Once Upon a Time season 6, episode 2, “A Bitter Draught” took Regina to the brink of darkness and pushed her over the edge.
Excuse me for a minute, while Hamilton explains the circumstances we came to find in Once Upon a Time season 6, episode 2. (For reference listen to “A Winter’s Ball.”)
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How does an evil, conniving, queen hell-bent on revenge
Go on and on
Hiring hitmen to avenge
This obnoxious, worn out, bother
Killing the girl who killed her father?
The Queen hires the Count on sight
She likes what he does with revenge one night
Now the Count’s skill with the quill is undeniable
But what do he and the queen have in common?
They’re reliable
WITH THE LOOPHOLES
There are so many in an hour!
LOOPHOLES
Look! They’re both nearing proximity to power!
LOOPHOLES!
They’re such a delightful distraction
And there are so many of them we complain on a podcast about ’em
2016
A Winter’s Ball
Snow White and Prince Charming are the envy of all
Yo if you can kill them, I got your list son!
It’s not a question of if, ma’am, I’ll get that deed done!
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Thank you for indulging me. Now onto the episode! All cards on the table here, I loved the introduction of the Count of Monte Cristo and his connection to the Evil Queen. It was the first backstory that did not feel like a cheap ploy for a Disney property or a shortcut to distract from the larger stories developing in season 6.
In fact, “A Bitter Draught,” was the freshest episode of Once Upon a Time in a year. The season 6 premiere spent a ton of time, the entire episode actually, walking in circles trying to figure out what it needed to set up for the season. Keep the Emma and Hyde encounter tack it onto episode 2 and ditch the rest.
Not only did we gain a deeper understanding of who knows what about where, when, and how the Land of Stories works, but we saw Regina unravel in the most dramatic way possible– killing a man in Storybrooke without her Evil Queen self attached.
The Count was a one and done character, but his story showed that deep-seeded revenge is a hard bug to squash. As evidenced by the Evil Queen’s resurgence in Storybrooke we know that to be true.
Time and time again Regina goes to great lengths, often at the cost of personal happiness, to mold herself into the type of person who can stand up in front of a room of strangers and tell them that whatever hardships come their way they are better off working together than apart.
It’s easy to talk the talk, not to easy to walk the walk. As soon as someone from her past appears, she takes command of her story.
The fear of losing grip on who controls your happy ending is not a problem Regina faces alone. Now that the residents of the Land Without Stories are stuck in Storybrooke their next chapters begin to play out immediately. Charlotte, the handmaiden that the Count ran away with dies instantly when the poison once again courses through her body.
And thus, his next and final chapter with the Evil Queen begins and Regina finds herself playing a major role. Killing the Count in front of her son to save the people she hunted for so long really does a number on her character.
If the Evil Queen is right, that Regina’s darkness can return without her counterpart present in her body, then what does that mean for her character going forward?
Storybrooke’s hidden stories are about to play out whether they want them to or not. From her conversation with David about his father and Regina about the citizens of Storybrooke, it appears that the Evil Queen knows a thing or two about those crumpled up chapters. Nothing can stay buried forever.
Regina versus the Evil Queen is only one side of the season 6 coin. On the flip side we have Emma Swan versus the Savior. Emma made great strides in her personal life by choosing to go see Archie and talk to someone about her visions. Archie is not quick to jump to a plan nor is he willing to let Emma off the hook about her burgeoning identity crisis.
Emma is slowly figuring out what she needs from Archie and for now that is a sounding board for her visions. But that is only one small step. The foundation of her exploration this season is built on the questions she shoved to the side — if I am not the Savior, who am I?
While the Savior works her way back to Emma Swan, Hook and Belle are (literally) in the same boat when it comes to identity crises. Belle is working towards identifying herself apart from her desire to heal Rumpel while Hook digs deep to find a way to forgive himself for 300 years worth of villainous deeds.
It’s a steep hill set ahead of Once Upon a Time‘s characters this season, but if the episodes carry on in this fashion (judging by the trailer for next week, they might not), we may finally have a reason to get excited for Sunday nights!
Stray Observations
• Regina and Snow sitting across the table in all white from Regina’s all black, Emma and Archie sitting with so much space between them and Emma positioned closest to the exit — two brilliant examples of staging in this episode. Could season 6 be the game changer?
• Henry needs to watch his sequel talk because the casting this season plays close to The Return of Jafar one of the worst sequels in history.
• I am equally disturbed and oddly excited by the prospect of the underlying attraction between the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin. Help!
• There was so much action in this episode! Now that no one is pregnant, more sword fighting please!
• Give me your best guesses of who you think is under the hood.
Watch Once Upon a Time season 6, episode 3, “The Other Shoe,” Sunday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.