What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Once Upon a Time

Gold ties up one of Blue’s fairy nuns, poof! in a puff of red smoke. The Evil Queen joins him. He wants her to take care of Zelena, but she’s not willing to kill her sister for him. He claims he’s come to his senses as far as Belle loving him is concerned. Gold says he’s going to send a message via fairy and dumps some gold sprinkles on the nun, making her turn old.

Belle tells the group that Gold is going to do the same thing to her to speed the baby along. She says he’s trying to scare her into going back to him, but it’s still a no.

Back in the day, Rumpelstiltskin brings a baby to Belle, asking her to take care of it. She asks where its parents are, but Rumpel says it doesn’t matter, the baby is his now. Belle realizes he stole the child, and wonders what happened to him to make him so awful. She asks the baby’s name, but he says you don’t waste a name on something you’re not going to become attached to. She asks what he’s going to do with the baby. He says he’ll be back at sundown and don’t even think of hiding it.

Back in Storybrooke, Belle finds a book on defeating the Dark One. It tells her to follow the strand. Voila! She look down and there’s a red strand in the form of a glowing red ribbon. She follows it. It leads to the shears, but they disappear when she tries to take them. She says she’s in the dreamworld and her son appears. He’s come to warn her. He says she followed the strand of his fate, and his father intends to use the shears. He tells her the answer is inside of her and she has to move quickly.

Snow and Jasmine grade papers. Jasmine thinks Aladdin found a way to find Agribah, but she’s worried about what the price will be for finding it. Snow tells her to be the princess she was meant to be.

Emma and Belle peruse the book Belle was looking at. Hook says the magic is in the ink and Emma thinks she can extract it.

Back at ye olde palace, Belle reads a story to Nameless Baby. She wonders what Rumpel is planning. She leaves, carrying the sleeping baby in a basket.

The Evil Queen visits Zelena. She says Gold sent her, and suggests they take it outside. In the backyard, the Evil Queen tells Zelena enough games; let’s end it. She slams Zelena up against a shed, but as she’s about to finish her off, she clutches her heart. Regina is standing behind her and says it’s her heart. She’s willing to crush it to stop her twin. Zelena tells her it’s because of Rumpel, who says it’s either her or him. Regina says he lied. The Evil Queen has a hole in her heart, and she’s so desperate, she believed him. She tells the Evil Queen they’re done with her, and she disappears, poof! in a puff of purple smoke.

Hook goes to Gold’s shop. Gold is about to zap him, but Emma gets him first, and using the squid ink, puts Gold in freeze mode. Emma and Hook start to look for the shears, and Emma has a vision. She’d thought they’d stopped, and it throws her totally off-balance. In the meantime, Gold becomes animated again and leaves the shop.

Gold finds Belle, telling her that he’s far too powerful to be beaten by squid ink. She tells him it’s never going to happen, and he says he can’t lose another son. Belle stumbles backward into the elevator. She asks why he’s doing this. He says he can never be who she wants him to be. He says when they met, he told her that he was a difficult man to love, but he’s come to believe that he’s actually a man no one can love. With his son, he can start over. Belle says she never wanted him to be perfect, just to try. He says he did and look what happened. He thinks all they have is magic, and she reminds him that it comes with a price. She says he’ll lose her forever and asks if that’s a price he’s willing to pay.

In olden times, Belle takes the baby to library tower. She sees an incantation from the Black Fairy. She wonders out loud what Rumpel would need with that, and Rumpel appears, saying it’s for him to know and her not to find out. He says he doesn’t speak fairy, but he has her. He makes the baby disappear, and says she can stay there for a while, in case she has any ideas about stopping him.

Regina heals Zelena’s wounds. Zelena says she should have been the one to reach out, but Regina says she didn’t come here to apologize; she came to steal something for a spell to reverse the fairy’s aging. When Zelena questions why she didn’t just ask for help, Regina says she didn’t think Zelena could be trusted after what she’s done. Zelena realizes that Regina still holds her responsible for Robin’s death and asks what about forgiveness. Regina says she can do a lot, even spare Zelena’s life, but can never forgive her.

Jasmine rubs the lamp that Aladdin gave her, and a gold cuff pops out, poof! in a cloud of yellow smoke, but Aladdin tells her the genie has been freed. He puts the cuff on himself. She tells him he’ll be a prisoner of the lamp now, but he thinks it can help them find Agribah. He tells her let’s find out and goes into the lamp. I wonder if it has tiny couch inside, like in I Dream of Jeannie.

The Evil Queen lambastes Gold. She tells him even if he could be the person Belle wanted him to be, how long would it last? She says this time, Belle has a child to protect, and she’ll do what she should have done long ago. Leave and take the child, and he’ll be alone. He tells her to look in the mirror, and not to question him again. He says they’re done and to get out.

In the tower, Belle bangs at the door with a metal thing. She calls for help. She opens the little window in the door, and the Blue Fairy flies in. Belle says she needs Blue to get her out. Blue says they have to stop Rumpel before he gets to the Black Fairy, who stopped defending the children she was supposed to protect and started stealing them. Rumpel is going to use the baby to lure her. Blue says Belle is the only one who can help. She opens the door and Belle scurries out.

At Granny’s, Hook tells Emma that they have to make sure Gold can’t use the magic on Belle. Belle sips tea while Hook grills Emma about her vision. She tells him that there was something new. The sword used to kill her had a glowing red jewel in it. Belle says something about the tea, and she’s suddenly about to give birth.

In the enchanted forest, Rumpel does an incantation to bring forth the Black Fairy. She’s very punk looking. He tells her she can’t have the baby yet and she asks who summons her. He squid ink freezes her and she realizes who he is. She says squid ink won’t hold her long. He brings out a dagger as back-up, and asks why she abandoned the one child that was hers. She says it can’t be and he says it can, mother. Hard to believe Rumpel was once a baby. He says she didn’t even bother to give him a name. He asks why she abandoned him. She says she’s surprised he’d even ask, and sometimes you have to choose power over love. She tells him time’s up, and he’ll just have to keep on wondering. She flies off and Belle is standing there with the baby.

She says he didn’t deserve what the fairy did, but sacrificing an innocent child isn’t the answer, no matter how much pain he’s in. He says no one knows anything about his pain and woe is him, and disappears, poof! in cloud of scarlet smoke.

Fast forward to Gold saying behind every pita there’s a fairy. He tries to go toward the house where Belle is giving birth, and is held back by fairy magic.

With Emma and the aged fairy in attendance, Belle goes into her dreamworld and meets her son on a swing set. She says his father’s coming and will use the shears. She needs to know what to do, but he says she already knows. She jumps up and says she can’t. He says there’s no other way; they’re out of time. She says she loves him more than anything, and he says he won’t ever forget it. He tells her not to forget the book. As she asks what book? she’s back in the bed pushing.

Belle has her son. She’s asked for Blue, and says she needs her help. She asks if Blue will be his fairy godmother, and take him somewhere safe and far away. She says it’s her sons only chance. She thinks it will be over someday, but until then, she wants distance between him and Storybrooke. Blue agrees and takes the baby. Belle gives Blue a book to read to him so he knows where he came from. She tells him she loves him and blah-blah- blah, stuff you would say in that position.

Gold enters, but Blue is already gone with the baby. Foiled again! He looks out the window and sees Blue soaring away. He accuses Belle of abandoning their son. She says she gave him his best chance at a good life and tells Gold that it’s over. Belle says he can do what he wants with her, but he’ll never find their son. Gold says he will, and leaves.

In the old days, A couple gets their son back from Belle as Rumpel watches. Foiled again in the past!

Gold goes into his shop and the Evil Queen asks if someone lost another son. He tells her don’t, and she says Belle really hates him now. He tells her to go, and she says she’s waited a long time to see what happens when you poison your love. He says she did it. She says she did the legwork with the tea, but he forced her hand. She says just tell Belle, no, wait, she won’t believe him. He tells her she crossed the line and he’ll make sure she pays. The Evil Queen says she’s not too concerned. He says he plays a very long game, and she’s nothing more than another pawn. She tells him good luck finding his son – again – adding that fairies make wonderful mothers.

Gold is abashed and beaten. He trashes his place, smashing everything.

Hook says Regina was able to reverse the aging spell on the fairy, and Belle is as good as expected after what happened. Emma says that’s why she keeps fighting. Belle remnded her why she doesn’t run. She wants to help her family and friends. Hook knows the vision is still getting to her. She suggest they find out what really happened to her.

They go into Gold’s shop, and Emma says someone had a temper tantrum. She sees the sword that was in her dream. When she touches it, she has a vision. She says this is the sword that will kill her. Now that they have it, they can find out who’s responsible and stop them.

Next time, be careful what you wish for, Emma disappears, and the course of fairy tale could be altered forever.

The Walking Dead

A zombie flounders on the beach and gets a stick in his head for his trouble. A child and young woman are walking on the beach. The child sees another one, but as she’s about to stab it, the woman says to wait. She says the woman isn’t “a bobber,” she’s alive.The child wants to do it anyway, but is told that they don’t have to if they don’t tell anyone. She asks if the child is going to be a snitch. The child says no, but she’s not going to help.

It’s Tara washed up on shore. The woman drags her in.

Two rusty cans of okra and a bottle of aspirin are all Tara and Heath could find on their run. Heath says it’s been two weeks. They need ammo and medicine and there are people counting on him. He talks about all the people they killed just for some milk and corn. He says you take what you can and take out who you have to and keep going, but no one is in this together anymore. Tara says it only hurts because he knows it’s bullsh*t. Heath says it’s him, her, and whoever else wants to stay alive. He tells her that after today, they go back.

The woman from the beach looks at a map. She brings water, a weapon, and something wrapped in a cloth to Tara. Tara is still unconscious, so she leaves everything next to her. When she’s gone, Tara drinks some water, watching from behind a huge tangle of driftwood. She finds dried fish in the cloth. She follows the woman while keeping her distance.

They go through a forest. Tara sees some women talking while carrying baskets into a cabin. Children are playing outside, and it looks like it was once some kind of resort. It’s now a mini-colony called Oceanside. Tara stealthily checks the place out. Looks like it’s also all women.

Something is happening. Several women go inside a shed that houses weapons and come running out with guns, and the rest flee inside. They start shooting at Tara. She runs and they chase her. One catches up but falls. Tara gets the gun, but doesn’t shoot her. She continues to run. The kid from the beach confronts Tara, saying they’re supposed to. The woman who was with her calls her name, Rachel, and stops her.

The rest surround Tara with their guns drawn. Tara says hi, she’s cool, and not here to hurt anyone. The young woman, whose name is Cindy, tells them to put their guns down, but she’s told to get away. Tara says sorry, she just stumbled in, and didn’t even realize she was in. The women continue to aim their guns at her.

In the backstory, Heath and Tara stand on top of a dumpster and survey some possible scavenging. Heath says it looks like there are a lot of blind spots, but they jump down. I would break my ankle for sure if I did that. They look around for a while and go past some tarps that are hanging across part of the road. They see a humongous dump truck that has dropped a load of sand. Tara starts pulling at something in it. Heath is digging around with his foot and finds a ton of bullets. Just as he’s about to tell her Tara, the tug she makes causes the sand to shift and come tumbling down. The sand hill is filled with zombies.

They fight them off, but the struggle is real. Heath and Tara get separated in the melee. Tara gets cornered.

Back at the seashore, a lady asks Tara if she needs to use the bathroom before they begin, but Tara indicates that she’s handcuffed to a radiator. There are several women there, and the speaker, Natanya, introduces the others as Cathy and Beatrice, and Cindy, the woman from the beach. Tara asks about the bells she heard, and Natanya explains their alarm system. She says that they were lucky the place was relatively clear to begin with. She asks Tara where she’s from. Tara tells her Atlanta originally, but she’s been traveling with a companion for a few years, and they’ve been working on fishing boats. Natanya asks a few questions and asks how she got there. Tara explains that they were attacked by zombies, she ended up falling off of a bridge and the current brought her there. She says she followed Cindy back from the beach to see if she could get help. She’s asked why she was sneaking around and Tara says she wanted to see if it was safe – and she’s still not sure. Natanya says they usually shoot strangers on sight. Tara says if they just point her in the right direction, she’s gone. I have no idea why these people aren’t satisfied with her answers. Natanya says give them a while and maybe they’ll have a brainstorm as to what to do with this anomaly.

Beatrice fetches Tara, taking her to Natanya’s house. Natanya formally introduces Cindy, who is also her granddaughter, and Tara thanks Cindy for what she did. She says she was trying to show Rachel. Natanya assumes she means how to kill zombies, but Tara knows that she was also teaching her compassion. Everyone sits to eat. Nice dishware.

Natanya says she’s hoping to convince Tara to stay. They can keep their village a secre,t and she can put down roots. She says if they can find Heath, he can stay too. Tara says forgive her, but where are all the men? Natanya says there was a skirmish with another group, and none of them made it. They lost others too. After that, they decided to protect themselves no matter what. They left with nothing except the clothes on their backs. They found this place, and could stay hidden and alive. She hopes Tara understands why they shoot first and don’t bother asking questions. Natanya tells Tara that she knows she was lying about her past, and asks her to tell the truth.

Tara tells her about Alexandria, and how they did things just like they do in Oceanside. She talks about taking out the Saviors, and how they got what they deserved. She says they didn’t do it to make the world a better place, but they did it to stay alive. Tara thinks the women shouldn’t be hiding though. She says if they keep seeing everyone as an enemy, that’s all they’ll find. If they band together, they can keep each other safe.

Natanya suggests sending a guide with Tara to find Heath, and then on to her community. Cindy wants to go, but Natanya tells her no, because she didn’t follow the rules. She says if it works out, there will be other chances, and if not, she doesn’t want her going. Tara says there will be other chances.

Tara gets ready to leave. Cindy is in the cabin sulking, and Natanya sees her off. Beatrice and Cathy go with her. A zombie is stuck in a tangle of tree branches, and Tara says she’s on it, but Beatrice shoots at her and she runs. She tumbles down a hill and stays there, holding her knife. She watches as Cathy comes by with a gun and jumps her. She does not win the battle.

Tara says she could have killed Cathy back in the village, but she didn’t, and to return the favor. Cathy says Tara’s people are all dead. She says that was just a Savior outpost where they killed the people, and Tara has no idea what they did. She says if the Saviors know about her friends, it’s already too late. Tara asks if the Saviors were the ones who killed their men. Cathy says they tried to fight, but lost, and every male over the age of ten was lined up and shot in the head. They were supposed to work for Negan, but they left in the middle of the night. She says Tara will lead the Saviors back to them. She’s about to shoot Tara, when Cindy intercepts her, and Tara takes off.

Cindy calls after her to wait. Cindy aims her gun, but Tara says she’s saved her three times, she isn’t going to shoot. Cindy wants Tara to swear she won’t tell anyone about them, even her own people. Tara asks why she would do that? Cindy asks why they killed all those people? She says they didn’t really have to, and nobody’s evil; they just decide to forget who they are. Tara says some people are evil. She’s seen it, and that’s why she has to go back. Cindy asks her to swear.

Tara says she swears. Cindy gives her a pack of food and water. She says it will take Tara to the bridge, and try not to fall off this time.

Cindy takes Tara back where she was at the dumpsters. Tara tells Cindy to just go back and say that Tara attacked her. Cindy says Cathy and Beatrice will be coming, and she has a gun and ammo. Tara asks why she’s different from the others, and Cindy asks why Tara is.

They sneak around and whack a sand zombie in the head. Cindy is grabbed by a surprise zombie from a car, and Tara nails that one. This alerts two other sand zombies to their presence, and all of a sudden, there are tons of them. More than I think could have fit in that sand pile. Cindy and Tara run along the tops of the cars. Cindy covers Tara as she runs the sand zombie gauntlet. Cindy runs out of of ammo just as Tara gets to the other side.

Tara has a flash back, remembering Heath running out of ammo. She tells him to leave her, but he won’t and she gets pushed back and falls off the bridge. Back in the present, Tara dodges sand and car zombies, one of which gets an eerie bead on her. She looks in between the dumpsters and sees Cindy being led away. She sees Heath’s glasses on the ground. And fresh tire tracks nearby. She says, maybe that was you, then sees a hotel room key with PPP on it, and adds she hopes it was.

Tara scavenges something from a boat and sees a gift shop. Wanting to purchase some sunglasses, or perhaps take a break from the zombies stumbling around outside, she goes in and checks the place out. She eats some of the dried fish that Cindy packed for her. She finds a shell bracelet in the backpack.

Holy! She did get sunglasses. Bright orange ones.

Eugene looks through his binoculars and opens the gate. Tara enters. He stands there and cries.

Rosalie says she’s sorry, and Tara says she’s sorry too. She asks if Tara has any leads. She says she doesn’t care how dangerous it is, she’ll go. She says they can make it right; they have to. Tara says they can’t, and she didn’t see anything like that up there, making good on her promise to Cindy

Next time, Negan and the Saviors (sounds like a band) return, but so does Jesus, so it’s not all bad.