What I’m Watching: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 19 “The Return” (C+)

Well, Katherine’s back, and it doesn’t mean all that much, since Regina barely appeared in the whole hour and didn’t exercise her supreme evil until the last few moments when she threw Sidney under the bus to save herself. I’m continually saddened to see Giancarlo Esposito wasted in such a pathetic, manipulated role, and Sidney is a rather miserable character. All that his false confession has done is inspire Emma to rail against Regina and proclaim that she’s planning to take her down and take back her son, something that should make the next three episodes relatively exciting. David and Mary Margaret’s romance has been drawn out for a while, and isn’t likely to be resolved until all the stars align. Perhaps peculiarly, Katherine doesn’t seem to mind one bit that everyone thought she was dead, and in fact is starting to resemble her fairy tale counterpart in terms of her friendship feelings for David, almost supporting his other relationship. August took center stage in this hour, as he was only the latest adult to corrupt Henry and make him complicit in an illegal search, and for a while there, it really seemed like he was in fact Mr. Gold’s son, or rather Rumplestiltskin’s boy, escaped from the fairy tale world to hunt down his magic-obsessed father. Instead, it appears that he is merely an impostor, which means two things: that’s he dangerous and somehow knows about the fairy tale world, and that Rumplestiltskin’s son is likely still out there, furious at his father for refusing to give up his magic to be with him.