Once Upon a Time: Street Rats (6x05)

I'm pretty okay with the way things are going right now, and sometimes that's all you can hope for. Although I'm generally not a fan of certain secret-based conflicts, I actually find the current atmosphere very compelling.

Cons:

The subplot this week involved the Evil Queen taking her sister Zelena on a spa day, and encouraging Zelena to embrace her wickedness. The Evil Queen has this idea that baby Robin will support her mother as long as she's not lied to - if Zelena is always wicked, then there's no way to disappoint her. This is a silly idea, and this whole plot thread was pretty moronic. I'm so done with Zelena flip-flopping. Pick a lane, girl.

Emma finally tells her family the truth about her visions and her shaking, which is great, but she only does it because the Evil Queen disguises herself as Archie and tells everybody that Emma has a secret. This would have been a much stronger moment if Emma had decided on her own to come clean.

Pros:

The main plot finally introduces us to Aladdin and Jasmine. Basically, Jasmine asks for Aladdin's help in saving her kingdom from Jafar, giving her a far more active role in politics than in the Disney flick. After Aladdin saves them using magic in the Cave of Wonders, she realizes that he's the "Diamond in the Rough," also known as the Savior. Aladdin ends up saving Jasmine and her father from Jafar, and Jafar flees. However, Jafar also gives Aladdin a parting gift: a pair of scissors that were once owned by the three fates. Aladdin can use them to cut off his destiny. He won't be the Savior anymore, but he'll also avoid death, the destiny of every Savior. Back in Storybrooke, the gang help Jasmine to find Aladdin, who gives Emma the scissors. Turns out, he ended up using the scissors eventually, and Agrabah fell. Emma tells her family what's been going on, and says she wants to find a third way. She doesn't want to die, but she's not about to throw away her destiny as the Savior either. She gives the scissors to Hook, who promises to throw them into the ocean. However, we see that he doesn't. Clearly, he's not willing to let Emma die if it comes down to it.

This introduction to Aladdin and Jasmine was pretty solid. I wasn't instantly in love with them or anything, but I think both of the actors are doing a good job, and I liked the references to Disney and the deviations from Disney as well. The best part about them is the way that their story connects and parallels with what's going on in Storybrooke. That was a problem back in the Frozen arc, where the parallels between Emma and Elsa were there, but not strong enough to really work. But here, we see how Aladdin and Emma might be similar. Emma even compares herself to him, saying that she too was once a "street rat." In a sense, she was. She was drifting through life without anything to anchor her. Now, she has a family. Emma encourages Aladdin to go to Jasmine and tell her what's going on. Emma knows that her family will support her no matter what, and she has to believe that the same is true for Aladdin.

An even more compelling comparison comes when you look at Henry and Jasmine. Both of them lament the fact that they were the ones who put their respective Saviors on their current path. If Henry had never gone to get Emma, or if Jasmine had never encouraged Aladdin to be a hero, then neither one of them would have been marked for death by the Savior's fate. Henry apologizes to his mom for bring her into this mess, but Emma shuts that down. She tells Henry that she doesn't regret any of what's happened to her since coming to Storybrooke. No matter how it all ends, she's grateful to him. This was a lovely moment. I'd love to see it paralleled in Jasmine and Aladdin's interactions, although of course their story is already following a much different course. Aladdin made a decision to cut himself off from his magic. But... does that mean he really can't be a hero anymore? I'm hoping that this whole "defying fate" theme can manifest in a couple of different ways. So Aladdin isn't the prophesied savior anymore. Can't he still try and save Agrabah? So Emma is meant to die at the hands of a cloaked figure. Can't she still get out of it and hold on to her magic? I'm excited to find out.

On the Captain Swan front, we've got another secret. Hook keeps the scissors. Now, ordinarily this kind of twist might piss me off, but I actually think it works. We've seen how important honesty is to Killian. Last season, when Emma lied to him and made him a Dark One to save his life, he considered it the ultimate betrayal. Emma had to go through a lot of hell, literally, to learn her lesson about letting Killian go when the time was right. Her "lying" in this season has thus far mostly been some slight concealing as she works out what to tell everybody. I really wish she had come to the decision to tell the truth on her own, but even without the Evil Queen's meddling I think she would have fessed up soon. Now, we have Killian doing the exact same thing, albeit not as extreme. He's keeping secrets from Emma, and planning for an eventuality wherein he'll do something she definitely doesn't want, all to save her life. Maybe Killian needs to learn his lesson about letting things go. Maybe he's the one who needs to trust in Emma to find a third option. He wants her to be happy, that much is obvious. But he doesn't seem capable of taking the selfless route on this particular issue!

That's where I'll stop. I was really happy with the interactions between Emma and Henry this week, and I thought all of the parallels with Aladdin and Jasmine were quite lovely. Could have done without the Evil Queen and Zelena spa day, but that's a quibble. I'm excited to see where this stuff with Aladdin takes us!

8.5/10