First off, it's important to note that Storybrooke seems to find ways to keep Emma there until she accomplishes something. This neat little game is heating up with Regina, the con-woman, refusing to lose.
Regina has the apple tree that she claims she's tended to since she was a little girl. Hmm...A little girl in Storybrooke or The Enchanted Forest? Regardless of which realm this tree is really in {or at all}, the stone cold person herself is need of some thawing out. Although The Evil Queen and Regina seem in control and all powerful, they also seem tortured by negative emotions they continue to feed.
The Evil Queen is EVIL! Hell- it's literally in her damn name! She is heartless. Her angry selfish power for revenge and jealousy and her fears was stronger and more consuming than the "love" for her father and the unconditional love he felt for her. But don't be fooled! We can't ignore the fact that the only thing The Queen-Regina truly loves is herself and the power she believes she possess. Should it have been her own heart that she cut out?
Even Maleficent seems to have some understanding of love and what deep emotional pain is; and what price one pays crossing the line and feeding into the emptiness of the darkness. She actually warns the Queen to halt with her new quest to destroy everyone with the dark curse.
We see that Rumpelstiltskin and Mr. Gold have a sense of knowing. Crafty Rumpelstiltskin was sure he worked in a loophole for himself when he gave Regina further instructions to enact the curse. Is Mr. Gold-Rumpelstiltskin the bridge between the two realms?
Mr. Gold is the person who "brought" Henry to Regina, so, Mr. Gold must be aware of Emma and that she plays a role in their rescue. Keep in mind Henry "brought" Emma there.
On to Henry- Is Henry a pawn in this crazy game, being brought in to aid Mr. Gold alone or is it for the greater good? Henry is a lost little boy too. You can see he gets excited when talking about the fairy tale world and his quest to break the curse and lead his friends back to their happy place. There is something I can't ignore, his words to Emma..."I knew you were here to help me."
All of the characters are indeed lost. They are stuck in redundancy as well as being kept under the thumb of Regina. They all have been walking around in haze, not aging, with screwed up memories and stuck in a cursed town that has kept them oblivious for decades. That is not the existence they want and they are confused. Even Archie seemed to not let his conscious be his guide when it came to Regina's plan to set up Emma. They don't realize they all have the power to start over.
Regina/Evil Queen is incapable of letting go of her darkness; with her many deep emotional scars and her insensible need to have power over people. She needs to learn how to love and feel love again. But at this point she may have a long road to travel to get there, although it seems that things may be in play to help her.
People are making deals and conning to gain advantage with things. I think it's awesome that Henry's own code phrase for his plan is Operation Cobra.
Although we are watching residents of the Enchanted Forest living life in 'our world', there are moments that bring me back to The Wizard of Oz, where it's Dorothy's friends and family of her real life that are presented as new versions/characters of themselves in her dream world. Of course in Dorothy's story her dream manifestations are there to help guide her back home.
Things to Note...Questions to Ask...
* Magic Mirror is a Looking Glass
* Dark/Black Smoke
* Sleep. Wake up
* Games
* Deals
* Staff
* Sidney/Sydney
* Code Name- Code
* Not aging
* Therapy. Shrink
* Transform. Transformation. Change
✔ Golden LOST Thread
Do I still see a golden LOST thread woven into the tapestry of this tale?...oh yes, indeed I do.
- Wheel
- 8:15
- 4
- Stuck people
- "Cobra"- Episode Expose
- Loophole
- Therapy. Shrink
- Sleep. Wake up
- Games
- Deals
- Staff- Medical Station
- Sydney
- John Locke spent time in Foster Homes
- Jack notes that Kate doesn't like to sit still
- Not aging- Richard Alpert
- Transform. Transformation. Change
- Hurley and Sayid have a brief conversation about Post Traumatic Stress
- In Because You Left Hurley says "I need a cool code-name"
- Michael throws the comic book into the fire in Special
- Shannon is one of the Castaway said the line "You have no idea what I'm capable of"
- Start over-Tabula Rasa
- The Forbidden Fortress reminds me of Castaways' going to The Dark Territory where the Black Rock sits in Exodus Part 1
- "There's a line"- is also mentioned by Mr. Friendly and Christian Shephard in The Hunting Party
Storybrooke
We begin with Henry looking out his window in the evening toward the library clock tower. He smiles as the big hand on the stuck time moves forward and then moves around the dial and stops on 7:53.
Sleeping Emma wakes up looking a bit confused for a moment; she gets up to look out her window.
7:55- Sheriff Graham drives by Archie walking his Dalmatian past the Marine Garage. Archie passes by suave Mr. Gold crossing the street.
Ruby/Red readies the diner by placing the sign out on the sidewalk, as Granny arrives carrying a sac of bread; the Sheriff enters the restaurant.
Henry seems pleased and hopeful.
Henry-"No you're not."
Regina wonders who is- "That woman you brought here?" She doesn't like what the book is doing to Henry.
The clock tower tolls; Regina seems stunned as Henry bolts out of the room.
Out on the street Regina sees the time at about 8:23/8:24. Archie stops and notices the clock and says to her "Hey, how 'bout that...I guess those rusty ol' innards are finally working themselves out."
Then Regina notices that Emma's car parked across the street.
Regina shows up at Emma's room bearing a basket full of Honeycrisp Tree (the most vigorous and hearty of all apple trees) apples. The tree can withstand temperatures as low as 40 below and keep growing; they can weather any storm. Regina has one that she's tended to since she was a little girl. She thinks Emma would enjoy them on her ride back home, but Emma admits she's staying for a while. This troubles Regina as she feels that Henry has enough issues and doesn't need Emma confusing him.
Emma informs her that the fact the Mayor has threatened her twice in the past twelve hours, makes her want to stay even more. Emma prides herself in being able to read between the lines. Emma just wants to make sure that Henry is OK. Regina feels Henry is getting taken care of; she has him in therapy.
Emma agrees to Regina's remark about only one of them knowing what's best for Henry. Regina tells stubborn Emma to go. Emma has no idea what Regina is capable of. This warning comes directly from the horse's mouth.
The Enchanted Forest
We're brought back to The Evil Queen grandstanding at Snow and the Prince's wedding; threatening to destroy their happiness, "If it is the last thing I do". The Prince throws the sword at her and she disappears into black smoke. The thrown sword cuts its way through the black smoke and exits the black smoke into the wall of the Evil Queen's dark room. It seems to be able to pierce through a magic veil from one place to another.
An old man enters her room and offers the Queen a drink; he was only trying to help and thought she may need it. Regina takes the glass and thanks him.
The old man- "Are you sure, your majesty?"
The Mirror- "But you said you'd never use it."
The old man- "You made a deal when you gave away that curse."
The Mirror- "You traded it away."
The old man- "She won't be happy to see you."
The Evil Queen- "Since when do I care about anyone else's happiness but mine."
She instructs the old man to prepare the carriage; she's going to the forbidden fortress.
The Evil Queen meets with Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty) in her grand castle, to discuss the dark curse. Both women share similarities in their stories and evilness; an evilness that was heightened when they both lost when another beautiful woman got the best of them.
Evil Queen- "Enough games. I want my curse back."
Maleficent feels a deals a deals. After all she traded her sleeping curse for it; which the evil Queen feels failed and was undone by a simple kiss. Maleficent explains that even the unholy power of the dark curse can't bring the Queen's loved one back from the dead. Maleficent instead suggests the comfort of getting a pet.
The Evil Queen feels the only comfort for her is Snow White's suffering.
Maleficent inquires as to who is the one who created such an evil curse, but The Queen isn't telling. The Two women fight over Maleficent's staff that contains the curse in its orb. The Queen traps Maleficent but won't kill her, as she feels she's her only friend.
The Evil Queen, feeling that love is weakness, wins the curse back, but not without some moral words of wisdom from Maleficent-
"Don't do this. This curse...there are lines that even we shouldn't cross. All power comes with a price. Enacting it will take a terrible tole. It will leave an emptiness inside you. A void you will never be able to fill."
But alas The Evil Queen is fine with that.
In the forest The Evil Queen gathers around her other evil friends (old blind witch, Gnome, Ogre, etc.) to put an end to their misery and constant state of losing. "Today we claim victory and move to a new better realm. A place where we can finally win." The old blind woman asks "And we'll be happy?" The Queen guarantees it. Her fellow band of evil-doers don't necessarily seem all that interested in taking part in the spell-casting and are trapped by the cage the Queen creates using the vines and limbs of the trees, forcing them to take part in it. She retrieves locks of their hair (the ones with the darkest souls) and the prized heart of her childhood steed. The heart is presented to her in a fancy wooden box. The Queen feels his passing will fuel their victory.
The Queen proclaims- "Let my wrath be unleashed" as she throws the heart into the fire. But after some whipped up smoke and wind, nothing happens. The Gnome laughs and mocks this, so The Queen turns him into stone.
Storybrooke
"The mirror strikes again!" Proud newspaper man Sidney feels it's his best hatchet job yet. But that's not what Regina asked for.
Sidney shares what he learned about Emma- "Truth be told, there wasn't much." She spent a lot of time in foster homes, got into some trouble as a kid but the details are locked up pretty tight. But since then, she's clean. Bounced around all over. The only thing he really learned is that she doesn't really like to sit still. Regina notes that fact appears to have changed. Sidney also shares that Emma had Henry when she was in Phoenix and wonders how he ended up here in Maine. Since Regina feels Sidney found nothing of value therefore he holds no value. She warns that things that hold no value to her get thrown away. Intimidated Sidney will keep looking.
On their walk to school, 10 year old backpacking Henry fills Emma in on his plan to break the curse. When Emma asks him about the deal with him and his mother her, Henry reveals "It's not about us. It's about her curse."
"Step 1. Identification. I call it operation Cobra."
He picked that name because it has nothing to do with fairy tales and it's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail. He explains that the residents of Storybrooke are cursed fairy tale characters and are frozen in time-until Emma got there; they don't know their fairy tale characters or their past. As they walk by the clock shop Emma is about to bite into the red apple she got from Regina when Henry stops her.
So, for decades people have been walking around in haze, not aging, with screwed up memories and stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious. Henry's happy that Emma "gets it".
Emma is the only one who can stop her curse because she is Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter.
As they approach the school, happy Henry knew that Emma would believe him- otherwise why else would she be there. He'll find her later and they can get started.
Mary tells Emma she's happy to see Henry's smile back and feels it's because Emma stayed. Emma also learns more about the Mayor's deal. She's not a great people person and she's been mayor for as long as Mary can remember. No one is brave enough to run against her as she inspires quite a bit of fear. Mary also fears she may have made that worse by giving Henry that book, "Now he thinks she's the evil queen." Mary reveals that Henry thinks she is Snow White and asks Emma "Who does he think you are?"
Stunned Emma- "I'm not in the book. Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned the kid's in therapy. Do you know where I can find the doctor?"
Emma visits Archie the therapist at his office. {Statues of heads} He shares that he was just reading about her and guesses she's there for a little help with her Post Traumatic Stress; by the way his diagnosis was free. Emma inquires about Henry's fairy tale obsession and what's causing it. Archie advises not to talk about things like being "crazy" to Henry. "The word crazy is quite damaging." These stories are his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating as best he can this is how he communicates. He's using this book to help deal with his problems." But it is revealed that Henry has been seeing Archie longer than the month he's had the book. Emma feels the issue must be Regina. Archie feels Regina is a complicated woman whose attempts to bring Henry closer to her only backfire. He gives Regina the file "See what I mean". He's doing that because Henry talks about Emma a lot and is very important to him. "See that I get it back. OK?"
He also advises Emma to be careful how she handles Henry's belief system. "Destroying his imagination would be devastating."
Archie calls Regina the moment Emma leaves with the file, confirming she was there. Regina knew Emma would go to Archie because it is Regina who gave her the idea. {Hmm. She's a con!}
Sheriff Graham shows up at "alone" Emma's room and interrupts her reading of Henry's file. He shares that Archie said Emma stole the files; evidently Archie's telling a different tale. Accommodating Emma gives Graham the files. He arrests Miss Swan again; although she knows she's being set up.
Regina interrupts Mary's outdoor classroom lessons. {Water synthesized} She wants to speak to her son. Regina breaks the bad news to Henry.
"The woman that you brought here...she's been arrested. She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole his files. She's a con-woman. She's trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. That's why she's sticking around. I'm sorry."
Henry knows she's not sorry, yet Regina claims to be protecting him and that all this will be good for them. Henry just heads back to class when the bell rings.
Emma- "You know the shrink is lying, right?" She feels the Mayor put him up to this. She thinks the Mayor must have something on him as he must be afraid of her, like everyone else in this town. Graham feels although Regina maybe a touch intimidating that she wouldn't go as far as a frame job. But she is the Mayor, so she has her hands in everything.
Emma wonders "Including the police force?"
Just then happy Henry enters with Mary. Henry sees the current event as a genius move by Emma. "You were gathering Intel...for Operation Cobra."
Confused Graham says "I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost."
Henry informs the sheriff that all he needs to know is that Miss Blanchard is going to bail her/Emma out. Mary will bail her out because "I uh, trust you."
Emma- "Well. If you could un-cuff me, I have something to do."
Emma cuts down a huge tree limb from Regina's prized apple tree with a chainsaw. Regina thinks Emma's out of her mind. Emma warns her that if she comes after her one more time she's coming back for the rest of that tree, "Because sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of...Your move."
In the Dark Forest
The old man tells the Queen "Maybe it's for the best. The forces you're summoning are darker than can conceive."
The Queen- "Oh now you're trying to protect me?"
The old man- "It's what I do."
The Queen knows this and feels he's the only one who does. The loyal old man feels helping her is his life. He advises the angry and desperate Queen to go back to the one who gave her the spell in the first place, to find out why it didn't work. He also warns her that "Revenge is a dark and lonely road, once you go down it...there's no heading back."
"What is there for me to head back to?" asks the Queen.
A gray mouse is eating a red apple while other mice scurry around the dark cell that houses Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin assures her they're alone and she can show herself. The gray mouse transforms from the mouse into black smoke and then the Queen. The Queen tells him about the curse he gave her not working.
Rumpelstiltskin shares with the worried Queen, that worried and anxious Snow and the Prince already paid him a visit about the Queen's impending new curse. He told them the truth "That nothing can stop the darkness! Except of course their unborn child. You see...no matter how powerful- all curses can be broken! Their child is the key. Of course the curse must be enacted first"
Of course he will help her with the curse- for a price. The Queen will grant him comfort and a good life in the new land.
He adds, "In this new land...should I come to you for any reason- you must heed my every request. You must do whatever I say. So long as I say...'Please'. Ha."
The Queen reminds him that if she succeeds with the spell he won't remember any of this.
Rumpelstiltskin feels "Oh well then...what's the harm?" The Queen happily agrees to the deal and gets further instructions from him to enact the curse to end all curses. She needs to sacrifice a heart. She informs him she already sacrificed her prized steed. He grabs her by the throat to indicate the importance of getting his point across.
"Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need...must come from something...far more... precious!" She needs to sacrifice the heart of thing she loves most.
The Queen- "What I love most died because of Snow White."
Rumpelstiltskin- "Is there no one else you truly love? This curse isn't gonna be easy. Vengeance never is, Dearie. You have to ask yourself a simple question...How far are you willing to go."
The Queen will go as far as it takes. Rumpelstiltskin tells her to stop wasting time; she knows what she loves, so go kill it.
Back at room 4
Granny informs Miss Swan that she wants her to leave, as they have a no felon's rule; it's a city ordinance. Emma surmised the Mayor's office called Granny to remind her of this rule. Granny takes Emma's room key back.
The sheriff approaches Regina as she picks up the fallen apples. She demands he arrest Emma again, for destroying city property. The sheriff doesn't think that's the right plan. He's not talking about the tree and admits they both know Emma didn't steal the files. He also feels she was set up which would mean Dr. Hopper was also lying. Regina thinks his schoolboy crush is clouding his judgment. After all, she made him sheriff and she can take it away just as easily. Regina believes this is what's best for her son. The sheriff can make the arrest again, but knows this will be a constant back and forth between the two women. He fears that if this escalates the only person who will get hurt is Henry.
In Regina's light and dark tree lined wallpapered office, Regina apologizes to Miss Swan. She thinks Emma's there to take Henry away from her. Emma makes it clear she's not there to take him away from anyone. She's not the mother type. But she's there because he got in her head and she wants to make sure he's OK. She confesses she's worried about him being troubled and about his connecting people in the town to fairy tale characters. "The poor kid can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It's only getting worse. It's crazy."
Henry overhears her. "You think I'm crazy?" The hurt boy runs off. Regina knew Henry would be there (at 5 pm) and be able to overhear their conversation.
Regina- "Your move."
Emma accuses her of having no soul and asks how she got like that.
The Evil Queen's Castle
The Evil Queen marches down the hall with the mirror following her moves to ask her what happened. "Did you get your answer?"
She storms into the room where the old man is lighting candles. She shares that Rumpelstiltskin told her what she needed to know and now she's conflicted.
"I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most."
The old man answers "Me."
The conflicted Queen says "Daddy, I don't know what to do."
Her father tells her she doesn't have to do this and to move past this. "I know this may sound self serving- you don't need to enact the curse."
The Queen feels she can't keep living like this. "What Snow did to me, what she took from me...It's eating me alive, Daddy. Her very existence mocks me. She must be punished."
Daddy- "If the price is a hole that can never be filled, why do it? Stop worrying about Snow White and start over. We can have a new life."
All the Queen finds important is that all the power she's built up will be gone; and they already think she's nothing. Daddy feels power is seductive, but so is love. "You can have that again."
The Queen cries in her father's embrace and claims "I just want to be happy". Daddy is sure she can be. He believes that given the chance they can find happiness together, but the choice is hers. The Queen thinks she can be happy- just not here. She plunges the dagger into her father, "I'm sorry."
In Storybrooke
Emma arrives at Mary Margaret's humble apartment to thank her and payback the bail money. Mary Margaret notices troubled Emma may need to talk. They chat over hot cocoa with cinnamon. Mary Margaret feels that she's met Emma before. Emma tells her she's leaving; feeling that is the best for Henry. But Mary Margaret wonders "What happens if you go? I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won't?"
Henry sits in session with Archie, but apparently doesn't want to talk about it. Archie tells Henry the umbrella is his good luck charm. He asks Henry "Is that why you think I'm Jiminy Crickett?"
Sad Henry says "I don't think you're anyone."
Emma enters and Archie tries to explain Regina's earlier plan. Emma doesn't care, she just wants Henry to understand she's there to get to know him. She thinks the curse is crazy, (not Henry), but that doesn't mean it isn't true. "It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in. But there are a lot of crazy things in this world..." She told Regina what she needed to hear. What Emma does know- if the curse is real the only way to break it is to trick the Evil Queen into believing that they are nonbelievers. That way she's not on to them. "Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about? Throwing her off the trail?" This perks Henry up and again feels she's brilliant. Emma's read the dangerous pages and throws them into the fire. Now they have the advantage. Relieved Henry hugs Emma, "I knew you were here to help me."
The Evil Queen stands at the raging bon-fire as she readies to complete the curse to end all curses. Not present at this ceremony is her circle of fellow evil-doers and their locks of hair. She's flying solo at this one. She throws the heart into the fire and unleashes a giant column of black smoke, thunder and lightning. It looks very much like a violent twister.
The Queen places a {black} rose on the grave and says "I love you, Daddy."
Mr. Gold pays a visit to Regina and notes the mess around. Regina is in high spirits because she's just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance. Mr. Gold breaks her bubble revealing that he just saw Henry and Emma on Main Street looking thick as thieves. He feels Regina should have gone to him "Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix. I'm only too happy to help-for a price, of course." Regina isn't in the business of making deals with him anymore.
Mr. Gold- "To which deal are you referring?"
Regina- "You know what deal."
Evidently Mr. Gold procured the boy for Regina. He thinks the name Henry is a lovely name and asks her however did she pick it?
Suspicious Regina asks him if he wanted Emma to come to town. "You wanted all this to happen, didn't you. You finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?"
She wants to know "Where did you get him?" Regina thinks he's involved in the current events but Mr. Gold fluffs it off.
Regina- "Who is this woman, his mother, this Emma Swan?"
Mr. Gold- "I would say you think you know exactly who she is."
He's not at all intimidated by Regina and gets her to excuse him by saying "Please". As he walks away he takes a bite of her apple and tosses it to the ground.
Cat Stevens song-
Don't be shy just let your feelings roll on by
Don't wear fear or nobody will know you're there
Just lift your head, and let your feelings out instead
And don't be shy, just let your feeling roll on by
On by
You know love is better than a song
Love is where all of us belong
So don't be shy just let your feelings roll on by
Don't wear fear or nobody will know you're there
You're there
Don't be shy just let your feelings roll on by
Don't wear fear or nobody will know you're there
Just lift your head, and let your feelings out instead
And don't be shy, just let your feeling roll on by
On by, on by, etc.
