Once Upon a Time: Unforgiven (4x14)

Maleficent! She's back in Storybrooke, and it's not gonna be good. Let's jump right in to the plot, shall we?

In the past, back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow and Charming are just getting back from their honeymoon. They are confronted by Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella, who need their help with something. Regina has just stolen the Dark Curse from Maleficent, and they need two heroes to help them find a way to get it back. There's apparently a magical tree that will give them answers, but only heroes can approach it. The three villainesses travel with Snow and Charming to the tree. Along the way, Maleficent turns into a dragon and kills some guards who were blocking their way.

As they get closer to the tree, Snow and Charming sneak off to ask it about the Curse by themselves, without telling the three villainesses. They start to ask the tree, but they are repelled. Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella show up. They realize that Snow and Charming weren't able to approach the tree because Snow is pregnant. While they are heroes, their child isn't guaranteed to be. Later, Maleficent comes to visit Snow. Maleficent reveals that she too is pregnant, so she especially needs to stop Regina from using the Curse. Snow rebuffs her, telling her that she won't be allied with Maleficent. If she turns to Darkness in the process of stopping the Curse, she'll pass that Darkness on to her child.

In the present day in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret and David are paranoid about Ursula and Cruella. They know that these two women know the horrible thing that they did to Maleficent in the past. Emma wonders if her parents are hiding something, because they're acting really weird. She also suspects Hook of lying to her, since he won't tell her how he knows Ursula from his past.

Cruella and Ursula go into Gold's shop (now run by Belle) and steal something that once belonged to Maleficent. When David sees this while out patrolling with Emma, he tells Mary Margaret immediately. The two of them realize that Cruella and Ursula might be trying to resurrect Maleficent! They go down underneath the town to find Maleficent's ashes and get rid of her once and for all, but it turned out to be a trap. Cruella and Ursula knock them out and take their blood, which is what they really needed in order to resurrect Maleficent! Maleficent is ready to hurt Mary Margaret on the spot, but Cruella and Ursula tell her there's a plan in place, and they leave.

Mary Margaret and David realize that they need to tell Emma the whole truth - if they had done that in the first place, none of this would have happened. However, as they go to do so, they hear Emma talking to Hook. She tells him that she trusts him, and that it's okay if he doesn't want to tell her what happened between him and Ursula. She says she's willing to put so much faith in him because of her parents. She knows she has a tendency to put her guard up, but she wants to be more like her mom and dad, and see the best in people. Mary Margaret and David chicken out, unwilling to disappoint Emma. They tell her that Maleficent has been resurrected, though.

Mary Margaret talks to Regina about a plan to infiltrate the villainesses. She wants Regina to go undercover and pretend to be evil again, so she can figure out what's what. Mary Margaret also reveals a secret to Regina, that Emma was born with the potential for great Darkness. She then reveals that because of Mary Margaret, Maleficent lost her child. Emma can never find out, because then all of their trust will be broken.

Regina and Henry spend most of the episode, prior to this moment, looking for clues about the mysterious author. They have the idea to go talk to Pinocchio, because back when he was August, he spent a lot of time with the book. Pinocchio doesn't remember, and Regina gets really frustrated, yelling at the boy. Later, she apologizes to Marco for her behavior, saying that she wants to be a better person, and she's working on it. Marco offers Regina a bag with information that might help Regina.

Rumple, who has been hiding out this whole time, sees Belle through the shop window, sharing a kiss with Will.

Yeesh. I feel like even though I tried to keep that brief, there was just so much going on in that episode! But not in a bad way - it didn't feel crowded, despite all the information going on here.

There were a few things that sort of bothered me. First of all, I was really annoyed by the scene when the guards wouldn't let Snow and Charming go by. Like... they are the freakin' King and Queen, right? What the hell is the problem with those stupid guards? I wanted to cheer when Maleficent killed them. (Okay maybe that's a bit harsh, but that moment seriously made no sense). Along the same vein, when Snow and Charming sneak off to talk to the tree by themselves, I was seriously rolling my eyes. What did they think was going to happen? When the three evil witches woke up, they were obviously going to know where they were.

Mary Margaret's speech at the end to Regina was good in theory, but it was pretty long-winded in practice. I wish it could have been a bit more pithy and on-point.

Last week, I worried that Ursula, Cruella, and Maleficent would all become homogeneous and indistinguishable. Maleficent certainly stands out, but the other two are pretty boring thus far. It's not the actresses' faults... they're hamming it up with the best of them. But I think we need some back stories to establish each villainess separate from her companions. Hopefully we'll get that soon, and it'll help make them a bit more distinct.

Now on to the good stuff.

I'm super curious about the whole Maleficent thing. I'll admit, I didn't think they were going to be able to come up with anything evil enough for Mary Margaret and David to keep secret, but if they're responsible for the death of a child, then count me in! That's pretty intense stuff. I'm hoping they don't pull punches with this, because I'd love to see the full consequences of this kind of darkness playing out in the weeks to come.

I'm so glad that the villains on this show are complex enough to undergo changes. With both Regina and Hook, we see how their pasts are coming back to haunt them, and how they need to try extra hard to be a better person for their loved ones. It's an interesting contrast to our "heroes," Mary Margaret and David, who are supposedly good to the core, and yet keep making mistakes and letting the darkness win. Regina had that lovely moment of apology with Marco. The best part about it was that nobody else nudged her and told her to apologize. She realized that she was out of line all on her own, and she did something about it. And Hook lied to Emma, but when he was called out on it, he understood why it was wrong. Whatever happened with Ursula and Hook, Hook is not the same person he once was.

Emma was facing doubt on all sides, as Hook was clearly lying to her about Ursula, and her parents were acting very fishy with this whole Ursula and Cruella thing. Now that we know this little detail about her potential for darkness, I'm thinking we're in for a very angst-y and upsetting rest of the season for Miss Swan. I love the way she's trying to open up her heart and put her trust in Killian, and the way her trust in her parents is unwavering.

We got to see Pinocchio! I was always a huge fan of August, and I was really annoyed by the way that story line wrapped up on the show. So, it was exciting to see him back, in some small way at least. I liked how awkward it was for Emma. I mean, her relationship with August was certainly complicated, and now to see him as a little kid? It must be so weird for her.

Hook and Emma were really cute in this episode. The cuter they get, the more nervous I am for the future. We got to see adorable cuddling while walking down the street, and Hook knows that Emma likes onion rings, and they trust each other and they totally love each other and it's just... so... perfect.

I think that's where I'll leave this for now. I'm very excited for whatever's next. It should be wonderful, and very depressing I'm sure!

8/10