Once Upon A Time - Recap: Any Given Sundae

I suppose this is the problem with any show that features captive characters. It's the "Nikki and Paulo" problem. On the third season of Lost, the show needed to expand its ensemble somehow, yet it was difficult introducing new characters since the show took place on an island no one could find, and one from which no one could escape. So the show came up with a solution: just introduce two characters who will be new to the audience, but known to the existing characters. Enter Nikki and Paulo, two other passengers from the Oceanic 815 crash. Apparently, they had always been there, but were just off doing other things during the big events of Seasons 1 and 2, for whatever reason. Fans revolted against the characters, although that had less to do with how they were introduced and more to do with how they were presented, as characters (i.e., they were insufferable). Luckily, Once Upon A Time doesn't have the latter problem, as the character deposited into the Enchanted Forest's history in "White Out" is downright lovable. But Once Upon A Time writers/executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who worked on Lost together, have brought a similar dynamic to this show's storytelling. Whether or not it makes sense that Anna (Elizabeth Lail) was also an influence on David's (Josh Dallas) past life, or that there's always been some sort of Snow Sorceress running an ice cream parlor in Storybrooke, few shows on television suggest that every character we've met before, and may ever meet, and maybe even those we never will, all have had a massive effect on each other's lives.

Credit: ABC

Yet, while that's an interesting consideration, not a whole lot actually happens in "White Out" to move the overall story forward other than turning Elsa (Georgina Haig) from a menace to a cause for the Charmings to help. This happens after an episode-long story centered on the theme of resilience and not giving up: when Elsa accidentally traps herself and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) in a cavern of ice, David's past with Anna suddenly becomes key in giving Elsa the confidence not to give up on trying to get her icy powers under control. It's an interesting enough story, but it doesn't tell us much of anything regarding Anna, who continues to be AWOL with no apparent explanation as to what might have happened to her. However, we're only two episodes in, and I imagine this business with Anna is going to be a bit of a slow burn, so I have no problem hunkering down for the long haul. At the very least, we've gotten the whole "Else is a threat" stuff out of the way. There just wasn't enough story here for Elsa to have lasted another episode as a reluctant, accidental bad guy. Maybe she has elements of darkness to her, but Elsa isn't a very convincing villain in her present state, and it would have been grating after a while to continue taking the character in that direction, even if she had a good reason for conjuring up snowmen and ice walls.

Naturally, the solution to this week's life-or-death problem lies in the past: while searching for whomever her parents went to meet in the Enchanted Forest, Anna encounters David, back when he was still a poor, itinerant farmer's son. He and his mother live under the ruthless thumb of Little Bo Peep, a megalomaniacal landlord with the ability to "brand" people with her staff, allowing her to track them down wherever they might run. Bo Peep demands rent payment in 24 hours, or she'll repossess David's farm, leaving he and his mother homeless. She also implies she'll kill them, which makes the first threat kind of pointless (but then, Bo Peep isn't exactly a Keyser Soze-level villain). Incensed by how this "bully" treats David and his mother, Anna decides to stay and help teach David how to use a sword, so he'll be able to fight Bo Peep and her men. David proves to be utterly ineffective with a sword, despite Anna's best efforts to train him. It appears that giving up is in David's blood, as he's all too ready to throw in the towel and let Bo Peep win after recounting the story of how his father died in a drunk driving accident (well, drunkenly driving a horse-and-carriage, but a DWI is a DWI in any world). David feels that some battles simply can't be won, and it's clear that this is an ethos that has motivated his entire life until this point. However, Anna insists that hope is all any of us have, and that fighting for what's right is the only thing that separates heroes from villains.

Credit: ABC

It's a treacly sentiment, but it works because Lail dedicates herself so completely to her performance as Anna. Not a single Disney character that has appeared on this show has been so wonderfully and meticulously realized as Lail's Anna, as she feels like the living embodiment of her animated counterpart. It's just such a terrific performance that uplifts everything around it, so that when David decides to take up the sword and fight for his family's farm, and to rescue the kidnapped Anna, we can see the effect one character had on another -- because we can see Anna embodied in David's actions, his resiliency, and his heroism. Yes, the show is dropping Anna into the past of the Enchanted Forest and telling us she's always been there, that she'd always had an effect on how David turned out. But this was a situation where that conceit actually works, because it ties into who David is now. By relaying Anna's words of encouragement to Elsa through a walkie-talkie, he's able to inspire her to get her powers under control. She's able to create an opening in the ice cavern so she and Emma can escape before Emma freezes to death. And that's not all, as David finds Bo Peep in Storybrooke (apparently, she's the town butcher, and it wouldn't surprise me if she were selling sheep meat). He takes her staff and gives it to Elsa to help her find Anna, who was "branded" by Bo Peep back in the Enchanted Forest all those years earlier. In short, David is a hero because of Anna's influence, and he's raised an entire family (and kingdom) on that heroic sensibility. So of course he's going to help Elsa find Anna, if it's within his power to do so. And of course David's family is going to help out too, because they're "a family that doesn't like to give up."

While the staff doesn't show Elsa any images of her sister, it does provide her with the sound of a heartbeat: Anna is alive, and David, Emma, Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), and Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) resolve to help locate her. However, Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) is more concerned with Regina (Lana Parrilla), who is refusing to see visitors due to her depression over the break-up with Robin Hood. Henry returns to her house and shouts through the door, telling his mother that she may be able to lock him out of the house, he won't be able to lock him out of her life. It's one of the more powerful moments of the episode, as Henry and Regina have come a long way as mother and son, and their reconnection here brings their relationship full circle from their icy beginnings. Hell, if this is where the series ended, it would have been a poignant cap to the Henry/Regina arc, with a son helping his mother through the pain of heartache by assuring her she's still loved. It's a moment I feel might end up being undervalued in the grand scheme of the episode. Other things that might be getting a bit less attention: the fact that Snow White is technically the Mayor now, as Regina has given up the role, and the people have chosen Snow as her replacement. Luckily, Snow proves herself every bit as fit for rule in the real world as she was in the Enchanted Forest, rallying the Seven Dwarves to help her restore power to Storybrooke after Elsa's ice freezes the power lines. However, it's clear that there will be bigger problems on the horizon than Snow can solve with Seven Dwarves, as we learn that there's someone else in town with ice powers. Grumpy (Lee Arenberg) visits the Any Given Sundae ice cream parlor, and is surprised to discover that none of the ice cream has melted during the power outage. The woman in charge (Elizabeth Mitchell) claims she's simply lucky. But, as Grumpy leaves, we see her use her powers to make the ice cream, revealing that not only does this person have ice powers as powerful as Elsa's, she actually has complete control over them as well. I love Elizabeth Mitchell, so I'm hoping she'll be sticking around for an extended arc. If nothing else, she should make for a captivating villain, even if witches are a bit overdone on this show.

"White Out" is a solid episode that moves the overarching narrative forward only incrementally. Yet incremental progress is still progress. So while this season may not be hitting the ground running, it's clear that it has a direction in mind, and the confidence to take its time in getting there.