Once Upon A Time - Recap: Dairy Queen

Of course, the episode is also interesting for the backstory it develops. We not only learn that Elsa (Georgina Haig) met the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell) in the past, but we also discover a previous connection between the two: apparently, Elsa's mother was the Snow Queen's sister. But this story is naturally a bit suspect, considering that Elsa's mother never once mentioned having a magically-inclined sister, nor a sister of any kind, really. The obvious story path seems to be that the Snow Queen is Elsa's true mother, but that would mean Elsa and Anna were not true sisters, since they would presumably have different fathers (well, unless the late king really got around). While you could easily argue that their story is actually more poignant if they formed a sisterly bond that blood didn't corroborate, I still feel it fundamentally changes the relationship between Anna and Elsa if they're actually revealed to be cousins instead of sisters, which is why I don't think that's where the story is actually headed. Yet, as it stands right now, there are far more pressing questions than the nonexistent question of whether or not Anna and Elsa are actually sisters, since the identity of the Snow Queen is one of the biggest mysteries this show has had in some time. She appears to have some sort of history with virtually everybody, and her actions in the present have a ripple effect that, if nothing else, gets two of the show's big love stories moving along at a faster rate.

Credit: ABC

In the present, the Snow Queen is on the run for having poisoned Marian with an ice spell for unknown reasons, leaving the woman in limbo as the ice spell slowly works its way to her heart. Regina (Lana Parrilla) comes out of her self-imposed exile to help Robin Hood, and manages to keep Marian alive by removing her heart so the ice can't get to it, a blunt but effective solution. Regina also learns that Robin was planning on leaving Marian because he was in love with her, which seems like a bit of an ill-timed admission to make when your wife isn't even cold in the gr--okay, well, I guess she's cold because of the spell. And she wouldn't be in the ground yet, since she's not exactly dead. But Marian is essentially in a coma, and Robin is already talking about his true feelings for Regina. Eh, it's probably a silly thing to get hung up about, but it really stuck out to me. That said, it's a very small part of what turns out to be a very big episode.

Credit: ABC

The parallel story structure works to great effect here, as the flashback story and the present story intersect via the theme of otherness. In the past, Elsa teams up with Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) to search for an urn that Hans (Tyler Jacob Moore) plans to use to trap Elsa. And so Elsa and Kristoff are in a race with Hans and his crew to procure the urn, which gives the episode a slight sense of urgency. However, the story comes to a halt when Elsa finally gets the urn and has second thoughts about destroying it, discovering runes on the side that might be able to help her discover why she has magic, and if there are others out there like her. But we know this isn't a decision that can end well for Elsa, since this urn is the same urn in which Elsa will one day be trapped. Of course, that doesn't happen just yet, since Hans fails to get away with the urn due to a pretty massive oversight on his part: he forgot to check to see whether or not it was empty first. He dumps out its contents, only for the Snow Queen to materialize in a pool of liquid, much like Elsa did in the season three finale. The Snow Queen makes short work of Hans and his crew, illustrating that she's someone far more powerful than Elsa, and with a far better grasp of her powers. There's a potentially interesting connection between the two that the episode is about to explore in the flashback, but before that can happen, the story returns to the present, where Elsa has no memory of having met The Snow Queen. Thus, we're left to wonder what happened in the interim that caused Elsa to lose her memories and wind up in that urn.

The Snow Queen attempts to fill in those gaps when confronted by Elsa, Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), David (Josh Dallas), and Emma (Jennifer Morrison). She tells Elsa that, in fact, it was Anna who put her in the urn, a tale that Elsa absolutely refuses to believe (which almost invariably means it's true). In explaining her rationale for cursing Marian, the Snow Queen explains that she wanted to illustrate a point to Elsa about how the world shuns people with magic. It's kind of a crazy motive, considering she's actually going around committing crimes to get the town to turn against Elsa, for no apparent greater purpose than to note that people fear what they don't understand. She's essentially proving that townspeople right for having a mob mentality. Sure, their anger is directed at the wrong ice queen, but their fear and mistrust of magically-inclined people is proven to be well-placed. And that's why the Snow Queen feels like kind of a flimsy villain at this point, doing typically-evil things like trying to kill Hook by dropping icicles on him, not realizing that there's no greater statement to be made with these sorts of actions other than, "Well, I'm a lousy person with a chip on my shoulder." Granted, there is an interesting interaction between The Snow Queen and Emma (who jokingly calls her "Dairy Queen," which has me wondering if Kitsis and Horowitz designed this entire storyline just to make that pun). It's only a brief moment, but the Snow Queen has a shock of recognition when Emma arrives on the scene, and it's such an extreme reaction that it has to be pretty significant. Emma doesn't remember having met her at all, which is just as well, since now Emma has more of a reason to help Elsa now, since they both have memories that need unlocking. Just as we have mysteries that need solving, such as how the Snow Queen knows Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle), whom she meets with at the end of the episode after having escaped from Emma, Elsa, and the others. Much like with everyone else The Snow Queen seems to know, their connection is a total headscratcher. But these can be rewarding mysteries if the bread crumbs are delicately placed, allowing viewers to follow along and piece the solution together with the protagonists.

Credit: ABC

"Rocky Road" largely succeeds by telling a story that focuses on otherness, and the hostility towards difference. Elsa finds someone like her, in the present and the past, only to discover she's every bit as alone as before. That loneliness is something that carries over into other facets of the episode, such as Emma admitting to Hook that she's afraid of losing him, since she's lost every other person she's ever been with romantically; or Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) recognizing that she can't allow herself to let go of her child, for fear of being separated from the baby in much the same way she was separated from Emma thirty years ago. Both women have a fear of losing something dear to them, and being left alone. It's the same fear Elsa faces, and it's that same fear that unites the protagonists' respective character arcs. Whether or not those arcs all end with the same sense of closure remains to be seen, but I like that Once Upon A Time is doing the legwork of making its stories feel connected, so that there are no unnecessary subplots. In short, I could do for more episodes as focused as "Rocky Road".