Once Upon A Fan

by Amy Degenstein-Hood

  This week’s episode begins in SB with Regina and Henry having dinner. Emma arrives at the door and says that Henry invited her. As Regina is telling Emma that she would never allow her to come for dinner, Emma says she is not there for dinner, she is there for Regina. We see Henry standing at the top of the stairs carrying a rope. The scene flashes to the middle of SB; Regina is being tied to an apple tree on which the apples are completely black. Archie and Ruby are tightening the rope as the towns people crowd around with torches. They shout at Regina that she must pay for what she’s done. We see Granny, our SB Team 7 counterparts, MM, David, Ruby, Henry, Archie and Emma. Emma squeezes a black apple from the tree and a tar like substance oozes out. “Rotten to the core,” she says.  David hands Emma sword and she tells Regina “You took away our happiness, now it’s our turn to take away yours.” Regina pleads with Henry to help her, but he says she did this to herself, and Emma swings the sword.  Regina wakes up, realizes that she was only dreaming, and goes to check on Henry. She does not realize that he is not in his bed.

     Henry is riding with Emma in her car. He sees all of her belongings in the back seat and realizes that she is planning on them leaving right now. Henry grabs the steering wheel as they approach the SB town limits, and the car swerves to a stop. Henry tells Emma that she can’t leave her family, that she has to break the curse, and begs her to please not make him leave yet.

     In FTL, King George has captured James, and we see them in the castle courtyard. The king tells James that he would have given him everything, but that he chose to betray him for true love. James says that losing his life for love is a sacrifice he is happy to make. James is put into the guillotine, and the camera lingers on the covered face of the executioner. As the blade is released, it turns to water on James’ neck. Regina appears and offers King George all the riches Midas promised him in payment for James. She promises that James will suffer, and says she will use him to destroy his true love, Snow White.

     In SB, Regina pulls an apple from her tree and sees that it is rotting. She goes to see Mr. Gold to find out why, and tells him she thinks it is a sign of the curse weakening because of Emma. Behind Gold’s head is one of the giant locks that you see on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney. It is almost “Mickey” shaped and very distinct to the ride. There are many globes in the shop this time, and as in the previous episode, many clocks that do not show the same time. The ship wheel is there as well. Gold suggests that maybe the price to keep Charming and Snow apart is Henry. Regina refuses and wants to make a new deal, but Gold is not interested. They both say that Emma cannot be killed or the curse will break. This is the first time I recall hearing this fact. I also don’t recall Regina realizing that Emma was definitely Snow and Charming’s child. If she knows this now, that means she would know that Henry is Snow’s grandson. Regina accuses Gold of wanting the curse to break, and asks him why. He tells her that he’s not going to discuss it. Gold tells her she no longer has anything he wants, and that he is planning a trip. He suggests that she might want to plan a trip also, because when people realize who she is, they will be out for blood. 

     We see Regina place a White Rabbit card on the back of Paige’s (Jefferson’s Daughter) bike. We then flash to Emma entering the apartment she shares with MM. MM is very angry with her for leaving and not even saying good-bye. She reminds Emma that she is the one who said they had to stick together. Emma tries to defend her choices by saying that she doesn’t want anyone relying on her. She tells MM that she took Henry. MM tells Emma that she has to do what is best for Henry, and that since she is his mom, she needs to figure it out. 

     In FTL, Snow is watching King Georges castle and says that it is very heavily guarded. We see Granny and the 7 Dwarves with her, all armed and ready for a fight. Granny says they are going to need air support, and Grumpy days he knows just the person who owes him a favor. (He is referring to the Blue Fairy, who convinced him to give up his plan to be with Nova) They hear a noise coming from the woods and turn their weapons toward it. It is Red, to whom Grumpy points out that she “has someone on her chin”, referring to some blood. Red tells the group that the prince is alive, but that Regina is there. Snow asks if anyone wants to turn back, and they all want to stay with Snow and save charming. We then see Regina entering Charming’s cell. She tells the guards to leave them. This scene immediately reminded me of the original Sleeping Beauty Disney film, where Maleficent visits Prince Philip in his cell. I know the characters are different here, but the visual is very similar. Charming asks Regina to spare Snow, and to take his life instead. Regina says will not be taking Snow’s life, but that she has a far better punishment in mind. She holds up the apple as she walks away and the cell door slams.

     In the mayor’s office in SB, Jefferson arrives to see Regina. He says that Regina knew he was watching Paige/Grace and that he saw the White Rabbit card she intended him to see. She says she needs his help, and that she knows he won’t kill her because then he has no hope of ever being with his daughter. Regina brings out Jefferson’s hatbox and hat, saying she has a way for them to both get what they want. He says that he can’t make it work here in SB, it won’t work without magic. This whole scene is in contradiction of what many thought had happened at the end of “Hat Trick”. When Jefferson fell out the window, there was nothing at the spot he fell except a hat. Many people, myself included, thought he fell into the hat. If he is here saying that it doesn’t work however, that isn’t possible. Also, this is the man that kidnapped both Emma and MM. Did he just go back to his mansion after they escaped? Why did Emma, the sheriff, never attempt to find and/or arrest him? If it was only because she didn’t want anyone to know that MM had escaped, wouldn’t that issue have been taken care of when the charges were dropped and Kathryn was found alive? I am hoping that there is more to this story and more to the reason that Emma never went back for Jefferson. Regina offers to make Grace remember if Jefferson helps with the plan, but he says that would be horrible for her, and that he wants to forget. Regina agrees to re-write their story after Emma is taken care of. (I noticed that she did not specify that she would re-write their story so that they would be together)

     Back in FTL, we hear Red howl to give the signal to start the attack. Dopey lights an arrow and Happy shoots it into the air. The team moved forward. The fairies see the arrow above and start their attack as well. Snow and the dwarves start ascending the castle wall. Snow makes it first and battles several guards. In a close call, Grumpy kills a guard with a pickax to the head. They run down to the courtyard and there, Snow and the Dwarves battle several guards. They are surrounded, and the fairies fly in and put all the guards to sleep with fairy dust. Again, this is similar to a scene in the original Disney Sleeping Beauty.  

     In SB, Henry goes to see August. Henry tells August that Emma wants to leave, and said that he thought August would help make her believe. August Tells Henry that Emma can’t see because she chooses not to. He then shows Henry his arm, it has turned to wood. Henry realizes that August is Pinocchio. August tells Henry that it is up to him now, and that if the curse isn’t broken, he will turn back to a puppet. August says he wants to spend the little time he has left with his father, Marco/Geppetto.

     At Granny’s diner, Emma meets with Archie, who tells her that she does not have a case for custody of Henry. There is no proof that Regina has done anything, and since Emma arrived Henry has acted out many times. Emma asks if Archie thinks Regina would ever hurt Henry, he says no. He tells Emma that the war between her and Regina has to end. 

     In FTL, Snow finds Charming and opens the cell door. She runs in, and realizes she is seeing him through a magic mirror. Regina has already taken him to her palace. Charming tells Snow that he has faith that they will be together. He vanishes, and Regina is standing in the mirror. She tells Snow she has “No interest in cleaning tongue marks off her mirror”.  Regina then asks if Snow has heard of ‘parlay”, which all Pirates fans will recognize as a neutral meeting. She tells Snow to meet her, alone and unarmed where “it all began”. 

     We see Snow with the Dwarves, Red and Granny inside the castle. Snow is removing all her weapons and placing them on the table. Grumpy tells her to at least keep the small knife hidden “in her tuffets”… New fan favorite line, no doubt. She leaves for the stable where she had seen Daniel and Regina kiss when she was a child. 

     In SB, Regina takes Jefferson down to her vault where she has the last bit of her magic. She places a few trinkets into the hat, but it will not work. The only thing she has left with magic in it is the ring Daniel gave her. Regina seems very sad, but reluctantly sacrifices the ring. It is not enough magic to open a portal, but is enough for them to retrieve an object. Regina knows exactly what object she wants to retrieve, and holds the hat to guide it. Jefferson asks what they are after, and she replies, “an apple”. 

     In FTL, Regina meets Snow at the stable. She walks with her to the hill where she saved her as a child. There is a grave site there now, which Regina reveals belongs to Daniel. She tells Snow that she only said he ran away to spare Snow’s feelings when she was a child. Regina tells Snow that because she told Cora her secret, Daniels heart was ripped out. Snow tries to apologize and says she was young, but Regina cannot forgive her. Snow says that Regina took her father away, and says they have both suffered enough, but Regina says “not yet.” She pulls an apple from her bag and tells Snow that it will make her body into a prison of her own regrets, but that she must take the apple willingly. Snow refuses, but Regina threatens to kill Charming if she does not eat the apple. Snow bites into, and falls to the ground. Charming can feel that something has happened to her. The apple rolls away and falls into a small porthole, then into Regina’s hand in SB.

     Regina takes the apple home and begins to make it into an apple turnover. Emma knocks on the door, and comes in to speak to Regina. Emma says she wants to make a deal. She tells Regina that she is leaving town, but that she wants to be able to visit Henry whenever she wants. They agree that it is best for Henry this way. Before Emma leaves, Regina says it is time to start being cordial to each other. She gives Emma the apple turn over “for the road.”

     In FTL, the dwarves find Snow. Red puts a dagger under her nose and says that there is no breath. They believe her to be dead. Regina is watching through her mirror, and seems pleased.

     In SB, Regina goes to Gold’s shop and tells him that she has used a bit of magic to solve her problem. He reminds her that all magic comes with a price. She tells him that whatever he wanted the curse broken for, it will never happen.

     At MM and Emma’s apartment, Emma tells Henry that she is leaving. She says that every time she tries to fight for him, someone gets hurt. She wants him to be safe and happy. Henry tells her that whatever deal Regina made could not be true. Emma tells him that this is not a story, and that they can’t believe in curses. He sees the apple turnover and tries to tell Emma that it must be poisoned. She refuses to believe and Henry takes it from her. He says that even if she doesn’t believe in him or the curse, he believes in her. Henry takes a bite of the turnover. Emma asks him if he’s satisfied not that it’s not poison and if he’d like ice cream with it, but he falls still to the floor before she can finish her sentence. She yells his name, but he remains motionless on the floor.