Once Upon a Time 3.16 - It's Not Easy Being Green
I thought Zelena's backstory would be more interesting than it actually was. It did start off pretty cool with her being dropped in Oz by a tornado, which was a nice nod to the Oz books. But I feel like we've done the whole father disappointed in their child thing before. And the whole wanting Rumple to train them thing, too. And I think the previous stories with those throughlines were done better before, too. I guess what I wanted was something to make me feel for her like I felt for Regina and Rumple, but this particular episode failed in that regard.
Really, Zelena just seems like a one-dimensional, self-centered, whiny twit. Like I've said in previous entries, I've seen the long-lost sister wanting everything the known sister has done better on multiple soap operas. But maybe I'm just expecting too much. And maybe Show will surprise me toward the end of the season. Or maybe Show just wants Zelena to be a one-dimensional villain. That's entirely possible, too.
I will say that the reason she turned green is a brilliant idea. It makes total sense. Though I know other people have been envious before, so I don't know why there aren't more green people in the Enchanted Forest. But whatever. I won't dwell too much on that.
I was also surprised to see that Walsh was the Wizard and that it was the Wizard that became Zelena's first flying monkey. That was an interesting twist.
As usual, Regina scenes were my favorite ones of the episode. First I must squee a little. REGINA GAVE ROBIN HER HEART!!! Ok, so she did it literally, as one does on this show, but still! It gives me hope that she will follow the prophecy that Tink helped her see. (Minor squee: We got to see Tink again. That was nice and it showed that they haven't completely dropped her character.)
I was thrilled to see that Regina was smart and didn't take her heart to the fight. It's always nice when characters on a TV show actually have brains. And use them.
Once again I have to tip my hat to Lana Parilla. She does such a great job with subtleties and showing the humanity in Regina. Specifically I'm talking about the scene when she finds the letter and in the woods when Robin talks to her. This is why I like Regina. She's a well-rounded character with layers.
From a production standpoint, I enjoyed some of the camera angles used . Especially how everything was off kilter in the diner when Zelena entered. That was a nice touch.
So, it was a solid episode, though not one of my favorites. Still good, though.
Next week is a Hook episode, it looks like. Yummy, yummy Hook. I'm a little confused how this episode is going to fit in with the rest of the arc, but we'll see. And if it doesn't fit in, I'll just enjoy the pretty.