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 5 had a lot to live up to after Season 4 being as impressive as it was. As far as Season 4's episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" (though "Heart of Gold" was uneven) and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter, "Best Laid Plans", "Mother" and the first part of "Operation Mongoose". So was expecting a good deal from Season 5 and judging from this and the previous episodes it has not been a let down with all the previous episodes being decent to wonderful.
"Birth" is simply brilliant and the one of the best Season 5 episodes. It basically sets things up for the next episode, which was part of a two episode airing but unrelated to what happens here and starts to put things into place, but does this superbly. It does so also advancing the characterisation and the story, providing answers regarding Emma's plan and the whys and hows of her decision. Also an advancement is the smart and unexpected twist with a major character becoming a Dark One.
It is wonderful to see in "Birth" how the maturity and confidence has grown so much, very like "The Dark Swan" and "Nimue". Really loved the emotion of the episode, definitely one of the show's darkest as far as this and the previous episodes go. Also its humanity, advancing the characterisation without softening any characters or making them standard archetypes and not losing what made them work.
Also notable is the development to Emma. Instead of the overwrought and passive character she could be in earlier episodes, the character has come on such a long way, as has the writing and the tone. There is a good deal of emotional investment and found myself having a connection with what happened. The episode wastes no time in going straight into the main story without anything padding it out or distracting. Hook's development is also great.
The story is an emotionally investable and compelling one and doesn't fall into soap-opera territory. The chemistry between Emma and Hook carries the episode really well, something that was done compellingly and refreshingly with no repetition and moving things forward, never being incoherent.
All the acting is strong, with some first class performances from Jennifer Morrison and Colin O'Donoghue.
Furthermore, "Birth" 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, for 'Once Upon a Time' fans this is one of the must watch episodes. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Season 5 had a lot to live up to after Season 4 being as impressive as it was. As far as Season 4's episodes go, they were all decent to brilliant with the only small dip being "Family Business" (though "Heart of Gold" was uneven) and the best being the "Smash the Mirror" two parter, "Best Laid Plans", "Mother" and the first part of "Operation Mongoose". So was expecting a good deal from Season 5 and judging from this and the previous episodes it has not been a let down with all the previous episodes being decent to wonderful.
"Birth" is simply brilliant and the one of the best Season 5 episodes. It basically sets things up for the next episode, which was part of a two episode airing but unrelated to what happens here and starts to put things into place, but does this superbly. It does so also advancing the characterisation and the story, providing answers regarding Emma's plan and the whys and hows of her decision. Also an advancement is the smart and unexpected twist with a major character becoming a Dark One.
It is wonderful to see in "Birth" how the maturity and confidence has grown so much, very like "The Dark Swan" and "Nimue". Really loved the emotion of the episode, definitely one of the show's darkest as far as this and the previous episodes go. Also its humanity, advancing the characterisation without softening any characters or making them standard archetypes and not losing what made them work.
Also notable is the development to Emma. Instead of the overwrought and passive character she could be in earlier episodes, the character has come on such a long way, as has the writing and the tone. There is a good deal of emotional investment and found myself having a connection with what happened. The episode wastes no time in going straight into the main story without anything padding it out or distracting. Hook's development is also great.
The story is an emotionally investable and compelling one and doesn't fall into soap-opera territory. The chemistry between Emma and Hook carries the episode really well, something that was done compellingly and refreshingly with no repetition and moving things forward, never being incoherent.
All the acting is strong, with some first class performances from Jennifer Morrison and Colin O'Donoghue.
Furthermore, "Birth" 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, for 'Once Upon a Time' fans this is one of the must watch episodes. 10/10 Bethany Cox
