Regina the Unsympathetic

There are characters on "Once Upon a Time" that I love and even more that I hate.  I love Rumpelstiltskin and Belle.  Emma is usually one of my favorites when she is not acting like an idiot. Snow can be really annoying and self-righteous, which I hate.  Charming annoys the spit out of me with his "I am your leader and I know what's best for you!" Jack Sheppard-like qualities.  Henry is an annoying kid who I don't care for.  Hook hits women and is a Jack Sparrow knockoff without any of Jack's charm or appeal.  And then there is Regina.  The one I hate the most.

Regina, like Rumple, is a complicated villain.  She has reasons for doing bad things, but she never seems to learn anything to actually become a better person.  Once upon a time, she had a really crappy (literally) heartless mother who killed her boyfriend.  Instead of blaming her mother, she blamed Snow, who was a little girl at the time.  It became her mission in life to destroy Snow.  It is all very tragic, because the two liked each other at first.  She chased her down for years with no success.  She decided to enact the curse, pulling everyone from the Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke, Maine.  I never understood this.  Is Regina's idea of paradise living in a small town with terrible winters and having to see your mortal enemy every day?  Why didn't she just stab Snow with a letter opener?

In Storybrooke, Regina was the town's feared mayor.  She had no magic, but she also had no one to talk to.  See, when you kill a whole bunch of people, you don't become very popular.  Her only friend in her old land was Maleficent and that didn't work out so well.  (And how creepy was it that old Mal keeps regenerating in the pit under the library.  Can't that woman get some peace?)  Her only romance was with Sheriff Graham who was only with her because Regina was able to control him by removing his heart.  Regina had adopted Henry as a baby and even he wasn't very fond of her.

You almost want to feel sorry for Regina.  Crappy childhood.  Dead boyfriend.  Married to a king she didn't love.  Friendless.  You know what?  I don't feel sorry for her.  At all.  As much as I hate Hook, she really could have used him as an ally.  And what did she do?  Leave him to fight Maleficent until he died.  Only Hook somehow escaped.  Hook even took her magic.  It was awesome!  You see, Regina has run out of chances.  She can't be good.  She is a villain through and through.

Is Lacey An Improvement Over Belle?

I have been waiting for this episode for so long, and like so many other things in life, the longer you wait, the harder it is to live up to your expectations.

I always thought Belle was pretty great.  She is very pretty, very smart, very nice, and she is with Rumple, which is awesome.  But, Miss Belle had some character flaws.  She is a very all-or-nothing kind of lady.  If she is mad at you, she will dump you and vow never to see you again.  If you try to harm her, she will not confront the person and get very mad if someone tries to harm that person.  It just doesn't add up.  So many times, Rumple could have gotten rid of Regina and Hook and she wouldn't let him.  And do you know what that got her?  Shot over the town line and given a new personality that is totally different from her real one.  Very annoying.

Regina, who I hate with the fire of a thousand suns, decided to treat Belle like a punching bag once again.  Instead of just letting amnesiac Belle leave the hospital in peace, she decided to give her a personality that she believed would ensure that Belle would never love Rumple again.

Poor Rumple.  It is very obvious that the man is a villain, but I still felt so bad for him.  Belle is the only woman who truly loved him and thought he was a good man.  All he wanted was to be with her and now she is "a scantily-clad barfly named Lacey".  Grrrr.  If we didn't already know and love Belle, Lacey might be a good addition to the show.  She likes to have a good time, likes to show off some skin, and loves to drink.  She goes out on a date with Rumple, only to ditch him halfway though because she is a nicer guy than she thought he would be.  Lacey doesn't like nice, she likes bad boys.  Luckily for her, Rumple is very capable of being bad.  He beats the daylights out of the guy Lacey was making out with, while Lacey watches.  Lacey likes bad-boy Rumple.

So, do these two stand a chance together?  The whole point of Rumple pursuing Lacey was to get her to fall in love with him so he can get Belle back.  But, will Rumple want Belle back if Lacey is so into his dark side?  These two have chemistry to spare, and they could create a whole lot of dynamite together, if you know what I mean.  But, I still miss Belle.  I hope she comes back soon.  After Rumple gets his fill of Lacey first of course.  Ha ha.  

How Should the Season End?

After a long hiatus, "Once" will return with the final four episodes of the season on April 21.  While I know very little of what actually will happen in these episodes, here is what I think should happen:

• Belle gets her memory back.  We know that episode 19 "Lacey" is about Belle, so wouldn't it be a great time to remember who she really is?  It is very possible that Lacey/Belle will fall in love with Gold and the curse will be broken either this season or early next season.  It is also possible that she stays as Lacey forever.  I really hope she goes back to how she was.  My prediction - the curse won't be broken until next season.
• Henry picks a family and has much less screen time.  The character is annoying and even though he is the reason the curse was broken, it doesn't mean I need to see him so much.  Gosh, go back to Regina's house and play X-Box or something.  You're a brat.  My prediction - he will stay with Emma and annoy us for the rest of his existence.
• Neal dumps Tamara and she leaves town with Greg.  She is evil and he is a troublemaker, so they need to go.  Besides, Neal and Emma belong together.  My prediction - they aren't going anywhere until at least next season, after they do something really awful.
• Neal and Emma bond.  These two belong together.  They have great chemistry and they also have a kid.  Neal can move back to town and spend more time with his family.  My prediction - bonding with Emma won't happen until next season, after he dumps Tamara's butt.  
• Rumple and Neal make up.  They are off to a good start, and at least they are talking.  Rumple needs to introduce his son to Belle and they can all be one big happen family.  My prediction - the show creators say that something big will happen between Rumple and Neal.  Hopefully it is something good, but if they turn him back into a child, I will be pissed.  It may be something like Rumple having to give up his magic to save his son and he actually does it this time.  
• Ruby and Whale start dating.  These two would be great together, but we see very little of them on screen.  My prediction - with the actress who plays Ruby being on another show next year, we will probably see much less of her next season, so this may not happen.
• Regina makes a new friend.  I am not overly fond of Regina, but even I can see how lonely she is.  Her child abandoned her, no family, no romantic partner, no friends.  She needs someone to talk to.  If she ever decides to apologize to Belle for locking her up all those years, she might be a good choice.  Belle likes almost everyone.  Archie would be another good choice.  My prediction - no new friends, but maybe a new romantic interest next season.  
• Charming becomes mayor.  He loves power and since Regina was asked to step down, he might be the right person for the job.  He could also take over as sheriff since Emma has been slacking lately.  My prediction - next season.
• Hook stops trying to kill Rumple and Belle.  Enough is enough.  We know, you loved Milah, so you want to punish them.  But, Belle is innocent and Rumple has really suffered enough.  Get a hobby.  My prediction - he will keep trying to kill Rumple, until the day that Rumple gets to him first.
• ABC gets their scheduling figured out and we don't have so many three and four week hiatuses to deal with.  Viewers are dropping like crazy.  Start the season late, take a month off in December, and just let us watch the show!  Grrrr!  My prediction - I will keep dreaming cuz this ain't gonna happen.

So, that's it!  I am so excited to see how the season ends and so curious what next season will hold.  

Why is Ruby Still on the Show?

I like Ruby, but does she really have a purpose anymore?  At first, Ruby was an entertaining character who dressed in crazy clothes and was Snow's best friend.  She was also a freaking werewolf.  It was pretty cool. But since the curse has been broken, Ruby has been in the background.  Why was the actress promoted to series regular for season two if she is only going to be in a handful of episodes?  If you think about it, she has had one character-centric episode this season.  Dr. Whale, a guest star, has had two.  Belle was also a main character this year, and while she has been absent at least half of the episodes, she will have her second episode in "Lacey" and she has more of a purpose on the show.

So, why is Ruby still on the show?  I heard rumors that the only reason she was promoted this season was to prevent the actress from appearing on other tv shows.  Pretty dirty, right?  The actress was also the only main cast member (besides the kid who plays Henry) not to be at Paleyfest.  Was she asked?  Would she have even had anything to talk about?  Well, the Ruby problem may be solved quickly, because Meghan Ory has been cast in a pilot for CBS.  You know, a different network than "Once" airs on.  Will the actress leave the show completely or just go back to being recurring?

http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/meghan-ory-to-star-in-cbs-intelligence-robert-buckley-cast-in-holding-patterns/