S04.E11: Shattered Sight

[Camera One]

Kristoff was more "mean" with Anna if that.

 

Yeah, what Kristoff said to Anna at the beach was way more "real" than the jokester stuff they gave the main characters.  That was more in tune with the spirit of the Shattered Sight spell that we saw with Anna & Elsa in the flashback.

[KAOS Agent]

 

4A was all about Emma's relationship to her magic and her self-acceptance.

 

No, it wasn't. 4A had four stories: Frozen (which is completely meaningless), Regina's, Ingrid's and Rumpel's. When watching this show, you'll note that there is a pattern in the writing in that each story is told for one character. Every other character that is brought in to interact with that particular story may end up with a brief moment of development, but largely whatever happens, no matter how seemingly big it should be for the character, it is only there to further the plot and will be resolved quickly with little to no actual screen time. If you see a particular character's actions fall into this description, you should never expect any sort of decent resolution to that story because the writers are only viewing their tale through the plot prism that dictates what must happen to get from point A to point B. For example. Hook regained his hand and lost it again in the same episode. That's a huge thing for this man and yet, it's never mentioned or even alluded to again because the writers don't care about Hook & his hand, it was about setting up the Rumpel blackmail. Emma is the character that is always placed into this massive conflict/zero resolution role because they never write a season arc that is her story (Season 1 is a quasi exception). Emma's role is always a facilitator to push the plot, but she is consistently pushed to the background in the end.

 

Here we have Ingrid's story concluding and Emma should seemingly have a role in its end. We spent an entire season working up to Emma and Elsa defeating Ingrid. Instead, Anna shows up out of nowhere and saves the day. Emma didn't even need to be there. If they'd cared one bit for the story that they had built up using Emma, the least they would have done was shown her later reaction to Ingrid's death and getting her memories back now that she has a better understanding of what was happening at the time. That should have been a big thing for her. But we don't get to see that because it was never about Emma. 

[Kimmature]

Binge watching season 4, and damn, I hope that the Frozen storyline is over now.  Loved the actress that played Elsa, but the characters were just abysmally stupid.  Could Anna and Kristoff together put together two syllables in a row?  The reindeer seemed more interesting than either of them.  What would happen if they had a child?  And if you're an ice queen, wouldn't you perhaps not choose to be clad in cheap sky blue polyester with skating school sequins haphazardly sewn on? 

 

I did actually like this episode- no real surprises, but it was nice to see a bit of snark, and humour.  I'm a bit tired of the 'biology is destiny' thing, and I'm pretty tired of adults whining about childhood traumas (get help, over get over it).  It was nice to see Ginnifer and Josh go at each other a bit.  I would have appreciated a bit of Jiminy Cricket letting himself go onscreen.    

[Shanna Marie]

This one was better than I remembered. The main part of the story with Emma and Elsa and then with Anna was actually rather moving. I know it wasn't popular at the time, but I liked Anna being the one to be able to stop Ingrid because that fit the theme. It took love from a nonmagical person to reach Ingrid. Emma doing something would have only confirmed Ingrid's worldview, but Anna really forced her to change. And I liked that it wasn't resolved by violence, though it was sad that Ingrid had to die (especially given that her body count and evil levels were a lot lower than some villains who are allowed to be members of the community).

It was heartbreaking how close poor Emma came to having a real home and family, only to lose it. Ingrid really screwed up there.

The main problem with this episode was that the curse itself was given such slapstick treatment. The mean barbs from Kristoff and between the Charmings seemed more in the spirit of the concept of the curse than the wacky brawling on Main Street. They might have eventually got to the point of physical violence when the hatred built up, but this was more like a Three Stooges or Marx Brothers thing that just had people running around being randomly violent. There were no real consequences, especially with the laughing at the end that made you expect an 80s TV show freeze frame to hit (or like Police Squad, where they just freeze rather than freeze frame, so things keep happening around them). Instead of laughing because of how silly they were, they should have been rethinking their relationships based on what they'd realized they thought about each other. The things that were said would have hurt, and they couldn't be un-said. Knowing it was a curse might have eased it somewhat, but it should have taken some cooling off time.

[KingOfHearts]

I feel bad for the Swan Queen shippers. Instead of True Love, they got True Hatred.

13 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

It was heartbreaking how close poor Emma came to having a real home and family, only to lose it. Ingrid really screwed up there.

I have mixed feelings about the Ingrid/Emma stuff, mostly because of how inconsequential it is. Emma doesn't get her memories restored until Ingrid's final moments, and there's really no reaction to them. It doesn't affect her character development at all, as important as that connection was supposed to be. If anything, it just fuels Ingrid's goal to have her magical sisters. It benefits her character more than Emma. At this point, we've already seen Emma betrayed in similar ways by Lily, August, and Neal, so to have it happen *again* is quite ridiculous.

It could've worked better if literally anyone reacted to it. What would Snow think?

Edited February 16, 2019 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

12 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

It could've worked better if literally anyone reacted to it. What would Snow think?

Hello fan,

I don't think you will wonder what Snow thinks when you see what we have in store next week and next arc!  

We don't waste our time looking back - we always look to the future!  

Hope you can learn from our life philosophy,

Adam and Eddy

28 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

The things that were said would have hurt, and they couldn't be un-said. Knowing it was a curse might have eased it somewhat, but it should have taken some cooling off time.

Hello fan,

Don't dwell on yesterday when you can look towards tomorrow.  Who cares if a friend said hurtful things to you or tries to kill you?   Forgive and forget is one of the lessons we try to teach on this show.  And we do take it literally.

Sincerely,

Adam and Eddy

[profdanglais]

13 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

I feel bad for the Swan Queen shippers. Instead of True Love, they got True Hatred.

And yet that still didn't put them off. 

[Camera One]

"Sorry I tried to kill you. (laughs)" - really sums up this show.

I just rewatched this one, and there were some really good elements (and the usual crap).  It was fun seeing the Snow Queen talking to the fake fortune teller.  They did a good job of making Ingrid speak in more formal English.  But then Anna was her usual colloquial self.  

This was the only villain who actually sacrificed themselves in redemption and immediately saw and acknowledged the evil they had committed and made it up for it.  I was still moved by Ingrid's death.

Spoiler

Compare this to Cora's sacrifice in 5B where it was only about her daughters and not about anyone else.

I wonder if Ingrid was actually happy with her job of being a foster mother while she was waiting for Emma.  Did she get used to a life without magic and life in the modern world?

So the ribbons wasn't what made Elsa and Emma immune to the Shattered Sight Curse?  This was my major quibble with this episode when I first watched it... the ridiculous hate cancels out love randomly panning out and then Emma and Elsa letting Regina loose so we could have that dumb confrontation at the police station.

The Shattered Sight stuff was very diluted in this episode.  Mirror Belle and Shattered Sight Anna really spit out deep hidden truths that they had kept suppressed.  Yet Snow said that David had no business being royalty?  Did she ever think that?  I seriously doubt it.  I guess it was supposed to be funny, but having Dwarves and Granny not in seclusion and trying to kill each other on Main Street was just idiotic.  At least give a reason for why they were loose.  

I guess there was a reason Robin Hood was MIA this episode because we really wouldn't want to hear the truth bombs he had for Regina.  I'm sure the Merry Men could have said what they REALLY think of Robin Hood for what he did to Marian.  

The brief appearance of The Evil Queen

Spoiler

gave me bad flashbacks of Season 6.  A&E were already itching to get her back in 4A.  One episode wasn't enough, we need an entire season.

Edited February 16, 2019 by Camera One

[tennisgurl]

Like many things these season, this episode was half really good (if rushed and lacking in the fall out I wanted) and half really stupid and ridiculous. Basically, its 4A in a nutshell. The Frozen stuff is some of the best they've had in awhile, and the other more Storeybrooke based stuff is just confusing and off putting. 

Ingrid's backstory with Emma, redemption, and death happened much more quickly than I would have wanted, but I still thought it was a really good ending to her character, and I was actually moved by her realization of what a monster she has become, and her sacrifice to save everyone. Compared to so many "its not my fault!" villains, I really appreciated that she realized that she had made terrible choices and that now she had to pay the price to save innocent lives, but made peace with that. Like I said, I wish it had taken a few more minutes or a scene or two, but I was happy that her story didnt end in more violence, and finding some kind of happy ending. On the other hand, it sucks that Ingrid had to die, while other villains who did much worse than her and showed not close to her remorse are allowed to go about their merry way. 

Ingrid meeting the fake psychic was hilarious, and makes me sad we never got any brief flashbacks to how Ingrid went from not knowing what money or cars are, to being so assimilated into the modern world that she could run a foster home, and adopt a kid. How did she forge a new identity so complete that she could even take in foster kids? Of course, in the Land Without Magic, its been established that pretty much anyone can come in off the street and adopt a kid, so who knows? It actually seemed like Ingrid was alright at being a foster mom (fostering teenage revenge on bullies aside), her personality seemed like a good mix of nurturing and steely to work with foster kids, especially teenage ones. 

On the other hand, for as much as the spell of shattered sight was hyped up as being so scary and evil and would make the town kill each other, most of it was just wacky hijinks. I mean, there were people literally just flailing their arms at each other in the background! Or just walking around like everything was normal! Someone give those poor extras some direction! And Granny and the Dwarfs just having slap fights, it wasnt scary, it was a 3 stooges bit! And Snow/Charming/Regina had some funny lines, and some moments I full on cheered, like when Snow rightfully reminded Regina that she was fucking TEN when Cora manipulated that secret out of her. Build a bridge and get over it! And then there are no consequences, and everyone just laughs like idiots like its the end of an 80s sitcom or something. Not exactly worth all of the hype. 

So, was Regina under a spell, or was she just pissed that her pizza was slow getting to her crypt? You decide!

This is a real low point in Rumples time as a character, as he has basically none of what made him so compelling in the first place. No more understandable goals, no more moral ambiguity, no more character arc, now he is just a mustache twirling bad guy who cackles about leaving the town behind to burn. Rumple has done tons of evil things, but he just comes across as so one note at this point, even in ways that Imp Rumple never did. 

[Camera One]

Was this the first time on this show Belle took a nap in the shop while there was danger outside?

Did Rumple get tired of hearing Belle's venomous words towards him?

Edited February 17, 2019 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

We really missed out on Mirror Belle coming to life through the Shattered Sight spell. I think it was kind of ridiculous how many exceptions there were to the spell. Belle, Hook, Rumple, Anna, Elsa, Emma, and Ingrid were all unaffected and we didnt even see Robin. What was really the point if only half the characters got cursed? There were some missed opportunities there.

[Camera One]

Plus every time they trot out The Evil Queen, she's hardly evil at all.  Instead of killing Snowing outright, she decides to go for a swordfight?  It's impossible NOT to look to see the strings behind the puppet and see that there was no danger or stakes.   

They couldn't have Robin Hood around because if he saw The Evil Queen, and STILL makes excuses for her, then it's even more pathetic.  

If Snow had to be mean with Charming, she should be pointing out his weakness in Season 1 when he was with Kathryn, or 3A when he kept the secret of the nightshade from her, or heck, not helping enough with the baby.  Why is Whale always being dredged up?  Charming could express the stuff he said to Robin in "The Tower" about always being in Snow's shadow and his opinions not being heard, or maybe griping about Snow sacrificing his heart in 3B.  

In another case of a strong female hurting a man for laughs, we got Anna breaking a wine bottle over Kristoff's head which could have killed him, no?  If it was that easy, they should have given everyone a concussion, or at the very least, buy out all the sleeping pills at the pharmacy and given everyone a supply.  

Spoiler

They probably left Shattered Sight Belle out, so it would be more powerful next episode when she finds out the truth about Rumple.

Edited February 17, 2019 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

I would've liked to see the Evil Queen go after Robin while he was tied to a tree. What does Regina really think of him deep down? Would she kill him? That could've complicated things if Robin saw her that way and would've been really interesting. But you know, we gotta play it safe. Constantly. 24/7. Every episode.

[Camera One]

9 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

I would've liked to see the Evil Queen go after Robin while he was tied to a tree. What does Regina really think of him deep down? Would she kill him? That could've complicated things if Robin saw her that way and would've been really interesting. But you know, we gotta play it safe. Constantly. 24/7. Every episode.

That would have been a hell of a lot more interesting than another round of Evil Queen vs. Snow, uh Mary Margaret.  

I guess they didn't want us to really know what Regina thinks of Robin Hood deep down.  They just want us to believe they were truly and deeply in love with each other.  Regina's Shattered Sight self was The Evil Queen, who was a "different person" so really, she should have seen Robin Hood as a total loser.  

Spoiler

Or maybe not because they lived happily ever after in the Wish Realm.

[KingOfHearts]

Did they explain what they did with Marian? Wouldn't Regina have killed her without hesitation? That, again, would've been more interesting. She'd have the choice of either covering it up or coming clean that she killed her while cursed by the spell.

I feel like in general there should've been ways to counterattack the violent side effects of the spell. They would use protection spells to keep everybody from brawling in a free for all on main street. How did they protect the kids? Was Roland really safe with Little John? People would've been fighting over the jail cells prior. It's such favoritism that Snowing got it.

Edited February 17, 2019 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

23 hours ago, Camera One said:

The Shattered Sight stuff was very diluted in this episode.  Mirror Belle and Shattered Sight Anna really spit out deep hidden truths that they had kept suppressed.  Yet Snow said that David had no business being royalty?  Did she ever think that?

It was really chilling when they showed Anna under the effects of the spell because she was speaking truths. There really was a part of her that would have resented Elsa locking herself away and shutting Anna out. Anna's childhood sucked because of the way Elsa treated her. When she's in her right mind, she knows that Elsa wasn't doing it to hurt her, that Elsa was afraid because she'd nearly killed Anna accidentally, and Elsa and their parents were trying to do what was best. Plus, it was Anna's love for her sister that made being shut out hurt so much. But if Anna's unable to see the good parts or feel the love, all that's left is resentment.

And it should have been that way for the rest of the characters. The end of the previous episode when the spell hit and you could see it on the Charmings' faces was wonderful. Some of the things they said to each other might have been things they think. I can see how David would be hurt by the fact that Snow slept with Whale (and she might be hurt that he'd slept with Kathryn. In their right minds, they know that it was the curse that made them do that (and why are they friends with the person who did that to them deliberately?), but if they have to focus on the negative, that might come out. Even the jab about getting the stroller used works because I'm sure that someone raised in abject poverty and someone raised as a princess would have very different approaches to money. Remove the love, and it becomes something to resent or mock. But I don't believe that Snow has ever thought that David had no business being royalty.

I'm not sure what they were trying to do with Regina. Is she barely holding on to being Regina, with the Evil Queen being what you get when you remove the positive? The things she was saying were things she's been pretty open about, so it's not like they were hidden feelings that are normally tempered by love and understanding. She's never refuted any of the things that were attitudes she held until very recently, so this is hardly a change. Remove all the positives from Regina, and she's not too different than she usually is, just in different clothes. The things Snow was saying to her were just truths. They were things that it would be healthy for Snow to admit to herself. How is it evil to point out that she was a child when she "betrayed" Regina? How is that something that comes about because she loses all that's positive?

I felt like they devolved too quickly into slapstick violence. It should have been more of a slow buildup of hidden resentments until finally they were at each other's throats. They shouldn't have instantly started trying to kill each other.

With what Henry was saying to Hook, was that what he really believed? What positives would he usually be balancing that with? It's hard to see any positive context that would give "dirty pirate" and hating that Hook was dating Emma a different meaning.

And they really shouldn't have gone straight to laughing after hitting each other with all those painful truths. There should have been a rush to try to explain -- yeah, I said that, but I know why you did the thing I was mad about, and I understand, so I'm not normally hating you for that reason.

This should have been a really emotional episode that had long-term consequences to all the relationships. They should have been given a lot of food for thought.

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

In another case of a strong female hurting a man for laughs, we got Anna breaking a wine bottle over Kristoff's head which could have killed him, no?

That made me cringe, and as long as he was unconscious, that was a serious injury. But I've given up on fighting that battle and decided to just go with the fact that TV head injuries are nothing like real-life head injuries. You can barely hit someone, knock them out for hours, and they wake up with no ill effects. You can smash a bottle over someone's head, and there's no glass embedded in the scalp, no lacerations, they just go to sleep for a little while.

[Camera One]

1 minute ago, KingOfHearts said:

Did they explain what they did with Marian? Wouldn't Regina have killed her without hesitation? That, again, would've been more interesting. She'd have the choice of either covering it up or coming clean that she killed her while cursed by the spell.

Good question.  Funny thing is we were probably supposed to have forgotten about her and we basically did.

[Camera One]

On 2/15/2019 at 7:08 PM, Shanna Marie said:

It was heartbreaking how close poor Emma came to having a real home and family, only to lose it. Ingrid really screwed up there.

This got me thinking.

What would have happened if Ingrid didn't screw up and she did adopt Emma successfully?

Would Emma still have met Neal?  After all, Peter Pan did have Henry's picture around years before. 

If Henry was never born, how would Regina have dealt with her loneliness and need for love (LOL).

Would Ingrid have taken Emma to Storybrooke when she turned 28?  Or earlier? 

I'm guessing the smarter thing to do would be for Ingrid to use the scroll to get into Storybrooke to try to find the urn with Elsa inside.  She wouldn't be able to find it, so presumably, she would need to "wake up" Rumple to ask.  

What would Ingrid tell Emma about her origins?

Spoiler

What would The Apprentice tell August to do?

Would Lily be able to find Emma again if Emma was living with Ingrid?

There were so many possible alt scenarios to explore with this show.  

Edited February 17, 2019 by Camera One

[Kktjones]

On 2/15/2019 at 9:21 PM, KingOfHearts said:

I feel bad for the Swan Queen shippers. Instead of True Love, they got True Hatred.

Can someone remind me how the Shattered Sight spell works? That is, are the things people say and do caused by the spell? Or does the spell just bring out real, sometime sub-conscious, feelings? So, does David really think the baby could be Whale's? Does Henry really think Hook is a "dirty pirate"? Does Regina really have "true hatred" towards Emma? Or are these just feelings/thoughts given to them by the spell? Was it ever explained in the show? I feel like it must be the fault of the spell and not their real feelings - otherwise they wouldn't all be laughing about it a few minutes later, right?

Edited February 17, 2019 by Kktjones

[Camera One]

32 minutes ago, Kktjones said:

Can someone remind me how the Shattered Sight spell works? 

Unfortunately, it worked however the Writers wanted it to work... it was inconsistent depending on the person being affected.

Here were various ways in which it was defined/described:

From "Family Business" (assuming the mirror Belle looked into was the same spell as Shattered Sight)

Belle - "It spoke to me and made me... made me believe all these horrible things."

From "Smash the Mirror"

Anna - "It made his subjects see only the worst in the ones they loved.  And they turned on each other, destroying themselves."

Ingrid - "A spell that reveals her true feelings, even if she wasn't able to admit them before... Her deepest, darkest emotions now brought into the light."

From "Fall"

Gold - "It'll bring out the darkness in everyone in this town."

From "Shattered Sight"

Elsa - "They're their worst selves."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Though Anna made it sound like they could fight it..

Anna - "Stop it.  I mean, I have to say I expected more from the two of you.  Use your heads.  Think back to what it was like before the spell changed you."

Edited February 17, 2019 by Camera One

[Kktjones]

7 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Unfortunately, it worked however the Writers wanted it to work.

Here were various ways in which it was defined/described:

Thank you for finding all those quotes! I really wish they added up to a real explanation, but it sounds like the spell brings out people's deep, dark feelings and maybe exaggerates them a bit. What a mess!

[Shanna Marie]

27 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Anna - "Stop it.  I mean, I have to say I expected more from the two of you.  Use your heads.  Think back to what it was like before the spell changed you."

Oh, that reminds me, we have yet another case of someone seeming to know that Snow White and Prince Charming is a thing, in spite of being from the fairy tale world where they aren't a story. Anna was frozen during the time David became a prince and married Snow White. She might have known that Mary Margaret was Snow White and that Snow was a princess, if, say, Snow and Leopold had gone to Elsa's coronation. Royalty tends to know each other. But how would Anna have known to give them the "You're Snow White and Prince Charming!" pep talk? It's like Hook snarking about the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming not believing in the Wicked Witch of the West, when he shouldn't have known that there was anything ironic there. "Charming" is Snow's pet name for her husband, not something Anna would have had any reason to know, since he got that name while she was frozen and she's been in Storybrooke less than a day. And she would have had no reason to know that there was anything special about them that should make them rise above the spell.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

With what Henry was saying to Hook, was that what he really believed? What positives would he usually be balancing that with? It's hard to see any positive context that would give "dirty pirate" and hating that Hook was dating Emma a different meaning.

That could have been interesting because maybe deep down or a part of him doesn't want Emma dating anyone. He's only had her back in his life for a little while maybe he's not ready for someone else to join their family. Or maybe he doesn't want her to because she's the only biological parent he has left since losing his father. Or maybe because she's the only stable and sane parent he has. His other mommy keeps going off the rails and worrying she's going to murder someone or something. Or maybe after seeing Regina react to losing her boyfriend and refusing to see him that Emma will do the same thing. Or maybe he's worried given his father sent his mother to jail for his crimes and her next boyfriend who proposed turned out to being a flying monkey. Maybe he's worried she'll get hurt or both of them. With the spell it all gets brought to the surface. 

[Camera One]

12 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

His other mommy keeps going off the rails and worrying she's going to murder someone or something. 

Interesting that we never got to see Shattered Sight Henry say any truths to Regina, eh?  That surely should have made "dirty pirate" seem like a quirky compliment by comparison.

Edited February 17, 2019 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

It's weird Rumple even bothered to spare Henry in this episode. He doesn't seem to give a crap about him most of the time, especially in later seasons. 

[Camera One]

5 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

It's weird Rumple even bothered to spare Henry in this episode. He doesn't seem to give a crap about him most of the time, especially in later seasons. 

I wonder if that was just a way to use Hook this episode.  Rumple himself was MIA for much of the Shattered Sight spell.  What the hell was he doing anyway?  

[Shanna Marie]

2 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Or maybe he's worried given his father sent his mother to jail for his crimes and her next boyfriend who proposed turned out to being a flying monkey. Maybe he's worried she'll get hurt or both of them. With the spell it all gets brought to the surface. 

So, Henry actually really likes Hook enough to worry what will happen to him, given Emma's track record, and to worry about what that would do to Emma, and that's the positive stripped away by the spell, so all that's left is the negative "I hate you being with my mom"? I guess that works. Of course, it would have been nice if we'd seen Henry and Hook interacting, instead of all those offscreen sailing lessons.

It's interesting that Hook only really takes offense at the "dirty pirate" part, objecting that he does bathe frequently. He doesn't seem to be hurt or all that bothered by the insults, but he's pleased by the fact that Emma has apparently referred to them as being together. Or is the lack of hurt feelings due to his heart being out of his body? If he's able to be pleased, then he should be able to be hurt.

Still, though, you'd think hearing Henry say these things would affect the way Hook approaches Henry, or that he'd want to have a talk with Emma about it.

[KingOfHearts]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

I wonder if that was just a way to use Hook this episode.  Rumple himself was MIA for much of the Shattered Sight spell.  What the hell was he doing anyway?  

Probably staring at his unconscious wife while stroking his Dagger.

[superloislane]

13 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

The things Snow was saying to her were just truths. They were things that it would be healthy for Snow to admit to herself. How is it evil to point out that she was a child when she "betrayed" Regina? How is that something that comes about because she loses all that's positive?

When she's Good Snow she accepts the blame for totally ruining Regina's life and for being a brat as she should, but Evil Snow blames poor, screwed over Regina and points out that she was only ten when all of it happened

[Shanna Marie]

On 2/16/2019 at 7:12 PM, tennisgurl said:

On the other hand, for as much as the spell of shattered sight was hyped up as being so scary and evil and would make the town kill each other, most of it was just wacky hijinks. I mean, there were people literally just flailing their arms at each other in the background! Or just walking around like everything was normal! Someone give those poor extras some direction! And Granny and the Dwarfs just having slap fights, it wasnt scary, it was a 3 stooges bit!

Thinking about this ... why were the townspeople attacking each other instead of putting together a mob to go after Regina? Surely there's still some resentment there, and strip away the civility and any gratitude they feel from her stopping the failsafe, and what you're left with is the fact that she cursed them and planned to kill them all. Surely she'd be target number one, and only after they'd dealt with her would they turn on each other.

[KingOfHearts]

The Shattered Sight spell really needed more than one episode. I think making it two episodes would've provided enough time to create tension without overstaying its welcome. At the end of the first episode, everyone's at their throats, so when it's resolved the next week, it's more impactful. Trying to cram everything in 42 minutes forced the writers to keep it superficial.

[Camera One]

Maybe the Fairies could say they won't be able to stop the Spell, but they will mitigate it by preventing anyone from killing one another.  This would make the insults verbal and focus on hard-hitting emotionally-driven accusations.  I know it would make the situation less dire if people won't kill each other, but we already knew that wouldn't happen anyway.  Maybe Ingrid's plan could be everyone hates each other so much they would disperse once the ice wall came down and they never see or find their loved ones again.  Or maybe with enough hatred and anger, people would self-destruct.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Camera One

[tennisgurl]

Its so sad, because these people have so many real, legit beefs with each other. Not only do I refuse to believe that no one is even a teeny bit still pissed off at Regina, but there are probably more than a few people who are at least subconsciously resentful of Snow and Charming for not only letting her go when they could have executed her, but have now declared her forgiven without any justice being served for their dead and injured neighbors and loved ones. Especially Snow, who was their symbol of resistance for so long, only for her to let Regina go with a warning, where she would wreck even more havoc. There is so much they could do with Shattered Sight, so many actual issues that the characters could have hashed out, without worrying about consequences or propriety. The whole town stops being polite, and starts getting real! But, Regina is the only one allowed to be mad at anyone (even if its for dumb reasons) and no one can bring up the legit grievances that anyone has with each other, or the whole moral house of cards comes crashing down, and we see what assholes we have running this show. And, as always, this show has no interest in the even slightly emotionally complex, when they could have Regina in full Evil Queen mode, and have some more stupid hijnks. 

[KingOfHearts]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

when they could have Regina in full Evil Queen mode

But the sad thing is that Regina wasn't even in full Evil Queen mode. We should've seen her that way, but here, she wasn't threatening. She was just a cartoon version of the villain we saw in S1. But back then, she had some gravitas and smarts. She was crafty to some degree. I can't believe the EQ here is the same one that manipulated Belle into TLKing Rumple, or transformed into a hag to guilt trip Jefferson, or played diplomacy games with King George.