Once Upon A Time season 6 premieres this Sunday (finally!), and before it does, let’s take a moment to recap all we know about the new season.
And speculate, of course. What’s the hiatus without a little speculation?
Because, hey – there’s the Evil Queen and her potential confrontation with Regina. Oh, yes, and her enduring grudge against Snow White. Did we mention how tricky it could get with Henry? And we haven’t even talked saviors! Or true love! Or Aladdin and Jasmine.
Come to us, Once Upon A Time Season 6. And since we’re already talked about our hopes for this season, let’s try to keep our desires out of this. These are facts. Or, well, sort of. As good as it gets, at least.
Caution, possible spoilers ahead!
EVIL QUEEN VS. REGINA
The little that we’ve seen of Season 6 makes it clear that a confrontation between Regina and the Evil Queen is coming – the question is, how will Regina react to seeing the very worst version of herself? Your guess is as good as mine, but chances are she’ll start to understand the townspeople a little more.
However, Regina is not as defenseless against her evil self as other are. She has magic, and she’s already shown she’ll use it against her evil doppelganger. That, however, was a particular moment in time. Is she truly ready to destroy that part of herself if it means a long, drawn out fight?
She better be.
Especially when you consider that, as Parrilla herself teased during San Diego Comic-Con “the Queen used to be part of Regina, who has a conscience” – now that conscience is gone. Or, well, that conscience has a body of its own, one that’s ready to fight tooth and nail for that redemption that she feels she’s earned.
THE ORIGINAL FEUD
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Funny how things have changed. The Evil Queen still very much wants to destroy Snow, but Regina actually considers Snow her “biggest confidant,” according to Parrilla, and that’s something that’s going to take the EQ by surprise. It might even be something that’s going to make her even angrier. And trust us, she doesn’t really need help in that regard.
Either way, a return to the original feud is a welcome thing. The Snow/Regina relationship has stayed mostly in the background, and if there’s anything that can help solidify their friendship it’s …well, mortal danger. It really does help with the perspective, what can I say?
NEW ARRIVALS
This season Once Upon A Time will introduce Faran Tahir, as Captain Nemo, Oded Fehr as Jafar, Deniz Akdeniz as Aladdin, Karen David as Princess Jasmine, Giles Matthey as Morpheus, and Craig Horner as the Count of Monte Cristo – and that’s what they’ve announced so far. They could still throw us another curveball.
Add to that Jekyll and Hyde and it seems like a lot of new people are coming. Though, considering that the setting is still Storybrooke the dynamics will probably be more like Season One than the last few seasons, with our heroes moving to new lands. Either way, I, for one, am terribly excited about Aladdin and Jasmine, in particular.
Yes, I’ll admit it. That’s my favorite Disney movie. Or, well, my favorite old-school Disney movie, at least. Or, one of my favorites. Guys, I’m sorry, it’s just hard to pick. Really, really hard.
A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME
Captain Nemo is probably around to give us more backstory on Hook – and, to be honest, there’s a lot of story to tell. Three hundred or so years’ worth of story. And yet, it feels like we know the basics. We know why he turned vengeful pirate – we know what made him go back to honorable man. What other stories could Hook be hiding? How do they relate to our heroes’ journey? How did he even meet Nemo?
I don’t know, but I, for one, am not complaining about more Captain Hook. Give it to me.
SAVIOR(S)
For the entirety of the show’s run we’ve thought of Emma as THE savior. Now it turns out there’s many saviors, just as there were many Dark Ones. The question now is – what does this even mean? What happened to Aladdin? Was he the original savior? And what is this BS about saviors not getting a happy ending? Who came up with that rule and can we give him a piece of our minds?
Surely, though, that notion is going to weight on Emma’s mind. Because, of course. We couldn’t just have happily ever after, right? That’d be boring, or something. But, hopefully, with Emma not the main focus of the villain, for once, she can still take some time to enjoy the quiet moments, as they were.
THE PATH OF TRUE LOVE
“No relationship is a fairytale,” Eddy Kitsis teased, because he’s evil like that. “So if people are expecting no drama, we hope that they will enjoy what we are showing.”
That obviously means some drama is coming. But that’s fine – that’s okay. No drama is boring. We don’t want Emma and Hook in the background, do we? No, we want them front and center, growing together, getting stronger as individuals and as a couple. And, if we have to take some drama for that to happen, so be it.
The path of true love never did run smooth and all of that.
TALE AS OLD AS TIME
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Ah, Rumple and Belle. Rumple and Belle. I have many feelings about the way their relationship has developed so far, and most of them are not good. I have high hopes for Belle when she gets out of Pandora’s box, though. I want her to make her own choice, whether that’s being with Rumple or not, but I want her to make it with full knowledge of what she’s getting into. She’s never had that.
Question is – considering she now has to put her baby first, will she really get back together with Rumple? And, will we learn more about who Belle was before Rumple?
OTHER THINGS
Can Zelena be a good mother? Will Storybrooke survive her and Regina living together? Is Henry living with them as well? Will we get to see Regina – or anyone else, for that matter – grieve Robin? Will Hook and Emma ever get time to sit down, watch some Netflix? Will baby Charming ever grow up?
Tune in for answers. Even if they’re probably not the answers to these questions.
Once Upon A Time returns this Sunday, September 25th at 8/7c on ABC.
