Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 9 "Shattered Sight"

Or better title, "Where's Ruby?"



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With the Snow Queen's 'shattered sight' curse in full swing, Storybrooke begins to turn against itself. Mary Margaret and David trade insults across the bars of their cells while Kristoff listens in, convinced all marriages end up this way.

Anna gives up trying to sweet talk Kristoff, she joins Elsa and Emma, trying to brain storm how they plan to battle the Snow Queen. Anna tells them that the shattered sight spell is based on an old Norse legend. In the story, villagers finally broke the spell by killing the king who had cast the spell.

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With murder on their minds, Emma and Elsa leave baby Neil with Anna as they try to figure out a way to kill the Snow Queen.

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Mr. Gold packs for his final departure from Storybrook and acts as the loop hole answer guy. Hook stumbles in, disgusted with how everyone stealing and beating each other up like pirates. Mr. Gold explains that Hook is spared from the curse because his heart isn't in his chest.

I'll try and remember that for the quiz at the end, thanks, Mr. Gold.

He then reminds us of his diabolical plan that involves the stars in the sky perfectly aligning with the stars on his magic hat.

And once this happens (tomorrow night) he'll have enough power to cleave himself from the dagger.  And once that happens...he'll be able to leave Storybrooke with his powers intact and with Belle and Henry in tow.

Phew. Got that?

With the lesson over for the day, he orders Hook to go find where Henry is hiding so he can kidnap him and put him to sleep like Belle. "They'll have no memory of Storybrooke," he says with a Grinchy grin. "Then I'll finally be the hero...not the villain."

Hey, that's Regina's line.

The Snow Queen walks unnoticed among the violent streets (and by violent I mean someone spits) and retrieves two purple stones from her ice cream shop.

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Emma and Elsa arrive to stop her with their slick hand moves, but the ribbons they wear make it impossible for them to harm the Snow Queen.

Darn. What now?

We flashback to young Emma. She's having a hard time at her new foster home—you know, the one run by Ingrid. Emma tries to run away, but Ingrid takes her aside and encourages her to scare the crap out of the tough kid who is bulling her.

Wow! Great psychology. How did you become a foster parent?

Emma and Elsa try everything they can think of to slice the ribbons, but they seem indestructible. Then Emma has an absolutely absurd idea; she reasons since the ribbons which are bond by unfathomable love can only be broken by incredible hate.

Huh?

Who cares? It's a plan. They go to Emma's number one enemy...Regina.

The Snow Queen lounges in her ice palace and brings out a memory from one of the purple stones. We see young Emma and Ingrid having a fun day at the amusement park. With Ingrid's encouragement, Emma uses extreme concentration and manages to get the toy she wanted from the Claw Machine.

Actually, if you've ever tried, getting anything from that machine is a frickin' miracle.

There are tears in Ingrid's eyes as she tells Emma she is super special and has a wonderful gift and to never give up and blah, blah, blah...they hug.

Then Ingrid tells Emma she wants to adopt her. "I'll be the best big sister you could ever hope for."

Cha-ching! A big sister who will someday own an ice cream shop!

Emma uses her magic to break through the containment spell around Regina's vault. Regina has changed into her usual evil Queen attire that's a cross between Prince and The Matrix.

After Emma and Elsa mock her, she throws a fireball of hatred at them. It works! The magic of hatred breaks the ribbon. They skedaddle out of there speedy quick.

Hook finds Henry in the Mayor's office. He breaks in, but Henry manages to slip away after Hook slips on a floor covered in marbles.

*cough* Home Alone *cough* 

Young Emma goes all fangirl over Harry Potter and Ingrid thinks this is a good time to tell Emma she's magic.

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But instead of telling her, Ingrid pulls Emma into the path of a car and orders her to stop the racing vehicle by trusting her instincts. Emma freaks out and runs away, bummed that the only person who wants to adopt her is wacko.

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Regina is loose on the town and full of revenge. She arrives at the jail ready to kidnap baby Neil. She makes Anna and Kristoff disappear and lets Mary Margaret out of jail. She gives her a sword and the girl fight begins.

We see Ingrid arrive in Storybrooke with her scroll from the magicians apprentice, hoping to find a twenty eight year old Emma.

The Snow Queen is a little upset the girls have lost their ribbons. Still, she offers the purple memory stones. But Emma isn't buying her act. "Magic can't make you love someone," she says.

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I feel another lesson coming...

The Snow Queen replies, "If you loved someone in the past you can love them again."

Um...what about magic?

The Snow Queen knows they've come to kill her, but they're silly baby monkeys and can't even burn toast with their powers let alone take down her.

Emma arrives in Ingrid's ice cream shop and is shocked to see the crazy foster mom from twenty years ago. Emma threatens to call Sheriff Graham.

Aw, Sheriff Graham. Let's have a moment, shall we.

Okay, back to the story.

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Ingrid uses the purple stone to take away Emma's memories of their time together and then gives her an extra scoop of Rocky Road.

Kristoff and Anna find themselves on the beach not far from where their trunk washed ashore. He argues about wanting to leave. Anna sees the bottle that came up from the ship wreck with them through the portal. She breaks it over Kristoff's head to keep him from swimming back to Arendale.

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Now that the bottle is broken, she finds a letter from her mother. She reads a few lines and knows she has to find Elsa speedy quick.

Anna stumbles into the Snow Queen's ice palace because even though she's never been there, she knows that's exactly where to find Anna. She starts to read her mother's letter: it's a confession about Ingrid and Helga. She regrets hiding Ingrid all those years instead of celebrating her special powers. Plus, there's the time she sucked her into an urn and hid it away in a cave forever.

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It is her last wish for Anna and Elsa to take the purple memory stone and allow the kingdom to know Ingrid and Helga.

The Snow Queen has a heart that will not melt!

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She calls Anna a liar and freeze slaps her. But when she grabs the letter and starts to read, she gets all teary eyed. Before they can start an all girl, all family band though, Ingrid has to end the curse.

She realizes she has to die. "It wasn't my powers that made me a monster, it was what I let myself become," she says.

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A swirling cloud of glass enwraps her. She gives both Emma and Elsa back their memories. Then she smiles because she's about to get her happy ending. "I have my sisters love and now I can join them."
 The cloud engulfs her and she disappears.

*Cue the girls running down the hill looking for the kite*

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A cleansing snow of metaphorical portions begins to fall.

As the fluffy white stuff covers Storybrooke, Granny and the dwarfs stop wrestling in the street. And Regina and Mary Margaret laugh at her matrix-hooker outfit.

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It's all one big hug, Storybrook style. But hey, where's Ruby? 

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Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 8 "Fall"

Or better title "Just Use Magic"

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Ingrid has cast the shattered sight spell, now all she has to do is hang out in the forest until sundown and wait for the people of Storybrooke 'tear themselves apart until everyone is dead.'

Gross.

Since Mr. Gold is the dark one and basically immune to this spell, he wants to her to spare Belle and Henry. In return, he promises to never try and hurt her. She agrees.

In a pathetic attempt to leave Storybrooke, David tries to scale the frozen wall but causes an icicle avalanche. However, a crack in the ice reveals Anna's necklace.

Emma and Elsa reason since they are wearing the ribbon bracelets they are immune to the shattered sight curse.

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Belle is doing research on the spell. Elsa arrives with Anna's necklace. Belle proclaims that mirror dust is embedded in the necklace and this allows them to figure out in three seconds that Anna must have been under the shattered sight spell when she put Elsa in the urn thirty years ago.

Get all that?

Plus, Belle also figures out that if they find Anna, maybe they can make an antidote with her blood or DNA or something. Elsa is like, Whatever, I have her necklace lets do the locator spell.

Back in Arendale, Anna and Kristoff thaw from Ingrid's spell. Anna looks for the urn, but finds gold straw instead. Again...the characters rationalize like time bandits and Anna deducts that Rumpelstiltskin and NOT Ingrid has the urn.

Hans and his brothers have also thawed and claim to be the rightful rulers of the kingdom.

Why? How does that make any sense?

A sword fight ensues, but Anna and Kristoff manage to get away.

Hook and Mr. Gold discover the ice surrounds the harbour as well so there's no escaping by water. Also, apparently the fairies have taken over Granny's pub/diner/Laundromat as a magical laboratory to combat the shattered sight spell just in case Anna shows up with her DNA.

Elsa pours the locator spell on the snowflake necklace. It starts to glow and it leads them to the library. They somehow end up in the mines, but there's a blocked passage. Anna insists they blast through, but Emma doesn't like that idea because...?

I have no idea why because they'll end up using magic anyway. 

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Back in Arendale, Anna tells Kristoff she read in her mother's diary about a magical object called 'the wishing star'. The next step isn't to go see Rumpelstiltskin but to check out a pirate named Black Beard because that's who has the wishing star. And that's how they're going to find Elsa—sorry, I thought they figured out Rumpelstiltskin had the urn—And she'll help them save Arendale from Hans and his brothers.

They find Black Beard who happens to be sailing the Jolly Roger. Anna makes a deal, but it's soon apparent they've walked into a trap. Hans and his brothers have already found the pirate.

Grumpy meets with Elsa and Emma, he figures he and the dwarfs can pick axe their way through the blocked tunnel in a few hours. Regina says they have NO time. The spell will be cast at sunset.

David arrives and tells them that Belle just called from Granny's pub/diner/Laundromat/laboratory and the fairies can use the mirror dust from the necklace to make a counter potion, but it will destroy the locator spell.

Everyone thinks this is a huge conflict. Save Anna or save the town.

Um...if you use the necklace to save the town you can find Anna another way, right? I mean the dwarfs can still get through the wall.

Anyway, Emma breaks it to Elsa that they've all decided the necklace will be used to save the town. Elsa hands over the pouch containing the necklace and tearfully sneaks away.

Hey! Why is she sneaking away?

Mr. Gold arrives at Granny's meth lab. All the fairies (dressed as Nuns by the way) are working with smoking beakers. The blue fairy is there—didn't she die in Season two?—Emma and the others arrive, but they soon discover Elsa has given them a bag of pebbles.

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Emma catches up with Elsa back at the blocked passageway. Elsa uses her magic (told ya!) and it opens to the beach. But Elsa won't give up, the snowflake pendant is still glowing. There's still hope!

Meanwhile on the Jolly Roger, Anna and Kristoff are tied up and placed in a trunk. Before he closes the lid, Black Beard takes the time to confess that he met Anna's parents and that only the snowflake pendant can be used by someone true of heart.

Hans is in charge of like EVERYTHING, I guess. And it's on his orders that Anna and Kristoff get thrown overboard. He also lets them know the freezing spell had lasted thirty years.

Thirty years! I thought these were flashbacks!

Elsa wanders the beach and nearly loses faith when the pendant stops glowing. Even as she monologues about the snowflake pendant. The creepy spell cloud slowly encroaches on the town.

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Anna and Kristoff land beside the sunken ship of Anna's parents. They spend their last few breaths, holding hands and telling each other how much they're in love.

Glug. Glug. Glug...

Elsa holds the pendant close to her heart, talking about faith. She wishes that Anna could be with her.

Shazam!

The pendant WAS the wishing star. 

The trunk washes up on shore in front of Elsa and Emma. A barnacle covered bottle from the parent's shipwreck also comes ashore.

Yay! Reunion.

After Mr. Gold slips Belle away from the fairies, Hook arrives with the magic sucking hat and is forced to take away all the fairies...and their super fairy power. Even the resurrected Blue Fairy gets the vacuum treatment.

With the fairies disappearance and all hope (and faith) gone, loved ones are locking themselves up to prevent any dismemberment.

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Mr. Gold tells Hook he's going to wait until tomorrow before he leaves with Henry and Belle.

Why not now?

Mary Margaret and David tearfully hand over baby Neil, while they get locked in separate cells. They hold hands through the bars.

Regina keeps Henry safely in her house with a protection spell, then she locks herself in her vault of hearts.

Everyone chains themselves down. The cloud approaches. The Snow Queen is positively radiant. The spell falls over everyone. Mary Margaret and David look at each other, then drop their hands.


Question of the Episode:

Even if Hook is under the control of Mr. Gold, since he has the most powerful magic hat ever, can he use it against Mr. Gold...or even the Snow Queen? Let me know what you think.

Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 5 "Family Business"

 

Or better title, "Elsa Needs A New Dress"

Darn the green background!
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During a flashback we see Belle and her mother hiding from an Ogre as it storms the castle. by the way, it's time ABC amp up the special effects budget. The sets are so fake it's ridic. When Belle wakes the next day, she has no memory of her mother's death.

Emma plays the video showing the Snow Queen as her guardian during her foster years. Regina mentions it might be a good idea to search for her. Everyone one is like, "Yeah, let's get this party started." Henry suggests they should search her ice cream truck.

I suggest they search the forest because that's where everyone hides.

Young Belle is determined to regain her memories to learn how exactly her mother died.

I'm guessing the ogre ate her.

Anyway, through the miracle of reading, Belle uncovers a map to a magical place where creatures can help unlock memories. And that place? Arendale...aka the enchanted forest.

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Elsa reunites with Anna in their castle. Anna lies and says she didn't find out why their parents went away. The Snow Queen arrives and introduces herself as her long lost aunt, plus she has that icicle power thing. Elsa is excited because she's finally learning to control her icy powers. Anna isn't so sure.

Belle and Elsa go to Storybrooke's library to find answers! Elsa asks about Arendale and Belle flat out lies she never heard of it.

Holy sparkling snowflakes! Elsa needs a new outfit. Seriously, I saw kids trick or treating with the same damn dress.

Anna is wary of her aunt so she decides to travel to the rock trolls for answers.

Regina and everyone else who considers themselves the police, ambush the ice cream truck that's been parked in the middle of the forest. Inside, Emma finds newspaper clippings about her past.

Scandalous!

Elsa breaks down in the library. She has no memories of how she got to Storybrooke, she doesn't think she'll ever find Anna again, and she's still wearing the same dress from the first episode. Belle can't take seeing her pathetic display and runs away promising to find a way to Anna.



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Young Belle arrives at a secluded supply shop looking for the rock trolls, she bumps into Anna who offers to show her the way.

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Since there's no one to fire an arrow at, Robin uses the down time around the abandoned ice cream truck to let Regina know he's still hot for her. She says her magic is useless against the ice spell the Snow Queen put on Marion. So if Robin wants to save his wife he has to stop loving Regina and muster up his best true loves kiss to break the spell and wake his wife.

Storybrooke romances are so darn complicated. Remember when David was so excited to tell Mary Margaret that his wife wasn't pregnant? 

Mr. Gold chats with the Snow Queen in a clearing in the forest glade. He warns her Emma is closing in on her secret. She calls his bluff and says Emma is finding out everything she needs to know.

This is a pointless conversation that just wasted a few minutes of my life.

Anna and Belle journey through the woods and talk about how they both lost their mothers. Belle says she's looking for answers to find peace. Anna has a stumble and the golden box falls out of her satchel. She tells Belle it contains a powerful hat that absorbs the most powerful magic...she stole it from some golden dude with a bad perm.

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Mr. Gold comes back from his useless conversation to find Belle ready to go on a field trip in search of the Snow Queen. She tells him she has to fix a mistake she made long ago. She wipes out the fake dagger and commands Mr. Gold to take her to the Snow Queen.

Hmm...how's he going to play this?

Emma goes through the news clippings baffled that she doesn't remember having the Snow Queen as a step mother for six months. Hook pulls out a scroll full of hieroglyphs. Emma asks, "What the hell was she doing with me?"

Mr. Gold leads Belle to the Snow Queen's cave. She confesses she knows of a hat that has the power to absorb magic and she's convinced the Snow Queen must have it.

And she knows this how?    

Anna and Belle reach the Troll King. He gives Belle a magic herb and tells her to make tea at the spot where she last saw her mother and the memories will return. He also tells Anna that her mother did indeed have a sister, two in fact—who both mysteriously disappeared one day. Anna is more confused and mistrustful of her aunt.

Belle enters the ice cave and is drawn to the magic mirror.

On the trip back to the castle Anna and Belle are trapped on the mountain ledge by a sudden storm.

Actually it's perfectly sunny, but I guess they spent too much on the special effects budget.

Anna slips over the side while the magical tea tumbles from Belle's grasp. Instead of going to Anna's rescue Belle reaches for the tea, but it falls. And then Anna falls! She lies unmoving, far below. The gold box has come out of her satchel.



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Oops.

The Snow Queen arrives and scoops up the golden box.

Double oops.

Back in the ice cave, the mirror is a sounding board that echoes Belle's worst paranoia. Besides telling her she's a slime ball for choosing the tea over Anna, it also mentions the fake dagger. Mr. Gold arrives and magically whisks her back to the pawn shop. The cry and hug and blah, blah, blah...she's still too stupid to see that the dagger is fake.

Young Belle returns home and faces her worried father. She tells him the trip was a huge mistake. He looks sheepish and finally tells her he knew all along how her mother died. When the Ogre attacked, Belle's mother distracted it long enough for the guards to rescue Belle, but when they returned the mother was already dead.

What? The King only had like two guards or something? Why didn't the guards fight the Ogre?

Her father says the ogres are winning the war and they'll soon be made into soup. Belle comes up with the fantastic idea that they should summon this wizard she heard of in Arendale to help them fight back...Rumpelstiltskin.

 

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Mr. Gold pays the Snow Queen a visit inside her snow cave. She's all confident until he whips out the magic hat. Again, she talks about her secret mission. And again, I've lost another minute of my life.

Anna wakes up in a dungeon. The Snow Queen has the golden box and says she'll tell Elsa how Anna was going to strip their magic away. Anna asks what happened to the missing sister, but the Snow Queen answers ambiguously about finally getting a family to embrace her.

Um...yeah, we learned this last episode.  

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Elsa rushes to the Sheriff's office and shows Emma a book she just happened to find in the library that shows her royal family tree...with pictures!

What?

Elsa then points out Ingrid is the Snow Queen's real name, and the missing sister is Helga. And Helga looks a whole lot like Emma. Hook is struggling to come up with a dumb blonde joke when Elsa sees the scroll lying inconspicuously on the desk. Elsa is amazed the scroll is written in her own language...or something like that. She reads the prophecy out loud about Emma being a savior and from this Elsa deducts that Ingrid believes that Emma is the reincarnated version of her missing sister!

What? *head hits keyboard*

Belle arrives out of breath and confesses to Elsa that she knew Anna. She was hoping to steal a weapon from the Snow Queen's cave but, yeah...it didn't go so well. And plus, there's this scary mirror made of black magic that has the power to turn everyone in Storybrooke against each other.

Hook declares the town will destroy itself. Emma and Elsa turn to each other and say, "Except us. Ingrid wants us to be one happy family."

I miss the good old days when David was still in a coma and Ruby and Granny shouted at each other in the parking lot. What do you miss? 

Check out my other Once Upon A Time recaps here!

Once Upon A Time, Season 4, Episode 4 "The Apprentice"

Or better title "Hands Off!" 

Crying real pirate tears because this episode gave him cramps.
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A long time ago...

A withered sorcerer's apprentice guards a dish of caviar—sorry, its a golden box that looks like a dish of caviar. Anyway, a cloaked figure brandishing the dagger of the dark one tries to steal the box, but a powerful spell makes it impossible to retrieve.

The apprentice says, "Every dark one has tried to steal this box, but none have ever succeeded."

Flash forward to present day. Mr. Gold studies the exact same box. He uses the dagger to open the box to reveal...the sorting hat from Harry Potter.

Big deal, he did that last episode.

Henry encourages Emma to hang out with Hook so she asks him out on a date. You know, like most teenage boys who find their adoptive mother after reading a magic storybook.

Hook's totally into the idea. He gives Emma a smouldering grin and tells her to leave the planning up to him.

Maybe a BBQ? That way he can use his hook as a kabob.


Faster than you can say, give me five, Hook runs over to Mr. Gold's shop and blackmails him into giving him his hand back—Mr. Gold has had kept it in a jar all these years.

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Gross.

Ignoring Mr. Gold's warning that his old hand may turn him into the unscrupulous pirate he used to be, Hook insists he's a changed man.

Emma puts on a pink dress and wears her hair up in a ponytail for her date with Hook. He arrives in a short leather jacket and jeans.

Summer Lovin'
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Oh my God! It's Sandy and Danny from Grease.

Back in the enchanted forest, Anna makes her way into Rumpelstiltskin's castle. He tells Anna her parents paid him a visit asking for help. She's intrigued and agrees to do anything to learn the truth.

He twirls and giggles, then gives her a small glass bottle. Anna is to visit an old man at the base of the mountain and slip the potion into his tea. When Anna visits the man, it's the apprentice. But instead of pouring the potion in the tea, she throws it in the fire.

Danny and Sandy go to a restaurant, and here's the shocking part—it's not Granny's pub/diner/laundromat. Emma tries to bring up the problem of the missing Snow Queen, but Hook is intent on keeping things romantic.

The thief from the ice cream shop is there (yes, I just wrote that). He sees Emma and freaks out because she's the Sheriff and he needs to keep a low profile. He does this by walking directly to her table, and bumping into a waiter who then spills all the things but none of it stains her dress.

Hook viciously grabs the dude. The guy runs off, but Hook looks at his evil hand worried that Mr. Gold was right.

Bad hand. Bad, bad hand.

Henry and Regina go through her magical supplies trying to think of a potion to help Marion (the wife of her boyfriend, Robin). Henry tells her she should be happy that Robin's kiss didn't work because that proves he doesn't love Marion.

Wow. Henry is way too concerned with his mothers' love lives.

Where is Dr. Hopper? I think I need therapy.

Hook and Emma share a good night kiss, but the bad hand keeps distracting Hook.

There are so many inappropriate jokes going through my mind right now.

While Emma convinces her parents she's not pregnant yet, Hook roams the dark streets. He finds the thief trying to break into the library. Hook starts to beat him up—yes, that's right, with his BAD hand.

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Anna returns to Rumpelstiltskin's castle with the empty vial and lies that she gave the potion. He tricks her into thinking she withheld an antidote, making her responsible for the apprentice sudden transforming into a mouse.

Anna cries when he convinces her she'll never see her sister again. He pushes her to the brink, but she refuses to stab him. He takes his dagger and captures her tears—the only thing that will let him gain access to the gold box (the tears of someone who faced their inner darkness and turned away.)

Blah, blah, blah. Who cares? What's Hook's bad hand up to?

Hook goes to Mr. Gold and asks to have his Hook back. Mr. Gold tells him he's already switched the real dagger so if Hook wants to make a deal, he'll have to pay with a favour.

Emma's car slips on a patch of ice. She sees the Snow Queen and chases her on foot, but tracking a woman in a long white sparking dress in the middle of a maritime town is super hard. Emma loses her after two seconds.

Belle calls Emma and tells her someone has broken into the library and he's passed out drunk with a copy of Alice In Wonderland.

Dear ABC,

I see what you're doing. I won't start watching another fairy tale show.

Mr. Gold finds Hook and asks him to follow a magic broom which will lead him to an old friend.

With the power of Anna's tears, Rumpelstiltskin gets the gold box. He then tells Anna her parents came to him asking for help with Elsa's powers. The gold box contains a magic hat that has the power to absorb magic, making it more powerful than his own abilities.

But Anna has made friends with the mouse/apprentice. It jumps from the rafters and bites Rumpelstiltskin's hand. He drops the dagger and Anna picks it up. She soon realizes that as long as she holds the dagger, she has power over him. She takes the gold box and orders Rumpelstiltskin to send her back home.

The magic broom leads Hook and Mr. Gold to the house of Mickey Mouse the apprentice, who is no longer a mouse. Hook holds the elderly man in the chair while Mr. Gold opens the gold box, making the hat appear. The apprentice is sucked into the hat, thereby giving it more power.

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Anna returns home to Kristoff's arms, but the reunion turns sad when Anna tells him that her parents left on the ship because they were afraid of Elsa's power.

Mr. Gold gives Hook back his well...his hook. They have this looooong conversation about who is the worst and who can blackmail whom. It turns out Mr. Gold video taped Hook helping him dispose of the old man, and even though he STILL has the real dagger, Hook is now being blackmailed by Mr. Gold.

And by the way, the hand wasn't evil, it was just Mr. Gold messing with Hook's head.

I need a drink.

Emma and David learn the Snow Queen didn't come to Storybrooke because of the curse. So how did she get there? And what does she want with Emma? And why does it matter that the thief was making out and partying with a book in the library?

Henry tries to convince Regina that they can't give up on operation Mongoose. He reasons Mr. Gold knows who wrote the Storybook. He goes to the pawn shop and asks to help out as an after school job, but *wink wink* he's really working undercover.

Sweet. This show is always better with Regina.

Check out my other Once Upon A Time Recaps here!

Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episode 3 "Rocky Road"

Or better title "Cold Hearted Mongoose"

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Robin and Marion take their little son to the local ice cream shop—the only other business in Storybrooke besides Granny's pub/dinner/laundromat.

The ice cream lady gives Marion a little something special with her sprinkled cone.

Emma and Hook confront Mr. Gold, but he has no memory of Elsa or Anna. Emma threatens to use her super power of lie detection on him.

Her words, not mine.

To prove he's not lying, Mr. Gold has Belle use the dagger to command him to tell the truth.

Psst...they don't know it's a fake.   

In a flashback, Elsa is determined to go after Anna to the enchanted forest. Kristoff shows up and tells her that the evil Prince Hans is building an army (including his twelve brothers) to invade her kingdom.



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Now that she's the new Mayor, Mary Margaret tries to hold a town meeting while holding her baby. While everyone begins to shout about tracking down Elsa for the evil ice wizard that she is, Marion passes out. 

Regina confides to Henry that she's trying to find out who wrote the original Storybook. She wonders if it's possible to change how she's written as the villain. Henry thinks it's a super swell idea and they give their quest a special name, Operation Mongoose.

Get it? That's where the title comes from. Ahem, anyway...

Robin rushes in and asks Regina to check Marion. The diagnosis isn't good, the magic will continue to make its way to her heart, and once it's frozen she'll die. Elsa says the only way to break a freezing spell is with true love's kiss.

Thanks Captain Obvious.

But Robin's kiss can't wake her. David says he saw this once before with Frederick.

Who's Frederick, you ask? It's from season one, entitled, "What happened to Frederick"

Kristoff decides to sneak away and spy on Hans and his army. He witnesses a feud between the brothers. Hans lets it slip there is a magical urn hidden in a cave that will trap Elsa, thereby leaving the kingdom unguarded. Elsa and Kristoff risk leaving the kingdom defenceless and travel through the forest in search of the urn.

Granny and Grumpy begin a mob intent on lynching Elsa. Nothing pleases the ice cream shop lady more.

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David and Emma go to Marion's camp site, looking for clues. They find one of his former Merry Men, and famed thieve. He has information; while on a stealing rampage during the black out, he noticed the ice cream shop didn't have any melted ice cream.

Isn't that interesting? It's also interesting there's a new business in town run by someone new.

Hook and Elsa go to Mr. Gold's shop. Hook threatens to tell Belle that Mr. Gold is lying because he knows the dagger is fake. Mr. Gold begrudgingly agrees to help Elsa. She gives him a strand of Marion's hair. He casts a spell and lets them see the magic that created the curse. He lets it free and the wave of tiny snowflakes journeys back to the source.

Follow the snowflakes!

Dr. Hopper runs into Mary Margaret who is finding life difficult doing everything while holding baby Neal. Dr. Hopper senses she's afraid to miss anytime with the baby since she wasn't there for Emma. He tells her it's okay and in fact healthier to let someone hold the baby once in awhile.

Emma, David, and the thief break into the ice cream shop. In the back, they discover everything is frozen. The thief empties the cash register and takes off.

Elsa and Kristoff find the urn in the cave. When Elsa picks up the urn, words magically appear, but she can't read the inscription. Hans and his brothers arrive and a clumsy sword fight ensues. Hans quickly has Kristoff at knife point. Elsa gives hands over the urn to spare his life.

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Hook and Elsa follow the snowflakes through the forest and find the ice cream shop lady, but now she's in a sparkly white dress. Hook leaves Emma a voice mail.

Hans opens the urn and a liquid escapes, filling the cave floor. It takes the form of the ice cream shop lady. She immediately freezes Hans. His brothers flee. The ice lady turns to Elsa and tells her she's been trapped inside the urn for a very long time. When Elsa questions her powers, the woman smiles and explains that Elsa's mother was her sister.

Auntie!

Hook's leg is suddenly caked in ice. The ice lady tries to convince Elsa they can only trust each other, and she drops the bombshell that her own sister, Anna was the one who trapped Elsa in the urn.

Oh, man. They lost me.

But Elsa isn't buying it, she knows the ice lady was trying to frame her for Marion's curse.

Emma and David finally show up. The ice lady calls Emma by name. Emma is slightly confused because she's never seen this woman before. She decides words are useless in this situation and uses her super power— not the lie detecting one, the convenient one when there's no other way out. She defeats the ice lady, but she still manages to escape.

In order to save Marion, Regina enchants her heart and removes it from her body before it freezes. She'll have to stay frozen until a cure is found.

Hook corners Emma and she confesses the reason she pulls away from him is because everyone she's ever been close to dies. He says, "I'm good at surviving."

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Mr. Gold encounters the ice lady in the forest. They know each other. She refuses his help and says, "I'm not ready to make a deal yet." He also knows her connection to Emma and reminds her if Emma remembers their past...it's game over baby.

Check out my other recaps of Once Upon A Time, here...even from the very first episode!

Once Upon A Time Season 4, Episde 2 "White Out"

Or better title "Creepy Bo Peepy"

Elsa vows that until she and Anna are together, no one will leave Storybrooke.

Um...that's kind of already been established, right?

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Anna travels through the enchanted forest and ends up at the cabin of ... David (with long hair, Jesus style). Apparently before David became the fake prince he was a friend of Kristoff's. Anna tries to keep her 'mission of magic' a secret, and she tells him her name is Joan.

Mary Margaret puts little baby Neal down for a nap. David and Emma talk with Henry about his mom dealing with her boyfriend's wife coming back from the past.

Typical family chit chat, no?

A crow arrives with a message for Henry. Regina is too sad to see him. She needs her space.

Space from her kid? That's suspicious.

Henry drowns his sorrows at Granny's pub/diner/laundromat. There's a sudden ice storm and the power goes out. David calls Emma two seconds later saying he's getting calls from all over town...it's a town wide black out.

That was fast. It just happened.

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Emma and David discover a wall of ice surrounds Storybrooke. Hook shows up and tries to convince Emma how they can turn this midnight event into a date. Seeing a scared girl on the other side of the ice, Emma travels inside the snow structure. She finds Elsa who tells her she's looking for her lost sister.

Grumpy, Granny and another dwarf I can't remember, call on Mary Margaret and declare that she should be the new Mayor of Storybrooke since Regina is holed up in her mansion, broken hearted.

Bo Peep arrives at David's cottage and asks for payment. Apparently Bo Peep is an extortionist and her tall staff is a powerful weapon. She uses it to "brand" David and his mother to work off their debt. Anna tries to convince David to fight back, but he tells her he's just a shepherd. She offers to teach him how to sword fight.

When David and Hook barge into Elsa's ice castle she gets mad and causes and avalanche trapping her and Emma inside. Hook hacks away with his...well hook. But it's pointless. David says. "I think we need magic to fight this."

No kidding. Just like every other episode.

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Shepherd David is proving to be a quick study at sword fighting, but he knows he'll never beat Bo Peep. Anna tells David not to give up and that surviving isn't living. He talks about loss and she calls him a coward.

David says, "One morning when I was six I woke up and heard my mother and father going at it."

*Giggles*

They were fighting about David's father's drinking problem. But he suddenly resolved to quit drinking and be a proper husband and father. He left on a trip, but never returned. They found his cart at the bottom of a ravine.

I don't know what that was all about. Anyway, Anna tells him again to not be a loser like his dad.

Elsa says she'll keep Emma prisoner in her ice castle until Anna is found. Emma relays the news to David and Hook listening on her walkie talkie.

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Mary Margaret is taken to the electrical grid by Grumpy and Granny. She flips out when she can't figure out how to decipher the grid. She tells them to buy flashlights.

Go Mayor, Mary Margaret.

Emma starts to freeze. Elsa confesses that she doesn't have the best control over her powers and the ice sculpture is permanent until Anna can be found. Since Emma has magic...sort of...she tries to melt the ice, but she's too cold...and that would be too easy.

Elsa and Emma bond over their troubled upbringing. Elsa applogizes for putting Emma's life at risk.

Hook and David arrived at Mr. Gold's shop. They have a picture of the necklace that was taken. David does his signature blank face and declares that he recognizes the snowflake pendant. "I know who Anna is."

When David the shepherd goes to convince Anna they can't beat the evil Bo Peep, she is nowhere to be found. Bo Peep is in her place saying that Anna is now her branded slave. AND she's wearing the snowflake pendant.

David arrives at the local butcher's shop, run by Bo Peep. Hook grabs her crook and they book it out of there.

Long haired David arrives at Bo Peep's place. He challenges the guard's and Bo Peep. He wins the sword fight and he takes back the snowflake pendant. After, he finds Anna and they have a heart to heart about being trapped in lives they don't want.

What?

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Hook and David take turns encouraging Elsa through the walkie talkie as Emma keeps turning blue. David tells Elsa that he knew Anna a long time ago and that she wouldn't want Elsa to live alone in a palace of ice. Elsa creates a warm wind—a chinook if you want to be fancy about it— and she melts the walls enough for her and Emma to escape.

Mary Margaret studies the manual while baby Neal cries for his supper. She realizes the power plant needs it's supper too and she turns on the fuel supply, thereby securing her place as Mommy Mayor.

David's mother, Ruth gives Anna a few sandwiches for the next leg of her journey. She asks if there's someone in this land that knows about powerful magic. Ruth looks scared. She speaks of a wizard who is to be feared, but he can certainly help her—Rumpelstiltskin.

Hook, Emma and Elsa convene at the Charming household. David vows to help find Anna. "This family finds people because we don't like to give up."

Also, yours is a family that keeps falling into parallel universes. 

Henry goes to see his heartbroken mom. He tells her through the letter slot that he's not giving up on her. She opens the door, they hug.

Hey, they're almost the same height.

Emma and Elsa return to her wall of ice, but Elsa can't melt it. "That's weird, I'm the only one with this power. So why is this still standing?"

Indeed.

The next morning Grumpy goes into an ice cream parlour and the blond woman behind the counter serves him a cone. She says she didn't have any trouble when the power went out.

Why? Because she has the freezing power too. And who is she? Another actor from LOST.



Check out my other recaps of Once Upon A Time here!

Once Upon A Time, Season 4, Episode 1, "A Tale of Two Sisters"

Or better title "Freezer Burn"



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The parents of Elsa and Anna are about to go down with their ship in a rough storm. The mother makes a quick note and puts it in a bottle. She says, "The girls need to know the truth."

Wow! Whatever she wrote on that note must be important. Which makes me wonder, why did the parents wait until certain death before sending this crucial tidbit to the girls? Why not have a letter in a safe back in the palace? Or entrust it with a trusted palace official? Or even one of those troll things? Or...oh never mind.   

Five years later Elsa and Anna visit their parent's grave. The two grow melancholy until Elsa brings up Anna and Kristoff's quickly approaching wedding. Elsa says she has a special present for Anna.
 

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Zipping to the present time, we see Elsa emerge from the symbol on the barn floor and enter Storybrooke. She walks along the darkened streets and almost gets run over by Grumpy's truck. She hits them with a wall of ice to prevent the accident.

Regina now has to deal with Robin Hood's newly arrived wife, Marion.

Poor Regina. It's bad enough your boyfriend's wife shows up, but when she calls you an evil witch in front of everyone...well, let's just say she's entitled to whatever diabolical plan she'll cook up later.

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Elsa excitedly shows Anna the present—their mother's wedding dress and a special snowflake pendant. Elsa starts reading their mother's diary that she just happened to find. Her eyes grow wide as she tearfully explains she's the reason their parents died.

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After Belle and Mr. Gold get married (gag), they visit Neal's grave. Mr. Gold is still keeping the dagger a secret from Belle. He privately vows to avenge Neal's death.

Psst...having secret agendas and magical weapons is the key to a long and happy marriage. 

Robin visits Regina and tells her that even though he's still hot for her, he has to stay loyal to his wife. He says he has to live by his code.

The code? You're a fairy tale character, dude.

Regina gets so mad she breaks a mirror with her hate. She picks up a shard and grins wickedly at herself. This gives her an idea. She slips into the hospital and makes her way to the psychiatric ward where they keep patients locked inside dark cells.

Um...is that right? Where are the police? Or...oh never mind.

Since there's no security or staff of any kind in this secret hospital prison, Regina peeks in on a patient in confinement and easily opens the door. It's Mr. Glass, her old mirror. And we all know Mr. Glass will do anything for his evil queen.

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Mr. Gold and Belle tour their new house. It has a huge library and comes with a ballroom, which comes in handy when they totally rip off the dance scene from Disney. It also comes with a small circular chest that's locked.

Nothing strange about that. 

Hook and Emma have one of those awkward talks when you make out with someone and then don't know what to say the next day. Grumpy interrupts them, screaming about an ice monster loose in Storybrooke.

Elsa is convinced their parents were so scared of her icy powers they tried to escape on that fateful ship.

Um...if they were so terrified why did they leave little Anna in the palace with Elsa? Or why not have Elsa shipped away to live in an igloo up north? Or why not banish her to the highest alp? Or...oh never mind. This is "Once Upon A Time" and logic rarely matters.

Emma and Hook follow a trail of ice. Elsa manages to conjure a snow monster that begins to cause chaos in the streets.

Not ready to believe Elsa's theory, Anna consults the troll king about their parent's last voyage. He says their parents were going to Misthaven, but for what reason he doesn't know. Anna is convinced they should travel there for the answer, but Elsa will not leave the kingdom.

While her snow monster roams the streets, Elsa hides in an alley where she happens to see a newspaper blow by with a wedding photo of Mr. Gold and Belle. 

That was fast, they just got married.

Regina brings Mr. Glass up to speed on what he's missed. She decides to go back in time to kill Marion before Emma can bring her back to Storybrooke.

Awesome plan. No snags there.
 

Elsa slips undetected through the streets of Storybrooke until she finds Mr. Gold's pawn shop.

 

Anna secretly takes off for Misthaven, leaving Elsa on shore with Kristoff.

The snow monster goes into the forest and happens to find Robin, Marion, Hook, Emma, and David at a campsite. Emma tries her magic, but it doesn't work. Regina shows up and destroys the beast right before it almost crushes Marion.

Regina leaves in a plume of purple smoke before anyone can thank her.

A lonely, soft flute plays in the background.

Hook tells Emma they should enjoy the quiet moments that come between fighting monsters, but she confesses she feels too guilty to make out because she ruined Regina's good times with Robin by bringing his wife back. 

Emma goes to Regina's house and tries to talk to her through the doorway. She says she's commited to giving everyone a happy ending.

So many inappropriate jokes happening in my mind right now.

Regina asks the mirror to help her change fate. She claims Henry's story book is the reason she's so unhappy. Then she announces, "It's time to find out who wrote this book and make them give the villains their happy ending."
 

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Mr. Gold looks at his sleeping bride and while he polishes his secret dagger. Sorry, that came out wrong. He uses it to open the small chest. Inside is what looks like a tiny universe.

Whoa! What the heck have the writers been drinking?

Elsa watches helplessly as Anna's ship leaves for Misthaven. Kristoff tells her Misthaven is another name for the enchanted forest. Anna stands on the deck of the ship with her eyes full of hope. She touches the snowflake pendant and smiles.
 

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Back in Storybrooke Elsa breaks into Mr. Gold's shop. She finds the snowflake pendant and whispers, "I'll find you Anna."

Dun dun dun!!!

Hey, if you liked this, check out my other Once Upon A Time recaps here.