Once Upon A Time 1.18

‘Why can’t I just be myself? ... Because you can be so much more!’

In this week’s Once Upon A Time, we finally got to understand the true reason behind Regina’s (Lana Parrilla) vendetta against Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and it had been a long time coming.

The difference between Storybrook Regina and younger Regina was greatly emphasised by Parrilla, although making her look younger seemed to have been attempted slightly too hard for an already youthful looking actress. Her youth was emphasised by the control her stereotypical wicked mother (Barbara Hershey) had over her – i’m sure many mothers wish they could have such controlling magical powers over their daughters!

We also saw Snow White as a young girl and, subsequently, the reason for Regina’s hate. It was clear that the producers had plumped for a stereotypically cute girl in Bailee Madison and although the scenes between her and pre-marital Regina were very touching and showed a lovely mother-daughter relationship between the two characters, they were often over the top, with Madison seeming a little too earnest to please. Despite this, Parrillia gave us glimpses of the future evil queen and the fixed grin when she discovered what Snow White had done was also a stroke of genius.

Tonight, we finally reached the climax of the Mary Margaret – Kathryn Nolan (Anastasia Griffith) debacle – something which has been coming for a longtime. The shocking reappearance of the former Mrs Nolan finally bought an end to a long drawn out plot line and providing a saving grace for Mary Margaret and once again grabbing back the audience for next week, despite Once Upon A Time needing stumbling with a couple of aspects of the episode.