Once Upon a Time: "Fall" Review/Rant

I wanted to do a post about last week’s episode, but I got lost in everything I had to do. Then I figured that an hour episode might be easier to talk about compared to a two hour one, so here goes. Episode 10 was titled the "Fall" and I feel it was appropriately titled. Mostly seeing how the curse fell from the sky and into everyone's eyes. I felt that this episode was really a filler paving the way for what the second half of the season is going to be and the calm before the storm. There was also no concept of time in this episode because everyone had enough time for a thousand goodbyes when the curse was right upon them.

In this episode there was barely any Snow Queen. Just her appearance in the beginning with striking a deal with Rumpelstiltskin and at the end as the curse is descending. I guess she thought her work was done and she would hide from the rest of the town until they had all destroyed one another. Though I enjoyed the vision of the cursed sky since they always seems to be storm clouds and purple. It was kind of like the night sky in a way with all that twinkling of broken glass, though I how it entered the buildings was a bit weird. One question I do have is why is Rumple immune and not Regina? Could it be because she is reformed? But don’t worry everybody the curse comes a costume change for Regina and no one else.

So besides that I will focus on the Arendelle verse to help sort this episode out. So they unfroze and the moment that happens in walks Hans. Hans who was frozen way before everyone else and unfroze at the same time. He had enough time to get his brothers and plan his takeover of the throne. I feel like in Arendelle all of the villains are smarmy/goofy men who want the throne. I’m sorry but you are going to have to do better than those side burns and facial hair to be a villain, no matter how hard he’s trying. That’s why he had Blackbeard, which when did Hans have time for that? He must have had a lot of time being frozen in a dresser to talk to Blackbeard and his brothers.

So Anna and Kristoff want the wishing star to get Elsa back to them unknowing of the time jump. So they are stuck in a trunk and thrown at the bottom of the ocean next to where the parent’s ship had gone down. Which who knew that exact spot…really? I noticed the bottle that the parents had thrown in the ocean was conveniently next to their trunk. I did enjoy the Kristoff and Anna in the trunk thinking they were going to die and him not excepting of that. Also, Blackbeard’s comments about the fins made me think of Ariel. Is she a character that is coming back because they did just cast Ursula? I hope she does and is revamped a bit. (If you want to check out my OUAT Ariel, you can check that out on my other blogspot or Ao3 at the username Nonnahsshannon or Tumblr at I Dream of Shannon. How’s that for shameless plugging).

Back to Storybrooke, they have to find a way out or a way to protect themselves. When climbing the wall does not work, but reveals the necklace that Elsa had lost in the beginning of the season, it becomes a game changer. The necklace can save the town from the curse by the dust in it or be used to locate Anna. They try the latter first and come to a stop at a wall in the tunnels beneath the library. Where everything exists, dragons, fairy dust, and missing sisters. So they don’t have enough time to continue searching and I loved how Regina reminded the Charming’s what they were all about. I love how her character is evolving over these past couple seasons. She is not just the evil queen anymore. They had to do what was best for their town and that was using the dust. Yet Elsa obviously tricked them giving them rocks instead of the necklace. I mean come on she has been searching for her sister the whole season. She is not going to give up on her and I felt that it paralleled a lot of the OUAT relationships, where they never gave up on someone.

So Elsa blasts open that wall and suddenly on the beach. Which was a bit unrealistic seeing as there was a tunnel that went in that direction just over the right of them. I noticed it the first time they went into the tunnels following the necklace. Also I first thought they were in the Enchanted Forest because it looked different and there was no ice wall. So the glow goes out, but Elsa does not give up on her sister and wishes her to them. Once the wishing star was mentioned the necklace popped into my mind, especially after Blackbeard said it had been purchased. So the wish brings her sister to Emma and Elsa on that beach. I loved the reunion mostly for the unwavering loyalty and hope these sisters have for each other…and I was glad they were finally reunited. I am enjoying how Elizabeth Lail brings Anna to life, the rambling is just spot on, and they picked a great actress to play Anna. It was also weird how the bottle came with them and they didn’t notice it, so I’m going to keep my eye on that.

Let’s focus on Hook for a little bit since he was up to no good this episode. His heart got taken which I feel was a little bit unnecessary, but Rumple has to keep up appearances. I feel like I won’t watch the show if he really dies. I mean is good looking don’t get me wrong, but I love how dynamic his character is. I also loved that he finally got new clothes that he didn’t take off for a couple of episodes. The hat is beginning to get on my nerves. Couldn’t he just suck Rumple into it and be done with it. The Blue Fairy could have helped him maybe before she got vacuumed into the hat. He is without a heart, but not much has changed. When others did not have their heart, they lost their feelings. I feel like it is different for every character, but that makes it more confusing. He still has feelings for Emma despite not having a heart?

I am also glad that they resolved the Emma-Snow tension. Snow told Emma of how she is accepted being special and also finally got to hold Neal. So then they were locked up and the curse fell. The whole shattered sight/glass looks painful and kind of grosses me out. I do enjoy how they merged the tale with the frozen storyline. If you want to check that out, here is the link to the original story by Hans Christian Anderson. http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/972/. Now everyone is cursed except the ones who are immune.

The Snow Queen wants her perfect magic family that accepts her. Yet all around her the characters are accepting of these magic characteristics. Belle accepts Rumple despite not knowing what he is up to. Henry, David, and Mary Margaret accept Emma for who she is and love her for it. Though Regina stated that no one besides Robin (Go Outlaw Queen!) and Henry accept her despite the rest of the town starting to change that. With all of this, the Snow Queen has forgotten her fallen sister, Helga. Helga believed in her even as she accidentally froze to death and turned into a pile of ice cubes. I feel that being accepted for who you are is the big message of this part of the season.

So those are my thoughts about “The Fall.” I hope that you enjoyed them. If anyone has some other theories as we always do, let me know if you do happen to read this. 

Homemade Rice Krispies Treats

One of my favorite things to do is bake because baking for me is a stress reliever. I bake with or without excuses and for the most part always from scratch. This week I actually had an excuse. Its summer now and in my house that means tournament season. My sister plays softball and she needed to bring some sort of snack this week. I have been chomping at the bit to make Rice Krispies Treats. They’re not hard to make and they are very hard to mess up. So it is always a treat to make them because I enjoy eating and baking them. I also have the recipe written at the end.

            I didn’t go crazy and kept the recipe simple. I made two different batches each with different marshmallows. The first was just regular mini marshmallows and the second I used brownie marshmallows. You only need one 10oz bag of them. Before starting anything else, you should spray your baking pan so nothing sticks. I choose to use Pam for this. A 9 by 13 pan is a good fit for this recipe.

The next step is to go to the stove. You need a medium sized pot and you should put it on low heat. First you are going to melt about 3 tablespoons of butter. Salted or unsalted does not matter, in my case I used unsalted. While that is melting you should stir the butter around the pot to evenly distribute it. Then once it is all melted, add the whole bag of marshmallows. You should continuously stir the marshmallows even when they begin to stick together. Once the marshmallows are all liquid, you can take it off the heat. Then mix in about 5 or 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal and stir gently until it’s all mixed.

            Then you take the mixture and pour it into your baking pan. It will be pretty sticky so you can try and use the spatula to push it around a little. A trick I got from watching Nerdy Nummies was to use wax paper to help distribute the Rice Krispies throughout the whole pan. I tried to make the Mario Star treats and failed (they did not want to stick to the lollypop stick). Then you can chill them in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. It is easier to cut them after that because they are a little less sticky after they're cool. Then you can just cut them into squares or whatever shape you like and enjoy! If you have gotten creative and made different kinds let me know. I always like trying new things.

And finished product:

 

Recipe:

5 or 6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal

3 Tbs of Butter

1 10oz bag of Mini Marshmallows (or your choice)

Tools:

Rubber Spatula (or whatever you have)

Medium sized Pot

Pam

9 by 13 Baking Pan

A sheet of Wax Paper

Directions:

1.      Start by melting the 3 Tbs of Butter at low heat in a medium sized pot until fully melted.

2.      Add whole 10oz bag of Marshmallows and continue to mix until liquid and no bumps of marshmallows are seen.

3.      Take it off the heat and add the desired amount of Rice Krispies Cereal and stir gently until mixed completely.

4.      Don’t forget to spray your Baking Pan and then pour the mixture into the pan. Try and push it around with your spatula.

5.      Then take a piece of Wax Paper to push the Rice Krispies evenly throughout the pan.

6.      You can then chill it for about 20 to 30 minutes. Making it a little easier to deal with and cut. After you cut them, they’re ready to eat. 

Favorite Summer Nail Color

So it is almost officially summertime though for me school has been out since May. The weather is finally starting to warm up except the weird random cold days, which usually is accompanied by rain. Yet it allows me to shift my color palette to summer inspired colors. By palette, I usually mean my nails. I have a serious nail polish problem that is worse than my music problem. Don’t believe me, here’s a picture:

That is not even all of them and it continuously grows. I seriously look at nail polish and ask myself if I have this shade or one quite similar. It is a hard bargain with myself...yesterday I put back two. Last summer my favorite shade was a toss-up between Bikini so Teeny and Tart Deco by Essie. One a very light yet vibrant blue and the other a bright orange pink. Essie released their neon collection and I waited about two months for it too finally appear in my area. If you like nail polish as much as me, you know how hard a wait that was. Especially when it took another week for them restock it.

My favorite…I’m addicted. A bright vibrant blue that just calls out to you. 

 My color palette is contains quite a bit of blues. Mostly because I feel it compliments my skin tone and hair color quite well. Blue-violet is my total clothes power color. So blue clothes and blue on my nails is not that far-fetched. I personally love this color, it’s this blue that just reminds you of the ocean. Summer to me has to involve at least one beach trip…no matter if I usually get sunburn at least once. Even if you don’t normally wear the bright colors; this one is perfectly acceptable. It is a nice pop of color to brighten any day.