The Premiere: Episode 401

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FROM EPISODE 4O1 OF ABC'S ONCE UPON A TIME. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Finally! After waiting for over three months my patience was at last rewarded with the premiere of Once Upon a Time Season 4. Sadly, I have been super busy all week and had no time to post until today.  In the future, I'll try to post every Monday after an episode, and on Friday or Saturday nights to preview the next episode.

So last week's long awaited premier had its ups and downs. There were times when I was sitting on the edge of my seat, but there were others where I was honestly bored. However, Eddy and Adam (the writers) didn't disappoint when it came to the relationships on the show. As I had hoped, the episode addressed both the relationship between Robin and Regina, and the relationship between Hook and Emma. it also introduced the new characters from Frozen and showed Elsa in Storybrooke.

Before I get into the good parts of the show, let me get all of the bad news out of the way. To begin with, the Frozen story line was a little weak. In my opinion, the story is way too new. It feels as if the writers just jumped on to the Frozen bandwagon like everyone else. Right now, it's too early to see where they are going with it, but if it continues on the path it is headed down, it's going to be a long season. The acting while the characters were in Arendelle wasn't all that great, and just continuing the story started in the movie seems like a bit of a cop out from the same people who got rid of the perm and made Captain Hook look sexy with guy liner.

Another thing that really bothered me was the amount of CGI in the episode. There was a giant snowman running around Storybrooke for goodness' sake! I feel like the only thing that would be worse would be if they incorporated Bambi and had a CGI deer start talking to Henry one day! And then there was the rock troll. I didn't expect the writers to go so far as to include Kristoff's troll family, but I guess that just shows I know nothing. At least Sven is portrayed by something resembling an actual reindeer and I don't have to watch a cartoon talking to Kristoff all the time.

Now on to the good parts of the episode. To begin with, I almost started crying when Rumple knelt down by his son's grave to talk to him about the problems he was having with himself. After talking to Neal, he finally worked up the courage to switch out the fake dagger he had given Belle for the real one that could control him. Seconds later came their dance. With a snap of his fingers, Rumple changed both his and his new wife's attire to outfits with surprising resemblance to those in the original Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. As they began to dance, the iconic theme song of the movie started in the background. Needless to say, I whipped out my cell phone and Snapchatted the moment with the caption "IT'S HAPPENING!". Even though Rumbelle isn't my favorite ship, I really enjoyed seeing all of their moments together.

Regina and Robin. For some reason, the poor woman just can't catch a break. The episode started with Robin trying to introduce the two women. Of course, Marian was a total witch, and called Regina all kinds of terrible things. Regina walked off without engaging in anything, thank goodness. However, Robin showed up later in the episode, but he wasn't their to kiss and make up. He was there to cry and break up. He explained to Regina that everything he had felt was real, but he had made a commitment to Marian to be her husband until "death do them part". You know what Mr. Hood? Death did part you so tell that woman to get her behind out of your life and leave you alone! I do have to admit though, I admire his commitment and the fact that he didn't keep leading Regina on. That's a sign of a good man (who should belong to Regina). Unfortunately, Regina won't give Robin up so easily. She enlisted the help of her old friend the Mirror to "get rid" of Marian and find the person who wrote the story.

Last but not least, Captain Swan. Emma seems to believe that she can just keep kissing the man who is madly in love with her and claim that it means nothing. Maybe it means nothing to her, but it sure as heck means something to him. In their first conversation of the season, Hook had some quality advice for Emma on how to live her life - one of many reasons why I like him so much. It seemed for
most of the episode that they were going to start all over at square one, until the end. Hook finally caught Emma alone. After making a sarcastic comment about watching Netflix together, Emma finally give Hook some hope. She tells him to "be patient," and kisses him yet again. This time however, I think she realizes that it isn't just a "one time thing."

The writers left a lot of unanswered questions that we hope will be answered. What happened to Elsa and Anna's parents? What is that hat that looks surprisingly like Micky Mouse's in Fantasia? Will Emma ever actually consider Hook her boyfriend? What will happen with Regina, Robin, and Marian? Who wrote the stories? Tune in to ABC tonight at 8 to find out!