What I’m Watching: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 16 “Heart of Darkness” (C)

I like how this episode started in media res with Red giving Charming a head start before shifting into her wolf self, but things went downhill from there without much proper follow-up. One thing that this show seems to be doing right at the moment is ensuring that the story developments in both worlds. The underlying problem with that, however, is that having someone cut out a woman’s heart and bury it underground makes sense in a fairy tale universe. Regina’s open-all key ring is another such thing that doesn’t belong in a literal sense in the crossover between the worlds, yet this show insists on incorporating it anyway. David’s regression therapy revealed a surprising memory, one from the fairy tale world, but it would have been useful if it hadn’t been so truncated as to not offer him a complete picture and get him to alienate Mary Margaret by not having faith in her. Mary Margaret using the key mysteriously kept under the jail cell bed to escape isn’t a smart idea, and now Regina is sure to come after her with the full force of the law. Mr. Gold offering his legal services is much more interesting, and perhaps he can actually help take down Regina. Rumplestiltskin is definitely meddling in Charming’s search for Snow in the fairy tale world, and he’s causing some unnecessary bloodshed and arrests, which are sure to lead to the events we saw in the show’s pilot sooner or later. Eventually, we’ll be up to the present and these worlds are going to have to converge.