# Once Upon A Time - the rest of Season Two

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 4, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955 "2013-03-04T01:16:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/1 "2013-03-04T01:16:45Z")

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There hasn’t been a lot of participation in the OUAT threads from earlier in the season, so I thought I’d just make this one for the rest of this season and bump it each week as needed.

When last we left Disneyworld, we had discovered that–as many of us suspected–Rumplestiltskin’s long lost son is indeed Emma’s babydaddy.

Cora is manipulating Regina to get to Henry, and Hook desperately wants to kill Rumple.

The car crash dude from the outside (played by Ethan Embry!) is aware that magical things are happening in Storybrooke.

Belle’s memory of her true identity was wiped away when she fell across the town line.

They’ve got a giant who is planning on growing some magic beans in Storybrooke, so that may provide a way back at some point, but it will probably be awhile.

Tonight’s episode is 15 of 22.

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**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/2 "2013-03-04T01:20:50Z")

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Thanks for reminding me it’s on tonight!

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/3 "2013-03-04T02:35:21Z")

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Saw it tonight. It keeps going downhill. A redshirt? They didn’t think Cora might follow them around?

Cora continues to be the least interesting villain on TV, too (and most predictable).

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/4 "2013-03-04T03:07:23Z")

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I thought this one was actually a big step up from the last few (I mean, the Frankenstein episode and the Giants episode sucked, right?).

I liked the flashback scenes–they filled in some more of the history around Snow, Regina, and Cora. I know it’s been said before, but the girl who plays young Snow does a great job.

I guess since Hook (and Cora) weren’t affected by Regina’s original curse, they can leave Storybrooke and not forget themselves.

A pretty dark episode for a family show. I’m not complaining, just sayin’.

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**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/5 "2013-03-04T03:16:14Z")

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It’s way flawed, but I’m still enjoying it. Love the actress who plays young Snow. Want to see Rumple & Snow work together to destroy Cora. I liked Regina better when she wasn’t stupid enough to trust her mother.

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**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/6 "2013-03-04T03:55:45Z")

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Regina seems almost’ morally ambiguous right now. I kinda get the feeling she doesn’t entirely trust her mother.

I suspected Bael is Peter Pan or one of the Lost Boys, and they all but confirmed that tonight.

I always love it when good guys go evil, but the event which pushed Snow over the edge (however temporary her going dark may turn out to be) seemed contrived. Snow knows Cora is pure evil. Why the hell did she give Cora the frigging knife? She couldn’t possibly have thought Cora was gonna keep her end of the bargain and let the maid live? And then after the whole thing happened, thinking she did the right thing? LOL, it was not only not “the right thing” to do, it was downright _stupid_.

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**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/7 "2013-03-04T05:27:11Z")

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Why did Snow even have to ‘give’ Cora the knife? should have been just as simple for Cora to magic it away from her.

I did like the fact that they addressed the time issue - Baelfire said that he had been on many ‘stops’ before winding up in ‘our land’ - otherwise he would have been two (or several?) hundred years old.

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**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/8 "2013-03-04T16:36:03Z")

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The show has too many balls in the air right now; they can’t give any one story the plotting it deserves. For example, how, exactly, did Hook find Rumple so quickly in New York? A little more setup here would have made this part of the story more believable. Also, introducing Johanna now was particularly lazy ( **RealityChuck** is dead-on calling her a redshirt). Her only role was to gin up the stakes for the confrontation in the clock tower–and **simster** is right that even this didn’t make any sense.

The show needs to start tying off some of these threads. Eliminating Cora is probably the most efficient way to do this; at this point things are clearly building toward some final GvE confrontation, so I have some hope that this will happen at the season’s end. I for one think the show suffers when it leans too heavily on plot developments; it’s far more interesting IMO to see how storybook characters try to function in the real world, never quite escaping the shadows of their past acts.

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/9 "2013-03-04T18:52:57Z")

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So, I hate it when people jump into the Big Bang Theory / Archer / Modern Family threads and complain about how shitty the show has become; whereas I still find them as funny as ever.

I guess you see where this is going! 🙂 I really liked the first season of OUAT. However I feel like it’s falling victim to what doomed Heroes for me… just too much shit going on at once. In Heroes I started yearning to see a character who WASN’T blessed with supernatural power. In OUAT i feel like there are so many story lines going on; it’s just a mess to watch now. My wife still watches it; but if it were up to me; my dvr would be free of the space it’s taking up. ☹

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**Author:** ![The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@The\_Evil\_Prince\_Zorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Evil_Prince_Zorte)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/10 "2013-03-04T22:41:06Z")

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Cora’s pitch to Regina was “If I can control The Dark One I can have him kill Snow and Charming and your hands will be clean.” It could easily have been followed by “Hell, I’ll toss them both out the clock tower window too and you can tell Henry that I did it and you tried to stop me.”

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**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/11 "2013-03-04T23:35:20Z")

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Has no one checked on August the entire time since the curse broke? He’s just sitting up in his room turned into a puppet this whole time, right?

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/12 "2013-03-05T00:27:32Z")

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Geppetto went to August’s room to look for him after the curse broke and there was no one there. It was a very brief scene.

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**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/13 "2013-03-11T01:29:16Z")

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_Weekly Bump_

Loved the latest episode.

It’s amazing, I don’t think anybody has managed to resist Rumpelstiltskin and his dealmaking. Not a single person. Now even Snow succumbed to the dark side…although it looks from the preview for the next episode that now she’s depressed and in her jammies about it.

In the last episode, Cora swore to Eva that she’d turn Snow’s heart as “black as coal.” Rumpel, with his power to see the future and happening to have that candle in his cabinet, actually managed to turn Snow, if only temporarily. There are obstacles to this idea (like Cora’s betrayal of Rumpel in Fairytale Land) but still, one wonders if this was part of some grander plan between Cora and Rumpel.

Btw, I couldn’t hear…what were Cora’s last words?

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**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/14 "2013-03-11T03:25:32Z")

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> [@Bpelta](#):
>
> _Weekly Bump_
> 
> Loved the latest episode.
> 
> It’s amazing, I don’t think anybody has managed to resist Rumpelstiltskin and his dealmaking. Not a single person. Now even Snow succumbed to the dark side…although it looks from the preview for the next episode that now she’s depressed and in her jammies about it.
> 
> In the last episode, Cora swore to Eva that she’d turn Snow’s heart as “black as coal.” Rumpel, with his power to see the future and happening to have that candle in his cabinet, actually managed to turn Snow, if only temporarily. There are obstacles to this idea (like Cora’s betrayal of Rumpel in Fairytale Land) but still, one wonders if this was part of some grander plan between Cora and Rumpel.
> 
> Btw, I couldn’t hear…what were Cora’s last words?

love, blah blah, would’ve been enough, blah bah \<cough\>, avenge me \<dieing breath\>

(pretty sure she was overcome by love for regina and realized that was what she wanted, or some other toddrey bs to send regina on a … oh, wait - keep regina on her path of destruction)

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**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/15 "2013-03-11T04:10:16Z")

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> [@simster](#):
>
> love, blah blah, would’ve been enough, blah bah \<cough\>, avenge me \<dieing breath\>
> 
> (pretty sure she was overcome by love for regina and realized that was what she wanted, or some other **toddrey** bs to send regina on a … oh, wait - keep regina on her path of destruction)

[Tawdry?](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tawdry)

Love it. Loved Gold’s call to Belle.

StG

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/16 "2013-03-11T04:13:21Z")

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This is more like it! Very good episode. I winced a bit when I saw that Rose McGowan was playing young Cora, but she did a great job. There were a couple of lines from young Cora where I wonder if they dubbed in Barbara Hershey’s voice to aid in the illusion.

Good job by the writers of bringing the Snow/Cora story full circle with the candle. I like the moral conflict they’ve set up with Snow, and I like how David has tried to protect her from herself. Tonight’s events give Regina justification for continuing to go after Snow, but they also have to boost Regina’s self-hate since she unknowingly helped kill her own mother.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/17 "2013-03-11T13:15:19Z")

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Awful and ridiculous; my wife and I groaned at every plot point. The only good thing is that they got rid of Cora, so maybe it can end its downward spiral.

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/18 "2013-03-11T19:52:50Z")

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Just saw this news: [Meghan Ory (Red) may leave OUAT after this season](http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/meghan-ory-cast-as-female-lead-on-intelligence/) to be the female lead in a new show opposite Josh Holloway (Sawyer from LOST). She has already been cast in the part, but we’ll have to wait and see if the series gets picked up after the pilot.

I think her character’s “origin” episodes (one in season 1 and another this season) have been some of the strongest of the series. But other than that–and despite being promoted to series regular–she hasn’t been featured much this season except as Henry’s babysitter, so I can see why she would jump at a chance for a more prominent role. I’ll check the new show out if it gets picked up.

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**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/19 "2013-03-11T22:38:29Z")

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> [@Tangent](#):
>
> There were a couple of lines from young Cora where I wonder if they dubbed in Barbara Hershey’s voice to aid in the illusion.

Hah, I wondered the same thing. Either that or McGowan did a surprisingly serviceable imitation — belied, alas, by her pronounced chin cleft.

> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Awful and ridiculous; my wife and I groaned at every plot point.

Really? I felt that this episode was a considerable improvement. Not flawless, no: Snow’s temporary visit to _the dark side_ may’ve been more believable had those involved not been falling over themselves to make it clear how torn up she was. Emma continues to be a one-note generic tough guy; Regina’s behavior for the last several episodes has been inexplicably dumb; Cora’s last-minute turn was thematically out of nowhere (have they even hinted that losing a heart restricts one’s emotional range?).

Still, I thought it was pitch perfect for Snow to manipulate Regina into being the instrument of Cora’s death. Gold trying to square up all the loose ends before death seemed to hit the right tone; I found myself wondering if they weren’t actually going to kill him off. To my mind the whole thing hit a pleasing level of tension.

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**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-upon-a-time-the-rest-of-season-two/651955/20 "2013-03-11T23:35:07Z")

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> [@Tangent](#):
>
> Geppetto went to August’s room to look for him after the curse broke and there was no one there. It was a very brief scene.

Ah, I must’ve blinked and missed it, thanks.

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