But how do you guys feel they should have done it?
I think the approach they’ve taken with Regina provides a good template, although there are there are things they could have done better.
What I like about Regina’s redemption is that it has been protracted and included multiple elements such as: Regina changing into a better person, Regina apologising sincerely, Regina risking her life to help her former victims, Regina undergoing suffering which some may view as karmic retribution for past misdeeds. It’s also been made clear through dialog that the other characters haven’t forgotten Regina’s crimes.
There are however, a few things that haven’t been adequately acknowledged, which I feel are important – Regina’s rape and murder of Graham, and Regina’s mass murder of peasants. I know that some people feel like Robin getting raped by Zelena was Regina’s karmic punishment for her treatment of Graham, but I would still like to see other characters call her out on it, or at least for her to express profound horror at her actions. Peasants are treated like dirt on this show, which really bothers me. They are rarely humanised and they almost never get justice. I’d like to see Regina acknowledge the many lives she’s ruined and also go out of her way to help the vulnerable and needy to whom she has no relation. This by no means constitutes justice, but it would at least be a small nod to the poor, faceless masses who were wiped out.
Generally speaking, and I’m not just talking in relation to Regina anymore, I would like to see the show emphasise the following messages:
– Mercy is important, but so is justice.
– Evil is made not born. However, everyone is responsible for their own actions. While pain and desperation can make vile actions understandable, it does not necessarily make them justifiable. There is a big difference.
– Bad deeds are not undone by good deeds. Nobody, especially victims, should feel obligated to forgive someone who has wronged them.
– The villain is not always a person. It can be, and often is, unjust laws and socio-political systems.
As for Rumple, I don’t think his redemption has been done anywhere near as well. But this is because, for narrative purposes, they’ve always needed Rumple to retain his shadiness.