Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B- | 51 USERS: D+ YOU GRADE IT (Re)Born In The U.S.A.
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 17 | Aired on 03.17.2013
Present. Woods. Wishing Well. Henry strikes a match and is about to light the dynamite wick, when Regina shows up and asks him what he's doing. He says, "I'm getting rid of magic. It's ruining everything. And you can't stop me." Regina points out that all he's going to do is get himself killed. Henry: "You're just saying that because you need magic so you can cast that curse on me." He strikes another match, so Regina poofs away the dynamite in another puff of purple smoke, then says, "I can't lose you, Henry." Henry says, "Then don't cast the curse. Don't kill Mary Margaret." Regina insists Mary has to pay for what she's done, so Henry adds, "The curse -- it won't make me love you for real. It will be fake." Regina says, "But it will be something. I know it's hard for you to understand right now, but you'll see. We can be happy. We can have everything." Henry shakes his head and echoes Owen's words: "Not like this."
Emma, Neal and Charming finally arrive on the scene. Emma shouts, "Hey, Regina, get away from my son." Regina turns and says, "He's not yours. He's mine." The Charmings tell her that won't happen. Neal the eel just stands around looking like the tool that he is. I cannot wait until Henry finds out what Neal did to Emma. I'd like some of his righteous indignation aimed at a sensible target.
Emma says, "If you want to kill Mary Margaret, you'll have to go through us." That sounds like a plan to Regina, so she conjures up a fireball. Charming rushes toward her and draws his gun. Emma backs him up. Neal continues to be a tool, until Henry gets in the middle and tells everyone to stop, and then he just gets in the way as he yells at the boy to get out of the way. Henry says he won't stop until someone helps him destroy magic. Regina says there's no way to get rid of it. "You can't just blow it up." Emma adds, "Magic isn't the problem, kid. It's her. Henry says, "It's not just her. It's everyone. Look what magic did to Mary Margaret." He turns to Regina. "Look what it did to you. It's ruining everything." Preach it, my brother. "It makes good people do terrible things." Emma leans toward him and adds, "And bad people." When she reaches out to Henry, he turns back to Regina and pleads, "It's going to destroy my family. Help me get rid of it." She extinguishes her fireball. Henry thanks her and runs into Emma's arms. The family leads their boy away, leaving Regina forever alone. Commercial.
1983. Road. Owen leads two Maine State Troopers to the spot where he last saw his dad. The cops must be near the end of their shift because they can't even be bothered to drive further down the road and look around. They just say, "There's nothing here, kid." Owen insists that Storybrooke was right by the nearby rock. One of the troopers says there's no town named Storybrooke in the entire state. Owen says, "You don't believe me?" The trooper takes his arms and tells he's been through a lot. Owen runs a few feet away and raises his arm. Clutching the lanyard tightly, the boys shakes his fist, and yells off into the nothingness. "I'll find you, Dad. I promise. I'll never stop looking."