The Savior 

Regina and Zelena come to terms with their newfound sisterhood, while Emma sees a vision and Mr. Gold visits Belle in a dream.

Director:

Eagle Egilsson

Writers:

Edward Kitsis (created by), Adam Horowitz (created by)

Stars:

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ginnifer Goodwin	...	Mary Margaret Blanchard
Jennifer Morrison	...	Emma Swan
Lana Parrilla	...	Regina Mills / Evil Queen
Josh Dallas	...	David Nolan
Emilie de Ravin	...	Belle French
Colin O'Donoghue	...	Captain Killian 'Hook' Jones
Jared Gilmore	...	Henry Mills (as Jared S. Gilmore)
Rebecca Mader	...	Zelena
Robert Carlyle	...	Mr. Gold / Rumplestiltskin
Deniz Akdeniz	...	Aladdin
Beverley Elliott	...	Widow Lucas
Oded Fehr	...	Jafar
Hank Harris	...	Dr. Henry Jekyll
Giles Matthey	...	Gideon
Raphael Sbarge	...	Dr. Archie Hopper

Storyline

The heroes set out to stop Hyde; Emma experiences a mysterious side effect; refugees from the Land of Untold Stories come to Storybrooke; Regina and Zelena become roommates; Rumple enlists a stranger to help free Belle from the sleeping curse.

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Plot Keywords:

aladdin character | dr. henry jekyll character | mr. edward hyde character | dr. jekyll and mr. hyde characters | jekyll and hyde | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The object/animal/person in this episode is Jafar flying through the forest on his carpet.

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Quotes

Regina Mills: I was an awful stepmother.
Mary Margaret Blanchard: Regina, come on. That was the past.
Regina Mills: I know I was.
Regina Mills: How did you maintain hope during those terrible times?
Mary Margaret Blanchard: Well, when my mother died... then my father... I mean, I had nothing. And then I realized, while y- well, the Evil Queen was trying to kill me, that the only way I could stay alive was to never give up. You taught me how to have faith. You were the one who taught me that hope is a choice.
Regina Mills: I think Hades was wrong. Robin is at peace.
Regina Mills: You know, I've been sitting here,...
[...]

User Reviews

Nothing more dangerous than an untold story

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.

The sixth, and penultimate, season opens with a great, and very promising first episode in "the Saviour". An episode which sees new characters in Aladdin and Jafar, the saviour arc introduced, the return of a long neglected character in Dr Hopper/Jiminy Cricket and more of Hyde, having been introduced in the last two episodes of the previous season. It may not be one of the show's best season openers but sets up what is to come, which is basically what it is, very well indeed. It is great to have something new after the unevenness of the Underworld arc that dominated the second half of Season 5.

With all my reviews for the show having recently been targeted/down-voted in a ridiculously short period of time for reasons unknown to me by someone with something against me, will admit to having almost been put off from continuing with my "reviewing all the 'Once Upon a Time' episodes" project, with such a treatment undermining the hard work that has gone into the writing of them. Am glad to have continued though, because it would have been very difficult to not talk about how good "The Saviour" was.

Not really all that much wrong here, although some of the various interactions/subplots are not exactly new territory (especially the Gold and Belle relationship).

However, there is lots of evidence of forward momentum and character development advancing, the characters true to personality and not distorted or going round in circles. One learns a lot and things are made clearer. It doesn't get over-stuffed or jumpy, making it not a difficult episode to follow. A feat for such a lot going on and with so many characters.

Still love the characters, both the existing characters, the new ones and the relatively new ones continuing to grow. Will always love Regina and Gold/Rumplestiltskin especially. As well as the characters, what is particularly good about much of the show and "The Saviour" is the interaction between them. What is familiar territory is thankfully not too tired or repetitive, due to them being approached from different angles.

Particularly true for the Belle and Gold relationship, going-round-in-circles at first but made fresher. It is great to not have Belle bland, like she tends to be apart from when effort is made to develop her. Regina and Zelena's chemistry has spark, in a witty and tense sense. Aladdin and Jafar makes promising first impressions.

All the acting from the solid ensemble cast is without complaint. Lana Parrilla especially is splendid and makes Regina rootable in a way that's very moving. Robert Carlyle is similarly riveting, he has fun with Gold and has the right amount of charisma, gravitas and shadiness that doesn't make him a standard villain or a character softened too much. How wonderful to see Raphael Sbarge again, having been long neglected.

Jennifer Morrison brings intensity and vulnerability, never being overwrought or too passive, while Emilie DeRavin gives one of her better performances in the role of Belle. Sam Witwer's Hyde once again shows potential to be one of 'Once Upon a Time's' better villains of the latter seasons. Love the casting of Jafar here and he did savour his monologue mentioned here in a big scene between him and Aladdin.

Furthermore, "The Saviour" is a very handsomely mounted episode visually, the settings and costumes are both colourful and atmospheric, not too dark or garish and never looking artifical. 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, nothing campy or soap-operatic. Compared to when 'Once Upon a Time' first started, the writing mostly came on a long way (less so in the last season).

Overall, great start to Season 6. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2016 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kitsis/Horowitz, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD