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Once Upon a Time Season 1 Episode 18

The Stable Boy

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AIRED: Apr 01, 2012

8.9

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Episode Summary

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Emma continues to try and prove Mary Margaret's innocence in the murder of Kathryn Nolan. Meanwhile, in the fairytale world, Regina must choose between marrying for true love, or accepting her mother Cora's choice for her husband.

FAN RECAP

TV.com Episode Review

193

Once Upon a Time: Mother Knows Best

This week's episode systematically dismantled every single one of my complaints about Once Upon a Time.

By Lily Sparks, Apr 02, 2012

Fan Episode Reviews (9)

Ok episode but some really disappointing information

6.0

By BabsetteJacks, Nov 23, 2012

Well.... hmmm... this episode was great in that it finally explained why Regina hates Snow White so much. The problem is that the reason is insane, ridiculous and frankly, downright nearly impossible to believe. We also go to meet Regina's mother who is as evil as her daughter... and with some mystery surrounding her, which is always good on this show.

The stories moved along, too, getting to see how Mr. Gold manipulated Regina to set up a piece of his plan. Then came the somewhat unexpected (altho not completely surprising) twist of Kathryn showing up alive. Oh my...

Acting good as usual.... storyline moved along... the only downside was the hideous revelation of the root of Regina's hate. There has to be more than that! Right?moreless
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One of the best!

10

By amazing_race, Aug 05, 2012

I might even call this the best episode yet! If not, it comes pretty darn close! The storyline was so fascinating! Makes me hate Regina's mother more than I hated Regina. If Snow hadn't told her... none of this would ever be happening! The writers have excelled with such an amazing storyline!

But with even the brilliance of this storyline, it was the cliffhanger at the end that was even better! I can't believe what Ruby discovered! I won't spoil it, but it is just incredible! What will all this lead to? I can't fuigure it out!

Such an intense cliffhanger! I can't wait to know what happens next! Luckily the next episode is on tomorrow night here in Australia, so it won't b e as long a wait! Only four episodes to go, and I can't wait to find out what is yet to come in th e rest of Season 1!!!moreless
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One of my favorite episodes :)

10

By Edie70, Jun 14, 2012

Really. Everytime you give me Regina or Mr. Gold - centered episode I am happy happy happy. This was an amazing episode andn every fan will appreciate it because we finally learned more about Evil Queen - mostly, what the hell made her so evil. And most importantly why she hates Mary Margaret so much and wants her to rot in jail. Interesting stuff, I hope this long 3-week break between new airings will pass by quickly and we will get new OUAT stuff in a jiffy. ~10/10~moreless
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Too contrived for me.

3.5

By nightghaunt, May 02, 2012

I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. Misplaced hatred like this is just totally unbelievable and stupid. Regina witnesses her mother kill her love and then places all her hate on a young naive girl when she was obviously just doing what she thought was right? Come on! There's no way. I hate when writers contrive ridicules conflicts like this. It totally ruins the story.

I enjoyed seeing Regina "before" and I liked the concept of seeing how she became evil. But... please. Could you at least make it a bit more believable?moreless
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Broken Heart

10

By sh811a, Apr 07, 2012

Time doesn't heal all wounds, this to me is one of my favorate episodes of the show, which in a way is like a Shakesperian tragidy. It was interesting seeing what Regina was like in the past where she was a woman that was sweet, independent, and full of warmth. But also having a healthy relationship with Dannel a mere Stable Boy, I like the fact that she doesn't care about his status she loves the guy for who he is; that to me I feel is part of what love is that a certain difference whether in class, race, religion, or any other feature shouldn't matter, the feelings you share for each other and bond you create are what's important. In a way this makes this all the more heartwrenching because you know or have an idea of what's going to happen and you don't want it too happen but there's nothing you can do to stop it.

It was also interesting seeing a really young version of Snow White, the child actor was perfectly cast, both we see use to be friends. And we see the reason why Regina hates snow because she accidently broke a promise she made; I always felt Snow's naivity wasn't just a strength but a weakness, at that age obviously wasn't aware that there are such things as abusive parients and the deceptions they would display. Though I don't feel Snow was totally at fault, Cora manipulated the truth out of Snow, so in reality it was Cora's fault.

Barbra Hershey does a great job at playing Cora. Just like the mom she played in "Black Swan" Cora is just awful you just plain hate this person. She doesn't love Regina from the sick pleasure she gets from abusing Regina and just sees her as nothing but a tool, she is a person in love with power she believes in the philososphy that power is forever and that is all you need in life. But this is a crock of crap because in reality power doesn't last sooner or later it fades, as Ryuken from the anime movie "Fist of the North Star" said "Power without perception is spirtually useless and of no true value."

Regina's transformation from good to evil is a bit similar like with the movie "Cronicle" where it exposed on one of the factors that create villians and supervillians in our world. In that movie it focused on a teen with superpowers but was unfortuantely a target of abuse from his low life father as well as bullies left and right. Like Regina this teen was a good kid didn't want to harm anyone and even had desires of his own, Regina it was to get married to Dannel, the teen it was to go to Tibet and take religon there (I think). But dire circumstances rob those desires and hopes with it from them and make them choose the role of villian/supervillan to lash out all the pain and angush on everyone.

The final half was heartwrenching as we see the tragidy strike and Regina's heart breaking little by little till there it's gone. The greatest crime of humanity is to destroy love.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Ginnifer Goodwin	Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
Jennifer Morrison	Emma Swan
Lana Parrilla	Evil Queen/Regina Mills
Josh Dallas	Prince Charming/David Nolan
Jared Gilmore	Henry Mills
Eion Bailey	August Booth

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Alan Dale	District Attorney Albert Spencer/King George	Guest Star
Richard Schiff	King Leopold	Guest Star
Barbara Hershey	Cora	Guest Star
Anastasia Griffith	Kathryn Nolan/Abigail	Recurring Role
Giancarlo Esposito	Magic Mirror/Sydney Glass	Recurring Role
Meghan Ory	Ruby/Red Riding Hood	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Barbara Hershey on Once Upon a Time from...

© 2012 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Tony Perez and Barbara Hershey on Once U...

© 2012 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Lana Parrilla on Once Upon a Time from "...

© 2012 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Lana Parrilla and Tony Perez on Once Upo...

© 2012 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Trivia: Behind the opening title, a young Regina can be seen riding through the woods.
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QUOTES (5)
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- Regina: What are you suggesting?
  Gold: If you want to inflict pain, then you must inflict pain.
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- Regina: They say only the guilty sleep in prison.
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- Regina: Love doesn't work that way. Love... true love... is magic. And not just any magic. The most powerful magic of all. It creates happiness.
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- Henry: The eagle is in the nest and the package is secure.
  Emma: I left the code book at home.
  Henry: She's getting in the shower and the keys are under the mat.
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- Cora: Love is weakness, Regina. It feels real now. At the start, it always does. But it's an illusion. It fades. And then you're left with nothing but power... true power endures. And then you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. I've saved you, my love.
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NOTES (2)
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- Raphael Sbarge is credited but doesn't appear.
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- International Airdates:
  Canada: April 1, 2012 on CTV
  UK: July 29, 2012 on Channel 5
  Slovakia: December 21, 2012 on JOJ
  Germany: January 9, 2013 on Super RTL
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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