Once Upon a Time season 7, episode 6 review: Regina 2.0?

On this week’s Once Upon a Time: [spoiler] has woken up, and the real villain has been revealed as [spoiler]! We give our thoughts on “Wake Up Call.”

WARNING: This article contains spoilers.

Before I begin, I just want to apologize in advance for any insensitivity I may cause, specifically if you’re a fan of Lady Tremaine on Once Upon a Time.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way…

So, we’re six episodes in, but I couldn’t be less interested in Lady Tremaine if I tried. It was getting difficult for me to believe that she was the new Big Bad of the series. Her character just feels so dry to me — stale, even. I can’t really put my finger on why, but it probably has a lot to do with the fact that she has a lot to live up to, with Regina being who she is. (And who is Regina, other than being the best?) There even came a point where I wanted to quit watching the show, because Lady Tremaine just wasn’t living up to my expectations. But enter Drizella — and just like that, I fell in love again.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Once Upon a Time, finally.

I’m sure you know by now how I feel about Drizella. I’ve said it time and time again, her character is actually interesting to me (bonus points that she’s played by Adelaide Kane). I care about her. I’ve rooted for her since we first encountered her. She has a story I have embraced.

She reminds me of Regina.

Now, she may not exactly be Regina, but she’s pretty darn close. There is so much about her that screams Regina — she has an evil mother, insistent on wedding her daughter to a noble (despite her own reservations), and she even possesses magical powers and retreats to darkness when betrayed. Drizella seems destined to make the same mistakes Regina made — it’s hard to blame her when her own mother wanted to pretty much kill her in order to revive her sister, whom she favored more than her. (I’m loving the parallels here!)

This week’s episode showed Drizella as the (now) top contender for the title of Big Bad. In fact, I think it has been proven that she is the Big Bad — if you can one up the (once) most evil of queens, then you’re on the right track. After all, Regina was her pawn in her game. Dare I say … the student has become the master.

Speaking of the master, Regina is awake!

You’d think we’d be happy, but we aren’t. I mean, it’s not like the curse will lift easily. Ivy is counting on Regina to keep Henry and Jacinda from breaking the curse with TLK. The girl really wants her revenge!

But if Drizella created the curse, then why is Lady Tremaine awake? Are there two curses? Is Lady Tremaine really even awake? I have so many questions!

The foremost question is, what did Drizella do before the curse was cast? My guess is that Henry will fall victim if Drizella doesn’t get her revenge. And here I was thinking Drizella might actually be starting to warm up to Henry…

Maybe she still is! Maybe she fell in love with Henry in whatever realm they had come from and wants to steal him away from Ella! No? Wishful thinking? Clearly, I really want the love triangle, and I really want Drizella around much more than Lady Tremaine. Can we promote Adelaide to series regular already?

Other thoughts about the episode:

It seems as though Rumple is back to his old ways … or is he? I actually think Rumple is finally done being evil. Maybe the favor that Regina owes him will be of good purpose.
And speaking of Rumple, I’m glad they explained how he and Belle lived one entire lifetime while the rest of the world stood still and didn’t age one day. That was actually sarcasm — I’m even more confused now than I was before.
I love Tilly. Have I mentioned I love Tilly? I love Tilly.

Tune in to an all-new, two-hour episode of Once Upon a Time on Friday, Nov. 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC!

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