After watching, I wanted to freak out with other people, but few of my friends stuck with OUaT, and those who have, hadn't seen it yet. And then I remembered: I teach Disney-themed writing classes for a living and have this blog; why don't I blog about the finale? (And start to blog more regularly after a very busy semester.)
So...Spoilers Ahead!
First of all, I have to say, I called the twist--the twist that I thought was the "Big Season Finale" Twist. I was on my guard from the beginning: (even though Once Upon A Time in Wonderland was canceled) Michael Socha's Knave of Hearts will return to Storybrooke -- which makes sense, since he was originally part of Robin Hood's Merry Men. (As far as I know, there's no word of whether Emma Rigby's Red Queen will join him. I hope she does.) Regardless, the fans have wanted to know how he'll fit in with Robin, and whether Robin and Regina will get to be together. And Kitsis and Horowitz's answer -- "It's too soon to say" -- implied that something in the finale would impact this.
So of course the woman that Emma brought back would be Maid Marian. And of course she would -- potentially - do the same thing to Regina that her mother did. Of course. Which is just great storytelling -- and so in line with fairy-tale repetition.
But. The biggest thing that Emma and Hook brought back was not Maid Marian -- it was ELSA:
ELSA, you guys. From my favoritest movie of the last few years, Frozen. I did NOT see it coming--and I think it was probably one of the best kept finale secrets. There had been talk of it, sure -- Kristen Bell had expressed interest in bringing Anna to Storybrooke (as well as playing her in the musical--she loves that character!) -- but it was just speculation.
And now there are so many questions to answer! I think we can safely assume that since we didn't see her face -- just beautifully cryptic shots -- they haven't cast an actress to play her, most likely in the hopes of getting a big name. Obviously, I would advocate for Idina Menzel to reprise her role.
BUT. Elsa is 21 in the film. And Idina, as amazing as she is, is...not 21. Which brings up another interesting questions: will Once-Elsa be Disney-Elsa or will the writers mine Andersen's original "Snow Queen" a but more closely? If the latter, Idina could be a viable candidate, as Andersen's Snow Queen is significantly older.
Given the fact that most characters in Storybrooke are HEAVILY based on their Disney counterparts, however, I think it's safe to say that Elsa will probably be Queen Elsa of Arendelle. After all, the costuming from last night was very deliberate:
In which case - and given Idina's Broadway commitments - we may have a new actress playing Elsa. My vote goes to Megan Hilty: even though she played Glinda in Wicked, we know from her stint on Smash that she can easily walk the line between cold-hearted villain and misunderstood leading lady.
Which is perhaps the most significant question: what will Once-Elsa be like? Will she be the same misunderstood heroine that she is in Frozen? That would seem too obvious--and essentially a rehash of the film. And, the urn that Elsa was trapped in -- why was she in the urn to begin with?! -- was in Rumple's "This Magic Is Too Dark For Even Me" vault. So is Elsa "dark"? Is she evil? Or is she just too powerful?
And, on a side note, is she responsible for that eternal winter wonderland that Once-Glinda was trapped in a few episodes ago? Because that was my first thought when we ended up there.
SO MANY QUESTIONS. SO MANY MONTHS UNTIL SEPTEMBER PREMIERES. In the mean time, it's good to know that I was not alone in my freakout last night!
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