The Cricket Game - episode discussion

[EvilQueen]

Seeing as this was a pretty significant episode in terms of SQ, we simply have to have this thread. What are your thoughts? (aside of swearing at Emma and the rest of the Charmings?)

Personally, I was really disappointed with Regina and Emma conversation outside the diner, it looked like Regina hoped the invitation was coming from Emma herself and not from Henry (and maybe it did? You know, Emma could've just been trying to cover her back ) and Emma just spoiled everything numerous times - especially by not letting her see her own son. How dare she? It should be just considered a politeness that Regina asked Emma, the girl should actually have no say in the matter since Regina IS Henry's mother and has been there for him for 10 years (and their fight later on with the Charmings and Blue, geez, Miss Swan, you went WAY too far).

BUT, I'd say there is a hope. Because now it's Emma who has to redeem herself. I'm holding for a dear life that Regina will remain strong and won't listen to her mothers temptations while Emma finally finds out the truth and realizes how horribly wrong she was. Now the guilt and feeling of owing to Regina will be HUGE and this is when SQ might step in

[EvilQueen]

Also, to cheer us all up, here is the proof of amazing talent Lana has - hundreds different faces particularly in this episode!





be aware of red pepper flakes:


Swan Queen!




Regina rocks the episode with the signature lines:
- Doctor? Doctor. Need I remind you got your PhD from a curse.
(...)
- Private conversation, go take yourself for a walk.


THAT PINK.


- I want you all to know what I feel... And that is... Regret. Regret that I was not able to cause more pain.


Regina aka Cora


The sex goddess, whatever she's wearing.


I guess 'Lana with a spoon' has reached yet another dimension


That pony tail.




The coolest disappearance ever!


TOO. MANY. FEELINGS. HEARTACHE.


YES.


*cough cough* I guess this might as well just be changed to Lana's face adoration thread...

[lucie]

Great Regina recap, EvilQueen!

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. I, too, am hoping Emma will see how wrong she was when she condemned Regina. I can't believe how harsh Emma was to Regina. Where's the love, dearie?
Who else cannot wait until they make up?

I also wonder where they go from here. Emma is bound to realise Regina was innocent of killing Archie because A) it's a TV show and B) Archie is actually alive.

Now, I think there are two options for Regina's character to develop: 1) she will get mad and return to her old ways and 2) she will get over it.
I'd personally love to see the second option happen.

Also, how amazing was Lana in this episode??? I haven't seen such great acting in a long time. She uses a different voice for each of her characters and she was really able to show it off here. As a musical theatre lover, I absolutely dig it.

And finally, I will have you know I woke up at 5am to watch this episode.

[agramontes]

Jan 6, 2013 23:16:57 GMT -6 EvilQueen said:

Seeing as this was a pretty significant episode in terms of SQ, we simply have to have this thread. What are your thoughts? (aside of swearing at Emma and the rest of the Charmings?)

Personally, I was really disappointed with Regina and Emma conversation outside the diner, it looked like Regina hoped the invitation was coming from Emma herself and not from Henry (and maybe it did?

Its great how you got that reading of Regina. I saw that too. I think it was intentional..So then, is Regina trying to form a relationship with Emma? One that is based on more than just Henry? It seems to me that these two women are feeding off of each other from the very beginning. Regina tells Emma about her Apple Tree and how its her most prized possession and Emma turns right around and cuts off one of its branches, marking Regina emotionally by doing so. Emma is also the only adult with whom Regina has had any interaction (except for those under her spell) so its natural for her to seek out some companionship after 29years. I find myself increasingly convinced that Emma/Regina SWANQUEEN is endgame for the show's producers. Every major plot arc seems to revolve around the dichotomy between those two and I can imagine them eventually joining forces to combat the bigger evils of RUMPLE and CORA. I can only hope this will come to pass.

[Deleted]

I still say that Emma's blatant taunt of Regina was to distract her enough to draw her out where the Blue Fairy could throw her fairy dust. She knew which buttons to push, she was convinced at this point that Regina was in need of being locked up, she did what was necessary to accomplish that. Will she regret her actions later? I believe so. This arc parallels David's when Mary Margaret was accused of killing Kathryn so closely it's impossible not to see the writers drawing from the same well (pun intended). Circumstantial evidence, planted just exactly so. AND David had a vision of Snow wanting to kill Regina in FTL from his session with Dr Hopper that in his confused mind appeared to be MM planning to kill Regina. And Emma had the dreamcatcher images of a dog who couldnt' speak, but whom we (audience) plainly saw (and heard) was aware that what his eyes were seeing was not truth. Archie made a point of saying "you know Regina" when Pongo barked (because regina HAS been coming to Archie's office for counseling. If there'd been a previous problem with Pongo and Regina, don't you think Archie would have suggested either locking up Archie in another room, or taking Regina somewhere else for her sessions?), but of course Pongo's nose didn't lie to him, he scented someone who was NOT Regina.

IMHO Emma will have to do the same mea culpas David did when Mary Margaret was exonerated when Kathryn reappeared. Will that smooth everything over instantly? No. But the storytelling parallels CANNOT be ignored. Emma and Regina, whether a romantic endgame or not, ARE being bound together emotionally by deliberate writer choices.

[marieyotz]

Well for the most part, I really liked the episode! It was heavy on the Regina with a nice side of Swan Queen... Even if I hadn't seen the light already, the patio scene would have sold me -- they were both so awkward and had that "I want to do this, but I don't know how to do this" vibe. And of course, all of Emma's initial unwillingness to believe Regina did it -- that was really nice. It got blown all to hell, of course, but I'm willing to give Emma a pass on not being able to see beyond what her eyes were telling her.

Regina's devastation at realizing that she was being cast as the murderess though... Oh lord, my heart cannot take this kind of hurting! I was praying for a resolution in 12 minutes, because I hate having to waaaaait for the truth to come to light -- but I have faith that it will! And I'm looking forward to the Charmings finding out that they were duped -- so ready to see what they wanted to see (in Snow and Charming's case... Not Emma's!) that they missed a very real threat looming.

I'm hoping that this doesn't send Regina all the way back to square one, but I'm afraid Cora's a pretty canny character, and she sure does now how to manipulate her daughter. I suspect for awhile we're going to have Regina right where Cora wants her - at odds with everyone, except maybe Mommie Dearest. But if there's one thing this show has banged into our head over and over again, it's that GOOD ALWAYS WINS! And this time, the prize is Regina, damn it! So come on Good -- get your head out of your behind, and get in the arena and do some WINNING!

ETA: Next week looks like it's going to be a big ole bust in terms of everything that I care about, but I guess the Rumbelle fans need to have their day every once in a while.

[gi021]

I for once didn’t hate Emma in this episode; in fact I liked her for most of it. She stood up for Regina and only was convinced that she was the murder after she saw happening. I specially loved the way she seemed hurt after knowing “Regina” killed Archie, she looked too hurt to be just about Henry. Of course there were times I wanted to strangle her, but I can say I understand most of her actions, not all but most.

*STANDING OVATION* is the only thing I can think of about Lana’s acting in this episode, the woman is just awesome. My favorite moments in the show were her parts. I don’t know how this woman can make feel such array of emotions in just 40 min of show.
I really like snow in this season, and I liked her is this episode. I think she still loves Regina in some kind of way and I think she wants to believe that Regina can redeem herself, but she was hurt so many times by the Evil Queen that know she is wary of trusting her again. The way she was crying in the interrogation scene wasn’t just for Archie.

I truly hate Charming; he is still a douche, and an annoying one at that. ¬¬* I think most of the better than thou attitudes comes from him, when talking about the Charmings.

Oh, and all the Swan Queen moments (*-*). When Emma goes after Regina in the dinner, I was almost bouncing at the time.

I want to see a lot of groveling from Emma’s part when she finds out Regina is not guilt, or I’ll be very disappointed.
Overall it was a good episode. (^-^)

Totally random thing: It was just me who thought Regina looked sexy with her hair down and that sack-of-potato-like dress???

[marieyotz]

Totally random thing: It was just me who thought Regina looked sexy with her hair down and that sack-of-potato-like dress???

Nooooope! I thought she looked really gorgeous in that outfit. Something about seeing the Evil Queen stripped of her badass finery and looking so vulnerable to the world, but still so gorgeous, just left me verklempt.

[evilregalqueen]

I still have so many feels i can't think clearly about any of it... i think i might come here later to say something that actually makes sense because all i can do right now is asljglaslkdghsalGSAODIYALSUHDASKJBXAS LLANA REGINA SWAN OMG THE FEELS HELP FHASGKL

[EvilQueen]

I know what you mean evilregalqueen, to start with I was full of anger at the Charmings and the writers and the whole world for hurting my baby but now I'm like - HEY, THEY ACTUALLY OWE HER NOW. Would be interesting to see how they play it out.

[yessikg]

I really like this episode, ALL OF THE SWAN QUEEN, and I liked Emma for most of it.

I'm going to join on the 'get off your high horse Charming' thing because he got on my nerves.

I can't wait for Emma to realize she was wrong and she apologizes to Regina

[femmemajority]

It seems to me that Regina and Emma really recognize their similar baggage. Emma even said "I know her. I know that look (face?)". They see the connection but because of all the hurt they both push so hard against each other because of the fear of getting hurt.

The consistent parallels the writers are putting in the show are uncanny and so deliberate! They are all parallels of Regina and Emma, and two other characters in love....like someone on tumblr captured Regina snapping at, then apologizing to both Daniel and Emma in the respective scenes.

Also, Emma used magic as a means to an end, and she lost sight of the evidence in front of her just how Rumple tempted Regina into magic. Emma's starting down that same path.

Loved, loved, loved Regina's reaction to learning that Emma used magic. I couldn't read it as anything other than arousal....so I'm pretty much dying for someone to ask Lana what was going through Regina's mind in that moment!

[Kzenia]

Jan 6, 2013 23:50:46 GMT -6 EvilQueen said:

Also, to cheer us all up, here is the proof of amazing talent Lana has - hundreds different faces particularly in this episode!

She does "cleavage" like it's no one else's business. Even in full armor...that cleavage just need to pop out!. I adore you Eduardo Castro!

[enjoymyshirt]

I loved the episode as well. I also can't help but note(I can't be the only one) that Emma's reaction to the "reveal" of Regina as the murderer was every bit that of a betrayed lover. She had more of a reaction to Regina's supposed betrayal than that of Henry's father. And I can't help but wonder how different Emma's investigation would have gone if she didn't have her parents whispering in her ear of Regina's guilt. It goes back to that recent interview-how badly a child wants a parent's approval . . . both Emma and Regina have that same paralell. I may be in the minority, but I loved both Regina and Emma this episode along with the Snowing parallels of the relationship.

[agramontes]

I feel bad for Emma. She is being influenced too much by her parents. (Yet another thing she has in common with Regina). I am worried the show will start giving us a power tripping magic using Emma that Regina has to rescue in future episode arcs. Then swanqueen will be put off even longer.....