Actually on a Monday! Woohoo! And Spoilers Ahead for The Queen is Dead - obviously.
WHO did we meet: Queen Eva. Her name
is actualla Eva, right? (King Leopold suspiciously absent.) Johanna...for whatever that was worth. I wouldn't see be surprised if we see her again in flashback. Then again, we may have enough of Snow's backstory at this point
WHAT did we learn: A LOT! A mega f*ckton. Not the least of which is Cora's penchant for poison.
WHERE and WHEN did events take place: Enchanted Forest - before the Dark Curse. Present-day Storybrooke. Present-day Manhattan.
WHY was this important: Neil has a fiancee. Ok...so what? He has to tell his fiancee that he has a SON. He doesn't *have* to tell her that he's the son of Rumpelstiltskin or that he's (probably) Peter Pan - in fact, it's probably better if he doesn't, because Hello Nuthouse. That'd be the most interesting way to end an engagement ever. So there's this whole section of his life that he can't tell her about. Unless she turns out to be The Little Mermaid. Or a private eye. It'd be interesting if this fiancee is the "her" that Greg (The Outsider) keeps communicating with. ALL THE COINCIDENCES. I doubt it though.
Really OUAT?: "Help us Mother Superior, you're our only hope." YE GODS, WE GET IT. DISNEY OWNS STAR WARS. WE KNOW. WE ARE AWARE.
Also, Snow White had no idea Johanna was in Storybrooke? Granted, she was a bit distracted after the curse was broken. (True Love, Firstborn Curse-breaking Daughter reunion, sent back through the hat - I get it.) But come on. I've had the impression that this is NOT a large town. With the restoration of memories, she should have realized that her childhood governess was at least IN TOWN.
AND - we're not even going to try and react to Johanna's heart being ripped out? No roundhouse kick? No hail mary tackle? I know Cora and Regina have magic, but does that mean that Snow White Warrior Princess goes AWOL? And David! You're not just set dressing! Do something heroic. At least TRY. Johanna - you
sort of tried. You could have done more, or maybe not. I've never had someone rip my heart out of my chest - you at least have an excuse. But come on - you all had to know that Cora was going to kill her no matter what choice Snow made.
Wait, what?: How does everyone suddenly have knowledge of this dagger? I was under the impression that this was a secret, sort of? Not just the location of the dagger, but its existence. Ok - we all know about the dagger now.
And...we're just going to leave Hook in Manhattan. Without his ship. Granted, they haven't actually LEFT yet, they're just planning to. Still. Bad form. But, I suppose there are worse plans. A swarthy rogue with a hook for a hand...the only place he'd attract less attention than NYC would be Comic-con. If he starts running his mouth, he'll just get locked up.
Crackpot Theories: God I wish I'd posted this here sooner. Clearly Baelfire is Peter Pan. The hints have been pointing in that direction since Tallahassee. I SAID THAT BEFORE THIS EPISODE. I have witnesses. I do. Also, still pretty sure that August isn't making it out of this season alive.
Bae as Peter opens up some really interesting avenues. Father and Son have a common enemy. It adds a layer to Emma and Neil's relationship. (Peter Pan syndrome indeed!)
Don't Trust: The Blue Fairy - although at this point I *might* be willing to concede that she herself is not all evil. I never thought she was ALL evil, just that her motives weren't totally pure. But she was up to some shady business in Storybrooke BEFORE Cora's arrival. So I'm not totally prepared to give up the ghost on this theory. Clearly we can't trust Cora. The question now is how often has Cora pulled this disguise?
Remaining Questions: What was Cora's relationship to Eva? It has to be to her, because when she "meets" King Leopold (The Stable Boy), he doesn't seem to have any prior knowledge of her. So why the venom? (OMG OUAT PAGEANT MOMS!!!) Clearly we're going to learn a LOT more in The Miller's Daughter.
Problems to solve: Cora, obviously. She can't die if she's got her heart hidden away somewhere, and Cora's GOT to die. Otherwise, she'll either control Rumpel, or take his powers and to paraphrase David in his one moment of episodic usefulness or clarity - I don't like either of those options. Even if Cora DOES take the Dark One's powers, then it just becomes a game of hot potato. Someone has to kill Cora to take her powers, and then someone has to kill that person, and so on and so on. WHERE DOES IT END? ...can the person "hosting" the Dark One commit suicide? Noble self-sacrifice and such. Still, I don't see Disney doing seppuku.
Regina is CLEARLY conflicted. She doesn't trust Cora (rightly), and she doesn't trust David and Mary-Margaret (understandably). The one person she MIGHT be able to trust is Emma, since she and Emma have the common goal of doing what's best for Henry. Cora will never really control Regina, unless she controls/has posession of Henry - BUT if she tries, then Regina will immediately distrust her. Cora is on VERY thin ice, and she knows it. She just has to keep everyone else - especially Regina - from knowing it.
Also conflicted is Rumplestiltskin. Is he going to kill Henry? I don't think Rumpel the man actually wants to. I think those are his Dark One powers talking. As much as Henry irks me, I don't want to see him die at Rumpel's hand. Not because I'd particularly miss Henry, but because it would make Rumpel really dastardly.
And Hook - what becomes of Hook when/if he realizes that one of his antagonists is actually Milah's son?
Best Line: "I was always the queen. You added evil to my name." or "It's a sad truth that the people closest to us are the ones capable of causing us the most pain." Not an original sentiment, but very true.
Oh Henry!: I had something for this, I forget what it was. But really. This kid bugs me. He'd better do something interesting or heroic, but quick. And by heroic I mean "Do a better job acting. Make me like you." I miss Jefferson. And August. Not Dr. Whale though. Or King George. Or Belle. Or Aurora. Or Mulan. Or Greg. Or Ruby. You can all continue your disappearing act for awhile.
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