Posted by Dustin on 10.15.2012 at 2:28 pm

After two weeks of amazingly fast paced episodes, we had to expect the ride to slow down eventually. I felt like that’s what this week episode was, a slow point. Much of the episode was focused on the other side and Snow and Emma, which I was glad for. Last week they were very much absent. However I don’t feel like we advanced the story that far along. I’m sure they are saving a lot of excitement at this point for November sweeps month.

The whole point of this episode seemed to be that the Evil Queen Cora is still as evil as ever, and still had all her powers. She’s taken control of the survivors, though they don’t really know it – but probably soon will. She has been impersonating Lancelot and acting as their leader for who knows how long! By the end of the episode Snow and Emma knew this though when she revealed herself to them, and that she killed Lancelot long ago.

Snow thought they could use the tree/cabinet portal they sent Emma through to get back to their world. However before they could use it, Cora revealed herself to them. She had been looking for a way over there for so long, to get to Regina and now her grandson. Emma lost it and wouldn’t let that happened, so she torched the portal. Cora was furious and vanished. Later though, after Snow and the others left, she returned to gather the ashes of the tree into a vial that glowed. It seems there is still enough magic left! Oh dear! Snow meanwhile has agreed to be the new leader of the refugees, and Mulan has promised to help her and Emma find a way back.

We still don’t know where Regina banished her mother to do we? Or how she got back. I still think it was Wonderland. I think she really was the Queen of Hearts. It would explain why she hated Regina and refused to call her queen, and why she had Henry’s hear. After all Regina did push her mother through a mirror when banishing her . . . .

We saw some back stories as to how Snow and Charming met Lancelot. Lancelot was King George’s knight. King George tried to punish Charming and Snow by poisoning Snow and making her infertile. But Lancelot and Charming’s mother used the last drops of the waters of mystic lake to cure Snow from the curse. The water was supposed to be used to cure Charming’s mother, who was dying from a poison arrow from George’s soldiers . . . but she sacrificed herself for Snow and her son’s future happiness.

Back in the Storybrook, Jefferson was finally reunited with his daughter. Meanwhile George resurfaced, and with his memory back now that the curse was broken, it seems his hatred towards Charming is back too!