It’s time to go back to Storybrooke for this week’s episode of Once Upon A Time where the Untold Stories have finally arrived. This week, we meet The Count of Monte Cristo.
The Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) is up to something…of course and Zelena (Rebecca Mader) is a part of that plan. The Evil Queen wants to teach Regina (Lana Parrilla) that she cannot escape who she really is, while giving Zelena a sister who appreciates her, but that’s not all she’s up to…
If you recall, we have a new set of stories, Untold Stories to play out in Storybrooke with new characters that will affect our heroes in some way. This episode, we met The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes (Craig Horner). After the Count was betrayed and his fiancee was murdered by the Baron and others, he was sent to prison. After escaping, the Count made his fortune and returned home to get his revenge on those who incarcerated him. That’s when Regina catches up with him and asks for his help in getting her revenge. In return, she would give him the names of everyone who betrayed the Count.
The Count turns up in Storybrooke, to finish the job. Henry (Jared Gilmore) encounters the Count first as he leaves a message for Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming/David (Josh Dallas). Regina recognizes him and informs the Charmings of the deal she made with him in the past. Regina plans on finding him and stopping him.
Emma (Jennifer Morrison) describes her vision to Archie (Raphael Sbarge), including the part where she dies. She asks if she should tell her family. He asks why she hasn’t told them. She says they would tell her to stop trying to save the day. They can’t protect her because she is the Savior and if she can’t help people, then who is she? She wants Archie to help her find a way to win the fight and protect the people she loves. Archie suggests that she is in an identity crisis and Emma leaves.
In a Flashback, we see the Charmings arrive a burnt village and find one survivor, Edmond. He tells them he was vintner of the village. Snow’s hand maiden Charlotte (Andrea Brooks) helps him with his burns and he recognizes something in her eyes. Edmond has lost everything and wants the Queen to pay. The Charmings offer him a job in their castle as a wine steward. Edmond agrees to go with them.
Back in Storybrooke, Regina tells the Count that she is calling off their deal, he is not longer needed to get her revenge, because she doesn’t need revenge to find happiness. He tells her that she put him on his path, but even Regina can’t stop him. She let’s Emma know that The Count is coming after the Charmings and Emma immediately runs out of town with her parents. They are stopped by an invisible barrier. Regina recognizes it as a protection spell, that could only be made by ingredients from her vault that was sealed with blood magic. Zelena is the only other one who can unlock the vault so when she shows up to see what is going on, Regina accuses her of putting the spell on the town. Zelena is hurt by the accusation, but she doesn’t tell Regina anything about the Evil Queen.
Belle (Emilie De Ravin) tells Emma and Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) that she was no longer with Mr. Gold and needed a new place to stay. They offer to help her find a new place and Hook takes her to the Jolly Roger. She asks why he would risk his life to help her. He feels bad for hurting her and trying to kill her. Belle has forgiven him, but he is not proud of what he has done. He has to be able to forgive himself. Belle accepts offer.
In a flashback, Edmond visits Regina and she hands him a bottle of poison intended for the Charmings. Edmond asks what the Charmings did to deserve her wrath. She tells him it doesn’t matter and he needs to focus on his own revenge. He takes the poison and leaves. Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) shows up and wonders what she is up to. She had to find another way to get her revenge on Snow White. And she put a protection spell on The Count, so Rumple can’t hurt him.
*Sidenote* I’m a little creeped out by the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin’s…sexual tension…*shivers*
Back in Storybrooke, the Evil Queen pays a visit to Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) for a coin that is in his possession. He tells the Evil Queen that if he gives her the coin, she has to promise not to hurt Belle or his unborn son. She agrees, but does her best to remind Mr. Gold that they have an untold story of their own. She tells him that he will get tired of waiting for Belle to accept who he really is. And that’s when the real fun can begin.
Flashback, Edmond puts the poison that Regina gave to him in the wine he is serving to the Charmings. They tell him that Charlotte will be joining them and he immediately stops them from drinking the wine.
Later in the night, Rumplestiltskin visits The Count and inquires why The Count stopped. He siad it was because of Charlotte…who reminds him of his dead fiancee. The Count says that Charlotte didn’t deserve to die. Rumplestiltskin asks if he will try to kill the Charmings again, and he says they don’t deserve to die either. Rumple has some sort of plan that requires that the Charmings remain alive. He has poisoned Charlotte to keep the Count from ever attempting to kill the Charmings again. He tells The Count that he can save Charlotte by taking her to the Land of Untold Stories and she will remain save if they stay there.
Henry and Regina are at the refugees ship and find Charlotte, dead from the poison. The Evil Queen finally reveals herself to Regina and is hurt that Regina tried to get rid of her. The Evil Queen laced the handmaiden’s cloak with a magic dampening spell to slow Regina down. Regina knows it was the Evil Queen who is controlling the Count, because she has his heart…literally, not figuratively.
At the dock, The Count attacks the Charmings as they try to calm him down. He tells them that the Evil Queen has his heart. He knocks them out and apologizes for killing the Charmings, saying he only wanted a fresh start. Regina stops him.
She tells him that he can fight the Evil Queen and his story doesn’t have to end like this. He tells her his story ended when Hyde took everyone out of the Land of Untold Stories. She apologizes for not being able to save Charlotte.. He disarms Regina and goes back to kill the Charmings. Regina has to kill him to stop him.
Regina felt she had no choice but to kill the Count. That’s when the Evil Queen arrives and tells Regina that heroes always find a way to save everyone. Which means Regina is not a hero. She tells Regina that there is still darkness in her and it will only grow.
The Evil Queen is angered at the site of Snow White. She tells them that she is not the one who will destroy everyone’s happy endings. Regina will destroy everyone’s happy endings. She tells them they all have an untold story that they don’t want told…she looks right at Henry when she says this…When their stories finally play out, the Evil Queen will sit back watch them tear each other apart.
Back at Granny’s Regina blames herself for bringing the Evil Queen to Storybrooke. Snow White and Emma encourage her to fight the Evil Queen off, asking her to think like the Evil Queen to stay ahead of the game..
Emma sees her vision and starts shaking, but plays it off like it’s nothing. Of course, Snow and Regina know it’s not.
Henry looks through the book of Untold Stories and is upset that the Count’s story didn’t end the right way. He says Operation Cobra part 2 isn’t going to be as simple as he thought. In the first curse, the people affected were a part of stories they wanted to play out. He says these people all have stories that they are running from and they need to find out why.
David finds an envelope with his name on it. He finds the coin inside. He goes outside and finds the Evil Queen waiting for him. She knows the coin was his father’s good luck charm. She also knows how his father died. David tells her it was a drunken cart accident. She asks him if he is sure that it was an accident.
At Zelena’s, she wakes up to find the Evil Queen holding the baby. The Evil Queen thanks Zelena for not telling Regina about their visit to the vault or that the Evil Queen was in town. Zelena passed her test and now she can trust her.
Emma rushes to Archies to tell him that he was right that she should tell her family about the visions, but not yet. She is worried about who might be the hooded person in her vision. She’s afraid it might be Regina!
Dun Dun Duuuuuuun….of course Regina would be Emma’s ultimate villain. She has been this whole time. That was the purpose of Emma going to Storybrooke…to stop the Evil Queen! But Regina is good now. She is ready to find her happy ending. Can Regina survive without the Evil Queen?
One thing is for sure, there is always going to be a villain. We’ve seen some villains die and some of them turned good, but all gave us a good story that kept us coming back for more. The Evil Queen is determined to bring Regina back to the dark side and finally get her revenge on the goodie-to-shoes Snow White. I for one am happy the Evil Queen is back.
Henry’s reference to sequels might be an appropriate way to describe this season. Emma vs Regina…part 2. And if OUAT follows the usual path of most sequels, Regina will win this time. The question is, will it be the good Regina or the Evil Queen Regina????
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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