Oh, wow, the
wraith really did a number on Storybrooke, didn’t it? It really looks like a hurricane ripped
through town. And the reactions of
everyone make it look even more like disaster relief, with people putting up
posters in an attempt to locate their loved ones and how Ruby/Red is taking
charge to provide people aid. Things get
even more hectic when the dwarves discover that if anyone crosses Storybrooke’s
town line, they will once again lose their memories and revert back to their
cursed selves. That knowledge puts
people into a panic which only intensifies when they see Regina’s magic has
returned in full force.
The main
point of this episode involves the people of Storybrooke figuring out who they
are. This is highlighted by
David/Charming’s struggle to decide who he is- David Nolan of Storybrooke or
Prince Charming of the Enchanted Forest.
In the end, he realizes that he has to embrace both of his identities,
which helps bring him to a place where he can be a strong leader who can
properly reassure the frightened people of Storybrooke and encourage them to
stay together.
On the other
hand, you have Regina, whose story is deep on a different level. As the Enchanted Forest flashback shows,
Regina only wants to escape from the influence of her mother, Cora, who is
using her magic to prevent her from ever leaving King Leopold’s castle at will. To escape her mother's grip, Regina ends up seeking to learn how to use
magic from Rumpelstiltskin, who apparently was the one who taught Cora as well. Once
she manages to banish her mother through a magical mirror portal, she informs
Rumpelstiltskin that while she is still willing to learn magic, she doesn’t
want to become Cora. But in the present
day, Regina is slowly starting to realize that he has become just like Cora after all. The fact that she uses the exact same spell
to prevent Henry from sneaking out of her mansion that Cora had used on her
when she tried to escape King Leopold’s castle really emphasizes the
parallel. When Henry tells her ‘I don’t want to be you,’ you really get
the feeling Regina is remembering how she’d once said the same thing to Cora years ago. So much so that she allows Henry to go and
live with David/Charming. But she is
then seen being still unwilling to get rid of the spell book that had started
her down the path she’d taken. Eh, baby
steps, I suppose.
The episode
ends with us seeing the people of Storybrooke beginning to embrace their
newfound lives, as well as new goals.
The dwarves are determined to locate the diamonds that can make fairy
dust within the mines, in order to restore the memories of Mr. Clark/Sneezy
once again. Geppetto/Marco is informed
by Henry that August/Pinocchio is in Storybrooke, but when he goes up to August’s
room at Granny’s, he finds the room empty, with only Pinocchio’s old hat left
behind, indicating that while August is now mobile again, something is keeping
him from a proper reunion with his father.
However, Mr. Gold, because of the issue of how crossing the town line
might make him lose his memories, cannot leave Storybrooke the way he wanted
to. And of course, David/Charming is no
closer to getting Emma and Mary Margret/Snow White back. But then, we get the episode’s OH CRAP
moment, when we see Emma and Mary Margret/Snow have been taken prisoner by
Mulan and Aurora, who, after taking them to this refugee camp filled with Enchanted Forest folk who escaped from Regina's curse, place them both into a prison pit, where we see they’re
accompanied by Cora, who is alive and well.
This results in the viewers having only one possible reaction:
No comments:
Post a Comment