sci fi and fantasy

['Once Upon a Time' - 'The Shepherd']

Well, no-one said that it was going to be easy. The course of true love never did run smooth, as Shakespeare wisely wrote, and for those of us hoping that Snow White and Prince Charming might find their happily ever after six episodes into the show's first season, this week's installment of 'Once Upon a Time' certainly had its share of emotional ups and downs.

We were treated to a little of Snow and Charming's backstory in episode three, but 'The Shepherd,' written by genre mainstays Andrew Chambliss ('The Vampire Diaries,' 'Dollhouse' and 'Heroes') and Ian Goldberg ('FlashForward' and 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles') proved to be a perfect companion piece to 'Snow Falls,' bringing us right up to the events of that episode while also providing some surprising revelations about "Prince James."

['Once Upon a Time' - 'That Still Small Voice']

Though I had an embarrassingly extensive collection of Disney movies as a child (who am I kidding, I still have them), Pinocchio was never among the VHS tapes I wore out beyond repair. Because of this, the idea of an episode centered around Jiminy Cricket didn't exactly leave me hopping with anticipation.

Still, 'Once Upon a Time' already proved that it is adept at subverting expectations in its first four episodes, and 'That Still Small Voice' proved to be an undeniably satisfying hour of television, deepening our understanding of Archie/Jiminy's character and giving us some welcome development in Mary Margaret and David's tragic romance. I don't know about you, but I really could watch a whole hour of those two playing hangman and innocently flirting and need nothing else from the show.