Once Upon a Time (TV series)

OK lets continue the Once Upon a Time journey … sorry these are a big disjointed … I’m actually half way through Season 2 right now, but have only managed to get three (this one included) of the Season 1 posts up.  Hopefully I can do a real big  catch up in the coming weeks and get a lot closer to real time.  I could always do a round up of each season, but I really am enjoying this show so its quite nice revisiting it and going through it in more detail so I hope you’ll bear with me?  If you’d like to read the previous posts, you can find all of them at the Once Upon a Time page on my site so please feel free to click there.  Otherwise I’ll give you a really brief recap below to catch you up.

OK, ready?  Here we go.

In Once Upon a Time all of the hero’s (and villains) from myth, legend and fairytale have been sucked away from the Enchanted forest to Storybrooke, Maine. This simple, idyllic town is ruled by the ruthless Mayor (aka the Evil Queen) and the fairytale characters can only be released from their curse if a prophecy comes to pass.  Henry (Emma’s real son and the Evil Queen’s adopted child) is brought back to Storybrooke to break the curse and we quickly come to see that Henry might actually be right – there is definitely something wrong/different about the characters as we’re treated to flashbacks of who the are (might be) in a different – fairytale world.

Episode Recap

In the real world, Mary Margaret is on a not very successful date with Dr. Whale who is busy admiring Ruby the waitress. When she sees Emma sleeping in her car (remember she got kicked out of the inn last episode), she offers her a place to stay, but Emma refuses stating that she’s not the “roommate type”.

The next day, Mary Margaret is volunteering at the hospital, and she notices Henry sitting with John Doe . He asks what is wrong with the patient, and Mary Margaret explains that he has been there as long as she has been volunteering, and no one knows who he is or what family he has. Henry questions her certainty that she does not know who he is, but Mary Margaret assures him that she does not. Henry meets with Emma and tells her that he has found her father, Prince Charming, and that he is the John Doe patient.

While we learned in the previous episode that Emma doesn’t really believe, she agrees to humor Henry and persuades Mary Margaret (Snow White) that she should read a story to the comatose John Doe (Prince Charming) and while Mary Margaret doesn’t think it will do anything she also doesn’t think it will hurt agrees to play along to help Henry deal with his psychosis.  As Mary Margaret is reading to him however he grabs her hand … Mary Margaret immediately jumps up to summon Dr. Whale, but he tells her that she must have dozed off as there is nothing there.  After she leaves though, he contacts Regina and tells her what happened and that Mary Margaret was there.

In a flashback however we’re actually witness to Snow White and Prince Charming’s first meeting when she confronts and robs a coach carrying Prince Charming and his betrothed fiancee Abigail through the woods.  When Charming catches up to her, she stuns him with a rock to the head, leaving him with a cut on his chin and makes her escape.  However Charming is definitely more than we have seen and is not just a simple Prince as he manages to track down Snow White and ensnares her in a trap demanding that she return the jewels she stole from him.  Snow White says that she sold them but when the Prince threatens to turn her over to the Evil Queen she agrees to help him retrieve the jewels.

Back in the real world, Mary Margaret meets up with Emma and Henry in Granny’s cafe and tells them that John Doe (Prince Charming) had grabbed her hand as she was reading to him.  They both insist that she needs to go back immediately and see what happens next but when they arrive at the hospital, Sheriff Graham is there and he tells them that the patient has gone missing.  Regina is also there and demands to know what they are doing there … when Emma asks the same question, Regina informs them that she is John Doe’s emergency contact as she found him on the side of the road and brought him to the hospital in the first place.  When Emma and Graham review the security tapes, they quickly figure out that John Doe walked out on his own into the nearby woods.

Flashback to fairyland and we see Snow White leading Prince Charming through the woods to where she sold the jewels.  When Charming sees Snow holding a necklace, he confronts her about it and she tells him that it is filled with fairy dust that can transform any enemy into something harmless. Prince Charming figures that she plans to use it on the Evil Queen and points out that Snow White has a lot of anger. The thief explains that the charges against her are false and that she only lived because the Queen sent the Huntsman to rip out her heart, but he took pity on her and let her go.  When the Queens guards find and try to capture Snow White, Charming manages to kill them saving her life and Snow White agrees to take him to the troll group who she sold the jewels too.

Back in the real world, Henry has managed to sneak away from his mom again (by the way, this is fairly continuous throughout the course of this season and you really have to wonder what the heck Regina is doing … she’s completely useless at keeping an eye on Henry as he seems to be able to escape from her with impunity) and catches up to Emma and Mary Margaret in the woods.  He informs them that the reason John Doe is here, is that he is looking for Snow White just like in the story book.  Mary Margaret does not believe Henry, who insists that she needs to stop and let John Doe catch up to her. Emma tells him to go home, but as Henry argues, Graham calls them over. He has found John Doe’s patient tag with blood on it.

In the Enchanted Forest again, we see that Snow and Charming have finally made it to the troll bridge, but they are quickly surrounded by the trolls.  While Snow tries to negotiate for the return of the jewels, the trolls attack and after capturing Charming realize that they have the chance of a much larger reward from the Queen when they see Snow’s wanted poster.  Snow White is forced to use her magic fairy dust to help them escape and they are able to retrieve Charmings jewels.  Prince Charming gives Snow White the gold back, and she gives him the ring. He comments that it is not her style, and she tries it on. He stares at her for a moment, and then Snow White agrees that it is not her style and hands it back. Prince Charming offers her the rest of the jewels, but she says that she has what she needs. He wishes her well, and says that if she needs anything… and Snow White finishes the sentiment: “he’ll always find her”. They say their goodbyes and go their separate ways.

In the real world once again, the blood trail left by John Doe leads to the old toll (troll) bridge where they find John Doe lying in the stream.  When Mary Margaret administers CPR, he finally wakes up and says that she saved him, while an astonished Emma looks on.  After they get him back to the hospital, Dr. Whate works on him and a new strange woman (the same lady as we saw in one of the flashbacks as his fiancee) rushes to him – calling John Doe, “David” she claims to be his wife, Kathryn Nolan.  Regina arrives to confirm that this is the case.  When Kathryn speaks to Emma and Mary Margaret to thank them for saving David, she states that she had thought he’d simply left town as they were having problems and didn’t know that he was in the hospital but now she has a second chance to say she is sorry.  As Kathryn goes to her husband, Henry goes to get his backpack. He whispers to Mary Margaret that David had been going to the bridge to look for her, and that they belonged together. As Regina leaves with Henry, Emma catches up to her and points out that Kathryn’s story sounds fake. She points out how convenient it is that Regina just now found Kathryn, and Regina says that after Emma went over the tapes, they checked past tapes and found out that David mentioned Kathryn’s name in his sleep from time to time.  She also mentions that true love has won out and that they will be together thanks to Emma and Mary Margaret.