ImogenLeFay

That surprised me too. He said he'd be right back, never shows up again, with the evil snow queen being somewhere out there - but no reason to worry. And later, they do the same thing again when he goes back to get the hat. Everybody else is just standing there enjoying the fireworks, and absolutely nobody wonders where Killian went? No wonder he keeps getting cursed if he keeps wandering off and nobody notices. They should put him on a leash or something. Speaking of the hat, how did he think he was going to smuggle that out without somebody asking what he's hiding under his jacket? He's counting on everybody ignoring him, isn't he?

Initially, I didn't care the least bit about Outlaw Queen. With the reveal that Regina was about to kill Marian originally, I thought I could never be okay with that pairing and started actively disliking it. By now with the way Robin is written, I'm starting to actually root for Regina to get far, far away from him, because even she deserves better than that guy. He's the worst.

To be fair, I was wondering the same when I watched the episode and all that about Marian being frozen was somehow Emma's fault, and how Emma screwed Regina over. Like, seriously, show? Are you sure we're talking about the same events here? So maybe we are watching a different show and the reviewer watched the same show the characters must have watched? I don't know. And again, how is Regina's life even ruined? Seriously, even if we imagine that Emma brought Marian with her deliberately to screw with Outlaw Queen, how would that be ruining Regina's life? It would be mean, but Regina's life doesn't depend on that relationship. She was fine a week ago when the relationship didn't exist. She still has Henry, she still has a support system - not that she'd appreciate it - and the people of Storybrooke actually show her some respect, way more than they should. She doesn't have to pay for her crimes, she's just tolerated if not even accepted in Storybrooke. She just lost a boyfriend, nothing else has changed. How is that a ruined life?

Sometimes I don't know why I bother with this show - and then they throw in that lovely Captain Swan scene at the end. Not that it was enough to drown out the awfulness of the episode, but at least it ended on a nicer note. Well, I did like the flashbacks, although they were a bit predictable. And I thought the Snowing plot was sweet. I liked Elsa's part, although she was quite naive going after "Anna", and Elizabeth Mitchell continues to be awesome. Oh, and Sidney. Absolutely loved everything Sidney. But I just can't with Regina. I feel like a broken record about it, but she just keeps getting more and more awful. Sure, she gets points for working really hard on saving Marian. I'm saying that without irony, that's the good if hard thing to do and credit where credit is due. But then she turns around and says so many awul things that it cancels out those points at least ten times. Emma ruined her life? Because she lost a relationship. Even ignoring the details of that, a break up does not equal a ruined life. Is she taking pointers from Bella Swan now? And the whole Marian situation is Emma's fault? This is just so ridiculous. And her blow-up at Sidney - "How dare you betray me, right after I imprisoned you for... well, forever really, and forgetting you there, only to free you, only to imprison you yet again.... HOW DARE YOU, TRAITOR?" Regina thinks self-awareness is some kind of disease, doesn't she? And I hate how Emma is groveling to her. Her and Regina's situation aren't similar, Regina could never understand her - Regina doesn't understand anybody, not even herself. And more importantly, she doesn't even bother to try and understand other people. It's like she's a black hole and everybody coming close to her is dragged into her aura of suck. I'll go back and watch the chainsaw-to-appletree-scene again. That was awesome, I want that Emma back.

Hey, she totally made her a cake! Turnover... something. She baked for Emma! And how did Emma repay her? By not paying attention and letting Henry steal some.

I'm dreading the continuation of the Hook storyline. Somehow, I don't believe that he does the smart thing and just tells Emma everything. I find that sad, I remember how happy I was after Good Form when they wrote the smart thing instead of the cliched "keep stupid secrets from each other" plot - but then there was this whole cursed lips thing which was just too stupid to bear. Now, let's look at it from a character perspective. Hook once told Emma the truth and it worked out, and once he kept it a secret from her and it blew up in his face. He's not saying a word, is he? Oh, and also, did I miss something in Anna's wording to Rumple or did she tell him to never hurt her or her sister? What about Kristoff? Or the rest of Arrendale? Should they be worried now?

So who of the other characters is? I guess you could make an argument for one-shot characters like Cinderella (although I think that was more about her child), or Milah, but who of the major female characters apart from Belle is defined by a man?

I don't think that's true. Yes, at the moment she isn't involved with anyone, but is it standing on her own when the second she loses her boyfriend, her first reaction is trying to kill his wife? Besides, I wouldn't say most of the characters who are involved in a romantic plot are defined by their man. Emma is still to me more defined by her issues, despite the developments with Hook. Snow is just as much defined by Charming as Charming is by her. Anna is engaged but so far not one part of her story ha been about Elsa, and Elsa herself is completely uninvolved. There is still Belle, who granted, isn't much more than a prop to Rumpel, and I guess Marian is mostly defined through this season's triangle of doom. But compared to most of the other characters I don't see Regina as a glowing example of standing on her own.

I loved most of the episode - Emma-Charming, Elsa-Hook, Elsa-Kristoff, Emma-Hook, and everything Elizabeth Mitchell. Hated the town's people attitude and mob mentality, and anything Robin Hood. The worst thing was of course, the Regina-Henry scene. I'm beyond done with the Regina white-washing (though to be honest, I've been fed up with it in season 2), and I'm by now really disgusted by Henry. Okay, I've been since he told Regina he never should have brought Emma to Storybrooke. It's one thing to forgive (or rather forget) all the abuse he received from her, but he's also ignoring everything she's done to everybody else - including Emma. And now he's completely on her side. She wasn't a villain, oh no, the book just misrepresented her by faithfully documenting everything she did. ...wait... But I realized, there was some truth in their conversation, when Regina asked if the plan was insane and Henry said it was the best plan she ever had. Well, yes, it is. That's probably the best plan Regina ever had. Sure, still insane and ridiculous and doomed to failure, but for Regina it still qualifies for the best-of.