Once upon a Time Rewatch 2.17, "Welcome to Storybrooke"

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

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2.17, "Welcome to Storybrooke"

Written by Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss
Directed by David Barrett

Synopsis

That's no electrical storm...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The episode begins with a father and son camping in the woods. The weather in the area suddenly shifts, and the radio they have playing begins to make strange noises; the father posits an incoming electrical storm, and he and his son take shelter. A strange cloud swells toward them, enveloping them, and in the wake of the storm's passing, they find their vehicle destroyed by fallen trees. Navigating through the woods, they find a new town present, one not on their maps; entering it as the father opines to his son, Owen, about the impossibility of the town's existence, they find themselves confronted by the local sheriff, Graham, who welcomes them to Storybrooke.

Following the title card, the episode continues, Regina waking in her bed in Storybrooke in 1983, assessing the effects of the curse she has enacted and reveling in her success. She stalks through her town, surveying it as a number of its residents show the accustomed behaviors they hold in their cursed lives. Regina makes a point of calling on Mary Margaret in her classroom, bidding her walk to the hospital with her to check on the still-comatose David. She continues her survey with a trip to Granny's and consultation with Graham, one that quickly introduces her to the father--Kurt Flynn--and child who have stumbled into their town. Introductions are made, and Regina quickly realizes the nature of the father and child--and the danger they represent to her plans.

In Storybrooke's present, Regina mourns her mother's death and is confronted by Gold as she does so. They confer, and Regina purposes vengeance; Gold attempts to dissuade her from her intent, citing her failure to find happiness by that road. She refuses the advice, firming in her purpose.

Emma, David, and Henry confer about Mary Margaret, who finds herself in a fugue after having killed Cora by trickery. They are interrupted in the talk by the arrival of Gold, who brings news of Regina's intent against Mary Margaret. David charges him to aid in stopping Regina, citing the debt he owes Mary Margaret for saving his life.

A bit of knotwork?
Colors noted as contesting good and evil?
Oh, there's no symbolism there...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Storybrooke of the past, Kurt and his son are greeted harshly at dinner by Regina. She notes having sped the repairs of their vehicle along, and Kurt's son offers a small gift of appreciation. She wakes soon after from an assignation with Graham and surveys her town again as community members settle more fully into their familiar patterns, the static nature of the curse beginning to assert itself, and Regina growing dissatisfied with and confused by things. When she confronts Gold about the curse, he reports ignorance about her meaning, and she rants about the falsity of Storybrooke before calling Kurt. She calls Kurt, in fact, inviting him and Owen to dinner.

In the Storybrooke of the present, Regina searches frantically for a small scroll--and finds it. Later, David and Gold infiltrate Regina's vault, where Gold notes that Regina had searched through Cora's effects for a spell to use against Mary Margaret. He determines that the spell is the Curse of the Empty-Hearted, the effects of which he explicates to Mary Margaret's family. Henry realizes that he will be the target of the spell, and Gold notes that Regina's current purposes speak to an ongoing blood feud that will only be ended in death.

In the Storybrooke of the past, Regina hosts Kurt and Owen, the latter of whom remarks on the lasagna she serves. As Owen is excused from the table, Kurt notes being a widower, opining on the loss. The topics of companionship and motherhood are broached, Regina somewhat startled by the latter. Conversations continue, and Regina invites the pair to relocate to Storybrooke on a more permanent basis. Kurt demurs.

Henry's got the right idea.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Storybrooke of the present, Emma takes Henry to Granny's, where she has arranged for him to meet with Baelfire. Baelfire discusses the possibility of taking Henry to New York to protect him, and Henry arrives swiftly at the idea of eliminating magic from Storybrooke entirely. Baelfire notes that the elimination of magic would have the intended effect, but that it would take time during which Henry's removal would still be advisable. Greg interrupts, giving Emma and Ruby pause, and Baelfire notes that Henry has agreed to go to New York with him--a lie, in the event, and Emma and Baelfire pursue the fleeing Henry. Meanwhile, Regina breaches Mary Margaret's apartment, purposing to take her heart. Gold interdicts her, and Regina withdraws.

In the Storybrooke of the past, Regina calls on the repair shop where they Flynns' vehicle had been taken. The mechanic notes that the pair had already retrieved the vehicle and departed, and Regina commands Graham via magic to interdict their departure, arresting Kurt and delivering Owen to her. Kurt sees her do so and confronts her. Graham arrives to effect the arrest, and Kurt departs amid the struggle, fleeing.

In the Storybrooke of the present, the fleeing Henry runs into Greg, who is walking out in the woods. They confer briefly, and Greg snaps a clandestine photo before they go their separate ways. Emma, Baelfire, David, and Ruby pursue Henry, going to the mines. David determines that Henry sought dynamite, and Baelfire posits he wants it to destroy magic--by dropping a bundle of explosives into the wishing well. Greg calls Regina to report Henry's location, and she heads there in haste.

In the Storybrooke of the past, the Flynns flee, pursued by Regina and Graham. They are interdicted at the town line, and Kurt tells Owen to flee without him. The boy reluctantly obeys, and Kurt is taken into custody after a brief altercation. Owen rebukes Regina, and she lets him leave the town.

In the Storybrooke of the present, Regina finds Henry about to blow up the well. She interdicts him, and he pleads with her not to go through with her plans, echoing Owen's words. Emma, David, and Baelfire arrive to confront Regina, and Henry interdicts the melee before it can proceed. Regina destroys the text of the spell she had meant to cast, and Henry departs with his birth family.

Again, nothing symbolic here at all.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

A young Owen leads state troopers to the Storybrooke of the past only to find that there is no town. The troopers disbelieve his story of the town but believe that he has been abandoned, taking him away. In the Storybrooke of the present, Gold confers with Mary Margaret about recent events, and she asks him how he endures his perfidy; he offers an answer, but not a good one, as he departs. Mary Margaret calls on Regina, offering her life as an end to the feud; Regina does not kill her, but she does take her heart, which is notably stained by her knowing evil deed. Delighting in Mary Margaret's pain, she lets her live, returning her heart to her chest in spite--and Greg records the whole thing, revealing that he is Owen.

Discussion

Aside from bringing up several questions about the logistics of the curse (and perhaps invoking Bellisario's Maxim and the MST3K Mantra), the present episode brings up a couple of medieval/ist tropes. One of them that is fairly prominently highlighted is the motif of time passing strangely in the enchanted realm. Present notably in medieval Irish literature, as well as in other places, it is a commonplace in fairy-tales likely to be familiar to Once Upon a Time's presumed audience--and it is on full display in the episode, with the inhabitants of Storybrooke physically little changed in the series present (the early 2010s) from the time of their arrival in the curse-made town (1983). The repeated day-beginnings depicted suggest, too, that the people of Storybrooke exist in something of a time-loop, reaffirming the divergence of time involved in the magical creation of the town.

The episode also reinforces the feuding nature (and, yes, I understand the pun of depicting a feud arising within a pseudofeudalist neomedievalist work) of the conflict undergirding the series. I am put in mind of some earlier comments made in this webspace, as well as the notion of compensatory payments that are actually at work in a number of medieval cultures. Sides offers a usefully accessible introduction, although far from the only one, and while Sides's focus is on Early English, the Textus Roffensis points to the survival of such concepts into what is commonly called the Middle English period, and Njáls Saga points to their currency beyond the English medieval. Certainly, under such systems, Regina might (might) have some claim to restitution from Snow White for the deed that started her own personal vendetta (although this would be complicated in several respects, not least of which is that the event was itself part of Cora's machinations, stemming from her own insult--but that insult would not likely have resulted in a legally actionable claim...but the easy transgression of social boundaries is another matter). However, the present episode shows Mary Margaret offer "just" compensation, a life for a life; she did not kill Daniel, as such, but she did kill Cora, and offering her own life is an appropriate "repayment" for that...except that it was not framed as just compensation, but an act of cowardice, Mary Margaret being unwilling or unable to face the consequences of her actions as such...

It becomes something to consider.