Once Upon a Time- Episode 3.20 "Kansas" Review- The show takes its first step towards season 4

So OUAT really, really surprised me there; when the story took a major shift and had Regina defeat Zelena I had my jaw dropped. I never ever expected that Regina would defeat her, or at least that she would do in the way that she did: by becoming a hero. I’ve endlessly talked about Regina’s redemption and growth of character, but such a major game changer is something that I expected for the season finale, not the episode preceding it.

There are many game changing events during the episode, many of which truly surprised me and left me quite excited for the finale next week, but sadly there are way too many dumb or awkward scenes that prevents me from fully enjoying the episode.

First, why on Earth would bring Hook along with Emma could be a good idea? Granted, the guy knows how to put a fight, but knowing Zelena she can easily use him against Emma and that’s what she does; and even while knowing that kissing him would drain her from her magic, Emma still goes for the mouth to mouth instead of standard CPR, which could have been enough, or even her own magic powers, and I think she has practiced enough to save him with magic, but she has to take the route that will drain her of her power.

Sometimes I find myself really frustrating at OUAT for taking the easy way out of things; what’s the fastest way to take Emma’s powers out of the equation so that it can be Regina who defeats Zelena instead? The answer is forcing Emma to kiss Hook by drowning him. That’s the best the writers came up with.

Another scene that frustrated me was how easily Zelena walked through the hospital wings and took Snow’s baby. Honestly, my only thought was “Fail!” as she moped the floor with everyone. It all happens so fast and there is so little resistance that it becomes obvious that it is all decoration just to get the baby on Zelena’s hands and as such I felt the scene was a bit worthless, it would have been the same as if all these people weren’t there to begin with.

But for all the frustrating scenes, there also great ones: I really enjoyed the trip back to Oz and to see Zelena actually trying to be good. She feels so great about being labeled as the protector of Oz that for once she doesn’t need to envy what Regina has, she has a title of her own and more power than her sister could dream of. But all things come to an end when Dorothy arrives from another realm via cyclone as per prophecy.

There’s a great theme in the whole episode about people making their own destinies and futures. This show has already explored destiny, for instance Emma’s fate was to break the curse and she did, but fate only comes to pass by the choices that we make. Things seem to spin in a certain way to make destiny happen, but it is what one chooses what makes the wheel spin.

Zelena’s envy was her undoing. It was because she was jealous of Dorothy that she strayed from the path of redemption she was walking and ended as the villain we know today. Dorothy gets to go back home, but that was just Zelena’s treachery making sure that she couldn’t be stop. It was supposed to be Dorothy who stopped, and then it was supposed to be Emma, but surprisingly it is actually Regina. Zelena sealed his fate when she decided to stray away from the good path, she would be taken down, and it didn’t matter if she dealt with threats such as Dorothy or Emma, she would find her undoing eventually because, without knowing it, that’s what she chose when she let her envy consume her.

Regina’s redemption has been something the show has been preparing us for since season 2 began, and yet it’s really surprising to see her being merciful. When Robin Hood touches her heart she finds it in herself the way to use light magic, by changing, by turning into a hero. At that moment Regina finally stepped out of the darkness and as she strips Zelena from her power by taking her necklace and decides her to let her live.

As much as the show hinted that Regina has honestly become one of the good guys this took me off guard. I loved seeing Regina as a conflicted character, her struggle in search for the light has been the highlights of many episodes in these last 2 seasons for me, so it was hard for me to accept that that part of the show is probably ending, but Regina deserved it, and the story had to come to such a place eventually.

Less surprising- but still shocking- is Rumple’s choice to betray Belle. Belle trusts that Rumple can and will make the right choice and let Zelena live, but the pain that came from Neal’s death is just so great that even their true love can’t prevent him from going there and killing Zelena, stripping her of the second chance Regina intended to give her. It makes sense, it is coherent with who Rumple is, so the actual reason I’m surprised is because this show has thrown words as “true love” and such as irrefutable laws, so there was a fair chance that Rumple would let her live just because Belle trusted him.

I’m much more excited with this, especially after seeing what Zelena’s death unleashes. Something bad is going to happen and it will once again shift everything on Storybrooke and so it will lead the way to the next season.

Honestly, through the hour I didn’t understand until the very last minutes why the writers decided that Zelena’s downfall had to happen tonight, but in the end I trust that it will work for the best. There are countless possibilities ahead: could it that all our characters are going back in time ala LOST? Are they going to another realm? Whatever it is, I’m all in. OUAT is a show that is still flawed in many ways, it changes the course of its narrative way too abruptly, but it also knows how to surprise, rally and deliver great moments, and as long as it can do that, I’m there for the ride.

Grade: B

Stray Observations

-I loved when Dorothy threw water to Zelena and she supposedly melted. It is a neat trick from Zelena and a great reference to the source material.

-Also a nice touch: Innocence, Courage, Resiliance and Wisdom are the ingridients Zelena needed in order to cast the spell, which is the power of all the good witches combined. Loved it.

-So Emma is still thinking about leaving to New York, uh? I must say, when she was talking to Hook about it I felt like she just used the same words over and over again. Get your act together Swan!

-Charming conveniently has a gentle touch with flying monkeys.

-So now that the baby is born I hope we can see Snow fighting again in the near future, being pregnant made her feel very helpless and that’s not good for her character.

-If Emma left for New York and decided to leave Storybrooke behind for good, do you think Hook would follow her? This won’t happen (at least not until the series end or there is another curse), but it is fun to toy with the idea.

-I’ve never seen something as hilariously awful as Hook drowning in that little pool.

-So all those witched besides Zelena and Glinda, none of them had anything to say about… anything?!

-And that’s it for this week! Let’s see what the finale will bring us next week!

About the Author - Pablo

I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, How I Met Your Mother and Community