In a new interview, the Once Upon a Time creators tease their plans for Regina in season 4, and reassure worried fans she won’t be overshadowed.
The two first episodes of Once Upon a Time season 4 have been very Frozen heavy, too busy introducing Elsa (Georgina Haig) and Anna (Elizabeth Lail) to spend a lot of time on peripheral characters.
And even some major players have been left out in the cold. Regina (Lana Parrilla), one of the show’s main protagonists, has had very little screen time so far this season.
While we’re only two episodes in, some fans are worried that characters not directly tied into the Frozen arc will have less important parts to play in the first half of the season.
Emma (Jennifer Morrison), David (Josh Dallas) and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) have had plenty to do with Elsa. Gold (Robert Carlyle) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) had a big part in the premiere, and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Henry (Jared Gilmore) have also managed to clock in some screen time despite not being directly tied into the Frozen arc yet. (Mary Margaret will be even more prominent next week, when she takes over as mayor of Storybrooke.)
But Regina’s love triangle with Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) and Marian (Christie Laing) has taken a bit of a backseat, although she and Henry will begin working together to find the author of the storybook next week.
TV Line has spoken to Ed Kitsis and Adam Horowitz about whether the Frozen characters will continue to dominate the story in the first half of season 4, shifting some of the main characters’ arcs to the background.
But don’t worry. “We are in no way leaving the arcs of characters like Regina aside” during the Frozen arc, Horowitz promises.
Kitsis further reveals that Regina will be connected to the Frozen story somehow, and in fact, “the plan we have for Regina this season is one of my favorites.”
That’s good news for Regina fans! Now, if only we could get that second Archie Hopper flashback…
Once Upon a Time season 4, episode 3, “Rocky Road,” airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.