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.
"Into the Deep", like the previous two episodes "Tallahassee" and "Child of the Moon" (though it is from personal opinion a slightly better episode), is not one of the best Season 2 episodes and a lesser instalment of 'Once Upon a Time' up to this point of the show. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good but not the finest example of the enormous promise that generally Season 2 showed and started with, where everything began feeling more settled, old characters and plot lines were expanded upon and new ones were introduced with richer content.
The mixed reception for "Into the Deep" is understandable. Am towards the mildly positive end myself. For my liking, there are too many heart-to-hearts/relationships and a couple especially with Mulan and Aurora aren't as interesting as ought and felt more like filler. That chemistry would have been better more if the show got the message by now that it needs to start making Aurora interesting.
Some of the dialogue is a return to the corn shown back when the show first started and is funny in an unintentional way. Henry is also annoying here with Jared Gilmore tending to overact.
This may sound like "Into the Deep" is a bad episode. It's not, not even close. It's just that 'Once Upon a Time' has shown numerous times that they're capable of much better. Do admire that that there is a lot happening in story (especially in the Enchanted Forest chunk) and characterisation ensures that the episode is not dull in any way, and on the most part this is all handled well. Emma and Snow's relationship has a lot of heart, and is the relationship one engages with most, though Regina and Gold and David and Mary Margaret are most crucial to the story. The story also feels like the plot is moving forward and setting things up for what is to come and handles this really well too, some nice twists that aren't too obvious or convenient. There is filler here but not as much as the previous two episodes, which is why it is a slight improvement.
Characterisation mostly shines here, Aurora and Henry are the only ones that don't so much. Regina and Gold are as delightful in scene-stealing as ever, Captain Hook and Mulan demonstrate why they are the two best new characters up to this point and it was lovely to see a tough, feisty side to Snow. With every appearance too, Cora is coming very close to out-bitching Regina.
Visually, there are very few, if any, limitations seen here in "Into the Deep". Enough of the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The effects are not as sloppy here. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Humour, mysterious intrigue, charm and pathos are beautifully balanced, although the corniness that was there when the show first started creeps in. The story is flawed but fun and intriguing.
Barbara Herschey throws herself into her role of Cora and steals the show. Colin O'Donaghue at his most nefarious to date also steals scenes. Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle are great as to be expected. Only Gilmore and Sarah Bolger, due to how their characters are written than anything else, are unconvincing.
Overall, pretty good but not quite good enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox
"Into the Deep", like the previous two episodes "Tallahassee" and "Child of the Moon" (though it is from personal opinion a slightly better episode), is not one of the best Season 2 episodes and a lesser instalment of 'Once Upon a Time' up to this point of the show. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty good but not the finest example of the enormous promise that generally Season 2 showed and started with, where everything began feeling more settled, old characters and plot lines were expanded upon and new ones were introduced with richer content.
The mixed reception for "Into the Deep" is understandable. Am towards the mildly positive end myself. For my liking, there are too many heart-to-hearts/relationships and a couple especially with Mulan and Aurora aren't as interesting as ought and felt more like filler. That chemistry would have been better more if the show got the message by now that it needs to start making Aurora interesting.
Some of the dialogue is a return to the corn shown back when the show first started and is funny in an unintentional way. Henry is also annoying here with Jared Gilmore tending to overact.
This may sound like "Into the Deep" is a bad episode. It's not, not even close. It's just that 'Once Upon a Time' has shown numerous times that they're capable of much better. Do admire that that there is a lot happening in story (especially in the Enchanted Forest chunk) and characterisation ensures that the episode is not dull in any way, and on the most part this is all handled well. Emma and Snow's relationship has a lot of heart, and is the relationship one engages with most, though Regina and Gold and David and Mary Margaret are most crucial to the story. The story also feels like the plot is moving forward and setting things up for what is to come and handles this really well too, some nice twists that aren't too obvious or convenient. There is filler here but not as much as the previous two episodes, which is why it is a slight improvement.
Characterisation mostly shines here, Aurora and Henry are the only ones that don't so much. Regina and Gold are as delightful in scene-stealing as ever, Captain Hook and Mulan demonstrate why they are the two best new characters up to this point and it was lovely to see a tough, feisty side to Snow. With every appearance too, Cora is coming very close to out-bitching Regina.
Visually, there are very few, if any, limitations seen here in "Into the Deep". Enough of the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never cookie-cutter. It is photographed beautifully too. The effects are not as sloppy here. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable main theme.
Humour, mysterious intrigue, charm and pathos are beautifully balanced, although the corniness that was there when the show first started creeps in. The story is flawed but fun and intriguing.
Barbara Herschey throws herself into her role of Cora and steals the show. Colin O'Donaghue at his most nefarious to date also steals scenes. Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle are great as to be expected. Only Gilmore and Sarah Bolger, due to how their characters are written than anything else, are unconvincing.
Overall, pretty good but not quite good enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox
