Five TV Villains Turned Heroes

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But sometimes your enemy is your friend because audiences love a good redemption story. Or even a bad redemption story. Audiences just really love redemption stories. So here's five bad guys who decided they were better off being good(ish) guys.

Once Upon a Time: Only You/An Untold Story

“Now I have a curse: the curse of knowing the difference between good and evil.”

As I discussed in my review of ‘Last Rites,’ the new tradition of closing out the season’s second major arc before the finale looked like it was set to continue. While there were no parallel universes or time travelling escapades, ‘Only You’ and ‘An Untold Story’ were full of unexplored territory for Once, and provided a nice breath of fresh air after the tumultuous events of the Underworld arc.

Once Upon a Time: Last Rites

“I hope we never again have a day like today.”

In order to tie up the many loose ends this season has left dangling to get things in place for the following finale, ‘Last Rites’ took a few liberties to make it happen. Those liberties ranged from confusing to downright silly, but the episode did pack enough of a punch to justify at least some of its flimsy means.

Once Upon a Time: Firebird

"Find your armor."

What I like most about the episodes that delve into Emma’s pre-Storybrooke past is that they always provide a welcome change from the usual escapades that are spent trudging around a monotonous green landscape, and show us a world where things are a little less idyllic and a bit rougher around the edges; not unlike Emma herself. ‘Firebird,’ while somewhat flawed, gave us some interesting insight into what made Emma so tough in the first place. We also learned how Emma got her jacket. Maybe the second part was a little unnecessary?

Once Upon a Time: Sisters

"You were sisters once..."

Part of what made the opening salvo of the Underworld arc so great was that it was bolstered by strong character beats and interesting dynamics. ‘Sisters’ borrows a lot of that from ‘Souls of the Departed,’ and manages to do something much more impactful, largely because what happened here felt earned.

Once Upon a Time: Ruby Slippers

"What are you looking for?"

Given how traditional the values of Once Upon a Time are, ‘Ruby Slippers’ went a long way towards taking those dated values apart, and rebuilding them for a modern audience. In light of the prejudicial developments of ‘Her Handsome Hero,’ what transpired here was a relief.

Once Upon a Time: Her Handsome Hero

“Good old Belle. You always did have a soft spot for a monster."

Belle was put through so many damaging moments in ‘Her Handsome Hero.’ Most of those moments weren’t even her fault, but they insinuated that everything she stands for means absolutely nothing, and I honestly can’t figure out if that’s something that will be addressed in the future, or if we’re just supposed to accept that she’s an idiot for wanting to do things the right way.

Once Upon a Time: Our Decay

“Love is not enough!”

‘Our Decay’ was an important episode for Zelena. I thought going into this season that she would become an important part of the Once story, but a few snide remarks aside, she’s been mostly relegated to a background player. This episode brings her back to the forefront, and strides are taken to make her an integral part of the Underworld arc. It’s a mixed bag in terms of execution, but I did feel like Zelena had finally made progress by the time the credits rolled; whether it’s for the better or not remains to be seen.

Once Upon a Time: The Brothers Jones

“Forgiving yourself is the hardest thing to do.”

We’ve watched Hook redeem himself over the last three seasons, and his transformation has been almost as dramatic as Regina’s. The guilt he’s been feeling over what he did as a result of Emma’s magical intervention has caused him to undermine everything that he’s done since he arrived in Storybrooke, which is understandable. What isn’t is his arrogance and dismissal of the forgiving and helping hand that’s being shown to him even after all that’s happened. This episode relies heavily on that self loathing, and the fundamentally flawed reasons behind it and it suffers a lot because of it.

Once Upon a Time: Devil's Due

“I've finally become the man you always wanted me to be; the one who takes what he needs.”

The most frustrating thing about Rumple is that he seems to make the same mistakes over and over again. Every time there’s an opportunity to pull him out of this cycle of cowardice and power-seeking, he just falls right back into it. It doesn’t help that he’s become a poster child for character assassination. There’s very little to like about him anymore, so why should we feel sorry for him?

Once Upon a Time: Labor of Love

“If I hadn't failed, I never would have figured out how to succeed.”

The execution of this episode’s guest appearance was a little lackluster, but I loved where that new character helped to take one of the series’ veterans, pulling them out of passivity and finally addressing their lack of contribution to the show at large.

Once Upon a Time: Souls of the Departed

"I don't think we're in Maine anymore."

‘Souls of the Departed’ surprised me. As a landmark episode it tried its hardest to pump in as much nostalgia as it could; we saw more than a few familiar faces, and a couple of subtle throwbacks to this show’s better days. But instead of a Snow and Charming clip show, or a Henry and Emma homage, we were instead treated to an affecting exploration of Regina’s troubled relationship with her parents. It’s a dynamic that didn’t necessarily have a huge impact when this show began, but with Regina’s incredible journey over the last few years, it’s wonderful that it was considered important enough to feature heavily in the 100th episode of this fun, camp, ridiculous and frequently embarrassing show.

Once Upon a Time: Swan Song

“What kind of man do you want to be?”

Once Upon a Time’s main problem this season has been an over reliance on its increasingly complex mythology. Because of the nature of this season’s Dark One arc, the show has been forced to tackle the dense history of this being, which involves not just multiple characters, but a lot of rule bending and in some instances, revision of past events. While ‘Swan Song’ isn’t far removed from these problems, it succeeds in separating itself from them by focusing on the characters involved, and everything they’ve done to get to this point.

Once Upon a Time: Broken Heart

“Clearly you don't believe in me anymore, so how am I supposed to fight this?”

The decision to change the game in ‘Birth’ is marred in this episode by a clumsy attempt to set things up for the following finale. There are some interesting ideas at play, both in regards to what Emma had to do in Camelot and what’s been happening in the present day, but the significance of all that is lost in favor of rushed character beats in order to get everything into place for a big finish.

Once Upon a Time: The Bear King

"Maybe helping someone else find their path will help you with yours."

What’s interesting about this episode is that it’s one of the rare instances of a show being able to rely on a new character to ground a story. It’s a bold move to put Merida front and centre, without the core cast there to give her fight for her kingdom some weight, but a couple of links to heroes we’re already familiar with managed to carry ‘The Bear King’ in a way I didn’t expect.

Once Upon a Time: Birth

“All this power and you don’t have the courage to answer one bloody question!”

I think we’ve all been feeling Killian’s frustration for the past few episodes. Emma’s plan has been cloaked in so much secrecy that it’s made it hard to follow all of her plotting and scheming. ‘Birth’ finally pulled back the curtain on what happened in Camelot to turn her into the Dark One, and gave us some insight into what’s been motivating her to pull all these strings in the present. We can really get invested from here on out.

Once Upon a Time: Nimue

“It’s easier to live with the darkness if you can dress it as vengeance.”

As we dive into the origin story of the Dark One, we’re faced with some interesting moral complexities concerning what drives good people to do bad things. ‘Nimue’ is a wonderful exploration of that concept that’s incredibly heartbreaking, though not all that surprising.

Once Upon a Time: The Bear and the Bow

“If I had to do it all again, I’d make sure I was the man you deserved right from the very start. That would change everything for you.”

As a character in her own right, Belle is starting to become rather inconsequential. In almost every instance she’s used as a plot device to further character development separate to her own. We’ve seen that play out time and time again with Rumple. Here, she played that supporting role again, but it wasn’t just Rumple that she helped, she also played a part in helping Merida fulfill her own quest to save her family. But what about Belle herself?

Once Upon a Time: Dreamcatcher

“There’s always a choice, Emma. You’ve said that to me a thousand times.”

For the first thirty minutes of ‘Dreamcatcher’ I was rolling my eyes and struggling to stay interested. Then the last ten minutes happened and the whole episode was given a lot more weight and significance.

Once Upon a Time: The Broken Kingdom

“Stop trying to mend that sword or your marriage, and your kingdom, will be broken forever.”

‘The Broken Kingdom’ is full of contrived events and forced character beats. There’s very little about Arthur and Guinevere’s past that felt organic, and while the story itself is interesting, the execution of this week’s flashbacks left a lot to be desired.