After several episodes I didn't like, this episode does good. Evil Queen/Regina raises the stakes. The new villains make their move. And we're given a key character insight.
Captain Hook's return is a very welcome change from the dreary new mundane villains. I enjoyed his scenes with Evil Queen/Regina, although I never doubted that he intended betrayal. I was astonished by Evil Queen/Regina's relapse into villain stupidity by betraying him first. She needs allies and she's lonely, but she doesn't hesitate to feed Hook to our old dungeon guardian Malificent (I knew she wasn't death). She's led right into the trap by her own stupid petulance. It's almost as if she wants to lose.
Unfortunately, the new villains beg to be beaten. Not only do they lack charm, but they just keep pulling goofy stunts out of nowhere. Now they have an amulet that blocks magic power. What dumb trick is coming next to give them an unearned advantage?
But this episode really belongs to Evil Queen/Regina. She steals some magic beans and burns the rest, stranding our heroes in Storybrooke. But then she explains her entire plan to her adopted son Henry, as if he will naturally support her in killing his mother, grandparents, and friends. This conversation is amazing. EQ/Regina thinks she'll be able to "be a hero" after she kills everyone else and it's just her and Henry in the Enchanted Forest. What does she think "hero" means? The guy who wins at the end of the story? But it's her utter disregard for Henry as a person that's most remarkable; she really didn't think he'd object. She can't understand that what she's doing might not be common sense. And just.
EQ/Regina shows the same delusions in her flashback, early in her hunt for Snow White. She's dumbstruck that peasants don't believe her blatant lies about Snow White, or want to help kill her...not even for gold coins. (Never mind that she would never give up her own convictions for money or comfort.) She's utterly bewildered that townsfolk don't love her. (Never mind that she slaughters subjects in a fit of pique.) She insists that she's a good person who is simply being driven to desperate measures by a vagabond princess, and that killing that princess will finally give her a chance to show her goodness! However, when she later learns that Snow White still hopes they can again be a loving family, EQ/Regina immediately jettisons all her grievances and throws herself into the fantasy...and is quite shattered when the discovery of her past misdeeds (temporarily) hardens Snow White's heart.
Throughout this show, I've cursed EQ/Regina's stupidity, yet remained fascinated by her character. I think I've suspected a meaningful consistency in her delusions. This episode's excesses clarified the idea.
EQ/Regina's a teenager.
Her psychology got locked in place back when her mother murdered her fiancee. She accepts no responsibility for her actions; any misdeeds are forced upon her by others. She can't plan more than one or two steps ahead, mostly getting lost in present overpowering emotion. She can't accept setbacks or compromises, seeing the world only in terms of complete success or abject failure. She has no real conception of other people as actual people, and continually mischaracterizes them. She keeps failing to learn from her mistakes.
Most significantly, EQ/Regina can only conceive of two forms of relationships: unconditional love, and active opposition. Both of these archetypes come from her childhood. Her father and fiancee gave her unconditional love; we see her treat the fiancee badly and be immediately forgiven, and we see her father devote his life to be her butler (and ultimately her sacrifice). Her mother gave her active opposition, constantly thwarting her own impulses. If she can't fit a relationship into one of these categories, she doesn't know how to act. Hence her swift abandonment of good behavior. Hence her immediate dissatisfaction with Storybrooke's cowed populace. Hence her foolish antagonism of Mr. Gold/Rumplestilskin. Hence her ready betrayal of Captain Hook. Hence her expectation that Henry will love her after she kills everyone.
EQ/Regina is a sad, broken character. The tragedy is that this character has been empowered with magic, with no equal power to really keep it in check. Far from being the salvation that she believes, magic has been her curse.
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