OUAT: Winter Wonderland

Last week on “OUAT”: In Arendelle, Elsa and Anna prepare for the latter’s wedding to Kristoff. But Elsa discovers that her parents died while searching for something about her and feels guilty. Anna decides to investigate further. In Storybrooke, Elsa comes out and wants to find her sister. Meanwhile, Regina deals with the fallout of Marian’s return and goes to visit her mirror, Sidney. Emma and Hook deal with their growing feelings and Rumple finds a mysterious object in the house where he and Belle go on their honeymoon.

Whew!

Elsa is still in Mr. Gold’s shop, holding Anna’s necklace. She vows to find Anna. But when she steps out into the street, though, she sees everyone whizzing by in their cars. Elsa declares that no one will be allowed to leave until she finds Anna. She goes to the town line and erects a giant wall of ice. Wonder how they are going to keep the denizens of Storybrooke trapped in 4B.

(None shall pass!)

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret puts Baby Neal down to sleep, telling him she’ll see him for his midnight shrieking. Henry wonders what babies dream of. David says “Bullfighting” as Emma answers “Laser tag.” Mary Margaret gives them a weird look as Henry explains they are joking. She’s too tired for humor.


Henry is getting ready to visit Regina and has created a comfort care package for her, including wine. He googled “How to get over a bad breakup.” That’s not a joke, that was an actual line in the show. But then a crow appears in the window. David lets him in and Mary Margaret finds a note attached to his leg. Apparently Regina forgot she’s in the world with PHONES. Also, she doesn’t want to see Henry and wants to be left alone. 

(Quote the Raven: USE THE PHONE!)

In some field, “a very long time ago,” Anna finds a cottage. She knocks and it’s opened by Fabio. Oh, no, wait. That’s David. Oh god, the wig! I think I spent five minutes laughing at it. 

(Look at it!)

Anyway, Anna introduces herself as “Joan” (a shout out to the paintings on the wall she began talking to as a child) and says that David is a friend of Kristoff’s. He apparently told her David could help her. He says he’s willing to help Kristoff’s fiancée. Anna’s surprised but David points out she’s wearing a ring. As they talk, a carriage makes it way toward the cottage. David tells Anna to get inside and hide from Bo Peep.

Combined with the wig, this is either going to be a trainwreck or EPIC.

(I'm leaning toward EPIC)

Henry is upset about Regina’s new reclusive life. He sulks in Granny’s as Emma does her best to try an comfort him. It doesn’t seem to work. And then the power goes out, so Emma has to investigate with her father. Henry continues to sulk.

(Emma being absolutely no help)

Emma and David drive around town, talking about Henry. Emma feels like she didn’t do enough for Henry. David gives her some fatherly advice, including how she shouldn’t let people who want her to give up win. They discover what cut off the power: Elsa’s giant wall of ice. They go to investigate.

And they run into Hook. He confirms that the power line is cut and the wall cuts Storybrooke off. Hook then tells Emma that he should’ve brought champagne for their second date as he realizes they won’t have traditional ones at all. 

(Can You Feel the Love Tonight?)

Before Emma could respond, they discover Elsa. Emma tries to talk to her. But David and Hook startle her and Elsa encases herself and Emma in the ice. She refuses to let her out until they bring Anna to her.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret has company. Leroy, Happy and Granny show up, demanding she restore the power. Mary Margaret tells them to take it up with Regina. But she’s reminded that she’s sequestered herself to nurse her broken heart. And apparently, Storybrooke isn’t a democracy. If you cast the curse, you become the mayor. Mayor Snow has to figure out how to help her neighbors.

(The Storybrooke Committee on Complaining)

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Bo Peep looks like she got kicked out of an opera company because she was too drunk and she wears her elaborate shepherdess costume all the time. She demands that David and Ruth pay the money they owe her for the protection she provides from…herself. But they don’t have it. So Bo demands David’s horse as payment. He refuses, saying the horse never leaves his side. So Bo Peep brands them and they have to work their farm to pay her back. She leaves.

(Oh yeah. EPIC)

Anna encourages David to fight Bo Peep. He says it’s pointless. Besides, he’s a farmer. He doesn’t know how to use a sword. Anna tells him not to give the people who want him to give up the opportunity. Sound familiar? She offers to train him. He wonders how she knows how to use swords and she slips up, saying her soldiers trained her. She backtracks to say soldiers she knew trained her. David still isn’t sure, but Anna says he has to try. He can always give up tomorrow.

("You can do this! Get up!") 

("No. My hair says it's too dangerous.")

In the ice, Emma and Elsa bond. They have some things in common. Like the fact they both have magical powers they can’t control. Yes, Emma’s figured out that she’s a prisoner by Elsa’s choice. She also starts to freeze. Elsa’s never been bothered by the cold. Shout out!

Mary Margaret tries to restore power to the town. But she’s not trained in how to fix a city’s power grid. Granny, Happy and Leroy are no help either. They just stand about and complain about not having power. Mary Margaret flips out on them, telling them that she’s raising a newborn (and really, hasn’t it only been like a week since baby Neal’s birth? Why are they pestering her? Is no one an electrician in this town?) and that they lived without electricity in the Enchanted Forest. She tells them to buy a flashlight and they slink off.

(Mary Margaret laying down the law)

(I’d like to note something. I went to Wikipedia to look up Happy’s Storybrooke name. There wasn’t one, but it says that he likes to stay up-to-date on modern technology. If that’s the case, why wasn’t HE trying to fix everything?)

Long ago, Anna trains David in sword fighting. He’s a quick study but his self-doubt still gnaws at him. He doesn’t think he’ll be ready for Bo Peep. Anna tries to give him pep talk after pep talk but he’s resigned to his fate. He tells Anna he’ll help her move on before Bo Peep comes back and goes to do his chores.
Anna pursues him and David opens up to her. He tells her about his father and how he was a drunk. But his father always promised to sober up but it never took. Then one time, it seemed he was serious. He went away to get supplies and sell some wares. Young David waited for his father to return but he didn’t. Instead, the sheriff revealed he had gone on a bender and they found his carriage in a ravine. His father was dead. So he’s wary about people changing and overcoming their demons.

(David has angst. Too bad the hair diffuses it)

Anna’s face takes on this resolved look. Methinks she has a plan.

Unlike her sister, who is still trapped behind her icy wall with Emma. The cold is really starting to get to Emma, who grows weak and tired. Elsa does her best to keep Emma awake as she tells David and Hook that she found a necklace belonging to her sister at Gold’s shop. It gives them some place to look and to help more than Hook trying to chip the wall away.

(Emma decides now is the perfect time for a nap)

In the power plant, Mary Margaret tries to read the instructions and thinks she has everything figured out. She throws a switch and nothing works. As she gets frustrated, Baby Neal starts to cry. Mary Margaret tries to soothe him, saying she knows he’s hungry. It then gives her an idea. She finds the fuel line and turns it on. The lights come back on and the city has power again! Score one for Mayor Snow! Madam Mayor high fives her infant son.

(Baby Neal is so proud of his mother!)

At Gold’s, David and Hook ask him and Belle if anything’s missing from the shop. They were doing inventory because someone broke the lock (Elsa) and Belle reveals they are missing a necklace. She hands David a picture of it. He realizes Elsa’s sister is Joan, his old friend. He knows someone who can help them find Anna.

(Belle looks so pissed off, doesn't she?)

Back in the Enchanted Forest, David and Ruth prepare for Bo Peep to arrive. However, they can’t find Joan. David realizes she must’ve gone to confront Bo Peep herself. So he grabs a sword and storms Bo Peep’s place. She taunts him and tells him she branded his friend, that Joan was hers. David uses his newly learned sword skills and manages to best Bo Peep. 

("Admit it. I have better hair")

He ties her up and grabs her crook. It’s magical and he uses it to find Anna. She’s in the stables and attacks David, thinking he was Bo Peep. They go back to Ruth’s cottage.

In Storybrooke, Bo Peep is there! And she’s a butcher! It seems appropriate. 

(Is that lamb?)

David demands to know where Anna is but Bo Peep hasn’t a clue. So he demands her crook. She pretty much tells him to go to hell. But David’s not having any of it—his daughter is freezing to death, damn it! As Hook keeps Bo Peep at bay, David finds the crook and takes it. He and Hook head back to the giant ice wall.

Anna thanks David and Ruth for their hospitality and they thank her for helping with Bo Peep. As David gathers his things, Anna asks Ruth about people with magical abilities. Ruth tells her that it’s not very common but there are known people with such abilities. Anna’s looking for more information. Ruth knows someone who can help but she dare not speak his name aloud. She says she’ll right it down for her.
David comes back with his horse and tells Anna she can take the animal. He’s kept it as a reminder of his father—who owned the horse—but he’s ready to let it go. (Get used to that). She thanks him. Ruth comes back out with a sandwich—Anna’s favorite! (Shout out to “Love is an Open Door”?) Ruth also passes her a piece of paper. Anna mounts the horse and continues on her journey.

David and Hook return to the ice wall. Emma’s collapsed and Elsa’s pleading with her not to die. When she hears the men, she asks if Anna’s with them. They admit she’s not but they have a way to find her. Elsa just has to melt the wall. So she concentrates and creates a hole. She helps Emma through as David assists from the other side. Once she’s safe, Hook engulfs her in an embrace. Emma returns it.

All together now: Aww.

(Yay for Captain Swan shippers)

Elsa climbs out of the wall and joins them in going home. They wrap Emma up in blankets as Henry and Hook tend to her. Emma apologizes to Henry for being zero help earlier regarding his situation with Regina. He forgives her. As the lights turn on, Hook grabs a heater and brings it over to Emma. She thanks him and takes his hand. Mary Margaret comes in with Baby Neal and is introduced to Elsa.

(Look at how he looks at her!)

But she’s eager to find Anna. So David uses Bo Peep’s crook. He sees nothing but they hear a steady rhythm. Emma says it sounds like a heartbeat. So even if they don’t know where Anna is, they know she’s alive. David promises Elsa that they’ll help her because finding people is what the Charmings do. And they never give up on anybody. Which gives Henry an idea…

The next day, he goes over to Regina’s house and bangs on the door. Regina stays on the other side but Henry is not deterred. He yells through the door that he’ll keep coming back until she lets him in. Because he’s not going to give up on her and it’s house. He misses her…and his room. Regina opens the door and they hug. Jared is almost as tall as both J. Mo and Lana Parrilla now. Wow.

("Have you found Jesus?")

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Anna rides off. She reads the piece of paper Ruth gave her. “Rumplestilskin,” she says. Time for Anna to meet the Dark One!

New set alert! We end in Storybrooke’s ice cream parlor, Any Given Sundae (ha! Cute). Leroy gets some ice cream and asks the owner if she lost any inventory due to the blackout. The owner—ELIZABETH MITCHELL—says no, she didn’t. She guesses she was just lucky. But after Leroy leaves, she leans against her refrigerator and it ices over. Looks like Elsa’s not the only one with ice powers in Storybrooke!

(The plot thickens!)

Things are heating up! Or is it cooling down? Anyway, I think I’m going to like the friendship between Emma and Elsa as well as Charming and Hook. I like how they are developing Captain Swan as well. Things are moving.

And hopefully they leave that wig in the dust.

Next week: Another mob rises up against Elsa! More Elizabeth Mitchell!

Screencaps from here.