The Thing You Love Most is a necessary step forwards in the narrative, but it's not very engaging.
ENCHANTED FOREST SYNOPSIS
The Evil Queen travels to Maleficent's castle to retrieve the Dark Curse scroll. After defeating her, she teams up with various cruel villains to finally cast it, only to discover the spell won't work. The one person who can help is the Dark Curse's creator - Rumplestiltskin - but he will only admit the truth for a price.
STORYBROOKE SYNOPSIS
Learning that Emma has chosen to stay in town, the Evil Queen tries to drive a wedge between her and Henry by tricking Emma into admitting her son might be crazy in front of him. Meanwhile, Emma makes friends with Snow White and the town sheriff, and begins to grasp how powerful the Queen's hold over Storybrooke actually is.
ANALYSIS
The purpose of this episode is essentially to solidify Emma's decision to remain in town by showcasing the depths of the Queen's depravity (enhanced by the events in the flashbacks, which also focus on the terrible choices the Queen made to get her revenge). I think it does make a lot more sense for Emma to stick around after witnessing a mother literally gaslight her son, and there's new characters introduced and some vital development... but it still felt like a stepping stone episode. Like we just have to get this out of the way to get to the juicy stuff. Maybe I would've been more onboard with it if it was my first watchthrough, but since I've already seen the show once, I just feel eager to get to said juicy stuff already.
I do really like how Emma quickly builds a "support group" of friends that secretly resist the Queen and want to help her. For a loner, she sure has an easy time bonding with the people. Maybe a subtle hint that she belongs in the fairytale world? In any case, they had some really heartwarming interactions that I enjoyed. On the flip side, I also loved the Queen's over-the-top attempts to get Emma to leave, especially when she began to lose track of everything she'd thrown Emma's way! The scene where she wants to talk to Emma only to remember she'd put a clamp on her car was hilarious.
The highlight of the episode was the final scene between the Queen and Rumple, which gives us the first real hint that the Queen/Charming family conflict is only part of a greater game played by the mysterious sorcerer. The intrigue is just awesome. At the very least, I can say it got me excited for the next few episodes!
CHARACTERS
What the Queen did to Henry was truly sick, easily her most evil act thus far, especially considering she's supposed to be a mother. No wonder the poor boy's in therapy. I love how even Emma - whom the show has thus far depicted as being somewhat grey in morality - is disgusted and says she has no soul. Emma agreeing to open her mind about the possibility of fairy-tales being real purely to make Henry happy was an absolutely lovely moment.
I wish Jamie Dornan had never done those Fifty Shades movies, because I feel like - similarly to Robert Pattinson until recently - he deserves better than to be associated with rubbish like that. He brings a lovable Irish charm to the town sheriff (whose fairytale identity is not revealed yet). I like that he doesn't immediately side with either Emma or the Queen, but tries to dispel the conflict entirely. He comes off as a very professional and kind police officer. Which is another thing to like.
I also have to compliment Jared S. Gilmore, the child actor who plays Henry. He's not perfect, but the enthusiasm he has is infectious. You can't really ask more from a child actor than to be endearing, and Henry absolutely is. So kudos to the kid.
Great to see Giancarlo Esposito playing a henchman instead of another variation of Gus Fring. He's of course fantastic in anything, but I do feel like he gets typecast quite often now. Esposito can do comedy as well as drama and watching him constantly try to please the tempestuous Queen is very funny.
The heart of the episode (the eponymous Thing You Love Most) is undoubtedly Tony Perez's gentle performance as the Queen's father (also named Henry, implying that she does have some humanity deep down). Despite also being her henchman, it's clear that he sees following her as more of a duty than something he truly believes in, and just wants her to realise she's on the wrong path. I like that. The fact that he doesn't seem like a bad person at all opens up interesting discussions about morality. Choosing someone you love - your child, no less - as your enemy is perhaps the hardest decision of all to make. Would it make someone a bad person if they're unable to do it?
And of course it goes without saying that Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin is amazing. I could just copy-paste that to almost every review, at least in these early seasons. He's one of my favourite actors. You can tell he's nailed down the Enchanted Forest Rumple's voice too (it's much more squeaky) after a bit of experimenting in the pilot episode.
NOTES
- I appreciate that every episode starts with a recap of the premise, given how complex the show has already become.
- Emma must be paid really well for her bounty hunting job if she can afford to spend ages in Storybrooke.
- I really like the montages that show different cast members going about their daily lives, it makes the town feel alive.
- I wonder if the Queen was really trying to poison Emma with the apple basket, or if Henry was just being a paranoid kid.
- How did the Magic Mirror see Regina's threat? Was there a tiny Esposito peeking out from a reflective surface at Snow and Charming's wedding?
- Having the Mirror's voice be that of a blown-out radio speaker is an interesting choice.
- You can tell Lana Parrilla really loves playing the Queen, especially in the Enchanted Forest scenes. The ham is unstoppable.
- I'm not familiar with Maleficent as a villain, but she is very unimpressive in this episode. Stopped by a chandelier? Really?
- Who are the random baddies the Queen collected? I know it's a bit early to introduce all the Disney villains, but couldn't she do better than some trolls and dwarves?
- Speaking of the dwarf though, having her turn one into stone and then transitioning to the stone dwarf in the Queen's Storybrooke garden was epic. It still makes me laugh.
- Do American small towns all have their own newspaper?
- I just love Raphael Sbarge's (Jiminy Cricket) scratchy voice.
- How can a town mayor make someone a sheriff?
- I don't like that the Queen refers to her father in the Enchanted Forest as "daddy". It should've been something more medieval like "papa" or "father".
- The 'present day' Storybrooke scenes are set in 2011, directly after the events of Pilot.
- The Enchanted Forest scenes are set during Pilot in 1983, showing the events from the Evil Queen's perspective.
- One of the pages of Henry's storybook shows Prince Charming throwing his blade at the Evil Queen, which happened at his wedding with Snow White in the previous episode.
- The Queen claims to have been around Snow White's age (early 30s) when her own marriage was ruined. Maleficent was also at that age when she failed to defeat the Sleeping Beauty (which makes the fact that she gave the Sleeping Curse - the famous one in the apple - to the Queen rather funny... she knew it could be beaten!). Considering that Lana Parrilla - who portrays the Queen - is the same age as Ginnifer Goodwin - who portrays Snow White - suggests that the Queen is meant to be older than she physically appears. Possibly in her 50s. This would also line up with Perez, who appears quite elderly.
BEST QUOTE
EVIL QUEEN: "The only comfort for me is Snow White's suffering!"
MALEFICENT: "Well, it's her wedding night. I doubt she's suffering right now."
CONCLUSION
Okay episode, but I'm ready for bigger.