I think that besides the obvious flip on the first year, where Emma was the skeptic and Henry the one who had some respectable idea of what was really going on, his current lack of memory is being used as a device to drive Regina and Emma closer together.
Like shadowkat, when I was watching this I was elated to see the writers weren't going to re-hash the old antagonistic relationship between these two women, and continue with the idea that they had bonded over Henry. I think Regina (mostly subconsciously at this point) realizes that Emma, more than Snow, is the person best suited to keep her "evil" persona at bay, or redirect her darker instincts in a less violent and more productive fashion. Emma understands gray, while Snow is often obsessively/annoyingly black or white in her moral outlook.
For example, Emma sees the horribly bereft look on Regina's face when she first sees Henry, and Henry has no clue who Regina is. The rest of the townspeople-- Snow and Charming apparently included-- immediately blame Regina for the new curse. Emma doesn't. Emma even works to find a way to restore Henry's memory, and failing that, tries to do what she can to get Regina to re-connect with her son.
I suspect that whatever the writers have planned re: the new big bad, it will require these two women working together to defeat it. So, as long as Henry doesn't remember things...
(This show tends to move faster than one typically expects, so I'm guessing that it'll be not more than 3 or 4 more shows before Henry gets his memories back. I don't think they'll drag it out for the rest of the season.)
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-03-18 04:25 am (UTC)Like shadowkat, when I was watching this I was elated to see the writers weren't going to re-hash the old antagonistic relationship between these two women, and continue with the idea that they had bonded over Henry. I think Regina (mostly subconsciously at this point) realizes that Emma, more than Snow, is the person best suited to keep her "evil" persona at bay, or redirect her darker instincts in a less violent and more productive fashion. Emma understands gray, while Snow is often obsessively/annoyingly black or white in her moral outlook.
For example, Emma sees the horribly bereft look on Regina's face when she first sees Henry, and Henry has no clue who Regina is. The rest of the townspeople-- Snow and Charming apparently included-- immediately blame Regina for the new curse. Emma doesn't. Emma even works to find a way to restore Henry's memory, and failing that, tries to do what she can to get Regina to re-connect with her son.
I suspect that whatever the writers have planned re: the new big bad, it will require these two women working together to defeat it. So, as long as Henry doesn't remember things...
(This show tends to move faster than one typically expects, so I'm guessing that it'll be not more than 3 or 4 more shows before Henry gets his memories back. I don't think they'll drag it out for the rest of the season.)