Initial reactions.

[Keb]

I think too that Snow hoped if she died, not only would it end her pain, but it would stop Regina from hurting the others.

[angiebelle]

I think it is perfectly believable for Regina to still love Cora no matter how irrational it looks to us from the outside. Deep down, we all love our mothers and want to be loved in return no matter how much hurt they bring. People rationalize with themselves all the time. Regina had a major complex- that is why she blamed Snow White for Daniel’s death. She couldn’t bring herself to blame her mother- her mother’s hold on her heart was too strong. Psychologists deal with issues like this all the time. My dad has written a book on the subject. It’s called How Dysfunctional Familes Spur Mental Disorders.

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@Chexmex325 wrote:

I’m usually on the “Henry is just a kid, he’s gonna make stupid decisions” bandwagon but I’m sorry this time it was a little too much. Most of the time the only reason people are put in perilous situations or confrontations arise is because Henry is missing and off trying to do something that’s going to blow up in everyone’s face…someone please remember to lock up the dynamite next time.

I guess I cut him some slack because I see a little of myself reflected in the character. I remember when I was about eleven years old I got some beryllium for my chemistry set and for weeks I was determined to try to find a way to get my hands on an alpha source! (When you bombard beryllium nuclei with alpha particles you create a source of neutrons for nuclear fission.) And I didn’t even have the excuse of having to deal with magic-using parents! 🙂

[timespacer]

@myril wrote:

But what a bad camper Kurt was – hidding in a tent when a heavy thunderstorm is approaching is such a brilliant idea particular when havin a perfect faraday cage at hand in form of your own car. 😉

Great observation! I remember thinking the same thing at the time but I forgot to mention it when posting.

[theevilone]

So I had sometime to process my thoughts on the episode. I really really liked it. I found that it brought out so many emotions out of me. I felt sad for Regina, for Owen and his dad and Mary Margaret. I laughed a lot which really does not happen often for this show. Considering how depressing things usually get. I usually giggle here or there but never full on laughter but I have to say Regina’s reaction to her win over the town, gloating over her victory was priceless.

I have to say being an Evil Regal is awfully painful, we constantly have to see our favorite character make the most horrible, awful decisions. I love Regina but really the situation with Owen and his dad had me squirming in my seat. Saying this, I wasn’t surprised that she actually did such a thing. This situation is one of the reasons I had to really think about what to say on my reactions. I don’t understand how people can use what happened back in 1983 as evidence of how bad Regina is at present, which I did find various people doing in Tumblr etc…What happened with Owen was three days after she cursed hundreds of people and separated various families not only Snow’s. She was still The Evil Queen. Did we forget the crazy mess she was toward the end when she actually enacted the curse. The Regina we have now has mellowed out a lot. She had 28 years to mellow not to mention she had Henry to give her at least a little bit of love for 10 years. Her decision on not killing Mary Margaret, on burning the curse is a good example of this.

What I love about this episode is that I got to find out more on who Regina really is and what she might be going through mentally. I have always had a theory on people. All people good or bad get stunted emotionally at a certain age in which they received certain traumas, heart break, abuse, violence etc.. this determines why people act a certain way. Example would be either more mature, immature, childish or juvenile. This particularly happens when they go through a certain trauma during that period of their lives. For Regina I do believe this to be true, she was emotionally stunted as a child, probably from Cora’s abuse and Henry’s lack of protection. Her little fit with Owen on sitting on her seat, calling her mother “mommy,” and her constant tantrums. As in emotionally abused child I learned that a lot of my actions as a child, which I am not proud of and many times up to present day I still regret, where caused because of what I lacked at home. Don’t misunderstand I am not excusing Regina for her actions but I personally feel that I now understand her a bit more. It was funny because I also see this in Neal how he still called Rumple “Papa” when he got injured and how he very childishly said “I am still mad” when deciding to hold Rumple’s hand. His trauma probably happened when he was abandoned by Rumple, how old was he? 14? Emma seems more mature but still juvenile, even though she was abandoned as a baby I think the real trauma was when Neal abandoned her and sent her to jail, so older teen. The fact that Regina was throwing a tantrum with Owen over her seat, how old was Owen? he look about 8 years old. I found that sad and sweet at the same time.

I loved that we also learned about the darkening of the heart. I know that a lot of people were saying that Regina has to change, but maybe this new thing means there is more to just Regina making the right choice. How does a darkened heart affect the person? Does it blind the person into making the wrong choices? We have learned that evil deeds darken the heart perhaps Regina’s dark heart blinds her into making the right decisions. Would true loves kiss help cure this? Maybe this is what Belle’s kiss actually did to Rumple. Perhaps it did not remove his curse of the dark one but has started to clear his heart. I am actually very excited into learning the process of the black heart through Snow White. Which I also have to say poor Snow. The ending scene with Regina and Snow, just wow.

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