Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: N/A | 2181 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Fairy Tales Can Come True
By Cindy McLennan | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Aired on 2011.10.23
Emma is driving down the highway in the rain when she notices Henry's book still sitting on her passenger seat. She shakes her head and says, "Sneaky bastard." When she turns her eyes back to the road, she realizes that she's about to run over a wolf. She slams on the brakes, swerves to avoid him, and her car crashes into the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign, because bad things happen when people try to leave. Remember? Upon impact, Emma's head slams into the steering wheel and her passenger door flies open. The wolf howls. Emma is unconscious. The book is now open on the floor of the car. The pages flip until we see an illustration of Geppetto carving the enchanted tree.
Enchanted Forest: Geppetto and real-live Pinocchio work on building the enchanted vessel -- a wardrobe, in ye olde royal wood shop. Meanwhile, in the Royal quarters, Charming insists that Snow must hide in the enchanted wardrobe. She can't stand to leave him, and reminds him that Rumpy prophesied that Emma wouldn't save them until her 28th birthday. Charming: "What's 28 years, when you have eternal love?" Aww. He continues: "I have faith you'll save me, as I did you." They start making out, which drives Snow into labor.
Grumpy watches over the castle, but he's not whistling while he works. He's drinking. When he notices a disturbance on the horizon, he wakes up a dwarf who I'm going to assume is Sleepy. Some evil looking demon-y bird screeches as it flies toward them. Then the dark smoke of an evil enchantment approaches. Grumpy yells, "The curse," and sounds the warning bell. "IT'S HERE!" Commercial.
Storybrooke, Maine: Emma wakes in a jail cell. We open on her eye, the way Lost always used to open on a character's eye. My kids yell, "JACK!" Heh. Leroy (Lee Arenberg -- Grumpy in the Enchanted Forest) is in another cell, whistling, "Whistle While You Work." When Emma turns to look at him, he says, "What are you looking at, sister?" A workman, Marco (Tony Amendola aka Geppetto), scolds Leroy about his manners with their guest, and then asks Emma if she's Henry's mother. When Leroy grumbles about kids, Marco says he wishes he had one. He and his wife tried for many years. The sheriff soon enters and lets Leroy out on the condition that he behaves. Leroy smiles the most malignant smile as he exits the cell.
Emma says, "Seriously?" to the Sheriff, when he doesn't also open her cell. He says something about Regina's drinks being stronger than they thought. Emma says she wasn't drunk. "There was a wolf in the middle of the road." The Sheriff isn't buying. Regina enters, complaining that Henry has run away again. She's surprised to see Emma and asks, "Do you know where he is?" Emma says, "I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house and..." she gestures to the bars she is currently behind, "...I have a pretty good alibi." She suggests a few things like checking with friends (Regina says Henry has none) and checking his email. Regina gets snitty and wonders why Emma thinks she knows so much about this. Emma says, "Finding people is what I do. Here's an idea, how about you guys let me out and I'll help you find him."