A massive stretch of the show’s fairytale roots to be sure, but surprisingly innovative at the same time. Whale was revealed to be none other than Victor Frankenstein. We even learned that there’s a realm where magic is irrelevant, or at least in part, when Dr.

The show does seem to be struggling with so many separate arcs this year, but there also seems to be a much larger scope in comparison to the pre-established world from season one. I like the idea of there being a bigger world out there, though. Hopefully then they won’t be relegated to the lesser go-to transitional story. It really cut out the bullcrap of them all figuring out what Hook was really after and got us another step closer towards bringing these guys back to Storybrooke. It’s also great to see Emma’s lie detector come back with a bang. It’s great to see the show make such wonderful strides with her this season. Though she resorted to magic in order to stop him, she still made a choice to place the well-being of everyone else ahead of her own happiness. In Storybrooke, we saw the same thing happen she blatantly disregarded her vow to stay away from magic to see Daniel again, only to be forced into making that same painful decision to let him go once again. Failing in her last attempts to bring him back, she became the villain we all knew her as, or at least an early prototype of the evil woman who destroyed the Enchanted Forest. It was Daniel’s death that awoke her dark side, and eventually put her in that desperate state that we saw when she begged for a way to resurrect him. Since Henry has forced her into giving up her evil ways for good, it feels like there’s a major change in her prerogatives and motivations, and that change never felt as prominent as it did here.

The biggest issue with her last season was how one note, and regressed she was as a character sometimes. One of my favorite things about this season is Regina finally making a move back towards the good side. There was no middling character development, and side plots being left in the cold a perfect example of how strong this season’s narrative has been so far. Even its story arcs felt like they were all about progressing towards something bigger. It was all about bringing characters forward, and moving on from the past.

While 'The Crocodile' was riddled with character inconsistencies and a weak sense of foresight, 'The Doctor' managed what last week’s episode couldn’t. Until you can take power, you’re not learning anything.”

Once upon a time doctor whale