In a surprise turn, the ninth episode of the series turns to a pair of characters that we haven’t even seen in the background before. Nicholas and Ava Zimmer – Also Known As Hansel and Gretel.
Nicholas Lea on Once Upon a Time
Our first scene from Fairytale brings us to … Hey, look! It’s Alex Krycek! Nicholas Lea was always one of my favorite characters in The X-Files and his appearance here was a pleasant little thing. Even though his role is minor and only has him making token appearances in the beginning of the end of the story, I liked seeing him again. It’s been too long.
Lana Parrilla as the Witch, Quinn Lord and Karley Scott Collins as Hansel and Gretel.
Anyway, the basic story for Fairytale is a variation on the Hansel and Gretel story. Two kids lose track of their father, a witch (guess who?) tells them to enter the home of a blind witch to steal something from her but not eat anything, they break in, the boy eats something, the witch almost eats them, they capture the witch inside her oven. Up until here, quite similar, yet the biggest difference is that it’s the other witch (Lana Parrilla‘s evil queen witch, of course) that starts the oven from afar, after the kids manage to flee. Emma Caulfield plays the blind witch wonderfully, Quinn Lord and Karley Scott Collins the two children.
In Storybrooke, something completely different is happening. The two children are caught shoplifting and, since she’s the sheriff nowadays, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) is called in to investigate. Turns out the kids have lost their mother (as in dead, not misplaced) and don’t know who their father is. Since the Mayor wants to send the kids off to the foster care system, Emma decides to find the father – and does. Quite easily, too. All ends well, and the episode rounds off with a pleasant little scene where Emma tells Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) that Henry (Jared Gilmore) thinks she’s her mom in the Fairytale world. I’m really enjoying the interaction between Ginny and Jennifer; the two of them seem to be good friends in real life and play off of each other very well. If we could get more of them and less of everything else, I think I would be far more impressed with this series.
Oh, almost forgot one thing. A weird character on a bike shows up, carrying a box very much like the one that contained the poisoned apple in Fairytale. If that doesn’t scream “Chekov’s Gun Alert!”, then I don’t know what does.
Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret
I’m beginning to find the show a little frustrating, to be honest. The constant ‘character of the week’ situation means that we’re not really expanding upon the story but starting over week after week. With the exception of Emma now being sheriff, there’s really not all that much that has changed in Storybrooke since she showed up.
Trivia Alert: Lord and Collins, the two children who play Hansel and Gretel, have both guest starred on Fringe, playing as Young Peter Bishop and Young Olivia Dunham, respectively, but not in the same episode.
How did you like Once Upon a Time – Season 1, Episode 9?