 Three: The Family of the Fairest of Them All and Her Charming
by Teresa Martin--@Teresa__Martin October 14, 2012 It has been a little less than a year since I first saw Prince Charming in the most-awesome-prince-clothes ever, galloping on a brilliant horse to wake his true love, drop that dreamy single tear, and declare “I will always find you,” making my heart melt (and maybe Google the actor’s name, pledging to name my first-born after him, and perhaps buy a shot-glass with his silhouette on it). After that amazing first impression, I have since seen Charming fight off evil guards while holding a baby*sigh,* watched that single tear slide down his cheek numerous times *double sigh,* travelled with him as he went to hell and back with Snow, and proposed to her by a scenic lake *swoon.* This central couple, affectionately shipped as “Snowing,” also suffered a curse, and, as Mary Margaret, poor Snow had her heart torn in two, trampled on, and tossed into the trash (symbolically happily, unlike other unfortunate residents of Storybrooke). Yet she earned her happy ending at the end of Season One, embraced by her groom, as a spinning camera showed the completion of their story arc *squee!* Now I’m with my weekly Once Upon A Time viewing group, with a laptop to monitor the tweets, and checking on the Once Upon a Fan website, whose staff I joined as a writer, inspired by Once Upon A Time to delve back into non-fiction after a ten-year break. Next to me lies a half-finished Baby Emma Blanket, but I eventually give all attention to the screen as I follow the S2x3 adventures of Lancelot with Snow and Charming. I watch as Snow travels to meet Charming’s mother just in time to see her pierced by an arrow—goodness these writers sure are hard on their characters-- and seek magic waters to cure her. Ruth, Charming’s mother, drinks, but is not cured. What’s up with that? Ruth then expresses regrets that she will not see Snow and Charming’s wedding. Snow assures her that she will. What? Snow asks if Lancelot can perform the wedding. What? Next thing I know The Fairest of Them All is getting married under a perfect arch that must have been tucked away somewhere with a magical “instant-wedding-canopy” spell, and a chalice representing the Holy Grail is presented. This leads to the perplexing mystery of what else Lancelot has in his Knights of the Round Table Kit.
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 By Lori J. Fitzgerald
Each week we find ourselves falling into the realms of Once Upon a Time, deeply immersed for an hour in plot lines and characters that are drawn from the pages of literature and given a new life. The phrase “into the deep,” which is also the title of Episode 2x08, and the word “deep” itself, can have several connotations: being fully involved with something, such as “deeply in love,” or a “deep sleep”; taking a plunge, as literally diving into deep water or figuratively risking a chance; and journeying into the depths of the mind or subconscious. In their story arcs so far, both Prince Charming and Regina have gone “into the deep” in their own ways. Their journeys as dynamic, or changing, characters mirror the words of Robert Frost and Ralph Waldo Emerson, two American writers who also wander “into the deep.” One of Robert Frost’s (1874-1963) most famous poems is “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” a simple yet profound poem which explores going “into the deep,” in this case a winter wood: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. (1923) |
