Welcome back for more random musing’s on Once Upon A Time. This week we learned of Cruella’s relationship with the Author and her backstory, pre-villain. Or not so much pre-villain, since it seems she’s been evil since childhood. Read on for my thoughts on the episode.

• I watched this episode twice, and it’s interesting how your perception of scenes and characters changes knowing how the episode ends. At my first viewing, I felt bad for little Cruella, who seemed to be a victim of that ever-present fairytale trope of the evil stepmother, complete with terrifying companion animals. In my re-watch, knowing that Cruella was evil even as a child (she killed her father guys! It doesn’t get any more evil than that), young Cruella actually looked evil to me, like one of those evil children in a horror movie.

• Speaking of terrifying companion animals – evil Dalmations, really? I feel like Dalmations are the least threatening of dog breeds. Way to make them scary, Once.

• I love how adult Cruella doesn’t even bother hiding her true nature. She freely admits to Maleficent that she left baby Lily in the woods to die. It’s refreshing to have an honest character, since Storybrooke currently seems full of people bent on lying and deceit.

• More of David and Mary Margaret defending their actions in saying that Emma’s good heart is proof they did the right thing. I really hate this line of reasoning, and it’s making me dislike these two characters.
  • Especially when you have Mary Margaret acting shocked and hurt when Emma says she doesn’t trust her parents. Don’t act so surprised, you’ve been deliberately lying to her and sacrificed a baby so she could be “good.” I’d have a problem with it too.

• Gold’s search for the Author takes on a new dimension when we realize that he could die, or at the very least lose both his ability to love and any goodness left inside him without the Author to rewrite his story. I guess there is some redeeming quality to the fact that he doesn’t want to lose those things.

             

• Regina using hearts to control people again – was she reverting to her old tricks? Or did Belle willingly give her heart over so Regina could one-up Gold? My money’s on the latter. Regina’s come too far for me to believe she could rip out Belle’s heart and use her so callously. Old Regina would do it in a heartbeat (pun intended). New, Hero!Regina does actually care about hurting people.

• Again with mention of the classic evil stepmother trope. The Author outright comments on it, telling Cruella “[her story] has all the makings of a classic Cinderella story.” I have to admit, they did a good job misleading the audience with that.

• Insightful words from Cruella’s mother to the Author. “Write your own story for once, instead of leaching off other people’s pain.” We don’t know too much about the Author yet, only bits and pieces. Does he write what he does only for his own twisted entertainment because he has no life of his own?

• Cruella is very different from our other villains on the show in that she has been evil since childhood. All of our other villains had some tragic circumstance that slowly turned them bad. It’s interesting to have a character with no redeeming qualities whatsoever – I actually enjoy her more as a villain because of it.

• I’m enjoying watching Emma’s physical transformation as she questions her true nature and possibly turns dark. She’s looking less put together, almost sickly. Definitely not the bright, optimistic Savior we’re used to.

• Leave it to Regina to have carry an umbrella perfectly matched to her outfit on their trek through the woods to find Henry.

• Even villains need their mindless entertainment. Cruella playing Angry Birds was amusing. “Blasted birds, I’ll show you what angry looks like.”

• I loved their explanation for how Cruella got her unique look – by spilling the Author’s magical ink all over herself.

• I’m not really sure Emma killing Cruella should count as an act of evil. After all, the woman kidnapped her child. I think most parents would kill to protect their children.

Notable Quotes

• “Good thing I had my brakes serviced, darling. I do hate getting blood on the car.” Cruella after almost running Maleficent down.

• “People always underestimate a girl in diamonds and furs, don’t they.” Cruella after putting Dragon!Maleficent under a sleeping spell.

• “The joy of getting lost in a good book just isn’t the same. Not after it happens to you literally.” – the Author

• “Let’s see how she likes being made into outerwear.” – Regina referring to possibly killing Cruella

While this episode was a strong one, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Victoria Smurfit’s Cruella, I was hoping for more on the Regina/Robin/Zelena front after last weeks’ revelation. I’m really looking forward to Regina’s reunion with Robin and showdown with Zelena. At this point I think that excites me more than the Heroes vs. Villains and Dark!Emma finale that we’re headed towards. What do you all think? Have you been enjoying 4B so far? Let us know and check back next week for more random musings!

-Leslie