‘Once Upon a Time’ season 4, episode 14 review: Is August W. Booth back; what about Rumpelstiltskin?

Did Regina turn evil on “Once Upon a Time” Sunday night? Let us just say that it was not entirely intentional. As a part of her new plan to stop the Queens of Darkness, she needed to go undercover with them. If you can’t beat them, join them … and she certainly decided to join them. She struggled with the idea of doing something like capturing Pinocchio, but soon realized that eventually, you do have to break a few rules in order to make crazy things happen.

Also, her eventual journey to become evil again hit a major roadblock when she learned that Rumpelstiltskin is still very much back in Storybrooke. She is still playing off the evil act very well, but she has another doubter.

As for the rest of the episode, it was nice to start to understand what Regina’s past with Maleficent truly was, and in many ways, she is responsible for much of the torment Kristin Bauer van Straten’s character laid at the feet of Aurora. She made the “Sleeping Beauty” fall asleep. Cheers for seeing Sarah Bolger again, even if it was for only a matter of minutes.

Meanwhile, Hook thinks he is in the possession of the Dagger since Belle gave it to him, not realizing that it is a fake. Isn’t this going to be trouble? Also, we learned that she is still newly dating Will, and she is just happy to be with someone different than Rumple.

We’ve said enough about the rest of the story, so let’s get back to the true shocker: August is back! Using the real Dagger, Rumple cast a spell to turn him back up in Storybrooke. That way, the Queens of Darkness plus Regina and himself can start the torture. Episode grade: B

What did you think about tonight’s “Once Upon a Time” episode? Share with a comment below, and head over here to get some other news, including a full review of tonight’s installment. Also, sign up to score some other updates on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)