Episode 17: Hat Trick

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Sebastian Stan as Jefferson ABC's Once Upon a Time, Hat Trick picture image

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Sebastian Stan as Jefferson

Emma and Mr Gold find that Mary Margaret has escaped and Emma needs to find by 8 A.M or they are screwed. While Emma is looking for Mary Margaret, she meets a guy named Jefferson,  who is apparently hurt. Emma takes him back to his house where he gives her some delicious tea but it turns out to be deadly poison.  Actually it’s just a roofie. Emma escapes from her restrainments and finds Mary Margaret in the house and tied up. As Emma and Mary Margaret try to escape Jefferson threaten them  with a gun and makes Emma tie Mary Margaret back up and then demands Emma makes a hat that works. Turns out Jefferson knows about the dual worlds and that he is a fairy tale character and he wants Emma to make a hat because she has magic and the hat will enable him to go home. Emma does make a hat but she knocks him out as she just thinks he is crazy. Mary Margaret, freed by Emma, helps defeat Jefferson who along with his hat is knock-out the window but he vanishes. Also Mary Margaret gets back in time but that wasn’t part of the plan cooked up by Regina and Mr. Gold, who surprise, are working together. Oh Mr.Gold playing both sides.    

In the fairy Tale world Jefferson lives with his daughter, Grace. Grace is also in Storybrooke but is called Paige and has a different family and doesn’t know Jefferson. Jefferson wants to live a peaceful humble  life but that darn Evil Queen wants him to take her to Wonderland via his magic hat. Jefferson at first says no but wants a better life for his daughter so he agrees. Before they enter Wonderland Jefferson tells the Queen that the same number of people who enter must leave together, rule of the hat. They enter Wonderland so the Evil Queen can take something that the Queen of Hearts stole. They get it back and it turns out it’s her father, Henry. Since it’s now three people the Queen makes it so Jefferson can’t leave. Jefferson gets captured by the Queen of Hearts and she takes his head, it’s what she does. He is fine  though and is told that he will have to make another hat to get out of wonderland which drives him mad. Mad Hatter, it’s not subtle.

  

Again, what happened to Emma’s lie detection? Jefferson was faking his injury which is a lie. Can she only spot when people say lies and not fakers? It’s just irritating. Also I love that his name is Jefferson, nice little reference to Jefferson Airplanes. I had a good laugh at that one. I do like that Jefferson is half mad for knowing the truth. I did like this episode. The Storybrooke parts were better than the fairytale plot.

Episode 18: The Stable Boy

Lana Parrilla as Regina & Noah Bean as Daniel ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Stable Boy picture image

Lana Parrilla as Regina & Noah Bean as Daniel

Mary Margaret asking Regina what she ever did to make her hate her so much is like what Esmeralda said to Frollo when she was in jail for murder. I’m sure it was unintentional but it made me chuckle.  So this episode reveals why Regina hates Snow White a.k.a Mary Margaret. Regina in the Fairy Tale world was in love with a stable boy named Daniel, but her Mother, Cora, wants Regina to aim higher in status. One day Regina saves a little girl from a runaway horse. The girl is Snow White and her father asks Regina to marry him which her mother says agrees. Regina asks Daniel to  marry her and Snow sees them kissing. Regina begs Snow not to say anything as her mother wouldn’t understand. Snow does tell Cora since she wants Regina to be happy and have a relationship with her mother. Cora then takes Daniel’s heart and crushes into dust. Regina finds out Snow told her mother and that her mother was behind the whole thing of Snow’s Horse going wild so Regina could get the attention of the King.

Apparently this whole murder/missing person plot was all Mr. Gold’s doing really just to get Mary Margaret out of Storybrooke since the curse can’t left them leave so she will die I guess. Emma talks to August about approaching the case differently which causes Emma to return to the place where the heart was found. They find a shard from the shovel the was used to bury the heart. Emma breaks into Regina’s garage and indeed the shard matches her shovel. However Sidney planted a bug in Emma’s office so Regina is able to switch out the shovel before Emma can lawfully confirm the match. Also Regina confesses to Mary Margaret that she knows she didn’t kill Kathryn. The episode ends with it being revealed to Emma, August and Ruby that Kathryn is alive.   

First off, I’m not shocked. This why I have been trying to watch and episode and then write the posts instead of binging watching a bunch then writing. I will admit between episodes  7-13 I was binge watching it, which is more fun since this show is REALLY watchable but I did ask back in episode 16 if Kathryn was really dead. Full disclosure I did watch/wrote my assessment of  episode 16  Heart of Darkness the day before I watched/wrote this one, so it was fresh in my head.

I did really enjoy this episode, Barbara Hershey is like the perfect casting for Regina ambitious mother. Bailee Madison, young Snow, matched Ginnifer Goodwin’s inflections perfectly, easily one of the better child actor in the show.  I don’t know how I feel about the reason for Regina’s evilness  and her bitterness towards Snow. I mean tragic love is it? That is only reason really for her cruelty? She isn’t mad at her mother?  Snow was well intentioned and a child. I did like the episode but does seem too simplistic even for a fairy tale.   

Bailee Madison as Young Snow White, ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Stable Boy picture image

Bailee Madison as Young Snow White