After last weeks brilliant pilot, episode two had some big shoes to fill...and it didn't disappoint.
We open where we left off last week, with Henry watching the clock start to move again.
I really loved the opening sequence, with the townsfolk going about their morning (and noticing the the clock is once again ticking) while Cat Steven's plays 'Don't Be Shy'.
We then see Regina flipping through the pages of Henry's story book. This, and the look on her face, lead me to believe that maybe she DOESN'T remember being the evil queen!
She discovers the last few pages are missing and confronts Henry about it, who brushes her off.
Regina then heads over to Emma's room at the B&B with a peace offering...a basket of juicy red apples (HA!).
She then proceeds to threaten Emma again and we flash to the fairy tale world.
The Evil Queen is in her castle just after her trip to Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding.
We get our first glimpse of the Magic Mirror. The effects here are great, but I really disliked what they did to his voice. He sounds so tinny...like he's talking through a really bad phone connection.
The Queen tells the Mirror and her henchman about the curse she plans to use and they try to talk her out of it.
Of course, that doesn't work so Queenie heads over to Maleficent's to get her curse back.
Maleficent is played by the awesome Kristin Bauer (Pam from True Blood)
In a VERY cool scene, the two witches battle it out, with the Evil Queen winning and taking the curse.
The Evil Queen gathers the Evil League of Evil together and convinces them to help with the curse. This was another great scene. The witch with her eyes sewn shut was especially creepy.
The Evil Queen's attempt at the curse fails and when an evil little gnome laughs at her, she turns him to stone....Which we then see in Regina's garden is Storybrooke.
The editor of the local newspaper, Storybrooke Daily Mirror (can you guess who he was in fairy tale land?) shows up as Regina is picking some apples in her garden and she threatens him. She REALLY likes to threaten people.
Meanwhile, Henry meets up with Emma and she walks him to school. Henry explains that the residents of Storybrooke have been walking around in a haze for decades, not aging, not remembering and not realizing anything is wrong.
Henry gives Emma the missing pages from the story book and tells her to read them.
Emma then runs into Mary and asks who Henry thinks she is from the story book. Emma's face is priceless when Mary says 'Snow White'.
Emma heads over to Archie's office to talk to the shrink. Archie gives Emma Henry's file to read.
Of course, this is a set up and the police show up at Emma's door because Archie reported that Emma had stolen the file...as Regina told him to.
Regina shows up at Henry's school to tell him Emma was arrested and tells him Emma is a con man.
Of course, Henry doesn't believe a word.
Emma tries to convince the sheriff that she's being framed and Henry walks in with Mary, who bails Emma out.
In a kickass scene, Emma goes to Regina's and cuts a branch off her apple tree with a chainsaw...and then threatens Regina.
Flash over to fairy tale land where the Evil Queen is talking to her henchman about the curse not working.
The henchman tells her she has to go find out why it didn't work from the source.
She goes to see our dear Rumpelstiltskin!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Robert Carlisle is BRILLIANT is this role. He completely steals the whole scene!
He's so much fun to watch!
Rumpelstiltskin makes a deal with the Evil Queen. He'll tell her what she wants to know if she'll give him money and power in the new land...and if she promises to do everything he asks there as long as he says, 'please'. She agrees because he won't remember her promise in the new land...or so she thinks!
Rumpelstiltskin tells her that to make the curse work, she must cut out the heart of the person she loves the most and use it as a sacrifice.
The Queen's first response is, "What I loved most died because of Snow White." Oooh...what could that be, I wonder?
She then realizes that there IS another person she loves.
Back in Storybrooke, Grandma kicks Emma out of her room at the B&B...again because of Mayor Regina, and the sheriff goes to talk to Regina about Emma. She threatens him (again with the threatening?!) and he explains to her that it's just going to go back and forth between Regina and Emma unless Regina steps up to be the bigger person.
Regina calls Emma and invites her over for a chat.
She apologizes to Emma and explains that she feels threatened by her. She's worried that Emma will try to take Henry away from her.
Emma tells Regina that she's just worried about Henry, considering all of the crazy stories he's come up with.
Henry overhears this...because Regina knew he'd be there to hear it...and he runs off after he hears Emma say he's crazy.
Back to fairy tale land where the Evil Queen is conflicted about her decision. She tells her henchman what Rumple said and the henchman realizes HE is the one she loves the most. We then discover that the henchman is the Evil Queen's father. Ooh, didn't see that twist at all!
Her father tries to convince her not to do it. That's she's better than this. That she needs to let go and start over and find love again.
The Queen can't let go of what Snow did to her...what she took away from her...and she feels she must punish Snow White.
The Queen then kills her father.
In Storybrooke, Emma goes to see Mary to pay back the bail money. The two then bond over cocoa with cinnamon and cookies (but neither of them realize they're bonding).
Emma wants to leave Storybrooke, but Mary convinces her to stay.
Henry is visiting with Archie and Emma shows up. Archie tries to explain that the mayor made him call the police and Emma understands.
Emma then tells Henry that she doesn't think he's crazy. She tells him she told Regina what she needed to hear and that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking they're non-believers.
Emma then throws the pages from the book into the fire so Regina will never see them.
Henry is overjoyed and gives Emma a hug. D'aww. *sniffle*
Back in fairy tale land, the Evil Queen's curse works.
She goes to her father's headstone to tell him she loves him...and we see his name was Henry. *gasp!*
In a fabulous the last scene, Mr. Gold shows up as Regina is again out with her apple tree. Gold tells her that Emma hasn't left town after all.
He tells her she should have come to him to get rid of Emma. Regina replies, "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore."
Gold asks which deal she's referring to and then guesses she means, "The boy I procured for you."
He goes on to tell her what a lovely name she chose for her son and inquires how she chose it.
Regina asks Gold if he wanted Emma to come to town. She wonders where he found Henry. She asks him if he knows something. She asks him who Emma really is.
When Gold tries to leave without answering, Regina tries to make him answer.
Gold refuses and says, "I'm not going to answer you. So I suggest you excuse me.....please."
And Regina lets him go with a stunned look on her face.
So! Another brilliant episode, in my opinion! It's been a long, long time since I looked forward to a show like this (since Lost!).
I find myself paying close attention to every detail, scanning the background for hints and clues and easter eggs.
I love the effects, the acting (even Henry has grown on me!), the plots, the guest stars....Okay, I love everything about this show!
Now, what questions do we have after this episode?
-Does Regina remember being the Evil Queen? After that last scene with Mr. Gold, I think she does.
-Does Mr. Gold remember? Again, after that last scene, I'm going with a yes.
-Who is the Sheriff? I still say he's the big bad wolf...although he's not seeming very bad to me.
-What did Snow White take from the Queen? Possibly Prince Charming? Hmm.
-How will Emma and Henry try to get everyone to remember?
And the Lost references I picked up in this episode:
-Emma's room at the B&B was #4.
-Archie had a framed photo of an island on the wall of his office.
-Henry's school uniform had a lighthouse in the crest.
I'm sure there are more I missed! Did anyone else see any? What were your thoughts on tonight's episode?
As always, questions and comments are welcome!
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