"The Doctor" finally revealed the identity of Dr. Whale. Dr. Frankenstein, I presume, but did that make Daniel Frankenstein's monster? Well, not exactly.

The more I found out about Regina's past, the more sympathy I felt for her. A young, heartbroken Regina was only looking for the power to bring her lost love back to her. An impossible task to be sure, as even Rumplestiltskin said in this Once Upon a Time quote...

 Magic can do much but not that. Dead is dead. | permalink

But it's a goal anyone who has loved and lost could understand. Unfortunately it all went horribly wrong.

The bad boys of the Fairy Tale World certainly played a young Regina and crushed whatever hope she once had of reuniting with Daniel. I always knew Rumplestiltskin had an evil streak and I believed Whale did as well, but I suddenly didn't feel nearly as bad for Jefferson as I once had. Apparently he was no innocent victim in this game wits, power and magic, as he played a major role in setting up an innocent Regina. As they say, Karma's a bitch.

Even though she'd lost Daniel and the boys treated her badly, that didn't mean Regina had to turn to the dark side. That was a choice she made. The question now becomes: Can she still choose to turn back?

In Storybrooke, I took it as a good sign that Regina was asking Archie for help. That's a huge step for her. She obviously cares very deeply for Henry. Will it be enough?

Henry and Charming at the stable were too darn cute. I loved how Henry kept asking the horse if he was ready to ride. Sometimes, in the middle of all of this magic, it's easy to forget that Henry's just a normal kid.

Perhaps Regina's true curse was that she couldn't let go. If she had mourned Daniel from the beginning, she wouldn't have had to lose him again and again. Will she be able to take Daniel's advice to love again now that she knows that he's really gone?

Finally, we get to the Fairy Tale World of the present as Emma, Snow, Mulan and Aurora wandered back to the compound only to find everyone dead. Okay, not quite everyone.

Thank goodness we've got our cynical, suspicious, kick-ass Emma back. It felt like we'd lost her for a few episodes but she's obviously found her footing in this new world. It was good to see she wasn't buying Hook's poor innocent act at all. 

A couple of side notes:

• Charming punching Whale for sleeping with Mary Margaret/Snow was awesome, mostly because it's something David never would have done.
• Aurora's whining has become really annoying but I suppose someone has to do it.
• So, the vault of hearts was Cora's, not Regina's. Of course that didn't stop Regina from using them.
• Hook and Emma had definite chemistry but I don't know that I want to see her hook up with the bad boy of the high seas.

So who was the real monster? The evil, or the ones who created it?

Get ready for next week. That beanstalk looks like it's going to be one Hell of a climb.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.