This is another episode where Emma is forced to confront her past as she continues her destined quest to break the curse over Storybrooke. Emma is now settling in to her job as Sheriff and her first major case deals with two orphaned children. However like any other denizen of Storybrooke these two are more than what they seem on the surface.
It all starts when Henry meets a cute girl and her brother at the local store. At first it looks like Henry might be getting a love interest of his own. However, it turns out that she and her twin brother are attempting to shop lift and they were only distracting Henry so he would be their unwitting mule. Henry is caught with the stolen merchandise and the store owner calls his Moms the sheriff and the Mayor to sort things out. The Mayor is able to use her clout to get Henry out of trouble but the twins still have to deal with Sheriff Emma.
Emma finds out that the two had given a defunct number for their parents and when probed by Emma, they say it’s because their parents are too poor to keep up with the bill. Emma drives them home but her gifts already warn her that not all is as it seems when the children don't want her to meet their parents. Following her suspicion she finds that they are squatting in an abandoned house and they are orphans.
Emma takes the twins to Mary Margaret's where she faces a serious dilemma. As Sheriff it is her duty to notify Social Services to take the kids. Emma is confronted with her own past as a foster care child. As she states to Mary Margaret she knows that the system doesn't work like it should and that if taken the siblings will be separated. She tries to promise them that she will keep that from happening. The first place she decides to look is the public records to see if she can track down relatives. Unfortunately Regina beats her to the punch and has already notified Social Services. It seems that Regina is actively invested in seeing Emma fail even if it hurts innocent children. However like most fairy tale characters in Storybrooke we see that she has a personal interest in this unhappily ever after staying as is.
Henry reveals to Emma that he believes that the twins are actually Hansel and Gretel and their search for their lost father is the part of the curse that needs breaking. At the same time Henry asks Emma about his birth father. Emma looks uncomfortable and gives him a story about his dad being a fireman that she met as a waitress and that he died in a fire after Emma finds out she is pregnant. A later conversation with Mary Margaret about her own search for her birth parents and Henry's reminder that no one leaves Storybrooke makes Emma goes to Mr. Gold for help. Based on the clue of a compass that the children said that their mother said belonged to their father, she goes to his pawnshop thinking that he may have record of the owner. Mr. Gold agrees to help in exchange for forgiveness of his misdeeds in last week's episode. Armed with the information he gave her, Emma goes to confront the twin's birth father.
She finds him to be the local mechanic, but the man is not accepting of the news he has twin children. He admits that he was with their mother, but that it was only once. Emma attempts to persuade him using her own experience finding Henry. He remains firm thinking he does not have what it takes to be a father. Emma returns knowing the only option left is to take the children to Boston and foster care.
As she prepares to leave with the kids Henry warns her about how "bad things happen" when people try to leave town. The warning seems to play out as her car stalls out on leaving Storybrooke. However Emma is getting to be known for her resourcefulness. She calls the twins' dad to come tow the car. Finally seeing his children for the first time and with a bit more nudging he decides to take his children home.
Fairy Tale World
The twins are the famed Hansel and Gretel and are helping their woodsman father gather wood. After their father sends them to gather kindling a disturbance and cry from their father makes them go back. However they return only to find him missing. It is shortly after this that they have the misfortune of meeting the Evil Queen on the road. It turns out she owns the forest and she at first tries to imprison them. The twins attempt to escape and the queen is impressed by their bravery.
She decides to set them on a task to retrieve a magical artifact from the blind witch, another magical rival and colleague. In return for doing this, she promises to help the children find their father. She explains that the Blind Witch's magic prevents her from going herself and only children can bypass it. She sends them off warning them not to eat anything in the house and to find a black satchel.
The children sneak in and find the witch asleep. Gretel retrieves the item but Hansel proves too tempted by the sweets found in the house and eats one of them. It turns out the food is a trap that the Blind Witch uses to catch children for her gruesome supper as evidences by the bones near her fireplace. She locks up Hansel and Gretel and gets dinner started.
Gretel while frightened keeps her wits about her and hatches a plan for their escape using the witch's blindness against her. Gretel pretends to be Hansel and steals the key so Hansel can free himself. The plan almost succeeds but Hansel drops a rod he chose as weapon alerting the Blind Witch to their deception. Gretel once again comes to the rescue and uses the confusion to push the witch onto the baking tray and with Hansel's help into the oven. The children escape with their mission complete and the Wicked Queen finishes off the Blind Witch with a blast of fire from her castle.
The true test for the children awaits them in the castle where the Evil Queen tries to convince them that their father abandoned them and that they should stay with her instead. Hansel and Gretel hold fast not doubting their father. The enraged queen uses her magic to send them to the forest. As it turns out, she was the one that took their father and she asks him summoning him from the dungeon why the children stay true. The father states “that families always find each other." Not wanting the children to have a happy ever after she makes the woodsman go try to find his children in her vast forest.
The Conclusion
The ending this time blends fairytale world and Storybrooke in interesting ways. Emma returns to Mary Margaret to tell her the good news. She also reveals that she lied to Henry and that his dad is alive and not a good man. Emma and Mary Margaret have a strange moment when Emma reveals that Henry thinks that Mary Margaret is not only Snow White but that she is also her lost mother who sent her from the fairy tale world so she could break the curse. The moment proves surreal as Mary Margaret plays around with the idea, but as Emma leaves Mary Margaret find's Emma's baby blanket and for a moment it seems her memory returns as smells it. Meanwhile as Emma shares a pie with Henry a stranger rides into town on his motorcycle. This proves strange as he is the first since Emma to arrive and it may be that another aspect of the curse is about to be undone.
Tega Jessa - I am a freelance writer who focuses on sciences, politics, and sci fi television and have written on them for three years.
