Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A- | 4 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Let My Wrath Be Unleashed
By Cindy McLennan | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 10.30.2011
Our World, Storybrooke, Mary's Hovel, Night: Mary is doing needlepoint (another nice touch) when Emma knocks on her door. She's there to thank Mary and pay back her bail money. Mary says she looks like she needs to talk. We cut to the kitchen, where Mary serves up hot cocoa and cookies. When Emma picks up her cup. "Cinnamon?" Mary apologizes, saying it's a quirk of hers, and asks if Emma minds. Emma: "Not at all." The wheels start turning in Emma's head. She asks Mary why she said she trusted her, when she bailed her out. Mary says that since Emma arrived in town, Mary has had the oddest feeling that they've met before. "I know it's crazy." Emma: "I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy." I know I'm supposed to be snarking, but this is a lovely scene, with just the right mother/daughter feel. Snark, like orgasm, is only good when it's real. When Emma says she's leaving town, to prevent Henry from getting hurt, Mary says, "I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry, if you won't?"
Archie's Office: Henry fiddles with Archie's umbrella, as Archie tries to get him to open up. He tells the boy, "That umbrella is kind of my good luck charm. Is that why you think I'm Jiminy Cricket?" Henry's shoulders are slumped. His voice is flat. "I don't think you're anyone." He lays the umbrella on the table. Before Archie can say anything else, Emma bursts in. Archie tries to confess his involvement in the set-up, saying, "The Mayor forced me," but Emma already gets it. She needs no explanation. Archie tries to warn her that it would be bad if the Mayor were to find out she was at Henry's session. Emma sits down across from Henry as she tells Archie, "To hell with her."
Holding the missing pages from his book in her hand, Emma tells Henry that he is the only reason she stayed. Henry: "You think I'm crazy!" Emma: "No, I think the curse is crazy, and it is, but..." She looks up at Archie as she tries to weigh her words. "That doesn't mean it isn't true. It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world, so what do I know? Maybe it is true." Henry: "But, you told my mom..." Emma: "...What she needed to hear. What I do know, is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it, is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are non-believers, because that way, she is not onto us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about -- throwing her off the trail?" Henry's face lights up as he sits up tall. "Brilliant." Emma tells him she read the torn out pages. "And Henry, you are right. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure she never sees them." She rises to her feet and crosses Archie's office, 'til she reaches his fireplace. Kneeling before it, she tosses the pages in. Once they are consumed, Emma says, "Now we have the advantage."