Contributor: Edmund B.
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Dean White
After shaking things up in the premiere, “Once Upon A Time” returned to a format familiar from the first season. The ongoing developments in Storybrooke are complemented by flashbacks filling in more of Regina’s past. The intent appears to be to buttress a closing reversal of fortune and attitude, but that winds up feeling unearned. Instead, it’s a brief glimpse into the current Enchanted Forest that promises some juicier developments to come.
In an inversion of last season’s opening episodes, Storybrooke continues to have the more interesting storylines. The discovery of the Line of Forgetting reveals that Mr. Gold doesn’t have all the answers. He is trapped, his plans thwarted, along with the rest. It’s also a testament to the fear Regina inspires that so many are willing to throw away their original lives once her magic openly manifests itself.
John turning them back is also a major turning point for him. As he starts to reassume the Charming mantle, the show can finally leave behind the thoroughly annoying and indecisive David personna that dragged down the second half of last season. While I like the ackowledgement that both sides are part of him, one of the many dualities reflected by the episode title, “We are Both”, it’s a big plus to have him moving closer to Hero than Zero. And the way Ruby was gazing up at him, if Snow doesn’t find a quick way back, she may find herself at odds with a she-wolf.
The heart of the episode is Regina’s return to power in Storybrooke, balanced against her seduction to the dark side via Rumplestiltskin. While Lana Parilla and Robert Carlisle together is always a treat, here the script gave them too little to work with. Perhaps the writers felt hamstrung by the inevitibility, but too often the story veers into the predictable and pedestrian. We know Cora’s going through the mirror, just as we know Regina’s going to like wielding magic and power. A little more nuance and doubt would have made better use of the cast, and catapulted these Enchanted Forest scenes back to the complexities of the early episodes.
Regina’s resurrection in Storybrooke kept up the two-faced theme, but in ways I found unconvincing. Her triumphant reclaiming of Henry felt too gleeful and self-assured to be turned by recollections of her own beginnings. For one thing, unlike her with Rumples, Henry shows no signs of succumbing to her clumsy enticements. Again, introducing some subtlety, some hint that this is just a shift in tactics, an acknowledgement that here cunning works better than blunt force, would have felt more apt. Locking away the spell book does keep it in play, but I would have preferred it done with a sly smile, and not a detour to the fireplace.
Perhaps the writers feel it’s necessary to start rehabilitating Regina as a counterweight to the reintroduced Cora. Personally, I find the prospect of two Evil Queens operating at cross purposes much more entertaining than a Good Daughter/Evil Mother showdown. I just hope their escape from the Enchanted Forest’s answer to Thunderdome, and journey back reveals a Fairy Tale Land as intriguing as the one we were first introduced to. Getting the two sides of the story into better dramatic balance will make the inevitable clash that much more memorable.
Acting: 2/2
Writing: 1/2
Directing: 2/2
Style:2/4
Total Score: 7/10
