by Tracy Ladd:
Once Upon a Time Recap: “If I Only Had a Raw Brain”
Original Air Date (SyFY): Sunday March 25, 2013
Season 3 Episode 11
Two more episodes until this season comes to a close and we haven’t seen Donna or Liam recently. I wonder if that means that at some point in the next two episodes it’s all going to hit the fan. I’m thinking it will. Especially now that we know something really funky is going on with both of them as well as Aidan and his crazy blackouts that he’s having. Sally is falling apart…literally and Josh is barely keeping it together. Although Josh does seem to have a somewhat steely resolve thing going on. Nora has done an about-face with her attitude….thank goodness. To be honest I was expecting her to slip back into the anti-Aidan camp after what happened with Pete last week, but surprisingly, she didn’t.
Normally I have a theory on where a show is going leading up to the finale, but I’ll be honest and say that I have absolutely no idea where this show is headed. It’s kind of nice actually. That means that whatever happens will be a lovely little surprise. That being said, this week had a few of those moments so let’s get to it.
Aidan
After taking a tongue lashing from Josh about spilling the beans on the cure, which resulted in Pete’s death, Aidan pays a visit to Kenny, who basically forces Aidan into upping their timetable to right now. But first, Kenny wants to spend the day being a teenager. This involves running around in a park with a dog, among other things. Aidan takes him back to the house, where he has to face Josh and Nora and he tells them that since Kenny helped him by feeding him clean blood, Aidan is going to help Kenny as well. Josh doesn’t get it, but surprisingly Nora does.
Later on, Aidan takes Kenny to a strip club (along with Josh and his sister Emily, but more on that later) where Kenny witnesses Aidan staking a vampire stripper who’s trying to sink her teeth into Josh. And I can’t believe I just typed those words…but that’s what happened. Josh realizes at that point that Aidan has his back and didn’t choose vampires over them after all. Kenny on the other hand is somewhat apprehensive about being turned now but Aidan tells him that he’ll protect him. Kenny, although not quite at ease with the whole thing, relents and has Aidan do the deed. Meanwhile, there is a shadowy figure stalking Aidan everywhere he goes.
Sally calls Aidan to her room and tells him that she knows Josh and Nora won’t do it, but that when the time comes, she needs him to kill her. He offers her another solution however and that’s for her to feed off of his flesh. He can heal by drinking blood, so she quite reluctantly agrees. After doffing his shirt, Sally takes a bite out of his side. On a side note…this is one of those scene that I would LOVE the opportunity to talk to the actors about. I can only image what they both had to say about it. Anyway, as Kenny sleeps through his transformation, Aidan notices the creepy figure that’s been stalking him. The hooded man attacks and keeps saying “why did you do this to me”. At first I thought Aidan was having visions of Bishop again, but alas, this guy is definitely real. Turns out it’s Jeff….Kat’s ex-finace that we met last week, and that Aidan, in one of his sleep-feeding episodes, killed. Or so we thought. Jeff is more monster looking than man and Aidan is left wondering what exactly happened to him. Is is the wolf’s blood or does it have something to do with the virus? Either way, things aren’t looking so good for Kenny at the moment.
Josh and Nora
Josh reads Aidan the riot act for what happened to Pete and tells Aidan that he can’t believe that Aidan chose vampires over him and Nora. Aidan tries to defend his position, but Josh won’t hear it. Both Josh and Nora are determined to help Sally. After Nora gives Josh a dose of compassion about understanding where Aidan is coming from on the whole Kenny situation, Josh realizes that he would do the same for a friend. After Sally asks them to lock her up, Josh is determined to not let her wither away. The three head down to the soup kitchen to talk to Donna, but much to their surprise, the soup kitchen is gone. Not just the soup kitchen…but the whole building.
Nora, knowing how badly Sally wanted to be a part of their wedding, tells Josh that they should get married immediately before they lose her for good. Shocked, Josh agrees and they begin to plan for their wedding to take place in two days. Josh is surprised once again when Emily just shows up and tells him that she’s going to take him out for his bachelor party. Hence the trip to the strip club with Kenny and Aidan. While Emily sits at the stage with Kenny, who happens to be drooling all over the place, Aidan keeps Josh company at a table. Emily tells them both that they’re being too serious and calls one of the strippers over to give Josh a lap dance. The stripper leads Josh into one of the private booths and begins to do her thing. However, she’s a vampire and tries to feed off of Josh. Until Aidan shows up behind the curtain and stakes her. Bad things is, Emily and Kenny both saw it happen. Emily freaks out and runs outside where Josh finally has to come clean about what he and Nora are and also tells her the truth about Aidan. That’s a lot to take in if you ask me.
While Josh is out with Emily, Aidan and Kenny, Nora has a quiet shin-dig with Sally. Since they can’t be in the same room together, Nora slips her some wine coolers and a penis straw through the door and they talk about the dress and how Nora should wear her hair.
Sally
Convinced that she’s going to eat everyone in the house, Sally begs with Josh and Nora to lock her in her room until the end comes. After finding the soup kitchen has vanished, along with Donna, Sally is determined to hopefully find a solution. She heads back to the funeral home to see Max and in a round about sort of way, asks him about feeding off of one of the bodies in his care. He takes it pretty well actually, but in the end he tells her no. He explains that it’s his responsibility to watch over the dead. Sally understands, but has a nightmare where she fed off of Max.
Desperate, Sally makes Aidan promise that he’ll kill her when the time comes, but he tells her to feed off of him instead. Once she does, she looks a bit better and decides to go see the psychic that tried to exorcise her back in the first season. Once she tells the woman who she is, the woman realizes that all of this is Donna’s doing. Sally tells the woman about the deal she made, about how Nick and Stevie’s doors were the same and they realizes that it all must lead back to Donna. The woman tells Sally that she’s stronger than what she thinks and when she becomes a ghost again, she’ll have to do battle with Donna. She sends Sally off with an incantation in Latin that should do the trick.
Sally goes back to Max and tells him goodbye for the last time and the two admit to being in love with each other. Meanwhile, the woman who Sally visited hears a noise in her house and goes downstairs to investigate. A man, who turns out to be a re-animated Ray asks her what she told Sally. The woman denies telling her anything and Ray tells her that Donna isn’t convinced, and he snaps her neck. Oh my…
Seriously, I was wondering when Ray was going to show up again. What is Donna’s play here I wonder. There’s a lot going on right now and with only two episodes left, I’m wondering just how much they can get through. I still haven’t heard anything about the show being renewed for a fourth season and once again, just like with Alphas, I’m getting nervous. Hopefully my fears are all for naught, but I guess only time will tell.
DarkMedia contributor Tracy Ladd has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she’s back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks.
You can find her on Facebook, on Twitter @ReelGoddess, and on her website The Reel Goddess.
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