Once Upon a Time: The Glass Shoe Is On The Other Foot

First Aired October 9th, 2016.

Regina (played by Lana Parrilla) tries to bribe Hyde (played by Sam Witwer) for data about the Evil Queen persona. Unfortunately, the Evil Queen got there first, and he seems more interested in helping her than Regina.

Cinderella/Ashley (played by Jessy Schram) wants to open her daycare to people from the Land of Untold Stories. Hook (played by Colin O’Donoghue) bonds with Cinderella’s daughter, which upsets Emma (played by Jennifer Hudson) because she fears she won’t have that with Hook because of her visions. Cinderella’s husband Prince Thomas/Sean (played by Tim Phillips) tells Emma he thinks Cinderella has gone to kill her stepsister and Emma goes to find her. Flashbacks show Cinderella being tortured by her stepmother Lady Tremaine (played by Lisa Banes) and her stepsisters about attending the royal ball. She sneaks inside and bonds with Thomas, but when she sees him with her stepsister, Lady Tremaine convinces her they’re laughing at her and Cinderella flees. Prince Charming/David (played by Josh Dallas) makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (played by Robert Carlyle) for the truth about David’s father. Emma finds Cinderella, but she claims she’s not trying to hurt her stepsister Clorinda (played by Mekenna Melvin) but instead help her.

The Evil Queen gave Hyde such a comfy jail cell he may not want to bother escaping for a while. Cinderella is a throwback to Once’s first season and although she hasn’t been seen or mentioned much since then, it’s great to see the continuation of her story. Every season Once includes several new characters from well-known stories, and characters first introduced often get shunted aside. New characters do help drive the series, but every so often it’s nice to revisit original stories from the show’s early days. Emma’s storyline this season of a hero who loses their happiness because they focus too much on others is very intriguing. These heroes devote so much of their lives to saving others, and as noble as that is, is it stopping them from living theirs? This is a complex theme that I’m looking forward to seeing explored as the season goes on. All this emphasis on the truth surrounding the death of David’s father has to mean he was killed by someone close to him; otherwise, what’s the point of finding out?

Flashbacks show Clorinda preparing to run off with a royal footman and she apologizes to Cinderella. In return, Cinderella gives her a magic key that leads to the Land of Untold Stories. However, Lady Tremaine forces Cinderella to tell her where Clorinda went. The Prince finds Cinderella and proposes, and she runs off to help Clorinda; however, she’s too late and Lady Tremaine beats Clorinda’s finance. Lamenting that she went her whole life without finding happiness, Lady Tremaine then uses the key to drag Clorinda to the Land of Untold Stories. In the present, the Evil Queen appears, taunts Emma, and teleports her, Hook, and Henry (played by Jared Gilmore) away to keep them from helping Cinderella. Eventually, Cinderella finds Clorinda, but she reveals she’s working with Lady Tremaine and they’ve set a trap to kill her. But when Lady Tremaine reveals Clorinda’s fiancé is alive and prepares to kill him, Clorinda stands up to her mother. Using Henry’s storybook, Emma, Hook, and Henry find them just as Cinderella’s been stabbed. But Emma uses her magic to heal her and Lady Tremaine is put in a chain gang as punishment.

Watching the rest of Cinderella’s story play out,is something many viewers may feel like they’ve seen before; because they have. Cinderella told a secret to Clorinda’s evil mother, which is exactly why Regina swore vengeance on Snow White (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) so many years ago. Apparently, the biggest offense heroes committed in the Enchanted Forest was they were all huge gossips. Once tries to play with the idea that even heroes can do bad things and, in general, they end up being misunderstandings that make them more sympathetic. There was closure to Cinderella’s story, but I need to see more variety the next time a hero gets a dark background story. Preferably something actually dark, that doesn’t involve telling secrets. It’s also confusing why Clorinda ever sided with Lady Tremaine, given that she was the root of all of Clorinda’s grief. These characters may have finally found their happy endings, but Emma and co. have a long way to go.

Dr. Jekyll (played by Hank Harris) partners with Frankenstein/Dr. Whale (played by David Anders) to find a weakness in the Evil Queen. David gives Belle (played by Emilie de Ravin) a tape from Gold as his deal, and learns his father was stabbed and not drunk when he died. The Evil Queen is furious that she lost again and frees Hyde so he can continue to help her. Put two mad scientists in the same lab and they’re bound to create some kind of radical creation. Now that Gold has made a somewhat nice gesture, Belle will likely go running back into his arms; which is about the only purpose she has in this show. The mystery surrounding the death of David’s father is thickening, but whether it will start to get interesting remains to be seen.

Quotes/Thoughts

“Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Frankenstein, you know what that sounds like?” “The world’s scariest sounding pediatrician’s office.”

Villains never learn; the long monologues waste time, giving the heroes the opening to come in for the save.

“Is this our life now? Defeat and repeat?”

I expected the rhyme on Gold’s tape was going to entrance Belle back to him, at least then you couldn’t blame her for going back.

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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