****Episode Spoilers Below****
How do you recap a show with no TV reception? I screamed so loudly fellow recapper Natasha heard me all the way in Canada and jumped to my rescue (and it came back eventually). She helped me fill in the pieces. So if it seems a bit choppy, that’s why.
(Need to catch up? Don’t miss recaps of the premiere, episode 2, and episode 3.)
We start by getting the backstory on Cinderella, how she hates being a maid and wants the good life. Enter our old pal Rumpelstiltskin to offer just what she wants (what’s the price? There’s always a price!). I love this character, all toothy grins and manic hand gestures, he’s like the Goblin King Jareth’s meth-addicted brother. Cinderella agrees to sign, but she isn’t told what she is giving to get such a great life...that’s “to be revealed at a later date.”
We cut to EQ telling Henry he can’t leave the house because he’s grounded, that she is going to a council meeting and will be home at five...He sneaks out anyway, because he’s predictable like that.
Can you guess where he’s going? Yup, to Emma and Mary Margaret’s house.
That’s Mr. Gold’s destination too, as he’s shown up to hire Emma to find a woman named Ashley Boyd. Gold reveals very little, but Emma takes the job (what is it with people not asking what accepting things entails? First Cinderella, and now Emma. Sheesh!)
Put on your flashback glasses because that’s where we are going next: To
Cinderella’s wedding, with a Cinder giddy with happiness, dancing with her friend Snow White and talking about how she overcame all kinds of horrible odds (horrible odds=lots of cleaning) to become a princess. Snow seems to already have forgotten she lived with seven short guys and stole things just a few months before..anyway, I digress.
Rumpelstiltskin shows up dressed in something he must have found in David Bowie’s trash, gnashing his teeth and giggling like a drunken schoolgirl. He reveals the terms of the deal: He wants HER FIRSTBORN CHILD!!! (wow, those fairy tale peeps get down to business fast!) He cackles, she gasps and then Rumpy skips away...Hopefully to find a new stylist.
A few nights later “Rella” tells Thomas (Prince) that she’s pregnant, he’s happy ’til she reveals the bargain she made with Rumpy. He remains slightly confused but stoic, while she freaks out. He assures her “no-one” will get the baby.
Back to the present, Emma talks to Ruby who I believe is only in the show for the hootch factor...all hot pants and pig tails, she chomps on gum through all her lines. Snore...She does, however, tell Emma where Ashley/Rella’s baby daddy lives and Emma hightails it over there.
She finds Sean/Thomas and convinces him to come and help search. Sean’s angry father appears (yup, you guessed it—the king!) and reveals that he is indeed in cahoots with Mr. Gold. Another irate Emma scene follows.
Emma tries to talk to Ruby again, this time getting the real scoop that Ashley/Rella has left town for Boston. So of course Henry and Emma hit the road, and while driving out of town Henry explains that NO ONE can leave Storybrook because bad things happen. At the city limits they see a crashed
car, and Henry gets all “see, no one can leave” manic. Only Emma drives outside the city limits to the other side of the sign. So she’s magic!...or is she?
Flashback time****
Rella, Prince Charming, and Thomas, plus dwarf Grumpy, trap Rumpelstiltskin in the mine prison. They entice him with the lure of Rella having twins, both in trade for fertile land in Storyland. What does he do with the children anyway? Eat them? We still don’t know. They trick him into signing with a quill from a blue fairy which paralyzes him so they can lock him up. He says they’ve made a really bad mistake. They are all like “No, you’re the one who has made the mistake, Rumpelstiltskin."
That is, until Thomas goes missing, and Rumpy giddily reminds them all MAGIC HAS A PRICE!
Back to the present. Henry and Emma see Ashley/Rella in the gully about to give birth, and race to the hospital. They just make it, and a beautiful baby girl is born.
Meanwhile Mr. Gold and Emma have a chat about baby snatching. Gold is such a button pusher, but Emma pushes back. He won’t give up the baby unless...you guessed it, unless Emma will make a bargain with him. She foolishly agrees even without knowing what it is she is agreeing to. What is with these people?!? Did she go stupid in the last five minutes, or are we that gullible??
Ashley/Rella and Sean/Thomas are reunited in a heartwarming scene.
Emma rushes to get Henry home before 5:00pm, which is when EQ will return.
We see EQ leaving her “council meeting,” which is really a tête-à-tête.
Henry makes in home just in the nick of time, and we see Emma outside calling Sam to take the deputy job he offered her.
Oh yeah...that “afternoon delight” EQ had... it’s with SAM!!!
Uh-oh....cue music...
***special thanks to Natasha Carty for the help!***
Synde Korman talks music and books on her website Tombstone Tails, along with creating a line of literary jewelry on her etsy site Cemetery Cat Designs.
When she’s not herding cats or creating art, she works as a part-time bookseller. You can find her on twitter as @psynde.
