‘Once Upon A Time’ Review: True North

After last week’s phenomenal episode of Once Upon A Time, you could say that ‘True North’ had a tough lead to follow. Although it wasn’t one of my favorites, this week’s Once Upon A Time delivered an excellent way of retelling the famous story of Hansel and Gretel. Poisonous apples, blind witches, and a mysterious stranger? Perfect.

The Fairytale World:

“We’re family, and family always finds one another.” – Father of Hansel and Gretel (Nicholas Lea)

It all started with a compass. After their father sent them off to collect wood, Hansel (Quinn Lord) and Gretel (Karley Scott Collins) find themselves separated. Unlike most of the stories, his disappearance had nothing to do with Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle). Instead, it turned out that it was the Evil Queen’s (Lana Parrilla) doing. Her motives are questionable by the end of the episode. Was it truly just for the satchel? Or did she want companionship? Jumping to Storybrooke, it’s obvious that she wanted a child (Henry), so it wouldn’t be that surprising. I guess, the fact that it was a very dangerous situation proved that the black satchel was more important, though.

The Evil Queen sends the children on dangerous mission: To steal a black, leather satchel from the Blind Witch’s (Emma Caulfield) house. Let me just take a moment to praise Emma Caulfield’s performance. I adore her, back all the way to her Buffy days, and it was refreshing to see her in such an unfamiliar setting. Okay, back to the point.

“No matter what you do, no matter how you’re tempted… Don’t eat anything.” -Evil Queen

You would think the kids would actually listen to such a menacing tone. No such luck. Before they even enter the house, Hansel is already trying to eat the outside. I’m shaking my head in disapproval as I type. Gretel is doing all the work, and she’s so close to getting the satchel when… Hansel takes a bite out of a cupcake! Even with the Blind Witch opening her eyes, this wasn’t an ‘OMG’ moment. This was a ‘loud-unapproving-sigh’ moment.

“I smell dinner!” -The Blind Witch

It literally becomes the survival of the fittest! It’s the Blind Witch versus Hansel and Gretel, and either way, it doesn’t end well. Gretel devises a plan that almost fails, because of Hansel, but by the end of the epic fight sequence, the Blind Witch is fried. Literally. And I would have totally gone with gravy too, let me just add that in there.

Once Hansel and Gretel deliver the satchel, it is revealed that the important item inside was an apple. I loved how they incorporated that in there. The Evil Queen goes back on her promise to find the children’s parents, and instead offers them a place to stay at the castle. They ultimately refuse, and are sent back into the forest alone. Now, the nicest thing the queen has done at this point is this:

“You can all be together as a family as soon as you all find one another.” -Evil Queen to the Father

Well, at least she let him go? It’s the thought that counts…

Storybrooke:

I, for one, always find the fairytale part of the episode more interesting. There were just a few moments during the Storybrooke part that I felt needed to be mentioned. For one, Henry’s (Jared Gilmore) father! I had been wondering about him for awhile, and the fact that they finally brought him up was a relief. The only disappointing part is that everything we heard about his father were lies. All we know is that he is not a man to look up too, like most of the adults in Storybrooke. I’m hoping that they’ll bring in the father later. Maybe not this season, because there’s a lot going on, but later in the series, definitely.

Another thing that had to be mentioned. I cannot believe it took Sneezy the Dwarf (Gabe Khouth) to catch the kids shoplifting from his store for anyone to figure out that the kids (Ava and Josef) didn’t have a parent. I understand it’s Storybrooke, but I was utterly shocked by that. At least in the end they were reunited with their dad. But this raises another question. If Henry could figure out that people can’t leave Storybrooke, does that mean Regina knows as well? She tried to send the twins to Boston, but what if she planned for the father to find them. It has me questioning how much Regina truly knows about the situation she’s thrown the whole town into.

Last, but definitely not least, the mysterious stranger! He came riding in on his motorcycle looking for a room as Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Henry looked on with curiosity. There’s not much to say about him, we don’t even know his name, but this twist just made thing’s a whole lot more interesting.

“I thought you said strangers don’t come to Storybrooke?” -Emma

“They don’t.” -Henry

Cue dramatic music.

As always, I adored this week’s episode of Once Upon A Time. I loved how Emma finally told Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) of Henry believing that they’re related, and the fact that Mr. Gold knew the name of the twins’ father just by his compass. Classic Rumpelstiltskin. And I have to say, the new character is extremely attractive, and I think he’s an apology gift for killing off Graham (Jamie Dornan). I definitely approve! I’m looking forward to seeing what ONCE has in store for us next week!

Rating: A

Questions:

  • What was your favorite moment during this week’s episode?
  • What are your thoughts on the Evil Queen wanting the twins to live with her?
  • Thoughts on the handsome stranger?

Review By: Dhalyn Warren

Responses

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  1. love the blind witch. just wish she had a bigger role. as for the handsome stranger.. been looking forward to seeing Eion Bailey ever since i found out he was cast on the show. cannot wait to see more on him in next week’s episode