Once Upon a Time: Season Four, Episode Eleven

First Aired December 7th, 2014.

The Snow Queen/Ingrid (played by Elizabeth Mitchell) walks through Storybrooke watching happily as the Shattered Sight spell takes effect. Everyone begins fighting each other and Emma (played by Jennifer Morrison) and Elsa (played by Georgina Haig), immune to the spell, work to end it.

Emma leaves her baby brother in the hands of the also-immune Anna (played by Elizabeth Lail) at the sheriff’s station. Anna is left to deal with Emma’s feuding parents, Mary Margaret/Snow White (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming/David (played by Josh Dallas). Emma and Elsa later search for a way to destroy the magical ribbons after learning they prevent them from attacking Ingrid. Emma has the theory that, since the ribbons were created out of Ingrid’s obsessive love for them, it would take lots of hate to destroy them. The only person capable of that is Regina (played by Lana Parilla), who is locked in her vault and in full Evil Queen Mode. Emma provokes Regina into attacking her, which successfully destroys the ribbons, but lets Regina loose. She heads to the sheriff’s station and is ecstatic to see Mary Margaret locked in the cell. Regina teleports Anna and Kristoff (played by Scott Fisher) away and engages in a vicious catfight with Mary Margaret.

The Shattered Sight spell brought out the worst in everyone, although there wasn’t as much animosity as I was expecting between some people. I was hoping to see Mary Margaret and David fight about the big issues in their relationship like giving up Emma. Instead, they fought about minor relationship issues and the condition of a baby stroller. That was a wasted opportunity for people to air out their issues, which is a shame. Although Mary Margaret was getting pretty nasty with the verbal jabs, which was a refreshing change of pace from her normal happy-go-lucky attitude. She was able to hold her own against Regina very well, and I was really glad to see Regina back in her over-the-top Evil Queen persona. That fight between them was a long time coming and I loved how brutal it was.

Flashbacks show Ingrid first arriving in our world and her time as Emma’s foster mother. They get off to a rocky start, but eventually Emma gets close with Ingrid. It doesn’t last long. When Ingrid thinks Emma is starting to come into her powers, she forces Emma in front of a speeding car to trigger her magic. It doesn’t work and makes Emma distrust Ingrid and think she’s insane. She runs away. Shortly afterward, Ingrid makes her way to Storybrooke (since at that time people didn’t age) and awaits Emma’s arrival. When Emma does show up, the reunion is anything but happy. Emma believes Ingrid is stalking her and doesn’t understand why she hasn’t aged. Ingrid uses a magical stone to take away Emma’s memories of her and watches sadly when she leaves the store oblivious of their past.

I liked that the episode answered all the questions about Emma and Ingrid’s past quickly and concisely, for the most part. The opening with Ingrid talking to the fake psychic was funny, but it didn’t add anything to the episode. Once again, we saw how Ingrid’s impatience to let a relationship develop on its own led to it deteriorating. She had the love and trust of everyone she wanted it from but pushing too much (and pushing someone in front of an oncoming car) tends to ruin that. I haven’t been very excited about Ingrid’s overall motives as the season’s first villain, but I have come to appreciate how she’s different from past villains. She isn’t inherently evil, she’s just looking for love in all the wrong ways.

Emma and Elsa confront Ingrid at her ice lair but Ingrid isn’t afraid of them because she believes they won’t hurt her because they love her. She has magical stones with their lost memories and believes they will make them love her, but Emma decides to settle things with a fight. Anna shows up and tells everyone to stop, then reads the letter her mother wrote to her and Elsa (which she found on the beach). In the letter, their mother admits that concealing Elsa’s magic was wrong and tells the girls to release Ingrid from the urn, feeling horrible that she trapped her inside. Ingrid is touched but realizes that the only way to stop the spell is to destroy herself and gives Emma and Elsa their memories of her. Against everyone’s objections, Ingrid kills herself, happily remarking that, in the end, she was able to get the love she always wanted. Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (played by Robert Carlyle) is continuing his plan to leave town and separate himself from his dagger with his unwilling accomplice Hook (played by Colin O’Donoghue). Hook is sent to kidnap Gold’s grandson Henry (played by Jared Gilmore) for the trip, but Henry escapes. Despite the setback, Gold intends to see his plan soon. He claims that he has no interest in hurting anyone as long as they don’t get in his way.

At least Ingrid got to feel genuine love for a few seconds before she was stabbed with a thousand shards of glass. I was hoping that Ingrid would break the tradition of the villain dying in the end, since she wasn’t a typical one and a redemptive ending would have been different. But in retrospect, her ultimate fate makes sense because Ingrid was always her own biggest obstacle; her death was meant to follow that pattern. It’s a good thing Gold’s vendetta will be the main story for the midseason finale because that plot needs its own episode to be fully explored. Henry’s family (especially his mother’s) isn’t going to give him up without a fight, so I fully expect Gold to unleash his fury. Speaking of Henry, I loved that Home Alone style trap he used to get past Hook, that was pretty funny. Gold has always been one of the best characters on the show, but I hope he finally decides whether to be a hero or a villain and sticks with it. If anything, let him suffer permanent consequences for his actions, like Belle (played by Emilie de Ravin) losing all trust in him and ending their relationship for good.

Quotes & Thoughts

“Think back to what it was like before the spell changed you. If you can see that, then maybe you can defeat this dark spell.” “Someone slip me a poison apple and put me out of my misery.”

Storybrooke finally got some snow! But considering the circumstances, I doubt anyone is going to be rushing outside to make snow angels.

“Going to use your magic Regina? Afraid to get your hands dirty?” “I don’t need magic to kill you. Magic is too good for you. I want to watch you bleed.”

I wonder if any of this will be included in the Frozen sequel.

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