Once Upon A Time 7x19 "Flower Child" Episode Review
We're almost there This fairy tale story is getting closer to the finale. Surprised there was no Rumple in this episode though. I kind of missed his presence especially given he had a centric episode last week.
Three episodes left in the series and then it'll finally be put to rest. No new stories, no more curses, and hopefully everyone gets their happy endings like at the end of season six. I did not enjoy this episode despite the twist at the end of Gothel's story.
Spoilers ahead:
Let's start at the beginning of Gothel's story. Young Gothel used to be a sweet person who was only trying to have the best of both worlds: magical and non-magical. Gothel is a wood nymph once upon a time, pun definitely intended, and her mother advises her to make the wise decision: to stop interacting with humans. Gothel is destined to replace her mother in the garden realm place.
Gothel decides to do the unwise thing and go to a party. Human girls invited her to show them magic. She appears at the party and demonstrates a few tricks. But those girls pulled the trick on her. They wanted to humiliate Gothel because she's a monster and they give her the Carrie treatment. Having recently watched the Carrie Musical Riverdale episode, I couldn't help but see the similarities in the story.
The humans also used this distraction to attack Gothel's home and slaughter her people. The nymphs all die, including her mother. Gothel is enraged and gets revenge on everyone at the party for destroying her life. She kills everyone except the one who stood by and did nothing to stop her tormentors. Turns out she is also a witch and the first recruit into the coven.
The flashback is revealed to have taken place in The Land Without Magic. This is an interesting twist on things but executed poorly in my opinion. It didn't land effectively probably because her story overall came too late in the season.
Mother Gothel did not come across as the Main Antagonist. Yes, she did have ulterior motives but always anchored herself to other stories instead of making her own motives clear: Ivy, Alice, Nook, and Victoria are prime examples. At the end of the episode, her plans are still unclear except for the fact she wants to kill all the humans.
It took her a thousand years to collect eight witches to do so? Even with how time moves in this show, I still find that hard to believe.
The present day has Gothel put her plans in motion. Rogers/Nook and Tilly/Alice take center stage in this episode. A weird, creepy, and awkward family reunion.
She goes to the police station to recruit a random police officer. He's not random but I didn't care enough to remember his name. Gothel needs him for some reason to wake her coven. I don't know anymore. I kind of tuned out on this storyline.
Gothel goes to Tilly/Alice after this and reveals she is her mother. Tilly is in disbelief for many reasons (abandonment, age difference, etc.). She claims to tell her the truth about everything and leaves her alone. She also visits Margot / Robin and belittles for what she did to Alice in the Enchanted Forest and takes a drop of her blood.
Rogers learns about Tilly and Gothel's encounter and the claim Gothel made about being her mother. He is starting to believe the whole magic business but is still reluctant to speak about it out loud.
The detective speaks to Drew about his involvement with Samdi and for an explanation on how Nick/Hansel died. A logical explanation without magic. But Drew stays adamant on the whole "magic is real" thing especially when it comes to getting stabbed in the heart from the inside.
Father-daughter duo visit Henry who is full on believer again. They conclude that Gothel is planning something bigger than merely reviving her coven. Wow great job on pointing out the obvious gang. This leads Rogers and Tilly to Gothel's current location in a theater.
The coven ambushes the two of them and separate them. They're taken underground and threaten Rogers' life to get Tilly to join them. Gothel also reveals the truth about them being father and daughter. Tilly believes all of this and does whatever it takes to save her dad.
She joins the coven and helps them unleash their unknown reign on the world. Which are still unclear. All we know is that evil is coming to Hyperion Heights and potentially the world.
Other things going on this episode centered around Henry Mills.
He believes everything Lucy has been saying. The truth about the curse and that he's Lucy's father. Jacinda thinks he's crazy because they've obviously never had sex (their cursed selves), but Henry presents proof, showing a piece of the glass slipper as a symbol of their love.
Lucy consults Samdi about how to save Henry because the curse needs to get broken without killing Henry in the process. He suggests finding an item that represents their love (glass slipper) and to use the magic stored in there for a way to save him.
Jacinda and Lucy look through their things for such an item. She wants proof that Henry is telling the truth, and Lucy just wants to save her family. In a Granny's takeout bag, what a throwback by the way, they find the glass slipper. It is broken where the piece Henry has goes. Now Jacinda is on board as well.
Interesting idea to have their cursed selves figure out the truth without their memories backing them up. Hopefully next week the curse breaks because we're getting to the point that it might as well be broken now.
The two of them share true love's kiss, but the curse is not broken! WHY? No one gets their old memories back and the curse is still intact. OKAY WHAT'S GOING ON?!
I want this show over with. I'm not a fan of the latest season but I'm too far in to go back now. I gotta ride it out. Comment below or message to let me know how we're feeling.