Miss last night’s episode? Here’s what you need to know about ONCE UPON A TIME’s “The Stable Boy”
AIRDATE: 4/01/12 WRITERS:: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz DIRECTOR: Dean White SYNOPSIS: As Emma races against the clock to prove that Mary Margaret is in fact innocent of murdering David’s wife Kathryn (Well, Duh), the shocking truth behind Regina’s true motivations for framing Mary become all too crystal clear when the show transports viewers to the not-so-fairytale world featuring a young Regina, the object of her affection, and her cold and calculating mother Cora. INTRODUCED: A handful of new fairytale characters, including the root of Regina’s evil that is mother Cora (played by the pitch-perfect Barbara Hershey), the titular stable boy that stole Regina’s heart (Noah Bean) and a young Snow, who as it turns out, inadvertently plays a fairly integral role when it comes to Regina’s not-so-happily-after. NOTABLE QUOTABLE: “Because this is your happy ending,” crackled a villainous and vengeful Mayor to a jailed Mary Margaret. LESSON LEARNED: Mr. Gold is the ONCE UPON A TIME equivalent of GAME OF THRONES Tyrion Lannister, telling Regina, when asked why she should trust him, “Because I always honor my agreements.” Also of note: Reports of Kathryn’s (Anastasia Griffith) death may have been just slightly exaggerated. CRITIQUE: After the better part of a season spent scratching our head as to what exactly turned Regina to the dark side, co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz made good on their promise to reveal the truth. Raising the slightly awkward albeit painfully obvious question: Can we handle it? After-all, not only did the talented twosome pen an absolutely heartbreaking story highlighting the origins of the Evil Queen’s villainy (not to mention fashion sense), they made a genuine case for Regina’s actions thus far that afforded Lana Parrilla with a fantastic opportunity to showcase her Emmy-worthy (Yup, we said it) acting chops courtesy of her transformation to a remarkably believable younger version of herself. With serious bonus points for whomever cast Bailee Madison as a younger version of Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow (Separated at birth, indeed!) GRADE: A
ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8PM on ABC (7PM on CTV in Canada) Catch up on past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv