Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1916997-20150312220054/@comment-5106672-20150423042248

I think the writers have deliberately written Ursula and Cruella in sharp contrast with each other. Ursula is the kind of person who threatens a lot, but doesn't go on to the end (as seen when she spared Hook's hip): she acts villainous due to circumstances, but doesn't really have it in her, as seen when she threw Hook overboard but didn't finish him off herself. Cruella is a sociopath and has no redeemable quality, her only restraint was imposed to her by the Author. I think the only mistake the writers have made is showing not-so-much-a-villain Ursula only in her pre-villain state and only hinting subtly she kept that kind of quality later.

This is pretty much the same writing choice behind Regina and Rumple in this arc: Regina tries hard to be good, gets drawn back by circumstances and resorts to very evil ways only as the last ditch (and even then, she tries to limit any collateral damage: I think of her "forget it" command to Belle as a way to spare her a painful memory). Rumple may have some good goal deep underneath, but chooses to pursue it with the very methods that keep alienating that good from him. I think Belle's love would be enough to save his heart (especially because it would remove the Dark One's Curse in the first place), but chooses deliberately evil over love.