Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B+ | 944 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Bibbidi Bobbidi Botch
By Cindy McLennan | Season 1 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2011.11.13
Granny's Diner: Regina finds Emma having her hot chocolate and asks how her walk with Henry was. She pretends she's not threatened and explains this new 'tude thusly: "I did a little digging into who you are, and what I found out is quite soothing. It all comes down to the number seven. [...] It's the number of addresses you've had in the last decade. Your longest stint anywhere was two years. Really, what did you enjoy so much about Tallahassee?" (While I've mentioned it in previous recaps, I should explain to the uninfected, that I keep referencing Lost because this show was created by Lost veterans, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.) Regina already knows Emma is staying with Mary Margaret Blanchard but says she isn't threatened, because Emma has no lease. "In order for something to grow... it needs roots and you don't have any. People don't change. They only fool themselves into believing they can." Emma's all, you don't know my life. Regina insists she does and asks that Emma stop for a moment and consider Henry, because he doesn't need a transient in his life, so perhaps Emma should move on.
When Regina is gone, Emma spills her hot chocolate on herself, so Ruby lets her use the laundry room, because Emma still only has the clothes on her back. Down in the laundry room, she swipes a shirt and bumps into a maid, 19 year old Ashley (Cinderella's Storybrooke persona). Everyone has been up in Ashley's grill, telling her she can't handle a kid. Emma tells her, "Screw 'em." She tells her about her own past and giving up her son for adoption and reminds Ashley the choice is hers. Don't let people tell you who you are. "You've just got to punch back and say, 'this is who I am.'" She tells Ashley that she's got to take charge of her own life. "If you want to change things, you're going to have to go out there and change them yourself, because there are no fairy godmothers in this world." Great line, but it takes me right back to the fact that Ella made her deal with Rumpy right after she watched him kill her Fairy Godmommy. I do not like this narrative choice at all, at all. I know Ella was desperate to escape her cruel step-family, but still, it makes me a little sick.