Once upon a Time Rewatch 1.13, "What Happened to Frederick"

Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

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1.13, "What Happened to Frederick"

Written by David H. Goodman
Directed by Dean White

Synopsis

Following a restatement of the series's premise and the title card, the episode opens with Princess Abigail arriving at Charming's kingdom. The king greets her amid sudden tumult, and the search for the escaping Charming commences as the prince rides off. He manages to evade pursuit, at least initially; he is ambushed and taken.

Well ain't this just cozy?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Storybrooke, David and Kathryn dine quietly together. Conversation is clipped and tense, Kathryn noting a hitherto unannounced application to law school in Boston; she suggests moving to make new memories and make a fresh start.

Charming finds himself apprehended by Abigail, who notes his love for Snow White. She offers to assist him in his flight, noting her lack of love for him.

David and Mary Margaret confer about Kathyrn's revelation; she complains about their secrecy and deceit, calling for disclosure, and he demurs despite having no real alternatives. She reiterates the call, pressing David to choose; he chooses Mary Margaret, and she bids him tell his wife before she walks off.

Who is this guy, really? (We find out later.)
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the morning, Emma calls in at Granny's, where she finds the stranger. He reluctantly gives a name--August Wayne Booth--and arranges for them to meet later. Emma follows up by meeting with Mary Margaret, and the confer about the latter's romantic entanglement. Mary Margaret notes that David is supposed to be telling Kathryn. He  tries to confess himself to her, but fails to give an accounting.

In the Enchanted Forest, Abigail takes Charming to Midas's realm, and Charming presses her for her reasons. She notes her ongoing love for another, Frederick, and when he notes that Snow White does not love him, she escorts him to where Frederick, afflicted by Midas's touch, stands. Abigail notes that a means for saving Frederick is available, but guarded; Charming undertakes to face the guardian.

August inserts pages into Henry's book, repairing the physical text with skill. Henry receives a gift of a handheld video game from Regina; he voices a desire to see Emma just before Kathryn intrudes. Henry leaves, and Kathryn presses Regina for details about her husband; Regina notes Mary Margaret's involvement in the affair, which Kathryn had not known, and provides the details requested. They are damning.

The hits keep coming.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Abigail and Charming approach the means for saving Frederick, a lake with salvific water. David mulls over pictures of Kathryn and calls Mary Margaret, lying to her about his actions. Kathryn arrives to rebuke Mary Margaret, publicly and violently. David's dissembling becomes clear.

Charming proceeds to the lake and is confronted as he tries to take its water. An alluring figure emerges from it.

August arrives for his meeting with Emma, taking her for a motorcycle ride. She reluctantly accompanies him, ultimately to a well at the outskirts of town. The significance is explicated, and they confer about the town and about openness to new ideas and experience. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret finds herself the subject of censure and derision in the town.

Fracas, yes.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The confrontation at the water in the Enchanted Forest continues, devolving into a fracas in short order.

Mary Margaret confronts David about his dissembling. She rebukes him for his failure, noting that she is paying for his transgressions and she breaks off the relationship.

Emma finds a box wedged up against her parked car. It contains Henry's book, as August sees. Kathryn calls on Regina, apologizing for her earlier outburst. She also notes that David never seemed to love her the way he clearly does Mary Margaret, and she relinquishes her claim on him in favor of moving to Boston for law school, having encouraged David and Mary Margaret after her initial anger.

In the Enchanted Forest, Charming delivers on his promise to retrieve the water for Abigail. She delights in it, and it restores her beloved Frederick to himself and to her. Charming resolves to pursue Snow White, departing in peace and amity--and with a warning about the coming wrath of Charming's putative father, King George.

Regina covertly enters Kathryn's home, purloining a letter she had left for David. Emma greets Henry at school, returning his book to him, to his surprise and delight. He reads of Charming's continued pursuit of Snow White, where he learns from Red Riding Hood that she has gone before he must flee again. Mary Margaret sorrows over what has transpired, Emma unable to offer much comfort or ease. And Regina delights in continuing to meddle as Kathryn seeks to leave town, only to be narrowly missed by a passer-by: Frederick.

Discussion

I forget if I've made the comment before, but the roads in the Enchanted Forest are remarkably regular, far more than would be expected of the pseudo-medieval milieu. While I am aware that much of medieval Europe--including the medieval England that the series seems most apt to ape--was able to take advantage of existing Roman roads, themselves legendary for their regularity and quality, there is not much to suggest that a similar political body preexists the fairy-tale world in which the characters have their overt origins. It may be inferred, of course, from the medieval(ist) parallels; the medieval was in some ways a reaction to the Roman, so that the Roman is something of a necessary (but insufficient) precondition for the medieval, but there's nothing direct so far, no Classicist ruins or holdovers to be seen. Even Midas, a Classical myth, is not in the series; he's present, but he's solidly medieval(ist). With all that said, that the roads are consistent in size--judged against non-shapeshifting characters for reference--and quality is something of an anachronism, and while I understand that the physical constraints of location-based filming are, I wonder about the choices made.

This dapper fellow, antithetical?
Image taken from Playbill, used for commentary.

I forget, too, if the name of Charming's false father is noted in earlier episodes, but the George is significant for American audiences such as would be expected for a show appearing on ABC. Kings named George are antithetical figures in the United States foundational mythology, of course, but George also has resonance with the medieval England in which the series obliquely traffics. It's not something I'm certain would rise to viewers' attention, but that does not mean it's not present and doesn't have some influence. What it means, though...I do not know.