Photo Courtesy of ABC
Let’s just start off by saying, if you haven’t watched last nights Once Upon a Time yet, please do not read any further.
I’m going to just start by saying…MY POOR SHERIFF SEXY! Graham’s heart was crushed into graham crackers by evil Regina! *cries* Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I’ll begin my review.
To start of the episode, we have Graham, who confesses to Emma that he feels something for her. When Emma tries to get away from him, he grabs her and lays a big one on her. He gets flashes of his past, and pulls back quickly. Graham runs from Emma, his mind a mess from the memories that just flooding him.
Meanwhile, in fairytale land, Snow white is grieving over the loss of her father. The evil Queen consoles her step-daughter over her dead husband’s grave. The evil Queen leaves and consults her magic mirror – she must find someone to kill Snow White.
Graham, who has gone back to Regina (ewww), has a dream about a wolf with one red-eye. He wakes-up, startled and sweating. Regina tries to calm him down and tells him it was just a dream and to go back to bed, but Graham leaves, even more of a mess than he was before. On his way out, he sees the wolf and freaks out again After following the wolf into the woods, Graham comes across, Mr. Gold – what a coincidence. Graham tells him about the wolf in his dreams, and Mr. Gold tells him, “They say that dreams are a memory. Memories of another life,” – what a sneaky bastard!
We then get to learn a little more about Graham when he flashes back to fairytale land. He’s just killed a dear and thanked it for it’s offering to him. When he comes to a bar with his wolf, the men there taunt him for being a huntsman that was raised by wolves and cries over his kills. When attacked, the Huntsman doesn’t hesitate to kill anyone who tries to harm him. The Evil Queen sees the Huntsman kill without thought, and has him brought to her.
Meanwhile, Graham has flashes of him almost killing Snow White. Terrified of what he saw, he goes to see Mary Margaret, and asks if she believes in past lives. She tells him that he’s burning up and to go home and get some sleep. You can tell that Mary, however, is visibly shaken from her conversation with Graham.
Once the Huntsman is brought to the Evil Queen, he agrees to kill Snow, if the wolves are promised protection. The Queen agrees and he sets out with Snow to end her. While they’re walking Snow is smart enough to know what he is about to do. She hits him and runs.
After hearing about Graham kissing Emma, Regina confronts her and tells her to stay away from Graham. Emma tells her that there is nothing going on between them.
Graham takes a trip to see Henry, asking for his help. Henry is more than happy to oblige. He shows him the book, and he tells him the story of how he was sent to kill Snow White. In another flash to fairytale land, we see the Huntsman get a note from Snow White. After he reads it, he lets her go, and kills a stag in her place. When Graham asks Henry what happened after that, he tells him that the Evil Queen ripped out his heart because, “it’s kind of her thing.”
Later Graham and Emma go to the cemetery. He tells Emma that he must find his heart. In a sweet scene, Emma tells him that he has a heart — which she can feel beating. Graham insists however, that he must go find his heart. He tries to find it, but they’re interrupted by Regina. In an epic girl-fight, Emma tells Regina that maybe the reason why bad things keep happening to her, and people keep leaving, is because of her and not because of herself showing up. Graham tells Regina that it’s over between them, that he’s sick of not feeling anything. Regina then proceeds to punch Emma, and Emma punches her back. After Emma ends the fight with a simple, “Not worth it,” Graham leaves with Emma, and a pissed off Regina is left in their wake.
In fairytale land, the Huntsman returns with the fake heart and the gives the Evil Queen the letter Snow, wrote her. After giving the stag’s heart to the Queen, she quickly figures out he tried to fool her. She then traps the Huntsman, rips out his heart and places it in her vault, sealing the deal with a kiss. She now controls the Huntsman and can kill him just by giving his heart a little squeeze.
Back at the police station, Graham is patching up Emma. They bond over not being able to feel anything in their past. They kiss, and Graham flashes again, memories flooding his mind. When he comes back, he tells Emma he remembers everything, and kisses her again.
Meanwhile, Regina goes into the vault and pushes open her father’s coffin to reveal a staircase. She descends and finds the box with the Huntsman’s heart in it. She takes the beating heart out of its box, holding it in her hand and squeezes.
Back with Emma and Graham, they’re still kissing, when suddenly he gasps and falls, Emma shouting his name.
Back to Regina, who has literally turned his heart into dust — Graham is dead.
The Good: This episode showcased the talents of Jamie Dornan who plays the Huntsman. He really did a great job playing the confused and unfeeling Sheriff, as well as the Huntsman. I loved the scenes between him and Ginnifer Goodwin who plays Snow White. The little scene between Mary and Graham was especially well played by both, as I really believed what they were saying. From the beginning, I loved Emma and Graham’s interactions and last nights episode only proved how could they could have been together. I think this episode was the best of the season as far as storyline and acting.
The Bad: Now that Graham is dead, the relationship between Emma and him is no longer available. I also believe he could have had great scenes with other characters in future episodes. Now that is not longer possible. I would have also liked to see more of his childhood.
What did you think of this week’s Once Upon a Time? Let us know in the comments below.
Catch Once Upon a Time, Sunday nights on ABC, at 8/7c.
