Once Upon a Time, S06E14 Review

"Oh my Gosh!"... What can I say?!
I have so much to say and so little ways to say it..This episode left me so speechless.
Last nights episode of Once Upon a Time, entitled 'Page 23' (a reference to Regina's page and her happy ending), was so special, life-affirming, gripping, happy, sad, incredible...my brain is literally a soup of words.
I just love how important morals and special messages are inserted into each story by Adam and Eddie and this one was especially important; Love Yourself.

Lana Parilla's performances as both Regina and the Evil Queen (pictured above), really touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.
The scene that really made my eyes water and my throat swell, was the moment that Henry referred to the Evil Queen as 'Mom'. That scene was so touching and heart-warming and the Evil Queen's reaction to that one word was really unexpected; she just wanted to be loved by someone and Henry gave her that affection.
The affection that Regina gave the Evil Queen by hugging her was equally powerful. I must admit the  moment was a weird one (I wonder what it would be like to hug yourself...?), but also touching and clearly represents the end of the Evil Queen's reign of darkness and terror - you know when it's the end when the Villain actually hugs! The scene made me sob alittle and really tugged at my heart-strings.

Another scene that touched me was when the Evil Queen enchanted Cupids' arrow to lead her to the person she hates the most (obviously Snow White, right?, Wrong!) The arrow actually led the Evil Queen to a reflection of herself and my heart literally felt like it had exploded. The Queen's reaction was so startling, sad and heart-breaking and I couldn't believe that a character that evil and confident, could hate herself and have so many insecurities. I itched to give the Queen a hug in that moment. It's an emotional scene that I think will personally stick with me for awhile to come because it's just so powerful and maybe even relatable...
There's definitely some parts of myself that I hate, both in physical appearance and personality (after all, no one is perfect), but this scene, involving the two versions of Regina that she both hates and loves about herself, really teaches you to make peace with those imperfections because they are always going to be there and that's what makes the show so special.

I love Regina the most, especially her journey throughout the show and her constant characterisation - which is incredible. From being the avengeful and hateful Evil Queen to becoming a strong and brave woman who chooses to love over to hate is so revolutionary; I applaud her.
It was brave of Regina to merge the Evil Queens hateful heart with her loving one; especially because she was letting that little bit of darkness that she had once found so addictive, creep back into her own heart once more - (with the confidence that she will never let the darkness ravage her ever again).
I only hope that with new-found love in her heart, the Evil Queen will continue on her path of redemption and create a fantastic life with Robin of Loxley. I have no doubt that we'll somehow see the Evil Queen again - which version, I'm not sure - but she's such a brilliant character and I love how Regina trusts the evil part of her to do what is right, and with that, the Evil Queen is truly free.

Overall the episode was fantastic, my favourite of the season so far and really overwhelmed me with a potion of emotions.
Not only did the episode present a powerful message to the world... but really showed the true ending of a good fairy tale...And although Regina will never have her Robin back, a version of her will always be with him.