'OUAT' Season 5 To Show Plenty of Snow White Angst

Look, I'm getting way too impatient for the premiere of Once Upon A Time Season 5, and I've started getting down to the nitty gritty when it comes to thinking about what's going on with every member of our Storybrooke crew. I know we're going to be spending a lot of time delving into Emma as she navigates her new role as the Dark One and her journey back to being the Savior, as well as Regina's turn to be the hero and Henry dealing with his mom's predicament and his own position as the new Author. It's great, and given that the Swan-Mills family are my number one jam, I'm here for it. But I'm also here for some realistic storytelling when it comes to those who know and love Emma and who, you know, have their own lives outside of her. But the one person we're here to talk about now is Snow White — or Mary Margaret, if that's your preference — and how she's going to deal with the current state of affairs. Hint: Not well.

Here's the deal: Snow and Charming are likely both going to end up with major angst, especially given that they pretty much ruined Maleficent's life and robbed her of raising the child she wanted more than anything in order to ensure that Emma would be good and pure. Turns out, all magic does indeed come at a price, considering the very fate they'd tried so hard to save her from ended up finding Emma in the end, anyway. No matter that Emma sacrificed herself willingly — and to save Regina, no less — at the end of the day, Snow and Charming have failed her as parents, at least in their own eyes, and that's going to have a profound effect on Snow. As Ginnifer Goodwin herself explained at Disney's D23 Expo last weekend, "The darker Emma goes, the more to Snow/Mary Margaret she is herself a failure." That's basically a convoluted way of saying that Snow is going to take this whole thing way personal.

I've already said that it's about time Snow and Charming actually do something in Season 5, given that they spent much of Season 4 crouching around in shadows and being all moody and throwing a pity party for themselves and their past transgressions. That's gotten old now, and the best way for the former heroes to redeem themselves is, you know, maybe to do get off their butts and do something heroic? Their daughter is in danger, so they can either sit around moping about it or they can do everything in their power to help Regina as she leads the mission to get Emma back. I think we'll get there at the end (at least I hope — if not, I'd lose what little interest I still have left in the Snowing pairing and the characters separately), but it's going to be a long journey, I'm afraid.

That's not to say I'm entirely against the idea of some real character development for Snow. I'd like to see her get real with herself about what she's done, who she is as a person, and what she's capable of. Facing these very difficult truths about herself will likely allow her to grow not only as a human being, but will also strengthen her bond to Regina, with whom she's developed a reluctant understanding as of late. In fact, I think it's safe to say that Snow could even learn a thing or two from Regina about the true meaning of redemption and the long, hard road she'll need to travel to get it.

At least from the sound of things, Goodwin and her character will be getting more airtime next season, and I'm looking forward to it. Let's just hope it's more Snow than the timid Mary Margaret, because I know she's got it in her to be a hero. She just needs to remember it herself.

Images: ABC