Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 6 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT The Shadow Knows
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.05.2013
In the bedroom, Snow applies a cold compress to Regina's brow. Regina wakes and says, "You. You saved me?" David asks if she really thought they'd let her die. "Despite our differences, we're family." Ugh, really? I mean, I think it's great they didn't let her die. I think there's a better way to state your reasons, David, like maybe, "Despite our differences, you're Henry's family," or perhaps, "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't." You're taking that "Keep your enemies closer," folderol too literally. Regina asks where Groan and Tamara are. When Charming confesses they got away, Regina whispers, "Oh, so they still have it." Snow says, "They still have what?" We cut to the...
Woods. Tamara finds Groan re-burying his father's remains. She tells him she's sorry about his father, then hands him the black diamond and reports the Home Office has figured out what it does. We cut back to...
Snow's Hovel. Offscreen, Regina has told the Charmings about the diamond that serves as a trigger. Regina explains it triggers a curse failsafe that will destroy Storybrooke. Snow and Charming start to put two and two together, but Regina doesn't have time to watch her "two idiots" employ fingers and toes to do the math, so she says, "I was going to use the beans to take Henry back to the Enchanted Forest." Snow: "And in the process, kill all of us!" Regina has been on this show for two seasons now, so she's adept at equating the Charmings' defensive maneuvers with her murderous plans. "You want to discuss justification? You were going to abandon me. Or shall we discuss a more pressing issue, which is that I no longer control the trigger." We cut back to the...
Woods. Tamara tells Groan the Home Office wants them to move onto the "next phase." Groan says, "Already?!" Tamara nods. "Yeah. There's only one way to get what we all want. We have to blow Storybrooke off the map." Dun dun dun!
I received some pushback to my objections (see recaplet) about Emma telling Neal she loves him. I get it. I do. I never figured Emma was over her feelings for Henry's father. The first tip off was back in season 1, when she lied to Henry about him, but never told Snow anything more. Everything I've seen between them this season backs that up. I just want better for Emma. Despite all my hyperbole and douchefires to the contrary, I'm not even saying Neal can't be her something better. I just would have liked her confession of love to come in a different way and at a different time. That said, Jennifer Morrison and Michael-Raymond James have good chemistry. They knocked their big dramatic scene out of the park. Within the story, I can understand Emma confessing her love at that moment, because she believes he's headed for certain death. My objection is to the narrative itself. I can't fault the execution, though.