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"Breaking Glass"
Episode Review
Trust is a fragile thing; once broken, it is difficult to mend, as we saw in both a literal term with Regina's mirror, and in a figurative term in Emma Swan's life. We just hope that seven years' bad luck is nothing more than an old wives' tale, because several people in Storybrooke are going to be experiencing bad luck here soon with all the glass that was broken in this episode. Did "Breaking Glass" satisfy our eagerness?
"For the first time in forever," we saw absolutely no Arendelle flashback, a very welcome switch. Instead, we got a glimpse into Emma Swan's past, which is a rare treat, considering how little we know about the savior. I liked the past and present parallels of the importance of trust, something that Emma has a lot of trouble with. The story between the two friends was interesting, further cementing Emma's trust issues. I don't believe for a minute that Lily is a nobody. Her adopted father called her "Lilith" and she had a star on her wrist, claimed to have always been there. Whether or not she was telling the truth we don't know, but it's an interesting question. Anyone else think she may have something to do with the sorcerer's hat? After all, the apprentice seemed to be turned into a star when sucked into the hat. And nobody is nobody in the show.
It was also nice to see the Hook storyline toned down a bit, since it's been a prevailing arc so far, and was rather dominant last week. As much as I like the pirate, it's good to let the others have their turn. Snow finally got away from mommy duty and out of her apartment to take a walk with Charming, and it was nice to see her get some more screen time. The show lacks something when one of its main characters is appearing less, and since Snow is such a big part of the big picture and in so many stories, we've been missing something without her. Welcome back, Snow! I'm hoping that once she gets out of her mommy figure, which is soon hopefully, that she can get more of a storyline, including flashbacks. While I like the story of her being so cautious so as not to miss anything with this child as she did with Emma, seeing her in the apartment rocking a baby for the first five episodes wasn't overly interesting. In recent weeks she's become almost an airhead, instead of the smart, quiet teacher we knew her to be. Hopefully we can see that again soon. But worst of all, the story didn't have Rumple in it at all, which is basically unacceptable.
This episode also had a brief scene with the Knave, who has chilled my heart more and more as he goes. He seems to do nothing but steal and destroy personal property, having no particular reason for being in the show period. As I mentioned in other posts, this season is so packed with storylines that our own main characters seem almost squeezed. Taking even more time away from them to give to the irritating Will Scarlett is making me cringe.
I have enjoyed the Snow Queen though, much more than any of the Arendelle folk. I wish we had left them behind and gotten the Snow Queen only. She plays a quietly menacing villain, tricking and alluring people into innocent-looking traps with her smooth voice and calm manner. I'm curious to see what she's really after, since she was quite cryptic about it. But just how powerful is she, exactly? Her monster was defeated within seconds, and both Emma and Elsa were able to send her flying with a mere flick of the wrist, even though neither one of them knows how to control their magic very well. The mirror piece collecting has potential, and I was happy to see Sidney use his barely touched brain and realize what a jerk Regina has been to him. But I don't think he'll ever be far from her, since his wish was to be with her always. Especially now that Regina will be out for his head.
It's nice to see Emma and Regina speaking to each other also, as character moments are always the best on this show. However, I don't like that Emma's trying so hard to get Regina to "forgive" her. I really can't muster up any sympathy, since this problem is at large her own fault. Let's not forget that Regina murdered Marian in the Enchanted Forest! Emma's always been so confident that it seems odd to see her begging, particularly in front of her nemesis. Regina almost acted like a sulky child who's been forced to take a little sister along. While I like her sharp and sarcastic, she's obviously changed, despite her efforts to deny it. The old Regina never would have stood for Emma accompanying her through the woods, or even speaking to her when her opportunity for true love was destroyed. (Look at how she treated Snow!) Her cranky responses to Emma seemed rather juvenile and backtracking a bit on her progress. And while I like Emma and Regina as allies or even teacher and student, making them actual friends seems a bit premature. Only in the last season did we start to see them work together, since they usually hated each other before that. Not that I don't want them to become friends someday (after all, neither one of them has any just friends at the moment), I would have preferred to see those interactions happen between Regina and Snow. That's a much longer relationship, one that would show real progress.
All in all, I appreciated Arendelle being sacrificed for an Emma backstory, but not a lot of progress was made. Marian still has no cure, and I still am in the dark about what the Snow Queen wants. But stay tuned for next week - looks like Belle is going to find out the truth about the dagger. Ouch.