We opened with Henry at the corner-store, where he meets Ava and Nicolas Zimmer, who say they know him from school. The manager of the store confronts Henry when they are about to leave the store, and accuses him of stealing. Henry denies it, and when stolen goods are found in his backpack, he realizes that the kids tricked him and asks who they think they are.
Who, indeed. We move back to the fairy tale world where we see Hansel and Gretal asked by their father to collect kindling. He gives Gretal his compass so they can always find their way back together. When they return to the place where they left him, they find him gone and run out into the main road, where they encounter the Evil Queen, who demands to know what they are doing in her forest.
The Mayor is told that Henry was shoplifting, cites it as ridiculous, and takes him home. Emma, as the sheriff, investigates the robbery and notices the stuff that the kids were stealing were essentials, not just candy. The manager tries to phone their parents, but the number is disconnected. Ava says this is because their parents can't afford it, and this also explains why they were stealing food.
Back in the forest, Hansel tells the Evil Queen that they lost their father and were trying to find him. The Queen tries to take them, but they run away. They are caught and put up such a fight that the Queen is impressed. She says that if they do her a favour, she will bring them back to their father.
Ava and Nicolas are taken to a house by Emma that they claim is theirs, but Emma doesn't buy it. She waits for them to leave and finds them at an abandoned house where they have been living on their own. She asks where their parents are and they reveal they don't have any.
Emma takes the kids to Mary Margaret's house, and tells her that she doesn't want to report them as they will be treated badly in foster care and will be separated. She herself knows what it is like to be a foster child. She feels the best solution is to find their father. Ava overhears this conversation and begs her not to let them be separated. Emma promises her that they will be together and goes to the city hall to find their birth certificates. The records have already been taken by the Mayor, and she tells Emma there is no record of the children's father, so they must be placed in foster homes in Boston. Emma says she can't take them as she made them a promise. But the Mayor leaves her no choice.
The Evil Queen takes Hansel and Gretal to the Blind Witch's house. She tells them that if they can recover a black leather satchel containing something of the Queen's, she will return them to their father. The house has a spell over it, and only children can enter. But they mustn't eat anything...
There's pic of Henry on her desk :)
Henry tells Emma that he knows that Ava and Nicolas are really Hansel and Gretal. He also points out that their father has to be in Storeybrooke, because no one can enter or leave it. But this theory is tested later on...
He asks Emma about his own father. She tells him that she met him at the diner she worked at when she got out of foster care and that they saw each other outside of him coming in after work as a firefighter. She found out she was pregnant and when she tried to tell him, she found out that he died saving a family from a burning house. She gives Henry the impression that his father was a hero and he seems content with this. But this story sounded a little too good to be true for my liking...
Henry asks Emma if she has anything of his father's. She says no, but realizes that Ava and Nicolas might have something of their father's. She shows her baby blanket to Ava and asks her if she has anything to remember her parents by. Ava gives her the fateful compass.
FREAKY!
Hansel and Gretal enter the Witch's gingerbread house full of delectable treats. Hansel can hardly stand not being able to eat anything, but Gretal says they need to find the satchel and leave. They see the Blind Witch sleeping by her fire and also the satchel hanging close by. As Gretal takes the satchel, Hansel takes a big bite out of a cupcake. The Witch awakens instantly and we sees the bones of other children that had gone before them. Hansel and Gretal cannot escape.Emma goes to see Mr. Gold and shows him the compass to see if he knows anything about it. He says that he actually sold the compass himself to Mr. Michael Tulman, going by his records. The only prize he asks for this information is forgiveness, and Emma gives him tolerance, which he settles for. When she leaves, we see that the record card was blank. How did Mr. Gold know about all this I wonder....
Emma confronts Michael, who has his own auto-body shop. He says that he can't be a father when Emma begs him to take the twins and give them a home. It seems a hopeless case and Emma tells Mary Margaret about it. Mary says that Henry seems to be taking the news about his father well, but Emma reveals that the story isn't true. His father is still alive...and not a hero...
The Blind Witch locks up Hansel and Gretal in a cage and prepares to eat them. They manage to escape and get her in the oven where she herself is cooked. The Queen sees this through the Magic Mirror and sees that they have succeeded. When they give her the satchel, we see that the weapon the Queen had been trying to recover is the Poison Apple. I guess that apple is more than dipped in arsenic or something like that. They ask to be taken to their father, but she tells them that he has abandoned them and offers to let them live with her in the castle and have whatever they desire. Gretal refuses, saying that he would never abandon them. The Queen is angry and banishes them from the castle to a forest.
The Mayor tells Emma she must take Ava and Nicolas to the foster homes in Boston. When they are about to leave, Henry tells her that they can't leave Storeybrooke. Emma goes anyway as she has no choice, but the engine stalls just before they leave the district.
The Evil Queen brings in Hansel and Gretal's father, who she obviously captured (why, I don't know really), and asks him why his children refused having everything they wanted in order to find him. He says it is because they are family, and family always finds one another. She can't abide this, probably because of her own shattered family, and banishes him as well, presumably to the same forest where Hansel and Gretal are searching for him.
Emma phones Michael for his towing services and he comes to them with his truck. Emma tells him that they are his children, and says that he has a chance to give his kids a family. He sees them and takes them home, leaving Emma overjoyed.
She returns home to Mary Margaret and tells her about Ava and Nicolas, and also about Henry's theory that Mary Margaret is her mother. They laugh it off, but Mary finds Emma's baby blanket, which possibly triggers a memory.
Emma is in her car looking at a file that has a newspaper clipping that states that a 7 year old child found a baby on the side of the road. Was it her? Or Henry? She sees Henry coming with pie and they are about to eat it together when they see a stranger ride in on his motorbike. He asks where he can stay and Emma tells him about the bed & breakfast. She asks his name, which he doesn't give. I thought that strangers don't come to Storeybrooke...they don't...
This episode was entertaining and interesting. It was very solid, and gave much food for thought for what will happen next:
- who is Henry's father...
- who is the stranger...
My Rating: 4.5 / 5
What I liked:
-Hansel and Gretel found their dad, a small happy ending
-We get some more questions that need answering
-This is filmed in Richmond, Canada (I'd recognize those BC forests anywhere, haha)
What I'm looking forward to:
-More Snow White and Prince Charming coming up this coming week, yay!
-And yeah, there will be another episode.
Good show, abc.
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