<P> Blast Magazine columnist Christopher Peck was disappointed that the writers had not yet revealed the reason for the Evil Queen's grudge, commenting, "If the thing that sticks out most about an episode of television is what I didn't get out, that's an ominous sign: a foreshadowing that the show has no goddamn clue where it's headed ." He did however enjoy seeing Graham's memories, calling them and the other series flashbacks "the freshest and most thrilling part of the show ." While describing Graham's death as "heartbreaking," Peck felt that it "completely nullifies any advancement the episode made ." He graded the episode with a C+ . </P> <P> Entertainment Weekly's Shaunna Murphy was a little more critical of the episode, though she did call it "game - changing ." Noting that it "felt rushed," she "would have preferred a slow - burning mystery spread out over several episodes over this dramatic, Nikki and Paulo - style stand - alone sendoff ." Murphy however concluded that Graham's death was "one of the coolest sequences we've seen so far on this show ." The A.V. Club columnist Oliver Sava graded "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" with a C. He also noted negative similarities to the television series Lost, explaining, "Remember when Jack, Sawyer, and Kate were stuck in the polar - bear cages, and the plot just wandered in an aimless haze? The time when a bunch of viewers started jumping off because the writers kept adding questions without ever giving answers? What took Lost 44 episodes, OUAT has done in seven ." Unlike other reviewers, Sava called the ending a "frustrating conclusion," and believed that "Horowitz and Kitsis (took) one step forward and two steps back with this development ." </P>

Once upon a time season 1 episode 7