S04.E15: Enter The Dragon

[Shanna Marie]

In the category of "was this really what they wanted to say?" I found it interesting that the flashback was of Regina helping Mal find her way back to evil, while it looked an awful lot like the present-day story was Mal helping Regina find her way back to evil. Not that I think they would dare sully the Blessed St. Regina, but it did seem like she was a wee bit eager to go through with taking Pinocchio. She might think she's still in control and supposedly under cover, but might some part of her be kind of okay with what's going on so far because it stands a better chance of getting her what she wants than her own actions have? Having August to question might get her the information she wants, and she might be able to justify it to herself. Was ditching Emma really about securing her under cover role for some kind of greater good, or was she hoping to hang with the group long enough to see if they learn something? It could be a slippery slope for her back to evil if it's getting her what she wants and feels she deserves. After all, questioning someone who might know something (or who is good at forgery and knows something about bookbinding) will probably get her further than staring at a book and yelling at a clueless child ever did.

[Camera One]

I'm left not caring about Mal and her problems or that Regina helped turn her back into a murdering jerk. If I knew what horrible crime Briar Rose committed that justified not only putting a sleeping curse on her, but also her daughter, maybe I would care that Mal was in a deep funk and that she needed to get out of it. But, the flashbacks left me not knowing or caring.

 

Well said.  Without the broader context of what had happened with Maleficent, I had no stake in the story.  Add the fact that we already knew that Maleficent would get her groove back to curse Aurora, and we learned nothing except Cheerleader Regina was involved.  The only thing that was remotely interesting was the burning tree.

[stealinghome]

Oh man, and the burning tree CGI was so bad. The worst CGI this show has had in quite a while. It's like they really scrimped on the budget this episode, because the dragon was not great either.

 

Agree that the fairybacks in this episode were a big waste. We already knew Regina and Maleficent were "friends" from 1x02, so the fairybacks did diddly squat for telling us something we didn't know. Wasted opportunity to get into Briar Rose stuff--that would've been more interesting.

 

Ok so this is a random comment but after this flashback I'm left wondering how was Regina able to trick anyone into thinking that she loved a young Snow, anytime we see her she's never trying to be discreet about her hatred!  Surely someone in the castle must have heard her having a rant about Snow at some stage.

My headcanon has always been that by the time of Leopold's death, it was pretty common knowledge (at least in the castle) that Regina loathed Leopold and Snow both. Not that the flashbacks are always (ever) consistent, but Regina's little pity party/self-isolation in the Genie episode of S1 seemed to be pretty normal--no one in the court was like "whaaat?" And we've seen in multiple flashbacks now that Regina choosing not to spend time with Leopold and Snow was par for the course. That's the kind of stuff people are going to notice. So I'm guessing that by a year or two after the marriage, it became pretty apparent that Regina had no use for either Leopold or Snow.

 

Plus, I've always thought Goodwin played Snow in 1x08 as not surprised that Regina sent the Huntsman after her. I don't think Snow truly realized the depth of Regina's animus until later (though this is another place where the show is a little internally inconsistent), but she seemed to be unsurprised by the notion of a power grab/coup, at least.

Edited March 18, 2015 by stealinghome

[Camera One]

Plus, I've always thought Goodwin played Snow in 1x08 as not surprised that Regina sent the Huntsman after her. I don't think Snow truly realized the depth of Regina's animus until later (though this is another place where the show is a little internally inconsistent), but she seemed to be unsurprised by the notion of a power grab/coup, at least.

 

Maybe there's a missing flashback episode where Snow watches a three-act play by the castle staff about what Regina *really* does when she and Leopold were away touring the kingdom.

 

Isn't it a tad suspicious that the horse is not dead but in a never-ending slumber?  Is Snow supposed to know about this crime of Regina or not?  And when she finds out, will they have her say something like, "I was insufferable with arrogance about my horsemanship."  

Edited March 18, 2015 by Camera One

[kili]

Isn't it a tad suspicious that the horse is not dead but in a never-ending slumber?

 

Only the horse, Regina and Rumple know that it is in a never-ending slumber. Everybody else thinks that the horse is dead. Emma, Dr. Whale and modern medical devices all thoutght  that Henry was truly dead. The dwarfs thought Snow was dead. It is such a terrible curse because not only does it make you effectively dead, it tortures you (in a scary room). The caster gets the best of both worlds.

 

That's what irks me so much about what Regina did to that horse. If she had killed the horse, that's one thing. She gets her "revenge" on Snow and it's over for the horse. A crappy thing to do, but it stops there. But by using the curse, she gets her "revenge" on Snow, it's over for the horse and the horse gets tortured. I suppose that gives her some grim satisfaction in that she knows the horse will suffer for eternity, but what kind of warped person gets satisfaction like that from torturing an innocent animal?

 

What am I supposed to do with that? Because right now, I'm not liking Regina all that much. There is no way anybody can argue that she had to do that. It gains her nothing. It is just evil.

 

And when she finds out, will they have her say something like, "I was insufferable with arrogance about my horsemanship."

 

With TS, TW, probably. We were expected to sympathize with Regina because Marian didn't die in a fire, so I suppose we are meant to consider Snow a villain for going on with her life and developing a positive hobby. How dare she? How can she be so mean to Regina.?Thank heavens Regina finally got her back by torturing her horse. You go, Regina! That Author is so mean to hold that against you. Let those amongst us who have never burnt anybody to death or tortured an animal for eternity cast the first stone.

[stealinghome]

What am I supposed to do with that? Because right now, I'm not liking Regina all that much. There is no way anybody can argue that she had to do that. It gains her nothing. It is just evil.

No no no kili, you've got it all wrong. It's not Regina who hurt the horse, it's ~The Evil Queen, doncha know. They are TOTALLY TWO SEPARATE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM RELATED OR SIMILAR AT ALL AND YOU CANNOT BLAME SAINT WOEGINA FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE EVIL QUEEN. Get with it! ;)

Edited March 18, 2015 by stealinghome

[Shanna Marie]

And it was Snow's fault the horse had to be cursed. Regina really had no choice, you see. Snow couldn't keep a secret, and so Regina's love was killed, and then Regina became miserable, and the only way for Regina to be happy was to take away Snow's happiness, and the horse made Snow happy. So Snow made Regina curse the horse. Excuse me, the Evil Queen. Snow made the Evil Queen curse the horse. If Snow hadn't been such a child when she was ten and if she hadn't been going around daring to be happy in spite of the Evil Queen's terrible pain, and if she hadn't been torturing Regina by winning riding competitions, the horse wouldn't have been cursed.

[Camera One]

Didn't you see Snow flaunting her horse-riding skills outside?  For shame.  For that alone, her life needs to be ruined.

[Curio]

I wanted to get young Snow's perspective and see her reaction to her horse "dying." But I'd imagine the visual of a child walking into a stable, seeing all of her ribbons she won thrown onto the floor, and the image of her crying on the ground hugging her beloved pet while her step mom cackled in the background probably wouldn't mesh well with the writers' desperate mission to get Regina a happy ending.

[Camera One]

Someone probably told her that the stable was robbed and the horse was killed.  But that's not the story we are supposed to care about. 

 

Likewise, King Stefan, the Queen and Philip finding Aurora is not important.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Camera One

[scarynikki12]

what kind of warped person gets satisfaction like that from torturing an innocent animal?

 

Serial killers.  Honestly, torturing animals, particularly as children, is a commonality among serial killers.  They start with animals and work their way up to humans.  Even Regina followed this pattern as she tortured Snow's horse before going after Snow and killed her own horse in an attempt to create the Curse before killing her own father.  I'm guessing the writers are either unaware of this particular trait or they think that their viewers have never seen any of the procedurals that bring it up over and over.

[The Cake is a Pie]

You're all thinking too deepy about the horse. Obviously, the reason why the sleeping curse was used is so that we can't point out how evil Regina is because she killed an innocent horse, because the horse is "only sleeping." Like the writers even remember that they wrote the burning room purgatory for people under the curse.

Edited March 18, 2015 by The Cake is a Pie

[Camera One]

I don't know why all villains don't carry around that needle thingy and poke anyone who gets in their way.  So handy to have.

[orza]

It's a magical sleeping curse. I would assume that when Snow sees the horse and bends down to cry over it and kiss it goodbye that the horse will awaken and be fine. This is a fairytale and fairytale are full of this sort of stuff, as my 10-year-old niece pointed out last Sunday during our usual family viewing party. I don't see any need for all the pearl-clutching over the make-believe shenanigans of make-believe fairytale characters on a children's show.

[Rumsy4]

I don't see any need for all the pearl-clutching over the make-believe shenanigans of make-believe fairytale characters on a children's show.

Why bother discuss anything then? Let's shut down the boards. ;-p

I hardly think ONCE qualifies as a children's show. Besides, I've seen greater depth in shows actually targetted towards children (The Avatar, for example). So, that's no excuse for poor writing.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Rumsy4

[KAOS Agent]

Actually, I think the horse is in the mirrored room. You don't go to the burning room until the curse is broken. That said, everyone would have assumed the horse was dead, so now he's just been buried alive/cremated/turned into glue. What the writers failed to understand here is that you can kill adults or even children, but you can never kill pets. It's beyond the pale. And if Snow can True Love's Kiss her horse awake, then I take serious issue with the idea of the special-ness of True Love and with the efficacy of the sleeping curse at all. It also would make you question why Aurora's parents can't wake their daughter, but Snow could wake her horse. She loved her horse more than Aurora's parents love their daughter? It doesn't wash. 

[orza]

What the writers failed to understand here is that you can kill adults or even children, but you can never kill pets. It's beyond the pale.

 

But there has been no outcry, not in the mainstream media, Pets sometimes get killed on TV when it fits the story being told. Most people maintain perspective and know that it is all make-believe and in the case of this show, this is a fairytale that does not reflect real-world values and morals.

[Dani-Ellie]

I unexpectedly had to put down my pet three nights before the show aired, so what Regina did to that horse struck me as unbelievably cruel. So frankly, I don't give a shit if there's no mainstream media outcry. Regina destroyed something Snow loved simply because Snow loved it. Plain and simple. It was cruel and it was petty and it was evil, and it did absolutely nothing to endear Regina to me.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Dani-Ellie

[Curio]

I don't see any need for all the pearl-clutching over the make-believe shenanigans of make-believe fairytale characters on a children's show.

 

I don't actually care what happened to the horse because, yeah, it's fiction and a fairy tale or whatever so I know the horse is going to be fine whenever it wakes up eventually. But I was more trying to point out how we barely ever get the hero's perspective anymore on this show, which in this case, would have been Snow's reaction to seeing her horse "die." The show isn't good at balancing between showing both the "hero" and "villain" perspectives equally, so the audience is skewed towards liking the villains more because their perspective is constantly pushed down our throats. The writers manipulate us into feeling bad for Regina because hers is literally the only perspective we get to see anymore.

 

And even though this is a "fairytale" show, real-world values and morals still need to be applied because that was the whole point of Storybrooke - it brought these fairytale characters into the real world where real actions have consequences. (Or, at least they used to in Season 1.) If we don't apply our real world morality into the show, then anyone can basically get away with anything because they can just wink at the camera and say, "I just killed someone but lol it doesn't matter because this is a fantasy show so get over it." If that's the case, then why bother getting invested in these characters? They merely become 1-dimensional cardboard cartoons. (Shoot, I think we've already reached that point...)

Edited March 19, 2015 by Curio

[Rumsy4]

Regina has done literally all the things in the baddest villain handbook, starting from mass murder, to literally burning people to death, that it probably has stopped fazing people. But I don't understand the argument that it's all make-believe. I want a story to be internally consistent, even if the set up is different from the real world. I didn't buy that Regina deserves a happy ending in the present, when she was shown as being petty over a young girl's sporting medals, and being needlessly cruel to animals. Maybe if it had been a dog, or if Snow had been shown to pet her horse in an earlier scene, there would have been more balance. However, the writers were only interested in showing Regina's perspective in that flashback. 

 

ETA:

The writers manipulate us into feeling bad for Regina because hers is literally the only perspective we get to see anymore... If that's the case, then why bother getting invested in these characters? They merely become 1-dimensional cardboard cartoons.

 

Jinx, Curio! And yes--I agree. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by Rumsy4

[Shanna Marie]

But I was more trying to point out how we barely ever get the hero's perspective anymore on this show, which in this case, would have been Snow's reaction to seeing her horse "die."

I think that does contribute a lot to the sense of Woegina, St. Victimus. We see every tear she sheds, every ounce of pain, in minute detail, while no other character is allowed to react to anything. We don't get to see Snow react to her horse's apparent death, just Regina's pain at seeing Snow happy and winning prizes. We don't get to see anyone in Aurora's family react to her being under the curse, just Mal's drugged-out moping. Considering that these things were supposedly about causing pain, it's odd that we don't get to actually see that pain. We just get to see the triumph of the ones inflicting the pain, and it's treated like a victory.

[KingOfHearts]

 

I think that does contribute a lot to the sense of Woegina, St. Victimus. We see every tear she sheds, every ounce of pain, in minute detail, while no other character is allowed to react to anything.

Replying in All Seasons.

[jhlipton]

My only thought is that if Belle had said "Dark One, show yourself!"< Rumple would have totally screwed.  Instead she said something that no one ever says!

[Camera One]

Belle said what Hookstiltskin suggested.  Lucky for him she used the exact words.

 

HOOKSTILTSKIN: Well, if you're concerned he's here, There's one way to know for sure.  Use the dagger.  Command him to come face you.  If he's here, he has no choice.

 

BELLE:  Dark One, if you're here, Come and face me now.

 

[Thunder crashes in distance]  BELLE: [sighs] Well, guess I was wrong.

 

At least it turned out better onscreen than the way it looks written down, LOL.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Camera One

[Joenigma]

 

My only thought is that if Belle had said "Dark One, show yourself!"< Rumple would have totally screwed.  Instead she said something that no one ever says!

 

Yeah... imagine if Belle had said "Dark One, reveal yourself to me!"

 

 

Regina has done literally all the things in the baddest villain handbook, starting from mass murder, to literally burning people to death, that it probably has stopped fazing people.

 

What is infuriating is that, to A&E, all of this is considered justified because a 10 year old didn't keep a secret.

[Mitch]

Actually the horse thing bothered me too..though I had to laugh at the credits they had Animal Cruelty Blurb that no pets were harmed..as if we think a sleeping curse is real.   Anyway, it bothers me as I am a sick person and I can deal with people, even kids being hurt on TV but no animals..and that a horse doesnt have a brain to know that the burnging room isnt real like a person does.  I fanwanked Snow did come and kiss the horse goodby and the next morning Regina saw her riding it hale and hearty and she said, "Drats....will nothing I do work!" So she would have no idea how the curse got broken.

 

Anway, what bothers me is this shows stupid cartoony way of writing characters. At this point Regina should still be new to this and feel remorse...we should have seen her goaded to do it by Rump and her hesitating and then see some ambiguous look on her face. For some reason Parrila rocked it in S1 but after that she plays Regina like a cartoon evil queen or a whine box all the time. Its very unsatisfying viewing.

[Camera One]

Anway, what bothers me is this shows stupid cartoony way of writing characters. At this point Regina should still be new to this and feel remorse...we should have seen her goaded to do it by Rump and her hesitating and then see some ambiguous look on her face. For some reason Parrila rocked it in S1 but after that she plays Regina like a cartoon evil queen or a whine box all the time. Its very unsatisfying viewing.

 

Yeah, this did not gel with the timeline.  Regina was a horse lover herself, presumably.  Unless she had aversion to all things horse after Daniel died?  Who knows.  We shouldn't have to fanwank the motivation of every character ourselves.

[Mitch]

Yeah, this did not gel with the timeline.  Regina was a horse lover herself, presumably.  Unless she had aversion to all things horse after Daniel died?  Who knows.  We shouldn't have to fanwank the motivation of every character ourselves.

Also, didn't Regina say she traded the Dark Curse for the Sleeping Curse? In S1 it was a big deal, but now the Sleeping Curse is traded around so much everyone should have had it or known someone. 

 

A better revenge would have been for Regina to put a spell on the horse to "hate," Snow and be afraid of her. That would kill a little girl..and then Step-Mommy dearest with her knowledge of horses calms the horse.  And more consistent with Regina just being pissed at Snow now and no one else.

[SilverShadow]

Also, didn't Regina say she traded the Dark Curse for the Sleeping Curse? In S1 it was a big deal, but now the Sleeping Curse is traded around so much everyone should have had it or known someone. 

 

A better revenge would have been for Regina to put a spell on the horse to "hate," Snow and be afraid of her. That would kill a little girl..and then Step-Mommy dearest with her knowledge of horses calms the horse.  And more consistent with Regina just being pissed at Snow now and no one else.

 

Seriously. She could have just taken the horse's heart and done that.

[Mari]

Yeah, this did not gel with the timeline.  Regina was a horse lover herself, presumably.  Unless she had aversion to all things horse after Daniel died?  Who knows.  We shouldn't have to fanwank the motivation of every character ourselves.

Didn't she try the original Dark Curse using her horse, but since it wasn't what she loved most, she just loved it, it fizzled and she had to use Henry Sr?

 

I think it was more "Regina has affection for animals important to Regina, but not otherwise, because they're not Regina's."

[Camera One]

For those of you who race horses, do you hate your competitor's horses as much as the competitors themselves?  This can help us gauge if Regina is normal or not.

[Lieutenant]

For those of you who race horses, do you hate your competitor's horses as much as the competitors themselves?  This can help us gauge if Regina is normal or not.

 

ROFL, this is super hilarious because I worked in the racing industry for 10 years, and currently own an off-track Thoroughbred!  No, I would say across the board there was no individual horse hating.  In fact, there's nothing but hella respect for a good runner, no matter who own or trains it.  A talented horse is a talented horse.  But there can be serious shade that gets thrown on the connections - esp if they come from a barn that's know to be juicers (aka drugging their horses, cheating some other way like that), or one that runs their horses into the ground, etc.

 

All that to say, I DID appreciate Regina's comment about the horse being the one that's earned Snow all the ribbons.  A gifted horse can take a poor rider/trainer farther that they'd get on their own.  And from what we've seen of Regina's past, she's a competent horsewomen at the very least, and an accomplished rider in her own right.  So, she'd know how good Snow's skills were -personal hatred aside.  I would say Regina's reaction is off the deep end.  Taking her hatred out on an innocent, and apparently well trained and impressively gifted animal is idiotic - and a waste.  She could have just given it some magical 'roids, then called in an anonymous tip to the Enchanted Forest Horse Show Association.  Tests would have come back positive, Snow would have been banned from the show world and would have never lived down the shame.  Genius!  And a totally bitchy move that's right up Regina's alley.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Lieutenant

[KAOS Agent]

It just occurred to me that Aurora is actually older than Snow White. It seems a little weird given how naive and young she seemed in comparison when Team Princess was running around the Enchanted Forest.

[Camera One]

She didn't get that "on the run" experience since she just got pricked with the needle.  We don't know, but presumably, this Aurora grew up happily in the palace with her parents.  Though who knows.  Stefan didn't seem at all afraid of Maleficent, so she "lost" a long time ago, it seems.

 

So Maleficent set the forest around her own castle on fire? 

[Shanna Marie]

It just occurred to me that Aurora is actually older than Snow White. It seems a little weird given how naive and young she seemed in comparison when Team Princess was running around the Enchanted Forest.

I guess she must not have aged while under the curse. In the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, she sleeps for 100 years and is frozen in time so that she's the same age when she wakes up (the reason the good fairies put the whole kingdom to sleep). So Aurora may have started out older, but then lost however many years she was under the sleeping curse before/after the curse that froze time in the Coradome, so she ended up younger than Snow. Kind of like the way that Roland is actually older than Emma, or the way Hook is older than Granny. And I suppose Philip didn't age while he was under his monster curse.

[stealinghome]

Anway, what bothers me is this shows stupid cartoony way of writing characters. At this point Regina should still be new to this and feel remorse...we should have seen her goaded to do it by Rump and her hesitating and then see some ambiguous look on her face. For some reason Parrila rocked it in S1 but after that she plays Regina like a cartoon evil queen or a whine box all the time. Its very unsatisfying viewing.

Part of it is just that the writing for Regina, like everything else, has really gone down in quality since S1. But I agree...Parrilla was really, really great at being Mayor Mills and Secretly The Psycho Evil Queen, but she hasn't been as effective in any other incarnation. I think part of it is that Parrilla tends to be an operatic, go big or go home actress, but being secretly evil forced her to play Regina  bit more subtly. But since then, there's been nothing forcing her to tone it down.

 

Also there are like 10 different Reginas that the writers pull out of their hat for different situations, and it seems clear to me that Parrilla is really stretched thin trying to make Regina into a coherent character, which isn't helping.

 

Yeah, this did not gel with the timeline.  Regina was a horse lover herself, presumably.  Unless she had aversion to all things horse after Daniel died?  Who knows.  We shouldn't have to fanwank the motivation of every character ourselves.

Didn't she try the original Dark Curse using her horse, but since it wasn't what she loved most, she just loved it, it fizzled and she had to use Henry Sr?

Indeed. Regina was really pissed in 1x02 that she killed her horse and it didn't cast the curse. So theoretically at this point in the timeline, she SHOULD be a horse lover (and that she cursed the horse caught me too--it seems out of character).

 

It just occurred to me that Aurora is actually older than Snow White. It seems a little weird given how naive and young she seemed in comparison when Team Princess was running around the Enchanted Forest.

I agree that it's not super consistent with S2, but I'm fanwanking that, like Snow pre-1x08, Aurora was pretty damn sheltered. She never had the Bandit Snow experience, or everything that came after for Snow, so she seems younger than she probably is. Plus, five bazillion years under the Sleeping Curse probably didn't help! Poor thing was probably addled for a while after she woke up.

[jhlipton]

So Maleficent set the forest around her own castle on fire?

She lived on One Tree Hill Mountain!

[darkestboy]

Not bad, a good enough backstory episode for Maleficent and Regina's friendship and it's nice that in the present day Maleficent wants to believe in Regina but is smart enough to test her at every measure.

I'm still hoping Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula intend to betray Gold at some point too before he inevitably does it to them again.

Emma was way too OTT with her concern for Regina. It was like some SwanQueen shippers wrote this episode.

Gold disguising as Hook to spy on Belle and Will was a little pathetic for his standards.

Nice we got Maleficent's history with Briar Rose, Stefan and Aurora in this episode.

August is back. I did expect that one, 7/10

[KingOfHearts]

Couldn't Regina just put a sleeping curse on Snow? I guess she needed Sidney to have a way of disposing the King without getting her hands dirty.

I found it funny that Regina has complained about being trapped in the castle and never being able to do anything. Then she chills with Maleficent for who knows how long.

Edited March 20, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[FormerMod-a1]

I found it funny that Regina has complained about being trapped in the castle and never being able to do anything. Then she chills with Maleficent for who knows how long.

 

I always assumed she was lying to Sidney when she said that and that everything she told him was to manipulate him to kill the King.  So she was never trapped, nor not invited/included in things, and whatever else she said.

[Curio]

I found it funny that Regina has complained about being trapped in the castle and never being able to do anything. Then she chills with Maleficent for who knows how long.

 

It's like that bratty teenager who complains about their over-protective parents who trap them in their own home, but in actuality, all the parents did was make a rule about no going out with friends until homework is done.

[tribeca]

Was I the only hoping when Belle demanded the Dark one face her that she was smart enough to bring the fake dagger?

[Camera One]

If she has a perfectly good hiding place, why move it.  Stupid is as stupid does.  Helllllllllllo, Hook has already been controlled twice now, first by Zelena and then by Rumple.  As the love interest of The One With The Most Powerful Magic But Never Saves The Day, he'll always be a major target.  Get Granny to hide it for you.  But just like with The Dumb Lie, the writers can't move the plot along without this contrived business that make our heroes look dumb.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

I keep saying, as soon as you know that it's possible for people to make themselves appear to be other people, you need passwords or some other kind of identity verification system before discussing anything important. Constant Vigilance! And since they know that it's possible for someone to have entered the town and since they know that Rumple has the power to change his appearance, no one should ever hand the dagger over to anyone without first saying "Dark One, I command you to hop on one foot." Or something else that would be a lot more obvious than "face me."

 

Rumple standing in the street watching Belle was borderline stalker creepy. But impersonating her friend and then asking her personal questions about her current relationship is way on up there on the creepy stalker scale. I keep saying they've passed the point of no return with Rumple and Belle, and then they go even further. Something is horribly wrong if she takes him back after this latest stunt.

[kingshearte]

Man, the acting was all over the place in this one. That first scene was horrendous, with so much scenery chewing that I can only assume that broken bottles were the least of Granny's concerns. And yeah, young Regina? I'm not sure why it wasn't working, because we've seen young Regina before and I don't recall it being so jarring, but Parilla was just not pulling it off this time. 

 

And then on the other side of the spectrum, you have Colin O'Donoghue giving that brilliantly subtle Rumple-as-Hook performance. I was pretty sure something was up in the diner, and was sure it wasn't really Hook the second he suggested moving the dagger, but for some reason I didn't clue in to who he actually was until the beach scene, where some of his line deliveries had just a hint of Rumple in them, and then the bit with the "face me" command sealed it. That performance was by far the best part of this episode.

 

Mal's wardrobe and styling was probably number 2, though. Fab 40s noir look in Storybrooke, and, personally, I got a little Bowie-as-Goblin-King vibe from her wasted look in the flashback. Good times all around.

[Ailianna]

All that to say, I DID appreciate Regina's comment about the horse being the one that's earned Snow all the ribbons. A gifted horse can take a poor rider/trainer farther that they'd get on their own. And from what we've seen of Regina's past, she's a competent horsewomen at the very least, and an accomplished rider in her own right. So, she'd know how good Snow's skills were -personal hatred aside.

Although we only have Regina's (completely unbiased) word that it was all the horse and not Snow as well. And I think we have plenty of reason to think Snow is a good rider too. We see a lot of her on horseback as Bandit Snow, and she always is portrayed as confident and capable. Possibly Regina is just incapable of seeing or saying anything positive about Snow.

I didn't watch until last night, which is unusual for me, but right after I did watch it, I saw an add for a station playing the animated Sleeping Beauty and the ad was all Maleficent. Her voice and her curse. And not only did I remember why she is so awesome, but it just emphasized how much this show has missed the boat with her.

[Dani-Ellie]

We see a lot of her on horseback as Bandit Snow, and she always is portrayed as confident and capable. Possibly Regina is just incapable of seeing or saying anything positive about Snow.

 

This. I don't trust a single word that comes out of Regina's mouth when it comes to Snow. She's too blinded by hatred (and in this case, jealousy) to see anything for how it really is.

[tomorrowgirl]

This episode didn't hold my attention at all.  I don't know if it's because I don't care for the new characters, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula, or not.  Maybe I'm just getting tired of the show.

[Donny Ketchum]

The train scene just made me think that they laid out the whole half season after watching Final Destination.

I hate horror and am too nightmare-prone, but by all means.  How did that scene go?

[HoodlumSheep]

Still playing catch-up with the eps:

This episode wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be. But it was still kinda boring and pretty much nothing was accomplished in this episode besides rumple getting his dagger back.

Also, if he can turn August back into an adult like nothing, why hasn't he turned everyone in town into toddlers or something?

Emma was acting a little crazier than normal, but it didn't bug me too much.

It was nice to have Aurora back on our screens for half a minute.

Liked Regina's fairyback cloak. Other than that, I thought the present day Regina stuff was the weakest. Her "evil queen" is so over the top. Her acting evil literally made me cringe, and the QoD would be pretty darn stupid to believe her. Regina should cross acting off her list of career choices. I don't think Rumple believed her either.

Also, the hazing was so weak. how was that supposed to prove that Regina was still bad?

Loved watching Colin channel RC. I love that there is a clear difference between Hook-being-controlled-by-Rumple and Rumple!Hook.

Also, Gold just cracks me up. I love how he tries to fit in every bit of pirate/sailor vocabulary he can when he's in disguise.

So i guess Hook was hanging around the other side of town while the dagger stuff/ Emma-tailing-the-QoD was taking place? And him not saying anything at all in the library just seemed awkward.