‘Once Upon a Time’ review: How Regina got her groove back

“Once Upon a Time” had a little bit of trouble finding its inner magic during the show’s first season; but this time around, there is magic almost at every turn. And no, we are not talking about Regina shooting things out of her hands.

Instead, we have nothing but positive things to say about how good this show is becoming thanks to all of the development of these characters. We are significantly invested in everyone in Storybrooke, and we have can’t help but root for someone like Regina even with her famous moniker of “the Evil Queen.” Most of this episode did revolve around her, as she struggled to try and get some of her powers back to win back Henry. Then, when she managed to do just that, she decided it was not really what she wanted. Thanks to some great parallel storytelling with the fairy tale world, we saw that her biggest fear was ultimately becoming her mother. In reflecting upon her actions (including a book that she originally received as a “favor” from Rumpelstiltskin), she realized that the last thing she wanted was to hold her adopted son prisoner in her own home.

But is Regina really going to be able to escape her own past? What makes this story so interesting now is that while Henry is now living with David thanks to Regina’s own request, Mary Margaret and Emma are now actually living in a hole … with Regina’s mother Cora, who it appeared as though she had killed back when she was younger. Even though this was the biggest shocker of the episode, it was not the only notable moment. We saw a brief appearance by Sebastian Stan as David tried to get Jefferson to build a new hat for him; meanwhile, we also learned that if you leave Storybrooke, you lose all memory of everything that you have been through in the fantasy world.

What did you think about this episode, and do you think that Regina is starting to become more of a character you can root for?