REVIEW: Once Upon a Time, S6 Ep15 – A Wondrous Place

Jasmine and Aladdin continue their quest to save Agrabah in this week’s Once Upon a Time. Along the way, they have help from Captain Hook and Ariel.

Emma and the rest of the main cast took a back seat in this episode, as Emma spent an impromptu night out with Regina and a hilariously drunk Snow White, discussing Hook and heartbreak.

Meanwhile, we finally caught up with Jasmine and Aladdin as they tried to save Agrabah. We were also treated to some flashbacks to show what really happened to Jasmine’s kingdom, as well as how she formed a friendship with a little mermaid.

Ariel’s return to the show was teased earlier and it was fun to see the two princesses teaming up (along with Hook) on an adventure. There was some real warmth between them and the fun thing about Once Upon a Time is that such unique alliances can happen, no matter how convoluted the path to get there. Ariel and Jasmine on the magic carpet was fun!

Being a fan of Galavant, I’ve always wanted to see more of Karen David’s Jasmine and this episode really gave her the spotlight. I loved how the focus was more on her actions and her story than on Aladdin’s.

Her determination to do her duty to her people was admirable, even if she did not make the right choices to begin with. This episode also saw the welcome return of Jafar, as campy and villainous as ever, destroying Agrabah and taunting the princess for failing to protect her people.

It felt very relatable for Jasmine to be afraid of facing Jafar after what he had done but after being encouraged by her friends, she stands up to him and becomes the hero she was meant to be. She also realizes that denying herself love actually did more harm than good and she finally, FINALLY kisses Aladdin.

And because this is Once Upon a Time and True Love’s Kiss breaks all manner of curses, it is this gesture that finally restores Agrabah and brings Jasmine and Aladdin the happiness they both so deserve. It was a great moment of triumph and a neat way of wrapping up their arc.

But even though their main quest has been resolved, I really hope that this is not the last we will see of these two. They’ve been such a joy to watch from the beginning and they can prove to be valuable allies to Emma and the others. And since there’s going to be a musical episode this season, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Karen David will get to participate in that. I mean, come on.

Luckily for Emma, there was a brief scene at the end where Hook managed to contact her via magic seashell (the Once Upon a Time way), and he reassured her that he didn’t mean to run away and was trying to find his way back to her. The happy moment was of course interrupted by Gideon’s arrival. He tells Emma that he wants her to kill the Black Fairy. Why he didn’t just tell her this to begin with is a mystery to me but we’ll have to find out next week, I guess.