Once Upon A Time SEASON 2 EPISODE 10 FULL LENGTH REACTION

The Cricket Game- Such another fun reaction from you!! And I love this episode too! Thank you very much, Timothee! First... I really love the moments between Hook and Cora throughout this episode! In spite of Hook's role in this episode being fairly small, in comparison to in other episodes. I always love him and miss him when his character isn't in an episode much, if at all. But these scenes between Hook and Cora in this episode are delightfully devious, and brilliant! :) Now... One of my favorite moments in this episode is in the beginning with David and Mary Margaret, when they're still in bed together in the afternoon the day after she and Emma return home from the Enchanted Forest. I love how Emma is embarrassed, and Henry's confused upon walking in on them, and that her parents joke about how happy they are that they can still traumatize their daughter with memories like this so many years later. So cute!! The Charming family is beautiful. :) I also absolutely love that the Charmings' closest friends throw a party to welcome Emma and Mary Margaret home, and I love David's toast... To not having to look for his family for a while. I also love that Emma invites Regina for Henry's sake. Her and Regina definitely have a lot of issues still to work out, but this is absolutely a first good step. And both women truly are trying to put their dark pasts and hatred of one another behind them, for Henry's sake. Sadly, tragedy strikes fast. Now... Cora does make for a great villain. However, It's so terrible that she's capable of framing her own daughter for murder, all so she can break Regina's spirit and to destroy all the good she's accomplished with just a little trickery. When I first saw this episode, I was so angry and so heartbroken when I thought that she killed Archie. Because like I've said before... Archie is one of my very favorite characters outside of the major characters. I was so, so happy to see that he is still alive in the end. But it is so sad to see him get hurt and to see everyone's reactions to his death, especially Emma's and Henry's reactions. And Regina's too. Also... Archie never really breaks Regina's confidence in regards to the details of their sessions. He might have been wrong to say what he does to Emma, but he did so with good intentions. All he wants is to help Regina by helping the others to see the good in her she has been fighting so hard to bring back out. Archie believes in Regina so much. Just like Henry does too. And unfortunately, because of this, Cora sees it as a cruel opportunity to teach her daughter a lesson, believing that she can later swoop in to pick up the pieces to help her daughter again. As for everyone being so quick to believe Regina really did all this... Cora really does do the perfect frame job. For one... No one knows that Cora and Hook have arrived in Storybrooke. So, of course they wouldn't even consider the possibility it is someone other than maybe Gold, who is quickly proven to be innocent. And with Regina's past, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to believe in her. Especially since as Regina in their time together spent in Storybrooke, had framed Mary Margaret for murder back in season one, and cast the curse that ripped everyone apart in the first place. Which happens to have been the last problem they were still dealing with just before Emma and Mary Margaret fell through the portal that brought them to the Enchanted Forest throughout the first half of this season. And in spite of all this... Emma still believes in Regina. She chooses to, because of Henry's faith in her. And because while hers and Regina's pasts are hardly the same, Emma still sees some of Regina in herself. And I love this. But I can also understand why David and Mary Margaret are distrusting given their past history. I love Regina, and I feel so bad for her throughout the Storybrooke storyline throughout this episode, but the others' feelings towards her are justified too. So, so sad. Sadly, even Gold's solution to have Emma look into Pongo's memories don't work, because Pongo only ever sees Regina enter Archie's office. However, he does sense something isn't right with Regina when Cora walked into Archie's office disguised as her. Pongo senses she is an impostor, which is why he barks. Which Archie finds strange that he barks at Regina, given that Regina has come to him for multiple sessions now. So yes... Pongo does know Regina like Archie says. Unfortunately, this doesn't come across in his memories, and poor Pongo can't communicate with our heroes to let them know that he's barking at an imposter, and not just at the woman when Cora attacks his friend. By the way... Pongo is in fact the same Pongo from Disney's, One Hundred and One Dalmatians. This show's creators sadly chose not to bring Pongo's owners, Roger and Anita, or Perdita, the female dalmatian, into this show. So, they chose to make Archie Pongo's owner instead. And it's a good choice. Archie is a gentle soul, who would definitely love having a dog. I also love that Emma has begun to develop her magic, as Gold encourages her to do so. In spite of hers and her parents' reservations in doing so. It's great, and Emma being taught how to use her magic, shows a brilliant parallel with him beginning to teach Regina her own magic too. Which is scary, but marvelous! Next... I really love the backstory with Snow and David capturing Regina and putting her on trial, bringing in another parallel to the present day storyline with the Charmings questioning Regina, and attempting to arrest her despite her having magic in the present time. I love how Snow fights to spare Regina's life because Regina had once saved her life, and in so doing, Snow then saves Regina's life by sparing hers as well. I absolutely feel badly for Snow too, because she truly does long for Regina to change and become the good woman she loved when she was a little girl. I really love how Rumplestiltskin manipulates everything in order to convince Regina to cast the dark curse for him, by making it so that Regina wouldn't be able to kill Snow and Charming so long as they remain in their world. Absolutely brilliant! And this brings us to the moment when Regina travels to their castle on the day of Snow's and Charming's wedding and threatens their entire kingdom as is seen in the Pilot episode. Once again bringing this full circle to the beginning. Beautiful!! If there is really anything negative about this episode, other than that we are left feeling so sad for Regina, which isn't a negative, just tragic... It's that there isn't enough of Hook in it. :) Overall... I really enjoy this episode a lot!! And it's a great beginning to the second half of the season! Thank you so very much again, for another great reaction, Timothee! I can't wait for your next episode reactions!! :) Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum