Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-4839682-20131003142941/@comment-23906605-20131003172713

I actually believe her hatred was pretty immediate. As soon as she learned Snow had been the one to reveal her secret, she left the room saying "I should've let her die on that horse". And that does count. It was the first step towards her unleashing that wrath. I'm pretty sure Lana Parrilla herself gave an interview (which, if I'm not mistaken, is available on the first season DVD) stating what she thought about the whole thing. She said she believed Regina felt an incredible amount of rage at that moment. Because when she had told Snow about her true love for Daniel, Snow had been all supportive and happy for her. But then, when Regina told her Daniel had "ran away", Snow felt immediately happy that Regina would marry her father and become her mother. Lana said she felt as though the child was being very selfish, and that's when I believe her hatred for Snow started. Of course it didn't start out with desires of killing her and ruining her life, but it evolved to that over the years when Regina clearly felt jealous upon seeing King Leopold say Snow was the fairest of the land and that she reminded him of her mother. She was disturbed at that fantasy of killing Snow because she realized that's exactly what she wanted. And that was pretty early on. But she hadn't turned evil yet, so I believe she was scared because she felt she might be turning into the last thing she wanted. And you can't honestly believe Regina was actually comforting Snow when her father died. Regina killed her father. She didn't feel sorry. She wasn't comforting anyone. She was trying to keep up appearances so she could win over the peasants and later have Snow be killed by the Huntsman.



That "solution" you suggested couldn't be more twisted or different from the original fairy tale. I believe the writers were never going in that direction. They care about character development. And so does pretty much everyone I know who watches the show. If Regina had promptly manifested her anger that way and made Snow kill her own father, we would have never seen her struggling with the idea of becoming evil like her mother. In fact, she would've just become worse than her mother, right then and there. How could she grow as a character if she had done that? You say Regina wants redemption for herself and yet you suggest this "solution" which would shut her redemption right down to hell. Plus, there would be no need for the Huntsman, there would be no need for the curse. That just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.



Ok, millions of women around the world -- and I'm including myself here -- would find what you just suggested preposterous and quite demeaning. Now let's suppose you are having an affair with a married man. Do you honestly think it would be reasonable or even appropriate for you to come to his wife, a person you're not even remotely close and tell her about your affair? Boundaries, hello?! Sense of keeping your last shred of dignity, anyone?! Of course the honorable thing to do would be to have your lover -- HER HUSBAND -- tell her. HE is making the decision to leave her, and he's making that decision for himself. THEY have been married for quite some time, so YOU shouldn't have anything to do with that particular conversation between them.



Now I do agree some of the Enchanted Forest characters are pretty much the same as their Storybrooke counterparts, such as Archie, Mr. Gold, Leroy, the nuns… But unless you're suggesting Red dressed inappropriately and slept around with most of the boys from her village, I think it's also safe to assume some of them are pretty different. Josh Dallas and the EPs have said on quite a few interviews that David was the exact opposite of Charming. While Charming was brave and honorable, David was nothing but a coward. David decided it was better to lie to Kathryn and to MM than to tell the truth to any of them. I honestly can't imagine Charming doing something like that. And let's take things back to the Enchanted Forest when Charming was engaged to Abigail. Did it ever cross Snow's mind to have an affair with him? No. Because if she couldn't have him all to herself in the right way, she wouldn't have him at all. And that's why she drank the potion. So I stand by what I said before. I honestly believe Snow would never agree to have an affair with a married Charming.



"Acting heroically"? I'm confused right now. Are you saying Snow only stopped the ogre from killing Emma because she wanted to appear a hero? Not because Emma is her daughter, not because she loves her daughter, not because she was afraid of losing her daughter again, but because she wanted to appear a hero? If so, I can easily say Regina only saved young Snow to look good for Daniel, although I don't believe that. I just think you might be twisting some of the facts based on your clear disgust for Snow and love for Regina. Regina frequently demonstrates she's capable of fighting for people she doesn't know or dislikes? I'd greatly appreciate if you could provide an example other than she trying to delay the destruction of Storybrooke for the sake of Henry, not for anyone else's. Saying she dropped everything to save Emma in the last episode is an overstatement. She merely went over to where everybody went and she helped Snow and Hook with pulling Emma back. What was she supposed to do? Let Emma die so she could save Henry and have him all to herself? The fact that she didn't do that shows she's a perfect example of a round dynamic character. And that might not have been a completely selfless act, because before jumping into the ocean Emma did shout "if you don't stop fighting we're all gonna die". But again, I don't believe that. I do believe Regina is capable of showing signs of selflessness from time to time but so is Snow -- and quite more often if I might add. You just think she isn't, you just think she's acting for appearances because you hate her and that just goes to reinforce that you might be twisting what happened into what you interpreted. Snow didn't save disguised Regina to win the favor of the peasants. The peasants already liked her. They already hated the Queen. If she was doing that just for appearances, she wouldn't have even cared about risking her own safety to take disguised Regina into her hiding spot in order to take care of her injuries.



I said it was unreasonable because it seems as though you're basing your interpretation of what Emma wants solely on what she said to her parents in the last episode. She was upset. She's angry about the whole Henry thing and she was channeling her anger at them. That reaction was normal, but it doesn't mean she wants Snow and Charming to stop trying until they finally get it right. In fact, I highly doubt Emma doesn't want them as her parents. She spent a 28 years looking for them! The fact that they're the same age just makes the parents-child bonding a little more awkward and difficult. And I'm positive that if the writers wanted to approach this deep psychological point of view, they would've guided us on that direction rather than through the romanticized idea of true love, happy endings and all that. I'd rather make good use of what they call "suspension of disbelief" and still believe they can somehow fix most of the things that are broken. But if you feel the opposite, there's really nothing I can say, that's how you feel. I just think that if the writers didn't want to explore the parents-daughter relationship, if they thought that it was already irremediably broken, they wouldn't have insisted on showing so many sweet moments in which Emma's parents want to be her parents and in which she wants to be their child. In the third episode of season 2, when Aurora said "But I tried to kill your friend", Emma says "Actually, she's my mom". She could've said "ok", she could've said nothing, but no, she stated Snow was her mother. Later that same episode, Emma bursts into tears seeing everything Snow and Charming had planned for her as their child. In the episode in which Snow suggests finding a place for her and David, Emma bursts out (with clear emotion on her face) and goes "After 28 years, isn't that what we've all been waiting for? To be together under the same roof?". If she didn't want them as parents, just as family, as you say, I believe she wouldn't have cared so much to have the loft just for her and Henry. Also, if she resented them so much, if she was upset her closest friends are trying to be her parents, if she felt so awkward with the whole situation to the point of not wanting them as parents anymore, again I highly doubt she would've started crying and called them "mom" and "dad" and then buried her face on Charming's shoulder in the end of last season. And after everything they've been through, from where I stand, it'd be extremely awkward to see them try to go back to the "we are not your parents" status. Like you said, we don't come with an on and off switch. Perhaps Emma does feel that might not have been the right approach, but I do think it's pretty early in the season for us to use words such as "regret" regarding her decision to let the Charmings try to be her parents. And whatever she ultimately decides is gonna take time to work properly.



I agree, alcohol is nothing like evil. At all. I went along because you suggested that parallel. And what you're saying is basically that Regina will do anything to feel loved. And I agree with that. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines "redemption" as "the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil". Regina has tried that on quite a few occasions for Henry's love and approval. But when she doesn't get the response she wants, when he merely gives her a thank you, a hug and wanders off to be with Emma, she finds another way to get the love she wants. A way that leads to anything but redemption. One of the biggest examples of that was seen in that episode in which she wants to curse Henry into thinking he loves her. So much for wanting redemption for herself. For her, it doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. It doesn't matter if it makes her good or evil. For her, it doesn't matter what happens or to whom it happens as long as she feels loved. So forgive me, but I still don't think she wants redemption for herself. But again, I do hope she gets there. I really want her to get her happy ending. I do agree that Henry's actions towards Regina are incredibly unfair, though. While her love for him is unconditional, it seems as though his love for her vacillates constantly. If Regina is being good or trying her best to be good, Henry loves her. If she slips and goes back to being evil again, he goes like "but that won't make me love you for real." What's up with that?



I'm not arguing that what Snow did to Cora is not wrong or justifiable. It was wrong and there is no excuse. But I do believe Snow is perfectly aware of that. She's not ignoring the fact that what she did was horrible. When Charming suggested moving back to the Enchanted Forest would erase all of this, she said exactly what you said, "I used Regina to kill her own mother. I don't think going back will erase that." Snow did acknowledged her problem. The "we're not killers" was directed specifically to the mermaid situation, and Snow did include Regina in that equasion even though she's very familiar with the fact Regina has killed many people. The difference between Snow and Regina is that Regina not only acknowledged the "problem", she also embraced it. And as for their different strategies leading to success, I'll bring up the example of their mothers. Neither Cora nor Eva were born evil. One had a difficult life, the other was a spoiled Princess who liked to look down on others. At some point, they both acknowledged the fact they had huge character flaws -- a dark side, per se. One decided to embrace it. The other did something to keep that dark side at bay so she could become the righteous and virtuous person she eventually became.