Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 4 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Mother Knows Best
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 9 | Aired on 12.02.2012
Storybrooke. Present. Mines. Red must be acting Sheriff in David's absence, because Grumpy summons her to the mine and shows her that all their newly found magical diamonds are gone. We cut to...
Gold's Shop. Henry is reading to Grandpa Charming when Red and the dwarfs rush in. She tells the kid all the magic has been drained from the mines. The dwarfs know Gold and Regina must be to blame. I'm not sure how Henry makes this next leap in logic, but this is the kid who figured out the curse from a fairy tale book, so I'm deciding logical leaps are his superpower. So there. "If they're not helping Emma and Mary Margaret, then that means my mom lied to me." When Red tells Henry he's sorry, Henry says, "We need to find her. We need to stop them. We need to help Emma and Mary Margaret." So say we all, kid.
Emma smashes at the cell bars until Snow reminds her that since they were enchanted to contain Rumpy, Team Princess doesn't have a prayer of busting out. Because she missed out on Snow and Emma's self-recrimination game last week, Aurora wants to play catch up and blames herself for everything. Mulan pooh-poohs her. Clearly, it's her fault for failing to protect Aurora. Emma won't have these two singing her song and says it's all her fault. "I'm the savior and I'm not doing much saving, am I?"
Arms folded, Snow approaches her daughter. Taking a seat next to Emma, she spouts that Charming Family trademark optimism. They'll win this fight. Good always defeats Evil. Emma: "You sound like Henry." Snow: "I guess optimism runs in the family." Emma: "I think it skipped a generation." Snow says Emma should know better than anyone (about good versus evil) because she broke the curse. Emma: "What have I done since then? I got us stranded over here, burned down the wardrobe, let Cora get the ash and now the compass. The only reason I ever broke the curse is because it was exactly what Gold wanted me to do. I had nothing to do with it. [...] He told you I was the savior. It was his plan. Once I fulfilled that role, maybe that's all I was ever meant to do." When she can see that Snow isn't convinced, Emma continues: "Everything I've ever done -- he had it all mapped out before I was even born. I'm not powerful. I'm not a savior." Unrolling the scroll, Emma adds, "I'm a name on a piece of paper. I'm a pawn. That's exactly why we are in here, and Cora's on her way to Storybrooke." Poor little noodle. I guess her life to date has given her precious little reason to be optimistic. Yes August and Neal, I'm looking at you!