Once Upon a Time Review: Heart of Gold (Season 4 Episode 17)

Was anyone else totally floored by that shocking twist in “Heart of Gold” last night?

More importantly, was anyone floored enough to start thinking… why on earth is this the direction they chose to go? Full disclosure, I’m about to get a little critical of our favorite fairytale fantasy, so buckle up, dearies.

Zelena: “Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”

Okay, so that quote is never actually said, but wouldn’t it have been marvelous if it had?

The revelation that Marian has been Zelena this whole time is a twist so big you practically feel the earth move when she reveals herself. But that might be because there were literally no hints, no suggestions, no tiny little slivers of clues that this was the case. The entire first half of the season played out like Marian was… Marian. There were no evil looks, or hidden agendas, and you have to ask why Zelena nearly let herself die of a frozen heart to keep up the charade? There’s committing to a role and then there’s COMMITTING.

I have to draw the conclusion that this plot twist was drawn up in the middle of the season rather than at the beginning, which is a common problem on Once Upon a Time.

They tend to change direction and drop in nonsensical twists like this a lot, and frankly, it makes the story suffer.

But now that Zelena has been unmasked, they’ve committed to the twist, and we’ll have to see how they follow through with it. It’s likely that Season 4 will end in a much similar way as Season 3, with Zelena’s death. Hopefully sans time traveling portal this round.

The side of the story that I did genuinely enjoy was Robin’s whole arc.

The story of Robin and Marian together in the Enchanted Forest and how they both became outlaws is a wonderful peek into the past. It makes his renewal of devotion to Marian at the end of the episode feel more real, and we get to see Will again!

I’m getting quite confused on where everything falls on the Enchanted Forest timeline – who could blame me – but I think this flashback happens before Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and even before Robin’s capture in the Dark Castle. The farthest back we’ve gone in while, I think!

Robin: “This famous hoodlum will henceforth be known as Robin Hood”

Robin’s first instance of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor (even if the rich is a nasty witch and the poor was a broken-hearted thief) was a great way to turn Robin of Locksley into Robin Hood.

Other Thoughts:

• Zelena’s creepy obsession with Rumple makes my skin crawl.
• More Robin on a horse please!
• Gold has the author now, and everyone should be very afraid.
• When can we expect to meet grown up Lily? We’re running out of episodes fast…

Photos from Once Upon a Time Season 4 Episode 14

What did you think of “Heart of Gold?” Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and be sure to give the episode your own rating.

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Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.