Once Upon a Time Review: Heartless (Season 6 Episode 7)
Anyone in the mood for some old-school, classic Once Upon a Time? Well, good news: Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 7 is basically Season 1 all over again. It’s the series at its very best.
“Heartless” benefits from being a very straightforward episode. Unlike many of the recent evil plans, the Queen’s strategy is simple and to the point – either Charming and Snow hand over their shared heart to her, or the entire town gets a taste of the deadly River of Lost Souls water. Ever-helpful Gold smuggled some back from the Underworld, apparently, and now that they’re FWB, he’s all too happy to hand it over to her.
This ultimatum kicks off what’s essentially a Greatest Hits of Snowing episode, which I adore. These two have been largely relegated to the background over the past few seasons.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I love Regina and Captain Swan as much as anyone. But Snow and Charming are undoubtedly the heart of the show (in more ways than one). Hell, the very first scene of the entire series is that iconic moment when Charming wakes Snow up with true love’s kiss. Their love is what created Emma, our de facto protagonist, the Savior. Their love is what the show is all about.
Like many (if not most, or all) stable TV couples that aren’t in danger of a breakup or other similar relationship drama, Snow and Charming get less focus. It’s just the nature of TV to put the more “dramatic” characters at the forefront – and these two, in their domestic pseudo-bliss, aren’t particularly dramatic.
With “Heartless,” we go back to the basics of what made Snow and Charming so great.
Typically, I’ve been vocal about disliking repetitive flashbacks – and, to be fair, I do feel like we’ve seen Snow and Charming’s so-called “first” meeting at least five different times by now. Yet, the flashback sequences at the heart of this episode work really well at “retconning” the “real” first meeting between the two.
Of course Dan Scott would be playing the role of the evil Woodcutter. That casting is just too perfect – Paul Johansson plays a marvelous jerk. Tracking down and kidnapping Snow to bring her back to the Evil Queen, and recruiting Charming (then farmboy David) against his will for his tracking dog’s help in locating her inadvertently brought the two together for the very first time.
Seeing Snow and Charming work together and make their first connection – when they weren’t even aware of who the other was – is something that will never get old. The chemistry between Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas is just top notch. It never disappoints. After all, there’s a reason why these two fell in love IRL, and you can see it all over their faces whenever they share the screen.
The entire episode builds up to the realization that they’d first met earlier than they’d realized, once the two (with Regina’s help) locate the true love sapling that could theoretically trap the Evil Queen. Touching the ill-fated sapling gives us a quick flash of the couple’s best moments – a great touch.
Once the two realize the strength of their love, they’re willing to hand their hearts over to the Queen. But of course, as always, there’s a catch.
Did anyone else think for a moment that the Queen would actually kill Charming? After she grabs their hearts, she gives Snow this epic speech about how she’s dreamt of the moment, yada yada, she wants Snow to feel her pain, yada yada.
But when she mentions that she wants Snow to feel loneliness like the kind Snow has caused her to feel, my heart drops. I legitimately thought that she’d kill Charming, to make Snow suffer the kind of loss she suffered. If this wasn’t a Disney-owned channel, that probably would have happened, too.
Instead, the Queen’s plan is more of a long game – she splits the sleeping curse between the two of them, with their shared heart. Though the true love’s kiss works to lift the spell, whenever one is awake, the other is cursed to sleep. Yikes.
It’s a completely heartbreaking reveal, but on the bright side, it’s preceded by one of the loveliest scenes the show has given us in quite a while.
Intercut with the scene of the very first true love’s kiss, when Charming woke Snow in the pilot, we see Charming waking her up once again. I’d forgotten how beautiful that first scene was, with the snow and the woods and the gorgeous costuming.
Only this time, instead of riding off into their (temporary) happily ever after, Charming falls unconscious himself.
I’m prepared and totally ready for Snow to go full-on badass warrior princess on the Evil Queen for doing this to her family. I’m not sure how long the writers will keep Snow and Charming apart, but the longer they wait, the more satisfying their eventual, emotional reunion will be. I can’t wait for it.
Though “Heartless” is Snowing-centric, it’s an A+ episode for romance all around.
Emma and Killian have a lovely moment of their own, when Emma is shaken over the Evil Queen threatening her parents’ lives. Hook lovingly calms Emma down while they’re clearing out Regina’s lair in anticipation of trapping the Evil Queen inside, using the Storybook to remind her of how powerful her parents’ love is and in turn how powerful she is.
It’s such a trope that the “bad boy” loses all his edge when he falls in love with the heroine, and it usually bothers me that the character undergoes such a massive 180. Weirdly, though, it kind of works for Hook. I love seeing him be a total mush around Emma. He was always a big old softy on the inside, I guess?
Gold and Belle also have a fantastic moment. After Zelena rats out Gold’s affair with the Evil Queen, Belle goes to confront him in the shop. Brilliantly, she honestly doesn’t care about his relationship with the Queen – she cares about Zelena’s news about his plans for the shears.
Belle’s point – that Rumple is “too weak to be a good man” – hits right at the heart of all of her husband’s insecurities. Weakness was always Rumple’s problem – it’s what led him to become the Dark One in the first place. Now, he’s exhibiting a different kind of weakness.
Belle is completely right – he doesn’t have the strength to try and fail to win his family’s love back. He’s so afraid that he’s willing to go to any lengths to get them back, by force and against their will. Which is crummy of him.
Hopefully, Belle’s great speech gets through to Rumple, though I don’t have a ton of hope – as soon as she leaves, he growls, “Zelena.” So, it appears, Gold once again won’t take anything his (very smart) wife says to heart and will instead focus on revenge against Zelena for ratting him out to Belle.
Listen: I hope I’m proven wrong. I really do. But Rumple needs to have some epic, game-changing moment this season where he turns everything around and proves that he can be the sort of man Belle thinks he could be. Perhaps he’ll have the 11th hour change of heart and turn against the Evil Queen, saving everyone. Fingers crossed!
Stray thoughts:
- Anyone else surprised that good ol’ Wilby survives this installment? And what ever happened to him, anyway? Pongo needs a doggie friend!
- The Woodcutter is very to-the-point. He knocks David out rather than just coming up with some convulted reason for needing his dog’s tracking services. Classic Dan Scott.
- After the Evil Queen poofs Snow away, Charming goes straight to their bedroom. As if the Evil Queen would just gently lay Snow down in her own bed! Really, dude?!
- Is it just me, or is Hook particularly adorable in this episode? First the line about never trusting water (because rum would never do that), then the whole scene with Emma in Regina’s lair.
- Zelena walking in on Gold and the Evil Queen making out is hilarious. So are her protestations of “I’m not jealous!” while actively turning green with envy.
What did you think of this episode of Once Upon a Time? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Once Upon a Time airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.
Caralynn Lippo
Caralynn is a freelance writer and editor, but most importantly, she is a diehard TV addict. A few of her current favorites are Mr. Robot, You're the Worst, iZombie, and The Vampire Diaries. She also writes about TV for Romper, The TV Junkies, and TV Fanatic.