- Title: Once Upon a Time – Unforgiven
- wiki: link
In an episode that reveals the dark secret Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas) desperately want to keep from Emma (Jennifer Morrison), “Unforgiven” ties last week’s mid-season premiere with Once Upon a Time‘s First Season and the curse which brought all the fairy tale characters to Storybrooke. While offering flashbacks to the Enchanted Forrest, the episode also marks the return of an old enemy of the Charmings as Ursula (Merrin Dungey) and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit) trick the pair into helping them resurrect Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten).
The second episode back continues to play on themes foreshadowed last week including the heroes hiding secrets from their daughter and the possibility that either or both Emma and Regina (Lana Parrilla) may become villains before the season comes to a close. I’m guessing it may take some time before we learn the full details of how the Charmings’ actions caused Maleficent to “lose” her child (an interesting open-ended term that may not necessarily mean death), but given what we already know about the heroes I’m guessing it won’t be quite as bad as this episode seems to suggest.
With Maleficent’s return the show has a plethora of villains to draw from over the rest of the season although I have little to no interest in the connection between Ursula and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) that the show hints strongly may lead to trouble between the pirate and Emma. Next week gives us a taste of the old Regina (who will go undercover to find out just what the villains want), but I’ve found the character far more interesting as a struggling hero and hope the Evil Queen (who we see a flash of this week in her impatience at Pinocchio‘s inability to remember how he changed the book) doesn’t revert back to form for the long term. Far more interesting in the chance of Emma’s fall and what the Savior’s turn to evil may portend for the entire town.
