"Once Upon a Time" returns this Sunday, Jan. 8, where Lana Parrilla, who stars as the Evil Queen/Mayor on the show, tells Zap2it we will be seeing the fallout from Sheriff Graham's untimely death, which Regina is quite upset about.
"I think that she's quite heartbroken over it, no pun intended," says Parrilla. "I really do. I think there was a genuine love and care for him and making that choice to crush his heart and to kill him was not an easy one for her."
Emma will certainly also be upset in the aftermath, and Parrilla tells us that Regina and Emma do have a moment over Graham's death.
"There is a scene that takes place between Regina and Emma where you do see her love and care for him and that it was hard for her," says Parrilla. "But at this point, no one knows that she had anything to do with that."
But you Sheriff Graham fans out there can take a little heart - even though he's dead in Storybrooke, we wondered if there are more interactions in store in Fairytale Land between the Evil Queen and the Huntsman. Parrilla teases, "Possibly."
However, Sheriff Graham's death is not the focus of the episode, titled "Desperate Souls." Instead, as the "Once Upon a Time" executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz told us back in December, we are getting to find out the backstory of Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle).
So we had to ask - in Fairytale Land, were Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen cohorts? Or enemies?
"That's a good question," says Parrilla. "I think we're both. There's still more to be told, when it comes to that relationship. I think it's still being developed. But there is a kinship between these two. It's a love-hate. There's a camaraderie and then they're rivals."
"I always question who's more powerful," she continues. "I think they kind of take turns. They one-up one another, I think it's just fun for them. At least that's how Robert and I play it. We have a blast."
We noticed in the episode description that Rumpelstiltskin's son is mentioned. So we mentioned to Lana that we don't think Mr. Gold has a son in Storybrooke.
"No, he doesn't. Or does he?" she laughs. "I don't know. It's a big secret to be revealed. We're going to see a very different side to Rumpelstiltskin. How did Rumpel become Rumpel? ... Then in Storybrooke, Regina and Mr. Gold are rivals, they're up against one another yet again."
"Once Upon a Time" airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
