Once upon a time…the Seven Dwarfs weren’t saying Prince Charming’s a gold digger.
“Lost Girl,” the title of this week’s installment of “Once Upon a Time,” took on several meanings for me.
It’s, of course, a nod to Peter Pan’s band of followers, gender-reversed by a show with several strong heroines and anti-heroines. And given how many story elements from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz’s previous writing gig were showcased (flashbacks, a jungle setting, creepy whispers, island inhabitants appearing out of thin air to surround the heroes), I couldn’t help but chuckle at “Lost” being right there in the name.
But by episode’s end, I found it nicely evocative of the emotional stakes set up for Emma and her family during this Neverland arc. Emma admits out loud (and to herself) that she still feels like the lonely and unloved orphan she was before finding her fairy tale parents. And history repeating itself is the real danger here. Just like Emma hasn’t forgiven Mary Margaret despite her mother’s love and sincerity, Pan insists that Henry feels the same. His threat that she’ll lose both Henry and her parents by the time this adventure ends, that she’ll truly be alone, adds some emotional weight to this quest story that I really like.
As I said last week, the relationship between Emma and her folks is one of my favorite things about the show. So the scene where Mary Margaret gets Emma to pour her heart out even though it ended up breaking hers was definitely the highlight. Jennifer Morrison and Ginnifer Goodwin really got to me in that moment.
Also impressing me again in this episode was Robbie Kay. He’s playing Peter Pan with this perfect blend of menace and mischief, somewhat similar to what Joseph Morgan does over on “The Vampire Diaries,” and both of his one-on-one confrontations with Emma crackled. Curious to see the show peel back Pan’s motivations as his machinations unfold.
Less compelling was Rumplestiltskin’s continued solo trek across Neverland. Even with the vision he conjured up of Belle (or did he – that plot point was a little muddled), he basically spent the episode talking to himself and we didn’t learn anything outside of what many had already speculated about the straw doll. Rumple is a lot more fun when he’s bouncing off of others (Regina, Emma, Hook) so I’m hoping he rejoins the group sooner than later.
The flashbacks were also a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s always fun to spend some time with warrior princess Snow (especially since Mary Margaret’s seemed a bit softer and subdued so far this season) and Regina at the height of her Evil Queen regality. The Magic Mirror cameo was cute (thanks, “Revolution,” for lending us Giancarlo Esposito!). And the dwarfs giving Charming grief with their concerns about gold diggery were some welcome light moments.
On the other, “Once Upon a Time” is at a point in its life where these flashes to the past are starting to lose their punch. I get the parallels they were drawing between Emma and Snow’s struggles to believe in themselves, but the Snow/Charming/Evil Queen backstory in particular is well-trodden territory. We know going in that Snow’s won’t accept exile, that Regina won’t kill Grumpy, etc. And while Charming using the Sword in the Stone legend to nudge Snow along was reasonably clever, it was also telegraphed from the start.
The jury’s still out on the cliffhanger that David has been poisoned with dream shade. I’m guessing he doesn’t want to distract from the mission of saving Henry, but it seems right now like a contrivance that he would keep that he’s potentially dying from everyone, especially Mary Margaret.
No Neal this week and, again, no update on what’s going on in Storybrooke. I’ve suspected since the finale, with all the regulars but Belle (who the show often only cares about in relation to Rumplestiltskin) off in other realms, that the splintered narrative would shortchange Storybrooke. I guess the question is, is it a good idea for the show to stray so far from its original premise and setting?
To wrap up for this week, show of hands, who’s planning on watch the premiere of spin-off “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” this Thursday?
