OUAT casts more "Frozen" characters

It looks like Storybrooke is in for a chilly season this fall when it returns. As reported by EW today, the fairytale crew has grown by two. Kristoff and Anna will resume their romance that began in the film with Scott Michael Foster and Elizabeth Lail bringing them to life. They look positively adorable so it should be a fun addition for all the Once Upon A Time fans. I'm hoping that Sven makes an appearance - just loved that moose! Still no word on the casting for Elsa, which makes me wonder who the gorgeous Ice Queen was in the promo.

Photo Courtesy of Disney Studios

Our Favorite Sisters Get Spooky!

Courtesy of ABC Studios

Next year, I really, really want to go to Spooky Empire. It’s next Universal Studios and it looks like this year’s bash was the grandest of all. When you can get two estranged sisters to sit next to each other at the Once Upon A Time panel, then you seriously have some power.

Thanks to Inside the Magic, we have video of the panel featuring the evil Queen Lana Parrilla, her Wicked sis, Rebecca Mader, Sean Macguire and a host of the supporting cast joined together for a panel and what ensues is definitely worth watching.

You would think the estranged sisters were cast wrong because both ladies are charming and gracious addressing questions and giving funny stories about their experiences this year. I loved when the moderator asked about the appearance of the Frozen character and if any of the cast knew before the season finale.

According to Lana Parrilla, that little tease was left out of the script the actors saw so it makes you wonder how deep the spoiler free waters are on Once Upon A Time. If it is anything close to the quasi kidnapping with blanket over her head scenario Rebecca Mader faced, then I’d say we’re in for some fun next season.

Charming Baby Name Still Underwraps

Courtesy of ABC Studios

All Hail the arrival of the new Prince!

Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin announced the birth of their son via the couples rep to People magazine with little fanfare. Arriving on May 29^th, the baby and mom are doing fine according to reports from People magazine. Eager fans of Once Upon A Time await the first pictures and the announcement of the newborn’s name. Like any royal watcher, we can only speculate when the first photos of the baby will be. But know this, all the Oncers already expect him to be perfectly charming.

Who Deserves to Win William Shatner’s Epically Cool Contest?

The short answer would be: Me. 

And I will give reasons for that in a minute that hopefully strum a few heart strings and land me a place at Mr. Shatner’s Vegas gig this summer.

But if I don’t win, then you should! Because Priceline.com and Mr. Shatner are giving the winner a 3 night stay in Vegas and VIP tickets to Shatner’s World. Follow Mr. Shatner on Twitter @William Shatner and come up with something tricky because I’m going to be hard to beat.

If you have never seen William Shatner live, one word can’t describe him. He is funny, energetic, articulate and dynamic which is everything you expect from a man with legendary cool. From someone who listened to his audio recordings over and over and then had the opportunity to see him at a convention it is clear he knows how to kick live performances into the stratosphere.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

By far one of best things he’s done for followers on Twitter is he watches and tweets about all our shows: Castle, Once Upon a Time, and The Vampire Diaries to name a few. But the best part is he is asking the show runners, writers and stars the questions we all have – except Mr. Shatner gets ANSWERS! Seriously, if that isn’t a reason to follow the man on Twitter, well stop reading and I win the contest by default.

Getting passed the rules portion of the contest is easy, I qualify. I have lived in Las Vegas and went to high school there so it would be so sweet to visit this summer and brag about my win.

So here’s the thing, the real reason why I should win. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid and anyone can tell you that when I’m a fan, I’m all in – even through TJ Hooker.

My first image of Star Trek when I was kid was sneaking out of bed at night to see what all the adults were watching on TV only to run screaming back to bed when I saw my first alien. Scared me to death, had nightmares but I was back peering around the corner to watch it again, and again. As a performer, William Shatner inspired me to me explore new things and believe all things are possible. It made me want to write and so here I am writing, doing what I love and best of all winning.

Baby boom for Ginny

Once Upon A Time star Ginnifer Goodwin is clearly experiencing her happily ever after this year. First she marries her Prince Charming, the gorgeous Josh Dallas, and now the two are expecting an enchanted baby this summer. They had their royal on the show now fans are eager to Ginny and Josh with their real life baby.

The mommy-to-be hasn't slowed down any since the OUAT hiatus and was spotted out and about with her hubby and mom on a lunch date in Los Angeles. Ginny looks absolutely radiant as a mommy to be.

Photo credited to Dean/MRM/NPG.com

Looks like fans of the charming couple will have to wait a bit longer for news about the baby but Ginny looks amazing and we’re betting the prince or princess will have a magical life.



OUAT - "There's No Place Like Home" Review

I am still recovering from last night’s “Castle” season finale so bear with me while I try to organize all the thoughts and feels from Sunday night’s season finale of “Once Upon A Time.”

Really, who did not want to smack Emma at least four times during the show? At one point, I wanted to clack her and Rumple’s heads together just to reset the absolute irritation that was brewing inside. For those that have not seen the finale yet, I would advise stop reading here.

“There’s No Place Like Home” had dual meanings for Emma. She got another taste of the Enchanted Forest and this time she nearly managed to erase herself from history by foiling her parents first meeting. Along for the ride is Hook and it’s a good thing too because he keeps Emma from totally screwing things up in the past.

Courtesy of ABC Studios

Rumple is back to his old evil self and lies blatantly to his future bride. In the Enchanted Forest, he is an unreliable ally but that is to be expected of Rumple. Once he aids Emma and Hook who are disguised as royalty to help get Snow and Charming back on track things go a bit haywire. Of course the time travelers are caught and Emma decides if they make it out of their new dungeon digs she is going to take along what turns out to be a parasitic stowaway back to Storybrooke.

With her last puff of green smoke, the Wicked Witch definitely won the round. Belle marries a liar with no idea how evil he truly is and Emma’s stowaway causes a ton of damage.

Poor Regina, all good and shiny with new love on the horizon and here comes Emma toting Maid Marian back to Storybrooke and right into Robin Hood’s arms. Nice job, Emma and honestly I don’t blame Regina for coming after you.

When the green smoke around the portal faded, things became icy blue. I suppose for now we’ll just have to let the season finale go. Otherwise, Elsa may freeze our tongues.  

Once Upon A Time - Kansas

“Oh Dorothy, we aren’t in Kansas anymore!” I wasn’t really sure what to expect in tonight’s episode of Once Upon A Time but I wasn’t prepared for this, that’s for sure. This was like a triple whammy and most of it occurred in the last thirty minutes.

If you haven’t seen the episode, here is your SPOILER warning.

We begin with Emma and Regina putting up a protection wall to save the baby as Henry shops for a seaside rental so they can settle down in Storybrooke. Cringing when Emma announced, again, she plans to go back to New York, I did not have high hopes especially when it seemed everyone just played into Zelena’s hands: Emma and Hook, Robin and his men, Regina, Glinda and the sisterhood, and Dorothy stacked up like dominos.

It wasn’t until the second half that things got interesting, Zelena had everything she needed for time travel so she could unravel the disaster of her life but then our heroes arrive. Regina finds her light magic and pushes back at her half-sister – which is very intriguing because when Regina plays hero it is really convenient for her.

Courtesy of ABC Studios

Regina also makes a move that surprised me, she picks up Rumple’s blade when he is about to enact his revenge for Neal and stops him. Rumple isn’t real happy about that but she has the blade. Regina gives the blade to Belle and that turns out to be a mistake.

The next time we see Zelena she is in prison where Regina gives her a choice to change her destiny. We know that the Wicked Witch has no intent in doing that but Regina gave it a shot.

Rumple and Belle are reunited and engaged after Belle trusts the Dark One enough to give him the blade. Rumple professes his love and gratitude and plays a sleight of hand trick on his beloved replacing the blade with a copy.

This, was devastating. Here is our other favorite anti-hero getting his happy ever after and he blows it into another realm when he sneaks into the jail cell where Zelena is and stabs her turning her into a statue that crumbles at Rumple’s feet. It appears to be a metaphor for Belle’s love and I don’t see them getting over this soon.

And of course, in true Once Upon A Time traditions, nothing is as it seems and Zelena’s green smoke appears and flies back to finish opening her portal in time. Now we have to wait until next week to see what has been unleashed.



Once Upon A Time & The Power of Love

“How do you know if it’s really love?” If anyone wants to know the answer to that question then they need to watch last night’s episode of Once Upon A Time. Love is strong in the face of adversity and it makes Wicked things hesitate and falter.

Zelena’s plot seems to be unravelling a bit. Hook has refused to use his sexy mouth on Emma and suck her magic out so the Queen of Green has decided to kick things up a notch by threatening Henry. In order to protect him, Charming, Snow, Regina and Emma finally decide that it is time for Henry to learn the truth and they go in search of the book.

While they are searching we learn a lot more about the missing year in the Enchanted Forest. After finding the Good Witch of the North, our heroes and Regina learn that Zelena can be stopped by removing her pendant. Only the strongest light magic can do this so Snow and Charming know they have to get back to Storybrooke and Emma. But, the only way to do that is to enact the Dark Curse again and we know what that means…

Courtesy of ABC Studios

Charming offers his heart as sacrifice but Zelena interrupts the Curse and adds an element of forgetting to the mix so that no one will remember how to defeat her.  Charming is dead and Snow demands that Regina take Snow’s heart and split it. She and Charming are of one heart anyway and Snow would rather die than live without him.

This was such an amazing symbol because it played out a couple of times. Snow and Charming. Then Neal and Rumple. I love how no matter the odds each character was willing to fight for the greater good and willing to risk all when it came to love.

I also loved how this time Regina broke the Curse and how comfortable she is with being on the side of good for a change. Can’t wait for next episode and the arrival of Dorothy – should be interesting how the little girl from Kansas plays into things.

Zelena is Green with Envy

I expected more from “It’s Not Easy Being Green” based on the previews and I was disappointed mostly because I let ABC trick me – they are notorious for out of sequence promos. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the episode but the whole Zelena is green because of jealous envy of her half-sister was just a bit cheesy if you ask me.

So Zelena wants to turn back time and erase all trace of her sister. Not only is she jealous but kind of petty. She beat down the Wizard, has the Dark One on a string and all she can think about is all the pretties her sister got when they were children.

Courtesy of ABC TV

My other itching point this week was the business with Henry. This weird amnesia has run its course and someone needs to get that boy in play. It really makes me wonder if Henry will be the one to get Rumple’s blade from Zelena.

Now for the good part of the episode:

I loved, loved, loved Regina in this episode! The fact that she turned over her heart to Robin just melted mine because it really shows true growth for Lana Parilla’s character. I hope the writers take some time developing this because I really believe it could be fun and open a lot of avenues for them to take storywise.

Even getting bashed around Regina showed more courage and steely determination than her green relative. I am seriously waiting for the moment when Regina kicks her green tush back to Oz.

The Knave of Hearts Moving to Storybrooke

Looks like Once Upon A Time is already gathering up some of the defunct Wonderland cast with the Knave of Hearts set to visit Storybrooke next year. Actor Michael Socha appears to be slated as a series regular next year. Read the complete article at Entertainment Weekly.

Courtesy of ABC Studios

It will be interesting to see what other cast members head for the Enchanted Forest next year. Any thoughts?

OAUT - "Quiet Minds"

“Quiet Minds” was a shocker on so many levels, it makes you wonder what sort of tally system the writers use to keep score with. The ripples of this episode will be felt through the season finale I am sure and it will definitely embed itself into some of our favorite characters.

Crazy Rumple is not a pretty sight. That said, let’s move on to the rest of the episode.

I was a bit surprised that Emma admitted wanting to return to her pretend life in New York City to both Neal and Charming. After a few years of magic, curses and a host of villains you would have thought she’d get it by now. Nothing is going to be easy for the savior and as soon as she figures this out her life might actually be kind of fun and Henry would probably be happier too.

Courtesy of ABC Studios

Regina recognizes her chance at true love and walks away. This was very intriguing because it makes you wonder, is she scared this isn’t going to work and her heart will be broken or is she scared one of her many enemies will find out and use him against her? Robin doesn’t look like the walking away kind of guy so it should be fun watching this play out.

The journey in the Enchanted Forest to uncover the “tomb” of the Dark One certainly peeled back a relative circus of writing opportunities. Neal wants to find his father only because he thinks Rumple can get him back to Henry and Emma – totally ignoring the fact that Emma pretty much told him there was no chance with her – and appearing a bit selfish in the pursuit. Belle, on the other hand, just wants her guy back.

Now, I’m not saying Neal’s death wasn’t tragic but again, I go back to the writers and that mystical tally board thinking whose death would serve the greatest purpose.

The Wicked Witch knows exactly what she is doing. She cut Rumple deeper and faster than any blade by sinking his son into his consciousness. Zelena also knew that by ripping him away she would shackle any thoughts of Rumple trying to escape. He is battered and beaten.

Now, with the showdown coming between Evil and Wicked it will be interesting to see if the Dark One’s blade turns back into his hands.

And who else thinks Snow’s baby is going to have a wee touch of green?