Once Upon A Time, Season 2, Episode 15: “The Queen is Dead”
Written by Daniel T. Thomsen & David H. Goodman
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Airs Sundays at 8pm (ET) on ABC
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Drama? Check. Action? Check. Nail-biting suspense? Double check. Once Upon a Time is back after a one week hiatus. It’s strapping us in tight and not holding anything back. The episode brings us to past Enchanted Forest where we are introduced, for the first time, to Snow White’s mother. Another great casting choice by the creators Rena Sofer looks and plays the part of Snow’s mother perfectly. Making us actually believe that she could be Bailee Madison or Ginnifer Goodwin’s mother.
The episode mostly focuses on events in Storybrooke and things taking place in New York City with Emma, Henry, Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire. The writers take us on a different journey with this episode, than the last. It’s a lot faster paced and suspenseful while the last one was more drama filled, with the family reunion.
Props needed to be given, hands down, to Ginnifer Goodwin in this episode. We have always known that Snow did not have the best childhood, but actually getting to see what she went through was heartbreaking. Goodwin has always been one of the shining stars of the cast, but she had to play the part of sweet, caring Mary Margaret/Snow White. In this episode however, the writers gave her more material. Material that could actually change our sweet little Snow. That material just happened to be by the hands of Cora, who is making her stake in Storybrooke even greater.
Barbara Hershey has always been a great guest addition to the cast and the way that she plays her part is exceptional. She makes us loathe Cora with a passion, but at the same time places us on the edge our seats in anticipation at what her next move is. The next move by Cora is going to be a harsh one, as she manipulated Snow and Charming into giving her Rumplestiltskin’s dagger. She can control the dark one and we can be assured there will be a price to pay for that.
One other cast member that should be given props is none other than our dear Regina, Lana Parrilla. Parrilla has come a long way with Regina, just in this season. The way the writers and Parrilla have been handling her is interesting to say the least. It’s clear, from this episode alone, that we find that Regina just doesn’t know who she is yet. She’s easily manipulated, by her mother that is, but it seemed that even the conversation she had with Snow in the beginning of the episode was getting to her. She’s confused and torn, especially now that she knows her mother was responsible for Snow’s mother’s death. Parrilla handles the information and situations with such grace. Making us not only feel for her, but despise her and disappointed all at the same time.
The episode was exciting to say the least and was full of questions as well as suspense. We can tell that the writers are setting up for the epic season finale that is only a couple of months away. The way they carefully mold things and present things is fantastic. And of course answers were raised all over the place, Rumple clearly has ill feelings for Henry, is he really going to harm the boy? What is Cora going to do with the dagger? Will she ditch Regina once she has absolute control? How does Baelfire know Hook? Where was he before our world? Could he possibly be a lost boy? And is Snow really going to follow through with attempting to kill Cora?
Everything is bound to be answered in the coming weeks, but the roller coaster ride known as Once Upon a Time has no signs of slowing down. Instead it’s getting faster and heading full force to the climax of the Season Finale and it’s not letting us off at all.