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 6 started off very promisingly, with three very good to great previous episodes. "Strange Case" was comparatively a disappointment, not a bad episode at all with a lot of great elements but something of a strange one, one of the lesser ones of the sixth season and the weakest perhaps since Season 5's "Our Decay".
Beginning with the issues, while a vast majority of the acting is fine, there are exceptions. Emilie DeRavin doesn't inject much personality to Belle and everything about Karen David's performance and how Shirin/Jasmine are written screams of forced.
One of "Strange Case's" biggest issues is Snow's subplot, it was pointless and the lessons were just cheesy in writing and cringe-worthy to watch. The character of Shirin/Jasmine felt shoe-horned in and mainly there to set things up for the next episode, likewise with the perplexing ending that held no relevance to what came before.
Belle is very bland and despite trying to give a fresh dynamic her relationship with Rumplestiltskin has felt pretty tired recently and doesn't say much new or feel fresh. While there is pathos and intrigue in the writing, other parts are cheesy and soapy especially in the Snow subplot and the outcome of the main storyline lacked clarity for my taste.
However, loved the back-story for Jekyll. It was intriguing and had intensity and emotion. It is very eventful and has complexity but is at least coherent, not feeling too cluttered. The good versus evil conflict is familiar but there is enough to the characters and enough twists to it to stop it from being too clichéd. One of "Strange Case's" biggest assets is the big twist, one of the latter seasons' most unexpected and cleverest, pretty ingenious actually.
Rumplestilskin/Gold continues to be as ever awesome, just love all the different sides to this always fascinating character that has always been a large reason for 'Once Upon a Time' working as a show mostly. Continue to like Regina's development and the writers' refraining from making her an archetypal villain or softening her too much. Seeing different sides to Jekyll and Hyde and how well they contrast with one another is done very well too.
The acting from the solid ensemble cast is hard to find fault with on the most part, excepting the two mentioned. Hank Harris gives his best acting here as Jekyll, having charm but also smooth menace. Lana Parrilla makes Regina rootable in a way that's moving, while also showing an intense side that doesn't get camp. Robert Carlyle is never less than riveting, he has fun with Gold/Rumplestiltskin and has the right amount of charisma, gravitas and shadiness that doesn't make him a standard villain or a character softened too much. Jennifer Morrison handles her increasingly conflicted material beautifully, have really felt for Emma. Elizabeth Blackmore is a heartfelt Mary.
Furthermore, "Strange Case" 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. Victorian London is especially impressive. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Overall, great in many areas but quite a strange episode at points. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Season 6 started off very promisingly, with three very good to great previous episodes. "Strange Case" was comparatively a disappointment, not a bad episode at all with a lot of great elements but something of a strange one, one of the lesser ones of the sixth season and the weakest perhaps since Season 5's "Our Decay".
Beginning with the issues, while a vast majority of the acting is fine, there are exceptions. Emilie DeRavin doesn't inject much personality to Belle and everything about Karen David's performance and how Shirin/Jasmine are written screams of forced.
One of "Strange Case's" biggest issues is Snow's subplot, it was pointless and the lessons were just cheesy in writing and cringe-worthy to watch. The character of Shirin/Jasmine felt shoe-horned in and mainly there to set things up for the next episode, likewise with the perplexing ending that held no relevance to what came before.
Belle is very bland and despite trying to give a fresh dynamic her relationship with Rumplestiltskin has felt pretty tired recently and doesn't say much new or feel fresh. While there is pathos and intrigue in the writing, other parts are cheesy and soapy especially in the Snow subplot and the outcome of the main storyline lacked clarity for my taste.
However, loved the back-story for Jekyll. It was intriguing and had intensity and emotion. It is very eventful and has complexity but is at least coherent, not feeling too cluttered. The good versus evil conflict is familiar but there is enough to the characters and enough twists to it to stop it from being too clichéd. One of "Strange Case's" biggest assets is the big twist, one of the latter seasons' most unexpected and cleverest, pretty ingenious actually.
Rumplestilskin/Gold continues to be as ever awesome, just love all the different sides to this always fascinating character that has always been a large reason for 'Once Upon a Time' working as a show mostly. Continue to like Regina's development and the writers' refraining from making her an archetypal villain or softening her too much. Seeing different sides to Jekyll and Hyde and how well they contrast with one another is done very well too.
The acting from the solid ensemble cast is hard to find fault with on the most part, excepting the two mentioned. Hank Harris gives his best acting here as Jekyll, having charm but also smooth menace. Lana Parrilla makes Regina rootable in a way that's moving, while also showing an intense side that doesn't get camp. Robert Carlyle is never less than riveting, he has fun with Gold/Rumplestiltskin and has the right amount of charisma, gravitas and shadiness that doesn't make him a standard villain or a character softened too much. Jennifer Morrison handles her increasingly conflicted material beautifully, have really felt for Emma. Elizabeth Blackmore is a heartfelt Mary.
Furthermore, "Strange Case" 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. Victorian London is especially impressive. The music is haunting, ethereal and cleverly used with a memorable theme tune.
Overall, great in many areas but quite a strange episode at points. 6/10 Bethany Cox
