Shed Some Light on It
Conscience is known as the "voice within" you, but is also known as the "inner light". We all have both, yet most of us become puppets on strings and just go through the redundant motions of life without really learning how to live in our own "happy place". We are products of our upbringing, environment and circumstances, and sometimes one can lose their clear decision making skills between what is right and wrong, or just lose ourselves while not wanting to disappoint others and their expectations of you. And although we adapt to surviving with some of those learned behaviors or habits there is still someone and something else deep inside of us that desires to be free. We all want to be free to be who we really want to be.
It is true we should always let our conscience be our guide, to find our true north, but sadly somewhere along our lives some lose touch and drown out their own small voice.
Everything's Going to Change
Emma's presence in Storybrooke is changing things; she's weakening the curse. We seem to be witnessing the transformation of Emma and the residents of Storybrooke.
As life goes on many people lock up things, feeling and emotions or bury them deep down inside, causing them to lose their happy place. But at some point one desires to get back to where they know they are supposed to be. They can get so lost that they wonder "How did I get to 'this place'?" and desperately try to remember their happy place. One must slay the fearsome dragon or monster or try turning the wheel- each of these types of actions lead to progress and eventual victory.
People end up wearing a mask. Jiminy knows he's an honest man, but alas is an inadvertent victim of his loyalty to his unmoral parents. Even though he was adamant about going down into the mine with Henry, it is the challenge he faces with Henry in the mine that enables him to realize the thing he is missing and where his issue and insecurity may stem from. He isn't the man he wants to be, but now remembers and realizes he does indeed have the power to become the man he knows he should and can be.
Jiminy/Archie are inching their way to being free. But this may not have happened without the help of little Henry.
Real- Not Real
A few times during this episode we're given a hint to people wondering the "realness" of where they are in their lives. Everyone feels Henry is delusional, yet in a way...they all are.
At this moment David/Prince Charming likes the unreal environment better than reality. That is true escapism! Is this really a world constructed by Henry's imagination or by someone else? Something feels familiar to me here with wondering what is real and what isn't.
I asked the following question while watching LOST over the years... Are these people in some sort of therapy/rehabilitation situation?
Things Don't Stay Buried For Long
Pave over the mine to cover it up, never to reveal what may be deep down inside. To LOST fans- This reminds me when Sayid and Jack explore under the Swan station in Everybody Hates Hugo and when Locke says it to Paulo in Expose.
Archie has to uncover the person he wants to be. Regina is hiding something that she has hidden away; Buried deep underground- Snow White's glass coffin.
We know the residents have forgotten- but who among them is remembering?
Things to note...Questions to ask...
- Jiminy Cricket is the Walt Disney version of "The Talking Cricket"- a fictional character created by Carlo Collodi for his children's book Pinocchio
- Crickets are not grasshoppers. Crickets are nocturnal, cold blooded and only male crickets chirp. Both crickets and grasshoppers have antenna
- Who is Graham? The Big Bad Wolf? The Queen's Huntsmen? The damn Sheriff of Nottingham? Who?!
- There are children living in stuck Storybrooke
- They have rotary phones in Storybrooke
- The Sheriff badge illustrates a tree in the center of the star
- Jiminy's con artist parents conned him and pulled the ol' switch-a-roo- Some parents, huh?!
- The parents claim to be "helping" their child
- Plague could require quarantine
- In Storybrooke it is Regina who suggests the idea of being a tiny shrunken little creature (to Archie) - Yet in The Enchanted Forest it's a spell brought by Rumpelstiltskin and Martin and Myrna.
- I feel that the LOST quote/line "Whatever you think I am, I'm not" fits very well with this episode.
- Wake up
- Test
- Wheel
- Puppets/Marionettes
- Game
- Down/Below. Dig deep
- Cobra {Which is mentioned in LOST- Expose}
- They sure do love their sweets in Storybrooke!
- I see some affinity for imbibing in this story as well
- Rumpelstiltskin seems to holding/collecting the "treasures" of the residents; maybe the items that can trigger memory
Again I'll state that this beautiful fairy tale mash-up stands completely on its own and I am absorbed into this world created by the gifted writers, yet I can't help but feel it is a relative of LOST.
I feel as if we're waking up in this adventurous heartfelt journey in the "strange land" fairy tale environment/universe instead of the "Island" Adventure, Excavation Ruins, Australian Walkabout, Polar Adventures, or Swimming with the Sharks. Would I be surprised if an Oceanic or even an Ajira Airlines advertisement popped up in an episode indicating we can take an adventure in The Enchanted Forest/Storybrooke? No, I would not be.
Even if ONCE is not a direct relative of LOST, the story is indicating that everything in the universe is connected- and that's an important point in of itself.
Addition to some things mentioned above:
★ Apollo bars were shown three times. That is not an easter egg- that is a connection that is put right out there for you to pay attention to. If you're a long time reader of my Karen's LOST Notebook you know my idea on what role the Apollo Bar may have; it may act as an aid to keep it's consumer in an altered state of consciousness or a dream state. So ask yourself if the "things" we see in ONCE are coincidence or FATE.
★ I expected to see Charlie's hand come out of the ground like in The Moth or Desmond to be looking up to the top of the hatch/air shaft.
★ The mine shaft gives us connections to the Hatch/Hatches/DHARMA Stations and also reminds me of the drilling going on at the Swan site and blowing up a bomb there.
★ Vincent-like looking dog, Ajax
★ Plague- Infection- Quarantine
★ "What's done is done" - "Whatever happened, happened"
★ Magic-Tricks-Illusion-Delusion-Fantasy- Imagination
★ Down/Below. Dig deep
★ Wheel
★ Game
★ Puppets/Marionettes- We get this hint in connection with The DHARMA Initiative in Mysteries of the Universe
★ Remember- Hurley and Ben shared an Apollo Bar in Cabin Fever.
**All photos posted here are chosen for a reason.**
Enough of my rambling...Here is your episode recap! Enjoy!
"Who dares disturb my sleep?!" says the fearsome dragon marionette. {Voiced by Mother Myrna}
The Prince- "He went that way" and points to his left.
The Dragon- "...I'll go that way!" he points to his right.
Mother- "You're free."
Martin- "To do what we want."
Mother-"To be who you are."
Father-"And you are who you are."
Jiminy- "Well maybe I wanna be something else. Maybe I don't wanna steal. Maybe I wanna be good"
He got all that from a cricket.
Father feels "Good is another word for weak"
Mother- "Let us do the thinking for you"
Father- "That's what parents are for."
Mother- "To help you."
Father- "You are who you are and there's no changing it, Jiminy."
Jiminy reluctantly agrees with his father. Father makes the cricket disappear with his slide of hand magic. "Problem solved."
In Storybrooke
Archie is writing in a book in his office. Henry's been looking at Archie and says "You weren't always a cricket" Archie asks why Henry thinks that. Henry feels it is who he is. {I love the glass half full-empty on the table}
Archie-"And who am I?"
Henry informs him he's a conscience "You help people see right from wrong." Archie wonders if all the crickets in Storybrooke were once people too. Henry goes to the window to listen and prove to Archie there are no crickets; as there are no crickets chirping. Archie thinks it's because it isn't light enough. {Crickets chirp at dusk/night}
Henry thinks that is helping his case about there being a curse; but he's looking for more. Archie revisits a question he's asked Henry previously, "Why do you think it's so important that this is real?"
Henry- "It...it's just is."
Archie tells him to keep on thinking about that answer because he thinks there's something buried there.
The town people gather round a crater in the ground. Apparently an old mine has opened up. The Mayor arrives demanding a perimeter be set up as she informs Miss Swan that this is official town business and she is free to go. The sheriff reveals that Miss Swan is his new deputy; it's in his budget.
Regina- "They say the Mayor's always the last to know." {Really?! I never heard that before.} Regina wants the deputy to make herself useful with crowd control.
Regina makes a statement to the crowd- "People of Storybrooke don't be alarmed. We've always known this area is honeycombed with old mining tunnels. But fear not- I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe, to rehabilitate it. We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it..."
Henry emerges from the crowd, "Pave it?! What if there's something down there?" Henry whispers to her "What's down there?"
Regina pulls him to the side informing him this is a safety issue and has him wait in the car. Emma and Graham are instructed to cordon off the area.
Henry covertly calls over Archie and Emma behind the black and white sheriff car. "This requires all of Operation Cobra- Both of you." Archie didn't realize he was in Operation Cobra.
Henry- "Of course you are, you know everything. We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there?" He feels the tunnels collapsing right after Emma got there isn't a coincidence. "You're changing things. You're weakening the curse." He believes this to be true and asks her if she did anything different today; something made this happen. Emma touches her badge. Agitated Regina sends Henry back to the car, Emma to do her job and chats with Dr. Hopper. She wants a new treatment plan for Henry; everything she does Henry thinks is part of some horrible plot. "I can't cover up a safety hazard without him thinking I'm hiding something. How am I hiding something terrible in an old mine?! How is any of this logical to him?!"
Archie- "He's got an amazing imagination."
Regina- "Yes! That you let run ramped!"
Archie- "Why- I think would be wrong to rip away the world he's constructed- or rather use it to try..."
Regina- "Sometimes I think you've forgotten! You work for me! You're an employee... and I can fire you. This is my town. You will lose your office, lose your house- I can cut you down to size until you're a tiny shrunken little creature- and this (his umbrella) will be the only roof over your damn head!"
Archie- "What would you have me do?"
Regina- "You take that delusion out of my son's head and you crush it."
Regina storms off and Archie is left to think about things.
The Enchanted Forest
Grown Jiminy and his parents arrive in a village to set up for the fair. Jiminy seems happy that the sun is coming out from behind the clouds.
Myrna remembers this place, "Looks like it's been a good year." Martin says you can tell that by all the fat people. Myrna whispers to Martin that they really need to run the Elf Tonic Scam. Tired of their shenanigans Archie asks "Can't we just put on the show? We make enough money from the ticket sales. Do we have to steal too?"
Martin feels they don't have too, but it's nice. As he make a coin appear and disappear he says "We steal from them and they steal from someone else. It's called an economy. Jiminy wants to quit! His parents manipulate him into staying with them until they die; using the excuse that they're getting old.
Martin-"Be a good boy and set up." Thunder rolls overhead and unenthusiastic Jiminy gets to work.
Obedient Jiminy continues the set up for the show in the rain. A young boy is impressed by Jiminy's puppet job; although Jiminy is not because it's the same redundant show, same fairs, every year.
The clever boy asks "Then why don't you do something else?"
Caged Jiminy replies- "This is just who I am."
The boy didn't come out there to watch them set up, he's there to listen to the crickets. Jiminy admits to not listening to the crickets for a while.
Compassionate Jiminy suggests the boy go home as to not catch a cold, but the kind hearted young boy gives Jiminy his umbrella to protect him from the rain; as he doesn't live far. The happy boy can't wait to see the show.
In Storybrooke
Archie sits in thought in his office. Marco/Geppetto enters to meet Archie as they had a lunch date; which Archie forgot. He's got another patient so they'll do lunch another time. Henry arrives for his session. Henry wonders if Archie is recruiting Marco/Geppetto for Operation Cobra. After all Geppetto is Jiminy Cricket's best friend and Marco is Archies'.
Henry tells Archie he knows where he can get proof. In Henry's backpack: flashlight and candy bars. But not just any candy bar...they're Apollo Bars.
This upsets Henry and he leaves without a word. Archie is left teary eyed.
Mary assures him "It'll come back. They're sending you home in a week, they have to think you're progressing, don't they?" He feels he is progressing physically.
Mary- "Well, you're making new memories just fine."
David- "Maybe I'll like these better." They share a moment. Mary asks if he wants to play again.
Just then Mrs. Nolan enters bearing a box of old photos she hopes will jog his memory. Since it's noon, Mary excuses herself. David watches Mary leave.
Mrs. Nolan presents David with a photo of their old dog Ajax {hmm...gotta clean up a mess with Ajax? lol} She asks if he remembers and he says "Yeah...Ajax" Mary is listening from outside the room.
Archie is having a stiff drink in his office. Pongo is by his side. The pounding on the door is Emma. She barges in "What did you do?! You told me not to take the fantasy away from him. You told me it would devastate him!" He feels if the therapy stops working you just adjust it. Emma assumes this has something to do with a threat from Regina. "What can be strong enough to drown out your own conscience?!" He feels he doesn't need to defend his professional decisions to her. On cue Emma's phone rings; it's Regina. Regina asks if Emma's with Henry, not Dr. Hopper- Emma tells her she left her fingerprints all over him.... But it's not Dr. Hopper she's looking for, it's Henry. Emma dropped Henry at Regina's office an hour ago. Well, he's not at Regina's black and white office.
Archie knows where he is.
Determined Henry crosses the yellow taped Sheriff's Line Do No Cross into the mine.
Rumpelstiltskin cuts a section of gold thread and gives it to Jiminy for his thievery and dismisses him... but the all knowing imp knows Jiminy wants something else. He swirls a gold thread into a silver bowl and pours a liquid over it which transforms it. He knows Jiminy wants something with magic. Jiminy confesses his years stuck in the damn wagon and that he wants to be free. "I want to be somebody else. Something keeps holding me back."
Rumpelstiltskin- "Some 'thing' or someone?" The transformed potion is now transformed into a bottle with the potion.
Jiminy-"It's my parents."
Rumpelstiltskin has exactly what he needs. He insists that potion will set him free. Of course he also knows Jiminy has nothing more to give to him. He decides his fee will be: all Jiminy has to do is let the magic do its work and he'll go and collect them. Jiminy wonders what will become of them.
Rumpelstiltskin assures him not to worry, "They'll be in safe hands. And you'll be free." Jiminy takes the tiny bottle with him.
In the mine, Henry uses his flashlight to look around. {There's a track} He discovers a piece of glass.
Archie is trapped inside!
The Enchanted Forest
Jiminy and his parents approach the house of their next con. Jiminy pleads with them to skip it tonight as they don't need the money. Mother and father feel it's not about the money, it's about the principle and a commitment to excellence. {Uh, wait...they have no principles!} Dad presents a tiny bottle to enhance the impending con, "Now go ahead and take the Elf Tonic, Jiminy."
They knock on the door and the con begins...
Jiminy says to the young couple "Pardon me. Do you have a place at your hearth for an honest man and his...elderly parents?"
Of course the kind hearted couple invites them in. Myrna and Martin make no secret they envy the couples belonging. The couple is drawn in to the story created by the con-family about a "plague" that they are immune from. They just so happen to have a Elf Tonic in a tiny bottle that will save them from dying. The generous couple is willing to pay/trade for the tonic. Myrna and Martin take the grateful couple for just about all of their belongings as Jiminy gives them the tiny bottle of tonic.
Outside Jiminy is upset at what they did to those good people. Mom and Dad feel it's better to be the kind of people that "take" instead of those who get taken from. Jiminy takes his little potion bottle out and apologizes to his parents for leaving him no other choice- he throws the contents of the bottle on them. Nothing happens!
Myrna- "How frail do you think we are son?"
Dad's great at slide of hand- he changed the bottles around; theirs is filled with rainwater. Jiminy realizes if this is the Elf Tonic then the couple has the "other bottle". Jiminy runs back into the house to discover the good people have now been turned into...
A little boy enters looking for his mama and papa, "Who are you?" and sees what has happened. This is the kind little boy who gave Jiminy the umbrella. He turns right to Jiminy and asks "What did you do to them?!"
Storybrooke
Archie and his umbrella continue his search for Henry in the dark mine. He comes upon Henry, whom is looking through a small open at something shiny.
Archie- "You gotta slow down!"
Archie is visibly frightened for Henry's safety. Henry is focused on the distant shiny object, he asks "Because you think I'm crazy?"
Archie- "No! No. Because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Henry. And there is no way out."
Above ground Pongo is barking (while being held on the leash by Ruby). Marco knows smart Archie will keep the boy safe until they get to them.
The ground rumbles and shakes again. Regina yells "Stop! Stop! You're making it worse!"
Emma claims she's trying to make it better. She goes on to tell Regina Henry went in there because Regina made him feel like he had something to prove. Regina wants to know who's encouraging him with this task; implying Emma.
Regina-"Oh please! Lecture me until his oxygen runs out!"
As they walk the inside of the mine Archie hears Pongo's barking so they follow the noise.
Above ground Emma tells Regina they need to stop the arguing; it won't accomplishing anything. Regina agrees.
Emma-"What do you want me to do?"
Regina-"Help me."
Archie follows the noise and discovers an old elevator.
Emotional Regina tells Emma they need to find a way to punch through the ground; something big like...
Marco-"Explosives." {Call John Locke- he seems to always find some. lol}
In the mine- Archie and Henry decide to give the ol' elevator the workers used to get to the top, a shot.
Above ground the explosives are ready to go.
In the mine- Archie and Henry work hard together to turn the wheel and get it lifted off the ground.
Above ground Regina and the rest see the explosives didn't work; it didn't open.
Graham asks "Then what did it do?"
David runs into Mary Margaret in the hospital rec-room. She's on her way home. David isn't resting; as a matter of fact Dr. Whale wants him to start physical therapy. "I'm supposed to walk 30 minutes a day on a treadmill or outside with an escort. But they're kind a short on personal 'cause of that thing that happened at the mine." So, volunteer Mary Margaret is willing to help.
Outside of the hospital door {which looks very, very Enchanted Forest-like}
David- "I'm trying to remember this place. It's like...It's like I woke up in some strange land."
Mary- "Is there anything coming back?" Nope. Nothing. Even when David was with Katherine he lied about remembering the dog, Ajax. The Mrs. is just so loving and he didn't want to disappoint her.
David- "But none of it feels right. You know, a dog named Ajax. Who'd name a dog that? None of it make sense. None of it...none of it feels real." Mary feels that sounds lonely. David knows it's crazy but the only thing that feels real and right in this whole place to David is Mary. As they connect Katherine appears; even though it's outside of visiting hours. She needed to see him; she made him some cranberry muffins. "They used to be your favorite."
As Mary excuses herself James makes sure he'll see her tomorrow.
Above ground Regina is freaking out. Marco suggests that if they knew where they were they could drill down to them. Pongo gets Emma's attention and she lets him out of the fire truck to track Archie. Pongo finds a hatch...uh, I mean air shaft. This is where they must be.
Archie feels he said those things because he's not a very good person. "I'm not the man I wanna be." The elevator shakes!
Above ground Emma directs the removal of the grate. They look down into the grate and Regina asks "So. What's next?"
Archie explains that Jiminy was a cricket and a conscience and he hardly thinks that's him.
Henry- "But before that he was a guy who took a long time to figure out... the right thing to do. (Archie thinks it sounds like him) Now it's harder for you... because of the curse...To hear the voice inside of you- to be...who you wanna be."
The elevator shakes! Archie's wheels are turning.
Marco tells the little group they need to lower someone straight down. Graham and Regina step up, but it's Emma who is more fit to do this task.
Regina- "He's my son."
Emma- "He's my son too. You've been sitting behind a desk for 10 years-I can do this."
Teary Regina inches closer to Emma, looks deep into her eyes and begs Emma to bring him to her.
Henry thought he could find proof...but feels he didn't find anything. Archie tells him that's not true. They share the Apollo Bar. {Remember Hurley and Ben did this in Cabin Fever.}
"I was lost and you found me." Henry gets excited hoping Archie "remembers", but he doesn't. He does however remember the kind of person he wants to be "...I just gotta listen harder." Rubble rains down and they see something in the light above. Archie knows it's rescue; it's Emma.
Emma makes her way on the line down into the air shaft and rescues Henry. The rickety elevator crashes down with Archie still inside- leaving Archie to have to save himself! Miraculously he used his umbrella to catch hold of the harness hook while the elevator fell down around him.
Relieved Regina rips Henry away from Regina. Archie and Marco hug. When Emma goes to Henry to see if he's OK, Regina pushes her away and tells her to clear the crowd.
Grateful Regina thanks Dr. Hopper, but he has something to say to her. "I'm gonna continue to treat Henry...and I'm gonna do it my way."
Regina tells the Dr. that her relief at Henry's safety hasn't changed a thing. "You will do as I say or you will be..."
Archie- "Or what? You'll ruin my life? You'll do your worst? Because I will always do my best."
Regina- "Don't test me."
Archie doesn't need to because he knows she will now leave him alone to do his work in peace, "Because someday, Madam Mayor, you may find yourself in a custody battle. And you know how the court determines who is a fit parent? They consult an expert...Particularly one who has treated the child. So- I suggest that you think about that...and you allow me to do my work. And let me do it the way my conscience tells me to."
Regina is left standing there.
In The Enchanted Forest
Just then the Blue Fairy appears. "I hear your wish. You don't need to wish it so loudly. But it is not possible. I cannot bring back the boy's parents."
Jiminy feels it's his fault and he has to make it right and would trade his life to make it happen.
Blue Fairy- "What's done is done. There may be another way." She explains the little boy will grow up to face may challenges, "Do you want to help him?"
Jiminy feels "I can't get away from these people. They're my parents...they're who I am."
Blue Fairy- "But if you didn't want to be that...what would you like to be?"
Jiminy thinks about it and without saying a word the Blue Fairy tells him "I hear your wish". And with her magic wand she turns Jiminy into a chirping cricket.
He feels FREE!
Blue Fairy- "His name is Geppetto."
In Storybrooke
At the mine Henry and Emma watch as Archie tells his Marco about his adventurous day. Emma wonders if that's Archie's father; Henry tells her they're just old friends.
Emma takes Henry's hand "You really scared me." Henry's sorry.
Henry tells his friends to listen...Archie hears the crickets!
Henry- "They're back. Things are changing." {Have a Cluckity Cluck Cluck Day!}
We see the two puppet people in Mr. Gold's shop as he exits. Not for nothing- but he kind of looks perturbed.
Mary Margaret leaves an envelope containing her letter of resignation in a mail cubby- from volunteering at Storybrooke General Hospital.
The gang is still at the mine site drinking in celebration. Regina takes the glass piece she found earlier and throws it back down into the air shaft- where it lands on Snow White's Enchanted Forest glass coffin.
Your reviews are very insightful and informative!
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