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- TV Series: Once Upon A Time
- Episode: An Apple as Red as Blood
- Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parilla, Jared Gilmore, Joshua Dallas, Eion Bailey, Robert Carlyle
- Written By: Jane Espenson, David H. Goodman
- Directed By: Milan Cheylov
- Network: ABC
- Series:
Once Upon A Time: An Apple as Red as Blood
The penultimate episode By Kurt Anthony Krug
May 08, 2012
Source: Mania.com
Once Upon A Time: An Apple as Red as Blood Mania Review
© ABC
Henry (Jared Gilmore) manages to convince Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to return to Storybrooke after she kidnapped him at the end of the last episode. However, he does not convince her about the curse, failing in that attempt just like August (Eion Bailey) did.
In the Enchanted Forest, Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) stops at nothing to save her Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) from the clutches of her wicked stepmother, Regina, alias the Evil Queen (Lana Parilla). Joining her on her quest are the Seven Dwarves, Little Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory) and her granny (Beverley Elliott). One thing the editors and writers have to be more aware of: when these characters are in their fairy tale incarnations, their dialogue is way too modern. They should be speaking in the pseudo-Shakespearean vernacular as seen in last year’s Thor and not contemporary 21st century American slang.
Snow and Regina call a temporary truce – or a parlay – where Snow learns after betraying Regina’s confidence at a young age in a prior episode that Regina’s lover Daniel (guest star Noah Bean, Damages) didn’t run away, but was killed by Regina’s mother (guest star Barbara Hershey, Beaches).
At that point, Regina offers Snow the poisoned apple. If she eats it, she’ll release James. If she doesn’t, she’ll kill James. Feeling there’s no choice in the matter, Snow eats it and falls into that magical slumber. This makes sense because viewers no doubt wondered how Regina would trick her into eating the apple. Here we learn that she doesn’t trick her, but coerces her. Moreover, she also doesn’t release James, which is as surprising as the sun rising in the east.
In the “real world,” Regina notices the curse is beginning to weaken. Her apples turning black is a big telltale sign. To reinforce the curse, she uses the only remaining bit of magic to do so, recruiting the Mad Hatter (guest Sebastian Stan, who was Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger), who also is one of the few who retains his memories of the Enchanted Forest since his mind is so demented. Regina manages to pluck Snow’s poisoned apple from space and time with the intention of using it on Emma.
After getting called out by Mary Margaret (also Goodwin) on her actions, Emma decides it’s best to leave Storybrooke for the sake of Henry’s mental health; she cannot keep using him as a pawn in her battle against Regina. She informs Regina of this, who agrees with her and – as a “peace offering” – gives her an apple turnover.
Naturally, Emma and Henry argue over this decision. In the very last instant, Emma starts believing in the curse when Henry eats the apple turnover and falls into a magical deep sleep like Snow did earlier. If she doesn’t believe in the curse now, she’s an idiot, but something tells me otherwise. How many can’t wait for the finale next week?
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*Raising my hand* I can't wait!
This series has been a pleasant surprise ... enjoyable inspoite of some of the inconsistencies. The dialog does indeed seeem too modern in the flashbacks. And I'm not totally happy they chose to use the disneyfied versions of the dwarves. Although having a Grumpy and a Doc does work into the back story. These are petty complaints compared to the warped and twisted takes on Mr.Gold and the Mad Hatter!
Can't wait for the finale!