I do take full responsibility on raising my expectations for the introduction of my all-time favorite Disney princess, Ariel to Once Upon a Time to a very unreasonable level. Sure, the creators of the show have been quoted about wanting to include The Little Mermaid (TLM) from the get go. And perhaps my raised-at-a-young-age-by-television-and-therefore-quite-idealistic-self may have read a bit too much into Adam and Edward’s enthusiasm. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, what could have been a really cool episode of OUAT, ended up being slightly MEH. MAN, do those characters need to get off that island or what? (What is this, Lost?)
To be honest, I wasn’t sure exactly how Ariel would be presented. Did she already exist in Storybrooke? Was she already living amongst the characters? Was she an awesome tattooed rocker chick?
Tattooed Alternachick Ariel
Hipster Ariel
But alas, we only discover Ariel in flashbacks and hey, it’s Joanna Garcia. She was actually fancasted way before it was official that Ariel was happening this season. (Perhaps she IS hipster Ariel). Loved Joanna from the short-lived CW show, Privledged.
And even though looking at the fun GIFs from the first episode makes me slightly fonder of TLM’s introduction, it lacked a certain magical je ne sais quoi.
Ariel was made out to be bit ditzy and extremely naive to the point of hurting someone else. Sure, the cartoon version has some of these qualities, but it was much more apparent in the OUAT waters.
The Ariel character can be saved (and perhaps this season of OUAT as well) as next week’s episode leaves the island in Neverland and heads back to Storybrooke. Guys, this means this visual can still happen!
This could totally happen to Grumpy. You heard it here first.
Did you catch this episode of OUAT? Did you like the Prince Eric? Which version of Ariel would you have preferred? Would the episode improve with some singing?
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