OUAT: Be Careful What You Wish For

Last time on my Season 1 OUAT watch: Mary Margaret and David were drawn to each other but couldn’t be together because of Kathryn. As a storm approached Storybrooke, Mary Margaret ended up discovering that Kathryn might be pregnant. Emma and August shared a conversation and maybe flirted a little. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret was determined to return a bird to its flock and ended up in danger. David rescued her and they had another moment. When it turned out Kathryn wasn’t pregnant and Mary Margaret tried to move on, David though gave in and they shared a kiss.

In the Enchanted Forest, Snow dealt with the fact that Charming was to marry Princess Abigail. She made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to get a potion that will stop her from loving him. Charming decided that he loves Snow and sent her a letter to see if she felt the same. She put the potion aside and went to see Charming, getting captured in the process. Snow met Grumpy in the dungeons and they were busted out by Stealthy, who was killed during the escape. King George found Snow and threatened to kill Charming if she didn’t break his heart. She did so and was taken in by the dwarfs.

When Grumpy announced that Charming wasn’t getting married after all, she didn’t react. He realized she took the potion after all.

Uh oh.

The storm has claimed a victim in Storybrooke—Henry’s beloved castle playground. He and Emma meet there to take in the ruins of their secret meeting spot. But Henry is worried about the book, which he keeps hidden from his mother there. He checks it, relieved to find it there.

(Aww. The poor playground!)

But then Regina shows up. She apparently heard about the damage to the structure and came out to check it out. Regina rips into Emma for letting Henry play on something that was unsound even before the storm. Emma wonders if she’s just mad that she and Henry had a special place. Regina forbids them from going there and leaves as Emma watches her.

(Emma is suspicious)

Emma meets up with Mary Margaret at Granny’s and unloads on her. Mary Margaret doesn’t really help her with much, rushing off when she gets a text from David to meet him at their spot. Instead, Sidney Glass jumps across from Emma. He reveals that Regina fired him from the newspaper and has ruined his life since his unsuccessful run for Sheriff. So if Emma wants to take her down, he’s in. Emma’s not really sure she wants to align with Sidney but she takes his card anyway.

We see Sidney staring at himself in a mirror and cut back to reveal him wearing an outfit straight out of a production of Aladdin. Yep, Sidney is the Genie without the pop culture references. He feels his lamp begin to shake and looks up to find Leopold holding it. As the king rubs it, the Genie says “Here we go again.”

Genie appears from the lamp and gives the “You get 3 wishes” spiel to the king. Leopold is like “I’m king and I have everything I want. So…nope, no wishes.” Genie is surprised and asks if the king wants to wish for the people in his land to be happy. Leopold insists they are. I can think of one person who isn’t. Your wife. Yeah, remember her?

Anyway, Leopold then asks the Genie what he would wish for. Of course, he says his freedom. So Leopold gives it to him. He actually gives him all his wishes. The Genie choses to save them and goes home with Leopold.

(New besties!)

They enter a courtyard and Leopold introduces the Genie to Snow White, who greets him happily. He then introduces his queen, Regina. She’s wearing a gorgeous pink dress with matching hat as she tends to the apple tree in the middle of the yard. The Genie falls in love with her instantly.

(Can you blame him?)

Emma responds to Henry’s emergency call and she finds him watching as construction crews dismantle his playground. She tries to talk to Regina, but the mayor is kinda in the right here. The structure clearly suffered damage in the storm and was unsafe. It had to come down. But Emma just sees it as a way for her to undermine her relationship with Henry. So she calls Sid and agrees to meet with him.

(Suspicious Emma is determined)

Mary Margaret meets with David at the toll bridge. She asks him what they need to talk about…but he reveals that it’s a date. He’s set up a table with some food under the bridge. They share a kiss.

(Aww, Snowing)

Emma waits for Sidney in a tunnel outside town. He tells her that he’s been gathering intel that Regina is up to no good with town funds. So he wants her to bug Regina’s office and get the proof so they can expose her to the town. Emma doesn’t want to stoop to Regina’s level and thinks there are other ways they can gather evidence against the mayor.

(Creepy)

We cut back to the Enchanted Forest. King Leopold has thrown a party and poor Regina is sitting alone in the corner. She watches as her husband fawns over his beautiful daughter, even putting her on the throne that technically belongs to Regina. No one seems to pay her any mind, except the Genie, and she looks so sad.

Oh, yeah, Leopold. Everyone in the kingdom is happy.

The Genie finds her outside, admiring her apple tree. She says its from her garden back home and she brought it with her. It’s like her, out of place and doesn’t belong here. She says she may be queen but no one sees her. The Genie gives her his mirror, telling her that it will show her the amazing woman he sees. Regina is grateful.

(Are they having a moment?)
(Also, how gorgeous is Lana?)

In the loft, Sidney and Emma go through papers and other reports. They are trying to find something…anything…they can use against Regina. Emma wonders if they are doing the right thing. She just wants to make sure Henry’s happy. Mary Margaret then babbles something about something wrong being right if it makes someone happy. Emma and Sidney decide to ignore her.

(Emma wishes Mary Margaret would stop acting weird)

Emma and Sidney decide to pay Regina a visit. She asks if Regina is tearing down the playground just to get back at her. Regina insists that it was just because it was safety hazard. Emma leans forward, scrutinizing her. Just as Regina gets unnerved, she steps back and says they’ll leave her alone.

(Uncomfortable gaze)

Outside, Sidney asks why she backed down so easily. Emma says she didn’t. She installed a bug in Regina’s office. Now they’ll be able to listen in on her conversations.

We cut back to the Enchanted Forest. The Genie enters the king’s room to find Leopold sitting in a chair, just chilling with his crown on. Does he ever take it off? Anyway, he’s hold a book and he reveals that it’s the queen’s diary. Yep, he’s reading Regina’s diary. Especially the part where she admits to loving another man, one who gave her a mirror.

(Casual nightwear?)

The Genie tries not to look nervous and lets Leopold continue. Leopold says he knows Regina isn’t happy being married to him and that he’s too old for her. But still, he won’t have his queen cheating on him. So he asks the Genie to find the man and kill him. The Genie agrees, knowing he can’t say anything else. He leaves the king’s chambers and stares at the mirror he had given the queen.

(The Genie's "Oh Crap" face)

Sidney and Emma look almost bored out of their minds listening to Regina conduct official business. But then he finds out something. Regina is going to meet someone in the woods. With money. They decide to follow her.

They follow her car in the sheriff’s car and Sidney wonders why they aren’t keeping a closer tail on him. Emma assures him she knows what she’s doing. After all, they don’t want to make Regina suspicious. She starts to pick up speed though and Emma realizes her brakes are out. She has no choice but to take the car off road and crash it to stop it. Sidney checks it and tells her her brake line has been cut. They figure Regina did it.

As they believe they’ve missed whoever Regina was going to meet in the woods, a figure emerges over a hill. It’s Gold, asking if they need any help. He has a briefcase and he reveals this land belongs to him. And he’s just sold it to the mayor. Emma and Sidney are intrigued.

(A wild Gold appears)

The Genie waits by the Queen’s tree. Henry—her father—comes out carrying a box. He tells the Genie that his daughter is miserable and he just wants her to be happy. Inside the box is the key to her happiness. Henry needs the Genie to deliver it to his daughter. The Genie agrees, looking forward to his Queen being free.

(Hi, Henry!)

Emma and Sidney meet at Town Hall, deciding to break into Regina’s office to snoop. He asks how they’re going to get in and she breaks the window. Sidney questions her actions. Emma explains the break down of time and figures they have about ten minutes before Regina shows up.

She and Sidney go through Regina’s laptop and he discovers plans on them. They download them to a USB drive as Emma does some more snooping. She discovers some old-fashioned and creepy looking keys on a ring, wondering what they opened. I figure the Vault o’ Hearts. The files finish downloading and they turn to leave…

(Weird)

…just as Regina bursts through the door. She spots them and grows suspicious. Emma tells her she is only doing her job, as the mayor ordered. She had been driving by when she saw some teenagers throw a rock at the window. They ran off before she could catch them and she came back to investigate. Regina asks why Sidney’s there and Emma calls him a witness. Unable to disprove their statements, Regina tells them to go. She glances around her office as the camera pans over to her laptop.

(Does she suspect?)

We return to the Enchanted Forest as the Genie delivers the box to Regina. She hugs him, saying her husband has read her diary and knows she loves someone. The Genie says he knows but that her father said the box will help her. She nods, opening it to reveal a two-headed snake. The Genie recognizes it from Agrabah, his homeland, and knows it is deadly. Regina admits she is going to pull a Cleopatra, letting it bite her and kill her. He stops her, suggesting they use it on the king instead. Regina smiles and thanks him for helping her.

(Scary)

In Granny’s, Henry is busy writing when August comes up to him. He asks the boy what he’s doing and Henry replies that he’s trying to write down all the stories from a book he lost. August asks if he wants any help and Henry says he doesn’t. August tries to get more information about the book but Henry isn’t forthcoming.

Was this foreshadowing about Henry becoming the author? Hmm…

Emma and Sidney go through the documents they got off Regina’s laptop. They figure that she’s using town money to build herself a new mansion in the middle of the woods. Sidney convinces Emma to confront her at the next town meeting.

(Concerned Emma is concerned)

As Regina asks for any more town business at the next town meeting, Emma stands up. She accuses Regina of stealing town money and says she has proof in her hands. Regina stands and reveals she did use town money to buy land in the woods…to build a new playground for the kids of Storybrooke, like Henry. She shows different versions of the plans Sidney and Emma found, which clearly look like a playground in Mordor. Seriously, all that’s missing is the Eye of Sauron. Actually it’s based off a picture in Henry’s book…meaning it’s based off Regina’s own palace. She stands smug and the town hero while Emma looks like a fool.

(That is one creepy playground)

The Genie creeps into King Leopold’s room as he sleeps and I’m glad to see he takes his crown off to do that. Releasing the viper, the Genie watches as they slither up toward Leopold’s head. The king wakes up long enough to see the viper right before both heads bite him. With the venom working quickly, Leopold asks why. The Genie reveals he is the man who loves the Queen and now he is freeing her. Leopold is not surprised to know Regina is behind this and says he should’ve used his other wish.

The king is dead.

Gold approaches Emma and Sidney outside Town Hall. He exchanges some words with them and then limps off as Regina approaches. She lays into Emma for the stunt she pulled and then bans Emma from spending time with Henry. When Emma objects, Regina rightly points out that Emma has no legal rights to Henry and she can certainly do that. Regina says she has the power again and Emma has to abide by her rules.

(Regina has the upper hand again)

At the Playground of Mordor, Henry uses his walkie-talkie to talk to Emma. He asks why she won’t come out of her car. Emma admits that she screwed up and so she has to stay away, respecting Regina’s wishes for a while. She promises that it won’t be forever. And poor Henry is heartbroken. While Regina was right, she also wasn’t really thinking about how severing Henry’s relationship with Emma would affect him.

(Poor Henry)

We have a few quick scenes: First, we learn who has the book—August! Second, Emma and Sidney commiserate over drinks at Granny’s.

Regina admires herself in the mirror as the Genie returns to her room. She says everyone knows the king is dead and they found the viper in his bed. They know the Genie killed him and there’s a warrant for his arrest. She tells him she’s arranged for him to leave the country. He asks if she’s coming and she says she can’t. At that moment, the Genie realizes that she set him up. Regina’s demeanor changes and she reveals that he was just a pawn, a way to kill the king and keep her hands clean. The Genie says he loves her and reveals the king gave him the last wish. He uses it to remain with the Queen forever. He disappears and Regina looks around until she realizes he’s trapped in her mirror. She says that he got her wish—he’ll be with her forever.

(Sucks to be the Genie)

In the mayor’s office, Sidney and Regina sit on her couch. She congratulates him on a job well done. Yes, they set up Emma to look like a fool to make Regina look better. I’m not sure to who as Henry still wants to spend time with his birth mother. Anyway, Regina says that Sidney cutting Emma’s brakes was genius. They smile as Regina relishes her good fortune.

(Sneaky, sneaky)
(Also, I wouldn't eat that apple, Sidney)

Uh oh. Emma’s being played and she doesn’t realize it! She’s trusting the wrong people. And Mary Margaret is too wrapped up in her affair to warn her about it. This doesn’t bode well for our blonde heroine.

When I return to my Season 1 watch during the summer hiatus, it’ll be a tale as old as time.

Next time: Once celebrates its 100th birthday with a trip to Hell. 

Screen caps from here.