Once Upon a Time: “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” Recap & Review

Unusual alliances are formed in both Storybrooke and the fairy tale world, as Emma pairs up with Sydney Glass and the Evil Queen with a genie. In an episode that focuses on Sydney and his counterpart being manipulated by Regina, much is learned about the Evil Queen’s life with Snow’s father as well as Regina’s plan for keeping an eye on Emma.

Recap:

After the storm in last week’s episode, Henry’s castle is severely damaged, but his storybook is still safely buried there at the beginning of the episode; however, it later ends up in the hands of the Mysterious Stranger. Sydney Glass comes to Emma with information about Regina’s seemingly illegal activities; fifty thousand dollars has gone missing from the city’s funds. In search of documental proof, they break into the Mayor’s home, but come up empty handed. Sydney and Emma later follow Regina to the outskirts of town where they run into Mr. Gold, who reveals that the Mayor has purchased a track of land. Disrupting the town meeting, Sydney and Emma bring attention to Regina, and she responds by showing that the money went to building a wonderful playhouse for the children on the land. Regina threatens Emma with a restraining order; so, as Emma watches Henry play from afar, she lets him know that they will be seeing less of each other from now on. In the closing, it is revealed that Sydney is Regina’s pawn in her game of investigating Emma. Additionally in this episode, David and Mary Margaret meet by the Toll Bridge for a romantic picnic and begin an affair.

In the fairy tale world, the Genie of Agrabah is found by King Leopold, the father of Snow White and husband of the Evil Queen. In true form, the King receives three wished from the genie; one of which he uses to free the genie of servitude, and the second, he wishes to give Genie the final one. At his birthday celebration, the King speaks in front of everyone about the love he had for his late wife (Snow’s mother), which causes the upset Queen to run out on the celebration. Following her outside, Genie, in love with her, bequeaths unto her a handheld mirror. Not long after, King Leopold demands that Genie find out the identity of the man written about in the Queen’s diary. The Queen receives from her father a box containing a two-headed deadly viper, which Genie takes to the King’s bedchamber; as the King is dying, Genie confesses all. Genie realizes the Queen has set him up, never truly loving him as he did her. To avoid execution, Genie uses his wish to entrap himself in the mirror he gave her, to be with her forever.

Review:

Although this episode centered on Sydney/Genie’s story, it was more about Regina. I enjoyed the overarching theme of this episode; Regina’s manipulation of everyone around her, whether in Storybrooke or the fairy tale land, makes her an interesting and unpredictable character. Given everything she has done in the past to protect her reputation and her relationship with Henry, it was not a complete surprise that was using Sydney to her advantage. Hopefully, it will set up an interesting power struggle rather than make Emma appear naive for not realizing his true allegiance.

I was highly surprised that the Evil Queen’s name was revealed to be Regina in the fairy tale world as well, when the other characters names differ between the two worlds. Emma is the only other exception to this statement, but the baby blanket she was wrapped in when sent to the real world was embroidered with her name, making those who found her unable to name her themselves. Concerning Regina, one can assume that it is because she was the one to enact the curse, but I am wondering if it is more than that. Wouldn’t it be fascinating if she had more control over the stories in the real world than just being the town’s Mayor, if she retained some stint of supernatural power.

I am assuming that it was intentional on the part of Lana Parrilla, that when she was speaking as Regina in the fairytale world (prior to the murder of her husband), her voice was noticeably higher pitched. Aside from her wardrobe, this was an excellent way to distinguish between the different versions of her character. The higher voice immediately makes her seem less threatening and gives her a kinder air. Even though we know she turns into the Evil Queen, my heart still broke a little when Regina was listening to King Leopold speak so longingly about his Snow’s mother. This episode was one of the first to demonstrate the Evil Queen’s less evil side, that if you were not on the Evil Regal bandwagon before, hopefully she now more of a favorite.

It’s the little things that make Once Upon a Time fun to watch. For example, I had never before wondered where the phrase “the fairest of them all” came from, just accepting it as a component of the Snow White story, but now it is nice to think it came from someone who did truly love Regina. It is probably irrelevant, but one thing I noticed in tonight’s episode is that for not being related, the Evil Queen and Snow White sure look alike.

One thing I am finding a both difficult and intriguing with this show is it’s mixing of fairy tale stories. As much as I enjoy seeing their interaction and friendship, sometimes it can get a little confusing when trying to line the stories up with what we already know about the characters. Although the writers intend to tell stories that build upon prior versions instead of retell them, I am still undecided on some aspects, namely, whether or not I support the genie turning into the Evil Queen’s magic mirror. It am unconvinced either way that this was or was not actually Aladdin’s genie, who was associated with Agrabah as well. At the core, it was a good story, but it seemed a little stretched. Maybe it’s just me, but I always assumed that the magic mirror was more forced into his allegiance with the Queen.

Sadly, Emma and Henry’s interaction has been minimal in the past few episodes, and considering tonight’s, it appears as if it will be even less in the coming weeks. I was thoroughly enjoying seeing Emma getting attached to him and the effects that he had on her character. The walkie-talkie conversation was a good callback to their friendship, so maybe, there is some hope for them in the near future.