The mystery
of August’s true identity is revealed.
It turns out that he was Pinocchio this whole time. The moment this fact is confirmed brings new
light onto the little clues that had been popping up this whole time. Like him saying that he always tells the
truth in’ What Happened to Fredrick.’ In fact, in the last episode, when Mr. Gold
was snooping through August’s room at Granny’s, there was a little donkey
figurine acting as a paperweight. And I
do find it so sweet that August/Pinocchio held on to the hat he once wore as a
boy. You could also really feel his
torment when he first came face-to-face with Marco/Geppetto, who of course does
not recognize or even remember him, and even more so when August reaches out to
his amnesiac father by requesting a job as his assistant.
Gushing
aside, August/Pinocchio is becoming increasingly desperate to get Emma to start
believing in the fairy tales within Henry’s book, on account that he’s running
out of time. As we’re shown very early
on in this episode, he’s slowly starting to turn back into a wooden
puppet. The reason for this is explained
in the Enchanted Forest subplot, which shows Geppetto and Pinocchio’s take on
the events we saw in the pilot episode, with Geppetto creating the magical
wardrobe that was used to transport baby Emma to safety before Regina’s curse
hit. Geppetto, fearful for what could
happen to Pinocchio once the curse strikes, makes a bargain with the Blue
Fairy. It turns out that the wardrobe’s
power would only allow two people to travel through. Geppetto announces he will only build the
wardrobe if the Blue Fairy tells Snow White and Prince Charming that only one
person can go through, in order to ensure that Pinocchio will be able to go
through the wardrobe and be spared as well.
Jiminy attempts to reason with Geppetto, but without any luck, as
Geppetto refuses to back down. (Which
reminds me, who else couldn’t help but wince when Geppetto practically threw
the reminder of what happened to his parents into Jiminy’s face? I know he had a point and all, but DANG! That was harsh!) However, on the day the curse is cast, the
Blue Fairy tells Geppetto they have to call off their deal, as Snow White is
giving birth to Emma at that very moment, pointing out that baby Emma will need
her mother in this new land. However,
after the Blue Fairy leaves, Geppetto decides against telling Snow White the
truth. Instead, he instructs Pinocchio
to go through the wardrobe first, charging him with looking after baby Emma. Pinocchio is hesitant, but he ultimately
agrees and goes through the wardrobe, with Jiminy giving him a final warning to
‘remain brave, truthful, and unselfish.’ However, when Pinocchio and baby Emma enter
into the Land Without Magic (our world), and are taken to live in an orphanage,
Pinocchio fails to keep his promise to Geppetto at the first sign of
temptation. To be fair, you can sort of
understand Pinocchio’s reasons for wanting to leave that place. (Seriously, who spit in Mr. Raskind’s soup? You’d think ensuring that a baby’s crib won’t
break with the kid inside it, possibly leading to a bunch of serious and costly
legal trouble, would be a tad more important than being all territorial about a
bunch of tools. Not to mention you
shouldn’t have left your precious tools lying around if you didn’t want anyone
touching them.) Plus, it is a bit much to entrust such an important task on a seven-year-old. On the other hand? Pinocchio!
You had ONE JOB! Anyway, because
Pinocchio/August chose to break his promise and left Emma behind to run off to
Phuket, he is now reverting back to his original state as a wooden puppet, a
process that began at 8:15 PM, EST- the same time Emma began staying in
Storybrooke.
Meanwhile,
in the present day, August tries to convince Emma of the truth by admitting to
her that he was the seven-year-old boy who had found her as a baby. (Remember how I commented about how ironic it
was that August rode into town right after Emma was looking at the old news
article discussing that moment? August,
were your ears burning?) However, Emma,
ever the stubborn one, refuses to believe what August is telling her. Her denial is so strong, it even prevents her
from seeing that August’s leg is turning to wood. This does raise the of question how she can
still question that the stories in Henry’s book is true after all she’s
seen. Like I said back in my analysis of
‘Hat Trick,’ I think I would have
at least been open to the possibility after that. But Emma’s statement about how she doesn’t
want the town to need her pretty much sums it all up nicely. I think, deep down, she does believe, but she
refuses to accept it, because doing so would mean accepting that she is indeed
the Savior. And how could she possibly
be that, when she has spent her whole life feeling like she didn’t matter to
anyone? Henry’s words back in the second
episode were truer than even he probably knew.
‘The hero never believes at first.’
The
confrontation between Mary Margret/Snow White and Regina in the school yard was
a really deep scene. I think the
highlight was when Mary Margret warned Regina that if she keeps up acting the
way she has been, it would only leave a hole in her heart. You’ve got to wonder if hearing those words
coming out of Mary Margret’s mouth made Regina remember how she got this same
warning from Maleficent in ‘The Thing You
Love the Most.’ On the other side of
things, how creepy was it that Regina tried to put the moves of
David/Charming? First with indirectly
inviting him to stay for dinner, and then attempting to kiss him? That is just wrong on so many levels. And not just because this man was her
stepson-in-law. (As we’ll see later,
this family tree is already messed up enough as it is. It doesn’t need any more help.) Was she just trying to prove Mary Margret and
Maleficent were wrong about her having a void in her life that could not be
filled?
Really liked
how the first scene showed August/Pinocchio installing a deadbolt onto the door
of Emma and Mary Margret’s apartment. It’s
so awesome how the characters are not forgetting the fact that Regina has a
skeleton key that could unlock their door at any time. Seeing how this show doesn’t get into the bad
habit of forgetting the minor details really makes this show seem
realistic. (Well, as realistic as a show
that features the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming as the main
character can be.) It’s also the final
clue to August’s real identity- showing him to be so skilled with wood and
tools. He’s clearly held on to the
things he’d learned from his carpenter father, Geppetto. And we’re also finally given an explanation
as to why August had Henry’s book taken apart in ‘What Happened to Fredrick.’
He was adding his own story to the book, which for some reason, wasn’t
included originally.)
The final
scene cements this episode as the first part in the season’s three-part
conclusion. Emma, still shaken up by her
last conversation with August/Pinocchio, contacts Henry in the middle of the
night with the walkie-talkies they’d been using since ‘Desperate Souls.’ After
asking him to confirm that he wants to come live with her, she announces that
they’re both leaving Storybrooke and promptly starts to drive off with him in
the car.
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