Those CGI snakes were ridiculously fake looking, they should’ve just used some real snakes (obv not really venomed ones for sake of the actors).
We still don’t know exactly why Queenie’s so pissed at Snow. She said she cost her the man she loved, but she clearly loved neither the king nor the genie, so there’s got to be more story here.
I did like the inside of the genie’s lamp and how it looked like someplace Barbara Eden would be at home at.
I disagree - this is exactly why she was/is pissed at Snow - She (Snow) got all the love and stuff from King - while she was left to sit ‘un noticed’ + she’s the daughter of the kings ‘true love and first wife’.
She cost her the man she loved because her being there meant she never got the attention/love she wanted from King - whom she claims to have loved and atleast in part of the episode was hurt by the inattention.
We don’t know. We can’t tell from the information at hand whether or not Regina loved the king. Sure, she played ‘hurt by being ignored’ very well, but that’s what she does. She can even feel it, as a good actor actually experiences the emotions s/he is trying to portray. That doesn’t mean that feeling hurt by insufficient love from the king was her motivation. We don’t know. We may never know with any certainty.
It was pretty obvious that Sidney was playing Emma, because in HEAL he was betraying the man to whom he owed his freedom from almost the moment he set foot into his castle. That being said, I thought it a bit dog-in-the-manger of the king to deny his queen the love that he couldn’t give to her, and didn’t particularly want from her. He was justified in requiring physical fidelity, but I’m not clear as to why he would be upset that Regina had feelings for another man, since he had nothing but mild affection for her.
What did Sydney & Regina say at the end, after he played the recording of Emma? Our DVR cut off early.
Basically, “She bought it, ha ha ha. Now she thinks she has an ally.”
Here’s the full exchange:
You can imagine the smug smiles and chuckles along the way. It may or may not be important to note Regina says the last line with her hand on Sidney’s knee.
Been loving this show since the beginning…
I just had an interesting idea though. Where did the book come from? Who WROTE it? Placed it in the library to be found by a curious kid?
It seems to have a whole lot of backstory and information on EVERYONE. Something the Queen wouldn’t allow to exist if she knew about it in the first place!
Then I thought about the mysterious new character…who is a writer. And very curious about the boy and the book.
Makes me wonder if he is the author! Hmmm
That was my assumption too. I look forward to finding out more about the writer.
Going to watch it again - wasn’t there a quote that said “loves true kiss can break any curse”
we saw some evidence of this when Graham and Emma kissed - his curse started to shatter.
We’ve seen Snow and Charming kiss - but the curse is still in effect - perhaps because they haven’t declared ‘true’ love yet and are still in the flow of ‘forbidden love’ and courtship.
I’m thinking that the kiss will be when Emma finds happiness and love - and perhaps the stranger is a key to that as well.
Wasn’t she the unwed single mother, whose baby Gold was trying to take?
I believe that was Cinderella.
You are correct sir! (or madam)
Or “Ashley” in town. 
I was also amused that the happy king was played by the guy who was the depressed Toby in West Wing. I think that Regina was playing the Genie from start to finish. If the HappyKing/Snow’sDad was so concerned about the happiness of all the members of his kingdom that he gave his wishes to the genie, it seems unlikely that Regina could have been that unhappy without him noticing.
Did anybody else think it was weird that Regina’s dad, Henry, was hanging around the castle as a servant, before she was full blown evil?
First, we don’t know whether or not Regina was full blown evil at that point. Second, it’s possible that Snow’s father married the daughter of his steward, or whatever position Regina’s father held. This was his second marriage, after all. The first might have been sufficient political capital that he simply married someone who was handy to be a stepmother to his beloved daughter. Regina was not necessarily royally born.
Toby wasn’t depressed. He was just uber-cynical and melancholy.
What a great episode. It has now been confirmed that Rumplestiltskin knows too. He and the Evil Queen are at war and I can’t wait to see what they’ll do to each other next. Rumple thinks he has the upper hand, but we saw Regina has an ace in the hole.
They mentioned that True Love Kisses cure curses. We know Emma is destined to break the Storybrooke curse. Who will Emma’s TLK be with?
More drama for Charming and Snow. What a moron, giving the wrong Valentine to her.
Interesting to see “Claire” with darker hair.
No doubt that Gold and Regina know who they were, and who the other was in HEAL. Do they know who everyone else in town was? I’d guess so.
Only disapointment was nothing on the mysterious stranger front.
Brian
Well her kiss with the sheriff seemed to return his memories but leave everyone else unaffected. So I guess she’s just going to have to make out with everyone in town.
***I love how being “polite” has so much power! Every time Gold says “please”, EQ stops in her tracks 
Also, I find it difficult not to like Rumple / Mr Gold in both worlds.***
Do we know who she is in Storybrook? I can’t recall seeing her. Interesting that all these different accents exist in the same world, and children have different accents than their parents.
This was a very good episode. The reveal with Gold was nicely done, if not unexpected.