Is Staying Good Good For Snow?

Once Upon A Time, S02E15

Snow discovered Regina and Kora's plan, and she and David rushed to find Rumpelstiltskin's dagger first.  In the past, Snow tried to find a way to save her ill mother and fought the urge to use dark magic to achieve that.  In New York, Rumpelstiltskin asked Emma to convince Neal to come to Storybrooke with them and tried to endure Henry's anger.  They had to make hurried plans back to Storybrooke when Hook unexpectedly showed up and attacked Rumpelstiltskin.

I thought maybe Regina and Kora so openly talking about their plan to get control of Rumpelstiltskin was incredibly foolish until I realized they must have wanted their plan revealed in order to have Snow and David lead them right to it.  I mean, they shouldn't be doing anything supsicious in town, at least not together if they can help it.  I don't know why else they would risk being overheard when there's no guarantee that no one would see them out in the open like that.  I'd just like to believe that they are sneakier than they look, rather than careless.

I don't know if it was the best idea for Snow to confront Regina about the truth and appeal to her distrust of her mother.  If anything, it seemed to convince Regina to continue with her mother's plan rather than bother to win over the townspeople who would probably take a hundred years to honestly forgive her crimes.  I mean, Regina did seem a little doubtful of her mother's intentions when she heard that there was a beef between Snow's mother and her own, but so far it doesn't look like Snow's words really reached Regina at all.  I'm sure there will come a time where Snow will prove to be right (I totally agree that Kora would kill Henry in a second if he got in her way), but I think Regina will have to see her mother betray her first before she realizes that.

It was horrible that we got to see someone who played a mother-like figure for Snow get killed so easily during that dagger exchange.  I sort of wanted Snow to hold onto the dagger and let Johanna go, even if that would be cruel to an innocent woman.  The things that Regina and Kora could do with Rump in their power would be far worse than one old woman dying.  But Snow being the Snow who wouldn't even execute Regina, handed over the dagger in the end.  And her reward for doing the "right" thing was that Johanna got her heart back only to be pushed out of the window to her death.  Kora is not playing around!  She seems much more frightening now that it's clear that she has an axe to grind with Snow as well.

In the past, I didn't care too much about the Queen's illness as much as I did the meeting between Snow and the "Blue Fairy."  Even though I knew that Snow's mother died, I felt a little afraid she was going to sacrifice someone's life with that candle and it would turn out not to work at all (letting two people die).  Instead, Snow followed her mother's wish to stay good and stayed away from black magic.  It was a surprise to find out the whole thing was just a plot by Kora to get Snow to go to the dark side.  It was a little disturbing to see Kora hovering over the Queen's dead body, gloating about how she was going to corrupt Snow one day.  What in the world did Snow's mom do to Kora?  Did she just hate her because Kora was a miller's daughter and Snow's mother happened to be royalty?  There's got to be more to that story than that.

I feel a bit disappointed that Snow is deciding to stray from the path of good and dip her toe into the dark side.  Sure, I'm all for killing Kora--that bitch needs to die--but I'd hate to see Kora win by tainting Snow and getting revenge on her mother as well.  Charming tried (and I'm sure will keep trying) to tell her about this, but Snow rationalized that all of her seemingly good choices had led to bad endings.  I can't argue with her there, but almost all of that was due to someone else wanting to do her harm.  You can't beat evil with evil--it doesn't work that way.  I really hope once Emma comes back she might be able to convince her mother that being a cold-blooded murderer isn't the best decision.

Speaking of Emma, I hate that she has to put up with Henry's attitude.  I really wanted to punch him in his face when he talked about how the pizza didn't lie to him.  Shut the hell up, Henry!  How is Emma supposed to make up for her lies when Henry keeps throwing it in her face?  I'm starting to wish that Rump would kill Henry for whatever reason he needs to.

I really liked, though, when Henry asked Rump if he should call him "Grandpa" now.  Rump casually told him to call him whatever he liked.  It's funny that Rump doesn't really seem to care all that much that Henry is related to him now.  I mean, he's not thrilled or anything.  I think he likes better that Emma is sort of connected to him and he can get her to help with Bae a little bit by using Henry.  Can't blame him for that.  His son barely wants anything to do with him, so he's got to use whatever method he can.

The biggest surprise in this episode was when Hook attacked Rump seemingly out of nowhere!  One moment he was in Storybrooke reclaiming his hook, and the next he was stabbing Rump through the chest.  That was crazy!  Later, they explained that he used he boat to travel so quickly, but it still feels like he teleported or something.  I was just so shocked that Hook showed up that I couldn't pay attention to the mortal wound that Rump had been given.  I felt like he was going to be okay (even though he was poisoned) because he was well enough to yell at Henry to stay away and blame him for everything.

I can't believe that Neal once lived in Neverland.  That's the only explanation of how he knows Hook and isn't much older than he should be.  If they reveal he's freaking Peter Pan too, I'm going to be pissed.  That's too much for one character to be.  Come on.  But at least it allows Neal to be able to navigate a boat that could get them back to Storybrooke quickly (although how the hell will they find the boat?).  I'm about ready for them to get back and have them deal with this dagger business.

Speaking of that dagger, which Rump had hidden in a pretty clever place, I guess it wasn't the best idea for him to entrust the location to Emma and the others.  Snow and Charming had that thing for like two minutes before it was in the hands of enemies.  But I guess Rump can't really worry about that at the moment.  He could be dead before he even reaches Storybrooke, so having power over him would be moot.

Neal's fiancee...  Well, I saw that coming.  I hate that I sort of feel bad for Emma, despite that she and Neal are through at this point.  But I think that Rump is right in that she sort of hoped that they might work things out.  I don't know if I want them to right now.  I'm still a fan of Emma and Graham.  I know he's dead, but he was still my favorite for her so far.

In the next episode, I'm most looking forward to Emma and company coming back to Storybrooke with a still alive Rumpelstiltskin.  Fans would riot if he died, so I know he'll make it, but brushing that close to death might have a bigger effect on him than expected.  Of course, once they do return, it'll become clearer whether Kora is playing Regina for a fool or really sticking to her word.  Either way, Rump will get controlled and Snow and Charming's family will be in danger.  I doubt that the new Snow "Black" will be able to do any better in protecting her family, but we'll see how her new attitude will play out against Kora and Regina.  I guess after failing to save Johanna, Snow should at least be better motivated not to let one more person die she loves and perhaps release a little more whoop-ass on her enemies.