When 'Once Upon a Time' first started it was highly addictive and made the most of a truly great and creative premise. Really loved the idea of turning familiar fairy tales on their heads and putting own interpretations on them and the show early on clearly had clearly had a ball. Watched it without fail every time it came on and it was often a highlight of the week. Which was why it was sad when it ran out of ideas and lost its magic in the later seasons.
Season 4 had a lot to live up after Season 3 being as impressive as it was. At this early stage of the season, one can see a lot of promise, some may argue that it is capitalising on 'Frozen's' success but there is much more to the season than that. This promise was apparent from the get go, with a great season opener in "A Tale of Two Sisters". As far as the previous Season 4 episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter.
"Poor Unfortunate Soul" for me is another great episode from Season 4, one of its best, most emotional and most interesting, and of the show. Not quite one of the very best 'Once Upon a Time' episodes, but almost.
Loved the back-story for Ursula, which gave her a softer and more human side where one can see why she came to be the way she became. The 'The Little Mermaid' touches makes one nostalgic and didn't come over as cheap (the nod to "Part of Your World" brought a lump to my throat). Maybe there was too much of a tie in to Ariel, but can't think of any other nit-picks.
Credit is due for the character and plot progression as well as some shocking revelations that one doesn't expect at all. The using of elements from one character's past to another is handled very well. It's not just Ursula that's interesting. The villains' subplot had tension and showed them as quite ruthlessly dangerous, while Hook is perhaps at his most dastardly yet and Regina shows that she is much more than a standard villain that one can understandably initially perceive her as.
All the acting is strong. Merrin Dungrey and Tiffany Boone give intensity and poignancy to Ursula, while Ernie Hudson is a suitably stern and kindly Poseidon. Robert Carlyle relishes his scenes, Lana Parrilla continues to make Regina a fascinating complex character and Colin O'Donoghue has roguish charm and a dastardly air.
Furthermore, "Poor Unfortunate Soul" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue, or corn or cheesiness here. This aspect has come on such a long way since when 'Once Upon a Time' first started, much more complexity and nuance.
Overall, another great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Season 4 had a lot to live up after Season 3 being as impressive as it was. At this early stage of the season, one can see a lot of promise, some may argue that it is capitalising on 'Frozen's' success but there is much more to the season than that. This promise was apparent from the get go, with a great season opener in "A Tale of Two Sisters". As far as the previous Season 4 episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter.
"Poor Unfortunate Soul" for me is another great episode from Season 4, one of its best, most emotional and most interesting, and of the show. Not quite one of the very best 'Once Upon a Time' episodes, but almost.
Loved the back-story for Ursula, which gave her a softer and more human side where one can see why she came to be the way she became. The 'The Little Mermaid' touches makes one nostalgic and didn't come over as cheap (the nod to "Part of Your World" brought a lump to my throat). Maybe there was too much of a tie in to Ariel, but can't think of any other nit-picks.
Credit is due for the character and plot progression as well as some shocking revelations that one doesn't expect at all. The using of elements from one character's past to another is handled very well. It's not just Ursula that's interesting. The villains' subplot had tension and showed them as quite ruthlessly dangerous, while Hook is perhaps at his most dastardly yet and Regina shows that she is much more than a standard villain that one can understandably initially perceive her as.
All the acting is strong. Merrin Dungrey and Tiffany Boone give intensity and poignancy to Ursula, while Ernie Hudson is a suitably stern and kindly Poseidon. Robert Carlyle relishes his scenes, Lana Parrilla continues to make Regina a fascinating complex character and Colin O'Donoghue has roguish charm and a dastardly air.
Furthermore, "Poor Unfortunate Soul" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Writing has the right balance of humour, pathos, mystery and intrigue, or corn or cheesiness here. This aspect has come on such a long way since when 'Once Upon a Time' first started, much more complexity and nuance.
Overall, another great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox
