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's previous episodes for me were decent to brilliant. Unfortunately "The Brothers Jones" sees its first disappointment in one of its lesser episodes and 'Once Upon a Time's' weakest episode in a long time. That is probably not going to be a popular opinion though. Its mixed to fairly negative reception from critics and fans and that its ratings were lower than most episodes that season is very understandable. Certainly didn't hate "The Brothers Jones", it didn't do much for me either.
There are good things about "The Brothers Jones". It mostly is a handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and cookie-cutter. It is beautifully photographed too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Despite them deserving much better material, mostly the performances are fine. Greg Germann has a ball as Hades and Jared Gilmore shows a mature growth to Henry. Josh Dallas charms as David, but the best performances come from Lana Parrilla and Victoria Smurfit. Colin O'Donoghue does his best as Hook but is let down by the writing, dialogue and how the character is written.
"The Brothers Jones" is actually at its best with Cruella and with Henry and the Apprentice. Cruella really spices things up, and Henry and the Apprentice's chemistry and exchanges intrigue. Regina has some of the best lines of the episode, the only ones that are meaningful and ring true in a way where you totally see where she's coming from. There are some clever references and call-backs to previous story lines.
However, not all the performances work. Jennifer Morrison seems to have given up, evidenced in her flat (in this episode) chemistry with Hook, but Bernard Curry comes off worst, his over-compensating getting very annoying. Didn't find his chemistry with Hook too engaging, didn't come over as very brotherly to me. With him and the brothers back-story dominating the episode that is a big problem. Every bit as bad as it being Hook-centric and failing to make Hook interesting or worth rooting for, his development has definitely gone backwards. Of the characters, it's Henry that shows the most maturity.
Most of the characters have been more interesting elsewhere, though Cruella and Henry have shown character and writing growth. Character development is barely there and what is there adds little or feels dumbed down. There is no real plot-progression, other than with Henry and the Apprentice and also with Cruella. The Underworld story line had very little at stake or of consequence and lacked tension, but it was the Hook and Liam brother story line that sunk the episode. A real drag it was that fails to develop Hook particularly well and it felt pointless. The pacing tends to be dull.
Generally the writing for 'Once Upon a Time' had come on such a long way since it first started. Here in "The Brothers Jones" this aspect takes a complete nose-dive, far too soapy throughout, excepting with Regina and Henry and the Apprentice, and the campiness gets so over the top that it is difficult to take the episode, with storytelling that was clearly intended to be serious, seriously. The effects were wildly variable and some in previous episodes were less than special, here they are very obvious and artificial-looking.
All in all, not a bad episode but could have been so much more. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Season 5's previous episodes for me were decent to brilliant. Unfortunately "The Brothers Jones" sees its first disappointment in one of its lesser episodes and 'Once Upon a Time's' weakest episode in a long time. That is probably not going to be a popular opinion though. Its mixed to fairly negative reception from critics and fans and that its ratings were lower than most episodes that season is very understandable. Certainly didn't hate "The Brothers Jones", it didn't do much for me either.
There are good things about "The Brothers Jones". It mostly is a handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and cookie-cutter. It is beautifully photographed too. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Despite them deserving much better material, mostly the performances are fine. Greg Germann has a ball as Hades and Jared Gilmore shows a mature growth to Henry. Josh Dallas charms as David, but the best performances come from Lana Parrilla and Victoria Smurfit. Colin O'Donoghue does his best as Hook but is let down by the writing, dialogue and how the character is written.
"The Brothers Jones" is actually at its best with Cruella and with Henry and the Apprentice. Cruella really spices things up, and Henry and the Apprentice's chemistry and exchanges intrigue. Regina has some of the best lines of the episode, the only ones that are meaningful and ring true in a way where you totally see where she's coming from. There are some clever references and call-backs to previous story lines.
However, not all the performances work. Jennifer Morrison seems to have given up, evidenced in her flat (in this episode) chemistry with Hook, but Bernard Curry comes off worst, his over-compensating getting very annoying. Didn't find his chemistry with Hook too engaging, didn't come over as very brotherly to me. With him and the brothers back-story dominating the episode that is a big problem. Every bit as bad as it being Hook-centric and failing to make Hook interesting or worth rooting for, his development has definitely gone backwards. Of the characters, it's Henry that shows the most maturity.
Most of the characters have been more interesting elsewhere, though Cruella and Henry have shown character and writing growth. Character development is barely there and what is there adds little or feels dumbed down. There is no real plot-progression, other than with Henry and the Apprentice and also with Cruella. The Underworld story line had very little at stake or of consequence and lacked tension, but it was the Hook and Liam brother story line that sunk the episode. A real drag it was that fails to develop Hook particularly well and it felt pointless. The pacing tends to be dull.
Generally the writing for 'Once Upon a Time' had come on such a long way since it first started. Here in "The Brothers Jones" this aspect takes a complete nose-dive, far too soapy throughout, excepting with Regina and Henry and the Apprentice, and the campiness gets so over the top that it is difficult to take the episode, with storytelling that was clearly intended to be serious, seriously. The effects were wildly variable and some in previous episodes were less than special, here they are very obvious and artificial-looking.
All in all, not a bad episode but could have been so much more. 5/10 Bethany Cox
