Edward Kitsis OUAT 2x04 Podcast: Rumplestiltskin & Regina redemption 

“It’s two characters who have really dark pasts who are trying to redeem themselves in different ways. Rumplestiltskin is absolutely trying to not lose another person he loves but of course what he then did to Smee at the end of the episode shows that he’s also not putting on a white hat and riding off into the sunset. And I think Regina is dealing with the fact that her heart probably was healed when she chose Henry over that curse and she really is trying to win him back and she really is trying to do the right thing, and she’s really trying to return to that person she was before the Stable Boy.”
— Edward Kitsis (The Crocodile Podcast)