Plot
Well, it certainly wasn't boring. This episode was notable for being the first one (I think) which didn't skip backwards and forwards in time. I guess they figured they had enough skipping around from place to place without adding time to the mix. While it was exciting, it felt like not a lot was achieved in this episode. It all seemed to go remarkably fast and a lot of it made no sense. Neal's solution to getting out of the Enchanted Forest was far too quick and easy (although he isn't actually out yet, so we'll see) and the mermaids seemed only to be thrown in as a way to delay the journey to Neverland. They had no real purpose and weren't very impressive as scary bad guys go. The deal with Henry's 'friend' being Peter Pan was obvious from the start, so that was a bit of a cliche. I don't really have any bad things to say about this episode, apart from the annoying way all the adults were acting like children, but at the same time it wasn't a very good episode either, mostly because very little really happened. Nice cliffhanger, though.
Music
It wasn't the meaningful music I noticed in this episode so much as the dramatic music. In some places it was really quite excellent and added a lot to the scene - although once or twice I found myself a bit distracted by it. Probably slightly better than usual for this show, but it's a new season so there could be a new usual.
Acting
Fine in terms of the main cast. The mermaid seemed a bit confused as to how she was supposed to behave, and it wasn't obvious whether that was character or actor. I was impressed with the boys who played Henry and Peter Pan, and thought they worked well with each other and sparked off each other nicely.
Scenery
The CGI in this episode didn't seem great, but in spite of that there were only a couple of moments on Neverland and the boat where people seemed out of place and disconnected from the scenery. It was mainly the CGI fire and other aspects which bothered me - the scenery itself was quite nice. Neverland looked exciting, and I'm looking forward to at least one more episode spent there - hopefully they take into account everything from the book and stick in wild animals, fairies, and even if it's politically incorrect now to have 'Red Indians', I'd like some form of indigenous civilization too.
Sexism
Since all of the other fairy tales have been bumped forward in time to apply to the 21st century, I feel it's a little bit unfair that Lost Boys are still all, well, male. The next episode is called Lost Girl, though, so I'll complain more about this after that one if nothing happens to remedy it. It also bothered me that the mermaids are all female, which is not only sexist but unrealistic, unless they reproduce via parthenogenesis.
Bechdel Test
1. It includes at least two women, (Yes)
2. who have at least one conversation, (Yes)
3. about something other than a man or men. (Yes)
All of the conversing about the mermaid worked out nicely here, as well as Snow and Regina's 'you ruined my life' discussion. 3/3
2. who have at least one conversation, (Yes)
3. about something other than a man or men. (Yes)
All of the conversing about the mermaid worked out nicely here, as well as Snow and Regina's 'you ruined my life' discussion. 3/3