Song of the Day

Title: Walkashame

Artist: Meghan Trainor

New type of post, song of the day. Heard this on her album and it is one of my favorite songs, funny and has a great beat. I love how her music has a 50's feel.

Meghan Trainor

Once Upon a Time 1x02: The Thing You Love Most

The second episode of the series focuses on one of my favorite characters, Regina, and what it took for her to cast a curse to bring all these characters to our land. While in modern day develops a rivalry between her and her adoptive son Henry's birth-mother Emma Swan. The dynamic between Emma and Regina is beyond without a doubt my favorite on the show. Regina especially grows to be one of the most complex characters on the show. This second episode alone gives you more on who she is and what exactly she has sacrificed in an attempt to move forward.

Quote of the episode: Regina/Emma: "You have no idea what I'm capable of"

The curse requires many ingredients, and Regina (the evil queen) had thought she had them all, but one item did not suffice. She visited Rumplestiltskin; who also grows to be another one of the most complex characters on the show. He is the man who gave her the curse, she visits him to find out what she did wrong. She tells him she sacrificed the heart of her childhood steed, and he laughs at her and says "this is the curse to end all curses you thing the heart of a horse will do" and that "great power requires great sacrifice" and tells her she must sacrifice the heart of the thing she loves most. She realizes what it is and he asks her how far she is willing to go, she says as far as it takes. Everything with Rumple comes with a price, and the cost for this information was that he will have a comfortable life in this new land, and Regina would have to heed his every request so long as he says 'Please'.

As you can see in the above clip, the thing Regina loves most is her father, who has always stood by her side. She is willing to sacrifice him, to use his heart in order to achieve her revenge/happiness. 

The flashback ends with Regina going to her fathers grave saying "I love you daddy" and we see on his grave that his name was Henry; and that's where young Henry got his name, by Regina honoring her father.

When I saw this, I jumped back in seat and gasped, and to this day when I see it, I get goosebumps because I cannot even imagine ever doing anything like this to achieve something I want. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, especially when you are doing something that cannot be undone. 

Meanwhile in present day Storybrooke, Regina sees Emma as a threat and is trying to get her to leave town. She frames her and has her arrested. Then Emma comes back at Regina by cutting a branch off her prized apple tree. These are two very driven women who will fight to protect the thing they love, and for both of them Henry is all they have. People can be driven when they are fighting for themselves, but they are capable of so much more when they are fighting for someone or something that they care for.

The episode ends with Mr Gold (Rumpelstiltskin) walking in on Regina picking up the pieces of her tree Emma cut down. Regina asks him who Emma is, and he tells her he would think she knows exactly who Emma is. Regina pushes for the information but Mr Gold, exits by saying "I suggest you excuse me, please". It is at this point where you start to wonder if Gold knows anything of his life before the curse, and if so how much, or if that please was just a per chance request.

The Thing You Love Most is one of my favorite episodes of the series as it is a kick point for the show and introduces many things. You learn that Mary Margaret, Henry's teacher (Snow White) gave him the book, and when Emma hears this she realized 'hey wow, there is a .001% chance this woman could be my mother', but then writes it off. We learn of Gold's relationship with Regina. We learn what exactly she had to sacrifice to enact the curse, and saw what Regina was willing to sacrifice to do it. Most importantly, this episode is the start of a great rivalry between Regina and Emma.

Quote of the Day

"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer & philosipher

i.e - Hindsight is always 20/20, you learn more or say woulda/coulda/shoulda after the damage is done or time has passed.

Girl Meets World

So, if you haven't heard, there is a sequel series to Boy Meets World. Yes, it is a kids show (sort of). Yes it is on Disney Channel. However, to me, it is just a continuation of it's parent series.

When Boy Meets World finished Cory and  Topenga took off to New York, and Girl Meets World picks up there about 14 years later. The show is supposed to follow their daughter Riley and best friend Maya (who is a mirror of Cory's best friend Shawn Hunter). I say supposed to follow becuase while the scenes with Riley, Maya, their other friends Lucas (Topenga's mirror character), and Farkle (Minkus' mirror character AND son) can be entertaining; really most of us are focusing on and enjoying the scenes that include Cory and Topenga,

Cory is now an elementary school teacher and has followed in the footsteps of his lifelong teacher and mentor Mr. Feeny, and this creates an interesting dynamic in the classroom between him, his daughter and her friends. Topenga, works for a law firm, as expected from the end of the parent series, and has also bought out a local bakery to save it from being bought out by another company and being demolished. She is now the owner there and it is the kids hangout spot.

It's always a real treat to see the parent series regulars return to the show to guest star. 

So far to date we have seen 

• Cory's parents Alan and Amy Matthews (boy have they aged), 
• Cory's brother Jacob (who if you remember almost didn't make it out of the hospital as a baby; he has been on for a few episodes as Maya's crush), 
• Cory's brother Eric
• Cory's best friend Shawn, who has now been promoted to a series regular.
• Mr. Feeny, who is now retired and living in the same home as they road tripped back there during an episode
• Angela, Shawn's now ex-girlfriend who is currently married. 
• Mr Hunter, Shawn's father who gives him advice from beyond the grave
• Stuart Minkus, Farkle's father
• Harley Kiney, Cory's highschool bully, but now friend and elementary school janitor

Now Shawn has been promoted to a show regular, which means the we will be seeing a lot more of the original trio. He has found a kindred spirit in Maya, and is stepping in almost as a father figure to her. This has helped kick off a story line for Shawn as he won't just be Cory and Topenga's friend, but a mentor to Maya AND possibly Maya's mother's new boyfriend. In the most recent episode titled "Hurricane", Angela returned to talk to him. She is now 4 years married and tells him that their relationship together prepared her for the next step. As she leaves she points to Maya and her mother Katy, and the episode finished with Katy asking Shawn out, and Shawn's father telling him not to pass up or mess up this opportunity. This was a great way to naturally integrate Shawn back into the show, rather than throwing him into Cory and Topenga's lives/storyline with their kids.

This series is doing a great job by keeping the original Boy Meets World fans interested by constantly bringing back alumni, and keeping them very much the same characters that we remember; while at the same time growing new fans who will follow Riley, Maya, and Lucas' storyline.

Quote of the Day

"Every passage has its price"

- Meredith Ann Pierce, American Writer

GIF of the Day

Props if you know/remember what this is from. Exactly how I'm feeling today.

Random Video of the Day

Whoever thought to put this 30 seconds of sheer awesomeness together is genius. And now every time we hear this song, we will think there's more than one way to do the chicken dance. Thank you Beyonce.