Regina, the Evil Queen: The Only Happy Ending Will Be Hers

[Camera One]

Remember A&E's inspirational graduation speech?  They don't do typecasting.  

[Rumsy4]

Lana’s never seemed to have bothered to find a short role to play over the summers. Maybe she’s content doing the con circuit until something else comes along. 

[KAOS Agent]

I think the convention circuit was very lucrative for her and paid a lot better and provided better living (free travel and high end accommodations) than taking a small role in an indie pic, which is the type of role she would have gotten. She got a break from the grind of TV work and she could bask in fan adulation. Who wouldn't like to have all kinds of people tell you how much they love you?

However, by not appearing in other roles, she has limited her brand to Evil Queen and not demonstrated her range. She's a good actress, but she's not a huge star. She could get lucky and land another hit show, but it's very doubtful and limiting herself to just one role in seven years doesn't help. Maybe she expects Adam and Eddy to cast her in their next project. I just wouldn't put a whole lot of money on them being given another show.

[Rumsy4]

Hey--at least she didn't spend the last four seasons artistically sleeping in the back room. 

[KingOfHearts]

IMO, making the Evil Queen's life a revenge story is contrary to the character's original essence. She's supposed to be a vain, jealous bitch. The writers on OUAT only went halfway with that. All the stuff with Daniel does is attempt to justify her - but it fails. EQ's motivations in the source material may seem vague and superficial, but there's a lot you could've done with those themes. Issues with self-image is identifiable. It just needed to be expanded beyond being "the fairest of them all". Show us Regina trying to gain Leopold's affections but constantly being outshone by Snow. Show us her being upstaged throughout her life and maybe losing her lover because he chose a prettier woman. Let the Magic Mirror represent how self-conscious she is. The writers tried to touch on those themes with "Page 23" and her learning to love herself, but that wasn't the story they were telling. Regina's jealousy and insecurities are there, but it was never dealt with in an organic way. It was always about revenge or murdering for no reason ("through the charred remains of their homes, I'm sure that will be abundantly clear").

Regina's happy ending was first accepting herself and then using her confidence to be a positive influence in others' lives. Giving her all the artificial recognition only reinforced the idea that she needs praise and admiration to be happy. Her codependence was still going strong throughout S7. Under everything, I think Regina could be a compelling and tragic character. A&E just went about it the wrong way.

(I should mention that Zelena's theme was jealousy, but I feel as though the writers botched her up too because she was so whiny and blamed people for just being "born". She didn't point her anger toward Cora or her abusive father. Like her sister, she pointed it at the completely wrong person.)

Edited September 5, 2018 by KingOfHearts

[scarynikki12]

They still could have kept the Daniel stuff but I'd change it so that Regina wanted him, but never met him because Cora wouldn't let her, and when she finally gets the nerve to approach him, it turns out to be his wedding day and she shows up at the wedding just in time to hear Daniel toast his bride by calling her "the most beautiful woman I've ever seen".  Concurrently I would have Cora raising Regina to believe that her looks are her only value, that she's the most beautiful girl/woman alive (and can therefore land a king), and she never learns anything else (until Rump steps in to teach her magic).  Then, when Regina hears Daniel's toast, she flies into a rage because SHE'S the most beautiful woman yet this peasant somehow landed the object of her obsession.  Since she wouldn't have magic for a while, she'd only be able to scream and rant, but these feelings would fester.  Meanwhile Cora would succeed in arranging for Regina to marry a king (Leopold), which would placate her for a while, and then she's lose it all over again after Leo tells Snow that "Eva was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen and I'm relieved that you look just like her instead of me".  I imagine he'd be saying this on Snow's birthday as he gives her a keepsake that belonged to Eva.  Like the wedding toast, Regina wouldn't understand the context and would only see that these two men, who were supposed to worship HER because she's the Most Beautiful, are instead ignoring her in favor of this nothing woman/girl.  At some point Rump would come into the picture and Regina would start learning magic.  It would have been in character for Regina to then go Daniel and his wife and rip out their hearts.  She'd either kill them both or kill the wife and turn Daniel into her sex slave.  With Regina it could go either way.  I can see her plotting to kill Leo for his comment to Snow, and maybe Rump advises her on how to do it without anyone knowing it was her (though Snow would still see through Regina's act and know she was behind it), since Regina's not usually down for subtlety.  I can see Regina being obsessive about asking the Mirror about any rivals for her beauty and, no matter how she phrases it, she's never shown herself.  The Mirror often shows her Snow (driving her crazy since she's still alive and maybe the Mirror only shows closeups so she never figures out where she's hiding), but sometimes rotates the Princesses if one fits the question better.  So she'd see Snow, but also Ella, Ariel, Aurora, Jasmine, and Belle.  If we pretend Frozen had come out before the series she'd see both Elsa and Anna as well.  And all of that would drive her further insane and she'd blame them and the Mirror (who I imagine is not a trapped genie in love with her but an entity that cannot be killed and, being neutral, isn't intimidated by her rages and magic), with Rump egging her on, as she moves closer to the moment she casts the Curse. 

Thinking of alternative origins for Regina that actually fit the Evil Queen's vanity is a pretty fun exercise.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

I do think they could have done the trite self-loathing story with her, but they'd have had to skip the whole "I need to speak to the manager" storyline in which she wanted what she thought were the rules of the universe changed to accommodate her. That is not self-loathing. And they would have had to skip the tree of no regrets.

This scene explains the problem with Regina better than any other scene on the show.

Quote

Regina: "I don't understand them. I offer these peasants a fortune, and still they protect Snow White. Why are they loyal to her and not me? I am their Queen."

Rumple: "You did just slaughter an entire village. Maybe that's why they call you the Evil Queen."

Quote

Regina: "When Snow is dead, then they will see my kindness."

Rumple: "Through the charred remains of their homes - I'm sure that will be perfectly clear."

Even after Regina got on the side of the angels, she didn't consider that maybe she was a villain because she did bad things. It's hard to believe she was "self-loathing" when she never thought of herself as guilty of her own crimes. There was no hint that she was faking her confidence or trying to act like she doesn't hate herself. She was deluded. If self-loathing was always Regina's problem, the writers would've sprinkled it through the series. People who hate themselves don't just go out and murder villages for funsies. She thought the Evil Queen was what other people falsely perceived her as.

Edited March 21, 2020 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

3 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

Even after Regina got on the side of the angels, she didn't consider that maybe she was a villain because she did bad things. 

That whole exchange showed how ridiculously delusional she was.  The first step here would simply be having Regina realize that killing people won't make them love her.

And yet the Writers sort of did this same thing with Zelena whining about not having the love of the people in Season 6, I think.  Which tells you they never considered this a problem.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

1 minute ago, Camera One said:

And yet the Writers sort of did this same thing with Zelena whining about not having the love of the people in Season 6, I think.  Which tells you they don't consider this a problem.

Zelena knows she's hated because she's green and "wicked". She was all her life. Why would she be complaining about not having the love of the people? She wanted to rule with fear. At least Cora knew how to be both charismatic and intimidating. Regina was a bad tyrant because she did nothing to make herself look better. All she did was terrorize people. I'm sure by the time Rumple was asked to give her a shapeshifter spell, he was tired of constantly keeping her alive. Hence the snide remarks.