Happy news for all the Neal/Emma fans out there, because Once Upon a Time has promoted Michael Raymond-James to series regular.

This is a crazy week in TV because we are on the cusp of the end of the current television season. That’s right, this week we will be saying adios to some of your faves.

Tonight, Once kicked off season finale week and it was a doozy of an episode. This season had its ups and downs. I do not think we actually felt like this season was going anywhere until the midseason mark. To tell you the truth, when this show brought in the outsiders it flourished and it hooked me once again, no pun intended. With the introduction of Greg and Tamara, the tension in Storybrooke was amped up to a fever pitch and as a result we won out as viewers.

At the end of the second to last episode of the season, we knew that Tamara and Greg had gotten their hands on the trigger that would destroy Storybrooke. What we were not expecting was everyone working together to stop Tamara and Greg, and to ensure the safety of everyone in Storybrooke.

In the moments where the inhabitants felt all hope was lost, we saw Henry embrace Regina and call her Mom, we saw Emma call Snow and Charming Mom and Dad for the first time, and we saw Gold give Lacey the antidote that would enable her to regain her memories. It was well-written, well-acted, and had many of us a bit weepy.

If you follow me on GetGlue, than you know that there was a moment where I was shaking my fist at the TV when Hook, yet again, screwed over Emma. He stole the last magic bean that would have enabled Regina to toss the trigger into another universe and save Storybrooke. Then he redeemed him as he was about to sail off into the sunset when it dawned on him (thanks to a back story that showed how Hook and Bae knew one another) that he had to return to help protect Storybrooke.

By the way, seeing how Hook tried to befriend the son of the woman he loved, but then having to cast him out because Bae felt that it was Hook’s fault for the destruction of what he believed was his happy home was very intense and gave us a lot of insight into what makes Hook tick and why Bae is the way he is.

When Hook returned, he learned that Regina and Emma worked together to stop the trigger, but a new issue arose and that was Tamara and Greg had kidnapped Henry. We come to find out that Henry was the mark all along.

So, hatchets were buried as Regina, Charming, Snow, Emma, Hook and Rumple decide to work together to find Henry, who was forced to jump into a portal with Tamara and Greg. Where did that portal take them? Neverland.

Now, Storybrooke is still in existence and Rumple has given Belle instructions on how to protect the town, but to see him depart and her heart break at the thought of possibly not seeing again… well, my heart broke for them.

There was a bright moment. Neal is alive and in the Enchanted land and guess who found him??? Mulan, Phillip and Aurora!

Now, remember how I said that Henry was the mark for Tamara and Greg. Do you know who is looking for Henry? Peter Pan, of course.

This show was renewed for a third season and I cannot wait to see what insanity will occur on Neverland. Will Emma and Regina find Henry? Will Neal get back to Emma and Henry? Will Gold and Belle find one another? Will Storybrooke still be there when and if they return? What gies with Peter Pan? So many questions….

What did you think of the episode?

It was ABC’s turn to issue their renewals and pick-ups today. Happily and unlike CBS and NBC, it was not a slaughterhouse of a day over at the Disney network.

What we were speculating about yesterday, came into fruition today. Now only was Once given the go-ahead for a third season, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got it’s series order and you know what that means…

Agent Coulson will be in our living rooms on a weekly basis!

Here is the synopsis for Marvel’s latest foray into prime time:

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

By the by, there will be a little sneak-peek of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the season finale of Once Upon a Time.

Adam Horowitz also notified the twitterverse that Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was picked up!!!!

Here is a first look at Sophia Lowe as Alice and the following is the synopsis of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland:

In Victorian England, the young and beautiful Alice (Sophie Lowe) tells a tale of a strange new land that exists on the other side of a rabbit hole. An invisible cat, a hookah smoking caterpillar and playing cards that talk are just some of the fantastic things she’s seen during this impossible adventure. Surely this troubled girl must be insane and her doctors aim to cure her with a treatment that will make her forget everything. Alice seems ready to put it all behind her, especially the painful memory of the genie she fell in love with and lost forever — the handsome and mysterious Cyrus (Peter Gadiot). But deep down Alice knows this world is real and just in the nick of time, the sardonic Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha) and the irrepressible White Rabbit (John Lithgow) arrive to save her from a doomed fate. Together, the trio will take a tumble down the rabbit hole to this Wonderland where nothing is impossible.

This was the Super Bowl of Fashion and a lot of the stars that you have come to love showed up in New York City last night to strut there stuff as the Metropolitan Museum of Art paid homage to the influence of PUNK in fashion.

Hi Everyone,

This is Ro, Maria’s kid, again. She is a bit under the weather right now, so I decided to pitch in and help her out with the site. I hope you like the pics of Alex, because my BFF (Embee) is in love with Alex and spent some time picking out pics that would make your ovaries explode (sorry, that is a tumblrism).

I have to make this quick because I am on the third revision of the 6th chapter for my thesis.

Where do I start? Okay. I am doing what my Mom does for the podcast and give you my idea of what blew my mind in TV and what left me wondering why I was doing this favor for my Mom.

Wait, she is taking over the laptop:

Hi! In-between coma-like spells right now. I just wanted to say that all the shows I cover were really good this week. IF I had to pick a less than stellar episode, it would have to be The Vampire Diaries  Why? Well, except for the moment where Damon snapped Matt’s neck as a ploy to force Elena to regain her feelings, I could really care less about saving her humanity. What was great was the whole Silas tormenting Caroline and seeing her desperation to save her Mom. You can tell that if she had the chance, she would high-tail it out of Mystic Falls to save her Mom and herself. If you are wondering about my thoughts about Bonnie and Katherine, this story line has gotten a bit out of hand and at time I wish the writers reeled it in a bit. Yes, I can see them setting the path where some story lines will be completed, via death, graduation or etc.. In all honesty, I’m just glad this show is moving away from a High School setting.

I would have to say the latest episodes of Arrow and Beauty and the Beast, were okay. In Arrow, we got out Walter back, but at what price? Malcolm is not one to mess around with. If you saw the pics from the upcoming episode than you catch my drift. Happily, Ollie has Diggs back in his corner. Unfortunately, with the knowledge of his Mom’s work with Malcolm… there is some definite strain on the home-front. I’m not even going to talk about Laurel, this story line needs to stop. He needs to romance his IT person. For Beauty and the Beast, the knowledge that Cat’s Mom is really dead is a great relief, because if she was alive… I think we would be treading in General Hospital territory. Gabe’s story was interesting, who is after him and why? Is it Muirfield? If it’s not them, than where are they? These little questions keep me intrigued with this show.

Out of all the CW shows, I think Supernatural has me glued to my seat. Seeing the toll that the trials were taking on Sam was quite unnerving. Especially when he was near the Messenger. I was waiting for blood to pour out of his eyes and ears. Yet, knowing that what Kevin was working on was actually a cure for Demons and that Sam was now going to be a-okay, made me sigh a huge sigh of relief. I also loved the background story of why the Angels and Demons are at each other’s throats and why humans are just pawns in a game of chess for the universe.

Grimm also gave us a really interesting back story about the war locks (keys). The keys/maps were created by the Templar’s,  all of whom were Grimms apparently, who were hiding something very important. What that is… no one has a clue. Hank was still on vacation and the case that Nick, Monroe and Rosalee worked on revolved a series of wesen that were on the verge of extinction. Yet, that was not the highlight for me. It is all about Juliette and her memories and how she is going to get Nick back.

Game of Thrones once again had me glued to the TV, but it was not because we saw Tyrion break the news to Sansa that they were betrothed, or Melisandre taking Gendry, or finding out that Jaimie and Brienne were going to be separated, or Jon and Ygritte making it over the wall… nope the episode was memorable because we watched Tywin and Oleanna negotiate the betrothels of their children. It showed just how knowledgeable they are, but it was quite saddening to see how they used their kids as pawns in a game of chess for power. Swallowing swords…

If there ever was an episode where we saw the Doctor infatuated with the ladies, it would have to be in the Crimson Horror episode of Doctor Who. He now only kisses Lady Vastra’s wife, but he endears himself to his heroine, Ada. A blind young woman that is treated like a slave by her insane mother and saves the Doctor when her mother tells her to kill him with rest of the rejects. He is also in a tizzy regarding the whereabouts of Clara, who becomes a part of a diorama. What was really interesting was when Clara’s kids find out the truth about Clara and the Doctor. What a tangled web we weave Clara…

I have to admit that my favorite show of the past week was Once Upon a Time. This was the first part of the season finale and as such, it was filled with a lot of action and it all revolved around Regina, Mary Margaret, Emma, Neal, Tamara and Greg. So, Mary Margaret uses magic to find out where Regina is being tortured and this tips of Emma and Neal, they get to the canning facility and catch Tamara red-handed. Unfortunately, she used a magic bean to get away. This little wormhole catches Neal and sucks him in to god knows where. This all happened just as Emma and Neal confessed their love for one another. Will we see Neal again? Hope so. Back to Regina, she is saved and informs her heroes that Greg and Tamara have the trigger gem that would destroy Storybrooke. Now, Tamara and Greg find out the use of this gem from the home office, but how? Who is the head of the home office?

In the Fairy tale back story line, we see where Bae ended up after he was sucked out of the enchanted forest and that was Victorian London. He is saved by Wendy Darling and gets embroiled in a plot to save Wendy’s brothers from the shadows. Any who, this is how Bae meets Hook. Now, my initial thought of the home office made me suspect that Wendy was the head honcho, what do you think?

Now that I have mentioned chess twice…. I’m going to play for a bit before I pass…

The big question is not who will survive the season finale, but if the show will be renewed… or do we hop on over to a new chapter in the “Once” universe, i.e. Once in Upon a Time in Wonderland?

Kelly and Maria are back and they spend a bit of time on the latest murmurings about Alexander Skarsgard leaving True Blood as well as who Sookie Stackhouse picks at the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Is it Eric, Bill or Sam…???

During SBLC, Kelly reviews Lover at Last by J.R. Ward and she loved it!

In movies, Maria destroys the Host and the ladies discuss the latest news on the Divergent, Mortal Instruments and Crow movies.

They will also cover the latest news and spoilers to some of your favorite shows, i.e. The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, Supernatural, Revolution, Grimm, Doctor Who, Beauty and the Beast, True Blood, Grimm, and much, much more….

You will also listen on what the ladies thought were the best shows in April and the one show that totally dropped the ball…

If you would like to listen to the podcast, you can download it here, via iTunes or the Zune Marketplace.

This episode was recorded on May 1, 2013 at 7:30 am.

Enjoy!

Synopsis: With the aid of Hook, Regina attempts to put a plan in motion that will help transport herself and Henry back to Fairytale land. But her plan revolves around a fail-safe that was planted within the curse, which if triggered could wipe Storybrooke off the map – and kill all of its inhabitants; and Emma’s suspicions about Tamara grow. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, the Evil Queen asks Rumplestiltskin to transform her into an unrecognizable peasant in order to kill an unsuspecting Snow White, with the twisted aim of earning the love and respect of her subjects.

My thoughts: Personally, my favorite sequences of the night revolved around Emma. Yet, the majority of the episode revolved around the true creation of the ‘Evil Queen” and how Regina lost her magic at the hands of Hook, Tamra and Greg after foolishly wanting something that Hook had in his possession.

During the flashback sequence of Regina, it was Snow that gave us some clarity on what makes Regina tick. She states that Regina is in constant pain and wants to blame everyone for it, but there is good in her. But, is there any good left in her? Really?

Regarding Emma and Henry, well operations praying mantis is in full swing. This time they are setting their sites on Tamra whom Emma saw had a list with a list of a select few of Storybrooke’s citizens with their fairy tale names. For Emma, she knows something is up but she cannot prove it without looking like a jealous ex. But, Henry has her back and at this moment that is really all she needs, right? The only problem is that Henry really wants to live in the Enchanted Forest and Emma not so much.

Grumpy, Mary Margaret and David learn that their fields of magic beans has been destroyed, what they don’t know is that Regina stole one of the plants and it growing it in plain sight in the middle of her office. This obviously puts a wrench in their plan to go back home to the Enchanted Forest.

Next time:

Synopsis: David reluctantly agrees to help Gold restore Belle’s memories, but they discover that Regina has given the amnesiac princess a new set of memories. Meanwhile, when Emma learns that Anton has the means to take everyone back to the Enchanted Forest, she must decide which world to live in. In the fairy tale world, Rumplestiltskin forces Belle to accompany him on a hunt for a thief that she freed.

My thoughts: There is something magical about Belle-centric episodes. In this episode, in our world, Regina makes Belle think she is a barfly named Lacey. Gold than finds himself trying to woo Lacey in order to get her true memories back. Even as Lacey, she sees good in Gold and that give him hope. But, then she leaves him in the dust in the middle of her date to go canoodle with a guy from the bar.  She sees him attack the guy and that turns her on… they are turning into the couple that is always on Maury.

In the Fairy tale land, we look back at when Belle lived as Rumple’s servant in order to protect her kingdom from the ogres. Rumple is pissed at her because she helped Robin Hood escape. When he escaped he stole from Rumple and now Rumple is dragging Belle along for the pursuit. She sees that he is indeed a good man, when she leaves Robin Hood along as they learn that the reason Robin stole the wand was to heal Marian from her illness and sees that she is pregnant. Belle hugs him for his kind deed and you can see the change in his demeanor. This leads him to give her a library. Where is Peabo Bryson when you need him.

Now, this was all predicated by the fact that Gold is beside himself by the idea of offing Henry because he knows that it will end his relationship with his son, so he turns to Belle (while she is still in the hospital) for help.

It other Storybrooke news, Emma tipped off Regina about something happening. So, she follows the trucks tracks to the magic bean field… uh oh.

Also, Emma struggles with the idea of moving to Fairytale land and then there is the plotting of Tamara and Greg, who bring Hook back to Storybrooke to assist them in their attempt to take down this town.

Again, Belle and Rumple storylines are made to delight the viewers. I hope we see more of Robin, but I cannot wait to see what is up with the outsiders.

Next time: