheerleader will be rescued, saving the world. Am I close?

At this particular Homecoming dance, nothing good happens to our main characters. Except for Klaus that is, at least until the next day. The morning after the dance, never as much fun. 

We start with one of the many choppy flashbacks this episode. Stefan is trying to convince Klaus to return from the werewolf capital of the world, Portland (no sources will verify if this is true.) To do so, they use the loophole in Stefan’s psyche they discovered last episode that he is able to work past Klaus’s compulsion and trick him into coming back if he uses information that is actually true. Therefore Elena, the vampire hunting prodigy she is, stabs big bad Mikael through the heart with a white oaked dagger. Not the magical white oak dagger that Mikael happened, to hold onto for a thousand years, but the other kind that keeps Elijah and us from being together. This means that when Stefan tells Klaus, Mikael is dead and he can come home, he’s technically not lying. I don’t know about all these compulsion loopholes the last few episodes, it seems a little convenient to me, but I digress.  

Happy as a school boy that his step-father is dead, Klaus comes back to Mystic Falls to party at the Lockwood’s, where he moves the Homecoming dance. Ever the gracious host, Klaus not only provides a famous band, My Morning Jacket, but he also brings some party flavours, and by party flavours, I mean hybrids.

Back at the Salvatore Manor before the dance, Damon and Elena freak out over their plan, which is a fair, because their plans never work (see seasons 1-3.) In order to succeed they try to cut out as many variables as possible, meaning they don’t tell anyone and re-daggered, a newly onside, Rebekah. 

Poor Rebekah, she had a bad week. Her brother, who she has followed around for a thousand years, turns out to have been the one who killed her mother, and she now had to deal with her father, who she thought killed her mother and has hated for a thousand years. At least she had dreamy eyed Matt to take her to her first dance, oh wait. The scene with Elena and Rebekah was well-done. These are two girls who have been dealt a rotten hand and just want to be normal, something that is never going to happen. However, any chance that these two might have had of being friends is shot now. I have this feeling that Beks, knows how to hold a grudge.

On top of the aforementioned contingency plans, Delena have also had Mikael, the vampire-eating vampire, drain Stefan dry, so he cannot step in to help Klaus at the last minute, as well as a super special “secret” weapon. Well, it would be secret if the weapon decided to straighten her hair.  

The remaining and clueless members of Team Mystic Falls are in full party planning mode, while this is happening. Caroline is multi-tasking. She is having Tyler glitter-up the van from the 60’s dance, while at the same time trying to convince him that he is being corrupted by the evil blood slut, Rebekah and that handing Matt over to her as a date, is probably a bad idea.

We discover later on in the episode that Rebekah is so not the main problem when it comes to Tyler, it’s actually the other original sibling. Klaus is using Tyler to help move and plan, what he believes to be his father’s wake. Firstly Ty gets into a fight with Damon who is making his way in to kill Klaus. A fight that quickly gets broken up by Bonnie, who doesn’t know about the Klaus killing plan (I don’t know why she doesn’t, let’s just move on.) Tyler once he sees past the sire bound a bit realises how much trouble they are in and tries to get Caroline out of there. This involves vervaining one of the strongest members of their gang, against their will. Gee, I wonder why Caroline might be upset Ty. Have they actually broken up at the end of the episode, I don’t know. I hope not, they make a good couple and he needs someone as awesome as Caroline to stabilize him.

At the actual dance, Klaus is clueier than they give him credit for, and has rallied an army of hybrids around him. This leads to the best scene of the episode and possibly the world, Klaus face to face with his step-father. The man he wants so desperately to accept him but, that he also hates with an equal passion. The sadness, pain and anger on Klaus’s face as Mikael completely torn into him, is heartbreaking. Then he lets “Elena” die to spite his “father” and he becomes evil again.

NEW PLAN: The Mystic Falls crew kills Klaus and then Klaus’s human doppelganger, also played by Joseph Morgan comes to town and stays forever. Ok, ready, set, go.

We now come to the final act of ‘Kill Klaus: Volume two.” Mikael has just sacrificed “Elena” to prove that Klaus is weak, but wait she’s not dead, she’s Katherine. NO! When did that happen? It really is a clever move, but they made it out to be such a big deal, when they only sort of tried to hide. Plus we missed out on Elena introducing Matt to her double for the first time, and that would have been a fun moment to see. Katherine does throw vervain bombs at the hybrids that Mikael has compelled (because they are still part vampire) against them and shouts Ka-boom! So she is forgiven.

Damon then activates his super, sneaking, surprise attack powers and stakes Klaus with the one and only white oak ash. He misses the heart nonetheless and alerts Klaus to his presence. They are fighting when Stefan rushes in saving Klaus. While Stefan gets dirty looks, Klaus now given the opportunity and the weapon, stakes his “dad” right in the heart and HE BURSTS INTO FLAMES. Yep, that just happened. 

With no weapon and Klaus now gone, no one is happy at Stefan. A fact that causes an almost kiss between Elena and Damon. I try not to get involved in the shipper debate, but there is a time and a place and a reason, and that was not the right combination of the three.

For one thing Stefan and his eyebrows, had a really, really good reason for screwing them over. He just couldn’t tell them what it was. For those of you playing along at home, it seems Katherine while pretending to be Elena, was witness to Klaus threatening that if he died, his hybrid buddies would kill our Damon in retaliation. Not open to letting one half of her eternal love triangle die, in flashback we see Katherine revive Stefan and let him in on the problem, prompting him to go and save his big brother again.

This was a good twist, but the use of flashback I found, took you out of the moment and it lost some of the suspense. Throughout the episode, it was like it was moving too fast and missing certain scenes in order to get through all the twists and bends.

This however, leads us to a much, much better turn of events and something that is hopefully going to set off an incredible arc for the next few episodes. Stefan stole Klaus’s remaining coffins. STEFAN STOLE THE COFFINS. Let that sink in a minute. Even if that means we are one step further away from getting Elijah back, things are about to get crazy good in Mystic Falls. Let the revenge games begin.

The problem I think I had overall with ‘Homecoming’ was that, we accept and expect The Vampire Diaries to have crazy twists. They should trust that we should be able to follow them without having to spell everything out (the spell thing there was an accident, but it works.) It may seem like I didn’t enjoy this episode, but I really did.  Klaus is magnificent and this was ten times better than most of the stuff I watched this week. It’s just I know how good this show can be.

We did get to see Matt in a suit however and that is never a bad thing.

Sweet dreams diary,

Hanniebee xoxo 

A deal for a dream your heart made

Once Upon a Time

Season 1 episode 4 – “The Price of Gold” 

Cinderelly, Cinderelly, this episode was about Cinderelly. Looking pretty as a picture, but making bad life choices. She signed a deal with Rumplestiltskin.To find a prince that she’d be a hitching. Wanting to dance at the ball, might be her biggest mistake of all. 

It’s up to Prince Charming and his daughter to help-a Cinderelly!

Yes that’s right; episode 4 of Once Upon a Time was dedicated to another Disney Princess, Miss Ella of the Cinders herself. Left at home by her appearance challenged step-sisters and horrible step-mother (a trend in fairytales you may say,) on the way to the grand ball. Who will come and help our poor Cinderella (Jessy Schram.) This is where things get interesting. Instead of talking animals and a Fairy Godmother (Catherine Lough Haggquist) coming to the rescue, Miss Ella’s fairy friend is quickly dispatched before she could get out a Bibbidi or a Boo.

Who is this villain who offs Fairy Godmothers and steals their magic wands? It’s Rumplestiltskin, of course. He is after magic, which he notes always has a price. Cinderella, young, dirty, over-worked and desperate, doesn’t care about a price, with her magical guardian now gone; she hitches her wagon to the next powerful creature that might be able to get her to that ball.

Enough cannot be said about how great Robert Carlyle is as Rumplestiltskin, and as Mr Gold later on.

Producing a comically long contract, Rumple promises to make all Ella’s dreams come true, if she promises to give him something precious, later on. I know he wants her first born, you know he wants her first born; but Cinderella obviously doesn’t go to the same chat rooms we do.

After marrying her handsome Prince Thomas (Tim Phillipps, RIP Secret Circle,) and having a Disney of a time at her Wedding, Rumplestiltskin returns to fill her in on the price of purchasing a fairy tale life really is. It’s a baby, the horror. We next see Cinderella, unhappily knocked up and confusing to her beau that Rumple wants their baby to eat (he doesn’t say it, but what else does he want all these babies for?) Not wanting to give up the dream, the pair with Prince Charming, come up with an idea, an awful idea, a wonderful awful idea.

“Trapping” Rumplestiltskin with a new deal and a magical quill, it looks like they succeed in stopping the baby-taking nymph in his tracks. Huzzah! Now we know how he got trapped in the cave we were shown in the pilot.

But wait, what’s this? Didn’t all magic come with a price. Nearly as soon as they start to ship off Rumplestiltskin, Prince Thomas disappears. Oh know, what’s a Princess to do? Especially when our villainous friend promises that in this world or the next, he will get that baby.

That brings us to Storybrooke, Maine, where Emma Swan is projecting her own issues about giving up Henry, onto a pregnant, 19 year old housekeeper, named Ashley (see what they did there.)

Ashley has made a deal with Mr Gold, to give up her baby, as no one believes she will be able to take care of it by herself. Miss Swan, having been through a similar experience herself, inadvertently sends Ashley on a quest, that injures Mr Gold and sends Emma and Henry, on an epic bonding adventure to bring her back. The scenes with Henry tonight were adorable, I know he has annoyed some people but it is nice to see him fighting so hard to get to know his mother, the one who is the root of all evil.

Mr Gold, the reliable source he is, did not mention to Emma that he was after the baby, earning him a burning scowl, but after Ashley has given birth, gets Emma to make a deal. He wants a favour in the future. That will end well.

I didn’t like this episode as much as I thought I would. Cinderella, that should be an automatic winner, right, but whether it was the actress or the way the character was written I couldn’t connect.

Mr Gold and Emma on the other hand, were a treat to watch. She is struggling to stay in town, but accepts a job in town for Henry, and Mr Gold/Rumplestiltskin was brilliant. My theory is that he chose to get caught by team Charming, for what reason I don’t know, but I’m sure it is not going to be good for our heroes.

Extra Fables:

- Seeing all the female fairy tale characters as friends was delightful. Whether it was Snow White and Cinderella dancing and, laughing at the Wedding or, Red Riding Waitress helping Ashley escape in Storybrooke.

- Speaking of Ruby, did you catch the glass wolf hanging in her car? They weren’t being subtle were they?

- Sean (Storybrooke, Prince Thomas) gave his new born daughter slippers, and my heart melts.

- Apparently we found out that Sheriff Graham is sleeping with Regina, but I blacked out in the last few minutes and I didn’t see it. Therefore it must not have happened.

 - So that is it for this episode. Some questions for now. How many other times do you think we’ll see people being stopped from leaving town? What’s Rumplestiltskin/Mr Gold’s endgame? What other Disney Princesses are you looking forward to seeing?

Thank you for reading again, see you next episode, deal?

My wish for my own Fairy Godmother is that you please follow me on Twitter at @Hanniebee852 or join Pop and Fizz, and enjoy my other reviews.  She gets confused easily, help her out.

Keep Calm and Stay Occupied

Downton Abbey

Season 2 episode 3 

It’s invasion day at Downton. The troops are ascending and any hopes of things remaining the same have been abandoned. And we’re only three episodes in!

Yes, three episodes in and the world is shrinking all around the Granthams as number of wounded, on account of the war, expands. But if anyone thought they were escaping a heated battlefield into the tranquil surroundings of Downton, they have clearly never been in the middle of a cat fight before. 

They may not be any gunfire (yet, give it time) or any air raids, but a series of battle lines have been scrawled all over Downton.  There is never any question that this undertaking is needed, the magnitude of injured soldiers is overwhelming, the question that is brought up over the course of the episode is who will be in charge of the operation and how much change are the original Downton Abbey residents able to cope with. 

First change: Power my dears, it is up for grabs and the game is a foot. In one corner we have Cora Crawley, married mother of three, Countess of Downton and all round snappy dresser and in the other is Isobel Crawley, single mother of one, tireless medical practitioner and spokesperson for the downtrodden. Isobel, should be the logical choice right, then why do I spend the entire episode wishing she would simmer down and stop annoying everyone (including me and my mum.) After years of soul searching and questioning I came up with a conclusion - she is not a very gracious guest. In terms of Downton Abbey, this is not only Cora and Robert and Carson’s home, and as a viewer it’s ours too. This is the place we always come back to and where the characters we first cared about live. We don’t want someone coming in no matter what their intentions and bossing them around. 

In history meeting Television, Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed and the home of the real life Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, was also used during the First World War having been converted to a hospital and was used again during the Second World War becoming home to over 100 children evacuated from London during the blitz bombing raids that devastated England (that’s season 5 or 6 right there.)

 While her motives may be pure, despite not started out rich there is a definite snobbery on Mrs Isabella Crawely’s part. She is looking down on Downton occupants because they may not have the medical or social background she has, which doesn’t sit right with me. Now before someone starts a #OccupyDownton twitter campaign, I understand what they character is trying to do; I just don’t like her attitude.  They are trying to help and it is their home. If someone came into my space and started trying to tell me what to do I’d get defensive (and that’s the excuse teenagers will be using for years.) This all makes me team Downton on this manner (plus this side has Maggie Smith, I wouldn’t even think about crossing it.)

The changes are not only for the upper house but the Downton cooking and cleaning crew as well, who are not sure what chain of command they will need to follow. Luckily O’Brien and Thomas are there to look out for everyone’s best interests.

Doctor Clarkson (David Robb) was brilliant, it is incredible skill to keep a level head and just keep going amongst craziness, and in choosing both Cora and Isobel to be in charge is a priceless move. It makes sense and it’s going to be hysterical.

Second Change: World War I was also a time of changing ideologies. People were questioning their Governments and their current way of thinking. One of those people just happened to be our own Mr. Branson, the rebel struggling with his clue. Since his arrival he has talked about openly about uprising and change, so it makes sense that he would going this route. He just can’t seem to be able to protest. The war office doesn’t want him and they just won’t let him pour goop over a higher-ups head like he wants. His reaction to the ongoing Russian Revolution and what actually ends up happening to the Tsar’s family (I won’t spoil it) will be interesting, as to whether it will affect his social ideals.

The difference between William and Branson are also shown during the dinner scenes. The old school soldier, ready to go fight for his country and the new social ideas, the political soldier, fighting his country to get his point against the war heard. On a side note no matter what your views on the situation I’m glad he didn’t dump that concoction in the dining room. There is no way that was ever going to come out of the carpet; I don’t think Carson’s heart could have taken it.

Between outing the fate of Mrs Patmore’s nephew and breaking down in the driveway, Mr Lang was not doing ok. He really should have been one of the soldiers being cared for not serving them. This follows on with last week that no matter how much he is hurting he won’t stop working while nobody quite knows how to take care of him. Mr Carson’s conversation with him at the end was well done and well acted on both parts. It was gracious, but you could see how painful it was and how much shame over it both men felt having to do it.

Third change: A purpose really does suit Edith. I love that Edith after a romantic history tragic enough to fill a few novels; she has found her place as the unsung hero of Downton Abbey. Giving the soldiers what they need, rather than organising around them. Three cheers for Edith.

 

The Fourth change: Mary and Matthew, the sequel seems to be chugging on. Violet and Rosamund are adamant to destroy Lavinia with whatever secret relationship with Richard Carlisle. In a surprising but what felt like an earnt change when Mary finds out it is a scandal just not the kind she thought, she chooses to take the high ground and not ruin Matthew’s relationship. There might be hope for Miss Mary yet.

Final change (?) If you ever needed more proof that the next logical step for Downton Abbey was a Zombie apocalypse well here you go:

Violet- “I’m going up to London to stay will Rosamund for a day or too, I think we’ll have Lavinia for tea”

Mary- “You sound as if you are going to gobble her up”

Violet- “If only we could”

Other news from around the ping pong table:

- Quote of the evening Mary: “We can’t leave all the moral high ground to Sybil. She might get lonely there.”

- Poor, poor William and Daisy. One half of the couple is over the moon while the other is having someone except the proposal for them. None of this is going to turn out very well.

-The touches of the era are always wonderful. The inclusion of the curling iron tonight was another one.

-William and Matthew are going out into the field together- If I didn’t think it was going to end in some sort of tragedy after the way Robert said it and the promo for next week it would make a wonderful spin-off sitcom

- Robert’s exclamation to at the fact that Thomas would be in charge of Downton was a good call back. I had forgotten that he had wanted to fire him for being well, Thomas.

-Edith and the Soldier -no good will come from this either.

- Bates is back!! I can’t imagine working a pub either and despite horrible situation he is still optimistic and honourable enough that he won’t let Anna compromise her own self to be with him. What a gentleman!

-I like that the dog’s name is Isis. It’s is a nice bit of call back to the actual houses Egyptian history. (The 5^th Earl of Carnarvon along with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, and Highclere Castle is still home to an Egyptian exhibit.)

- Downton Abbey’s crew does the meaningful one shoot camera movement like nobody’s business

That’s it for this episode. The only logical next step would be episode four don’t you agree.

 Before then it’s time to batten down the hatches and hide the silverware kiddies, I think a cold war unlike anything they’ll see for another thirty years is brewing. 

 Until next time are you Team Cora or Team Isobel and do you too hope they threw away the container Branson made his masterpiece in, there’s no saving that right? 

If you do feel the need to start a #OccupyDownton campaign please follow me at @Hanniebee852 and let me know how it goes.     

An Original Tale

The Vampire Diaries

Season 3 episode 8 – “Ordinary People” 

Dear Diary,

Come with me gentle readers of my diary you be, as I tell you a tale of the original vampires three.

Now I’m trying something new, it’s kind of bold, as I repeat the complicated tale of the first vampires of old.

In a dimly lit cave does their eternal tale lie, its location only revealed once poor Mason did die.

Our friends did they stride into the cave taking care, only one amongst them knowing that dreamy Damon was already there.

Elena, the Queen for which two Princes fight had trouble walking without that much light, and was very afraid that some bats were about to take flight.

As our soldiers made way to the tomb where vampires dare not tread, Elena the poor thing probably wished she’d stayed safe in bed.

Alaric, the history teacher and speaker of tongues, magically knew at once that this was a land where people and werewolves came from.

As pictures they took and Foster the People did play, Alaric and co. called it a day.

Back to his study pad, watcher Alaric did fly, where Damon “taught” Elena to try and not die.

The pictures and painting on the walls of the caves seemed to point out half the story of the hottest family ever made.

There wasn’t enough info to completely save the day; for the most part they just looked like some circles drawn with clay.

Elena, in a move quite smart made a play for the brains of Rebekah, not just threatening to put a stake through her heart.

The young blonde at that very moment was cart wheeling away, happy to be a real girl so early in the day.

As a spoiler of sports did Elena appear, announcing she’d release Mikael, something Rebekah did fear.

Rebekah now sad in the present, imagined her families past and tried to not shed a tear. It suddenly turns into flashback, as the screen colour makes clear.

Now flashbacks in the Vampire Diaries are always much fun, here we see Klaus and Elijah unburnt by the sun.

Oh Elijah, we’ve missed you did the world say at large.

Just look at your hair and you arms and your, sorry I’ve just lost the rhyme, let’s just stare then move on.

Now back in the day Klaus was not so bad, it was just that his “dad” Mikael was always so mad.

It turns out that in times even further past, mum Esther and Mikael suffered through a plague so bad.

Now despite not being discovered for another century or two, a witch in the old world knew just what to do.

So the Mikaelsons did pack up and move to the newest of worlds, where they were happy and well fed until their youngest son by the werewolves be dead.

Now the original witch in spite of clues the writers did send, turned out to be so much more than a friend.

Oh, Mother witch, how could your own family you’d slain, turned into the original vampires, I’m sure Buffy is going to have to complain.

Now blessed with speed and strength but crisped under the sun, as promised there was strengths and weaknesses, some good others not that much fun.

While they were the predatory race like Rebekah did boast, they could all be taken down by a while oak tree if whittled into a post.

So they burnt that tree down and looked fantastic in the light, they found that the newly acquired blood lust was much harder to fight.

Life was not so great for the original vamps; particularly Klaus as it turned out mum was a bit of a tramp.

Werewolf and vampire apparently just weren’t meant to mix, so the original mum went for a quick fix.

Daddy Vamp, no angel without Castiel in his sight, got really mad, took out her heart then took flight.

The three lonely vampires the rest of their family torn apart, swore always and forever that they never would part.

That obviously hasn’t always been the case, as a daggered Elijah would attest, but Rebekah still loved her brother, because Rebekah’s the best.

So sad and so old and again having no fun, she thought Elena’d understand having since shared a similar life run.

Still Mike did he wake, cause the Salvatore’s to shake and us to scream “get your hands off our Damon you flake.”

See the younger and older had been at a bar, drinking floozies and beers, somewhere Elena couldn’t get to fast enough by car.

The wise Damon finally had the brother he’d wanted for years, then Mikael came and ruined it announcing some Klaus killing plans that Joseph Morgan fans always fear.

Mikael wanted his eternally living “son” to pay, but Stefan announced half-heartily that he just couldn’t play.

Klaus was his bro, so his answer was no, until his real brother was threatened and love won over all.

Now back at the cave, where the language skills were spreading, as suddenly Elena knew to where all the pictures were heading.

Back to Rebekah she went like a flash, as it turns out Klaus and Mamma witch were actually the ones to clash.

Despair and heartache over took as Rebekah did crumple not knowing where to look.

Centuries of lies had taken there toll, and rightly enough it was time to curl up in a ball.

With neither a real victory in sight, Elena and Damon turned in for the night.

Too tired to care that he was taking up space in her bed, the night after this episode Delena shippers went to sleep with sweet dreams in their head.

I loved this episode very much, it was really the best. Thank you for reading; I hope it wasn’t too much of a test.

A flashback this awesome just seemed to call out to be written like a minstrel’s quest.

I might write another, if I found some more rhymes, but I think I’m running on empty, oh look is that the time.

As you've now done reading and will finish your tea,

I will now forever and always remain,

Your,  Hanniebee

A Charming Meet

Once Upon a Time

Season 1 episode 3 – “Snow Falls”

Somewhere over the rainbow Emma Swan moved to a town in Maine and started up time again. If you had never seen this show before that opening sentence must be pretty weird. Don’t fret; it all revolves around fairy tale characters so it’s cool.

We open this episode in Fairy Tale world,  galloping full steam ahead through the Enchanted Forest. They don’t call it that but it totally is. The Prince is travelling by carriage, enjoying the view with his lovely bride to be who is TOTALLY NOT SNOW WHITE!!! Excuse me I have to make some calls. Ok, I’ve been assured that it gets better so we can move on. On this peaceful yet bumpy journey, the Prince and Not-Snow-White or Feathers (Anastasia Griffith) as I shall now call her due to her attire (it must be seen to be believed) are suddenly stopped by a giant fighting tree who has decided to take a nap in the middle of the road. Something seems fishy though. As the Prince catches on, Feathers screams as a hooded assailant breaks into the carriage. The valiant Prince is off, like a mightily handsome man on a horse. Now who could this masked figure be? That’s the prince’s question as well, but instead of typing it the dude jumps straight on top of them. Now if you guessed Snow White you are correct, one thousand points. You know who else gets a thousand points, Snow White, because she takes the Prince out like a Boss. Because isn’t this how all good fairy tales start. Prince is travelling with fiancée, Princess sets up ambush, Princess robs Prince, Prince tackles Princess off horse, and Princess takes out Prince with rock. Ah love.

In “reality” Mary Margaret has nowhere near the confidence or taste in men as Snow White. Instead of meeting her soul mate, she is suffering through an awful first date with Dr Whale (David Anders.) Checking out the little ruby waitress while on a date, way to keep it classy Stark. If the Queen wanted Snow White to suffer becoming half the person you were, while separating you from your true love is a pretty sure fire way to do it. Who else is suffering at that moment, Snow’s grow up daughter Emma (really if you have never seen this show you must be so confused and you should also watch the show.) After the Evil Mayor-Queens attempts to get her out of town last episode, she has been reduced to living in her very small, very yellow, VW Bug (who I am hoping is not a fairytale character.) Being the caring mother, whether she knows it or not Mary Margaret offers Emma an extra room at her place.

The next day at the Hospital, Miss M&M is showing her primary schooled aged students around the Hospital wards where they keep comatose patients, because you know, we all do that excursion. Henry, the young keeper of books and knower of secret identities, while exploring the ward happens to comes across his sleeping grandfather, a sleeping Prince Charming or a Mr John Doe, as he is known around those parts.

The brilliant minds of Emma and M&M, following Henry’s discovery come up with an epic plan, to do exactly what Henry wants them to do. Parenting 101: Letting your kids hopes get raised up and then standing back and letting it all fail on them is much less traumatic than calling them crazy. What the mother and daughter tag team didn’t count on is, that when Mary Margaret reads to John Doe (who why wouldn’t you believe is Prince Charming even if he is unconscious, look at him) the story of how they met, he wakes up. Mary Margaret now a believer works with Henry to find the missing Prince as he, under the watchful eye of this world’s version of Grumpy and Sleepy, has walked into the woods. This all take place, much to the disgust of the caring do-gooder who found him by the side of the road, the Mayor/Queen Regina herself. Evil curses not as easy to control as you thought, huh?

In Fairy Tale land Snow White and the Prince’s quest to get back his mother’s ring is beautiful and amazing and just downright charming. He traps her; she tries to get a way, he saves her, she saves him, he knows she’s a wanted fugitive, she gives him a nickname and he’ll always find her. Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas have incredible chemistry on screen and it plays so well whenever they are together.

By the time Mary Margaret finds John Doe drowning near the Toll Bridge (Troll bridge, get it) your heart if it could scream, would be screaming “He can’t die, you just found him, don’t let him die” Despite the fact that it’s only episode 3 and he is one of the main character. The two twists they have in this scene works really well, due to what we know from the original fairy tale and the back story developed here for the two characters. Mary Margaret is the one who finds the Prince, like his was always finding her and then is the one who has to give him the kiss of life.

And he’s married, of course. With amnesia. Sure, why not. We discover that David (formally John Doe) is married to Feathers aka Kathryn in the Storybrooke realm. A fact that Regina only just “discovered” once he came around. So evil.

At least a few positives came out of it. David/Prince Charming is awake so they have all that tension to explore in future episodes and Mary Margaret and Emma are now roommates. All Henry has to do now is put them on one of those talk shows with the segment “What if my mother and grandmother don’t know there’re fairy tale characters?” and they’ll all be good to go.

I love the pairing of Snow White and the Prince, and while they are apart in Storybrooke currently hopefully we will get to flashback to their other meetings in Fairytale, as they try to find each again. A lot has to happen between here and waking her up in a glass coffin surrounded by specifically named dwarves right.

Extra Fables: 

-Could Dr Whale actually be the whale from Pinocchio? It may be too obvious, but he was big and annoying and looked like he could eat Ruby the waitress up. Sorry, I even creeped myself out there a bit.

-Did your little sister also scream out “of course” when Charming revealed that his name was actually James?  

-I love that so far the animation at the bottom of the title card changes to reflect the episode. This week it’s a hooded Snow White in her battle stance. 

Thank you for reading again. On other royal occasions you like Prince Charming can find me here on Twitter at Hanniebee852. Just keep Dr Whale away, I don’t need that drama. 

Keep Calm and Soldier On

Downton Abbey

Season 2 Episode 1

The year is 1917. The month is April. The show is Downton Abbey. There is a war. It’s big. Really big and there is always a problem with really big things, like large animals or spills, they touch everything. You probably don’t know this about me since I communicate with you via a computer but I am an extremely clumsy person sometimes and know for a fact that if you drop something it has the ability to reach into places you didn’t even know existed. In the same way the war has been dropped on Downton and now it is currently reaching into the unknown places in the psyches of every single resident.

Last episode the Crawley family, friends and staff dealt with the initial blowback, the changes to lifestyle and the initial enthusiasm to help but now they have to deal with the continual consequences of ongoing warfare, both physical and mental. In Downton Manor, physically it has remained untouched until now, but psychologically everybody is mess.

 

Grand old Mr Carson, the spokesperson and model for proper civilised behaviour and customs is working himself to death. Two new arrivals are dealing with the very serious repercussions of war. Lord Grantham is this close to buying a shiny red carriage and running off with a maid and Mary is considering the ultimate horror, marrying the bad guy from the first Lara Croft film (or the whole “he’s new money thing”, your choice.)

The issues the men folk had this episode all resolved around the fears they didn't have before the war and are not ready to address or handle once it worked its way in.

There is the fear of war, fear of being redundant, fear of change, fear of losing your place and fear of your past.

Carson is not able to handle the fact that he may not be able to do things as he always has done or as he deems the correct way.

Mrs Hughes: “The world does not turn on the style of a dinner.”

Mr Carson: “My world does.”

With some many other bigger things going on in the world, the other staff is having trouble understanding why Carson is making such a fuss to keep up appearances, but this is what he does.

Robert Crawley is travelling on a one way ticket, destination mid-life crisis. He is no longer an active soldier but he is still wearing the uniform. He says early on in the episode that he envies the solders self-respect and ability to sleep at night. He feels useless and embarrassed and no good is going to come from this.

We also see examples of those who have been or are going into warfare. Mr Lang (Cal Macaninch) Mr Bate’s replacement (everyone at Downton misses Bates, I do too) is dealing with a serve case of nerves or ‘shell shock’ but today is probably what we’d call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) As demonstrated during the episode he is struggling to come to terms with what he has been through (something the others can’t deal with or understand or know how to help) but can’t not work, he needs to keep working,  it’s how he defines himself through working and how he survives. This is the case to with Thomas’s patient Lieutenant Edward Courtenay (Lachlan Nieboer) at the Downton Hospital. He is severely depressed after losing his sight, losing his identity along with it as his family moves on. There wasn't the help for the poor to recover or the expertise they needed to work still to support their families or just because they didn’t know what else to do, that was who they were, their purpose without that they did not know who they were plus there was not the understanding of PSTD or depression that we have today. Like Lang the seriousness of the issue is not cannot be helped or understood due to the time or lack of resources. Something that looks like it will be remedied as the soldiers march on Downton Abbey in the coming weeks. 

Alas we get to the ongoing romantic entanglements of the evening. Poor Miss Mary, it’s always awkward when the new mister meets the ex-mister and the ex-mister’s new fiancée who also clearly has some uncomfortable and seedy history with the new mister. Sir Richard Carlisle (Iain Glen) has had the unfortunate life experience of earning all his position, money and title by his own efforts and not an inheritance so clearly he is not a good match for Mary. There is a very interesting dynamic between Mary and Sir Richard, there isn’t romance or “talks of June and Moon” as he puts it but instead he views her as a partner, someone he could build a life with together. Unlike her other suitors he thinks highly of her and views her for strength of character rather than as a way to climb the social ladder. I enjoyed all their discussions and frankness with each other over how they view new money verses Downton’s old customs but I have a feeling any possible engagement may end before it even begins if his heated discussion with Lavinia, Matthew’s new fiancée is anything to go by. Plus he’s not Matthew so he has to go.

Other News from the trenches in an episode set nowhere near the trenches:

-“I’m not saying I’m important but I believe in this war” - William received his marching orders from the army and was very excited. His excitement played well against Robert’s frustration of not being involved and Lang’s struggles follow battle. 

-Poor, poor Mr Molesley (Kevin Doyle) - Can’t get the job, can’t get Anna.

-Edith really has the most tragic love life. First Mary’s fiancée part 1 then flirting and kissing the married farmer who showed her some attention -

Farmer: You’re pretty. 

Edith: Kiss me you fool.

-My heart breaks over and over again for Anna this episode, so I don’t think I can talk about it anymore.

- Mr Carson and Mary’s relationship is very sweet in how he cares for her and she breaks social conventions to go make sure he is alright. She listens to his advice more than anyone and tries to go tell Matthew how she feels.

- Sybil is taking her job very seriously but is still learning that she now has to take orders from others.

-The overwhelming amount of injured at Downton Hospital even took Matthew’s breath away after all the horrors he has already seen.

-Did anyone else notice the sort of Torchwood crossover? For the whole episode I thought Lieutenant Edward Courtenay looked so similar to Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) from the Dr Who universe and it turns out that the actor who played him was actually cast as Jack’s brother in a few episodes of Torchwood. Does that mean we will get to see Captain Jack in all his glory at Downton during World War 2?

So that is it for this week boys and girls. What did you think? Is the battle between Cora and Violet over who runs Downton going to end in an all out cage match? What do you think the mystery is between Richard and Lavinia and does it involve a time travelling triangle?

The war is spreading its long fingers into Downton as the wounded ascend. Lord Grantham summed it up best “It’s a brave new world we’re heading for,” and I’m sure it is going to be very, very interesting.    

They didn't have Twitter back in the 1900’s but if they did I’m sure the Crawley’s would have followed me here at Hanniebee852.