What did you think of 3×12 New York City Serenade? (poll, discussion)

20 responses to “What did you think of 3×12 New York City Serenade? (poll, discussion)”

1. Marj | March 9, 2014 at 10:19 pm | Reply

   I was a little underwhelmed by the episode. I was disappointed that Walsh turned out to be a flying monkey. I would have liked to see Emma have to make a really hard sacrifice –give up someone she loves — for the sake of her family. And it seemed like a plot contrivance that yet another curse has brought Storybrooke back again and brought everyone back together, basically undoing what happened in the first part of the season. On the plus side, I thought the WWW had a wonderful presence and will make a good foil for Regina.

   BTW, it seems like every time Emma has what looks like a romantic dinner in a nice restaurant, things are not going to turn out well. In the series premiere, Emma was putting on an act to trick her bail-jumping “dinner date.” This time, it was the guy (or, rather, monkey) who was putting on an act to trick his dinner date, Emma.

   Though I’m not sure what the point of that bit of trickery was. If Emma had married the flying monkey, what would that have accomplished? Did the WWW just want to keep Emma in New York, far away from Storybrooke?

   • DB | March 10, 2014 at 2:05 am | Reply

     So Emma was actually dating a flying monkey for eight months? Its kinda gross if you think about it too much….

     • Marj | March 10, 2014 at 12:56 pm | Reply

       But he looked so good in human form, LOL …

       • Riles | March 10, 2014 at 1:12 pm | Reply

         If you can get past the fact that his eyebrows didn’t match his hair. hehehe

   • DB | March 10, 2014 at 2:11 am | Reply

     Another plot contrivance…another curse. That’s why with “magic” you never can rule out that person X is really dead. When the Blue Fairy/Mother Superior came back to life in the previous episode, everyone just acted like it was no big deal. That’s why it’s kinda obvious that Gold will be back–foreshadow remark by Belle in tonight’s episode.

     • Marj | March 10, 2014 at 12:59 pm | Reply

       Looks like it. BTW, I also thought it was contrived that Emma got her memories back in an instant just by drinking a potion that Hook conveniently was carrying with him. It’s like any problem the characters have, the writers can undo it with a random magic potion or spell.

2. Riles | March 9, 2014 at 10:24 pm | Reply

   The WWW is looking for revenge. Revenge against whom?
   The teasers seem to point to Regina. I have a hypothesis…Regina did something to the WWW. Regina used to be an innocent girl with pigtails and pipe dreams. Could it be Regina is Dorothy?

   • Marj | March 9, 2014 at 10:35 pm | Reply

     That could be! I was just thinking that the WWW needs a Dorothy to take her down. And you’re right, young Regina did have that Dorothy look. And it would be poetic justice if the WWW wants to destroy Regina for something Regina did not intend to do … just as Regina wanted to destroy Snow for something that Snow did not intend to do.

3. Riles | March 11, 2014 at 4:02 am | Reply

   A few things:
   Snow and Regina couldn’t beat the monkey in a fight with Snow’s warrior skills and Regina’s EXPERT magic; however, Emma picks up a small pipe and easily defeats the monkey in a 2 second brawl? The FLYING monkey falls to its death in a puff of smoke. That scene was obviously not thought out. It was stupid. The flying monkey fell??? It flies!!
   Also, how does a grunting non-verbose one-track-minded flying monkey own a furniture store con a very smart wise resourceful lady? That doesn’t make sense at all.
   Regina made it clear in the last episode, and Snow reiterated in this episode, that the curse ensures that there are no more portals, no chance of going back, etc…unless there is another curse. That was the point of breaking the curse. How can pictures exist from Henry’s camera if the curse ensures there is no record of events? ( Regina’s comment from last episode….she explicitly states the curse NEVER existed.,….therefore the pictures should not exist). Once again,sloppy writing.
   I don’t mind the suspension of disbelief, but I draw a line when writers set up parameters in one breath then ignore their own parameters in the next,
   Hook shows up in New York. He gives Emma a potion? A simple potion can break a curse? A curse is the most powerful magic. If it were that easy, why didn’t a potion break the curse from the beginning? This whole thing was not well thought out. I personally think this episode was weak. After 3 months one would think the writers would have come up with something better. Bottom line, this episode sucked,

   • Marj | March 11, 2014 at 1:27 pm | Reply

     Maybe the flying monkey didn’t die when it fell … and maybe it is a lot smarter than it looks when it is in its monkey skin. Also, I think Emma knocked it out and that’s why it couldn’t fly away.

     I’m not sure of the timeline, but I think by the time Hook knocked on Emma’s door, Regina’s undoing of the curse may have already been canceled out by the WWW’s new curse.

     As for all the other improbable events … I think the show is becoming more episodic, where problems will get resolved more quickly — if not necessarily within a single episode, then maybe within two or three. Coming in to this episode, I expected Emma’s memory loss would last the whole season (except, of course, in flashbacks) — and it didn’t last for even half an episode. So undoing it so quickly did seem contrived.

     Jane Espenson wrote the next episode. I think her writing is generally the tightest of all the OUAT writers, so let’s see if that makes a difference.

4. Kathy | March 11, 2014 at 1:29 pm | Reply

   The curse was not broken, only Emma’s memories returned. Gold used a potion to return Bell’s memories at one point.
   Also Hook was never under the original curse and the Jolly Roger coould travel between realms before – Neverland, Storybrook, the enchanted forest, so it make sense that it could still travel between worlds. As for the flying monkeys – didn’t Snow and Regina try to fight it off with both skill and magic? Emma was able to hit the monkey which I think knocked it off balance and it fell. Sometimes you just have to believe….

   • Riles | March 12, 2014 at 1:16 am | Reply

     I agree gold used a potion to return Belle’s memories. It was a painstaking task to figure it out, and Rumpel had ??hundreds?? of years of experience to make it. How did Hook get it?
     Also, the Jolly Roger was NEVER able to cross realms by itself. In the past, it used
     1) Feathers of Peagus (which were destroyed)
     2) Pans shadow (which was destroyed)
     3) Magic beans (which there are no more)
     I’m not sure how his ship was able to get to New York.
     Hook said he “…got a message”. Everybody was VERY clear that a portal can’t be made…especially Snow. She said the words, so the precedent was set. The writers retracted on the precedent.
     I guess some writers are better than others at paying attention.
     Attention to detail is important because it ruins the story when it’s broken…especially when the writers are cavalier about it and obviously don’t care.
     If the flying monkey could be “knocked off balanced” so easily, then Regina’s fireball would have done it. It just seemed rushed and cheesy to me.
     Hook, Bae, Emma, and Henry were ALL never under the original curse.
     Once again, it’s all about details.
     Why were they subject to the curses return to FTL?
     It’s all very unclear and irritating.

5. Marj | March 11, 2014 at 1:37 pm | Reply

   Well, the town of Storybrooke is back and so are the FTL characters, so the curse was unbroken … or is it that the original curse, which Regina broke, was restored … or part of the curse was broken … something like that, LOL. I too thought that Hook wasn’t under the original curse, so I was surprised when he ended up back with everyone else in FTL … I thought, if anything, he might have been sent back to his own world because Regina had said everyone has to go back where they came from. I have no problem with the flying monkey being knocked off balance. Sometimes it takes a little low-tech non-magical action to do the trick.

   • Lisa | March 11, 2014 at 10:24 pm | Reply

     From what I’ve read(interviews with Adam and Eddie and various cast members) I believe we’re dealing with a completely new curse, separate from the first. The fact that everyone returns to Storybrooke(destination of the original curse) is somewhat confusing but I believe this new chaos is all the Wicked Witch’s doing. I read one theory that perhaps Neal pulled a Rumple and cast this curse as a way of getting back to Emma and Henry but my money is still on the WWW.

     As far as Hook goes, since when isn’t he from FTL? Isn’t that where Snow and Emma first encountered him when he was in cahoots with Cora? The way I understand it, FTL encompasses all realms that are not “our world,” so wherever Hook originates from is a fairy tale world and although he was not affected by the original curse he was still sent back to where he came from when it was broken. Also, the potion he gave Emma in no way broke a curse; it restored her memories. There’s a big difference.

     As for the pictures in Henry’s camera—–the camera remained in New York and thus was not in Storybrooke when the town was destroyed. That may seem like a technicality but my guess is that it’s how/why the camera and photos survived.

     Lastly, I agree with you, Marj—–we don’t know if Walsh died when he fell from the roof or if Emma simply knocked him out. Knowing Adam and Eddie it wouldn’t surprise me if that particular flying monkey reared its ugly head again at some point. And did the monkey(possibly Walsh) that attacked Snow and Regina really want either of them or just a sample of Regina’s blood, which seems to be what the WWW was after?

     I have hope that this second half of the season will both intrigue and entertain and that all(or at least some) of our questions will be answered…..

     All in good time my pretty…..all in good time.

     • Riles | March 12, 2014 at 1:33 am | Reply

       I agree with some points and disagree with others. You made some good points.
       Still, how does a monkey establish a furniture store in New York, and know that Emma will shop at that store in an intricate plot to keep her in NY. Did a furniture store appear overnight?
       I’m not trying to argue for the sake of arguments, I’m just saying this episode was rushed, and VERY CLEAR parameters were clearly breached.
       Maybe there are too many writers trying to keep up with each other.
       I understand you disagree, but most people I talk to have the same questions I have.
       Maybe it will get better.

       • Marj | March 12, 2014 at 1:49 am | Reply

         Well, they are magical monkeys. They can do a lot of things. Seriously, the Kitsis/Horowitz version of the flying monkeys is different from that in the Oz movie or books. The OUAT monkeys, unlike those in the movie, can appear in human form. And if they can do that, who’s to say they can’t also have human intelligence and human abilities — including the ability to open up a furniture store?

         That part doesn’t bother me. What I don’t understand (yet) is *why* the monkey (or, more likely, the WWW, who was giving the monkey orders) bothered to set the whole thing up. If the goal was to kill Emma, then there were much easier ways to accomplish that. Maybe it was some elaborate in-kind form of revenge for something having to do with the WWW’s marriage problems, which we will find out about later. Could it be possible that it is Emma, rather than Regina, that the WWW is mad at? It seems unlikely — yet there was Emma as the WWW’s target.

         Just thought of another possibility for the business skills of the monkey — maybe the WWW was doing more than giving him orders — maybe she was controlling him like a puppet.

6. Riles | March 13, 2014 at 12:47 am | Reply

   On a lighter note, I was listening to a local talk radio show on the way home from work. They played the song “Peace Train” by Cat Stevens……or Yousif-sumthin-or-other as he is referred to now.
   Anyhoo, when the curse breaks this time, I think they should play ‘Peace Train’. That would be cool

   • Marj | March 13, 2014 at 9:00 am | Reply

     You can never go wrong with more Cat Stevens music! P.S. And in that spirit, here’s a nice live version of “Don’t Be Shy,” the song that they use on OUAT:
     )

7. Riles | March 14, 2014 at 1:14 am | Reply

   I think they should use ‘Peace Train’ because it talks about the fact of riding on the edge of darkness. Even then there is still peace…a place Regina needs to be. Personally, I think it fits.

8. Tessy Moon | March 22, 2014 at 4:19 am | Reply

   Kilian Jones (Hook) was from England. He was a solider in the King’s Navy under his older brother who was the Captain. They sailed to Neverland by orders of the King.
   Hook SHOULD have been returned to England along with Wendy, John & Michael. It is inconsistent and nonsensical why Hook would be sent to FTL.

   I agree with many of the other comments, all the inconsistencies are really frustrating. I mean, come on! How much are these people being paid and they can’t even stick to their own story! It is REALLY frustrating. I could write better than that! At least I always stay within the parameters I set up within my books. I am very disappointed in the writers. I expected better from them.

   The acting, however, I was very well pleased with! It is a bit like seeing familiar faces and friends you’ve missed for a few months. It is nice to see the characters again, and so I will continue to watch, at least for the next few episodes, and hope that the writing gets better. I mostly want to see the characters I’ve grown to care about.