Once Upon a Time: Wake Up Call (7x06)

Well... that's kind of depressing, isn't it? Yikes. I'm not even sure how to process this! Poor Regina!

Cons:

There's a part of me that's rolling my eyes, right, because Once Upon a Time likes to do this thing where it gets itself bogged down into too many rules and ceremonies with magic, but doesn't actually define the magic properly enough to justify this. We learn that Drizella enacted a dark curse that sent everybody to Hyperion Heights, but that she put a failsafe in that means that if the curse is broken, something bad will happen to the people that Regina loves. We're not sure what that is yet. Well, the way to break the curse is with True Love's Kiss, meaning that Regina is now in the position of trying to prevent Henry and Jacinda from getting together. It's a little too hokey and convenient.

I'm also not sure if I like how quickly Drizella developed from intriguing maybe-villain to outright mega-bad-guy. She's shown as a deeply conflicted and sad young woman, but in the space of one episode, she transforms and becomes truly vindictive and terrible. Maybe a little sudden.

Pros:

However, despite what I just said, in other ways I like the fact that things are moving along at a decent clip now. We got Rumple waking up recently, and now Regina is awake too. This is more interesting than just doing a repeat of what happened in Season One, where everybody figured out the truth all at once, right there at the end. Now we'll have to see if Regina and Rumple will make an alliance, as once again two awake people in a world of the cursed. And will they let Lucy in on the truth instead of contributing to the gas-lighting? Time will tell! Despite the convoluted way that the scenario has arisen, I like the idea of Regina being forced into this torturous situation. It makes for good drama.

I want to talk about one moment in particular that I enjoyed. Early in the episode, Roni and Lucy are doing some research into Regina Mills because of the mysterious picture of Regina and Henry. Roni is trying to humor Lucy's delusion to see if that will help her snap out of it. There's this moment when they ask Weaver if he can look up a name, Regina Mills. The expression on Robert Carlyle's face is what makes him such a talented actor. So enigmatic. So interesting. What does he know? And what does he think Roni knows? I can't wait to see the two of them get some more scenes together in the coming weeks.

The flashback stuff was cute. We see a bit more of Cinderella and Henry's early courtship, which is something I've been asking for, but most of the time is spent with Regina and Drizella. She tries to teach Drizella how to use her magic, but Drizella then finds out that her mother has been manipulating her so that she is filled with belief and her heart can be used to raise Anastasia from the dead. Drizella, in order to stop her mother from getting what she wants, decides to kill her fiance (some guy she doesn't care about) thus blackening her heart and preventing Tremaine from using it. This is yet another convoluted magic plot, but I didn't mind it as much because I like the implications for Regina's character. She tried to befriend this young woman, and it might have actually worked... but then she sees it all fall apart around her, and she's stuck blaming herself for yet another magical mishap. Poor Regina - is she ever going to catch a break?

I should mention that we also get a little more forward motion with the Rogers-missing-child story, but I have been continually putting off discussion of it until we get something a bit more substantial. It's looking like next week's two-parter is going to get in to the question of Eloise Gardner, and I'm excited to see that play out.

I still find myself on the fence about this season's experiment. But there are enough things I'm excited about to want to keep watching - Henry and Regina, Henry and Cinderella, Rumple and Regina... there could be some really cool stuff coming down the road. We shall see if they can milk out another season or two on this concept!

8/10