Once Upon A Time "Dreamy" Review

Before I watched the teaser, I said to my mother, "I hope Once Upon A Time won't waste Amy Acker like they wasted Emilie de Ravin." During the never-ending final 22 seconds of the 76ers-Bulls game, and minutes after the Flyers beat Washington 1-0, I watched the first ten seconds of "Dreamy" in which Amy Acker flew around a horribly designed fairy paradise and made the silliest goddamn noises you'll ever hear on primetime television. I immediately returned to the 76ers game, horrified that my worst fears manifested just ten seconds into the episode. The 76ers game didn't make me forget about what I just watched. Taj Gibson missed two free throws, giving the Sixers a final chance to hit a three and send the game to overtime. I didn't want the ball in Iguodala's hands down three with the game on the line because he's usually a mediocre three point shooter, and his last three point attempt was an airball. I watched in horror as the whistle blew, the players ran to their spots, and Jodie Meeks slipped to the floor. I yelled, "TO WILLIAMS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PASS IT TO WILLIAMS!" Iguodala definitely escaped a 5 second violation, inbounded the ball, but almost immediately he had the ball in his hands and launched a miserable shot that hit nothing but backboard and fell into Joakim Noah's hands, sealing the loss. I then despaired, aloud, how Once Upon A Time already wasted Amy Acker, to which my mom said, "Just watch the rest of the episode." So I did, and I dare say that Dreamy's love story rather charmed me, which may've been because Amy Acker went back to her Winifred Burkle voice, or because I decided to stop being such a miserable bastard while watching Once Upon A Time; instead of watching the episode through the lens of what I want to the show to be, I watched "Dreamy" though the lens of what this show actually is. Honestly, it's usually not great, but the short story quality of "Dreamy" had a charming quality I responded to.

Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz wrote for LOST for nearly the entire run of the show. They weren't involved when Lindelof and his soon-to-be-fired-staff (with 2 or 3 exceptions) broke eleven consecutive brilliant New Yorker-style episodes. Lindelof and Cuse spoke about their inspiration to tell the best stories they could with the New Yorker model as their structural guide. In the fourth or fifth act, I thought about how effective the story would be if written on the page as a short story, which is when my feelings transformed. Dreamy, soon to be Grumpy, came into the world via egg hatching. Soon, he met Nova, an aspiring fairy godmother. The fairy and the dwarf met in the mines where diamond is harvested for fairy dust. Grumpy saved Nova's bag of fairy dust from the incinerator. Nova told Grumpy about a majestic hill called 'Firefly Hill' where one watches fireflies illuminate the night. In the present, Leroy met Sister Astrid as she set up a fundraiser to save her convent. The beats were exactly the same in both worlds except for minor differences near the end of each. Astrid ordered too many candles, which saddled the convent with $5,000 in debt. Leroy volunteered to help in the event because of the effect Astrid had on him. Once he learned of her plight, he vowed to sell each candle and save the convent.

OUAT draws from Disney fairy tales because of their business with ABC. The dwarfs were exactly like the dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Bossy told Dreamy the short and simple history of their species--they don't marry, they don't leave the mines, they work, and they're happy because they whistle while they work. Dreamy's different from his seven brothers because he dreams about another life. Nova's fairy dust is what hatched Dreamy from his egg, which united the two in fate from the first second of his conscious life. Thus Dreamy dreams of not only love but exploring the world and all of the wonders that exist above his mines. The setting in the fairy tale world was dream-like--the mines glittered and the fireflies glowed. Emotions are simple in this world; histories as well. Love isn't complicated. Love is just an overwhelming powerful feeling that needs to be seized, as Belle tells Grumpy in the mine tavern, because love can be lost. Nova and Dreamy's love for one another isn't any more earned than Belle and Rumple's; however, the nonsense connected-by-fairy-dust-fate worked because "Dreamy" came closest to its Disney movie sisters. Indeed, in those movies, the love is simple and happens merely because there will be no story without a love story and so characters see one another and fall madly in love. The only work Kitsis and Horowitz did in earning Dreamy's idealism and love was inventing a magical axe that named each dwarf because it knew the essence of whomever picked it up to possess it as a work tool--his would be a major criticism in other episodes, but tonight it's just a quibble.

Dreamy's dreams were shattered by reality in the fairy tale world whereas his dreams were somewhat realized in Storybrooke. Their respective roles prevented a fairy tale love; of course, their roles in Storybrooke are problematic for a long-term romance with her being a nun and him being part of the secular world. A romance denied by one's role, or class rather, is something out of 19th century fiction. The blue fairy teamed with Bossy to tell Dreamy that he and Nova's love wouldn't last because both weren't born for romance. Dreamy met Nova on firefly hill to tell her that an adventure on the sea was impossible. Once he returned to the mines, he broke his axe out of fury and received a new one that gave him the name 'Grumpy.'

Leroy and Astrid's friendship had the same sweetness and charm as Dreamy and Nova's. Storybrooke's a product of True Love's curse. Their reunion isn't different from other reunions--true love will inevitably be prevented--however Leroy might find happiness because of his friendship with Astrid. The candle situation is full of complications, but he manages to sell $5,000 worth by destroying the power source in the city. Afterwards, he and Astrid reconcile. The town drunk might yet be reformed by one woman's love, and the only commonality in all of the innocent people in Storybrooke is their love for one another, a love that can transform and redeem a sad and broken soul. The theme of love's power, though simplified, is a theme I'm always interested in.

Mary Margaret was alongside Leroy during each scene because she vowed to redeem herself through the philanthropic candle fundraiser. Kathryn's disappearance didn't help her public reputation. Mary felt dejected when she and Leroy failed. Eventually, she admitted the impossibility of the town's drunk and harlot succeeding; however, the magic of the lighted candles after Leroy smashed the power source transformed the town, and they began to welcome Mary back into their lives. Mary then watched in horror as Emma took David into the police station for additional questioning.

Emma's investigation into Kathryn's disappearance was rather dull. Mr. Glass came onto the scene under the guise of a freelance reporter. Regina planted incriminating evidence into Kathryn's phone records. Emma told Regina that she lacked any substantial leads, but Regina pressured her into questioning David. I'm still not invested in the overarching narrative of the Storybrooke world. I haven't liked any episode that focused on those core characters in quite some time. "Dreamy" belonged to love story between a dwarf and a fairy.

The series could be stronger if we just saw the many characters on a weekly basis. Kitsis and Horowitz always allude to LOST in the show, but they haven't employed a fundamental LOST element, which was just having the characters on camera at the camp. I don't remember the last time Grumpy appeared on camera. The overarching narrative is fractured when stories come and go, when detours are taken, etc. The A story told a charming story though, which is why I'd recommend "Dreamy" to people if they want to enjoy a light and charming romantic story in the classic Disney vein. The series is still a mess, but that's not important this week. Well, I didn't dwell on it.

Other Thoughts:

-Amy Acker was delightful. A few weeks ago on Grimm she played the polar opposite of Nova/Astrid. Her role on Grimm was reminiscent of Illyria and Dr. Saunders whereas Nova/Astrid brought back that sweet and bubbly side of Acker that I haven't seen since Fred died on ANGEL. I adore sweet and bubbly Amy Acker.

-I didn't realize Henry'd been absent until the final five minutes.

-Emilie de Ravin returned in the tavern scene to share her experiences of love. I'd have a fonder regard for the series if Acker and de Ravin became regulars.

-Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz wrote the episode. The great David Solomon directed.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK