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Rantypants!
Okay, so I spoke too soon about Once Upon a Time season two, because I just hit an episode (2x03, namely) that I really, really didn't like!
I liked some of it! Delighted to see the Hatter again (... I like him a lot, I can't help it) and basically everything with Snow, Emma, Mulan and Aurora was gold. I'm also enjoying Cora as a villain, although I have to say that given all the things she can supposedly do, she seems a trifle ... ineffectual so far.
But I hated the infertility storyline with a passion previously reserved for Charming's infidelity in season one. Show, show, show .... why you gotta be so squickworthy at times. The whole underlying message in the episode was just poisonous -- that the purpose of marriage is procreation (or, more accurately, for women to bear children for their husbands; Charming's desire for a son was the main driving force, not Snow's wants and needs), and worse, that only families with (biological) children are real families. The point where it tipped over from vague squick into outright hate was the whole thing with Charming's mother giving up her life so that Snow could cure her infertility. Seriously, show? SERIOUSLY?! I mean, even leaving aside how annoyed I was with the underlying message of that whole plot (and I'm speaking as a woman who's struggled with infertility myself!), that part was just ... beyond stupid. They live in a land with a hundred different kinds of magic. If Snow and Charming are really set on having biological children, there are MANY different options, not just the one tiny narrow window of opportunity to save his mother's life. I could see what was coming with Snow drinking the wedding cup, and I hated it, because Snow had made her wishes clear, and Charming never even got a choice -- I cannot believe either one of them would have wanted his mother to DIE so that she could have an opportunity to get pregnant. How do you explain that to your kid? "Sorry you can't meet Grandma, kiddo; we killed her so that Mom could get pregnant with you." SERIOUSLY, SHOW, WHAT WHAT WHAT.
I liked some of it! Delighted to see the Hatter again (... I like him a lot, I can't help it) and basically everything with Snow, Emma, Mulan and Aurora was gold. I'm also enjoying Cora as a villain, although I have to say that given all the things she can supposedly do, she seems a trifle ... ineffectual so far.
But I hated the infertility storyline with a passion previously reserved for Charming's infidelity in season one. Show, show, show .... why you gotta be so squickworthy at times. The whole underlying message in the episode was just poisonous -- that the purpose of marriage is procreation (or, more accurately, for women to bear children for their husbands; Charming's desire for a son was the main driving force, not Snow's wants and needs), and worse, that only families with (biological) children are real families. The point where it tipped over from vague squick into outright hate was the whole thing with Charming's mother giving up her life so that Snow could cure her infertility. Seriously, show? SERIOUSLY?! I mean, even leaving aside how annoyed I was with the underlying message of that whole plot (and I'm speaking as a woman who's struggled with infertility myself!), that part was just ... beyond stupid. They live in a land with a hundred different kinds of magic. If Snow and Charming are really set on having biological children, there are MANY different options, not just the one tiny narrow window of opportunity to save his mother's life. I could see what was coming with Snow drinking the wedding cup, and I hated it, because Snow had made her wishes clear, and Charming never even got a choice -- I cannot believe either one of them would have wanted his mother to DIE so that she could have an opportunity to get pregnant. How do you explain that to your kid? "Sorry you can't meet Grandma, kiddo; we killed her so that Mom could get pregnant with you." SERIOUSLY, SHOW, WHAT WHAT WHAT.
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This show really has a problem with "biological families are the best families." (I'm especially thinking of the Hansel and Gretel episode that declares that the children can only be properly cared for by their biological father, despite the fact that he didn't know they existed before that day, and admits himself that he's not prepared to care for children.) OUaT can have a simplistic view of human relationships. The true love thing is also part of this, I think.
In other news, I'm with you on Cora as a villain. I think she's really scary, though that has less to do with how successful she is, and more to do with her personality and how she plays off the other characters, Regina particularly. I have more feelings, but it might be spoilery.
I keep wanting to do a Once Upon a Time meta type post, but I can't get it to form any structure in my head.
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The show is about 90% awesome and 10% incredible ick. It doesn't seem to have any middle ground!
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I think, however, that the Emma-Henry-Regina situation is actually the one I see as most improved in season two. Season one was very, "good real mother, and evil stepmother," while season two has been emphasizing that Regina is more than Henry's legal guardian, she's his mother. (And whatever his problems with her are, he recognizes her as such.)
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(That said, I actually think if you're using magic to create a life there will almost certainly be consequences, and that's why it's a bad idea in the first place.)
Mostly I just watch for Rumple and Regina snark, and Ruby/Red's storyline. I still miss Graham. I'm sort of looking forward to Hook and Mulan from the promo pics and fannish reactions. But Snow/Charming just leaves me cold.
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... and I'm glad I'm not the only one who misses Graham! His death hurt a lot, and I'm sorry that his part in the show was only a few episodes long, because I liked him very much.
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...that only families with (biological) children are real families.
I really hate that the show's been really bad about pushing that message since the very beginning. I mean, they keep emphasizing that Emma is Henry's real mother, not Regina, despite the fact that Regina's the one who raised him for ten years. (I mean, they're getting better about it this season, but still. :-/) The same goes for Grace|Paige; Jefferson is her biological father, so her parents in Storybrooke (who, you know, have memories of her being their daughter) don't matter.
Add in the way they keep pushing that giving up a child is horrible because foster care and such is 100% evil and terrible (this has come up with Emma, August, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella's baby...), and yeah. That's the one part of the show that I really do hate.
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