It’s Miners Day in Storybrook! You know one of those crazy town celebrations that no one really knows they why or wherefore of? That’s this week’s Once Upon a Time. There is also an underlying theme of understanding love and its unreliability. Oh, and my favorite part, a fairy actually says “Don’t Dream It, Be It” I think Tim Curry might be crying somewhere.
So yes, this week’s theme is love and the power it has over people—how it createsthe desire to do great things, or really horrible things...Let’s just say it has the power.
Oh, and I almost forgot: We learn how dwarves are made, in a scene from Alien.
(Need to catch up? Check our our previous Once Upon a Time recaps:
Episode 1| Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13)
HIGHLIGHTS
Leroy tells Mary Margaret the whole town thinks she’s a harlot, in front of the whole cafe. They just stare at her. It feels like high school all over again.
Leroy meets Astrid who is a nun, ( new character), and he falls hard for her. Did I mention she was a nun?!?
The dwarves mine stones, which are in turn ground up for fairy dust, to bring magic into Storybrook. It’s a really nice visual and the fairy dust looks just like the inside of pixie sticks—you all remember those, don’t you? So we learn that dwarves are created solely to mine stones for Fairy Dust.
Mary Margaret gets all up in Leroy’s stuff because he’s fallen hard for a nun, he returns the favor by not being afraid to mention she’s the town tramp. It’s a great scene of two misunderstood characters trying to figure it out. One of the best moments of the show.
Leroy tells the nuns he will save the convent by selling all their candles (an impossible task!) and thus goes to Mr. Gold to make a deal. Mr. Gold and his fancy blue eyeshadow refuse to buy Leroy’s ramshackle boat for 5,000 big ones. He makes some derogatory remarks about the nuns, and limps off. It was again one of those evil scenes that makes Mr. Gold so loveable.
Introduction of Sneezy who I like...he’s like a tiny Craig Ferguson with a cold..funny.
Regina frames David for Catherine’s disappearance with phony phone records, calling Sidney to let have him give them to Emma, as if he found them. More Evil...YAY!
Leroy confronts Mary Margaret for being such a whiner, tells her to suck it up and take what life hands her. For a town drunk he’s a pretty wise guy. He gets up and leaves, forcing her to think on his words.
In a moment of clarityLeroy plunges Storybrook into darkness so that the candles can be sold and the convent saved. It works famously and we have happy nuns.
In Fairytale land we see Dreamy lose his happiness and transform into Grumpy.
Emma arrests David and carts him off in the police car in front of Mary Margaret and the whole town.
MM is horrified, but the town looks rather satisfied with the outcome.
LOWLIGHTS
The first shots of the fairy’s sprinkling fairy dust on Fairytale land is ridiculous and the costumes are super disappointing and ugly. They look like rejects from the Labyrinth of Jareth Ball.
The birth—or rather the hatching—of the dwarves from eggs, is not only reminiscent of Alien, but not nearly as interesting. They are told after they hatch, they are made solely to work. There are no female dwarves, only men. So dwarves are women haters? Who knew? Tolkien would be appalled.
Emma and Sidney search for Catherine in the gulley. The dialog is just boring and going nowhere. Honestly why doesn’t Emma realize that Sidney is a double agent? It’s so obvious.
Dreamy and Nova (ditzy new fairy) fall in love, they go to look at fireflies. Only they don’t see any, it’s just a lame attempt by the writers to make us feel bad for these two star-crossed lovers. It doesn’t work
Really really predictable lecture from the Blue Fairy to Dreamy and the Dwarves in general. She tells Dreamy he’s holding Nova back and she’ll never become the fairy she was destined to be with him.
He gets the message and goes to let Nova down, in a scene that is full of cliches, crying and some hefty pleading. Dreamy leaves her alone on a hill. LAME.
SUMMARY
The Nuns don’t lose their convent. Catherine is still gone, and Dreamy is now Grumpy who is also Leroy. Fairies are annoying creatures with terrible clothes sense, and while Leroy is no longer the town drunk, apparently Mary Margaret is still the town tramp. Gold is still a (awesome) evil bastard, and David is a poor schlub being framed.
Love is disappointing and people lie, Be ready! But always remember, it’s a fairytale so in the end there will always be a Happily Ever After..
If I had to rate tonight’s show it would be 3 out of 5 pickaxes (we’re talking miners, after all).
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.
