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KP WATCHES: OUAT 2×16, “The Miller’s Daughter”

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So I just finished watching Once Upon a Time episode 2×16, “The Miller’s Daughter,” and can I just say: DAMN.

As many issues as I have come to have with some of the writing of this show (Don’t ask. Or do, if you want a rant about believable motivation, LGBT representation, and adoption laws), this episode was really a kick in the teeth, and I mean that in the best way possible. I actually wept at least three tears, which is pretty amazing considering that I never really learned how to cry properly. No really. I just sort of screw up my face and make dying seal noises. It’s awkward.

In the wake of this truly keyboard smash inducing episode, it’s no wonder that Tumblr has exploded with text posts. ‘GO BACK TO YOUR HOME ON WHORE ISLAND, SNOW’ cry the Evil Regals. ‘UH NO, PRETTY SURE THAT’S WHERE REGINA LIVES,’ shout back the Snow fans (Do they have a name?). And occasionally someone pops up to remind everyone that this is all actually Rumplestiltskin’s fault, to which pretty much everyone says, “But Robert Carlyle. Shhhh.”

Tangent: He was looking mighty fine at the end there with his vest and those pants on those legs he has. You know the ones.

But anyway, back to the point…. What was my point? Sorry, just. Robert Carlyle. I mean. LOOK.

Okay, now the actual point: Why does Snow White’s one murderous act make us all flip our collective sh*t, when we’re pretty willing to forgive characters like Regina, Rumple, Hook, and even Cora? It isn’t because evil is sexy, that they’re affably evil, or that they were pretty much all driven to villainy, though there may be some elements of them being Draco Rumple in Leather Pants.

No, what really does it, what really makes Snow’s actions shocking, is that we don’t expect this from her. Once Upon a Time has been pretty consistent in continually defining the Charmings as the Good Guys. They’re the Designated Heroes, and that means that we hold them to different standards. Higher standards. I mean, it was just one episode ago that Snow was refusing to turn to evil to save her mother, refusing to turn to evil to save a lifelong friend – a theme that has been echoed throughout her entire story arc, barring that one time when she was incapable of feeling love because of Rumplestiltskin’s potion.

And the fact remains that, no matter how much Rumple suggested, hinted, and persuaded, this was Snow’s decision. She made it herself. She did it herself. Which can be said of pretty much all the people Rumple supposedly seduces to the dark side, but I digress. 

Now, is this action really so different from say, Regina sending Emma home with a poison apple turnover? Or Hook pretending to set Aurora free? Cora using Rumple to learn how to rip out her own heart? From any one of Rumple’s various plots? No, not really. All things being equal, they were all acts of deceit designed to lead to death or some other Unpleasantness. But from Snow, it seems so much worse, because she is one of the show’s supposed Embodiments of Good, and until now the show has not really dealt with shades of grey and moral relativism, at least not with the defined Good characters. (Except perhaps Emma, but I don’t think she counts. That’s another post, however.)

So really, what it comes down to is that they’re all as Bad (or as Good, if you want to look at it that way) as each other.

All that being said, I wish something like this had happened earlier in the Snow & Regina story arc. It’s bothered me since “The Stable Boy” that Regina’s motivation to destroy Snow has been that child!Snow couldn’t keep a secret. It’s just not proportional to her reaction, especially considering that she had already revenged herself on Daniel’s actual murderer, only to then seemingly forgive Cora for all she’s done. Regina’s whole story line would make a lot more sense if Snow had done something like this earlier, or else if the conflict was Regina v. Cora rather than Regina v. Snow.

Another thing that bugged: Snow is trading one of Henry’s grandparents for the other, but chooses to save Rumple in yet another example of Blood is Thicker Than Adoption Water. Yes, her decision makes sense because Rumple doesn’t present an immediate threat, and Cora does, but still.

Enough of that though: Let’s talk about Cora and Rumple because MY HEART… is probably in a box on a shelf somewhere. I have to say, the Rumple/Cora romance (Gold Daughter? Gold Hearts?) is just. I mean. Wow. I expect there to be ALL THE FANFICTION about what would have happened if Cora had gone with Rumple and they raised Regina together, or if Cora had been given her heart back without the death curse in place, because MAN the look on Cora’s face when she sees Regina for the first time with her ability to love intact. Do not disappoint me, fanficcers.

(Also where is the Pirates of the Carribean AU? I mean, they’re practically handing it to you. Cora is Davy Jones, Rumple is Calypso, there’s already pirate ships involved, Grumpy was actually in the movies… Regina could be Jack Sparrow.)

And can I just say that I love that Cora’s life was ruined by her own hubris, and that in her final seconds, she knows it? I just find that literar-ily delicious. If she hadn’t been so bent on revenge, so arrogant as to take out her own heart, then she would have been able to find happiness so long ago, and so much pain for pretty much everyone could have been avoided. I like the idea that the only one who could truly ruin Cora’s life was Cora herself. It brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from Legend of the Seeker: “Your life is in your hands. Only yours.” Also, Rose McGowan is a perfect young!Cora.

Back to Rumple – the moment of this episode in which I cried my awkward tears was when he called Belle. I’ve always sort of halfway liked the ship, for Beauty and the Beast reasons, but wow, this really sold it to me. And something occurred to me as I watched. From the moment Rumple meets The Seer, his life and his decisions are defined by the ladies around him. The Seer, Milah, Cora, Regina, Belle… he’s either dependent on them for something, or something they’ve done is one of the driving forces behind his actions. This was a kind of epiphany for me, as Rumple is generally portrayed as the Magnificent B*stard who is 5.6 steps ahead of everyone, a wheeler dealer seducer who takes advantage of teh womenz (and everyone else)… but now, I don’t think so. I think the women in his life have infinitely more power in their relationships with him than he does, and while that’s still not healthy, I like it. Because… I don’t know… Girl power?

Last few thoughts: Bae is probably Peter Pan. And, is Hook still trapped in a closet in Manhattan or….?



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