Title Lady of the Lake
Two-Sentence Summary In flashbacks to the Fairytale Land that was, King George places an infertility curse on Snow White, and his men mortally wound Prince Charming’s mother with an arrow to the chest, leading to a private wedding officiated by Lancelot (formerly of the Round Table) and a parent making the ultimate sacrifice for her child and the woman he loves. In the present, the bonds of family continue to be strengthened, as Charming and Henry, Jefferson and Grace, and Snow and Emma face emotional turning points in their relationships.
Favorite Lines
Emma: I’m not used to someone putting me first.
Snow: Well get used to it.
My Thoughts This was—by far—my favorite episode of this season. One of the things I love most about Once Upon a Time is that everyone seems to have a different reason for watching/loving it. Some people love Regina the most. Some people watch for Rumplestiltskin and Belle. Some people live for the twists, and others watch for the romance. As for me, I watch it for every relationship within the “Charming family”: Henry, Emma, Snow and Charming. When those four characters and their interactions take center stage both in the present plot and the fairytale flashbacks, it is almost a guarantee that it will be one of my favorite episodes. This was no exception.
First, let’s talk about the events in Storybrooke. I’m really enjoying watching Charming learn how to be a parent (or in this case a grandparent) with Henry, including watching the struggles of taking responsibility for a very headstrong little boy. Josh Dallas has an amazing paternal chemistry with Jared Gilmore; he makes you believe the warmth and the instantaneous love Charming feels for Henry in gestures as simple but as important as kneeling or bending down to talk to him on his level whenever they have a big conversation. Their sword-fighting scene warmed my heart in the way only this show can, with a sentimentality that could have come across as cheesy but instead comes across as genuine because of the believability of the actors.
Another moment that warmed my heart was the reunion between Jefferson and his daughter. I’d been waiting for that moment since “Hat Trick” last season, and it did not disappoint. Sebastian Stan absolutely blew me away with the vulnerability he showed in this episode, both in his scene with Henry and in this reunion. He says so much with just his facial expressions, and that exquisite nonverbal acting was exactly what was needed to give his hug with Grace the gravitas necessary to make it a standout moment in an episode full of powerful scenes. Like every actor on this show, Stan excels at making you feel every ounce of what his character is feeling—to the point where you stop marveling at the acting and simply go along on the character’s journey.
Speaking of actors who make you feel every emotion, let’s start discussing the perfection that was Ginnifer Goodwin’s performance last night, shall we? Yes, the Fairytale Land flashbacks were kind of a moot point since we know that Snow ended up having a baby (and we could also assume Charming’s mother was dead since she was never mentioned in the pilot episode nor seen in Storybrooke). However, I didn’t care at all about the predictability of his mother giving up her chance at being healed to give Charming and Snow a chance at having a family, and that was because it brought out incredible performances from two actors who should be contractually obligated to share the screen at least once per episode (Dallas and Goodwin).
Nerdy Girl Notes 