“It’s Not Easy Being Green”
**SPOILER ALERT**
Adopted children often face issues other children don’t, aspects of their lives are hard for others to fathom. Adopted children can suffer from low self esteem along with a sense of rejection or abandonment. Especially when their parents give them up at a young age. Zelena exhibits all the classic signs of a maladjusted adopted child. The love of her adoptive parents never filled the void.
Envious of all she didn’t have Zelena was driven to be better than her half sister, Regina. She wanted to be the one Cora kept, the one Rumpelstiltskin trained, and the one everyone preferred. Zelena was naturally gifted with magic she didn’t have to practice the way Regina did, she was obviously the superior sorceress. And yet Rumple refused to let her cast his big spell. That infuriated her to no end, and it became a grudge that she held onto for 28 years. It’s that angry grudge that fuels her now in Storybrooke.
“It’s Not Easy Being Green” takes us on a journey into Oz to explore who Zelena is and how she’s come to be. What little we saw of Oz was quite interesting. Walsh (the guy who proposed to Emma in NYC) wasn’t just a flying monkey, but the Wizard of Oz himself. As OUAT often does, stories are mish-mashed together and Zelena’s is no exception. She’s a strange concoction of both Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. She’s discovered as a baby in a tornado, and she’s given glittery slippers (gold not ruby) that will take her anywhere with three clicks of the heel. Yet, she flies around on a broom with a heart full of wickedness. I admire the dual identities in one body, she was given good and bad aspects that we can easily identify.
In Zelena’s case her envious nature is so uncontrollable it’s changed her outward appearance, and not for the better. As Rumple taught her, magic comes from emotion, it’s not something you see but something inside of you. Zelena is now literally green with envy, she never could control her emotions.
With the exploration of her past I expected to have more sympathy for Zelena, but I’ve come up empty. She still comes off as a selfish, two dimensional character. Perhaps the layers are still coming. Zelena challenges Regina to a witch dual at dusk. At last we get to see who the better Witch is, the Wicked one or the Evil one. My excitement was short lived, as was the Witch dual. It was lackluster at best. One streetlight was flung and Regina was thrown into a car and a window. Ho-hum. I expected some mind blowing theatrics from these two witches. But I really expected more from Regina. Was she just not trying? She could have reached in and grabbed her sisters heart but didn’t. It was a wasted opportunity if you ask me.
Regina (for once) has done nothing to deserve the ire of her challenger. Zelena simply wants to destroy Regina, she resents her very existence. Oddly enough Zelena does not want to kill her, she’s more particular than that she wants Regina’s heart. That along with the courage she stole from Charming are powerful ingredients to a spell that will bring the past rushing back. Zelena’s like a spoiled child, she wishes her sister had never been born and she’ll stop at nothing to see her wish comes true.
For as powerful as Zelena is, love will always win out. And Regina now has love on her side. She has given her heart to her prophesied soul mate for safe keeping. There is hope for the Evil Queen yet.
Overall a fascinating episode (albeit with some missed opportunities) that went to great lengths depicting Zelena, past and present. She makes for a worthy villain though she’s not as convincing as past characters. I only hope she’s given more opportunity to show us what she can really do when push comes to shove. She may win me over yet.
Aurora Snow Says
Episode Rating:
[Rating:3.5/5]
