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.

The Cycle of Abandonment

Once Upon A Time, S02E14

Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Henry arrived in New York and found the apartment of who they assumed was Rumpelstiltskin's son.  Emma was shocked to find that Baelfire was actually Neil, and she struggled with the decision to let him go or turn him into his father.  In the past, Rumpelstiltskin went to war and met a seer who predicted the birth of his son and Rumpelstiltskin leaving his son fatherless.  Regina, her mother, and Hook looked for information about the whereabouts of Rumpelstiltskin's dagger.  Greg also got video proof of magic in Storybrooke.

Wow.  This episode was incredible.  I actually realized that Baelfire might be Neil when I saw that they were in New York City.  Before I had thought that they were just going to that airport, but going to a different city.  It's weird that I didn't immediately think New York City.  I'm just glad I had gotten to that conclusion before Emma had chased Neil down the street otherwise I would have kicked myself for not piecing the obvious clues together.

I can't believe that Neil is Baelfire, making Henry Rump's grandson.  Henry has some kind of amazing blood ties and non-blood ties (if you count Regina and her mother).  Also, Emma is firmly connected to Rump more than ever now that Rump is her son's grandfather.  She's never going to be rid of him.  I really like that they decided to do this.  Baelfire's identity has been something I've wanted to know for the longest time, and it was satisfying to know that we've already seen him, but we just didn't know who he really was.

I don't blame Emma for not telling Rump right away about Neil.  The reunion of that father and son was inevitably going to make the father-son reunion of Neil and Henry, and Emma didn't want any part of that.  I was just scared when Rump knew she was lying and started to threaten her even without magic.  He's still pretty scary without fire coming out of his hands.

Neil, even with his abandonment issues, has some nerve giving Emma crap about hiding Henry from him.  He can go straight to hell, as far as I'm concerned.  I know that Neil only acted as August had told him to, but I could give two craps about that.  That's actually another lie that he kept from her--knowing that she was the savoir.  I don't think her ending up in jail for his crimes while pregnant was such a small thing that she should have been looking for Neil a long time ago.  Yeah, right!  I would never want to see his punk ass again!  Anyway, Neil being involved would have stopped Henry from ending up in Regina's hands and Henry bringing Emma to Storybrooke.  So if Neil was so damn concerned about following August's advice to get her to Storybrooke, he didn't need to know about Herny in the first place.  I was pissed that he wanted to be outraged.  

Still, I got a little teary-eyed hearing that Neil went sleep every night seeing his father let him go as a boy.  That's damn harsh.  No wonder he turned out to be a thief who would send his girl to prison.  I can't imagine the kind of trauma that put upon him.  I would hate to see that happen to Henry (although, you can't feel too abandoned when you think your father's dead to begin with).

I was disappointed in Rump's first words to Neil.  Instead of talking about the struggle he went through to be reunited, he kept talking about making up their separation with magic.  What the hell was he thinking?!  Who wants to have magic turn them back to fourteen so their father can raise them again?  That's so messed up.  Rump could have done so much better.  He didn't show that he had changed at all.  And he has changed, to some degree.  I never thought that Neil and Rump would get off to a good start, but Rump pretty much killed their reconciliation before it even began.  Damn.  I hope that he finds another way to redeem himself with Neil.  I really want him to show that from the first moment he held Baelfire, he just wanted to be there for him.

In the past, I felt bad at how manipulated Rump was by his own fate.  Once that seer had put the fear of the future in him, he was doomed to be the father he never wanted to be.  It's so damn sad.  Milah was so quickly disgusted with the way he had injured himself so he could come home alive to his son, and his cowardly decision to desert the war only put him the fast track to become the Dark One.  Rump's story is such a tragedy because all he wanted was to not be a coward nor an absent father.  His efforts to avoid that put him directly on that path.

The past also showed that Rump will be undone by Henry one day.  How ironic that the boy the seer foretold ended up being his grandson.  Rump declared that he would just kill him, but is he going to live up to that promise?  He'd have a lot of people against him if he tried.  Maybe Henry will be the one to break him of the Dark One status or something.  Those futures are so vague, it's not quite clear whether Henry is a life-threatening danger to Rump or not.

Speaking of Henry, I hated that he didn't quite understand why Emma lied to him.  Even if she was being selfish, she did have a decent reason for being so.  Likening her to Regina is a bit childish.  If he thinks everyone is just going to tell him the truth all the time, than he's a bigger child than he looks.  Maybe Henry could have handled the truth, but Emma sure as hell couldn't.  And if Emma did tell him about Neil, we know Henry would have sure as hell went looking for him.  He's that kind of gun-ho kid.  It pisses me off.  He has no idea the pain that Emma went through.  Him thinking his father was a dead hero isn't so bad as the reality.  Get over it, Henry.  As if Neil in your life would have made everything better (then again, maybe so because he might not had to live with Regina).

Back in Storybrooke, it was sort of weird to see Regina, Cora, and Hook hanging out together semi-publicly.  They were all at least in the library (which is closed, granted) looking for that book.  I think that Cora is straight-up playing Regina.  She's probably after Rump's power, not seeking to use it to destroy their enemies.  Hook isn't going to get anything out of helping them.  He's been played like a damn fiddle.  I would have loved to see him go to New York and fight Rump fairly.  Rump probably could still kick his ass with just that cane, I bet.

Regina was a moron in this episode, though.  Not just for believing that her mother is just going to use that power to get Henry back, but for openly using her powers to go through Belle's purse.  What the hell?  I knew that was going to be a problem, but I hoped it wouldn't be.  Nope.  Greg got it all on video!  Damn.  Well, the only good thing is that perhaps Regina will get involved in keeping Greg quiet later on.  If it's just left to Charming and Snow, I don't think they'll be able to keep a lid on the town's secret for much longer.

Also, Charming sounded like such an idiot when he was getting confused about how it was possible he was Henry's grandfather and Rump was too.  Um, duh!  Charming is really lucky he's brave and good with a sword because he's sometimes a moron.

Can't wait to see if Rump can get somewhere with Neil.  With the way he started to repair their relationship, Rump has a very long way to go.  Emma also needs to smooth things over with that moron Henry.  Sure he feels hurt that he's been lied to, but Emma's situation is too complicated for me to feel that Henry was betrayed severely.  Henry's getting to meet his father, so he should get over already.  Now that Neil has been named Baelfire, and Henry has been named Rump's grandson, it's unknown whether Rump will still see Henry as a threat and do away with him for his own sake.  Rump probably has a greater threat from Regina and Cora, who are conspiring to find the dagger that can kill and control him.  I'd hate to see Snow and the others get killed, but it would be entertaining to see someone use Rump as a puppet for a while. That could make a really awesome story down the line.

Rump Saves Belle, But Wants Death For Others

Once Upon A Time, S02E12

Emma and the others tried to save the life of a mysterious newcomer to town, even though they were worried that he might have discovered Storybrooke's secret.  Dr. Whale deserted his duties at the hospital, still haunted by his past where he tried to bring his brother back to life.  Rumpelstiltskin tried to jumpstart Belle's memories in vain and received a gift from Cora to help him locate his son.  Cora found Regina and convinced her that her only goal was to repair their broken bound as mother and daughter.

I was pretty distracted by Hook getting run over and Belle getting shot and losing her memories to think too much about what problems a stranger could bring to their town until Rump very expertly laid it down to the group of Emma, her parents, Red, and Grumpy.  He not only let them know that this guy Greg could have seen him tossing fire around, but suggested they let him die.  I liked that they didn't immediately reject Rump's idea, as cruel as it might have seen.  I mean, the guy did run over a person, so it's not like Greg was completely innocent.  Although, not so guilty that he deserved to be killed by them.

Rump had instantly healed Belle, of course, but when Whale asked him to do the same for Hook who was suffering from internal bleeding, Rump did not give one damn.  I mean, why would he?  He kicked Hook's ass and was ready to choke him if Emma and Charming hadn't stopped him.  Still, it was funny that Whale thought Rump would be decent enough to save his enemy's life.  Um, did he just meet Rump yesterday or something?

Belle, with no memory, might as well have just met Rump because she has no emotional attachment  to him now.  It was sweet that he had kissed her while she was sleeping (perhaps in an attempt to cure her with true love?), but despite that I'm sad that Belle and Rump's romance has been put on hold, when she woke up from the kiss and screamed, I had to laugh.  He seemed like such a pervert!  Since I know it's not true, it was funnier than I expected.  Plus, he just hurried out of the room like he had done something really wrong.  Poor Rump.

The situation hit a sadness peak when Rump came back with the chipped cup that Belle had held dear.  I thought maybe he was onto something there, but Belle fought back against him so hard as if he was trying to inject her with poison or something.  You can't blame her when he's talking about him living in a castle and magic when none of those things make sense to her.  At that point, I knew that Rump was going to fail, but I didn't think Belle would throw the cup and shatter it!  Oh, no!  I felt like a piece of their relationship had been shattered.  It was pretty awful to see those shards on the floor and watch Rump leave defeated.  Thank God, I guess, that he's leaving town so he doesn't have to go through the torture of reminding Belle of a past that has been erased from her mind.

When Rump did decide to leave town, I thought it was going to be on pretty good terms.  Like him just packing his bags and disappearing before he killed himself over Belle or killed Hook for revenge.  Strange enough (or perhaps not so strange since she's not a prisoner to Storybrooke), he decided to not go alone and take Emma.  What?  Emma does specialize in finding people (family trait, I suppose), but why her?  Even if he had a favor to cash in, it seems sort of a waste to bring Emma when he has that globe from Cora to tell him Bae's location.  I mean, it seemed like before Belle got shot, he was going to leave on his own in the first place.  Maybe I misread what he was doing and he was only testing his talisman at that time.  I dunno.  But if taking Emma wasn't bad enough Rump also announced that he was going to kill the whole Charming family if Belle was hurt in his absence--damn!  To me, that came out of nowhere.  Since when did he need to threaten their family like they had done something to him (it should be the other way around)?  Maybe that was his way of asking them to watch over her for him, but it just looked like he was just so angry at them.  I'm actually pretty frightened for them all (although his threat did make me laugh).

We finally got to see Regina and thankfully she hadn't fallen into her mother's hands.  Or so I had thought.  Cora didn't have to do very much before she had Regina crying on her shoulder and taking her advice about how to get Henry back.  Regina, you freaking idiot!  Your mother doesn't even know what the word "sincere" means!  I was a little proud that Regina was just going to take her mother and make her explain how Regina was innocent, but then Cora used her feelings for Henry to make her into her puppet again.  Damnit!  Not looking forward to the "ideas" that Cora had mentioned. Regina's going to end up losing Henry for good with that old hag's help.

There's not much I wanted to say about Whale's past.  I really couldn't care less with all the other more dire things going on.  Who has time to worry about Frankenstein lamenting about turning his brother into a monster?  The only thing that was interesting was him meeting Rump.  Not really sure why Rump wanted to learn Whale's technique for rising the dead.  Maybe it was all just a ruse to get Whale to meet Regina and for Regina to see that reviving Daniel wasn't going to happen.  Not sure.  But anyway, I couldn't enjoy the look into the past when I was so worried about what was happening in the present.

In the end, it looks like everyone should have listened to Rump (as pretty much always) because Greg had indeed seen Rump's magic.  I really wonder what the consequences of that will be?  I mean, who the hell would believe what Greg had seen without proof?  I can't imagine what he saw being enough to convince anyone else.  Unless, as Henry had suggested, there are other people from other worlds in the Storybrooke world that they just don't know about and Greg is from one of them.  Who knows--the possibility is just endless.

This episode was a lot less sadder than I anticipated.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to watch Rump interact with Belle who has no memory of him or herself.  Their love problems were less pronounced by Emma's group trying to decide to kill or save Greg.  Unfortunately, they probably would have been better off killing him now that he knows what Rump can do.  There was also little time to worry about Belle when Regina was falling into her mother's hand again with hardly enough resistance.  I think when you consider Emma's going on a road trip with Rump and Regina's succumbing to her mother's ploy, Belle's memory lost doesn't seem so terrible.

You Don't Need Magic--You Just Need A Cane

Once Upon A Time, S02E11

Rumpelstiltskin had finally found a way to cross the line without losing his memories, but his plan to start searching for his son was stopped when Hook finally made a move on Belle.  After securing her safety, he found that the shawl he needed to cross the town line was stolen by Hook, and Belle went to retrieve it for him, despite Rumpelstiltskin asked her to stay out of it.  In the past, Belle joined a group of men to find a beast, but found herself doing the adventure alone until she finally teamed up with Mulan.

I was thrilled that this episode started off with Rump dragging Smee out to the town line and him slightly roughing him up with his cane as he tested out his potion.  I mean, it was great to see that he had found a way around that curse-lifting side effect, but I just loved seeing him smack around someone who may or may not deserved it.  I was actually hoping he had brought Smee out there to attack him for something he had done to upset him, but it turned out to be less about intimidation and more about discovery.  Boo.

Things started to pick up when Hook decided to show up at Belle's library and try to grab her.  I was so excited that he was finally making a move and that Belle might tell Rump about Hook before Hook could get the jump on Rump.  It actually started to look like some kind of horror movie when Belle was hiding in that elevator and Hook kept banging on the doors.  With Belle's phone not working and Rump being unable to get the message that Hook was after her, I was scared that when the doors did open it was going to be Hook.  Thank goodness it was Rump and she was safe.

I thought it was crazy that Rump gave Belle a gun and told her to hide in the library (because Hook couldn't possibly get her there again) until I realized that Belle is no coward and doesn't seem to shy away from danger.  I was sort of terrified when she found Hook's ship (which was impressive, but seemed rash on her own) and just walked on in as if there couldn't possibly be someone waiting on board to kidnap her ass.  It was commendable that she managed to save Archie, let Archie get away so that he could get Rump to come help her, and temporarily escaped from Hook with the stolen shawl in hand.  Wow.  Just when I thought Belle was just big-hearted girl with a pretty face, she showed that she is just as badass as the rest of the women on the show.

My favorite part was when Belle looked like she was way over her head with Hook and Rump showed up to save the day.  I was expecting more of a real fight between them, but it was pretty one-sided.  Still, watching Rump beat the hell out of Hook with his cane was so amazing.  I mean, it was horrible that Hook couldn't even return a blow, but I was laughing so hard at Rump letting out all of his fury upon Hook without using any magic.  That was what was so cool about it.  Rump could destroy Hook in a second, but he chose to fight him like a person and beat him with just his cane.  After a while, though, I was glad that Belle stepped in to stop it.  I wasn't ready to see Hook die just yet.  I mean, I at least wanted to see a more dramatic fight between the two of them first.

Belle's commitment to Rump is so endearing.  He straight up lied about killing his ex-wife and why Hook wants to get revenge on him so bad, and she still stood by his side.  I think any other woman would have jumped off that ship, especially when he was beating a man nearly to death and five seconds away from ripping his heart out of his chest.  I was really worried that the ugly side that Hook brought out in the usually calm and collected Rump would send Belle away, but she really showed that she's in this for the long run.  And you gotta love that sweet moment when she put the shawl around him and they held each other on opposite sides of the line.  It would have been even better if they had gotten that kiss, but alas Hook had just begun with his revenge.

I can't even begin to wonder who busted into town and took out Hook before Rump could turn him into ash because Belle not only got shot, but lost her memory as well!  No!  I figured that Hook wouldn't be swayed by Rump's threats or faux mercy, but I never would have imagined him shooting Belle in the back!  That was a good twist, even if it was sort of heartbreaking.  I wonder what Rump is going to do next?  Is he just gonna leave Belle there and hope he can get her memory back later or will he stay in Storybrooke and try to use some new magic to fix her (even though he said it couldn't be undone).

In the past, I was sort of confused why Belle would randomly go beast hunting, but I suppose she's always had a thirst for adventure and never thought to quench it until Dreamy encouraged her.  I liked that she was able to read like Chinese and find the Yoaguai on her own.  I didn't care too much for Mulan popping up and being as about as friendly as a rattlesnake poked with a hot stick.  She redeemed herself by acknowledging how smart Belle was to find the beast faster than anyone else, but I was still annoyed that she is always so abrasive with new people.  In the end, I loved that Belle managed to subdue the beast and find out that it wasn't really attacking people but was Prince Phillip just cursed.  It established Belle better as a character and explained how Phillip and Mulan met.  Check check.

With Regina not even being in the story really, I was happy to see her at the end of Belle's past story even if she was just throwing Belle into a cage.  I sort of missed her and yet I forgot about her because I was too busy delighting in seeing Rump get to use his cane as an ass-kicking tool so much.  I am really curious as to where she is and if she's bumped into her evil mother yet.  With Archie being alive and Emma knowing that Regina is innocent, I wonder if it's too late to apologize to her and pull her away from the dark side.

Lastly, it was interesting to see Snow and Charming discuss getting a home for themselves.  I liked how she was ready to settle down and be with her family, while the non-stop hero Charming wanted to go back home like the others and fight.  I have to side with Snow that they have been fighting for a damn long time.  It's about time that they freaking stopped and grabbed onto some freaking happiness and peace.  I mean, it sucks for those left back home like Mulan and Aurora, but it's not like Snow and the others were brought to the non-magic world by choice.  I do see where Charming's coming from, but I think he's a little addicted to fighting and saving people.  As for the other townspeople, they might just be homesick and worried about the rest of the world finding out about their magical and abnormal lives.  If Charming was arguing that angle, I might feel like siding with him.  I'm not sure that either of them, especially because they're stubborn, will come to agreement about that soon.  That's a bit of a shame because I'd love to see what their house might look like.

Fantastic episode.  There was finally some fighting going on between Hook and Rump, but it wasn't as intense as I was hoping, but with Rump dishing out so many cane lashings, I couldn't complain too much about that.  Rump had me worried that he was going to lose Belle with all the violence and deceit, but Belle proved that her love for him runs deep and her faith for him is unshakable.  However, that doesn't matter too much now that Hook has made her fall across the line of memory loss and she doesn't even know who Rump is anymore.  It's frustrating now that they've gotten so close again, but it does add some good drama to the mix.  There's also some good tension brewing between Snow and Charming concerning whether they should stay or go.  I can't tell who's going to give in that argument.  More than their issues, I have to know what's going on with Regina.  Cora was absent in this episode as was Regina (at least in Storybrooke).  It seems like a pretty bad sign that next time we see the Queen, she might be a lot like her old self and beyond returning to her new and improved self.

Regina's Redemption Reversal

Once Upon A Time, S02E10

Regina was seeming to be turning over a new leaf until Archie ended up dead after being seen having an argument with Regina.  Emma was the only one who doubted her guilt until with Mr. Gold's help she was able to see the murder scene for herself with magic.  When confronted, Regina used magic again to attack Emma and went into hiding.  In the past, Charming tried to rid the kingdom of Regina's threat by having her executed, but Snow was against it.  After trying to give Regina a chance to start over, Regina's final attempt on Snow's life got her banished from the kingdom to live in solitude.

Regina pretty much deserves everything she's gotten, but I can't help but feel bad for her because she has for once learned from her mistakes and tried to change.  It's obvious that she does it all for Henry and would probably die if he wasn't in her life.  It was nice that despite all the horrible things she's done that Emma recognizes that Regina's desire to change is sincere.  No one else does, most of all her parents who seem like a duo of mistrust (with good reason).

Again, Cora is the one who seems to be there right when Regina is debating whether to go to the dark side or not (or Rump).  Regina was on the path to be someone that people didn't ask if her lasagna was poisoned (that was a good one, Grumpy), but her controlling bitch of a mother has to drag her name through the dirt when it wasn't squeaky-clean to begin with.  And since she's still moving around in the shadows right now, no one is going to believe or can even imagine that the Regina look-alike isn't Regina herself.  It sort of makes me mad.  Regina is no angel, but even a monster like her deserves another chance.

What also got me to sympathize with her was that in the other world, she was so blinded by her hatred for Snow that she wouldn't let herself be reformed.  It wasn't wrong of Charming or anyone else to want to see her dead (especially when she made her final words be regret that she didn't do more damage to all her victims), but I couldn't help but be relieved when Snow stopped the arrows from killing Regina at the last moment.  We all know that in the beginning Regina was just a young woman who wanted to live happily with the man she loved, but all her bad deeds sort of erased everyone's memory of that.  Everyone but Snow.  I was disappointed that Regina didn't take the free pass and tried to stab Snow in vain.  She wouldn't have made the curse if she had turned a new leaf in the past, but I still wished that she had seen the light then and there.

It's interesting in the past Snow was like Emma, the only one who believed in Regina's goodness until she failed the test.  It was funny to see Snow (and Charming--but he's always suspicious of people) fighting against Emma, who wouldn't back down.  With good reason because Emma has a natural gift for knowing when people lie.  I was hoping that even with that dream catcher showing her what had happened she would listen to her gut and refuse to think that Regina was guilty.  No such luck.

Speaking of Emma's parents, I really loved how Rump commented on how Emma was a combination of Snow and Charming:

[Rump] You have your mother's chin, Ms. Swan.

[Emma] We know that you killed him.

[Rump] And your father's tact.

That line was as golden as his name.  He made me realize that Emma is a lot like Charming in so many ways.  They both are sort of hardheaded, especially when they think they are right and rush into action sometimes without considering all of the evidence.  It's hard to change their minds once they made them up.  In a way, I sort of felt bad for Rump for having the whole Charming family assaulting him.  Haha.  They are a force of annoyingly persistent people.

I almost could shed a tear for Regina when Emma went to tell Henry that his mother was a murderer and a liar (for using magic again).  I mean, it wasn't as if Regina had done anything wrong this time, yet she was paying the ultimate price.  Emma doesn't want to let her be a part of her son's life anymore and the town hates her more than before (which is saying a lot with the whole curse thing in the first place).  As long as I know that Regina really does love Henry, it saddens me to see her unable to be with him.

I wonder what Cora plans to do with a broken Regina.  Team up with her to terrorize the townsfolk?  I thought she was coming to get revenge on Regina, but perhaps she's just collecting her so that she can use her powers for her own purposes.  I feel bad for Hook too who's just sitting around itching to end Rump's life with that hook of his (why is he sharpening it, though--it's not like it's getting dull from use).  I can't imagine why Archie would be value to their plans, either.  I'm pretty ambivalent about him still being alive (his character is all right, but definitely not one of the key people).

I liked this episode, but I was pretty sad about Regina being framed (though karma is a bitch).  It's nice that Emma is going to be more of a mother to Henry from now on, but I don't relish seeing Regina return to that dark place that convinced her to unleash a curse onto innocent people in the first place.  I'd like Cora's plan to start getting a little clearer from now on.  I thought once she made it to town, things would start getting less mysterious, but they haven't yet.  Also, I'm anxious to see Hook and Rump have another battle!  Can't wait to see how Rump handles an old enemy now that he's supposedly changing himself.

Scramble To The Portal

Once Upon A Time, S02E09

Emma and the others went to search for squid ink in Rumpelstiltskin's jail cell, but were trapped there by Cora and Hook.  Regina and Rumpelstiltskin worked together to use magic that would destroy whoever came through the portal, fearing that it would most likely be Cora and Hook.  The past between Cora and Hook was also revealed.

It was obvious to me that finding that scroll with Emma's name written on it in a stalkerish manner was going to be useful for something.  I didn't think it would be able to melt away the cell's bars, though.  That was a little weird to me.  Weirder than Rump sitting in there many years ago writing down Emma's name.

Later, it was interesting that Emma went to Rump and pointed out that he could have broken out of that cell anytime he wanted, but he was just chilling out there plotting his revenge.  I would have never gotten to the conclusion, like Emma had, that Rump had written out her fate long ago.  Rump does have a past of using people like his puppets for some long-term goal that's not clear (like his hand in molding Regina into a powerful magic user), but I feel like a lot more people were involved in what's happened in Emma's life than just Rump.  August, for instance, played his part.  But I guess that scroll with her name on it written before she was even born freaked her out to make her supsicious.

I wonder what sort of magic Emma will be capable of now that there's evidence that her being a product of true love protects her from heart-ripping attacks and the like.  Rump had been interested in bottling "true love" in the past, so I feel like he'll become even more interested in Emma in the future now that he knows she has some kind of unique magic about her.  I wonder if he'll try to take advantage of her magic one day.

Speaking of the heart ripping thing, that fight around the portal back to Storybrooke was so dumb.  I mean, you would think that with Cora being the only one using magic that she could use something really big to wipe out Mulan, Snow, and Emma in one wave of her hand.  Mulan was fighting her pretty well for someone only having a sword, as well as Snow who only had arrows.  Then it was just weird to me that Emma wasn't cut in a deadly way within two seconds of fighting Hook when she has had no training to sword fight.  Hook should have destroyed her!  He clearly had the upper hand, but it was crazy that he had any problems with Emma at all.  It was funny when she knocked Hook out--didn't see that coming.  It was moving when Emma took the "bullet" for Snow when Cora was about to rip Snow's heart out.  Lucky for her that it didn't work.

Back in Storybrooke, I felt pretty bad for Regina.  She clearly wanted to do the right thing and help Emma and Snow the best way she could, but then Rump came along and poisoned her mind.  Don't get me wrong, though--I loved seeing them work together even if it was for something bad.  I knew that Regina wasn't 100 percent on board with Rump's "win-win" view of what they were doing, and I was happy that she was swayed by Henry's words.  The funny thing about that was that Rump was just standing around not doing anything.  I mean, he did blow Red away the second she tried to get close, but the real danger to his plan was Henry and he didn't do much to stop him from changing Regina's mind.  And after it was all said and done, he just quietly limped away to his store.  No one held him accountable for anything.

Anyway, Regina nearly kills herself after reversing the magic they put on the portal, and she got the short end of the stick at the end.  Emma did thank her and so did Henry with a hug, but after everything was good again, she didn't get an invitation to dinner.  Okay, so Regina isn't friends with anyone in town, really, but she did sort of look after Charming while he was under the sleep spell.  As much of a bitch that Regina was I couldn't help but feel bad when everyone joyously left Rump's store and left her there by herself.  It was just thanks for helping get Emma and Snow back, but don't you dare eat with us.  Really?  That was cold, ya'll.  Rump did not make it better by pointing out that Henry was just going to get closer to Emma, but Regina had little hope of even sharing a meal with him.  Talk about twisting the knife!  But I sort of liked that he had to stir the pot a little.

That was the part that made me the most outraged, while I was most moved by when Henry saw Emma coming out of the well and called her "mom."  I don't know if he ever has done that before, but he still calls Regina "mom," so it was just sweet to see Emma and Henry hug while he called her that.  I mean, it was like "Regina who?" at that moment, but Emma had worked pretty hard to get back to her son, so it was nice to see her achieve her goal.

I was hardly moved by Snow reviving Charming with her kiss.  I was especially annoyed at the dwarves standing around looking sort of worried that Snow's kiss might not work.  Um, we all know that it will!  The sleeping curse has been broken so many damn times.  It's almost like when has it ever been permanent?

In the past, it was interesting that both Regina and Cora tried to use Hook.  He eventually sided with Cora because she knew more about the curse than Regina did and her knoweldge better suited his plans for revenge.  But besides that, it was a nice change of pace to see Regina in her queen mode again.  I feel like it's been a while since we've seen her like that.  For some reason, I really enjoyed her outfit with all that bling hanging down her back.  It's a sharp contrast to the stuff that she wears around Storybrooke.  She may have been really wicked back then, but at least she had some style.

Anyway, who would be surprised that Cora was the Queen of Hearts?  I mean, I figured that out as soon as I saw Regina toss her mother into a magic mirror--you had to know where she was going.  It does make me think of that one time when Regina went to Wonderland and was trying really hard to avoid the Queen of Hearts.  Was her mother the ruler then?  I feel like I need to revist that older episode now.

Another interesting part from the past was Cora's change of heart.  She seemed shocked that a daughter who pushed her into another world to escape her might want her dead (really, Cora?  That surprised you?), but she easily decided not to murder Regina when Regina confessed her love for her mother and the reasons why she had to have her killed before she went to Storybrooke.  I'm surprised that someone as cold as Cora would be moved by that.  Especially since Cora's heart doesn't even seem to be in her body (or maybe she just put it in her butt or something--it's so weird).

The end where Cora and Hook came into the bay or port or whatever of Storybrooke on a big ship was kind of dramatic in a good way.  I like that they arrived somewhere that isn't going to be obvious to someone.  Damn them for leaving that kind of cliffhanger!  

I liked this episode, but I wish the fighting was a little better.  I just always think that Emma should be killed in every fight she has.  Well, at least with anyone magic.  I'm eager to see what kind of magic Emma can do, especially if it will help fight against Cora.  I'm really excited about Cora and Hook entering Storybrooke.  The next episode has got to be super explosive! I can't wait!

Curses Broken, Not Grudges

Once Upon A Time, S02E07

Ruby was worried that her wolf side was harming people again.  In the past, Red found her mother and learned to control the wolf inside her, but was made to chose between her new family and those like Snow.  Spencer, remembering who he was as King George, decided to get the people of Storybrooke to see that Charming was an incompetent leader of their town.  Henry struggled with his nightmare and received help from Rumpelstiltskin.

I wasn't that interested in Red's past, although it was worthwhile to know that she would continue to turn into a wolf even in the non-magic world (which I guess isn't surprising when Rump can use his magic almost as normal).  I was more concerned with the battle between King George and Charming that continued on in Storybrooke.  You would think that the old king would have something better to do with his time than hassle Charming, but apparently not.  He even went as far as murdering an innocent person just to make it look like Charming was letting wolves roam the streets killing people.  I mean, he is not playing around.  It's a little funny to see someone go after Charming in the first place because Charming's not at all intimidated by someone threatening to get him.  Charming's lack of fear was his downfall because he ultimately lost the magic hat that could have brought back Emma and Snow.  However, we all know that team Snow back in the other world is working on their own plan to get back, so the loss wasn't so great.

It's also interesting that they were able to find the diamonds? that make the fairy dust in Storybrooke.  I wouldn't have guessed they would be able to find anything in the "real" world.  Wow.  I thought after they were lucky enough to find them that they probably shouldn't be rejoicing their find in a public place because I'm worried that someone might try to use the fairy dust to do something bad.  Although I can't remember whether non-fairies can use the dust for their own purposes or not.  If they can't, I guess that's an unwarranted concern.

Rump wasn't in this episode much, but he was there to sort of solve a bit of the mystery of why Henry and Aurora were having the same dream.  It should have been obvious what their connection was (because I kept wondering why those two would be connected in any way), but I failed to remember that Henry, too, had been a victim of the sleeping curse not too long ago.  Apparently there are side effects to the curse and now Henry is entering some kind of in-between life and death world when he sleeps.  That's pretty freaky.  And what's worse is that this world is real and if he gets burned or anything else in that place, it'll affect him in real-time.  But the nice thing is that Rump helped him out free of charge (I guess he feels like he owes Henry one or something?  Couldn't be because he likes him or something), and Henry is gaining some control of his nightmares.  Plus, he can communicate with Aurora, which means he should be able to communicate with Emma and Snow!  Cool.  But I feel like there's definitely going to be more danger to him being in that in-between world.  His problem couldn't be turned into an advantage that quickly.

Well, I suppose next we'll get back to Team Snow because it's unlikely that Charming is going to find a way any time soon to get back his loved ones.  I suppose if they have communication between the two worlds now, Henry might get the word that Hook and Cora are coming for Rump and Regina, respectively.  I sort of hope not because I would love for them to be surprised as their enemies just pop into town and raise havoc.  Although, if they do know in advance, Rump and Regina might team up like old times (except not with such evil intentions).  I don't know.  I'm just looking forward to them having to work together period because they just hate each other right now.  I think they would be the funniest team together and it needs to happen A.S.A.P.

Making Monsters

Once Upon A Time, S02E05

Regina tried to overcome her past, but had trouble when Dr. Whale brought Daniel back to life.  In the past, Regina struggled to learn magic from Rumpelstiltskin because she refused to use magic for evil.  In the magic world, Emma and the others suspected that Hook was not who he seemed to be.

I suppose what I was most concerned about (despite Franken-Daniel was walking around) in this episode was who the hell Dr. Whale was.  At first I thought he was the Wizard of Oz or something.  It wasn't until he was shown trying to revive Daniel with a bolt of lightening crashing near his tent that I suspected he might be Dr. Frankenstein.  Man, they are taking characters from all kinds of stories...  I guess that's okay.  But I feel like I'm soon going to be yelling "come on!"  But Dr. Whale (someone I was hardly concerned about before this episode) did bring about some interesting events.

The most interesting thing he did in the past was work for Rump to help Regina "come over to the dark side."  I can't believe I didn't think that Rump wasn't involved when it was Hatter (who used to be Rump's lackey) who almost randomly offered to help Regina when Rump wouldn't.  I thought that was strange even when he was asking for something in return.  So Regina really never had a chance to stay good when Rump was pulling all the strings (and apparently has had his eye on her before they even met).

It's also interesting Regina called her mother a monster for ripping people's hearts out and then collecting them.  For she became the same thing, thanks to Rump making her give up her moral obstacles.  And of course, Dr. Whale made a real monster out of Daniel who was brought back to life when implanted with one of Regina's stolen hearts.  That was quite like a horror story when Regina was looking for Whale and found him missing an arm in a hospital dark and in shambles.  Plus, it was a bit freaky with Daniel walking around attacking people like Henry and Regina.  I felt a little sad that Regina had to put him out of her misery herself, waving her hand and turning him into dust.  I don't know how that will ultimately affect Regina, even if she seems more open to the idea of therapy.

I was proud of Emma in the magic world because for once she wasn't acting like a fool.  In fact, she was pretty awesome in the way that she didn't really trust Hook for one damn second. I loved that she put a knife to his throat and then she and the others tied him up to a tree so he could be torn apart by ogres.  I actually thought that Hook wouldn't cave in and he'd keep pretending, but he cracked pretty soon.  That was suspicious to me, but at least the girls were all on their toes about being led into a trap by him.  It's just weird to me that Hook would end up teaming with them.  I'm sure that he wants to get revenge on Rump, but not so sure he really wants to double-cross Cora.

Oh, and on a completely different note, isn't it pretty cool that Rump just waved his hand and returned Dr. Whale's arm to his body?  Wow.  And I like how they have this long-ass argument about which is more powerful: science or magic.  It seems like the two can work pretty well hand in hand.  Well, maybe not because Daniel's revival wasn't a success.  So why the hell does Whale think it'll work again with his brother?  Talk about a one-trick pony.

I wonder what we'll learn about next in Regina's past or Rump's.  The more I learn about their past together, the more I'm convinced that Regina was no more than a product of her mother and Rump's manipulations.  I like that this show is really reinventing some of the characters that we thought we knew from last season, but are finding out that we didn't know half of their story.  It'll also be interesting to know what will happen when Emma and the others ascend that beanstalk.  There's no way a giant thrown into the mix can't mean more adventure to enjoy. 

Moms Doing What They Gotta Do

Once Upon A Time, S02E03

Charming asked Henry to stay out of the rescue for Emma and Snow, leading him to cut school to do his own investigation.  Emma and Snow were released from their prison and returned to Charming and Snow's old house to find the wardrobe Emma was sent away in.  In the past, King George continued to attack Charming by going after his loved ones.

Henry is definitely in the right family because he basically blows his nose at danger.  I can't believe how easy it was for him to fool Regina and get into her vault.  I actually felt a little bad for her because she probably really looked forward to that lunch that never happened.  I can see that she really is keeping to her word, so far because instead of going to stop Henry herself, she told Charming and he went to get Henry before his ass got bit by a bunch of snakes!  Like, is Henry crazy??  There could have been any kind of evil thing under the sun in one of her boxes and he thought it would be smart to just open one at random.  He knows that she was always up to no good, so I don't know why he thought he would find something good in her little secret lair.  What a moron (he's taking a lot after Emma who also in the episode is taking danger too lightly).  It was a little cute at the end when Charming decided he'd buy him some wooden swords to practice with (since Henry is jealous that his mother and grandmother get to go sword fighting in the other world--if only he knew he'd probably be dead in a minute with his current knowledge of that world).  I hope Charming can get Henry to settle down and stop trying to run off to do things (like his grandfather keeps doing when it's convenient for him).

Similarly, Emma was doing a shitty job of fitting into the other world and failing to listen to the experts, mainly her mother and Mulan.  I know Emma is used to handling things on her own, but I feel like that situation requires that you swallow your pride and learn from the "masters" instead of what she was doing.  I can't even believe that she was sort of bragging that she killed a dragon (which she didn't even do half as well as she thinks and should have learned that guns are useless) when warned about the ogres.  No surprise that she not only let the ogres know where they were, but almost got killed by one.  Seriously, Emma, it's time to shut up.  Hopefully by now she's learned her damn lesson and will stop acting like she knows what she's doing.

I have to also say that Aurora is so annoying.  Sure her love got killed and all, but damn.  Trying to get Snow by the throat with a knife?  I wish Snow had done more than she had before Mulan butted in.  I still think Snow needs to kick that girl's butt.  But Aurora seems to be willing to help Emma and Snow now.  I guess.  She might still be secretly bitter.

It was pretty sweet and sad when Snow and Emma were looking around the remains of her nursery.  I kind of forget that Snow had dreams of raising her daughter and had to give it up so that her daughter wouldn't be cursed.  I didn't think Emma would start to forgive Snow for abandoning her, so it was nice to see that they made some progress.  They don't have the best situation, but at least they do have each other, so they can continue to go from there.

Another mother who showed her sacrifice was Charming's mother.  I wasn't so sure why she was brought up again when she was just going to die until they had shown that King George had cursed Snow.  Then when Charming mentioned that lake that could cure anything, I knew that Snow would be the one to be saved, and Charming's mother would put herself aside.  I had wondered how the two got married and imagined it to be some big, grand thing, but it was sort of touching how simple it was with just the two of them, Lancelot, and Charming's mother looking on before she took her last breath.  Wow.  That was sort of beautiful.  She got to see her son married, Snow took the cure without knowing, and Charming's mother was able to die knowing that her son would have everything he wanted in life.  I just wonder if Snow ever needs to tell Charming what his mother did for her.  I suppose it doesn't really concern him since it was his mother's decision and there's nothing he can do about it now.

I really enjoyed this episode because it was nice to see all these different mothers in the show giving up things so their children could be happy.  But, there's no telling what Regina's crazy-ass mother is up to.  It'll be interesting to see what might happen if she's able to get to Storybrooke.  I just wonder who will be able to get to the non-magic world first: Emma and Snow or Regina's mother?  I'm little worried it's going to be the latter with her in possession of the ashes of the wardrobe.  Someone needs to stop that bitch before it's too late.

Snow And Her Big Mouth

Once Upon A Time, S01E18

We finally got to learn what horrible thing Snow did to the Queen to make her the romance-hating, scheming monster that she has become.  Turns out that before she became the Queen, Regina was just an innocent lady who wanted to marry her stable boy of a boyfriend against her magic-wielding, social-climbing mother's wishes.  This all might have happened if it weren't for little Snow believing that Regina's mother would understand her daughter's wish for happiness and blabbing about their secret love.  Instead, Regina's mother killed him, Regina had to marry Snow's father, and Regina began to hold the longest grudge in history (OK, maybe not, but get over it, lady!).  In Storybrooke, Emma tried to find evidence that would help incriminate the Mayor, but her plan fell flat.  MM tried to show her innocence to the DA, but only dug her hole a little deeper.  We also learned that framing MM was Mr. Gold's idea all along, but we can't be certain that his plan is truly to help the Queen or not.

I loved Regina's back story.  It was a little hard adjusting myself to a kinder, hopeful Regina, especially when they kept cutting back to Storybrooke where she was still being a witch.  But it was nice to have a scene where the biggest witch around wasn't Regina, but her mother, in fact.  No wonder the Queen became who she was.  She didn't think more of her daughter than a device to become royalty.  Regina really never had a chance at a happy life (unless she grew up wanting to be an evil queen).

Regina picked a really stupid love.  I mean, he thought they could escape from her mother??  True love would just conquer all??  His naivety guaranteed me that he would be dead before the episode was done.  I just wasn't sure how, of course, but he seemed to be screaming "I'll be crumpled to the ground lifeless soon!"

When little Snow came into the picture, we had one piece of the puzzle.  At first I didn't see how her being indebted to Regina for her life was going to destroy their love affair, which was good because I didn't want it to be too obvious.  It was clear as soon as the King came and proposed to Regina, though.  You didn't need to be a genius to know that Snow would rat out about Regina being in love with someone else.

I couldn't blame a little girl for believing that the evil mother was worried about Regina (considering Snow thought losing a mother was the worst thing in the world), but I have to admit that little Snow wasn't the most pleasant girl I've seen on TV.  I could  easily see how someone could hate her, the way she was complaining about Regina not wanting to be her mother.  True, she was too young to understand about adult relationships, but I still didn't like her selfish attitude at first.  Then she didn't take too much responsibility for breaking her promise.  As long as she got a mother in the end and Regina wasn't mad (guess Snow wasn't advanced enough to realize anger when it's staring her red-eyed in the face), Snow was happy and didn't have to really apologize. It's not a hatred to justify ruining everyone's happiness that you possibly can, but I think it makes me understand why she wouldn't so simply forgive Snow and let her slide just for being a child.

In Storybrooke, MM was found to be crying in her cell and the Mayor was so confident that she had won that she told MM her true delight in seeing her suffer.  MM, who has no idea what things her she's done in the other world, apologized anyway, but the Mayor told her nothing.  Wow.  At least if you're going to rub in your victory, don't leave MM in the dark.  What a crazy (but funny) thing to do.  I felt bad for MM even more so because she's in the dark, but being punished anyway.

Someone I didn't feel bad for was Emma, who was thinking she was going to get the jump on the Mayor with the whole shovel thing.  I can't believe she thought for even a minute that when she came back to find the shovel that it would be there.  The Mayor ain't playing around--of course, it would be gone!  Granted, her office being bugged was a great factor in the Mayor quickly covering her tracks, but I still think the same thing would have happened anyway somehow.  If Emma really wanted to get her, she should haven't gone through the proper legal courses.  Good job, Emma.  Lucky for you that Kathryn had shown up at the end.  Guess MM might have a chance after all, even with Emma's failure.

More than what's happened to Kathryn (I actually don't even care at this point), I wonder what Gold's angle is.  I would have never guessed that making Kathryn disappear was all his idea so that the Mayor would feel inclined to help his battery charges disappear.  He surely can't be that worried about going to jail (he has to have enough money to buy his way out of those charges)--he's gotta be setting her up. If he's not, I'm gonna be mad at him.  She's his rival.  Unless the whole plan is to make himself trustworthy enough to stab her in the back later.  And maybe even Kathryn coming back is all part of his plan.  I don't know how he would be able to do it, but it would be great if everyone was just a puppet in his play.  Why not?  I'm tired of everything having the Mayor behind it.  I'd like everyone to be playing in Mr. Gold's hand for a change (not that he hasn't done that a few times already).

Great episode.  I gained a little sympathy for Mayor Bitch (she's hardly excused), and one of the mysteries of the show has been answered.  MM's still not out of hot water yet, but it doesn't look like she'll be definitely heading to death row any time soon.  Really hope that Mr. Gold is the mastermind I inspire him to be, and he establishes himself as the Mayor's rival as he's supposed to be.