Sunday, September 28, 2014

Once Upon a Time 4.01: "A Tale of Two Sisters"

“Henry brought me to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. My job’s not done until I do that, including you.”
- Emma

I have been very excited for “Once Upon a Time” to come back. Yes, I spent the summer angry at the writers for threatening the happiness of Outlaw Queen and completely squashing Swan Fire but I’m ready for the next adventure. Let’s take a peek at where we left the Storybrooke denizens. Snow and Charming happily welcomed baby Neal into the fold while Henry got his memories back. After a trip to the past, Emma and Hook are considering a more romantic relationship and Robin and Regina’s burgeoning love story is hampered by the return of one Maid Marian. Oh and Queen Elsa has been transported to Storybrooke.

Speaking of “Frozen”, we begin at sea in Arendelle as Elsa and Anna’s parents’ ship is about to go under in a crazy storm. But the Queen is insisting on writing a letter to the girls explaining the meaning behind their trip. A short time after their parents died, Anna and Elsa visit their graves and bring flowers. Elsa tells her little sister that she has a surprise for Anna’s wedding. Apparently this takes place after the movie time line. Interesting. Unfortunately, Elsa is in Storybrooke now and confused as hell. She even freeze the town sign. Seriously, what did the sign ever do to her? It reminds me of the Sunnydale sign. That thing got beat up all the time. She also has bad luck with cars. Grumpy and some of the other dwarves have left the party and Sleepy’s at the wheel. He falls asleep and Elsa freezes the truck to avoid a collision.

Elsewhere in Storybrooke, Regina is still reeling from the revelation about Marian. Robin tries to explain things to both women, or at least get them to talk but it doesn’t go well. Marian can’t believe everyone is being nice to Regina and Regina storms off to have a good cry. And hopefully not do anything evil. Things seem to be looking up when Robin stops by for a chat. He admits his feelings for her are real and very deep. But ultimately, he needs to honor his wedding vows because if he doesn’t live by a code, what is he doing? Well I’ll tell you what you’re doing, moron. You’re choosing the wrong woman. Something tells me Regina is going to see to it that Marian isn’t around long. In fact she goes to pay Sydney a visit. I guess they can do that now that he’s not off killing Patriots in Texas.

Back in Arendelle, Elsa’s wedding gift is some magic-made jewelry and their mother’s wedding dress. The sisters banter a bit about Elsa walking down the aisle with Sven and Kristoff cutting his hair. Things turn somber when Elsa finds their mother’s diary with the information on their death. Aw, sad. I’m guessing Elsa and Anna are going to find their mother’s note and danger will follow. And I was right. Elsa’s hiding out because she found a passage in her mother’s diary about them leaving because her powers were too much and she was terrifying. But Anna won’t listen and thinks they can ask the rock trolls for help. They only get a little further in their search but at least they now know where their parents were heading. Elsa still isn’t thrilled that Anna wants to take off to see what she can find. Elsa finds out that Anna has gone off and Kristoff is being a dutiful future husband and lying for her. I have to say, the actors are doing a pretty good job of personifying the characters. And the reindeer was great. It turns out the land that Anna is bound for is the Enchanted Forest and she left Elsa and Kristoff home to look after one another.

Meanwhile, Rumple has his first chance to really say goodbye to Neal since Zelena was defeated. He give this beautiful speech about the first time he felt like a man capable of raising his son on his own. And how he ruined everything with magic and that he’s doing the same thing with Belle and the dagger. But he swears to fix things and spend the rest of his days living up to the heroism his son showed him. I definitely got very teary eyed by this bit. And then, he and Belle go on their honeymoon and share the iconic “Beauty and the Beast” dance and I got weepy then, too!

It wouldn’t be Storybrooke without a little insanity. Emma is kind of avoiding Hook (and it seems Regina is avoiding everyone) when Leroy comes running with news about the latest magic wielder. So naturally, Hook and Emma go investigating and Elsa creates a snow monster to protect her. I guess Olaf wouldn’t be that terrifying but it would damn hilarious to see Hook react. Emma and Hook try to reason with it but it only kicks their butts. They take off and eventually the monster heads towards the forest away from all the screaming townsfolk. Oh, and Elsa finds a photo of Rumple and Belle announcing their wedding. I guess they had time to print those up. Mr. Gold better be on the look-out. Elsa breaks into his shop and finds the necklace she made for Anna. It would seem that her sister crossed paths with the Dark One.

Down in her crypt, Regina explains to Sydney that she wants to get rid of Marian by going back in time and killing her before Emma can save her. So she makes Sydney into the Magic Mirror again so he can show her the moment she captured Marian. I really can’t imagine this is going to turn out well. I mean, look at how much Emma managed to mess up. And she wasn’t even trying. Anyway, Emma and the men folk chase the monster to Robin’s camp but it’s Regina who saves the day (including Marian). I guess maybe she changed her mind about killing her boyfriend’s wife? Actually, after a little pep talk from Emma (she promises to find a way to bring Regina’s happy ending to reality) Regina decides she’s going to find the writer of the story book and make them write her the happy ending she wants.

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