As the episode opens, David Nolan is finally going home and has a welcome home party waiting for him. Of course, he doesn't recognize many people - his memory still hasn't returned. He doesn't seem to care much for the party and is disappointed that Mary Margaret isn't there.
In the kitchen, his wife Katheryn is talking to Regina. Katheryn is worried that she's loosing David again and Regina comforts her. They seem to be becoming friends.
David sneaks out of the party and tracks down Mary back in town. She's trying to hang a bird house in a tree when he finds her - a very Snow White thing to do. He makes his strongest plea to her yet to start a relationship, but she's still unreceptive. He's a married man and she doesn't want to get too close. He claims that he isn't the same person who married Katheryn and that he chooses her. As usual, she makes a quick exit.
In the enchanted forest, Prince Charming is in a one-on-one battle with a huge warrior. After a pretty good fight, he downs the brute and we see that it was a competition and that his father the king and another king have been spectating.
Side Note: I don't really count this as a Lost reference, but the prince's father is played by Alan Dale, who also played Charles Widmore on Lost.
The other king turns out to be King Midas who needs a dragon slayed. They make a deal - Prince Charming will slay the dragon and King Midas will do what he does best: provide gold. It seems that the battle with the brute was a test, but just as the prince is explaining this to his fellow knights, the seemingly dead brute skewers the prince with his spear and then keels over. There is absolutely no way the prince survived that one... um, what? Pretty sure he ends up marrying Snow White, having Emma and sending her through a magic wardrobe, so what gives?
His father the king is distraught of course, but he has no time to grieve. Apparently the king desperately needs gold for the kingdom to survive and if Midas learns that the prince is dead, he'll find someone else to slay the dragon. What a dilemma! But who appears when a dilemma to be had? None other than Rumpelstiltskin, of course. We find out that the prince was adopted and Rumpel arranged the adoption - he seems to be into this kind of thing.
The king tries to make another deal - this time to bring his son back. In exchange, Rumpel wants to know the whereabouts of a certain fairy godmother who has a wand that he wants. The king agrees and I think we know what happens when Rumpel catches up with her. Of course, Rumpel can't bring the prince back to life - but alas, there is a twin brother! Ah ha... now things are making sense.
Lost Reference #6: The bottle of scotch they're drinking is MacCutcheon, which shows up a number of times in Lost.
We start getting into the shepard's story a bit. His name is James, he lives with his mother, they are very poor and in danger of loosing their farm. His mother wants him to marry a girl with a dowry, but he's insistent that when he marries it will be for love. As usual, when a dilemma is to be had, Rumpel arrives on the scene. The truth about the twin brother comes out as Rumpel proposes a deal. The shepard will pretend to be his brother while the other knights slay the dragon and in return, the king will take care of his farm and mother. James reluctantly agrees.
At the diner in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret has two encounters. First, Dr. Whale comes in to apologize for his behavior on their previous date. Second, Regina shows up and, seemingly in support of her new friend Katheryn, tells Mary to stay away from David. We find out that David left Katheryn the night before.
In the enchanted forest, the hunt for the dragon is on. James looks the part, but is instructed to stay outside the dragon's cave while the knights go in for the kill. As soon as they enter flames and screams erupt from the cave. He breaks away from his guards and runs in to help. As he's pulling an injured knight to safety, the dragon flys out and toasts his guards. James picks up a sword, runs for a narrow cleft in the cliff wall and with spin move takes off the dragon's head. I guess heroism (and swordsmanship?) runs in the family.
Mary Margaret is in her classroom preparing for a lesson when David shows up to make another attempt to convince her. She's slowly being worn down, but stays strong for the moment. He tells her to meet him later at the T(r)oll Bridge and she is clearly considering it.
Emma is at work at the sheriffs office when Graham tells her that he needs her to work late tonight. I suspect this will be important later. Mary arrives to talk to Emma about the further escalating David situation. Now that David has left Katheryn, Emma is encouraging Mary to meet him later. Not to mention that it will likely make Regina mad... just a happy side benefit.
Back at the palace, the dragon's head has been turned to gold by King Midas. We now find out that King Midas was using the dragon slaying as another test. What he was really looking for was someone who was worthy to marry his daughter, Abigail. She turns out to be none other than Katheryn Nolan who was also Prince Charming's fiance in episode 3, "Snow Falls". She's still not terribly pleasant, but Midas offers her hand to him. His surrogate father, the other king pulls him aside and tells him that he must marry Abigail or the king will kill him and his mother and burn his farm to the ground.
We next find David wandering around Storybrooke as he tries to find the Toll Bridge. He runs into Regina who understands that he's supposed to meet Mary - something she desperately wants to prevent. She gives him bad directions and sends him off the wrong way. He passes by Mr. Gold's pawn shop and realizes that he's headed in the wrong direction. He goes in to get directions and on his way back out, he sees a model windmill which used to be in front of his house with Katheryn. This finally jogs his memory.
Back at the shepard's farm, things are looking much better. James arrives and while his mother seems to be doing well, he tells her that he must continue to play the role of the prince and marry King Midas' daughter. Because of this, they can never see each other again. His mother, although saddened, understands why he made the decision and gives him her ring - the one that Snow White stole and that he followed her to get back. This is the same ring that Mary Margaret wears in Storybrooke. His mother says that true love follows the ring, apparently she's right since Snow ends up stealing it and brings the two of them together.
Mary Margaret is waiting at the bridge when David shows up. Now that he remembers his previous life (at least the Storybrooke version) things are a little different between them. He's decided that he needs to honor his marriage and at least try to work things out with Katheryn. Mary is rightfully mad about the situation - feeling like she knew something like this would happen which is why she was trying not to get involved in the first place.
Later, Emma is on patrol in the squad car when she sees someone climbing out of the window at the mayor's house. It turns out to be Graham and Emma finds out the truth about him and Regina.
David finds his way home and tells Katheryn that he has his memory back. They decide to give things a try.
At the palace, James and Abigail set off to King Midas's kingdom in the carriage that Snow White will soon rob.
Mary Margaret is sulking at the diner when Dr. Whale shows up. It's looks like she might be a bit more receptive to him on the rebound from David.
My Questions:
- Well, honestly, this was a pretty straightforward episode. It filled in some gaps in the main characters stories so now we have some more context for the events of "Snow Falls". Not a lot of mystery and not much progress on the curse.
New Theories:
- Here's the thing... when the curse hit in the enchanted forest, James was unconscious and presumably dead from a sword wound. It would make sense that when he gets transported to Storybrooke he's in a coma. I suspect that he was never actually awake and that when he started responding to Mary Margaret at the hospital, the queen had to act fast. I wonder if she somehow implanted his history into the people that used to know him? There have been a number of references to the fact that the citizens of Storybrooke can't remember much... that it all seems to be a fog. How exactly does this curse work? Does it "fix" things on the fly? How long has everyone been here and been "stuck in time" anyways?
Other Thoughts:
- Pretty good episode all things considered. We even got a legitimate Lost reference!
Dr. Whale seems like a strange name. Maybe a character from Moby-Dick?
ReplyDeleteAh, the eternal battle between what the duty demands and what the heart wants. I wonder what happens later that he was no longer with Abigail and was able to marry Snow White. May be he made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin?
ReplyDeleteMay be a bit of a stretch, but Jack Shepard was like James too in that he is always torn between what he wants (Kate) and his duties (survivors).