Once Upon a Time S01E07: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Full Reaction)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter- Where do I begin? This episode is so heartbreaking. I love Graham and I love that as the Huntsman... he was given a deeper story well above and beyond what little we knew of him from Disney's, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And I love Jamie Dornan as Graham... accent, handsome looks, and all. Now... unfortunately, there are a few reasons why Graham was killed off so early on, one of which being because Jamie Dornan needed to move on from Once Upon a Time so he could play a few other roles he was asked to play... from a TV series titled, The Fall, to other movies including the lead role in Fifty Shades of Grey. I really wish this wasn't so, because for one... I would have loved to see more of Graham, especially so we could have seen what might have happened with Graham remembering the truth about his true life. And I have no desire to ever see the Fifty Shades movies. But with all that being said... this was Graham's episode to shine and he shined brightly. Sadly, the other reasons for Graham's death are meant to help build up Emma's character. To make her stronger and more resolved in her battle against Regina and to become the Savior she's destined to become. A battle, which she has barely begun to even understand. I really love the backstory throughout this episode, that begins with Snow mourning after her father's death. As for this part of the storyline... In the Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen is Snow White's stepmother. Snow's father remarries the Evil Queen, who he didn't know then was evil, not long after Snow's mother dies when she's a little girl. That is why this is so for Once Upon a Time as well. However, the major difference between the Snow White storylines from the Disney movie compared to Once Upon a Time, is that in the Disney movie, the Evil Queen hates Snow White simply because her Magic Mirror tells her that Snow White is the fairest in all the land. The Evil Queen was simply vain and wanted to be the most beautiful, therefore she was jealous of Snow White and her beauty. This is why Snow White in the Pilot episode of Once Upon a Time makes a joke about Regina making her eat a poisoned apple because she was told Snow White was prettier than her. However, in Once Upon a Time, like we learn in this episode, Regina has a much deeper reason for wanting Snow White dead. A reason yet to fully be revealed. A reason that involves a secret Snow White couldn't keep resulting in Regina losing something she held dear. Back to the backstory... I love learning that Graham is the Huntsman from the Snow White fairytale. I suspected as much before this episode aired, but I love the reveal nonetheless. And I love that Regina hires him to kill Snow because she believes from seeing him kill the men from the tavern without any emotion or sympathy for them whatsoever through her mirror, that this Huntsman has no heart. And for most humans, she would be right. It's revealed that Graham was abandoned in the forest by his parents and then raised by wolves. And the only humans he's ever really known are the other hunters who hold no remorse for killing the wolves and other animals in the forest. Which is why Graham hates most humans, because he's never known or met a good hearted human being, until he meets Snow, which is why he can't find it in his heart to kill her. Graham only kills to defend himself and his wolf, or for food when he and his wolf need to eat, and when he does kill them, he cries and prays for their forgiveness and for the safe passing of their souls to the other side. I really love this take on the Huntsman. Especially because we don't ever really get too much character development or storyline with him in the Disney movie whatsoever. However, Snow has good instincts and therefore upon walking with him through the woods, she knows that Graham isn't one of her father's guards like he's disguised as. So she strikes him and runs, only for him to find her minutes later as she's composing a letter to Regina... a letter that moves him and makes him see that she isn't like the other humans he knows. And he spares her life, then kills a deer to take its heart in her place. Sadly, his deception is quickly discovered by the Evil Queen when he takes the heart back to Regina and in punishment, Regina rips his own heart out from his chest with her bare hands, placing a magical protection spell around it, which is why it glows and why he doesn't die, but falls under her control instead, so that she can use his heart against him and to use him as she pleases. And is she ever cruel. There's so much behind the magic which allows the Evil Queen to rip out Graham's heart without killing him that is yet to be revealed. And as for the magic being in Storybrooke... a land without magic, given that Storybrooke exists in Maine, within the real world... the only magic that exists is what slowly comes to be because of Emma being the Savior and upon her existence in Storybrooke weakening the curse. The magic over Graham's heart was enacted before the curse and remained dormant when it was carried over from the Enchanted Forest within the curse. Which leads me to believe that by Emma helping Graham to feel again, it allowed for the magic over his heart to come back to life. Regina herself has no magic of her own, because all magic in her, Rumplestiltskin, etc... has been neutralized since it can't exist in the real world. This brings us into the main Storybrooke storyline as Graham is struggling with his feelings, because since Emma's arrival in Storybrooke, he's since discovered he can't feel anything. And he suddenly kisses Emma, which immediately causes flashbacks from his true past life to seep into his mind, making him even more confused than ever before. However, because he and Emma have this connection due to him having spared Snow's life, and because Emma is the Savior, the curse has slowly begun to weaken. She's changing things all throughout Storybrooke, and Graham senses feelings that he's never felt before. Sadly, when Emma rejects him, like any sane woman would do if a man suddenly hit on her and was acting so erratic, Graham then goes to Regina in order to see if she can make him feel anything, unlike all the times he's been with her before and has failed to make him feel. Graham then sees the wolf, which leads him through the woods until Graham suddenly runs into Gold, who is mysteriously burying or digging something up in the woods. And Gold then states to Graham that dreams are like memories of a past life. I love this line from him. Gold is so mysterious. Then, once Gold walks away, the wolf reappears to Graham so they can continue their quest, as Graham realizes that the wolf belongs to him and that they are friends. The wolf then brings on more flashbacks that lead him to talk with Mary Margaret, who then lead him to talk with Henry about possibly being in his storybook. Jamie Dornan's acting in these scenes Is phenomenal and his character just grows so much in such a short amount of time. Eventually, Emma meets up with Graham once he's finished speaking with Henry, and when he tells her that he believes he has no heart, Emma lays her and and his own over his chest to find out and Graham states that it's only the curse that is making them feel it, and he would absolutely be right because the Evil Queen had ripped his heart out in the Enchanted Forest long ago. Emma then sees Graham's wolf too, and together they chase after it as it leads them to Regina's vault, or crypt. Graham then frantically searches for his heart after he breaks in, but as Emma's trying to calm him down, Regina suddenly arrives and trouble between the three of them, especially between Regina and Emma breaks out. Graham breaks up with Regina to do right by himself, not so much for Emma. However, Regina blames everything on Emma and the friction turns into a brawl between these powerful women until Graham gets between them to break the fight up. He and Emma then walk away from Regina, leaving her alone to walk down inside the hidden chamber beneath her father's tomb... a chamber concealing the vaults containing an unknown number of hearts within them. The Evil Queen's vault, Graham's heart, along with other things like everything that's inside Gold's pawnshop, came over with all the people from the Enchanted Forest in the curse. Back at the station, Graham and Emma share a heartfelt moment as Graham tends to the cut she received from being punched by Regina. And at last... Emma begins to open herself up to him and they suddenly kiss, just as all of Graham's true memories of his past life come flooding back to him, allowing him to remember everything. But sadly... before he can say more to Emma after he thanks her for helping him to remember, Regina crushes his heart with her bare hands, killing Graham before he can talk about the truth. Emma picks his upper body up in her arms as she cries out his name over and over after she fights to reviving him, only to fail to save him. And she weeps. Such a heartbreaking, yet beautiful scene. Again... the acting between Graham, Emma, and Regina is absolutely phenomenal. I was crushed that Graham dies so early on. This episode felt almost like a season finale, but there's so much more to tell. I'm so happy that you really enjoyed this episode. And I really love how Graham found love again because of Emma, which allowed him to feel love and to win over Regina's cruelty. Thank you again, so much for your reaction for it!!! I can't wait for more. Until next time...

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum