The Legend of Barney Thomson Review

I thought I'd do something a bit different for this blog post as I had been waiting for this film for a while and I managed to get a ticket to it's premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival! What is it you may ask? Robert Carlyle's feature directorial debut, The Legend of Barney Thomson (not his VERY first since he directed an episode of Stargate Universe).

Glaswegian Barney Thomson (played by Robert Carlyle) is a meek barber with a monotonous life at risk of losing his job due to his behaviour with customers, but after he accidentally kills his boss (played by Stephen McCole) during an argument, he goes to his brash & eccentric mother Cemolina (played by Emma Thomspon) for help over the situation. But after his victim's disappearance arouses suspicion in the local area, the police investigate including Cockney Inspector Holdall (played by Ray Winstone) & Detective June Robertson (played by Ashley Jensen), as they believe that this is connected to another case involving a murderer mailing chopped up body parts to the victims' family/friends in a similar area, which also doesn't help as Barney ends up killing colleague & rival barber Chris (played by Martin Compston) after he discovers the truth and is blackmailed by his friend Charlie (played by Brian Pettifer). But as his life & mind spirals out of control due to the dark secrets he's keeping from everyone & the police aggressively pursuing him, Barney discovers some more twists & turns as he inadvertantly becomes a serial killer.

Going into this with little to no knowledge of the source material the film was based on (the book The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay) other than the basic premise of a barber turned serial killer, I was expecting something along the lines of a modernized Sweeney Todd (which is ironically referenced in this film). Although that is true in the most basic way possible, the way they handle it is different in that the serial killing is really reduced to 2 people which both occur unintentionally and most of the film deals with the consequences of Barney's actions as the police aggressively pursue him along with his mother assisting him & having to hide the truth from his colleagues. The side plot involving the murders was also an interesting one due to the absurdity of it & how the police deal with it along with persuing Barney. The humour in this is also very well done & executed thanks to the witty dialogue, execution and acting as it managed to make me go hysterical in my seat, including sequences where Barney tries to come up with a cover story for his murder in a flat in London but finding many setbacks when trying to dispose the chopped up body parts and Barney discovering his mother had left the body in her fridge chopped up while her friends from bingo are in her flat. One issue I do have however, is the ending (which I won't say for spoilers) as it admittedly felt a bit redundant after all of the events that occur along with a subplot over Barney's father coming out of nowhere in the final act and some of it feeling predictable. I will say it's not the worst ending ever & it definitely didn't ruin the experience for me as the film is more character driven than plot driven.

The strongest aspect of this film for me is most definitely the cast, all of whom are absolutely fantastic as they all suit their parts perfectly partly thanks to Carlyle's direction. Although the part of the title character may not be as well written/developed or as over the top as his previous works, Robert's performance is of course perfect! While he may be more restrained in this, he does have moments with making the character sympathetic despite his actions along with many comedic due to his character's personality & the contrast while interacting with Winstone & Thompson's part and comedic timing. Emma Thompson as Barney's mother Cemolina is easily the most entertaining out of all the cast as she dons a Pat Butcher-style wardrobe with a thick Scottish brogue and brash personality, although I will say that it was admittedly hard for me to be convinced that her & Carlyle were acting as mother & son given that there's only a one year age gap between the actors despite the heavy prosthetics used for the former to appear much older and the funny chemistry between them. Ray Winstone's Cockney Inspector Holdall also gets laughs thanks to his fish-out-of-water moments in Glasgow and displeasure of being located there along with his rivalry & banter with Ashley Jensen's driven Detective Robertson & it does feel refreshing as none of the main female characters serve to be love interests in this. Others from the supporting cast like James Cosmo as James Henderson, Tom Courtenay as Superintendant McMananan and Martin Compston as Chris all suited their parts very well and also managed to get laughs out of me.

The visual style of the film is also a massive praise I must give, as it goes for the indie/art-house style similar to works by Quentin Tarantino or Wes Andersen, including the motif of the colour red, the heavy use of dark lighting along with the setting of the east-end of Glasgow giving it a very distinct & gritty look. The editing & camera-work including numerous wide angle lense shots, dutch angles, slow motion, time-lapses and dolly zooms also manage to create a rather amusing yet rather unsettling atmosphere as more revelations come into play and Barney's life gets more and more out of control.

 

As his directorial debut, the Legend of Barney Thomson is a solid one for Mr Carlyle. With an exceptional cast, many humourous moments, interesting twists, quirky visuals and a nostalgic soundtrack, this black comedy will take you by surprise for the most part!
Rating: ****
And believe it or not, I actually got to meet Robert himself! If I can be perfectly honest, I'm still in shock that I've met the actor who plays my absolute favourite Once Upon A Time character (who also happens to be my favourite actor of all time) and he is such a nice man (and I did get a kiss from him)!

The Legend of Barney Thomson will be released in cinemas on July 24th.

Top 10 Best and Top 5 Worst Season 4 Episodes!

With the fourth season, although it has completely different types of arcs, I actually surprisingly enjoyed both in different ways. The first half (the Frozen one) was actually pretty good thanks to the characters old & new with a nice fairytale tone & the interesting story incorporating the original Snow Queen story, but I had a few issues, in particular with the way they handled Rumple's character (before the second half managed to save it) & the Disney references being excessive, while the second half did a great job with focusing on the core characters, containing good continuity with callbacks to previous episodes & plot threads tying together along with bringing back lots of memorable characters like August, Maleficent, Ariel & even more, even if it kinda slowed down in the middle to explain more goings-on before getting back on track with Lily returning! So yeah, I thought it was actually pretty good & my only 'problem' for the whole season was how they handled Will Scarlet's involvement in the plot (especially being Belle's rebound while we've had no closure over what happened to Anastasia), along with Zelena being alive & Rumbelle angst (AGAIN). Despite those problems it doesn't mean that episodes individually were bad! In fact, there aren't any that I genuinely hated and the episodes not included on either list are a case of liking them & I do like to watch them in my spare time!

Best
10) Mother. Following the revelation of Zelena's pregnancy, the way they handled & resolved it (along with the other plots) was surprisingly good! The flashbacks involving Regina & Cora were surprsingly emotionally deep even if they didn't have much impact on the story itself & Regina developing after slowly slipping into evil in this was also nice to see. And of course there's plenty of heartwarming moments like Lily and Maleficent finally reuniting & Emma reconciling with her parents along with a pretty interesting cliffhanger as Isaac & Rumple finally get to work over the villains getting their happy endings. Add in some great acting & if this doesn't want to make you hug your mum after watching it, then your heart must be as black as Rumple's (before his curse got broken)!

9) Heroes & Villains. For a midseason finale, while I didn't think it was as good as last year's, this one was a nice one to end the Frozen arc. It felt pretty sad seeing the characters leaving, especially after seeing Emma & Elsa's friendship blossom throughout, but at least Emma & Regina's remained intact after everything between them (including her losing Robin again) & it was so sweet seeing the Frozen characters get their happiness again! The twists i.e. Belle banishing Rumple, the Queens of Darkness & Operation Mongoose getting more progression were pretty good, but not really as groundbreaking as last year's. Still, it's a pretty good midseason finale nonetheless & it's still good enough to make it on the list!

8) Unforgiven. Directed by Adam Horowitz, the first part of Snow & Charming's big secret 2 episode arc was actually pretty good, mostly thanks to the execution of it. While initially thinking it was going to be pointless, the twists it brought over Emma's potential for darkness and Maleficent's pregnancy were what saved it for me as it'd be a very important plot for the arc. The Storybrooke scenes (even with that stupid plot of Belle & Will being a couple) were also interesting thanks to Mary Margaret & David's attempts to hide their secret despite it backfiring through Maleficent's revival and asking Regina to go undercover to get some dirt on the villains' plans. Oh yeah, & this also managed to make me sympathize with Maleficent in a much more natural way unlike the 2014 film!

7) Lily. After the revelation that Lily was the one given the darkness intended for Emma, this one was rather interesting! The way they show that through her constant lying along with deceiving Emma both in past & present as she ruined her chance to be with a loving family also gave me more sympathy for Emma & is fully aware of Storybrooke thanks to the Apprentice out for revenge. The road trip scenes with Emma & Regina were also fun to watch thanks to the banter between them and I loved that the plot got going again even with Zelena back (yes, that twist of her being pregnant bothers me, but still!) Also, seeing Rumple's side plot of getting Belle's heart back with Will's help was pretty fun to see, even if he lets go of Belle, giving him more likeability despite the heartbreak surrounding it. Overall, an interesting episode where it shows that maybe naming your adoptive daughter 'Lilith' isn't the brightest idea (google it)!

6) Shattered Sight. After the build-up to the spell ever since Family Business, this has got to be one of the most quotable & funniest episodes in the show so far! While the spell was for the most part comedic, I didn't mind because it kept me entertained seeing almost everyone bicker along with some hilarious acting (especially from Ginnifer & Lana clearly having a ball) Not only that, but the resolution with Ingrid was very well done, if not tragic thanks to Elizabeth Mitchell's amazing acting & some great writing as I always knew a part of her could be redeemed thanks to her family right in front of her. The flashbacks involving her relationship with Emma were also very nice to see as they were surprisingly heartwarming as they could've been the family she wanted them to be if she hadn't screwed up. This just shows that maybe a horrible spell that makes everyone kill each other can have a light-hearted edge to it!

5) Family Business. As the first proper Belle centric episode we've had in quite a while, this one felt so refreshing! It felt nice to see her play a much more active role and being her own character (along with finally seeing her mother Colette) and making mistakes in both the flashbacks and Storybrooke scenes (i.e. using the 'dagger' to control Rumple to help her) along with her sweet friendship with Anna in the past. Also, I loved seeing Ingrid's mirror being properly introduced along with the plot progression involving Emma's past with her, Regina letting Robin go to save Marian and most importantly, the spell of Shattered Sight & the prophecy involving Emma & Elsa. Add in a stand-out performance from Emilie de Ravin, this episode really shows how Belle can be used to her full potential!

4) Breaking Glass. When I first heard that there was going to be an episode showing Emma's past, I was so excited & I must say, it did not disappoint! Even if it was a quieter episode as it's mostly all set in one night in Storybrooke, it was nice to see much more of Emma & Regina interacting & how much the former admires the latter, along with the funny yet heartwarming side plot with Mary Margaret tracking Will down & feeling more like herself again! It was also nice to see plot progression with the twist at the end involving The Snow Queen's connection to Emma & Elsa. But easily the best part was seeing more of Emma's past, and her friendship with Lily was so nice to watch (even if it backfired horribly in the second half) as it paralleled nicely with her & Regina in the Storybrooke scenes. Overall, this is definitely an episode worth watching, especially if you're a SwanQueen shipper!

3) Operation Mongoose! Given that there was so much speculation over what the Author would do to give the villains happy endings, the alternate universe created really was worth it! Seeing almost everyone switching roles was so much fun as they would give their own interpretations of their characters, especially from Ginnifer as Evil Queen Snow & Robert as the valiant knight Rumple (along with finally seeing a Rumbelle baby). Not only that, but seeing Henry play a huge role throughout having to save everyone made him much more interesting as a character to me along with being the new Author as being a rather satisfying move for him. And the huge resolutions were also well done, like Rumple's curse FINALLY being broken (despite the method even if he & Belle have kind of reconciled) and the huge cliffhanger of Emma becoming the new Dark One really is a massive game-changer. Now I really am intrigued to potentially see Camelot play a huge role along with Emma fully embracing the dark side!

2) A Tale of Two Sisters. For the first episode in the season & introducing the Frozen arc, this really was a great way to do it making it a sequel rather than an adaptation. The acting from Georgina Haig, Scott Michael Foster and especially Elizabeth Lail also really shined for me along with the way they handled the Frozen characters thanks to some great writing. Not only that, but the other characters we know and love are still the same as we get to see more development including Regina deciding not to kill 'Marian' & the introduction to The Sorcerer's Apprentice via the hat. Of course Belle & Rumple's honeymoon that was easily my favourite part & it was so so sweet finally seeing them do the iconic dance from the movie! Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that this has some of the best CGI in the show so far! For starting the Frozen plot, this really came out with a bang & if you don't like it...just let it go!

1) Best Laid Plans. Finally revealing the identity of the Author and what Snow and Charming did to Maleficent's child, this really did not disappoint! Not only is it smartly written & emotionally engaging, but the character development was also very well done from Mary Margaret and David throughout as they try to make up for their past mistakes in order to be better parents for Emma. The flashbacks showing Snow & Charming be the villains of Maleficent's story were  also well done as they don't paint their actions as being a good thing despite them being heroes, which was a great choice done by the writers. The plot progressions with the reveal of Lily being Maleficent's daughter, a tease of Rumple's heart condition & the mythology of the Author were also very interesting to see & they actually managed to make sense & not feel contrived despite them all connecting together somehow. As the first (and only) collaboration for Jane Espenson & Kalinda Vazquez (who is sadly leaving), this really does not disappoint as they bring the best of both worlds for a very intriguing & amazingly written episode with great emotional stakes & character development!

Since there's a lot of episodes I liked in this season, I thought this time round I'd do an honourable mention from each arc instead of just one like the last few years!

Honourable mention 1:

Smash The Mirror! I'm not gonna lie, this was so so close to getting on the best list, but I could only put 10 on! Despite being 2 hours, the pacing was great, there was plenty of heartwarming moments and character development from Emma along with very interesting plot progression with the Author & how Elsa ended up in the urn & Ingrid in our world. So with all of that said, why isn't this on the best list? One answer: Rumple! This was easily when he was at his worst when turning back into evil & it completely ruined his character for me after all of his development (thank God 4B changed him back) But still, it's definitely not bad & I do like to watch it if I'm in the mood for an extra hour of the show without it being a finale!

Honourable mention 2:

Poor Unfortunate Soul! Despite kind of being a Hook centric episode, what saves it for me is that Ursula's backstory, while being a bit too similar to The Little Mermaid was interesting & fun to watch! It was nice to have that fairytale feeling back into the flashbacks, including many musical & plot references to the Disney classic. The Storybrooke scenes were also enjoyable thanks to August's role after returning and the plot progression with the Author being trapped inside the page and Ursula managing to get her happiness with no help from the Author at all! Add in standout performances by Merrin Dungey and special guest star Ernie Hudson as Poseidon, this really is a fun episode if you want to take a voyage under the sea!

I'm not gonna lie, given that NONE of the episodes this season were 'bad' or that I genuinely hated any of them despite having problems with some of the plots as a whole, the ones here are at worst 'OK'. So I guess we can call this the 'OK/Worst-ish' list!

'Worst'
5) Fall. OK, this one shouldn't even be on a bad list let alone this worst one! The only real problems I had with this were the slow pacing, Rumple continuing to be a massive douchebag & the flashbacks not really being AS interesting as the more recent episodes at that time. There was still great emotional stakes, ESPECIALLY when Anna and Elsa finally reunite and when the Shattered Sight spell takes over the town. Seriously, just go and watch it if you want because this is easily a case of being a filler spot since I couldn't even think of 5 'bad' episodes & I had more problems with this than the other ones that didn't make it!

4) Rocky Road. I'm not saying that this episode is bad, it's just really a case of not really caring about it as much as the others in the first half! Despite Ingrid playing a more active role, it wasn't really as much as I had wanted it to be & it felt pretty strange looking back at this that she wanted to frame Elsa for Marian's freezing. And the fact that Hans was easily defeated doesn't help (well, until Fall). Not only that, but Hook blackmailing Rumple was annoying (along with Rumple being evil again which was unforgiveable after all the development he went through in season 3) There was still some good things like Will returning (even if he was poorly used throughout despite being a regular), the reveal of Ingrid knowing Emma, more development from Regina & the start of Operation Mongoose! Well, I suppose this really fits the title, it's a pretty rocky episode to say the least.

3) Heart of Gold. While this episode showed Robin being in New York along with Rumple's situation over his heart finally being explained, it contains one of the worst twists ever: Zelena being alive! It just felt like a pathetic excuse for her to return when she should've stayed dead! The fact it added in more complexities including Zelena causing Rumple to blackmail Regina doesn't really help either & it slowed the action down compared to the last episode! But like I said in my review, I still enjoyed seeing more of Robin in New York and his past in the Enchanted Forest, all anchored by a solid performance from Sean Maguire and Rumple being given more complexity & likeability as a character again! It may seem like it's the worst one judging my criticisms, but the praises I gave in my review sort of counteract them.

2) Enter The Dragon. Although the flashbacks aren't as pointless as the traditional Snowing season 2 flashbacks, they still drag this episode down for me. While we finally got more insight to the show's Sleeping Beauty story and the origins of Maleficent & Regina's friendship, the framing device with Regina learning a lesson over patience just made it feel pretty redundant. The Storybrooke scenes fared better with Regina going undercover while retaining her friendships with Maleficent & Emma and Rumple properly beginning his quest through bringing August back being interesting to see (despite deceiving Belle to get the dagger back), even if the rest admittedly wasn't as! This just felt pretty disappointing despite the good stuff, but at least Maleficent is still the same scary dragon bitch we know her as!

1) White Out. While there's definitely some good things in this one (Emma & Elsa's friendship, Mary Margaret growing a backbone & Elizabeth Mitchell's debut), this one compared to the others in this season was definitely the weakest. The problems I really had mostly involved the pointless flashbacks, ESPECIALLY with the odd choice of adding Bo Peep & making her one of the worst villains in the show & forgettable, out of place & absolutely ridiculous! And despite Josh Dallas' good acting (even with his long wig) & the sweet friendship with Anna, the tone felt really out of place & campy compared to the other episodes. Hook bothered me, but that's mostly because as you know I'm not a fan of CaptainSwan but I'm just leaving it at that cos I'm trying to be more open minded and Regina, Rumple and Belle (who had a pretty short honeymoon by the way) barely had any screen time ! Anyway, while it's not 'bad' per se, I definitely consider this the weakest episode in the whole of season 4!

Operation Mongoose Parts 1 & 2

Now that it's finally the finale, Rumple & Isaac manage to write the brand new book, everyone except for Henry is sent to an alternate universe within it, with everyone's roles being reversed, including Snow White being the Evil Queen (who was in love with Charming's twin brother James before he was killed thanks to Regina & now controls Charming to try & replace him), Regina being a bandit just like Snow, Robin being engaged to Zelena, Hook being Blackbeard's deckboy and Rumple being a knight/ogre slayer/The Light One (you get the picture) happy with Belle & with a baby of their own (in this universe, Baelfire died in the Ogre War & Belle doesn't know about him). However, Henry and Isaac manage to get into the final chapter after he tracks him down (yeah, the book became a bestseller, Henry used the Sorcerer's key to get into it & the ink now doesn't work as Isaac broke the cardinal rule of the Author which is to write their own happy ending) as he has to try & fix everything before Zelena & Robin's wedding happens (which means everything will stay the same and no one can come back), trying to convince Regina to help him & it turns out Emma remembers everything and was locked up in a tower guarded by Lily. Unfortunately, Snow kills Hook and doesn't believe Emma is her & Charming's daughter and they have to stop the wedding themselves, but Rumple stands in the way (as Isaac told him he had to kill Regina in order for the new realm to remain intact) and just as he's about to kill Henry, Regina squanders her chance of happiness and sacrifices herself, but not before he manages to undo everything by becoming the new Author and using Regina's blood as ink to bring everything back to normal in Storybrooke. However, there's still the problem of Rumple's heart and the Apprentice manages to put the darkness out of his heart (and the Dark One curse) using the box just in time (along with Belle revealing she still cares about Rumple & broke up with Will), but the curse still lurks around Storybrooke and has to be tethered to someone with the dagger (which the Apprentice reveals just before he dies along with telling Emma to find the Sorcerer AKA Merlin as he's the only one who can stop the Dark One curse once and for all), so just before it can complete consuming Regina, Emma ends up sacrificing herself by becoming the new Dark One and disappearing.
I actually really loved this finale! The alternate universe they set up after all the build-up was pretty cool to see especially as everyone's roles were reversed along with bringing back some of the light-heartedness of the fairytale setting after the rather dark turn it took in this half. One thing I really must give great praise to though is Ginnifer's performance as the Evil Queen, as although we've seen dark versions of Snow before (i.e. ShatteredSight! Snow, Snow Grey in season 2...), it wasn't really quite to this extent as she genuinely came across as cold and threatening in all of her scenes without being too over the top. And the fact that none of the actors imitated each other's roles is another big praise for me as it was interesting to see their own interpretations, also showing how strong the cast is as a whole full of range, even if it was admittedly a tad weird seeing Robert acting all chivalrous & heroic given how, well, dark Rumple normally is (even if he looked VERY handsome in his outfits & still kept his Dark One-like mannerisms & speech patterns)! And his life with Belle...oh my God, it was much more than I could have wished for (trust me, you have no idea how crazy I went when it turned out they had a baby) Another part I liked was seeing Henry take on a much more active role in the story as he's the one who has to fix everything instead of Emma or Regina (god, I loved their interaction together) despite their help, and seeing him being given the role of the Author was pretty satisfying and very fitting for his character as he's the one who's been the eyes for the audience since the start of the show & has never stopped believing.
Seeing how Isaac became the Author was pretty interesting to see as he had worked in a TV shop with a passion for writing, but it was only really limited to one scene and I get the feeling that Walt Disney was his predecessor given that the scenes were set in 1966 and it was mentioned the last Author had died recently.
If I had a problem oddly enough, it's that I felt like we didn't see a lot of the alternate universe itself. Sure, we saw the characters & how they ended up becoming the people they were, but what I mean is the story of the book itself. We were only really limited to the final chapter & even with that, we only saw what Henry tampered with it along with throwaway lines as to how the characters ended up being who they were! Well, it was still pretty cool & very enjoyable nonetheless! And thankfully, like any amazing episode, there was plenty of emotional depth, as there were lots of very heartwarming moments here & there, in particular with Rumple, Emma & Regina's stories in both the alternate world and Storybrooke!
As for the ending...oh boy, a lot's gonna change now! It kind of reminded me of the ending in season 1 as while the other seasons had teased a plot arc/new villain for the next season in the final minute, this one was left on a more ambiguous note along with small teases for different subplots for different characters so that they know they can focus on the core characters instead of bringing several new ones in for the next season. Admittedly, I would have been surprised with the ending itself if it weren't for unavoidable set photos of the scene lurking around on Twitter, but the reason behind why Emma sacrificed herself to save Regina was absolutely heartbreaking as it has shown how far the two of them have gone with their friendship. And quickly wanna mention that the mythology of the Dark One was very very interesting to see & I really hope it's expanded upon in the next season! The fact that Rumple's curse has finally been broken after 4 years is gonna take quite a bit of getting used to (especially with the fact that we can't call him the Dark One anymore), even if the method wasn't really what I wanted it to be *coughs* True Love's Kiss *coughs*, but hopefully next season Belle will help him through being an ordinary man again & I am so so relieved he's still alive (and that she explicitly said that she doesn't love Will)! And the fact Merlin is the Sorcerer really makes me think that we'll finally be seeing King Arthur & Camelot (which funnily enough I mentioned in the midseason finale) which already makes me think that somehow Lily's quest to find her father will be connected into it.
So now that Emma is the Dark One, Merlin & Camelot will most likely play a huge role & Rumple is now an ordinary man again, I'm pretty intrigued with what they'll do in season 5! And with nice writing, pretty fun scenes, great acting from everyone, quite a lot of heartwarming moments & very interesting plot progression, it was a pretty great way to end this season!

Well, interesting that Isaac used to sell televisions in 1966 & interesting way to bring in ABC product placement!

Wait a minute, that's the date Walt Disney died!

Interesting name for a publisher!

Hmm, interesting way of determining what kind of author Isaac is!

Haha! 'Easy! This isn't your fault!' 'Even so, thanks to Gold and the Author I could wake up tomorrow a talking frog!'

Hi August! And interesting that he met the Apprentice in Phuket!

About time that he was set free! Bit weird that he wasn't when they set free the fairies & the Chernabog...

'I would like a world where I remember doing right by my boy. Where he may be gone, but I can live with that loss. Where Bae sees me as a hero, right to the end.' Aww! </3 The sad part about that is Bae DID see his father as a hero at the end of it all! 

What's going on...?

Where the hell is everyone?!

Hmm, nice callback to the Pilot!

Wait, Henry can drive?! How old is he now, 12, 13?!

Now I really want them to actually publish this like the books from Castle!

Pretty sure that this is one big shout-out to Oncers up to the point that Isaac quotes Adam's infamous 'No spoilers' hashtag!

Gotta love seeing Henry have a threatening side when it comes to his family!

Interesting the key actually worked!

Haha! 'Let me tell you about this place, it's called there's no running water and things are always trying to kill you!'

Oh crap...

My my, aren't you a real Prince Charming, Rumple? Well, knight/ogre slayer/Light One-you get what I mean!

Interesting seeing Regina as a bandit!

'My name is Henry, and I am your son.' Hmm, another nice callback to the Pilot!

Yeah, Isaac, surely you must remember what happens in your own bloody book!

Feels weird seeing her have the same beliefs as Emma back in season 1 when she thought he was crazy!

NO!

So the dwarves are now evil minions...?

Wow, Evil Queen Snow is genuinely creepy! Major kudos to Ginnifer!

*wolf whistles* Looks like Hook's not the only one who can rock guyliner!

Interesting that Snow in this was in love with Charming's twin!

Just when I thought she couldn't get scarier...

Haha! 'I had that situation under control!' 'Well, a simple thank you would suffice!'

Aww, can't help but find them cute in this alternate universe!

Great, she still has to ruin Regina's happiness!

Eww.

Interesting that Regina was the one who was abandoned by her mother in this tale...

What the-?!

AWWW!!!

Oh. My. God. I know it's an alternate universe that won't last, but still, RUMBELLE HAD A BABY!

I'm sorry, I can't help it! They just look so...happy!

God, he looks so handsome!

Leave Rumple alone, Isaac! Bit odd though that Belle in this doesn't know about Baelfire...

Seems not much has changed with Hook...

Nice to see you again Blackbeard! And I take back what I just said, must be crap being his deck-boy!

HAHA! 'Wookie prisoner gag! Always works!'

Wait, she remembers everything?!

AWW!!!

Didn't expect Lily to appear in the alternate universe!

Oh crap...

Haha! 'What is that?' 'It's goat's milk!' 'Where's your rum?' 'I'm allergic. I never touch the stuff.' 'Of course you are!'

Interesting outfit there Granny!

Did she really just kill Doc?!

Haha! 'You were a regular Jack Sparrow!' 'Is that good?' Actually quite liking this sweeter version of Hook!

Is it me or does Emma's outfit look just like Flynn Rider's?

Well, at least he's giving it a go despite not being the expert swordsman he was!

OK, just because he's dead in this universe, it doesn't mean he's dead in Storybrooke!

Aww, bless them!

Sweet chipped cup parallel.

'My happy ending isn't a man!' 'Of course not! But love is a part of all happiness and you have to be open to that!' She's got a point there!

Hmm, rather sweet wedding even if Zelena is the bride!

Must say, Rumple really cuts the figure in that Charming-esque outfit!

Hmm, very sexy sword fight!

Come on, Regina! Just say 'I object!'

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, RUMPLE?! And interesting Frozen parallel...seriously, am I the only one who noticed it?

Hmm, seems envy & being a brat will always be a part of her even in an alternate universe!

I KNEW Henry would be the next author!

AWW!

Of course he's not dead!

RUMPLE?!

So Isaac did everything just because he didn't like being pushed around by the heroes...could've done something better to deal with it than messing with their lives!

'Not even an Author can bring back the dead.' Well, that hasn't stopped Maleficent, Zelena, Charming & Rumple being brought back via magic!

'No one should have that much power!' Bold choice Henry!

'Everything we had in the book, you could have had here. You could have been a good man with a good marriage, for real! Why wasn't it good enough?' 'Because I didn't believe it! Who could ever love me?' Oh my God, I just wanna give the poor guy a hug! *Sighs* If only he knew about the millions of fans who've never stopped loving him... 

'I don't love Will and I won't let you die alone!' AWW!

Wait, wait w-w-w-w-w-wait! Did she just say 'I love you?!' (trust me, you need a good ear to catch it since it's just before it cuts to the next scene!)

Aww!

Well, wouldn't be a victory without a celebration at Granny's before something inevitably bad happens!

Seems Lily's gonna stick around to find her father! Interesting that even her mother doesn't know & they did it in dragon form...

Thank God they've found a way to save him & his curse is finally broken!

Funny that his heart is now purer than Snow's!

WHAT THE-?!

I KNEW MERLIN WAS THE SORCERER!

'EMMA NO! There has to be another way!' 'There isn't! You've worked too hard to get your happiness destroyed!' Oh no, don't tell me they're gonna go there...

Pretty scary that Rumple had to endure that much darkness inside of him for hundreds of years!

Oh crap...