Once Upon A Time – Season 2 Episode 2

By: Dan

Once Upon A Time.

I’ve just finished watching the latest episode of Once Upon A Time, ‘We Are Both’.

This episode delves further into the relationship between Regina and her mother, the delightfully sinister Cora. We learn that there is a past relationship between egina’s family and Rumplestiltskin, and that it was he who taught Cora to use magic, and in turn allows Regina to learn. We find that Regina, with a little help from Rumple, sent Cora through a looking glass, and then started to use magic herself.

In Storybrooke, Charming/David and Henry are looking for a way to bring Emma and Mary/Snow back, whilst also dealing with everyone else’s problems. Regina regains magic and takes Henry, whilst David finds Jefferson (Mad Hatter), who insists he cannot help before running away (only after Charming mentioned his daughter). The dwarves had previously found out that everybody who leaves the town lines forgets who their fairytale self is, but everyone heads to leave anyway. David stops them, barely, and they all go back to their regular lives. David gets Henry back from Regina, who gives him up as she realises that she’s turning into her mother, and doesn’t want that.

The episode ends in present day fairyland, with Mulan taking Snow and Emma to their camp. They’re thrown in prison, and the episode ends when their cellmate asks if they want help, and reveals herself as Cora. It’s a brilliant end to the episode, and certainly ensures that no one can wait for the next to see what happens. There are still plenty of questions, such as why can’t they leave Storybrooke still? How exactly did some people survive in fairyland (I have a suspicion on that front)? Where did August go (he was briefly in the episode, but when they went to find him, he’d vanished)? I’m sure we’ll find out more as the episodes go on.

The top performers this week were Lana Parrilla, who was outstanding as Regina, showing both her menacing and vulnerable sides with equally high skill; Barbara Hershey, who was her usual excellent self; and Sebastian Stan, who made terrific use of his screen time to continue his incredible character.

I can’t wait for the next episode in a week.

Listen to the V.R.O. On air Recap!