Sherlock and Watson: solving mysteries in the modern world. Like why John's wearing such a horrid sweater.

Sherlock is fast becoming one of my favorite shows. Between the smart plots, the attention to detail, the clothing — I did cosplay as Sherlock and the lovely Lisa was my Watson –, the modernism, and the pure delight of the world’s only consulting detective, I adore Sherlock despite its flaws. I’ll admit to loving the romanticism of the detective almost as much as Sherlock, and that my other favorite show, Lost Girl is an urban fantasy about a private detective.

I knew going into “A Scandal in Belgravia” that any plot with Irene Adler would be sexy and engaging, but problematic. Problematic because Irene is “The Woman”; she is the woman Sherlock puts on the pedestal and calls it love. And while Sherlock shows the progression of the mysteries our heroes solve, it’s also bias from the point-of-view of Sherlock. In fact, this episode was perhaps the closest representation of what goes on in Sherlock’s head that we’ve seen on screen yet. Heck, we see Sherlock’s observations literally on the screen before us. And to Sherlock, Irene is an ideal, a trope, a puzzle, and what he believes love is about.

How to foil the world's only consulting detective: take your clothes off.

How to properly solve the problem of Irene being a sexist trope based on Sherlock’s point-of-view would’ve been to point out that Sherlock is wrong. And where the show faults the most is here, because Sherlock is a show about Sherlock being right. Interestingly enough, Irene was the only person in Doyle’s book to ever best Sherlock, but given the need for Sherlock to be right in his own narrative on the show, the last time we see Irene on screen in “A Scandal in Belgravia” is to have Sherlock save her. This doesn’t bode well for her outsmarting him.

The second problem is that of the fans. Everyone knows Sherlock and John have a romantic friendship (a bromance, for those of you in the 21st century) or they are coded as gay. In today’s modern world, coding gay characters is out-dated and will probably get you laughed at by the lgbt population and our allies. Sherlock has had more than a few jokes about Sherlock and John being a couple, pondering on Sherlock’s sexuality and his sex life, and little to no backtalk from John when someone makes the assumption aloud that he’s Sherlock’s boyfriend. Die-hard Sherlock fans are largely Sherlock/John shippers with insistences on the true love of their characters and damned be anyone, including Irene Adler or show-runner Steven Moffat, who may get in the way. Every modern show out there is monitoring the internet, and in the age where fans can tweet at producers (Moffat being one of them), the floodgates are open from instant criticism or, at worst, hateful trolling. But audience influence has an impact, even if it’s only subconscious.

So we have Irene, who becomes a trope, because we don’t know anything about Irene or her motivations. (Unlike say the Muppet Sherlock Holmes comic with Miss Piggy as Irene, shouting what she wants from the rooftops. Perhaps my favorite version of Irene.) Sherlock proclaims that Irene is in love with him because he measured her pulse and looked into her dilated pupils. And even though we know Sherlock is not right 100% of the time, the narrative compels us to believe him. Compels us to put Irene on a pedestal.

Sherlock shows off cracking code for a woman he's in love with. Or lusting after. Or some other useless emotion.

Okay, but what about love? I believe this episode was truly about matters of the heart, about love in all its different forms, and how Sherlock considers romantic love — or perhaps just sex — the final frontier of relationships.

“I will burn you. I will burn the heart right out of you.” – Jim Moriarty

Sherlock insists he has no heart. Even as he grieves for Irene, when he believes her to be dead on Christmas, he asks Mycroft what is wrong with them, wrong with the Holmes boys, that they just can’t break down and cry in the morgue like the family down the hall.

Sherlock also insists that romantic attachments are a distraction and that they would sully his detective work, his life’s passion. In “A Study in Pink,” Sherlock basically tells John that he’s asexual, literally married to the job. While there’s been lots of fans calling Sherlock a virgin and other fans saying that’s silly as sex does not always equal love, “A Scandal in Belgravia” has Mycroft, Irene, and Jim calling Sherlock a “virgin” and Mrs. Hudson and John seriously wondering.

Of course, what Jim threatens Sherlock with and makes a deal with Irene to do, in order to get her retirement, has to do with romantic love/lust/obsession. However, Jim understands that there are more kinds of love, and that despite his attempts to use his heart muscle for only pumping blood, Sherlock has love in his life. Especially since the addition of John. Irene isn’t just meant to break Sherlock’s heart; she’s also meant to burn some of those relationships.

Irene on her pedestal.

To make you fall in love: Irene

What an assignment Irene takes on: to make the great Sherlock Holmes fall in love with her. In order to get information, in order to get the attention of Mycroft, in order to just prove Sherlock wrong about his heart.

While this causes Irene to fall into the femme fatale, I appreciated her as a dominatrix because it’s a people reader role. Sherlock may be able to read their clothing (as we see his brain flummoxed by meeting Irene while she’s naked), but Irene can read their body language and their emotions. That’s what dominatrices do. (Did I spoil that for anyone?) Pros tend to play the stereotypes because they have paying customers, and male customers tend to request the tropes: the femme fatale, the ice queen, the vamp, the woman-in-black, and damsel-in-distress. I actually thought her portrayal was pretty good in that respect, and in this way, I was okay with the tropes as she modeled them to peak Sherlock’s interest.

Of course, the clinch wasn’t that Irene turned out to be working with Jim to foil the British and American governments’ plans for “world peace.” It was supposed to be that she got Mycroft’s attention and had wanted it all along for her asylum. But Sherlock doesn’t break in the way Jim thinks he would’ve, and it’s not because Irene might’ve actually cared for Sherlock.

(I’ll leave you to decide whether Irene also made Sherlock believe she was in love with him as further insurance, which at least stopped her from being beheaded.)

Furthermore, I don’t think Irene’s that much of Jim’s pawn as again, Sherlock’s point-of-view seems to think. She used Jim’s request as a means to an end. It is Sherlock, not her, who puts the power in Jim’s hand. (Compared to say Mycroft who can’t seem care about Jim.)

Just your typical domestic life: Sherlock and John.

“I’m not actually gay”: John

Interestingly enough, the only thing we hear from Irene’s point-of-view about her own sexuality is her declaration that she’s gay, after John’s declaration that he’s not. If we do believe that Irene loves Sherlock (as Sherlock certainly thinks), then do we believe that John could also change his sexual orientation for Sherlock? After all, Kinsey surmised that we are all a bit more bisexual than we want to admit in public and that our actions speak louder than which box we put ourselves in. Both Irene and John are interested in Sherlock on some level.

But despite whether you take the romance angle or the bromance one, John is Sherlock’s partner. And with a Sherlock who’s never had sex nor seems inclined to any sort of physical affection — as we see the great detective humiliate Molly, who’s crush on him is blindingly obvious since “A Study in Pink” but Sherlock doesn’t notice until “A Scandal in Belgravia” — John is Sherlock’s crime-solving partner and his domestic partner. John is jealous of Irene in this episode. He’s brimming with it in every way he interrupts their interactions, leaves the room, or childishly suggests they name their babies after him. Human heads in the fridge and danger aren’t a turn off for John, but Irene might’ve been.

Jeanette, John’s latest girlfriend, is correct in that he is a wonderful boyfriend…to Sherlock. John literally kills for Sherlock, and he’s Jim’s first major target directly tied to Sherlock. Jim doesn’t go after Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, Mycroft, or even Sherlock’s mother; no, Jim knows exactly who Sherlock loves the most.

But by the end of “The Great Game,” Jim realizes he can’t just blow up John as much as it will kill Sherlock. No, that’s sloppy, and I believe Jim likes the slow torture. Shooting someone directly in the heart is just no fun, and that’s why the cliffhanger happens the way it does. (Though if anyone had written that cliffhanger ending in fanfiction, they would’ve been laughed at.)

Sherlock and Mycroft, this is as emotional as they get.

“I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock Holmes is capable of having”: Mycroft Holmes

“A Scandal in Belgravia” plays with the idea that while Sherlock may be interesting to Jim as an opponent that he can measure up to, the elder Holmes may be the one Jim wants to manipulate. Sherlock’s estranged relationship with Mycroft works to Jim’s advantage.

Both of the Holmeses struggle with signs of affection, even brotherly love toward each other. Mycroft spies on Sherlock; he uses the British government’s money and surveillance power to check in on his little brother. Likewise, Sherlock, despite showing up at Buckingham Palace nude, solves cases for Mycroft, which have no doubt helped Mycroft in his quest to rule Britain.

That said, their refusal to share information with each other and always plotting around one another makes Irene’s moves like a giant game of telephone between brothers. Or perhaps chess. If say, Mycroft would’ve shared with Sherlock about “Bond Air,” Jim might’ve never found out. Or if Sherlock would’ve told Mycroft about Jim kidnapping John and almost killing them, Mycroft would’ve been hunting Jim, not bothering with Irene and her camera phone.

Mycroft is Sherlock’s family at the end of the day, and no one can hurt you like family. In Sherlock’s time of need, Mycroft phones John and Mrs. Hudson to watch after him. They are Sherlock’s chosen family.

England -- or at least Sherlock -- would fall apart without Mrs. Hudson.

Never your housekeeper: Mrs. Hudson

When Donovan asserted that Sherlock doesn’t have friends in “A Study in Pink,” she was correct. Sherlock instead has family he’s been assembling since the series started. Mrs. Hudson was used extremely effective in “A Scandal in Belgravia” to show another aspect of Sherlock’s heart.

A lot of villains have tried to kill Sherlock and some John, but there has been no rage in Sherlock’s eyes. Not the way he looked when he realized the America CIA had been torturing Mrs. Hudson. Sherlock tossed the main guy out a window, multiple times, because someone hurt her.

In a way, this was overkill. I preferred Sherlock and John telling off Mycroft for telling Mrs. Hudson to ‘shut up’ than dumping a man out the window. But it’s clear that Mrs. Hudson and Irene don’t occupy the same worlds, and that Mrs. Hudson represents a gentleness inside Sherlock that we don’t see very often. Though that’s not to say Mrs. Hudson’s a gentle lamb; she’s pretty snarky, and while she’s not on the same intellectual level as Sherlock, she can hold her own.

Though it is interesting that Jim and Irene seemingly write Mrs. Hudson off as a plan of attack. Instead, Mycroft’s intelligence on Sherlock led to the hostage taking of Mrs. Hudson by the CIA, not Irene’s or Jim’s line of thinking. Which just plants another seed of disgust that Sherlock feels for his brother.

No matter how you slice it, bromance or romance, John and Sherlock belong together. And Sherlock's not wearing clothes.

“Just once, can you two behave like grown-ups?” — Mycroft
“We solve crimes; I blog about it; and he forgets his pants. I wouldn’t hold out too much hope.” — John

Here we have Sherlock’s heart, Sherlock’s family. For the man who insists that he’s ruled by logic and brushes love off, he has more of it than he realizes. And I think that’s the great accomplishment of “A Scandal in Belgravia”; it exposes Sherlock’s heart.

In that Irene didn’t die by Jim’s hand, she must’ve accomplished her mission for him: to peak Mycroft’s attention, to tell him that his weakness, Sherlock, is known. And when that was done, Irene didn’t burn Sherlock’s heart. Sherlock thinks this is because she’s in love with him, and this is what the show tells us to. But I like to think she stopped because he was another job and she didn’t care or just cared enough for him as someone on her intellect-level (even if Sherlock would never admit this) to not burn him.

I only wish we could’ve exposed Sherlock’s heart without having to dig so deeply into his point-of-view, so that Moffat’s narrative didn’t support Sherlock’s sexism. Irene from another’s eyes could’ve and should’ve been so much more than a trope.

Fae secrets that everyone already knows about, Lauren.

Body bags, sexy. Really, Lauren, you’d think that was a blow-off. Even in the magical fae world of…well, magic. And with all those things you see all the time. That would sound like a brush off, not like you’re a crazy lady.

Also, seems like we haven’t cast who’s going to be playing Nadia. She better have a hot smile.

I’m so thrilled that we’re finally having some gay men on Lost Girl, and I love that Donny is Trick’s oldest friend. What a freaking sad story. I’m so glad this is backed up by Hale being a lady killer for comedy relief. Wait…does this mean that Hale won’t be in the rest of this episode? This is sad.

Trick comforts his oldest friend Donny. Is that tea or liquor?

“What is she a fae Doogie Howser?” Lol pants. No, Hale is so much more interesting, Tori. Kenzie is now here to mix it up. And clearly over-identifying a lot.

Kenzie is clearly too excited for this to be a good idea.

Apparently, it’s someone who collects famous dead people and manipulates emotion. Gross. Way gross. He can’t be sanctioned by anyone.

Sorry, Chris, you're now being controlled by the Lich.

Ewww… Gary is a little gross. I hope that he regenerates those fingers because that could be inconvenient. “Tofu, Gary. Tofu four times a day.” Awesome threats there, Bo.

Gross, dude.

Kenzie turning Trick’s bar into a dance club is pretty hilarious.

Wow, they solved this mystery pretty freaking quickly. Clearly this Lich is dying or rotting or something.

And how’d I guess that Kenzie and Tori would disappear when Hale was one the phone. Seriously, Hale needs to watch Ferris Buller’s Day Off or something.

Dyson’s getting all alpha wolf on saving Bo again. Oh, Bo, nice save there. That dude is smarmy city.

I kind of love when fae freak out about fae things. How very right that Donny would be upset though. Wow, Trick, this is a depressing speech. This whole picture of Dorian Grey is interesting.

Oooh, Lauren is Bo’s date. Though is it smart to bring a human on a mission for a guy who eats flesh?

Most awkward first date, Bo. Good job.

I love Bo and Lauren, and it’s never a good thing when I start to ship. That just means a lot of pain. A boatload of pain.

This Lich dude sounds like a bored rich person.

Chris dances. But all that glitters is not gold.

Really, Hale didn’t think to look at Kenzie and Bo’s house. Looks like Kenzie brought home more than she bargained for. Also Hale’s a total germaphobe. I can related, man. Totally relate. But you do get to undress Hale, Kenzie. Hale who’s like totally ripped (and the actor’s rather self-conscious about being shirtless as he keeps sucking it in…what, I don’t know, his muscles).

Damn. No words.

Kenzie isn't complaining about the view.

Whatever’s going to cure Nadia seems like it’s also a big fae secret. I wonder if it’s something that would help a human overpower a fae. Seems like one of the only things they’d really guard. Lich definitely knows something.

The Lich shows off his posse. Such an unlikable guy that he has to mind-control them to hang around.

Oooh, hints of Trick’s backstory and why he runs the bar. I always love Trick’s 6th sense of when someone’s trying to snag something and get themselves into trouble.

Why didn’t Bo think they’d turn on her when she tried to kill the Lich? I’m kind of surprised that this Lich guy has never run into a succubus. I didn’t think they were actually that rare. Wow, Lich had a horrible life if he’d never experienced passion.

Coffee? Wow. Also doesn’t Hale have his magically siren song that cures hangovers? Didn’t we already do that last episode? Ooh, there’s going to be hugging and then maybe some kissing. I can go with that.

No, they can’t kill Lauren! Oh, look it, Bo has some crazy superpowers. Don’t piss her off. Or threaten her girlfriend. She’s all Galadriel after the One Ring. Snap. Good thing Bo managed to do that reverse chi thing. But doesn’t that mean smary dude would still be living. Maybe this whole super-duper powers are the reason why the succubi are rare.

Oh, no, you don't threaten to kill Lauren. Because you know what happens...

Bo goes all One Ring to Rule Them All on your ass.

How do they know that Tori’s dead? Did they check her pulse? Or call Dyson?

Nadia’s been cursed! Twist!

Good to know that Chris isn’t going to be staying alive forever. I was wondering about that. There’s a lot of themes about lovers this season.

Dyson’s totally the only adult who checks her pulse… okay, knows anatomy. Also, Hale couldn’t actually sell Kenzie. She’s Bo’s.

Lauren, you’re totally macking on Bo in front of your cursed coma’d girlfriend! Is it Sunday yet?

Making out in the lab near your coma'd girlfriend. Hot.

The ladies show restraint. A lot of restrain in front of a key to a mystery.

Oh, Kenzie, everyone wants Bo to open it too. But yeah, she’s too much of a goody-goody. And all brokenhearted.

Wait, did this become a Mark Millar comic? Suddenly, I’m getting some crazy flashbacks to some bad movies. Obviously, they’re fae women. Also Hale and Dyson need to be more on guard. Slackers. Someone in costume likes leather, a lot.

These are some weird outfits.

Oh, the dude’s supposed to be human. Interesting. Good thing Dyson’s all Captain Obvious to tell us that the women were fae. Though I do think that their plan was pretty ingenious. Except in that most men’s clothing doesn’t fit women and most cop clothing isn’t very flattering. (Unless it’s tailored for TV.)

Ooh, I love this twist of Sherie’s mom coming to Bo for help. And also, yay for not bringing everyone to their house for once. “Simple tree folk.” Yes, ladies, at least you now know the routine. I can’t wait for their sneakiness.

Yes, simple tree folk. No one believes your story.

Oh, Hale, you are the best. You can do your little rants anytime of the day. You’re so awesome.

For someone who charms people as part of his fae powers, Hale's not tolerant of those seduced by fae powers.

Good thing that Bo has boob pockets as she’s not very stealthy. Zephr is very, very dead. “Officers, I’d like to report a murder.” Better the cops than the killers.

“Human?” “Memphis rub.”

I so did not recognize Ciara at all. She looked like a giantess. I know Trick is little person, but she also looked like she towered over the chairs and Bo and Kenzie.

Ciara is a GIANT. It's her secret fae power.

“Lap dances. Implants. Strippers. Oh, my.” I love you, Kenzie. A lot. Sadly, looks like lady fun times at the strip club is going to be crashed by the boys. “Ladies, start your vajayjays.” Hypnotizing powers would come in handy to get good tips while stripping. Figures that the “Licky” song is by Princess Superstar. Seems like Bo’s a little more entranced than she realizes too. Or maybe just horny.

Kenzie gets in touch with her inner lesbian.

Girl bonding time over pretty girls. This is like when I party with my friends.

Hale playing bad cop is pretty awesome.

Trick is playing Risk with the Light and Dark Fae pieces. He’s such a nosy meddler. It also looks like relations aren’t going so well even with the new Ash, making me think that the Ash’s not going to be around for long. (Also, why haven’t we seen him call on Bo? She did make that deal with him to save Kenzie, after all.)

Trick’s sigh of annoyance is pretty awesome. OMG, it’s an Evil Hand episode. Win. At least it’s snuffed with milk.

Oh, Dyson, you need to start respecting Lauren a little more. At least he seems to have grown a nice bone in his body.

Bo and Lauren, lying to each other on the phone. Girls, just make up and make out.

Lauren makes Bo really happy.

Nice to see that Dyson is also being nice to Bo again. Interesting that this strip-joint owner dude can have power over a fae that can hypnotize someone. Oh, he’s got some fae powers or at least a fancy fae valut himself. He must’ve found it in the ocean.

I don't know why Bo didn't think that Dyson and Hale wouldn't catch her. So stealthy undercover.

“You took a picture of an invisible safe.” Good thing that Hale can use Photoshop. He’s the best cop.

Oh, the creep is fae too. That makes more sense. Of course, he’s an evil dark fae.

My what big fishes you have.

That’s so awesome that Kenzie and Bo have been reading up on different types of fae and are able to identify what Sherie and her mom are. Also glad to get some Kenzie backstory about her being a runaway, but one that would also reunite with her mom. (Which is why Bo and Kenzie understand each other.) Creepy dude, Lewis, has Sherie’s pelt and apparently a bunch of other women’s.

Bo takes the law into her own hands. Or a killer's. I don't think this is going to be the first time we see Bo defying both fae rule and human law this season.

Oh, that evil hand is going to put a snag in Bo’s plan. Or maybe Dyson and Hale. That is a pretty crazy hand. Oh, yes, of course it goes all evil and good thing Bo knows how to stop it.

Evil hand! I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

Dyson’s still a police officer, Bo. He’s not exactly going to let Sherie go. Oh, Sherie, way to make Dyson over-identify with your situation and make him change his mind. And then they’re going to fake a crime scene.

Hale does the cop thing while everyone else is distracted by emotions.

I love how much Trick cares about both sides of the fae, even if they don’t realize that he does. And I have a feeling that there’s something magical/special about Lauren’s girlfriend in all of this.

Awe, what a lovely mother-daughter reunion. I love all her mother’s warnings. They are so sweet. “Don’t take off your pelt for just anyone.”

Sherie and her mom are reunited. Bo looks a little jealous.

Apparently, Dyson hasn’t been naked enough to fulfill his contract.

Ooh, it’s a blind rage thing. Interesting. I love Trick consulting with Lauren.

Yay, I’m glad that Bo’s coming clean and bringing the cure for Lauren’s lady. Wow, five years in a coma is a very long time. Yes, we’re finally getting the backstory. Interesting that Nadia is human; I hadn’t expected that at all. And the cure is now a riddle. Oh, show, you know how to keep me very interested, don’t you.

Lauren gets her present. Not the typical kind you get from your lady-love about your other lady-love.

It's a nail!

When Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy started, I assumed the film was going to be a bit of nostalgia about the Cold War. About a time when men where men; about the way things used to be; about how the Cold War was such a clearer time when we could name our enemy, unlike this War on Terror; and something in the vein of remember the glory days for straight, white old men. There were plenty of old white men in this film about the highest ranks of the British Secret Intelligence Services, about the bosses of spies. As their deeply wrinkled faces filled the screen, I couldn’t help but to wonder if we’d ever see older women with deep-set wrinkles obsessed with their jobs lining the screen. (Yes, I know about Iron Lady, but I want an entire cast filled with women with wrinkles and whatever is our equivalent of balding.)

Much to my pleasant surprise, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy does not glorify the Cold War. Perhaps due this being a British film, it instead is as much a critique on the ridiculousness of the Cold War spy as it is a critique on masculinity, specifically the notion of what it is to be a spy. With the exceptions of Peter and Ricky, these men are old. They were once war heroes. For the most part, they send out others to do the dirty work and play chess with Moscow, with Karla, their Soviet equivalent.

The plot centers around there being a mole at the top of the organization. One of these men is delivering information to Karla. Their operations are busted, and their peers and field agents shot at. There are really no women in this story — and if there are, they only serve as motivation for the men or saints to tell us just how bad things have gotten. Spoilers ahead.

George Smiley, as he appears at the end of the film.

George Smiley: the emasculated aging man who’s right

Smiley is both the hero and the one making a case that the old men may still have things right. He discovers, quite due to his own paranoia, that there’s a mole. Especially after he’s been dismissed from the organization where he was once part of the inner circle. As was his boss — Control, who we see a photo of as a shining WWII soldier — and Smiley is one of the men who was one Control’s list as the possible mole.

At points, Smiley seems like he could be the unreliable narrator. He tells Peter Guillam about a time he met Karla; how he told secrets to Karla, who said nothing; and how Karla walked off with a lighter Smiley’s wife Anna had engraved and given to him. But no, Smiley is here to tell us that the elderly man is not befuddled. That his enemies have only put obstacles in front of him because they know his heart — his love of Anna — and have been using this against him. We see him completely emasculated at a Christmas party — his last before being dismissed (another emasculation) — as he see Bill Haydon making out in the bushes with Anna and later, when Bill tries to put on his shoes under Smiley’s dining room table after having sex with Anna.

And George is rewarded for being right at the end by both reuniting with Anna and by taking Control’s position.

Peter pulls some secret spy moves.

Peter Guillam: the effective spy boss who’s gay and a bit of a coward

Peter is perhaps the only effective spy boss (and I’m not saying this just because I love Benedict Cumberbatch in a three-piece suit); but he has two hidden secrets: he’s gay and a coward. He’s significantly younger than our group of aging men, but identifies highly with them. Peter’s age is especially notable as he’s reprimanded by Percy Alleline, and when he fights with Ricky, who’s an active field spy and his own age.

However, as Peter assists Smiley, we see that he is not a coward. He may tremble with fear, but he is indeed the character we (at least those of us not in the older male category) are meant to identify. Peter is the Other in the narrative. He is the one we sympathize with the most (or at least I did) and the one we see crying over the terrible cost of his mission the find the mole. His terrible cost being having to break up with his lover and break his own heart.

Peter pushes against the idea of the James Bond spy. To be effective, he does not need to date Belinda the blonde (as he and Bill joke at the beginning — ewww casual sexist nostalgia) or get into shooting matches; he just needs to believe in queen and country. Stealing files and papers wins the day over explosions.

If I had one issue with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, it would be that we do not see Peter’s ending. We do not see if he’s reunited with his lover. We do not see him sitting at Smiley’s table, though I can say that it’s safe to assume he is.

Bill, the playboy at the holiday party.

Bill Haydon: the playboy war hero — the James Bond — who’s a traitor

If anyone is James Bond now heading up his division, it’s Bill. When we found him to the traitor, I leaned over to my friend Julia and whispered, “Mr. Darcy’s such an asshole.” No one plays a charmer in the same way that Colin Firth does, and he was perfectly cast in this role as he is getting older, but he’s not “out-to-pasture” sexually in the same way the other men are.

Bill breaks down the notion of the playboy as we find he doesn’t do everything because it’s fun and games. Because we find out that he is not in it for queen and country, but deluded by men playing games and defects to the Soviets. Perhaps Bill likes that the Soviets have no version of James Bond.

Bill longs for the clarity of war, and clearly, Bill had either a romance or a strong romantic friendship bond with Jim Prideaux. His lovers — which we find out are female and male and some like Anna romanced for his cover (nothing like Bond) — hold no candle to that relationship. It is not them who shoot Bill and then cry. It is not them that Bill thinks of, especially as Smiley asks him about Anna.

Jim Prideaux: the tortured loner who once loved

James Bond ends his day with the world saved, a beautiful woman on his arm, and martini in his hand. Jim’s day started with the saintly mother taking a bullet for him and ends with him delivering a bullet to Bill’s head, the only person he has loved. In between, Jim’s viciously tortured for the knowledge of how much Control knows about the mole, realizes Bill is the mole (arguably also the one to warn him which leads to Jim being shot, captured, and tortured), and in the meantime, teaches at a boy’s school.

Jim’s a spy put out to pasture. But one to cover up sins, one who is a recluse and a loner due to his passions. The audience laughed uncomfortably as he killed the pigeon in his classroom; but it can only be a metaphor for his heart. For the tear streaming down his face as he shoots Bill. For his bond with the young boy that he sees so much of himself in, who he tries to mold into a spy, only to have the masculinity of a stereotypical spy melt before him.

Percy Alleline: The sniveling wimp

Clearly, Alleline was never a field agent. No one can see him handling a gun. He only moves people as his pawns. He’s the squeaky wheel, the one who’s influence is underestimated by the others as he rises to power. As he shoves project Witchcraft down the throats of SIS. His ending only fits that had Bill not been a mole, Witchcraft — at least in feeding bad intel to the Soviets — would’ve been successful. He’s a new kind of successful spy, the one who is not a hero, but gains power by what he knows about others.

Toby Esterhase: The survival sheep

Toby’s is also an Other. I’d assume from Smiley’s story about how Control found him as a boy starving in a museum in Austria that he is Jewish. But unlike Peter, our other Other, Toby’s weakness is pointed to be his ability to survive. His ability to notice how others rise to power and stand behind them, while seemingly not having an ethical code of his own.

When Smiley confronts him about the mole, to see if it’s Alleline — who Toby’s been following around — Toby breaks down at the threat of being sent away. He wants to please, and he wants to live. James Bond would never cry and survive by being a sheep. He wouldn’t be scared to go back to Austria, where he may be killed.

Ricky: Good evening, Mr. Bond

If anyone is field agent Bond in this story, it’s Ricky. He’s the spy, pulling on his own when he needs to, delivering the information back to the good guys, finding major information out, and romancing the girl. On paper.

In reality, Ricky is betrayed by the mole and is pinned with the crime. There’s no way he could’ve cleared his name without with the help of Smiley and Peter. No, eventually, SIS under the mole’s orders would’ve killed him and labeled him the traitor. (Or at least an agent coerced by Smiley, if Smiley was pinned as the mole.) Ricky is outraged and paranoid beyond paranoid when he arrives back in the UK to phone Peter and then at Smiley’s house. Ricky has watched the old guard — literally — get their throats cut out and is waiting for the person to do it to him.

Romances are a staple of the Bond-genre. But they aren’t romance, so much as Bond getting laid with the hot woman. Never the same one film to film or book to book. He doesn’t settle down. Bond doesn’t fall in love. But Ricky does. Ricky falls in love with Irene. Irene who sees right through him — though very Bond-like in that Bond always seemed to like the ones that saw him for his spy-self — and whom becomes his goal. Ricky comes home to SIS with information not for queen and country, but to save the girl. Bond always saves the world first. And he looks good while doing it; whereas Ricky, you can almost smell his grime in a few scenes.

Roy Bland: Our soldier

If anyone’s the befuddled soldier, it’s Roy Bland. He barely makes a dent. The war hero is only a suspect because he has access. He is the ineffectual that Smiley believes himself to be at the start of the film.

The men of the the Circus, the inner part of the SIS.

We are not so very different, you and I. We’ve both spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in one another. — George Smiley

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is an interesting film because none of its heroes or villains are what an SIS spy is supposed to be. All of them subvert the masculine ideal of James Bond. They make the Cold War seem like a tedious guessing game. Not a single one is 100% “right” for their genre. But they make it more interesting, more identifiable, and infinitely more complex. I usually have such a hard time watching movies filled with old men, but one kept me thinking, kept subverting those old men and masculinity and the spy.

Even the Morrigan looked bored by her A-plot.

So I ended up watching this episode twice, and not just because of that scene my friends. Though that helped. Actually, our good friends in Canada, who are the only people who air Lost Girl, had some glitches, so I had to watch it again without glitches. But this did prevent me from doing my normal live-type reviews because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to watch the entire episode.

Anyway, I’m not so happy that Lauren has all these dark secrets, only in that it makes Dyson look like the better person. (Except in Dyson’s whole recent womanizing ways, which really since he got his new lady love, I don’t think that the show’s going to be moving forward with.) Seriously, Lauren looks like a straight-up asshole twice. Everytime that Bo has sex with her, she’s like “oh, yeah, I’m spying on you for the Ash and I’m his human slave” or “oh, yeah, I actually have a girlfriend, who’s on ice as she’s sick or something.” I do think, because the show’s mostly well-written, that Lauren’s situation comes across as more complex than that. She does have the whole scene where she tells her girlfriends how Bo cares about her and takes care of her. Plus, they could’ve had an open relationship. But this still doesn’t negate the fact that Lauren never told Bo.

Bo and Lauren snuggles. (You were expecting me to put a sexy screencap, right?)

The episode itself, the A-plot, wasn’t worth watching the main episode for. There clearly wasn’t enough Kenzie, and I still don’t know how I feel about her whole threatening to kill Lauren scene. The plot with Vex, the Morrigan, Jason, and Bianca was just icky and boring. Seriously, I would like the Dark Fae to be presented — for once — as not straight up, black hat, tie you to the train tracks evil. That would be a nice twist. And Vex’s dom was both unsurprising and also needed some helped with direction and realism. Usually their research is better than this.

Oh, Jason, everyone knows the Morrigan doesn't do the killing herself.

As Kenzie later commented, what are you wearing dude?

I’m really interested to learn more about Lauren’s girlfriend, and everything else around that.

Ooh, wet t-shirt contest. So Dyson has to take off his shirt and express his love to other wolf dude with the Irish accent: Caden.

Does this homoeroticism need a caption? Hoyay brings all the man-loving fangirls and boys to the yard.

I’m rather unsure how I feel about Kenzie finding the male-bonding stuff all hot. Is she fandom in this story?

Dyson sits large in that chair. One word: balls.

Flashbacks are bad. Really bad. Especially with Dyson’s white man braids/dreads that some bad hairstylist put in. I guess it now makes a little more sense to why Dyson said “shite” a couple episodes back.

Wait, Dyson had another lady-love friend… Or an interest in his best friend’s wife. Who’s apparently dead, but I have a feeling she’s not as dead as she seems to be. OMG, if Dyson’s supposed to be Irish and forgot it, he’s even more like Angel. I’m starting to be convinced that this season is a rewrite of Buffy, only sex-positive.

Dyson: always the voyeur when it came to love.

Bo stop being too brave and stupid for Lauren. But at the same time, Lauren wouldn’t have run to Bo if she didn’t want to be saved. I really love Lauren’s cashmere sweater. It looks so soft.

Lauren, my beautiful lady love, please stay in my house instead of being locked away by your master.

Let’s go to the docks in the mysterious city that they can’t name because they might sell production rights to America.

Flashbacks continue to be bad. They’re like the cheaper version of Roar. Only Heath Ledger looked better in leather pants. Oh, look, it’s the first time that Dyson bargained with the Norn or tried to.

Dyson tries on Braveheart. He looks silly.

The Norn laughs at him. For his dumb hair.

Wow, that Cumberbatch guy is a jerk, even if his scarves/ascots are awesome. I hope Bo’s hand is okay.

Cumberbatch nets Bo. Not the way to her heart.

Good thing, she can go play doctor with Lauren back at her home. Or she can just have with Caden, I guess, because that’s not weird at all. Also Bo’s bedroom doors are totally open. Lauren is clearly stress baking. (But really, if those cupcakes weren’t cool yet, you can’t frost them, and they were somehow magically frosted. Maybe Lauren does have Fae powers. Fae baking powers. She can totally be my girlfriend.) Though Caden does not look so great in that underwear, a little too many beers.

I understand, Lauren, I too will stress bake. It helps with the sexual tension.

This is why boys are gross.

Ooh, I really like Kenzie’s top at the auction. (Alas, no good screencaps.)

Velma is the best Fae ever. Yes, finally a female fae without female-associate powers. Poor Velma though and her dementia. Apparently, Fae don’t have good nursing homes for their kind. And really, Bo, you don’t say your plan out-loud in a crowd that probably has some good hearing. Especially when all eyes are on you after you won a really big auction.

Velma, a worm who shoots death rays.

Quick, actors, you want to be shocked as there are special effects to be added later.

Figures that Caden would’ve known the guy auctioning off Velma and that he’s in on it. Old friends that we never talk about always turn out to be up to no good.

Evil scarves! Evil old friends! Evil!

And there be more ridiculousness in flashbacks and Dyson’s being all angsty pants. Oh, I was totally confused in that I thought this Stephan dude was Caden, not so much. Wow, flashbacks were even more pointless than I thought they were. “I shouldn’t have used my wolf on you.” That didn’t sound as you intended, Dyson.

Caden still loves Dyson. Even if he killed him.

I called it that Ciara wasn’t actually dead. And now Dyson has another love interest. Bo wants a little loving too.

Ciara is alive and so is Dyson's pants and Bo's jealousy.

No, Ciara, Dyson just wants to be an angst puppy in the corner. Okay, maybe he changed his mind. Or you know, the blood went the other direction.

Did Bo just give Lauren the same speech that Dyson gave Ciara? But then Bo goes toward her bedroom…what…

Bo, Trick, and Kenzie: the only ladies who aren't under Dyson's spell.

Those are some shallow and not very quippy jokes of jealously and brokenheartness. It’s like Bo’s so bummed out about Dyson that she’s not even trying. Bo, no one believes that you can handle it.

Spell books always lead to bad things. I’ve watched enough supernatural shows. So does invoking Baba Yaga, because she’s totally going to be real on Lost Girl. “Perhaps you’re concentrating too much on Dyson’s junk.” Though it’s really nice that they’re bringing back in Kenzie’s Russian heritage. (We heard her speak Russian in the very first episode.) Oh, no, I saw this coming with Kenzie trying to get revenge for Bo through magic that will work in some way.

Tequila, the brokenhearted's bff. Or at least your liquid bff when you have your bestie drinking with you.

Kenzie really didn’t hear that exploding mirror behind her? Really? I know she’s drunk, but come on.

Anytime you write on a mirror in lipstick, it's just bad news.

“This is what happens when you buy wine from the bargain bin.” Truer words have never been spoken, Kenzie.

The floor is not a girl's best friend. Though I really dig Kenzie's pj pants.

Ewww, Dyson, TMI. Was the threeway with Angelus? Wait, we’re supposed to think that Dyson is 500+ years old. HAHAHAHA. Good one, show. (Also that in all this time, he never found love. OMG, I just realized that Dyson and Bo are Angel and Buffy. Dyson’s in his detached jerk period, which may turn into complete evil times. If Bo has to kill Dyson at the end of the season, I CALLED it, friends.)

Wow, Dyson’s version of honesty is called douchebagginess. Hale is completely correct.

A Fae Sesame Street would be completely awesome. Though really, in this universe, Henson would’ve been a fae.

Everyone's checking out Bo's ass. I mean her mark.

I’m glad that we all figured out it was Baba Yaga early on. Though can we all agree on how to pronounce her name?

Hookers slapping Dyson, ftw. Though that poor woman being locked in the psych ward.

“We’ve been cursed by Kenzie!” LOLz. Did Dyson just say, “U-MEN” instead of “human”? (Sorry, had this professor in college that I didn’t like that always pronounced “human” like that and sour grapes. Beside, he probably says, “ORE-gone” too.)

“Back off or I will drop-kick you into a women’s studies conference.” — Best threat ever!

Kenzie’s aunt is a pretty horrid actor. But that photo of tiny Kenzie is awesome. I really hope that’s an actual photo of the the actor. I figured that they would get kind of nowhere with her aunt having any belief in Baba Yaga. Kenzie is right that Bo should not be making it with family members.

Kenzie's Aunt does her serious con-woman face.

Forced family hugs are always the very best.

Did Dyson just say “shite”?

“I’m so scared that I can’t even swear.”

Kenzie realizes that Baba Yaga's really coming.

Of course, Kenzie sacrifices herself. Saw that one coming. Also I feel bad for Kenzie as this would be like me going on a Borg ship or being in Alien. (Thanks, dad, for letting me watch that one scene when I was like 5.)

Bo comforts Kenzie's Aunt with her boobs.

Baba Yaga’s cages for her girls seems very Doctor Who. I’m kind of waiting for the Doctor to show up. It’s very spaceship-like.

Of course, Kenzie doesn’t know how to peel potatoes, and she’s very correct that she doesn’t obey the rules.

In Soviet Russia, potatoes peel you.

If you need a fat girl for dinner, why would the girl being slaughtered be a random choice? Doesn’t seem like the best eating decisions. Oh, Kenzie, you should’ve grabbed one of those bones to bribe guard dog guy with.

Worst way to decide which girl to eat. Either you have dinner or just a tiny snack.

Chloe the Nymph is pretty awesome; and Dyson is batting for zero even with those not under Baba Yaga’s spell. But I guess that technically, it’s lifted.

This is not usually what happens when Bo takes 2 people home.

Oh, I love Kenzie doing her grifter thing when Baba Yaga. And somehow I knew it would involve training the guard dog guy.

Baba Yaga needs to keep better pets.

Wow, this is brutal episode. Drowning Bo. Eating young girls. I didn’t expect Bo to be kicked out of the world. And to almost die. I love that Kenzie is going to be the one who gets herself out of own problem by confronting both her nightmare and her childhood trauma. I love her kicking Baba Yaga into her own fire.

Kenzie shuts that oven door with no regrets.

Also the scene where Bo comes back, it was hard for Dyson to look like he didn’t love Bo.

Kenzie's all wet, but happy endings.

I love Kenzie and Bo’s friendship. They are super awesome. Though it looks like Baba Yaga may make a reappearance. Or it’s supposed to be like a horror movie ending where everyone thinks she’s clear of danger, but not really.

She'll be back. Maybe.

Broom: 1 splinter. Kenzie: 0. Bo: Sword.

Love Kenzie fighting with the broom and Bo running in with a sword.

Awe, bff stress cleaning. (Yes, bffs reading this: the whole living together thing would’ve worked better if you’d stressed cleaned with me. Just teasing. Love you.) “You can be Cinderella; and I’ll be your little birdie.”

There is something not going on right in that retirement home? (It is a retirement home, right?)

These people are clearly under some kind of spell.

Is the new Ash an “ash-hole”? I’m sure my humor wouldn’t be lost on Kenzie.

Just two ladies trying to pretend that everything's normal.

Oh, Bo, don’t use Lauren as your rebound; she’s so much better than that. That’s not the kind of love that you should be encouraging.

Oh, noes, I feel that Kenzie is going to ask Trick for a cleaning spell. But now he’s suggestion she get a real job and work for him. Kenzie so has Trick wrapped around her finger. Kenzie is so cute as she asks Trick about the Brownie and if he’s safe to bring him home. Yeah that “don’t take advantage” of him is going to turn out bad.

Kenzie meets Mumford, a Brownie. Please send him to my house.

“Always.” Lauren, be still my shipping heart. Duh, Bo, I could’ve told you that it was more complex than that. Don’t leave Lauren alone; that was freaky.

Bo gets that soulful look one gets when faced with a beautiful woman you want to love.

Mumford and his hot chocolate is kind of awesome. Can he come to my house and do the dishes?

What the fuck, Dyson? Wait, dream sequence. (This is though way hotter than the Sookie and Eric shower scene. Or you know, nightmare. Scary. (Also the way the nightmare lady was feeding off Bo was a little too sexual.)) Kenzie with big ass knife is awesome.

Sexytime is not supposed to go like this.

Okay, now I’m feeling that freaky nightmare lady did something to Mumford. But wow, their house is clean.

Glad that Kenzie mentioned how sexual the whole thing was. That makes me at least feel a little better. Though I don’t know how I feel about nightmare lady having a sex-based power. We need more female fae with powers that aren’t tied to sexuality or powers associated with the feminine.

I wasn’t off called her nightmare lady. Mares.

Wow, Lauren has some crazy awesome tech there. Is this Lauren’s pad? Swanky and clean.

Bo gets brain scanned by something Lauren stole from Star Trek.

“And Brownies never pay.” Mumford, you know how to go straight to Kenzie’s heart. Oooh, Honey Berry Crunch.

Kenzie never pays either, Mumford.

I love that Lauren has a cage with all her meds in it. The new Ash is trying to get under your skin, Bo, and he’s totally working it.

Lauren has some interesting house decorations.

Don't get between Bo and her ladylove, Ash.

“I have ears in many places.” — Trick
“Yeah, when you’re fae, you should probably use a different expression.” — Kenzie

That guy who’s waiting for the Ash has been sitting there for like 20 years. Oh, no, nightmare. The Ash’s throne thing does not look comfortable at all. “When I’m tired, my innie thoughts become outies.” Me too. I have the same problem when I’m sleepy.

Kenzie and Bo end up with another dead end and need Trick's help. Or just some alcohol or coffee in Bo's case.

This is not the most horrible nightmare sequences, but not the best I’ve seen. This black stuff is weird.

Mumford's not very happy, Kenzie.

Mumford in Kenzie’s clothing is pretty funny. I love Kenzie’s solution for needing a Baaku (or however it’s spelled).

How Mumford even made her clothes kind of fit him, I will never know. Some kind of extra dimensional powers. His sock garters are adorable.

Oh, Frankie and Connie, the worst pairing ever: the Sandman and the Nightmare. I love the twist that Connie’s pregnant and that’s why she’s extra hungry. (Even if it brings like double female-condition to the whole scene.) But I like that we’re dealing with ordinary dark fae as the others we’ve seen on this show have been higher ups or otherwise somewhat special.

The Sandman and the Nightmare: like a Neil Gaiman couple.

Bo is kind of dumb here. She was pretty safe to stop the elevator. (Wait Bo’s dreaming again? What happened to her boobs? Did they deflate with her old makeup?)

Yes, they go south. But that's different than deflation.

I love that the Baaku does his mojo via hugs. Awesome. Yes, everyone needs a hug while having nightmares.

The best way to get rid of a nightmare: a hug. The Baaku looks very huggable. Good casting.

Oh, Connie has learned a few tricks about keeping people in their dreams. Wow, Bo just stabbed Dyson. That was very Buffy and Angel in Buffy season two, and you know, therapeutic after a bad breakup.

Bo kills Dyson. Hardcore.

GROUP HUGS.

Hugs are made of win.

You might want to take off those pants if you’re going to give birth, Connie.

Probably the best decision not to get involved with new Ash on any level.

“I’ll play paintball in the kitchen. I’ll shave my legs in the living room.” Kenzie is so awesome. And with her sword to watch over the sleeping Bo. It’s okay, Bo, I can’t sleep either when I’m that exhausted. It sucks.

Isomnia when you're beyond exhausted is the worst.

Four episodes in and we have our first happy ending.

Totally win that a woman got to keep her child at the end of the story and reunite with her true love prince. Seems like there’s a happy ending happening. Of course, Emma isn’t going to like whatever favor she now owes Rumpelstiltskin. No, not at all.

Look besides the Mirror, there was an ethnic minority, Cinderella’s fairy godmother. Oh, wait, she’s dead within five seconds thanks to Rumpelstiltskin. (Still hoping that one of our princesses that we haven’t met will be a character of color.) Also, why is Rumpelstiltskin running around and announcing his name? Isn’t keep that a secret part of his magic?

And she might as well be wearing a red shirt.

I liked that Cinderella was more into true love and a posh life than being “royalty.” Actually, that’s what I’ve rather enjoyed about both princesses; that being the queen (or a princess) is not the end goal of their pursuit.

Now that's some swank.

What the hell is with Rumpelstiltskin and children. Seriously. Also, this is not setting up a good precedent for how this show views adoption. I think we need to see a successful adoptive parent relationship (Geppetto and Pinocchio?). Though it would be nice for this relationship to be a mother-child, not father-child.

Henry is persistently rebellious, and yes, a lot of time he deserves to be punished by Regina for disobeying. It’s not like telling your 10-year-old child to stay home is an uncommon request nor is punishing him when he doesn’t a horrible fate. Even Emma’s not really going to blame Regina if she grounds Henry until he’s 18.

No matter where Emma turns, there's Henry.

I feel really bad for Cinderella as isn’t be pregnant for how many years punishment enough? I think she’s already worked off her penance, magical spells.

Cinderella tries to out contract Rumpelstiltskin, the contract wizard.

I hope that we get to learn more about Ruby/Red Riding Hood next week. Is the Sheriff the Huntsman or the Big Bad Wolf? And how not surprised was I by Regina and him sleeping together.

Get used to her grumpy face, Mr. Gold.

These characters are pretty much all monochromatic.

As I was thinking about this episode and what I was going to write in this space, I was trying to figure out what about this show is off. There have been some media fans who’ve slagged it off as the cheaper version of Fables. (Let’s just not talk about Fables and its problems.) But in fact, Once Upon a Time has the same exact problem Fables had in its early year (and arguably now too though there were some token bad portrayals), it’s all a bunch of white people. (The Mirror was the only exception, but there should be more diversity!) Sure, we’re dealing with European fairy tales, which are from cultures that were, at the time said fairy tales were written down, by-and-large populated by white people. That said, this is TV, this is a fairy tale; we can mix it up. I hope that when they introduce say Sleeping Beauty, she’s brown.

Of course, I’ll keep wishing on a star because I’m cynical TV would ever do this. 1) Because TV is largely white. 2) Because some jackass in casting, production, etc., will say something horribly offensive, but coded, like ‘Vanessa Williams just doesn’t look the part of Cinderella’s evil stepmother.’ (If you ever watched Ugly Betty, you know that Williams can play anyone’s evil stepmother or queen and add the right touch of scheming and sympathy.) Or 3) Someone will say that sleepy little towns in Maine are only populated with white people. Yes, Maine may not scream racial diversity the way say Oakland might, but this is fantasy, this is TV. And most places in the world, thanks to relatively cheap modern transportation, are ethnically diverse in some way.

As far as the story of Snow finding Prince Charming (James), I found it an interesting, but not unbelievable twist. One strong point Once Upon a Time has over other fairy tale rewrites (at least modern ones I’ve read/watched) is that they’re filing in the blanks: either the omitted times in the traditional stories and/or using it as world-and-character building in order to match the personalities the writers have given the characters. (Since fairy tales are based on archetypes, besides some awful stereotypes, the characters don’t have huge personalities, which TV writers, especially the writing staff they’ve hired for this show, write characters with big personalities.)

You know immediately that Prince Charming hasn't captured an ordinary woman in his net.

However, I found the fairy tale part far more fun and intriguing than the Storybrooke parts, which doesn’t bode well for the show. It needs to work on making the current time just as fascinating as the past. (Though I can’t say I’ve ever really watched a drama about a small town, unless you count Twin Peaks… Not to say this is some new idea — it’s not — just that usually, not my cup of tea. Though I guess Gilmore Girls is technically a drama. Anyway…)

I appreciated how Prince Charming was set up as Prince Charming, while at the same time, he didn’t come off as lady-killer smarmy or having magic rip-off-your-panties powers, ala Fables. Instead, we see that he’s courted others besides Snow.

Snow tries on the wedding ring a little too affectionately. While Goodwin looks better in a horrible wig than her short pixie cut.

Goodwin does a better job as action hero than I thought she would. Though she always plays great as a stubborn character who’s particularly bent on not being told what to do or being convinced to do something she doesn’t believe in. I love that Snow has survival skills, but I wish the show put more of that into her Storybrooke life. Yes, she gave the book to Henry, and I hope there’s more, but I’m not really seeing her do anything but teach children (as hers was taken from her) and take care of the sick (really her husband).

Snow reads to James, the story of their true love.

I’m hoping that we get more revelations about how much power Regina still has. Since the introduction to the show makes it clear that she remembers her life before and her spell, I want more about her continued powers and what’s diminished. I’m also wondering if they’re going to wait until the season finale to have Emma reveal that she’s Snow’s daughter.