Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Review Season 4 Episode 7 The Snow Queen on Seat42F.
In
this week’s installment of ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME, we see the origin
story of “The Snow Queen,” including her relationship with her sisters
and their falling out. At the same time, her plans for Storybrooke move
forward as she manipulates a vital piece of the puzzle to fall into
place.
Once, The Snow Queen
(Elizabeth Mitchell), Ingrid, had a strong relationship with her two
sisters, Helga (Sally Pressman, Army Wives) and Gerda (Pascale Hutton,
Canada’s Arctic Air). They shared a very special bond, looking out for
one another and protecting each other. Ingrid had to hide from the
world, but not from her family, who loved her as she was. We even get a
glimpse of them quite young, with The Walking Dead’s Brighton Sharbino
easily sliding into the episode’s titular role.
Then,
Ingrid makes a mistake. In trying to punish the Duke (Jonathan Runyon,
Miami Medical), a sleazy suitor trying to gain power from the sisters,
she accidentally kills Helga. It’s a mistake, but an extremely costly
one, which ruins the bond between Ingrid and Gerda, too. In retaliation
or self-defense Gerda locks Ingrid in a bottle and wipes her memory from
all the land.
“The Snow Queen” is a
tragic tale of love gone sour after an unspeakable sin is committed.
Ingrid is surely as upset with herself as Gerda is, even if she resists
going into her prison, but in the intervening years, her pain turns to
evilness. Ingrid is not only out to recreate that once perfect happiness
she had, thinking she just needs two sisters with powers (to allow
greater understanding between them), but she also has stopped caring
about others. She feels wronged, an understandable emotion, and a
fitting backstory for this season’s ONCE UPON A TIME villain.
In
order to fulfill her desires, Ingrid needs two new sisters. Elsa
(Georgina Haig), her niece, is an obvious choice because they share the
same lineage and exact talents. Emma (Jennifer Morrison) may be a little
different, but Emma’s feelings of abandonment and alienation are close
enough to Ingrid’s experiences for easy manipulation. It takes almost no
effort for Ingrid to get Emma in the mindset she wants, and while Emma
won’t betray her loved ones, she is feeling separate from them. Though
Ingrid may already have tried and failed with Emma, Emma’s memory of
their previous time together being missing. Elsa will be a tougher nut
to crack, unless wiped memories can assist.
Ingrid’s
plan is not fully exposed, but “The Snow Queen” is on the right track
there. Ingrid still needs three ribbons she and her sisters gave to
Rumpelstiltskin, and he’s amiable when she gives him what he wants. The
upcoming weeks should reveal all, and this installment puts us well on
the path to an acceptable end game.
Rumple’s
sourness is less digestible. He seems positively gleeful at whatever
dark task Ingrid tells him he must do. As I’ve mentioned before, this
twist negates Rumple’s entire character arc in ONCE UPON A TIME before
this subplot, and it’s hard to imagine he really wants to go out and
control the larger world. It just doesn’t make sense, given what we’ve
seen of him before.
The other side
story serviced in “The Snow Queen” finds Robin Hood (Sean Maguire)
unable to fall back in love with his wife, so he kisses Regina (Lana
Parrilla) once more. To do so, he must break his code, which doesn’t
bode well for his continued heroics. Yet, Regina has tried to do the
right thing and get over him many times. While their love may be less
than pure, it’s hard not to root for the two to find a happy ending
together, which may be where ONCE UPON A TIME is taking them. I just
hope service is paid to why this isn’t completely a good idea. Since
Regina is the cast member being best handled this year, that seems
likely-ish.
One complaint I have
about “The Snow Queen” is the way-too-brief appearance of Aurora (Sarah
Bolger) and Ashley (Jessy Schram) in Mary Margaret’s (Ginnifer Goodwin)
mommy class. It’s a fun scene, if a bit corny, and it contributes nicely
to Emma’s arc, but why bring back these familiar faces only to waste
them in such a quick moment? Will they be recurring in this capacity, or
will Ashley disappear for another three years with no explanation?
“The
Snow Queen” is one of the better episodes ONCE UPON A TIME has
delivered this fall, a huge step back from the pit of last week. The
characters are consistent within the hour and the season even if some of
them, mainly Rumple, don’t match their series journey. I was very
worried about what came after “Family Business,” but this has calmed
much of that.
ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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