Tell-Tale TV Picks of the Week: Once Upon a Time’s Fabulous Premiere and Castle’s Controversial Surprise

This week on TV: The Dark Swan rose on Once Upon a Time, and Quantico, The Grinder, and Blood & Oil began their tales. Heroes Reborn struggled to keep all twenty million characters interesting, while Castle outraged fans by breaking up Castle and Beckett.

What did you think of this week in TV? Here’s what our writers had to say:

Best moment

Lizzie: It’s not that I was expecting Booth to die, I wasn’t. I knew David Boreanaz would be back. Still, that moment when Brennan finds proof that the man on the table wasn’t her husband — that was the moment where I said, fine, Bones. Fine. I’m in. This is still a show I want to watch.

Allison: Richie and Seth eating their fancy steak dinners on From Dusk Till Dawn. It was so adorable watching the two of them just know what the other one needed. Richie knew that Seth needed salt, and Seth knew that Richie needed tabasco. That entire scene was just gold. They were still kinda fighting and being upset with one another, but in that moment, you were just reminded of how close they are.

Jen K: Seeing Emma as the Dark One in the final moments of the Once Upon A Time Season 5 premiere was worth the wait. I anticipated she would have made her transition immediately after the events in the finale. However, the six week flash forward reveals her loved ones still failed to save her. It was fascinating to see Jennifer Morrison’s take on the Dark One and watch her differentiate Emma from Rumple, yet retain some similarities. When she held the knife to Regina it was truly chilling.

Lyra: Emma handing over her knife to Regina before she becomes The Dark One in Once Upon a Time. These women have grown so much. Together they went from enemies, to associates, to mothers in arms, and to sacrificing themselves for each other. So when she put that knife into Regina’s hands I saw the culmination of everything they’ve done in that moment; the trust.

Christine: Agree completely with Jen! Seeing Emma make that transition to the Dark One on Once Upon a Time was wonderful, especially after the buildup of seeing it all summer long!’

Amanda: In this week’s episode of Empire, Lucious Lyons gets out of prison on bail after his lawyer blackmails the judge. I loved this moment because I’m so excited to see what Lucious gets up to now that he’s back on the outside. His lawyer is also, obviously, super shady, so I’m looking forward to seeing more from him too.

Most shocking scene

Lizzie: Beckett packing up and leaving Castle. It wasn’t just shocking, it was absurd. We’ve been through this before. They were supposed to be over this thing. They were over this thing. And though I understand that bringing this story-line back makes for good television, I think it could have been handled better.

Allison: Alec meeting Future! Alec on Continuum. I jumped up to the edge of my seat and started screaming at my screen and clapping like I was watching a football game. It was just sooo good. They are two vastly different people (even though technically they are the same person), and to see them meet was something I always wanted to happen but figured it never would. We got amazing insight into what changed Alec, and it was just so unexpected and awesome. I’m still not over it. As soon as I finished the episode, I went and rewatched that scene.

Jen K: I went into Quantico knowing very little about it. I anticipated a show about FBI trainees. I did not anticipate Priyanka Chopra’s Alex being framed for a terrorist attack. It amped the stakes sky high and set up a great “Who Done It?” with a wide range of characters to explore.

Lyra: Griselda from Fear the Walking Dead being killed with a pressurized cattle gun. They military and the hospital are being practical but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. She was a sweet lady who had something horrible happen to her. Also her husband is fighting to get to her, even torturing someone for it. When he finds out she’s dead….PREPARE FOR THE STORM!

Christine: I’m with Lizzie on this one. Poor Castle. Just…poor Castle. I don’t know that anyone saw that twist coming.

Amanda: The last few seconds of Blood & Oil were pretty shocking. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see who, if anyone, gets burned up in an oil fire.

Storyline we could’ve done without

Lizzie: Half the storylines on Heroes Reborn? But, okay, if I have to pick one I’ll go for Carlos’s whole storyline. I imagine it will all make sense at some point (or maybe this is just wistful thinking), but right now every time he’s on screen I want to take a quick nap.

Allison: I’m with Lizzie. I didn’t care at all about Carlos’ storyline. Okay, yes, I did enjoy seeing Hot Paul again (I miss you bb), but he couldn’t even redeem that storyline. Every time Carlos appears, I roll my eyes. It feels like a waste of time when there are so many other exciting storylines going on. I especially upset that we left with Luke on such a huge cliffhanger. I would have liked to at least know he was okay and the immediate aftermath of what happened, but no, instead I had to follow Carlos around.

Jen K: The first two minutes of Blood & Oil had me tearing my hair out because North Dakota does not have MOUNTAINS. However, my irritation grew with Scott Michael Foster’s Wick Briggs. I love Scott Michael Foster but, the rich bad boy story has been done to death. From beginning to end it felt cliche.

Lyra: Eric Packer’s death on Quantico during recruits training exercise. I know that we’re supposed to be shocked and shaken up in the first episode, but this was unnecessary and predictable BEYOND BELIEF! You took a character that had great potential and flushed it down the toilet. Would have gotten more use out of him if him freaking out was part of the exercise. Now that would have been a twist!

Christine: More memory loss on Once Upon a Time! It seems that the writers can only think of one way to create a mystery in Storybrooke. Come on! How many times can they lose their memories?

Amanda: I’m so over the Gunnar/Scarlett storyline on Nashville. The will they/won’t they has been going on way too long. At this point I really don’t care if they do or not.

Character of the week

Jenn S: In this week’s episode of Limitless, Brian Finch continued to be the most endearing, delightful, and relatable character. He built three miniature models of bombs in order to show the FBI. He taunted a criminal, he revealed his e-mail address (ninjavsbear@reabsorbedtwin.com), and he nicknamed his FBI bodyguards “Mike” and “Ike.” More than just that — and the fact that Brian managed to strategically break out of FBI custody (twice) — though, Brian Finch’s finest moments were once again in scenes with his father. He proved he will do anything to protect his family, even lie to them. He truly cares about the people around him and it shows, which allows him — in turn — to shine.

Lizzie: Emma Swan. Jennifer Morrison hits it out of the part this week as both a struggling Emma and The Dark Swan And when I say she hits it out of the park, I mean even her mannerisms change when she’s playing The Dark Swan. But even as an Emma who doesn’t really want to go dark but doesn’t know how to control what’s happening to her, there wasn’t one performance on television, or a character, quite as captivating as Emma Swan, and this bodes well for the new season of Once Upon a Time. (Also, honorable mention to Colin O’Donoghue’s hair, because it really and truly was so pretty that it was almost distracting. And that’s saying a lot)

Allison: Okay, Lizzie needs to stop stealing my answers. I think we share a brain. Emma Swan is hands down character of the week for me. I loved watching her struggle to fight off the darkness. Jennifer Morrison played Emma beautifully. You could see the subtle differences in how Emma carried herself even when she was maintaining that she would not give in to the darkness. And yes, I agree that Colin O’Donoghue’s hair was magnificent. His hair was also transformed the minute Emma became the Dark One. I mean look at it when he goes to pick up the dagger. His hair is all edgy and emo.

Jen K: Priyanka Chopra’s Alex Parrish from Quantico. In a large cast, Priyanka stood out. Alex is undeniably intelligent, intuitive and observant. She is also forthright and tough. However, when Alex confesses she killed her father as a child and wakes up to the devastation of a terrorist attack surrounding her, her emotional resonance shines through. I connected with the character on every level, but she intrigued me as well. This is Alex Parrish is the anchor of the Quantico cast.

Lyra: Now Jen’s stealing my answer! I’ve known Priyanka Chopra for a long time. (The Bollywood movie flashbacks have started. Look her up on Youtube and you won’t regret it.) So I wasn’t sure about her acting abilities. She wasn’t going to pull it off. I was sure of that one. Oh how wrong I was. Her Alex on Quantico is self assured, brash, honest, brave, and rude rolled up in one package. I’m still not sure if I like her, but I’m sure as heck want to see more of her!

Christine: Dean Sanderson on The Grinder. Rob Lowe plays this TV-turned-real lawyer so well. (And did anyone else catch that “literally” in there?) Dean is trying so hard to find his place in the world now that his Hollywood legal career has been cancelled. It was hilarious watching him make bargaining deals with teenagers (#TeenLife), and bringing a little bit of the small screen to his brother’s boring real life courtroom. Dean left me laughing hardest this week, so for that, he’s my pick!

Amanda: I agree with Christine! I absolutely love Rob Lowe as The Grinder. He plays the role of a TV star in a regular town so well. I was laughing the whole time.

Leave us your thoughts on this week in TV in a comment below. Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to seeing next week?