"Or give them a chance to redeem themselves.” ― Derek Landy, Death Bringer
Get up, come on get down with the sickness
Regina and Hook's lives are so empty that all they have to keep them going is their hunger for revenge. That is sad. Do they find any desire in this pain or has it all become just a terrible habit? Surely there's no real reward for vengeance. What fate lies ahead for the person who won't let the fire of their evil and selfish desires burn out? They have become slaves to their own creations and constantly frolic with their demons. Could Hook be gaining some clarity to this futile crusade; understanding that revenge is an end- not a beginning. And then what is left to fill your time, heart and mind with? Nothing- No one. It all becomes a very lonely place to be. At some point you would think one should run out of reasons to keep that stupid fight alive. But how do you sever an old relationship that's getting you nowhere, even if that relationship is with your own negative self?! Let go.
Regina sounds like an addict! She justifies her vengeance and her need for power and control. She finds excuses for her actions, blames others for her emotions and never takes responsibility for the trouble and pain she inflicts onto others. But does she truly love Henry? I ask because she unloaded all that shit onto her "son" Henry, and then wipes his memory of it. Of course she has no one to talk to! She doesn't understand that loving someone is not to possess someone. You should love someone so they feel free. On LOST Ben Linus tried to possess Juliet- it was pitiful.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end
Again... you can't change the past- whatever happened happened. You can only learn from your past and move forward from it, hopefully more educated and enlightened to do and be better. But there can't be a new beginning until there has been an ending.
When her true identity is camouflaged Regina learns the truth about how the people see her and how Snow White sees her and their past relationship. Snow can even forgive Regina for her past actions. But we see even Snow has a breaking point and ends up losing hope in the good heart of Regina; remember, we've seen Snow White has stopped Regina from being executed twice already. When Regina sees Snow White has lost hope in her, this makes Regina lose faith and hope in herself and this sadly keeps her on an angry and vengeful path. She's resigned herself to her dark side- but for how long?
For all of the residents, not just Regina, it is their true self that is well hidden... and well-guarded.
Regina says she wants to be good and to be the hero, but she can't become that just by erasing the past choices she's made and consequences that followed. She can change her destiny and become those things by a transformation of sorts. Regina can feel true love, be in true love and be loved, once the "evil" part of her is gone - dead. Again, the only way you can move on is to let go. Regina wants to erase Storybrooke, but maybe there's a part of Regina that doesn't need Storybrooke anymore.
Emma is obviously looking for answers- deep answers. And of course Emma doesn't have a superpower- but she does seem to be able to tap into her intuition at times. In this episode, to me, Emma's behavior, although grown up, was kind of child-like when she was with Henry. And she does seem to have a bit of attachment to Neal.
FLYNN LIVES...
Or at least I hope he's still alive (and well), but where? Since we've been introduced to the Flynn's, I've been deep in thought about the whereabouts of missing Kurt Flynn. Since Regina's involved, my first thoughts were him being trapped in a computer/video game (because his name is Flynn and we got a major nod to ENCOM) and then I imaged him also being locked away in Regina's secret ward underneath the hospital. But the more I dwell on it- the whole Flynn, ENCOM and Space Paranoids video game stuff brings me back to thinking technology and science.
Ah, but what the hell do I know? Maybe Regina changed his form and brought him to another realm. Maybe he's stuck somewhere else- like in King George's realm or hidden in Neverland or Wonderland... or, yes, I'll say it 'cause I'm crazy like that and love to have fun... the "Island."
Things to Note...Questions to Ask...
๑ Maleficent rises from the ashes and Earth, and her screams made me think of the Wraith
๑ Fire. Burned. Charred. Smoldering. Ashes
๑ Tamara and Greg put hoods over their captured people
๑ Black Diamond
๑ Sleep. Unconscious. Wake up
๑ Hood. Veiled.
๑ Identity. Change. Transformation. Shape-shifting
๑ Bug. Beetle. Dragonfly. Praying Mantis
๑ Darts. Arrows
๑ Camouflage. Hide.
๑ Time. Turn back time
๑ Greenhouse
๑ Wardrobe
๑ Cuff
๑ The Queen is Dead
๑ The Stranger
๑ Wilma: My mind went right to Wilma Flintstone.
๑ Dragonfly: Flying insect. Anisoptera (from Greek anisos, "uneven" + pteros, "wings"). It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body. They are predators. Dragonflies can sometimes be mistaken for damselflies, which are morphologically similar. Damselflies undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with an aquatic nymph stage.
๑ Dragonfly (aka Shuttle Chess or Bird Chess) is a chess variant invented by Christian Freeling in 1983. There are no queens, and a captured bishop, knight, or rook becomes the property of the capturer, who may play it as his own on a move turn to any open square. The game is an off-shoot and simplification of a Freeling game named Loonybird (or Dragon Chess).
๑ Praying Mantis: because of the typical "prayer-like" posture with folded fore-limbs. They are predators. The closest relatives of mantises are the termites and cockroaches. They are sometimes confused with phasmids (stick/leaf insects) and other elongated insects such as grasshoppers and crickets.
-Northern Praying Mantis, the Northern Chinese martial art from Shandong
-Southern Praying Mantis, the Southern Chinese martial art of the Hakka people
-Operation Praying Mantis, a 1988 naval battle between US and Iranian forces
๑ Wilma: German/Dutch name meaning Resolute Protector and in Italian it is short for Willhelmina and means Will-Helmut, Desire.
- Hurricane Wilma, Tropical Storm Wilma, Cyclone Wilma, Wilma Glacier
๑ The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period.
✈ Technology. Science.
✈ Two man jobs: The Swan Hatch to press the button and The Pearl to observe and take notes on the two people in the Swan Hatch
✈ Offered a job: To protect the island
✈ 8
✈ Stab the Dark One: S6 Locke, aka- the Man in Black, and "Mother" in Across the Sea
✈ Fail-safe: in "Live Together Die Alone" Desmond turned the magic fail-safe key and made the Hatch implode and go away... Desmond is also mentioned being a failsafe in "What They Died For."
✈ Lists: Flight manifest. Hurley makes a list of survivors. Ben's list of crash survivors. Jacob's Lists
✈ The Others put hoods over the heads of their captured
✈ Veiled. Hood
✈ In "Exodus part 2" Walt asks Michael "What about everybody else?..."
✈ Fire. Burned. Charred. Smoldering. Ashes
✈ Shape-shifting
✈ Darts. Arrows
✈ Time. Turn back time
✈ Chicken
✈ Identity. Change. Transformation
✈ Greenhouse: The Orchid Station is below the greenhouse- There's No Place Like Home P1,
There's No Place Like Home P2, The Little Prince and in Further Instructions : Locke lives in a commune that has a greenhouse
✈ Ben Linus tried to possess Juliet "You're mine!" in "The Other Woman"
- Ben killed the members of Dharma village, including his father
✈ Liam has a dragonfly/bug motif on his shirt in "Greatest Hits"
✈ Birds. Bears
✈ Left Behind
✈ John Locke, Sun and "Mother" to Jacob used herbs/plants from the Earth for various ills.
Enough of my rambling... Here's your episode recap! Enjoy!
Mary Margaret and David sit on a bench under the stars on the chilly dock, warmed by a blanket and something to drink. They discuss going back to the Enchanted Forest and leaving Regina behind. David feels Regina's too dangerous and although it will affect Henry those horrors will continue if Regina is around. Every time they give Regina another chance- she slips. This seems to really be tugging at Mary Margaret's heart. David suggests they give Regina a choice, "Come back, live out her days in Rumple's cell or stay here."
"Jail cell? I don't think so" Regina wonders. She had been hidden in plain sight as a male fisherman and has been eavesdropping on their conversation. They never knew she was there.
Rumple feels the fired up Queen Regina has taken to power quite well. "Gives your cheeks a nice rosy color." The Queen doesn't understand how the peasants are still loyal and protect Snow White even when offered a fortune. Rumple reminds her that although she is their Queen, she did just slaughter an entire village. "Maybe that's why they call you 'The Evil Queen'."
"I am not evil," claims the Queen, blaming Snow White, "She's the evil one."
Rumple advises, "They're her people, Dearie. You're gonna have to be content with their fear. They'll never love you."
But the Queen insists they will once she is gone; when Snow is dead. "Then they will see my kindness." She feels the people will then be able to eventually forgive her previous evil acts; including burning down their homes. Regina needs to find Snow White herself.
"If I do... you won't control it," Rumple reveals, "And you won't have any magic while the spell is working." Regina insists she won't need magic as long as she can get close enough to snap her neck with her bare hands. Seeing her determination, Rumple instructs; when the deed is done call upon me. "Only I can return you to your regal self." The price- Rumple needs her to cut off all trade with King George's realm, as he needs him bankrupt. Deal! Time is of the essence.
"No. They won't let me help. They don't see the good in me- the good you've seen. They only see the Evil Queen, which, they made me. And I don't wanna be that anymore. This is my chance to go back and start over- for me to be the Hero. And you'd like that, right? {Henry would love it.} This is how it will work... There's a failsafe built into the curse, a trigger..."
"Like a self-destruct button. Like you never did it," Henry adds.
Regina continues, "Yes. It's the next best thing to turning back time." Henry finds that amazing and asks what happens to Storybrooke. "It disappears... forever. No need to worry, dear, we can get away first, back to the Enchanted Forest using this (beans)," says Regina.
Concerned Henry wonders, "But... what about everyone else?"
"They die."
Regina doesn't have any other choice, "As long as there are other people in our lives... you can never fully be mine. You loved me once- with them gone you'll love me again and you can see me for what I truly am... a Hero." Henry knows that's bullshit! If she kills everyone else she's a villain- and he could never love anybody who could do such horrible things, "Why would you even tell me this?!"
Regina reveals she doesn't have anyone else to talk to. Everything she said will come to pass because even though Henry wants to stop her, Regina magically wipes his memory of that conversation.
"From Gold? I'm surprised you'd show your face in this town, once you noticed your murder didn't take."
Hook reveals their bigger problems; Mendell (the man who hit him the night Hook shot Belle) and some woman he's in league with. She abducted him in New York and dragged him back to Mendell. They want Hook to make an alliance with Regina and then betray her; that's why they let him go. Hook proposes the alliance but they can skip the betrayal business. Hook's unaware Cora is dead and when it's revealed he finds it sad news. "She will be missed. I will tell you this, Regina, I knew her well enough to know that she wanted most in the world was to see you win. Now, I failed in my revenge - the best tribute I could give her is to help you with yours."
Back at the apartment Emma tells Mary Margaret that Tamara is the "She" August tried to warn them about and how Tamara has a list about the people who live there, and lied to her when she said she can trust her. But Mary Margaret Shhhh''s her, as Henry is upstairs. Mary Margaret thinks Emma's superpower has been known to be unreliable; especially when she's emotional.
"For the last time- I don't have feelings for Neal. That was over a decade ago. I'm over it," Emma tells her mother. Mother whispers, warning, "If you tell Henry that you think his dad's fiancée may be up to something... then Henry's gonna think there's a chance his parents could get back together. So keep it to yourself, please, until you know something more." She leaves and Henry appears from out of nowhere to Emma's left; apparently he wasn't upstairs or in the shower.
"Exactly. Operation Cobra is back on," sneaky Henry states. Emma has an ally in investigating Tamara.
"For you, maybe- not me. I have Henry. And destroying Storybrooke, well, that seems like a small price to pay to allow us to live in peace."
"Precarious. You couldn't have just hid the trigger in the back of your wardrobe?" Hook asks. But Regina knows it had to be both well hidden and well-guarded. "I put it somewhere no one would ever think I'd go," claiming a friend is guarding it. "She's been through a lot. There's a powerful spell here that sustains her in... whatever form she's in." This is why it's a two-man job; Hook's role is the distraction while Regina gets the trigger. Regina pushes him into the pit!
Regina searches for her stashed trigger inside the familiar glass coffin that is covered in ash and dirt. Out of the retrieved pouch she gazes at the "trigger"- a black diamond.
"How long... (She has trouble getting up) How long 'til I can get up?"
Snow tells her two days. She picked a good place for it though- fresh water, healing herbs and not bad hunting; if you don't mind killing the Royal livestock.
"You don't know how to do that," claims Wilma, and realizing she can't let on who she really is. As Snow mixes up a bowl of herbs she shares that someone from another forest taught her. "It's a long story."
This perfect stranger asks why Snow is out there when there are people hunting for her. Snow wants the stranger to listen to as a distraction while she bathes her wound- it's going to hurt. Snow tells the stranger the events of the day when she was younger and the horse she was riding got away with her and was about to be thrown and was saved by a woman who had no idea who she was. This woman risked her own life for Snow, "And changed me. My mother always told me to keep goodness in my heart and this woman proved she was right." It taught Snow that there can be this genuine selfless connection between people, even strangers. This recount of events and lessons touches the stranger/Regina and she asks Snow what happened to the stranger.
"She's gone," Snow answers with a whisper, "Oh, but I hope she comes back some day." Yes, secretly Regina is touched and hopeful.
"Operation Tiger," blurts out Emma. Henry asks her why, but Emma complains that Henry never needs a why.
Henry wants something like the town- something that hides in plain sight- something like a Praying Mantis. Henry thought by now they'd be having adventures- over there. "Riding horses, shooting bows and arrows... This is cool too." Emma asks the boy if that's something he still wants; if there is a way to go back to the Enchanted Forest.
"Is there?!" Henry asks. When Emma tells him no and not to be crazy, Henry thinks "There is... a way back. The bean or something. The Giant brought it, didn't he?" Emma knows he's a smart kid. Henry finds this awesome! "We can get like a castle. You, me and Neal." Emma cuts that idea down.
"Duck!" yells Henry. "Operation Praying Mantis is on," declares Henry, as they watch Neal and Tamara leave Granny's.
"Thrown together, moonlight, wine..." {You mean like Lady and the Tramp?!} But Emma insists she's on to Tamara for other reasons.
Emma searches the room and the wardrobe and discovers a creaky loose floorboard. {Henry looks like he's balancing walking a line outside the door.}
Emma's interrupted by Henry entering with Neal. By the way, Neal taught her the bang on the door trick. Emma lies claiming he wasn't there and the door was open. But she comes clean, sharing she thinks Tamara is playing him and that she's the "she" August was trying to warn them about. Neal admits he helped her make the list of fairy tale names for Tamara.
As they move on we see "Regina" have second thoughts about using the sword to take down Snow White. "If the stories are to be believed, the Queen sent the Huntsmen to tear your heart out," Snow's guest asks. Snow says yes, as she continues to help the woman on their walk. Regina asks if the woman was there in front of her now, would she kill her for that.
Snow opens up. "Regina wants to hurt people. I think she's in constant pain and is always looking to figure out whom to blame for it. We lived in the same household and still she could never see that I was on her side. She wanted revenge more than she wanted love. And I can't imagine living that way. I want to be guided by love- so, no, I wouldn't kill her."
But "Regina" feels no one is that generous, "People aren't that good." But Snow thinks they are- even "her"; Regina's just afraid to look vulnerable, and Snow knows there's still good inside there. "I've seen it. I wish she'd give herself the chance to be that person again." Snow doesn't think it's too late for her or anyone.
The now warmed heart "Regina" asks "So, if she wanted to change... if she wanted to be a family again, if she... wanted to be good... would you forgive her for that? Would you let her back in?"
Snow would love that- if she really meant it. "I wouldn't mind a feather bed either, but neither one is happening so there's no use thinking about it. She wouldn't offer," Snow adds.
"Sometimes people can surprise you," hopeful "Regina" affirms.
Snow never said it was "Her." "Regina" claims to have read between the lines. Snow draws her bow and arrow, knowing the woman who stands before is Regina; hidden behind her dark magic.
Regina admits and adds "There is good in me." But Snow doesn't want any part of it. This infuriates Regina and she tries to summon up a fireball of magic in her right hand- but there is no magic to be found due to her current altered state. Still holding the sword in her left hand, she starts to lower it and drops it, and calls out for Rumple. She would rather use magic than an actual weapon. Again, Rumple doesn't appear, so Regina runs away.
"And when we prove it we can all go back to the Enchanted Forest," proclaims Henry. {Emma makes a weird expression.}
"I said you can call- didn't say I'd answer," replies the imp. Annoyed Regina wants to be changed back; she obviously didn't have a pleasant time being a faceless being in the crowd of the peasants and Snow White. She tells Rumple, "Well, you were right." Rumple eggs her on. "Right about what?"
"They'll never love me," admits the broken Queen. Rumple feels it's so sad- yet so true. So Regina is going to punish them!
Rumple transforms her back.
Regina declares "The Queen is dead. Long live... the Evil Queen."
"Yes, I was... the Queen."
Owen interjects, "But now... here... You're nothing." He's just a man on a mission but finding his father is not his mission. He knows Regina knows where his father is- and he's not telling Regina what his mission is. He orders Tamara to "Bag her."
