The Mysterious Stranger’s identity and intentions are revealed, as he tries to convince Emma to accept her destiny. Here is a recap and review of “The Stranger.”
Recap:
The Blue Fairy instructs Geppetto to build the magical wardrobe. The wood has enough power to transport two people: ideally, Snow White and Prince Charming. Geppetto agrees; however, he insists that Pinocchio take the second spot alongside the recently born Emma. Upon completion of the wardrobe, Geppetto puts Pinocchio through to eventually inform Emma about her destiny instead of her mother.
In Storybrooke, August’s leg begins to turn to wood, revealing that he is Pinocchio. Because Mr. Gold will not assist Emma in fighting Regina, she goes to August, who takes her to the diner where she was brought after being found abandoned as a baby. He tells her that he was the seven-year-old boy who found her, and that he was supposed to look after her but failed because she still will not accept being the savior. Meanwhile, David gives Regina a ride home after her car battery dies, and she persuades him to stay for dinner. In the end, Emma calls Henry to meet her outside of his house, and together they drive towards the Storybrooke city limit.
Review:
The first word that pops into my mind when reflecting on this episode is “fascinating”. There has not been an episode in a while that I have enjoyed this much. Maybe because the end of the season is nearing and the action is picking up, or maybe that we saw more of Emma and Henry as core characters. Although Emma is still in denial, there was forward progress to this episode; questions about the Stranger were answered and the ending will be a point of conflict in the near future.
One thing I can’t help but wonder- did the writers plan this story from the beginning or decide midway though the season to fit this episode to the pilot? I am seeing it both ways. On the one hand, there was a mention of Pinocchio in the pilot and since Geppetto built the wardrobe, it makes sense that he would save his own son. But, it seems as if they were writing over what had been done. Anytime a plotline changes because of lying (in this case, the Blue Fairy lying about the wardrobe’s capacity in the pilot) it annoys me. It is basically an easy way to change or add things they did not like the first time around. I do not have a problem with the answer to my question going either way, but I ask with a curiosity about their creative minds.
As I have mentioned before, I was hoping that August would be someone unique to the Once world, but no such luck. I struggle to see August embodying Pinocchio; I’ve always imagined him as a young boy, but I do love what they did with his character. Trying to convince Emma to fight gives him a great purpose in the story. Hopefully he can influence her and change fate without kicking the bucket a la Sheriff Graham. August started off a little pompous, so to see him broken down and upset he failed Emma made me actually care about him instead of simply being interested in learning his secrets.
There were two scenes in this episode that deserve recognition. First, Emma and August in the forest. I do not know what the proper expression is to state how blown away I was by that. Girl’s got talent. It was such a real scene for Emma and I think it would have played out pretty much the same if many of us were in that situation. She has to eventually accept her destiny or this show will go downhill quickly, but for now, Emma’s struggle and lack of confidence make her relatable. It also gives her the opportunity for a dynamic storyline, which is what I look for in a show. She can successfully save the world when all of us try.
Second, the scene towards the end where August receives an assistant position with Marco was a great example of what makes Once Upon a Time a beautifully tragic show. Anytime there is dramatic irony, where a character does not know his/her true identity, that makes for a great scene. We all saw how sweet it was that August wants to spend time with his father, thus giving him the son he didn’t know he had without freaking him out, and how Marco basically told August that he was proud of him.
Regina in this episode was interesting. It appears she has come to the conclusion that there is nothing she can do with the law or illegally with her own power to harm Mary Margaret so she is just having fun with her revenge in any manner she can find. As the season draws to an end, I am looking forward to seeing the culmination of her deranged plans and also how Operation Cobra will assemble to fight her.
1 Comment
On the commentary for the pilot episode, the writers talk about changes they made later, like the bigger story line for Mr. Gold/Rumple. He was such a popular character that they kept him. They also said in the original plan, Prince Charming died, but soon after, they realized that would take away Snow White’s possibility of a happy ending. I don’t know if they mean this happened in a first draft, or if this was the plan during the pilot.It makes sense the way it was recapped, but I kind of think the changes were made along the way.