Once Upon a Time
Episode 15: The Queen
is Dead
By: Carlos Uribe
Once
Upon a Time is a show about fairy tale characters who got sent to our
reality, which has magic now.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
Fairy Tale Story:
The
fairy tale story pretends to be about Snow White. It goes back to the
time when she was a young child. She has a good relationship with her
mom. Her mom basically tries her best to instill goodness in her
daughter as well as the idea that all people are created equal. Her
mom quickly falls sick. She is dying. Snow is desperate to try and
heal her mom so she goes to the blue fairy to try and see if magic
can save her. The fairy's response is that would require dark magic.
She hands Snow a candle that will save her mother's life but at the
of another person's life. It would be up to Snow to pick who to kill.
She could have easily just used a prisoner who was on death row to
save her mom but the thought never enters Snow's mind. She decides
that she can't accept the price to save her mother. This only makes
her mom proud before she dies. It's a sad moment but it does relay on
how important her mother was to her growing up. One of the biggest
themes on this show is motherhood. Regina had a mom who only sought
power and that's what she became consumed with. Snow had a mother who
valued people and was a good person so that's who Snow became. This
all makes sense but it's the final scene that really reveals why this
isn't about Snow. At least not completely as it does go into why
she's the way that she is.
This
is about Cora because it finally reveals her real motives. She wanted
to go back to Storybrooke because she claimed she wanted to reunite
with her daughter. That always seemed dubious considering how she
treated Regina. It's possible that Cora does love Regina but it
doesn't drive her character. The final scene has Cora coming to the
queen's funeral once everybody has left. She was pretending to be the
blue fairy in this episode. She's pleased at her victory of having
killed the queen. She'll now be able to make her own daughter the
queen and she claims that she's going to do her best to turn Snow to
the dark side. The first is important not because Cora wants her
daughter to have power but because she wants Snow to feel powerless.
It's her way of taking away the queen's wish for the kingdom to have
Snow as it's benevolent queen. The second has more to do with Snow's
actual character. She wants to corrupt it. Why? She wants to tarnish
the queen's legacy. As long as Snow remains good, her mom's legacy
lives. The show isn't subtle about this at all: not only does Cora
basically say this but the queen told her daughter that she would
always be with her as long as she remained good. Cora's real mission
is to corrupt Snow to get back at her mom. Why? That's a good
question but at least we have an idea of what her endgame is. That
makes her a stronger villain since she's not seeking power for the
sake of it. She has a good reason to do so. We might not know it yet
but at least we know there actually is one. That makes her a more
effective villain.
Real World Story:
Cora's
goal might have been revealed in the fairy tale flashback but she's
close to accomplishing it in Storybrooke. Snow manages to figure out
that Regina and Cora are looking for the dagger. After trying to make
Regina realize that her mom is just using her, Snow realizes the only
way to stop Regina and Cora is to find the dagger first. They get so
desperate to find this dagger that Snow is actually willing to use
dark magic. She doesn't have to go there because they're told where
the dagger is by Emma. Once they have the dagger, they get ambushed
by Regina and Cora. They basically hold Snow's childhood maid
hostage. They want the dagger in exchange for the maid. Snow tries
her best to get out of the situation but she decides to give in. This
turned out to be futile as Cora killed the maid anyways. Cora also
gave herself away as the person who gave Snow the candle. Snow
manages to figure out that Cora poisoned her mom but not that Cora's
the reason that she had to be saved by Regina. The maid's death and
the truth about her mother's causes Snow to question her values.
David tries his best to get her to stick to them but she's not
interested. What she wants now is to kill Cora. Cora might very well
have corrupted Snow. What helps make this feel organic is we know the
bond she shared with her maid and her mom. Now that we know that Cora
wanted Snow to ditch her values, it also adds another punch to the
whole thing.
The
drama is not as exciting in New York City. It's basically the same
stuff the last episode dealt with. Henry is mad at Emma for lying to
him, Mr. Gold is still trying to reconnect with his son, and Neal is
hesitant to move to Storybrooke. The first isn't resolved but it does
serve to remind us how Jared Gilmore can really struggle when trying
to deliver snark. The second gets complicated when Captain Hook shows
up out of nowhere and stabs Mr. Gold with his hook. Poison is added
because there needed to be life-and-death stakes. Neal does decide
that he's going to help his dad go back to Storybrooke to ensure he
doesn't die but he's not planning on sticking around. The confusing
part was how did Hook leave Storybooke with his memories? The series
tries to explain this away with his pirate ship which only adds a
whole bunch of questions. Can all ships bypass the line? Or is it
only the pirate ship? Doesn't this undermine the whole drama of not
being able to pass the town line without losing memories? The third
is because Neal has a fiance. This random plot development basically
serves to act as an obstacle for Emma and Neal getting back together.
It's not really that exciting since the show already did this with
David-Mary Margaret-Katherine last season. Overall, not very exciting
and very confusing as the show breaks it's rules without bothering to
explain how it did this. Why should I care about magical obstacles
when they can be so easily overcome?
Conclusion:
The
Queen is Dead is a pretty good episode. There are a few parts where
it's annoying-Cora and Regina just accepting that they're bad guys is
flat writing. The New York City plot was dull as the fiance plot felt
like sudden and even forced while Mr. Gold's stabbing created too
many problems. The good news is that just about everything else
worked. The fairy tale flashbacks were pretty solid and Cora's
corruption of Snow White actually happened organically. The Queen is
Dead is an episode that worked for many reasons: the maid, Cora's
actions, Snow's relationship with her mom, and the acting. The acting
was superb from Ginnifer Goodwin and Bailee Madison.
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