Okay... not a fan of quite a few things in this episode. But, I love other parts of it. So... very torn.
First, we get Ingrid's back-story here. Apparently, when she and her sisters were kids, a bad man tried to kidnap them, and Ingrid's magic came out of her all of a sudden, freezing a nearby tree branch, which then broke off and crushed the bad man to death. Ingrid's two sisters, Helga and Gerda, both vow to look after her, and promise her that they don't see her as a monster. They all tie ribbons around their wrists as symbols of their sisterly bond.
Over the years, Ingrid closes herself up and keeps away from the goings on in the castle, despite her sisters' pleas to get involved. Ingrid decides that she must try to get help, so she and her sisters travel to meet Rumplestiltskin. He agrees to give Ingrid gloves, which will help to control her powers, but in return they must hand over their ribbons. Rumple explains that the ribbons are now infused with great power, due to the true love between sisters.
Back in Arendelle, the Duke of Wesselton has been courting Helga. However, when the Duke sees Ingrid, he starts to make inappropriate advances. Ingrid becomes flustered, and her magic bursts out of her, sending the Duke flying. At this point, Helga turns up. The Duke lies and says that Ingrid was the one who started coming on to him, and that she attacked him without provocation. Helga instantly realizes that this is a lie, and she stands firm by her sister's side. However, as the Duke threatens to tell the world that Ingrid is a monster, Ingrid gets more and more worked up, until she attacks the Duke, planning to freeze him. Unfortunately, Helga stands in the way. She is frozen instead, and crumbles.
At this point, Gerda shows up and sees Helga's remains. She traps Ingrid inside an urn, unwilling to trust her again. Gerda then goes to Grand Pabbie and asks him to make Arendelle forget all about her sisters. Grand Pabbie gives her a memory potion, but he warns her that magic comes with a price.
Then, we've got what's happening in Storybrooke. Ingrid is hanging out in the clock tower. She plants a fake mirror there. Emma practices a spell with Elsa that will help her catch the Snow Queen. When Emma goes to pick up baby Neal from a "mommy and me" class, she gets a bit upset to see Mary Margaret doting on baby Neal, since this is supposed to be a class for first-time mothers. Mary Margaret sees that Neal's baby bottle has started boiling in Emma's hands, and she hesitates to hand over the baby. At this point, David calls to tell Emma that the Snow Queen is in the clock tower.
Emma manages to capture the Snow Queen (henceforth referred to as Sarah) using the spell. As Emma takes Sarah back to the station, the others all go to investigate the mirror. Belle realizes that the mirror is a fake, and that this means that Sarah wanted to get captured. Sure enough, as they rush to the station, they find that Emma is trapped inside with the Snow Queen, who is using this opportunity to manipulate Emma.
Sarah taunts Emma, telling her that her family thinks of her as a monster, and that her parents are grateful that their son is "normal." At first, Emma seems to keep her cool, but she gets more and more upset until finally her magic explodes out of her, blowing a hole in the wall of the station. Sarah escapes. As Hook, David, and Mary Margaret try to talk to Emma, she tells them not to come near her, in case she hurts them. Hook reaches for her, and Emma's magic lashes out again, causing a streetlight to fall over. David pushes Hook out of the way, but he gets hit by the streetlight. He's not badly hurt, but Mary Margaret can't help yelling at Emma. Emma is shocked and horrified by what her magic has done, and she runs off, getting in her car and disappearing.
Nobody can find her, and Mary Margaret, ashamed, realizes that Sarah succeeded in turning everyone against Emma, even if only for a moment. Now Emma thinks that her family is afraid of her. As the episode ends, Sarah visits Rumple. She wants to make a deal. She knows that Rumple is missing one piece of the puzzle that will help him be free of the dagger, and that he wants it so that he can leave Storybrooke without losing his memories or powers. Sarah offers to tell him what he's missing, if Rumple hands over the ribbons. Rumple does so, and then Sarah whispers something in his ear. Rumple seems (disturbingly) eager to complete this final task, which will finally free him from the dagger once and for all.
A minor subplot focuses on Regina and Robin. Robin says that he can't forget about Regina, but Regina insists that he must, if he wants to save Marian. Regina tells Henry that her focus is now on Operation Mongoose, all the way, and she encourages him to keep looking for hints in Gold's shop. Henry dutifully continues his work with Rumple. Robin and Will talk about Robin's relationship with Marian, and they address some of the old animosity between them. Will reminds Robin that if you find someone you truly love, it's worth all the pain in the world to be that person. Robin goes to talk to Regina again. He says that he cannot hold true to his principles, even if being faithful to Marian is the right thing. He kisses Regina, and she kisses him back.
Okay. Complaints. I'm sorry, and I feel really mean for saying this, but this was appalling acting from the kids who played the three sisters from Arendelle. Like, I'm sorry, but wow. That was pretty bad. It wasn't entirely their fault, though... the script was also pretty weak. The cheesiness factor was strong with this one. In fact, that can be said for the entire Arendelle plot this week. Even as adults, the three sisters were waaayyy too cheesy and over the top. I mean, we know they can do the sisterly bond thing right, because Anna and Elsa are really sweet. But Ingrid, Helga, and Gerda? Cringe-worthy.
So... how did Gerda know how to trap Ingrid in the urn? It makes no sense! And what the hell did Rumple even do with those ribbons? Anything? I just felt like this story was a bit of a stretch, if you know what I mean. There was a lot of cheesy stuff here, which is normally fine, but it felt cloying in this instance.
I'm also the tiniest bit annoyed at how quickly this whole "fear of Emma's magic" thing is playing out. If we had maybe had hints of it earlier, building up to this, I would understand it. But from what I can tell, the first moment that anybody fears Emma's magic is in this episode when Mary Margaret hesitates to hand over Neal.
But, while I wasn't a fan of the back-story portion of the episode, I thought the stuff in Storybrooke was excellent for the most part.
I love, love love this journey for Emma's character. (Despite my complaints that it came out of the blue). She has finally found a place where she belongs. A place where she feels safe and happy. She has a family, she has her son, she has Killian. And now? Now she might lose them again, and it's because of her own nature. Just as Emma has always pushed people away because she was afraid of losing them, her magic pushes them away and even threatens their safety. This is going to hurt Emma so much, but at the same time, it's going to be so good for her character development as we move forward.
I know some people were pissed at Mary Margaret for yelling at Emma, but honestly, I really liked what was happening with Mary Margaret here. First, we see the moment of fear when Emma reaches for Neal, just after turning a bottle of milk boiling hot. I'm sorry, but if I were a mother I'm sure I'd feel the same way! And then, when she sees David get knocked to the ground, she's angry and worried and, yes, a bit angry at Emma for lashing out that way. It's only after she says "Emma!" in anger that she looks up and sees the look of fear and bewilderment on Emma's face, and she immediately changes her tone and tries to reassure her daughter. Mary Margaret isn't the bad guy here. She made some bad snap-decisions, and her instinctual reaction wasn't good for Emma, but she is trying her best.
Great acting from Jennifer Morrison all throughout this. You can just see how scared she is to hurt the people she loves. In particular, the scene between Emma and Sarah/Ingrid/The Snow Queen/I-have-got-to-decide-what-to-call-her was very strong. You could just see the tension building and building until finally Emma snapped. Very well done.
Not a lot of Hook this week. Sad face. Still, I love that he reached for her as she ran away, and then he continued to look for her, until he realized that she didn't want to be found. Again and again, Killian proves his commitment to respecting Emma's wishes.
Robin and Regina. Damn that was some kiss. I've never been as invested in these two as a couple, because I feel like they didn't have much development, more like... "there's animosity... but then oh yeah we're supposed to be true loves! I guess we are." But that's beside the point. In this particular episode, their chemistry was undeniable. I sort of figured Robin would cave eventually, but I was still happy to see it. Also, I rather liked the scene with Will and Robin. (Okay, could someone fill me in, because I never watched the spin-off... do we know what happened with Will and the other Merry Men? What exactly did he do to Robin?) Will might be a rather pointless character thus far, but he's still a really charismatic presence on the show.
Henry had a very brief role to play, but I did like his sassy little comment to Regina: "I'm getting married."
I'm getting so, so excited about this whole idea of everyone in Storybrooke turning on each other. Did you see the promo for next week? Emma's going to try to get rid of her magic! This whole season thus far has been pretty strong, but I'm even more excited for the way it's laying down the groundwork for some pretty intense stuff later on. I can't wait!! Unfortunately, the back-story portion of this episode did detract from my overall enjoyment. Still, I'm hooked (pardon the pun) on this show, and I'm eagerly awaiting the two-hour special next week.
7/10
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