Once Upon a Time: The Broken Kingdom (5x04)

This episode was sort of underwhelming, but in a good way. I don't have a lot to really complain about, but it didn't keep me as excited and pumped as the first three episodes of the season did. Still, I'm looking forward to what comes next.

Cons:

Magic sand. In this episode, we see flashbacks of Camelot from when Arthur first became king. He is obsessed with finding the Dagger of the Dark One so he can fix Excalibur and be worthy of the Kingdom. Guinevere is lonely and scared, since Arthur never pays attention to her. She and Lancelot go to find the Dagger. Rumplestiltskin won't let them take the Dagger, but he does give them a vial of magic sand that can "fix anything." Guinevere plans on using it to "fix" Excalibur, so that Arthur will think his task is complete. But when Arthur figures this out, he pours the sand on Guinevere instead, and that "fixes" her doubts about him, and turns her into a loyal and supportive wife. Later, the king and queen use the magic sand to "fix" Camelot so that the kingdom is happy, and then years later, they "fix" Mary Margaret and David when they discover Arthur's treachery.

The sand is sort of a cool concept, but it's a little too convenient, isn't it? There's got to be limits to that kind of magic. So far, it seems like this "fixing" power is limitless, and that's silly. It's a shortcut. Wouldn't it be more interesting if Guinevere was torn between her loyalty to Arthur and Camelot, and her love for Lancelot? That's where I thought it was going, but then it turns out she just gets bewitched.

On the same note, Arthur's villainy is a little too one-note. At first, we see a really complex idea of a man who is desperate to prove himself worthy of Camelot. His obsession slowly gets more and more intense, until Guinevere has been cast aside. This is all really interesting. But then... his later actions, when he actually uses the magic sand on Guinevere, were much more black and white. I felt he switched over to completely unambiguous evil. That's just simply not as interesting.

Pros:

Regina, Robin, Mary Margaret, and David are all working together to help Emma! Mary Margaret tells the others about Lancelot's warning. David isn't convinced, but they decide to test Arthur. Good thing they did - they trick Arthur into revealing his treachery by offering him a fake Dagger. I loved the way this plan shook out. The audience isn't sure if David has actually betrayed Mary Margaret (yeah right) or if this is part of a larger plan. You could almost believe that David was going against Mary Margaret, since he really does think Arthur might be the only way to help Emma. Of course, they stuck with one another and succeeded. I did like that they had a fight, though. And I loved Regina and Robin sitting on the sidelines, worrying about what was going to happen.

Despite the stupidness of the magic sand thing, I love the twist that Mary Margaret and David now both believe that Lancelot was the traitor, and Arthur was telling the truth all along. It's lovely because Regina and Robin have no reason to doubt Mary Margaret and David. It'll be interesting to see how far this goes.

Henry has a crush! Emma is freaked out, Hook is delighted. You have no idea how much I loved this scene. It starts off not so happy, as Emma is getting worse and worse. The Rumple in her head is getting more and more insistent. Hook and Henry decide they should take Emma somewhere she can be alone. Henry takes them to some stables that are owned by Violet's family. Hook and Emma hide and watch as Henry and Violet flirt, and go off to go riding together. Hook is just grinning the whole time. Oh my God. I loved this. Hook is such a good father-figure for Henry. I honestly think Neal would be happy to see how much Henry is loved. (Sniff, sniff).

Emma and Hook! After all the cuteness of the scene with Henry, the two of them go on a horseback ride together. Hook takes her to a beautiful meadow full of middlemist flowers. Emma is delighted that Rumple is no longer in her head. He's nowhere to be seen! They share a passionate kiss. There are a lot of things that are amazing about this. First of all, Hook talks about how he'll never give up on their relationship. They both want a real future together. Secondly, this whole episode was heavily focused on Arthur and Guinevere's relationship, and the middlemist flowers were a symbol of their relationship. That relationship is badly broken and now it's insincere, because of the magic sand. Then, we see Hook and Emma. The flowers become a symbol of hope. It becomes so heartbreaking when you realize that things are going to fall apart. Hook doesn't even have his memories - he doesn't remember the romantic horseback ride, or the kiss in the meadow.

And then we get the end of the episode, which is the only part that takes place in Storybrooke. Emma still has the middlemist flower that Hook gave her! What the heck! What does that even mean?! I love it! Emma is still moving forward with her plans to reunite Excalibur and the Dagger. This is so fascinating, because after this episode, we know that Arthur's intentions are not pure. He and Emma actually share a goal, but with different motivations. Aligning Emma with Arthur, and then trying to show us Arthur's motivations, make Emma's descent into Darkness start to make sense. Emma's plan is to use Rumple to pull the sword out of the stone. To make him into a hero, she goes to Merida. She wants Merida to make him "brave."

Oh, Once Upon a Time. You and your puns. I'm thrilled to see how Merida will fit in with the story, especially now that Emma has her heart. Like I said at the start of this review, this wasn't one of those knock-out, outstanding episodes that you always go back to. It was a gentler kind of good. Can't wait to see more!

7.5/10