A Linc to Magic: Joe's Once Upon A Time Recap: "The Queen is Dead"

Well, dearies, it's time for what is sure to be a signature section of this blog. Let's not waste any time diving into this gasp-inducing, story-changing, plot-hinting episode! (Warning: There Be Spoilers!)

Let's talk about where this episode leaves us and work our way back. Regina and Cora now have Rumple's dagger, and thus the ability to control him once he returns to Storybrooke. The aforementioned Dark One is slowly dying via a poison hook through the heart and must be spirited away to Storybrooke in order to heal. Now, can anyone else see why this might present a problem?

If you said "Traffic on I-95", you'd be wrong. 

But before we leave "New York City" (because, seriously, who are they trying to fool?) we learn that Neal/Baelfire has a history with the good Captain Hook that doesn't appear too friendly. We also learn that when he was sucked through the portal as a boy he landed somewhere else first...somewhere that kept him young for centuries. Now, followers of mine on Facebook have heard me swear up and down that the mysterious man in the hospital is the Pan...but I'm going to have to renege on that one. Especially considering that Rumple is Hook's "crocodile", it makes perfect sense that his son would be the bane of Hook's existence in Neverland. Well played, Kitsiss and Horowitz.

Sense, brought to you by the writers of LOST.

And his fiance? Yeah. I'm going to bet that's Tiger Lily.

I've got to say that Cora's evil was on full display this episode. Her greed and lust for power makes her a far superior villain to her misunderstood daughter. Whereas Regina acted out of revenge and a broken heart (and eventually genuine love for Henry), Cora only cares about consolidating her rule. Cora makes everyone her pawn. She is very craftily moving the citizens of Storybrooke into just the position she wants them. And, like any good villain, she has been playing the long game, working behind the scenes to manipulate events according to her design.

"Once more the Witch will rule the Fantasy..."

The hunt for Rumple's dagger was a cool game of misdirection. I love that the clocktower is still playing a central role in the story (also, has no one bothered to clean up Malifecent yet?). Hiding the dagger on the clockface itself was very "National Treasure". The confrontation between Charming/Snow and Cora/Regina was a classic good guy/bad guy standoff. It reminded me vaguely of when Rita and Lord Zedd would appear in front of the Power Rangers....you knew stuff was about to go down!

And go down it did! Or...she did....poor Johanna.

Back in the Land that Was, I thought Bailee Madison as Young Snow was terrific yet again (kudos to the casting director on that one!) She's getting a little older now, though, so they better hurry up if they're going to do more storylines with her. Cora standing over the Queen's lifeless body reminded me a lot of Voldemort  hovering over Dumbledore's in triumph, or, more aptly, Palpatine at Qui-Gon's funeral at the end of The Phantom Menace. An initial victory heralding all the evil wins that were to come.

"Fear not, my love. These writers couldn't kill off a character forever if they used that meteor that fell on Russia."

And so the stage is once again set for a dynamic showdown. It seems like everyone has something to lose going into the finale in a few weeks. And just who is that mystery dude in the hospital if he's not Peter Pan? Feel free to sound off in the comment below.

Stay tuned, dearies!

-Joe