ONCE UPON A TIME Has a Little Time to Kill

Episode 220 “The Evil Queen”

[Photos: Jack Rowand/ABC]

This is another exposition filler episode, although it gives us a little insight into Regina’s character — but it’s not worth spending an entire episode for her to gallivant around Fairy Tale Land in “King Arthur as peasant” mode.

Greg Mendel and Tamara have brought Captain Hook back to Storybrooke. Exactly what he brings to the table anymore is anyone’s guess at this point. I think he’s useless as a character. But G&T seem to think he can sashay up to Regina, distract her and then betray her — for she has the key to unlocking and reversing the curse. Well, unlocking it anyway. When the curse is undone, Storybrooke and everyone in it disappears forever. Meaning everyone dies instead of going back to Fairy Tale Land. Not sure how that works, as every other time we’ve seen a curse broken the cursed victim reverts back to his previous state. So I get that the town would disappear, but I would think everyone would then be “reverted” back to their Fairy Tale Incarnations.

Which should have been what Gold went after right after Baelfire came back to Storybrooke. I mean, he’s got his son. He created the curse, so he has to know about the back door. So why bother trying to woo Lacey when all he has to do is unlock the curse and everyone goes back?

But apparently, it doesn’t work that way. Made up stakes. Contrived for the sake of drama, I say.

And exactly how is it that Maleficent can reconstitute into some kind of demon wraith thing when Hook gets down in the cavern? Didn’t Emma kill her already? Yes, Regina tosses off a line about some magic preserving her in whatever form she’s in… blah, blah blah. But if that was the case, why hasn’t her continued existence been a concern until now? Especially since she’d be a little — ahem — upset that she’d just been killed. She’d probably want to pay some people a visit over that, yeah?

Flashback to Fairy Tale Land, where Rumpelstiltskin puts Regina under a spell that disguises her from the populace so she can get a true reading on how they feel about her — and possibly foment a backlash against Snow White — and it backfires spectacularly. And all because Regina — who’s usually pretty smart about such things — opens her mouth and claims to be the queen when everyone else sees a peasant girl. I’m not sure if Rumpelstiltskin’s spell affected her self-control or not, but this doesn’t seem consistent with Regina on the whole. She’s normally pretty controlled and self-aware.

But if we had that happen here, we wouldn’t get the setup for the rest of the episode in which we get presented with a Regina who’s desperate to be loved. It’s a character flaw we’ve seen a bit before, but never presented as extensively as here. And really, two episodes before the season finale might not be the best place to start this. Unless it’s the beginning of the arc that takes us into season three and Neverland.

Some nice character moments between Snow White and Regina-As-Peasant, and Snow displays her penchant for optimism in the face of any challenge — even going back to her “There’s still good in her. I can feel it.” Skywalker lines — until she comes across the village Regina burned in her search for Snow. It’s at that moment the princess realizes that Regina will likely never change from her wicked, wicked ways. And when she realizes Regina is standing next to her, she has the perfect opportunity to eliminate Regina. Instead, they talk long enough for Regina to bolt. And Snow White doesn’t kill her.

Thus preserving the plot for the curse to work itself into what we have now. Is it me, or are things starting to feel a little messy?

[Official Show Site at ABC]     [Previous recap: “Lacey”]