Once Upon a Time Review: “The Price of Gold”

Review by Kiersten and her son:

Mother and son watch Once Upon a Time. This Sunday night show is reminiscent of The Wonderful World of Disney and family time on Sunday nights.

The Price of Gold

Cast and Crew

Directed by David Solomon
Written by Edward Kitsis (creator) & Adam Horowitz (creator) David
H. Goodman (writer)

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard
Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen / Regina
Josh Dallas as Prince Charming / John Doe
Jared Gilmore as Henry Mills
Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket / Archie Hopper
Jamie Dornan as Sheriff Graham
Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold
Tony Amendola as Geppetto / Marco
Warren Christie as Ryan
Lee Arenberg as Leroy / Grumpy
Tim Phillipps as Prince Thomas/Sean
Jessy Schram as Cinderella/Ashley Boyd
Meghan Ory as Ruby/Red Riding Hood
Ted Whittall as The King/Mitchell

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Emma tries to help a young pregnant woman escape from the clutches of Mr. Gold. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale world that was, Cinderella makes a regrettable deal with Rumplestiltskin.

High Point

-Rumpelstilskilskin
-Emma making a deal with Rumplestilskin.

Low Point

We couldn’t really find a low point that we agreed upon.
I would claim the crashed car and the ensuing labor pains.

The Scores:

(I let my son rate these)

Originality: 5/6 As a Mother / Son review, this was arguable as his experiences are fewer therefore in his world there is much more originality.

Effects: 6/6 The pen and the magic wand were great!

Story: 6/6 “His strength is also his weakness—he can’t resist making deals.”

We found it fascinating that Rumplestilskin brought Henry to Story Brooke yet since then he’s mostly seemed “evil.” There must be something to be gained by Henry figuring it out. Maybe he’s tired of being Mr. Gold, but we do so enjoy watching how he controls everyone.

Acting: 5/6 We both love Robert Carlyle as Rumplestilskin!

Emotional Response: 6/6 I liked the discussion between the women about giving up babies. I was mostly surprised about the Sheriff at the end of the episode. What are his motivations? I hope they give it a good twist!

Production: 6/6

Overall:6/6 My son says, not only was the episode great, but it was great fun reviewing it! (paraphrased)

In total, ” The Price of Gold ” receives 40/42

Notes

As a 40 something Mom, it was interesting to see how my son’s thoughts progressed thru the show. He’s not as experienced as I am at guessing “what’s gonna happen next” and watching alongside his naivety is delightful.

Right away, it was “Hey! It’s Cinderella.”
Soon after it was:
“I don’t care if he’s a bad guy, I like Ruplestiltskin.”
Our favorite interaction:
“Do you know who that is?”
“Yeah”
“Really, because I’m still trying to figure it out!”

As for now, we’re pretty bummed about a two week wait till the next episode!

5 replies on “Once Upon a Time Review: “The Price of Gold””

  1. I’m trying to see this ep with the kind of child’s eyes that would give it a score of 40, but I may be beyond that level of innocence. The show is okay, and Carlyle does a great job as something akin to the old-style Villain, but I had trouble staying interested.

    Of course, if I rewatched the Sunday Disney stuff I enjoyed as a kid, I expect I’d find most of it wanting– and I’m thinking of the lower-budget Disney films of the 60s and 70s, not their classic cartoons.

    • I have attempted to re-watch stuff that I loved as a kid. I really do find it lacking..
      *sad sigh*

      The magic of childhood.. and innocence.. :)

  2. Heh, I’m pretty sure the show would hire your son as a publicist (; although his review makes me feel just a teeeeny bit jaded. Also how old is your son?

    I hate to admit this but Emma making a deal with Rumplestilstkin is kind of a low-point for me. Same as last week’s… what was it. Oh yeah, Prince Charming’s “wife” showing up. I know, they don’t want to make it simple but do they HAVE to make it so PAINFULLY obvious bad stuff is going on? I mean… ugh! See? Jaded!

    (the pen and scroll and stuff WERE cool. I kinda like when SFX are just there, and not making a big deal out of themselves. Strangely the lack of flash makes it seem more real!)

    • LOL
      He’s 11. Very naive.
      Yeah, I was displeased about both the “wife” and the new “deal”
      I must admit, tho, I didn’t see either coming.

      Kev’s young enough that he feels bad saying bad things.. if that make sense… :)
      Give him a coupla years.. everything will be much more negative then!

      (Lemme enjoy him a lil while longer.. it really does make a difference who you watch these things with! SOOO glad he loves Doctor Who too!!)

      • You know, it’d be petty cool if you rewatched it with him when he’s 15, see if he just goes “*snort* THAT was stupid!” at everything (;

        And I hope that you enjoy him when he’s like that, too! Teenagers are HILARIOUS (and thank GOD I am no longer one of them. Uh. And haven’t been for a looooong time).

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