Once Upon A Time - Recap: Sis In A Box

Of course, it's a bit of a disservice to Once Upon A Time to pretend it never goes dark, on occasion. The death of Neal/Baelfire was pretty dark last season, as was Gold (Robert Carlyle) straight-up murdering Zelena. But this season so far has couched its story in a tale of ambiguity: both moral and narrative ambiguity. We question the motives of people like Gold or Ingrid (Elizabeth Mitchell), while also wondering just what on Earth happened to Anna (Elizabeth Lail) or how Elsa (Georgina Haig) ended up in that magical urn. It's made for a compelling story, and one that's created momentum for the series, even while the Mystery of Anna has become a bit tedious. Thankfully, "Fall" brings that search to its conclusion, and not a moment too soon. I might want the show to occasionally get a bit more mature, but frankly, I'm glad there's a show like this that is so unabashedly committed to its fairy tale aesthetic. It takes a certain boldness to be this optimistic in a television landscape that thrives on bleakness. This wasn't my favorite episode of the season, but I felt it was the most encouraging in illustrating what's to come.

Credit: ABC

The episode centers on the parallel tales of Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and the rest of Storybrooke's citizens attempting to combat Ingrid's Spell of Shattered Sight (the curse that will force loved ones to turn against each other), while Elsa uses the Locator spell on Anna's necklace to attempt to track her down. Meanwhile, Gold strikes a deal with Ingrid that will allow him to spare Belle (Emilie de Ravin) and Henry (Jared S. Gilmore). In short, it's a busy hour of television, but one that builds a palpable sense of dread, as the Spell of Shattered Sight literally looms on the horizon. In such a crowded episode, the big risk is that by attempting to service all of the storylines, none of them end up feeling all that important. Thankfully, "Fall" manages to tie together the importance of the search for Anna with the peril facing Storybrooke and its citizens. Basically, Anna is the key to stopping the spell, since her necklace is actually a Wishing Star that could potentially serve as a block against Ingrid's spell. However, in the event that Anna can't be found, Mother Superior is concocting a backup spell that might be able to stave off the effects of the Spell of Shattered Sight. Granted, things go disastrously awry, as they tend to in Storybrooke, as the Locator spell fails to bring Elsa to Anna, leaving Emma with the daunting task of breaking the bad news that they need the necklace back. Simultaneously, the flashback story reveals Anna and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) learning about the Wishing Star just before getting double-crossed by Blackbeard, captured by Prince Hans, and thrown into a treasure chest that's sent to the bottom of the ocean. To put it mildly, it's surefire death for Anna/Kristoff.

Credit: ABC

However, in one of the most moving moments this season, Anna and Kristoff say their goodbyes as the water reaches chin level, and mere moments before Elsa makes a wish on her sister's necklace. Its Wishing Star effects result in Elsa's sis-in-a-box washing up on shore. Their reunion makes the previous eight episodes of searching worth the trouble, as Elsa and Anna's respective reactions to seeing one another again (for the first time in what we learn has been thirty years) is every bit as cathartic as you'd expect it would be. It speaks to Lail and Haig's chemistry as sisters that they were able to create a believable bond despite sharing very little screentime together so far this season. But that emotional reunion gives way to another poignant moment, as Emma begins to worry whether she's strong enough to defeat Ingrid. It's a frightening realization that sets in once Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David (Josh Dallas) decide to lock themselves in the town jail to protect themselves from the effects of the spell. That moment seems to crystallize the inevitability of what the spell will do, in much the same way Regina (Lana Parrilla) is shaken to her core, despite the optimism shown by Henry and Robin Hood (Sean Maguire). Emma says goodbye to Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), and it's intended to be a more permanent goodbye than Emma realizes, since Gold has informed Hook he has one last task before he is released him from service (in this case, "released" = "killed"). The emotional burden for the characters is multiplied by Hook's ongoing inner turmoil, being forced to trap Mother Superior in the Sorcerer's Hat, on the orders of Gold, who doesn't care about anyone else in Storybrooke so long as Henry and Belle are safe. It's a conflict that has its issues, less in the plot department and more in its characterization.

Credit: ABC

I hope, after the events of "Fall", that Once Upon A Time never seriously asks us to sympathize with Gold/Rumpelstiltskin again. This is arguably as close as he's ever come to being irredeemable, and I'm not even sure I'd be interested in seeing him redeemed in the first place. It'd be as tiresome as turning Regina evil again. There's only so many times the show can go back to the "Can [Bad Guy] Be Redeemed?" well. Thankfully, I don't think the show is going to try and convince us Gold is really a good person with noble motivations underneath it all. And that transition back towards full-scale villainy could make for fun TV. At the very least, it should be enough to cover up the wealth of characterization issues in some of the other characters. For example, I still don't see why Hook doesn't simply tell someone that Gold is controlling him. Maybe they won't be able to free him, but perhaps they'll at least know that Gold is up to something. He's not really protecting anyone by keeping this secret; if anything, he's likely making things worse for everyone involved, if only for not exposing the traitor in the ranks. With that said, Hook's farewell to Emma is fittingly poignant, and it leads into a hell of a closer for the episode, as the shards from the Spell of Shattered Sight descend upon Storybrooke. I have no idea why people decide to continue opening their eyes when they know good and well they should be keeping them closed, but I suppose the spell was going to affect them whether their eyes were open or closed. And it does lead to the aforementioned, awesome ending, as the spell takes hold of David and Mary Margaret, and the warmth in their eyes melt away and reveal a coldness that borders on hatred. The spell is already taking hold, and if it can turn these two against each other, imagine what it's going to do to everyone else in Storybrooke?

"Fall" is the first block in the foundation for the winter finale in two weeks, setting us up for a killer conflict to close out 2014. I couldn't be more stoked about where the show is heading, now that The Search for Anna is over. I hope Elsa and Anna stick around, don't get me wrong, but the inertia of their story prevented the narrative from moving forward in any significant way. But now, we can begin the fight against The Snow Queen. Well, after the citizens of Storybrooke deal with the fight against each other.