Once upon a Time Rewatch 1.20, "The Stranger"

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

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1.20, "The Stranger"

Written by Andrew Chambliss and Ian Golding
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Synopsis

After the title card, there being no recapitulation of the series premise, the episode opens with August aiding Emma and Mary Margaret in securing their apartment. The latter makes to return to work, cautioning Emma in her efforts to take Henry from Regina. Henry requests Emma's presence at Granny's; August accompanies her, noting larger issues and pressing her to accompany him. She refuses, meeting with Henry instead. He notes alterations to his book, an unfinished story about Pinocchio. Emma urges him to school.

Looks like they're all wet.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the story, Geppetto and Pinocchio brave a storm aboard a raft at sea. It goes poorly for them; their raft is swamped, and they are washed ashore. Geppetto comes to on the shore to find Pinocchio still and lifeless, weeping over him. The Blue Fairy descends to render aid, making the puppet into a flesh-bound boy. She sends them off with a warning to Pinocchio.

August considers the cap Pinocchio had worn and makes a call to Gold, reporting difficulties. He struggles to leave his room, his flesh turning to wood.

At school, Mary Margaret is confronted by Regina. It is a terse exchange, and one in which Mary Margaret gets the better of her interlocutor. She walks off, and Henry arrives, Regina delivering his lunch and finding Henry belligerent towards her.

Master Bra'tac?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

August reports to Gold's shop, where the counterpart of his father awaits him. Gold chides him with his inability to speak to his father and rebukes his lack of progress with Emma.

In the Enchanted Forest, Geppetto walks Pinocchio through repairing a clock and freeing Jiminy Cricket from it. The Blue Fairy arrives with a message for Geppetto, summoning him to lend his woodworking skill to the aid of the kingdom. He reluctantly agrees.

Why, yes, I'll avail myself of your saucy dish...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Storybrooke, Emma confers with Gold about taking Henry; Gold refuses to assist her in the matter. She stalks off in anger, calling swiftly upon August and asking to be shown a way to defeat Regina. Elsewhere, David exits a pet shelter to see Regina struggling with her vehicle; he assists her, offering to take her home. She agrees without much argument, and she invites him to dinner. He demurs, but carries in her groceries as she sees a note, ostensibly from Henry; David is convinced to dine with her.

In the Enchanted Forest, the Blue Fairy continues to brief Geppetto about how matters stand. Geppetto asks what will happen to Pinocchio and claims a price for his assistance; Pinocchio will go into the new world. Jiminy argues against Geppetto's bargaining, only to be rebuked for his earlier perfidy, and the Blue Fairy agrees to the terms; she delivers the carver and the tree to Charming and Snow White, as well as the news.

August conducts Emma to the outskirts of town, offering to tell his story. David enjoys eating at Regina's, and he hears her report of how he was found before. She notes that she had found him in the cold one night, unconscious at the side of the road; he remarks on the seemingly fated nature of their meeting, and she attempts to kiss him. An awkward exchange follows, and he departs, to her chagrin.

In the Enchanted Forest, Snow White labors to deliver Emma and Geppetto labors on the wardrobe. The Blue Fairy pleads with Geppetto to relent; he refuses, saving his son at the expense of Emma's parents. He charges Pinocchio with the oversight and guidance of Emma, despite the boy's protestations. Jiminy admonishes Pinocchio, and Geppetto secrets him in the wardrobe he has carved, sending him into the new world with his benediction.

Convincing, yes?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

August takes Emma to a diner; she rages at him. He reveals that he was the boy who had originally "found" her; she does not believe him.

The pair's arrival in the world of Storybrooke is depicted, Pinocchio emerging first in confusion and fear. Emma arrives not long after, and Pinocchio takes up the crying child. August walks her back to the site of their arrival, facing her continued disbelief; he presents more details, trying to convince her of the veracity of his claims about her--and himself, as he admits to being Pinocchio. She turns away from him, stalking off; he tries to follow and falls, noting his failure to convince her of the truth, to be where she needed him to be. He believes he shows her his wooden leg; all she sees is hairy flesh. He continues to plead with her for belief, and she continues to resist and deny.

Memories of time in an orphanage for Pinocchio. They swiftly turn to memories of rebuke and shame, and his departure from the orphanage--and from Emma.

Note the daylight in the window...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

August goes to his father's Storybrooke counterpart, confessing awkwardly to a man who does not know him and receiving a strange absolution. And Henry is roused from slumber by Emma's summons; she purposes to spirit him away from Storybrooke under cover of night.

Discussion

I'm not sure there's any new neo/medievalism at work in the present episode, but, as has been the case with other series before, it may well be because the first season of the series is drawing towards a close at this point, and it's not the time to bring in new material so much as to resolve plot threads. I suppose there might be something in Regina's abortive seduction of David, a subversion of the knight claiming his reward for saving a damsel from distress--although enough of the Malorian knights do such things that it's not a subversion of the medieval trope so much as it is one of the neomedieval. It's a tenuous thing, though.