The back stories of how these Once Upon a Time characters are interrelated are fascinating. The writers have taken the fairy tales with which we grew up and tweaked them, intertwined them in clever ways to make one, elaborate meta-story that’s a blast to watch unfold.
Yet as this first scene progresses, as much as I love these old stories made new in Fairy Tale Land, I’m growing dissatisfied with the Storybrooke scenes which, earlier this season, had been as compelling as the ones that took place in the land of kings, queens and genies.
The Emma versus Regina Storybrooke thread, for example, is starting to show signs of wear. Would Emma, who we are supposed to believe is intelligent, really rush into a public forum and unload unsubstantiated allegations against someone as cunning and powerful as the mayor without thoroughly vetting them first? Would she so obviously follow Regina, at night, into the woods with her car, making it crystal clear that Emma was tailing the mayor? Would she leap to rash conclusions about who cut the brake lines on her sheriff’s vehicle?
None of the routes Emma took in this episode seemed to ring true. Emma’s dialogue seemed forced and her entire thread is venturing precariously toward camp. There’s a thin line between mythical fantasy and silly camp. (It’s something which challenged Lost.) At the beginning of the series, I was willing to suspend disbelief and happily go along for the ride as the two main characters, Emma and Regina, engaged in a power struggle, with Henry in the middle as a pawn.
Through a fire, a mine collapse and an election, the battle between Emma and Regina is becoming less enjoyable to watch. The characters are saying, essentially, the same variations of the same stuff. Emma tells Regina that she’ll never get away with … whatever it is Regina is doing at the moment, vows to catch her doing her evil stuff, especially now that Emma is the sheriff. Regina responds with threats, says she’s Henry’s legal mother and tells Emma she’ll be sorry if she doesn’t back off. It’s getting old and less believable each week, especially when Emma makes stupid decisions that undermine her credibility.
The scenes in Fairy Tale Land, however, remain fun. Loved seeing Richard Schiff (Toby from The West Wing!) as the King, who could be as benevolent as he could be selfish and uncaring. I actually felt sorry for The Evil Queen as the King called his daughter, Snow White, the fairest in the land, second only to her deceased mother. The King was publicly doting on his daughter and his first wife, seemingly unconcerned about how his current wife would feel about all of this. It was as if The Evil Queen was invisible to him, an inanimate possession with which he could do what he wished.
The tale of the Genie, who turns out to be Sidney Glass (those writers are such punsters!) in Storybrooke, was intriguing: Freed from his lamp by the King who wound up not only freeing the Genie, but bestowing upon him a wish. The Genie wanted to fall in love, and he did, with The Evil Queen, upon whom he took pity and a shine all at once. The Genie even killed the King, who’d imprisoned his own wife in the castle (ironically she’d later imprison the inhabitants of Fairy Tale Land in Storybrooke), so the Genie could be with The Evil Queen forever. However, The Evil Queen being, well, you know, evil, it all turned out to be a trick to persuade the Genie to off her husband so her hands would remain clean, she’d gain her freedom and the sympathy of those in the kingdom.
All of it was a thrill to watch. But then we had to head back to Storybrooke and witness another ham-handed conversation between Emma and Sidney only to learn that Regina is using Sidney to spy on Emma (a spy glass … another pun). Here’s to hoping that the Storybrooke threads improve, and soon.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jan 30, 2012 @ 11:55 EST5EDT
I’m hoping we see these actions from another viewpoint, because I’m not certain the king was as bad as we think he is. I agree he seemed to be insensitive to Regina in the speech to his daughter and that was insensitive. However, I’m less certain that Regina was actually imprisoned by the king. Her father is the one who claims she is being imprisoned. This sounds bad, but while he is saying this, he is smuggling poisonous snakes to his daughter. Even I know that Regina is not suicidal, I doubt her father thought she was, especially since he admits he would die for her. It’s hard to avoid the idea that he was aiding in her murder of the king, so his statements that she is a prisoner and that he would not be allowed to see her is suspect. Yes, there are guards at her door, but that could be due to imprisonment or it could be because the king believes there is a threat to her or perhaps the entire family.
Regina was manipulative enough in this episode that I can’t judge the king too harshly until we know more about the marriage itself and until we see a POV that is not being controlled by Regina and her father.
What I found curious was the scene where the King is doting on Snow and Regina looks crushed and goes outside. I was feeling bad for her and thinking..so this is why she is so wicked..she loves him but he does not love her back. Anyway..she heads outside and the Genie follows her. He was smitten with her from his first introduction. But did Regina see him and think..”sucker” and play him from the first minute? What is hard is that there is no timeline so you don’t know how much time has passed since the Genie saw Regina..fell in love..and then went and killed the King. I try not to analyze too much and make the leap of faith to just go along for the ride but every now and then I have a hard time. I so agree with you about Emma, she is a bail bondsman..heard every lie in the book and she just believes that Sidney had a change of heart and would interrupt a town meeting without hard evidence? Also..the playground in the middle of the woods cracked me up. For one thing, it looks like you have to drive to it..plus it looked plenty dangerous to slide down the slide!!!
I too was surprised that Emma so quickly jumped on Sidney’s band wagon. She seems to have naturally good instincts, though the love of her child can totally cloud her judgement. People do stupid things for love as that seemed to be one of the themes in this episode. I also thought the playground in the in middle of the forest was just weird. In looking at the drawings of the proposed castle – Emma couldn’t tell it was a playground versus a castle that would be lived in? Too convenient to be smart one moment and absentminded the next.
Richard Schiff was a pleasant surprise in this episode.
And I want to know about the hot motorcycle guy/writer – I can’t remember if we got his name yet…that story line is intriguing and I can’t wait for it to unfold.
Regarding the mysterious writer/motorcycle dude – I find it interesting that he carries around an old-fashioned typewriter instead of a laptop. Does this mean that he is much older than he looks? Perhaps displaced in time?
Maybe he wrote Henry’s book? A Grimm brother?
I’ve always found Emma the more uninteresting aspect of Storybrooke, but then I think part of it is I don’t particularly like the actress or at least the way she’s playing the part. (or maybe its the writing of emma?) And I also can’t even imagine any relationship to Mary Margaret/Snow. Anyway, still mulling on that.
I couldn’t agree more that the regina vs. emma is starting to repeat itself in silly ways. It seems like the writers are enjoying Fairy Tale Land more than Storybrooke as well.
My biggest issue with this show was, and continues to be, its inauthenticity. The storylines are somewhat interesting, the setup certainly has promise, but there’s no real feeling in any of the characters actions and motivations are given only lip service. The comments above about the fact that Emma, with the (solely established by the writers) variety of skills and street smarts that she has, would act so foolishly are spot on. And situations exactly like that repeat again and again. Mary Margaret tells us that she’s a good girl who wouldn’t carry on an affair and then does exactly that. I don’t really believe either the original character portrayal or that she is being swept away by passion. There’s too much of the writers telling us its this way or the other and not enough acting.
This comment pretty much sums up why I’m falling out of love with this show.
Thanks!
Toni: I think Emmas is onto the whole thing and is playing Sidney. These writers are from LOST, I can’t imagine they would make it so transparent. Also, yes–I think the Queen was that evil and marked the genie from the start as her way out.
Meredith: Toby! Love him and everyone on that show. And I agree, fairy-tale land is better than real life.
Jessica and Caria Day: I think the writer is Grimm or something like that.
Everyone: Who else thinks Henry’s father and Emma’s one-night stand is Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater? Remember he loved pumpkin pie, why mention the detail if its not relevant?