We are Both - 2x02

We Are Both

                                                           By Amy Degenstien Hood

  This week we start off on the edge of Storybrooke. The Royal Guard, our brave 7 Dwarves, have come to investigate “the line” at the edge of town. After drawing the short straw, Sneezy crosses the line and starts to shake while purple light flickers through him. 

     Back in town, we see the destruction that the wraith caused. Roads and buildings destroyed, everything is closed. All of the townspeople are in a panic while Red and Blue Fairy try to help organize the relief efforts. Geppetto hangs a hand drawn picture of his son Pinocchio as a boy, hoping someone has seen him.  In a hotel room, we see a wooden August, still lying in bed….and then he blinks.  

     At the mayor’s mansion, Charming confronts Regina about the hat. He knows that Regina does not have her full powers back. She tells him she doesn’t remember where the hat came from. After Charming makes a comment about the way Regina raised Henry, she replies “I will not take child care advice from a man who put his daughter in a box and shipped her to Maine.” One of the best lines of the series so far.

     In a flashback of FTL, we see young Regina attempting to run away 2 days before her wedding. Vines suddenly shoot out and snatch Regina off her horse. Her mother, Cora, is standing behind her and explains that Regina is trapped by a spell and can not leave until after she weds the king. After that wedding, she can only leave if the king accompanies her. Regina argues that she only wants to be free, and doesn’t wish to marry the king. Cora tells her she will have unlimited power, and that power is freedom. 

As the town’s people of Storybrooke gather, many rush to Charming looking for answers. Geppetto asks about his son, Jiminy asks if Regina’s powers are back, and Dr. Whale just wants to know if the nuns are still nuns…”or can they, you know…date?”  Dr. Whale continues to be one of the biggest mysteries so far. Theories are running rampant from Oncers everywhere as to who this man is. Everything from Jack (and the Beanstalk), to Dr. Frankenstein! 

     Charming finds Blue, and asks if there might be an enchanted tree in Storybrooke. It’s possible, she says, but they need fairy dust. Grumpy runs in screaming “terrible news!.” As the 7 Dwarves approach we find out that Sneezy no longer remembers that he is Sneezy….he thinks he is Mr. Clark, his Storybrooke identity. If anyone crosses the line, they forget their FT identity all over again, so no one can leave the town. Charming attempts to calm everyone, and says they will hold a meeting in 2 hours. We see him practicing a speech in a mirror, not at all confident, but Henry sees the hat and realizes what it is. Charming leaves to go see Gold/Rumple, who trades him a “finding” potion in exchange for being left alone. Rumple is devastated to learn that those who leave town lose their memories. 

     Meanwhile, Regina leaves to go see Gold and runs into Jiminy on the way. He suggests that talking about her pain will help her see who she really is. We then see her in a flashback of FTL in which she is sitting with Snow, braiding her hair. Snow finds the ring Daniel gave Regina, and Regina tells Snow that he was killed because of her. She then chokes Snow with the chain the ring is on……before we realize that it was just a daydream. Regina just tells Snow she doesn’t know where the ring came from. Sad and distraught, Regina confronts her father asking for help. Her father says that Cora was made this way and given the book of magic by a man she knew before he met her. 

     In SB, Regina searches Gold’s shop looking for the book. She is pleasantly surprised to find out that Rumple’s “please” clause no longer works. Regina threatens to let the towns people know that both she and Rumple know that FTL still exists. Rumple tells her that once long ago he said she didn’t “look like her” (referring to Cora) “but now”, he says, “Now I can see it.” He gives her the book she was looking for.

     In a scene that I’m sure is to become a fan favorite, Regina steals Cora’s book and finds Rumple’s name. She summons him, (mispronouncing his name as Rumpleshtilskin) and he appears. She starts to introduce herself to him, but he says he has known her for a long time, since she was a baby and much more “portable.” Based on comments made by Daniel in the Stable Boy episode, I am assuming that Regina is the baby in the original Rumplestiltskin story that he was supposed to get, until the miller’s daughter found out his name. Some have speculated that perhaps she is actually Rumple’s daughter. A lot of great fan theories surround their history. Rumple says that he and Regina have a great deal of history both in the past and in the future. This should be one of the most exciting and highly anticipated story arcs. Rumple tells Regina they are finally where they belong, together. Rumple offers to help Regina. She doesn’t want to use magic, and doesn’t want to end up like her mother. Suddenly a wrapped gift is there in the room. Rumple says it’s a porthole, and all Cora needs is a little push.  

    In SB, Regina sits under her rotten apple tree looking through the book of magic that she got from Gold’s shop. She opens it and blows the pages. A mist comes out that she inhales, and her eyes flicker purple. The rotten tree suddenly turns bright and alive, the apples turn from black to red.  At the town meeting that Charming scheduled, he is nowhere to be found. Henry tries repeatedly to call him, but no answer. Granny paces the floor with her crossbow, saying that with a lawless town, it is necessary. Suddenly the doors burst open and Regina marches up the middle aisle. She uses magic to fling both Jiminy and Grumpy across the room. Granny shoots an arrow that Regina catches and it bursts into flames. Henry realizes he is there for him. To save everyone, he goes with Regina.

     In the town square, Charming pours Rumple’s potion on the hat. It begins to float away and lands on a car. Charming finds Jefferson trapped in the car the hat rested on. Jefferson tells Charming that he cannot make the hat work, but that FTL does still exist even though Regina has told everyone it does not. Charming is frustrated and Jefferson jumps up and runs off. While chasing him, Charming runs into Ruby who tells him that Regina has Henry and that everyone is going to leave town. Charming doesn’t want to abandon the chase for Jefferson, but he realizes he must save Henry and the townspeople before they lose everything. 

     At Regina’s house, Henry runs upstairs and immediately tried to climb out a window and escape. Regina uses the same spell her mother used on her at the beginning of this episode to bind him with branches and vines. Henry asks how long he has to be a prisoner. She tries to tell him that he can have a great life with magic, that he can make people love him and not be afraid. Henry tells her he doesn’t want to be her, he doesn’t want magic.

In FTL on Regina’s wedding day, her mother uncovers the looking glass. Regina said it was a gift, and Cora wonders if the people really love Regina or not, since a mirror is less personal than a portrait would have been. Cora tells Regina that the king is weak, that she must raise a royal guard and show the people who holds the power. Regina tries to push Cora into the mirror, but Cora binds her with magic. Cora says Regina is stuck with her forever, and she knows best. We see Rumple in the mirror behind Cora goading Regina to give a push. Regina screams and breaks the binding, and using power to propel Cora through the looking glass, which then shatters. Going through the looking glass is historically the way into Wonderland. I’m assuming this is the case here as well. 

     In SB, Charming races to block the town’s people from crossing the line. They argue, but Charming gives an impassioned speech. He tells them that they will lose everything, that they are not just one or the other, (Storybrooke vs. FTL identity), they are both. He wants to rebuild the town, come together as they did before, and he promises to protect them. The town’s people are inspired, and turn around. We then see Charming burst into Regina’s house with his sword in hand. Regina tells him he won’t need it. She calls Henry down, and tells him he is going to love with Charming. She explains to Henry that she doesn’t know how to love very well, and that she should not have forced him to come. She says she does love him very much, and she wants to redeem herself. Charming asks if FTL still exists, and she tells him the truth. It exists, but she doesn’t know how to get there again. Henry and Charming leave for Granny’s diner.

     In FTL, Regina gives the magic book back to Rumple. She admits she loved using magic, so she will never use it again. Rumple wants to teach her how to use it. He says she has discovered who she is. Regina wants to be assured that she won’t turn out like her mother, and Rumple says that is up to her. When she asks what’s in it for him, he says that one day she will do something for him. 

     At Granny’s diner, Henry sees Geppetto sitting alone at a table. He runs over and whispers in his ear. Geppetto smiles and gets up to leave. Henry has told him that August was his missing son, Pinocchio. Charming tells Henry that he knows Snow and Emma are alive, he can feel it. At Granny’s Inn, Geppetto goes into August’s room. He is no longer lying in the bed, nor is he in the room at all. Geppetto finds his hat. Outside in the town, people begin to reopen their shops. We see 6 of our 7 Dwarves carrying their axes. Mr. Clark (who doesn’t remember that he’s Sneezy) asks where they are headed. Grumpy tells him that he has lost something, it will take fairy dust to get it back. “Ok Boys, It’s off to work we go!”, and the 6 Dwarves head out to look for the coveted dust. Rumple stands at the edge of SB looking wistfully across the line that he cannot cross. 

     In FTL (present time) Mulan, Aurora and their captives (Emma and Snow) reach what looks like a refugee camp. Mulan orders them to be thrown in the pit. Once locked up, Emma hears a voice asking if they need help. She looks up to see the woman approach and say “my name’s Cora.”