Once Upon a Time: Heartless (6x07)

An episode focusing on Snow and David's love? Sign me up! This felt like the good ol' days, and it was nice and comforting.

Cons:

I seriously want to throw up when I see the Evil Queen and Rumple making out. It's terrible. But beyond the terribleness, I hate the fact that it was used as an excuse to put in more drama with the Evil Queen and Zelena. This whole plot thread is going nowhere and going there fast. Get a grip, Zelena. Seriously.

One of the critical moments of this episode happens in a flashback, as we see that Snow and Charming came very close to meeting once before they actually did meet, back when David was still living with his mother on the farm. There's this moment where Snow says that it's dangerous for him to see her, because she's made a lot of enemies, so they never actually see each other's faces. This is fine in theory, but I felt like Snow's reasoning was poorly explained. Why would seeing her face make things more dangerous for Charming? Was she worried that somebody was going to find out about this encounter, and then somehow identify Charming, and torture him because he saw her face? I guess I'm fuzzy on the logic here. Normally I wouldn't mention something so small, but it was sort of a big thing in the plot.

Pros:

Speaking of the plot, it was pretty simple: the Evil Queen has some water from the River of Lost Souls that she got from Rumple. She threatens to kill the whole town if Snow and David don't give over their hearts, so that the Evil Queen can get the revenge she's always wanted. There's one way to stop it: find a sapling that was grown from true love. Snow and David, with Regina's help, try to find it. They find the sapling, and when they touch it they have memories of their journey together. The Evil Queen shows up and destroys the sapling, to their horror.

Snow and David discuss one memory that they both had when they touched the sapling, and they realize that they nearly met once long before they knew each other. Snow is kidnapped by a bounty-hunter, and David is on his way to sell his mother's farm, since they're too poor to keep it going. David saves Snow, who is locked up in a cart. He hands her the key through a hole, and she gives him the money she was planning on using to escape the kingdom as a prize for saving her life. They touch hands through the hole, and Snow says something about how she has the strength to go on because she knows he believes in her. In the present day, the realization that they always find each other causes Snow and David to come to a decision.

They show up at the graveyard, where the Evil Queen has gathered the whole town. They give up their hearts to her, making Regina take away the protection spell. The Evil Queen holds the two hearts in her hands, but then she puts them back, saying that she's got something much worse in store. Snow falls down in a sleeping curse, and the Evil Queen magics her away. David rushes to find her, and he tries kissing her. To everybody's surprise, she wakes up. But then... David falls asleep into a curse of his own. It seems that the Evil Queen has cursed their hearts, meaning that whenever one is awake, the other is asleep.

That's just... genius! Snow and Charming's relationship has always been the ultimate cheesy dream on this show. It works because these actors have amazing chemistry (hey, they've got a kid together in real life!) and because there's something nice about some honest-to-goodness genuine love in a show like this. This episode was the perfect example of that. Sure, it was cheesy to see how the power of their love could make plants grow, and it was sappy that they faced their death with ease because they still had each other. But I still eat that stuff up. They've got a good thing going, these two.

And the sleeping curse thing is so awesome. Snow and David can wake each other up whenever they want, but the minute they do, they will fall asleep, meaning they can never be together. The whole thing would be amusing if it weren't so sad. I can just imagine Snow spending time with the family and passing on message for them to tell David, and then she kisses him, falls asleep, and David gets to hear what he missed. The question is, will they go back and forth a lot, or will Snow remain awake by herself for a longer duration? I'd love to see the back-and-forth, since I think it would be an interesting challenge.

I should mention that there are a couple of good things about - cringe - the Evil Queen and Rumple getting together. (ew ew ew). The first is everybody's reactions when Regina says that she might have a way to manipulate the bad guys. She mentions that she and Rumple always had a certain amount of... chemistry. Hook and Henry both grimace, and Emma says "Regina, oh my God..." in this hilarious tone of voice, almost like they were at a slumber party and Regina had just dropped some juicy yet upsetting gossip. I just adored that.

Also, this newest development allows for Belle to get another bad-ass anti-Rumple moment. Zelena, hurt that the Evil Queen has been keeping secrets from her, immediately tells Belle what's been going on between her husband and the Evil Queen. Belle shows up to talk to Rumple, saying she knows what he's been up to. When he starts to apologize, and assure her it doesn't mean anything, Belle cuts him off. She doesn't care who he sleeps with. She just cares about the Shears of Destiny, which Zelena has told her are now in Rumple's possession. She's disgusted that he wants to use magic on their son at the very first opportunity. He wants to mess with their baby just the same way he messes with everybody else, figuring that he can manipulate the situation to his advantage. Belle says he's a coward, and that he's even worse than somebody who is just irredeemably evil, because he knows how to feel love, and still chooses the wrong path.

I'm all about Belle telling Rumple off. Hopefully some of this is actually sticking in his head, but it seems unlikely. The most telling thing here is that the minute Belle walks off, Rumple immediately starts plotting against Zelena, blaming her for telling on him, instead of acknowledging his own crappy behavior. Ugh. Rumple. Will you ever change? At this point I kind of hope not. I'm not sure I could ever believe it if they tried to really redeem you.

I'l end with a brief mention of the Captain Swan scene, which was all kinds of perfect. Basically, Emma's hand is still doing a lot of shaking, and Hook calms her down by talking to her about her parents. They have True Love on their side, and Emma is a product of that love. She can do anything. Because of this talk, Emma's hand isn't shaking at all later on, when she and Regina get ready to try and stop the Evil Queen from using her deadly water. Snow and David step in before Emma can test her newfound confidence, but still. How sweet is it that Hook gives her a pep talk using the story of her parents' love? This is my favorite thing about Hook and Emma as a couple. Emma is still allowed to be the protagonist. It's her story, through and through. Hook is her support. He's the Spike to her Buffy, in that AMAZING scene where he says that he loves what she is, you know, in Season Seven in the bedroom? Sorry. Ahem. Different show. But that's what Hook is to Emma here, and it's delightful.

That's all, folks!

9/10