A Disturbing Piece of News
Season 4 begins in an unexpected place: with Anna and Elsa's parents aboard a ship that is about to go down in a storm. Their mother scrawls a note and puts it inside a bottle as a last desperate attempt to tell her daughters "the truth" - their only hope of survival. What is it - a secret about Elsa's magic, perhaps?
We then go forward five years, with Elsa excitedly leading her sister to the attic to give her their mother's wedding dress in anticipation of Anna and Kristoff's wedding the next day. As Elsa waits for her sister to try the dress on for size, she uncovers a her mother's diary, in which she finds a distressing entry. (That's why you never read other people's diaries - did nobody learn from King Leopold?) Instead of going on a political journey, the journal states that they were going to a place called "Misthaven" (aka the Enchanted Forest) because of Elsa's uncontrollable power. Although Elsa blames herself for her parents' death, Anna looks on the bright side. Perhaps their parents were not going on that voyage to escape their daughter; it could be that they were trying to find an answer to the problem. She resolves to set out toward the Enchanted Forest and find out, leaving Elsa in the company of her funny fiancé and his reindeer.
Season 4 begins in an unexpected place: with Anna and Elsa's parents aboard a ship that is about to go down in a storm. Their mother scrawls a note and puts it inside a bottle as a last desperate attempt to tell her daughters "the truth" - their only hope of survival. What is it - a secret about Elsa's magic, perhaps?
We then go forward five years, with Elsa excitedly leading her sister to the attic to give her their mother's wedding dress in anticipation of Anna and Kristoff's wedding the next day. As Elsa waits for her sister to try the dress on for size, she uncovers a her mother's diary, in which she finds a distressing entry. (That's why you never read other people's diaries - did nobody learn from King Leopold?) Instead of going on a political journey, the journal states that they were going to a place called "Misthaven" (aka the Enchanted Forest) because of Elsa's uncontrollable power. Although Elsa blames herself for her parents' death, Anna looks on the bright side. Perhaps their parents were not going on that voyage to escape their daughter; it could be that they were trying to find an answer to the problem. She resolves to set out toward the Enchanted Forest and find out, leaving Elsa in the company of her funny fiancé and his reindeer.
Caution: Road May Be Icy
In Storybrooke Regina isn't feeling the party mood after having just found out that her happy ending has been taken away, and Marian is a bit miffed that her husband has been hanging out with the evil queen. But the one you really have to feel bad for in this situation is Robin Hood himself. Imagine introducing your resurrected late wife to your new girlfriend who just happened to be the woman that killed her in the past? Talk about messy. To make things even more awkward, they are joined by Emma and Hook followed by Snow, Charming, and Henry. Cue Henry's classic, "Mom, what's going on?" at the worst possible moment. Regina decides she's had enough and stalks off.
At the same time, Elsa comes cautiously into town, where she is met head-on with two dwarfs on their way home from the coronation at Granny's. Trying to stop the car, she puts Grumpy and Sleepy in a homemade freezer. They escape and run toward the sheriff, bellowing bad news about upcoming danger. Emma and Hook follow the ice trail toward a warehouse, where Elsa conjures up a snow monster. This world is new to her, and she reacts entirely out of fear. The monster is about to make Marian into lunch when Regina steps in and throws a fireball, eliminating the danger, much to Marian's shock. Maybe this woman really has changed. Maybe.
Regina descends to the asylum, where she visits a long imprisoned accomplice: the mirror. Still blinded by his adoration of the queen, Sidney is more than willing to assist her, despite her shameful treatment of him. The queen intends to go back and change time, making sure that Marian is not saved and reversing Emma's "mistake." But a new idea creeps in when Emma makes a comment about Henry's book. Everything in the magical book comes true, including the villains never getting a happy ending. She determines instead to find the author who penned the stories and make him change the endings (a thread I was very glad to see picked up.) But beware; a seemingly harmless change in the past can have terrible consequences, as the queen has already seen.
While Regina is miserable and Emma is feeling guilty about ruining the mayor's happiness, the savior goes to her and vows to keep bringing back the happy endings, including Regina's (another thread I was glad to return to.) Meanwhile, the only people that are happy in town are newlyweds Belle and Rumplestiltskin, completely unaware that a snow monster is turning the town into chaos while they are on their honeymoon. We see a touching moment where he visits Baelfire's grave and explains that he only switched daggers to avenge his son's heroism, and now intends to switch it back and be the man his son died for. But old habits die hard, as Rumple fears, and his thirst for magic always fights his good intentions. He does switch the daggers back until he finds an object in the house they stay in: a wizard's hat. A smile spreads over his face; what does it mean? What is the Dark One after? And what's Belle going to say when she finds out?
In Storybrooke Regina isn't feeling the party mood after having just found out that her happy ending has been taken away, and Marian is a bit miffed that her husband has been hanging out with the evil queen. But the one you really have to feel bad for in this situation is Robin Hood himself. Imagine introducing your resurrected late wife to your new girlfriend who just happened to be the woman that killed her in the past? Talk about messy. To make things even more awkward, they are joined by Emma and Hook followed by Snow, Charming, and Henry. Cue Henry's classic, "Mom, what's going on?" at the worst possible moment. Regina decides she's had enough and stalks off.
At the same time, Elsa comes cautiously into town, where she is met head-on with two dwarfs on their way home from the coronation at Granny's. Trying to stop the car, she puts Grumpy and Sleepy in a homemade freezer. They escape and run toward the sheriff, bellowing bad news about upcoming danger. Emma and Hook follow the ice trail toward a warehouse, where Elsa conjures up a snow monster. This world is new to her, and she reacts entirely out of fear. The monster is about to make Marian into lunch when Regina steps in and throws a fireball, eliminating the danger, much to Marian's shock. Maybe this woman really has changed. Maybe.
Regina descends to the asylum, where she visits a long imprisoned accomplice: the mirror. Still blinded by his adoration of the queen, Sidney is more than willing to assist her, despite her shameful treatment of him. The queen intends to go back and change time, making sure that Marian is not saved and reversing Emma's "mistake." But a new idea creeps in when Emma makes a comment about Henry's book. Everything in the magical book comes true, including the villains never getting a happy ending. She determines instead to find the author who penned the stories and make him change the endings (a thread I was very glad to see picked up.) But beware; a seemingly harmless change in the past can have terrible consequences, as the queen has already seen.
While Regina is miserable and Emma is feeling guilty about ruining the mayor's happiness, the savior goes to her and vows to keep bringing back the happy endings, including Regina's (another thread I was glad to return to.) Meanwhile, the only people that are happy in town are newlyweds Belle and Rumplestiltskin, completely unaware that a snow monster is turning the town into chaos while they are on their honeymoon. We see a touching moment where he visits Baelfire's grave and explains that he only switched daggers to avenge his son's heroism, and now intends to switch it back and be the man his son died for. But old habits die hard, as Rumple fears, and his thirst for magic always fights his good intentions. He does switch the daggers back until he finds an object in the house they stay in: a wizard's hat. A smile spreads over his face; what does it mean? What is the Dark One after? And what's Belle going to say when she finds out?