Once Upon a Time: Season Four, Episode Seven
First aired November 9th, 2014.
The background of the Snow Queen/Ingrid (played by Elizabeth Mitchell) is heavily explored in this episode. We see how her relationship with her sisters, Gerda (played by Paccale Hutton) and Helga (played by Sally Pressman), shaped her into the person she is today.
When they were children, Ingrid used her power to stop a man who tried to kidnap and became afraid of her powers. While her sisters lived in the public eye, Ingrid chose to isolate herself from the world, fearful of what she could do. Gerda comes up with the idea of traveling to the Enchanted Forest to find Rumpelstiltskin (played by Robert Carlyle) for help in controlling or removing Ingrid’s powers. Rumpel gives them a pair of gloves that can suppress her power and the magical urn as a “last resort.” He asks for some ribbons they wear as a symbol of their sisterly bond, claiming items that personal sometimes carry powerful magic. Back in Arendelle, when Helga’s fiancé hits on Ingrid, she knocks him back with an icy blast. With her powers revealed, he calls her a freak. Helga arrives and defends her sister when he tries to say Ingrid seduced and attacked him and threatens to tell everyone about her powers. Ingrid tries to blast him again but accidently hits Helga who turns to ice and shatters. Gerda discovers the gruesome scene and also labels her a monster. Gerda uses the urn to trap Ingrid and then goes to Grand Pabbie (played by John Rhys-Davies) to erase Ingrid and Helga’s existence from everyone in Arendelle to protect the royal family’s legacy.
When I learned that everyone’s memories of Ingrid and Helga were erased I knew something major happened. Accidently freezing a sister to death definitely counts. It also explains why Gerda wanted to remove Elsa’s (played by Georgina Haig) powers: she didn’t want history to repeat itself. I’m also more interested in Ingrid’s goal to create the perfect family after watching how her relationship with her sisters ended. Her family turned their back on her out of fear which led to her quest for sisters like her, which explains why Ingrid wants Emma (played by Jennifer Morrison) and Elsa (played by Georgina Haig). Having a family with people who also have powers erases the fear of being judged. Considering what happened though, you can’t exactly blame the family for being afraid. It is strange that Ingrid was so afraid of her powers and yet she wasn’t wearing the gloves Rumpel gave her. She just carried them around with her. Those ribbons might explain why Rumpel isn’t afraid of the Snow Queen, he could have used them to create some kind of magic that keeps her from attacking him.
In Storybrooke, the Snow Queen brings her mirror to the clock tower and seems ready to start some trouble. Emma and Elsa charge in with a magical candle that is able to bind Ingrid and they bring her to the sheriff’s station. Emma tries to question Ingrid but she seems perfectly happy to be there and believes that Emma will soon fulfill the prophecy of joining her family. Everyone else is working to destroy the mirror when they realize it was fake and Ingrid wanted to be caught, but before they can get to Emma the station doors are frozen over. Ingrid tells Emma that her parents, Prince Charming/David (played by Josh Dallas) and Snow White/Mary Margaret (played by Ginnifer Goodwin), may love her, but they also fear her. Emma recalls an earlier occurrence where Mary Margaret was visibly disturbed after she had an involuntary outburst of magic. The conversation turns so heated that Emma blasts a hole in the side of the building. This pleases Ingrid, who removes her chains and leaves, thinking Emma is one step closer to joining her. When she nearly causes a street lamp to fall on David, Mary Margaret shouts at Emma, who immediately drives off and hides from them all. Ingrid visits Rumpel/Mr. Gold and offers information on freeing himself from his dagger and Storybrooke as long as she and her new “sisters” can live in Storybrooke undisturbed. She whispers what he needs in his ear and, whatever it is, Gold seems ready and thrilled to do it.
The Snow Queen looked almost ecstatic when she was caught, so it was pretty clear that’s what she wanted. Although that candle did nothing to keep her from using her powers, so Emma should get a refund. The concept of Emma’s powers being out of control and afraid of what she can do is great but it came up out of nowhere. Until now she only sparingly used her magic and the topic of her powers was never brought up much either. I love that the show is exploring this idea, but it would have been more effective if it was addressed before and not suddenly brought up for the sake of this episode’s plot.
Rumpel and Ingrid’s conversation was another thing that came out of left field. Since when did he express a desire to leave town and take over the world? Whatever he needs to do, it probably involves killing someone he isn’t fond of which makes the list include basically the whole town almost. However, his wife, Belle (played by Emilie de Ravin), definitely won’t approve of this, so how is this supposed to work?
It’d make sense that Ingrid would not want other people around her new family considering people treated her like a monster before, of course now she’s acting like one.
Meanwhile, Regina (played by Lana Parilla) gets a visit from Robin Hood (played by Sean Maguire), who can’t stop thinking about her. Regina tells him that he has to stop thinking about her in order to save his wife, Marian (played by Christie Laing). While drinking away the pain, Robin bumps into his disgraced former merry man, Will Scarlet (played by Michael Socha). After some initial awkwardness, they start talking over drinks and Robin brings up Will nearly getting him killed over a girl. However, that didn’t appear to end happily, in fact Will silently implies that she died some time ago. Their talk is enough to convince Robin to follow his heart and he goes back to Regina and gives her a passionate kiss.
It’s about time these two got their act together. They spent so many episodes repeatedly talking about their situation. Although if Regina really wanted Robin to forget about her she would have used magic. She was obviously hoping he would return to her eventually. I’ve also been thinking about the situation with Marian and they should try using her son to break the curse. The love between a mother and child counts as true love, no?
Will has been a pretty good addition to the show, but his backstory is being revealed too slowly and he doesn’t have a large role in most episodes. I want to see his past with Robin and find out what happened with this girl. And, given his accent, I want to see if he’s actually from England.
Quotes & Thoughts
“Can you read this?” “Elvish? No I didn’t even see Lord of the Rings.”
The Snow Queen probably won’t need the mirror. People in Storybrooke manage to turn on themselves a lot anyway.
“All it takes is one tiny mistake, one accident, and you and your powers go from being their salvation to their worst nightmare.”
The Snow Queen promised lots of snow earlier. Where is it? I was hoping there would be an endless winter theme for this half of the season.
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