I both dislike and like midseason finales of shows.

I like them because they usually wrap up some part of the story that has been conflicting since the beginning of the season but then they introduce something new that is a cliffhanger that literally leaves you going WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED??????

Which leads to the reason why I don’t like midseason finales. They always leave it off in a torturing cliffhanger that makes you desperate to find out what happens next. And of course, the show won’t return for a month, two months, three months. It’s completely horrible. Some of the greatest TV writers can drive you insane. (I’m looking at you, Steven Moffat).

So two of my favorite shows just had their midseason finales yesterday: Once Upon a Time and The Walking Dead. And I was actually pretty impressed with both.

Once Upon a Time-The Queen of Hearts

I love my Once Upon a Time but I will say this: stories have been dragging like crazy. For instance, I think that Snow and Emma were stuck in the old world for way too long. I feel like it just lasted way too long, and they kept introducing new characters, with Hook and Aurora and Mulan. Don’t get me wrong: I like them but it seemed unnecessary. And Aurora annoyed the HELL out of me in the beginning. I wanted to see all the characters we already know deal with the curse breaking and all that. One of my favorite episodes so far this season was Child of the Moon, where Ruby deals with finding out she’s a werewolf in the past, and deals with her first transformation in Storybrooke. That’s exactly the kind of episode that I was hoping for this season.

So finally, in this episode, things are finally getting wrapped up. Regina is finally starting to show some changes, helping to bring Snow and Emma home, even though she knew how much Henry wants Emma as his mom. Emma and Snow finally make it home. Hook and Cora are on their way to Storybrooke. Honestly, if the whole Hook and Cora on their way to Storybrooke on the ship was supposed to be a cliffhanger, its not. They were going to find their way in, somehow or another. There was no way they were going to stay behind. They’re the villains this time around, since Regina is on the path to goodness.

However, we’re left wondering whats going to happen with Prince Philip. We know that he is not completely gone and that they is a way to get him back, so that is the mission of Aurora and Mulan. Okay, I admit that’s kind of exciting because there’s obviously an adventure going to happen there. But here’s the thing: Mulan and Aurora are both in love with Philip which leads me to my least favorite thing ever: the dreaded love triangle. My honest opinion on that whole story line? I ship Aurora/Mulan :D We could use a homosexual couple in the show and I’m down for that one…and it avoids the ugly, unnecessary, annoying love triangle.

And hello? What the hell happened to August? You know, Pinocchio? He was kind of a big character and we saw him turn into wood at the end of last season and when Geppetto goes to see him, he’s gone. And that was it. We’ve literally NEVER seen him again. I mean, I thought he was the love interest for Emma, but then we have Hook and it’s just all weird and doesn’t make sense and its annoying. So I’m hoping we see more of that coming in to play in the second half of the season.

I’m glad we’ll finally get to the topic of Baelfire though, Rumple’s son. It’s about time for that one as well. This is obviously the first thing that Rumple wants to do as soon as the curse is broken, but he can’t leave Storybrooke without forgetting who he is. Which could be a problem because then he’ll forget WHY he left Storybrooke in the first place. So I’m excited to see if they can find a way to leave Storybrooke without losing their memories, in order to find August or Baelfire. Hopefully, if Rumple finds Baelfire, it’ll help him to become a better person.

I also hope they start showing others lives, now that they know the curse is broken. I want to see Ella again and Hansel and Gretel maybe, Leroy/Grumpy and his little fairy love and so on. I want to see more of Emma, Snow, Charming and Henry’s growth as a family. I want to see more of Regina’s change. I want to focus on the characters we already have, and less on new characters.

Once Upon a Time returns January 6th, 2013. 

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The Walking Dead-Made to Suffer

The newest TWD episode, the last one of this half of the season, was actually probably my favorite of the entire season. There literally wasn’t a moment where I was like “my god, please make it stop”. Finally, some action is going down, and finally I’m starting to care what is going on with these people.

And Walking Dead…they know how to do a really great cliffhanger.

The scene with the Governor and his daughter Penny just further solidified my thoughts that the Governor is insane, but that he legitimately believes in what he is doing. That is the most dangerous of all. It’s bad enough that he is pretty evil, but that he doesn’t think of himself as evil is the most dangerous part. It’s like Dolores Umbridge from Order of the Phoenix allll over again.

But Michonne, man, that girl comes in and kills his daughter and stabs him in the eye! Oh my, that was so disgusting. I don’t know why Michonne felt the need to go in that room. I’m not sure what her obsession with the Governor’s daughter was…and I don’t know why she was so surprised to find his daughter as a zombie. I mean, she didn’t see that coming? Even if you didn’t know, it seemed pretty obvious. She was making the noises that the walkers usually make and yet, Michonne doesn’t get all freaked out until she takes the bag off her head. Huh?

I’m getting super pissed off at Andrea. She acts like this badass, who can handle a gun and handle all of her shit but I think she’s a scared little girl. Instead of hitting the open road, she stays with the creepy people in the town, even after she finds out that they have a sick zombie killing sport, even after she finds out that the Governor has a tank of zombie heads and a zombie daughter. I don’t know; she’s annoying as hell. She watches the townspeople cry out for the deaths of Merle and Daryl and she just SITS there. I mean, I can see why she wouldn’t say anything; she doesn’t want to die herself. But I would be out of there so fast if I were her but she just SITS there.

I’m not quite sure how to feel about this new group of people that have come in to the prison. I’m not always the biggest fans of new characters because sometimes I just don’t see the point. There is enough going on now in the story for me to not see a reason to bring in new characters. Unless they feel the need to replace all the ones that are dying. But even then, I just don’t get it. I feel like its the farm family all over again, where we’ll pick and choose characters that will stay and be important like Hershel and Maggie. I suppose we just have to see.

But that ending…leaving with Daryl and Merle’s lives on the line. I’m just saying right now: if Daryl dies, I’m done. Daryl is my favorite character; I think he’s a lot of people’s favorite character. He is badass, with that crossbow, and his southern twang and his affection and loyalty at the same time. Here he is, with that redneck accent, stabbing zombies in the face and just being plain badass. But then he turns around and searches for Sophia and Carol and goes and gets formula for the baby and feeds her. Its freaking cute…and kind of sexy too. Ending the midseason finale with the possibilty of some bad things happening to Daryl was a fantastic way to do so. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the town, what happens to Daryl and Merle, what happens at the prison and so on.

The Walking Dead returns February 10th, 2013

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