Once Upon a Time: The Evil Queen (2x20)

There were things abut this episode that I actually liked a lot. It was miles ahead of the last two episodes, but do you know what? It still wasn't great. And I'll give you one big reason for it. Ready?

There was no point to the Evil Queen back story plot. It was just another example of Regina trying to kill Snow, and Snow being all sweet and helping people, and Snow letting Regina get away with her life again, and it added nothing to our understanding of either character, nor did it push the plot forward in any meaningful way. There was literally only one part of the flashback storyline that I enjoyed, and that was when Rumple asked Regina to stop trading with King George's kingdom because he needs them to be broke. That was fantastic. Yet another example of a throw-away line having huge consequences if you actually think about it for a moment.

Overall, the fairytale land story had no purpose in terms of characterization or plot. But then there's the Storybrooke plot, which did.

I didn't love the Storybrooke plot this week, and it wasn't quite up to what I expect when I watch this show, but it was still good, and I think it still moves things forward in a meaningful way. Emma suspects that Tamara is the "she" that August mentioned just before he died/got turned into a kid again (I still don't get that, by the way). Emma tries to tell Mary Margaret about it, but she assumes that Emma is just jealous because of Neal. Henry overhears them talking and decides to help Emma on a new operation to figure out what exactly is up with this Tamara lady.

When they try to break into Neal's room, he catches them, and he allows Emma to look around to appease her worries about Tamara. When Emma turns up nothing, she leaves with Henry, but the two of them discuss how Emma is still totally right about Tamara, and how they're going to catch her. They also discuss going to the fairytale land, and Henry figures out that they have been growing magic beans.

Meanwhile, Tamara and Greg recruit Hook to their side, and Hook goes to Regina. The two of them go down into the cavern to find something that Regina calls a "fail safe" to the curse. Basically, it will erase Storybrooke from ever having existed, and kill everyone in the process. Regina's plan is to take Henry back to the fairytale land first, so that they can start over together. When they're down in the cavern, Regina throws Hook down to Maleficent, but he survives with the help of Greg and Tamara. Turns out, Regina's magic is now neutralized thanks to a trick of science that Greg and Tamara somehow came up with.

I liked that we have a new element now - this fail-safe that could wipe Storybrooke off the map for good. It's intriguing, it's fresh, it will probably make for a great finale. I also liked seeing Maleficent again, even if she was in this weird dead/alive shell thing. That was intense. I liked Henry and Emma's stakeout and his blind trust in her (that kid cannot act, but he's so cute that I don't mind). I liked to see Hook's conniving ways, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out.

Things I didn't like: you can't just say "science" as an explanation for something. Even if you don't want to get all technical about it, I would at least like to know how Tamara and Greg know about this intense science that can actually block magic. Who told them about it? I also hate how Mary Margaret was so flippant with Emma. She wasn't at all supportive of Emma's suspicions about Tamara, and I felt like there should have been at least more of a conversation about this.

Bottom line: it's an improvement over the past few episodes, but it's still not up to snuff as far as this show usually goes.

6/10