Once Upon a Time Recap: “Broken”

by Tracy Ladd:

Once Upon a Time Recap: “Broken”
Original Air Date (ABC): Sunday September 30, 2012
Season 2 Episode 1

When we last saw Storybrooke, there was definitely a change coming.  Henry was in the hospital after eating Regina’s poisoned apple turnover that was meant for Emma.  Emma professed her unconditional love for Henry, which broke the curse hanging over Storybrooke.  Mr. Gold got Belle back, but decided Storybrooke needed some flavor, so he worked his mojo and brought magic to the little town because as he said it….magic is power.   Regina was holed up in her house looking forlorn and upset.  That is until she noticed the purple mist.  Emma questions what the mist is, to which Henry simply replies that it’s something bad.  Now with the recap out of the way, let’s talk about the second season premier.

The episode kicks off with a man walking home to his apartment in New York City.  This is not someone we’ve seen before, but I’m sure it will be someone we see again.  Once he gets home, it starts to rain and he notices that one of his windows is open.  He tries to close it but it doesn’t budge.  Just as he loses his phone out the window, a dove flies up and perches momentarily on the sill.  After the dove flies off, the man sees a postcard with the word ‘Broken’ handwritten on it.  He flips it over, and it’s a post card from Storybrooke.

Storybrooke

Now that the spell is broken, everyone remembers who they are.  David and Mary Margaret embrace now that they truly remember each other.  Mary Margaret asks what’s happened, and David vows to find out.  They make their way down the street and run into Ruby and Granny, along with Leroy and the six other dwarfs, who all bow to Mary Margaret.  I have to say, this was my favorite reunion.  As they all try to get their bearings, Mary Margaret is intent on finding Emma, but she doesn’t have to go far.  Emma, with Henry in tow, walks up and is embraced by both her mother and father.  Finally!  Mother Superior (aka the Blue Fairy) walks up and informs them that magic has been brought to Storybrooke.  Everyone is convinced this is Regina’s doing, but Emma knows better.  She tells them it wasn’t the Queen….but Mr. Gold.

Speaking of Mr. Gold….he and Belle are still standing by the well.  As happy as he is to see her, he tells her that he thought she was dead all this time.  Belle tells him the truth, that Regina had her locked away in the asylum all these years.  Gold’s happiness turns to anger and he vows to take revenge, but Belle makes him promise that he won’t kill Regina.

Emma, hellbent on getting answers from Gold, heads in that direction.  Mary Margaret stops her and wants to catch up and find out all of the things she missed.  Emma’s uneasiness at this new situation is tangible and she tells Mary Margaret and David that she needs a little time to adjust.  Just then, Archie (who now knows he’s Jiminy) runs up and tells Emma that a horde of angry people, being led by Dr. Whale, are intent on lynching Regina.  Henry begs Emma to stop them because “she’s still my mom.”  Knowing that she has to act, Emma heads in that direction as well.

Dr. Whale bangs on Regina’s door and when she answers, she has her holier than thou Evil Queen attitude.  She tries to pull some magic on them, but nothing happens.  Not quite what she was expecting.  This angers the crowd even more and just as it seems that Dr. Whale is about to harm her, Regina arrives and puts a stop to it.  Dr. Whale doesn’t want her to interfere, but David and Mary Margaret managed to talk him out of it.

Gold and Belle are back at his shop and he tells her that he’ll find something else for her to wear.  He heads to the back, but instead of finding clothes, he puts on a pair of gloves and pulls out an amulet with a symbol engraved on it.  This obviously has something to do with what he has planned for Regina.

Instead of a public lynching, Regina gets thrown into a cell instead.  She tells Emma that Mr. Gold is behind this and he’ll do anything in his power to hurt her.  Emma, Henry, Mary Margaret and David leave, and after they walk out, Mr. Gold walks in.  He tells Regina that he promised Belle he wouldn’t kill her, but that he will bestow upon her a fate worse than death.  With that, he pulls Regina’s arm through the bar and presses the amulet into the palm of her hand.

Emma sends Henry to safety with Ruby and after they drive away Mary Margaret tries again to talk to her.  Emma tells them that even though they gave her up to protect her, she still grew up alone wondering who she was and why she was given up, which in itself was a curse.  She then asks, which curse is worse.

Gold heads into the forest with the amulet and the Dark One’s dagger.  After a bit of a ritual, he stabs the amulet with the dagger, releasing a scary looking wraith.  As this happens, Regina’s palm begins to glow, which freaks her out a bit.  Gold seems pleased as the wraith flies off into the distance.

Emma, Mary Margaret and David arrives at Gold’s store to confront him and find out exactly what he did.  He simply tells them that magic is back and Emma should be happy because Henry’s alive, the curse is broken and she’s been reunited with her folks.  Just then, the town rumbles, the wind kicks up and streetlights start exploding.  They question the source and Gold tells them that it’s something that will take care of Regina once and for all.  Emma, David and Mary Margaret leave to stop the wraith, but not before Gold tells Emma that she still owes him a favor.  Having heard all of this Belle walks out and tells Gold that he broke his promise.  Angry with him, she leaves.

At the station, the wraith enters, rips the door off of Regina’s cell and begins to suck her soul (well, what there is of one anyway) out of her body.  Emma, David and Mary Margaret rush in and try to help Regina.  Mary Margaret pulls the old lighter-and-a-can-of-hairspray trick, which send the wraith screeching out the window.  Regina is safe for now, but they need to banish the wraith to another world in order for her to be truly safe.

Regina’s answer is to use Jefferson’s magic hat.  Regina explains that it will open a portal to their other world…that doesn’t exist anymore…and they can banish the wraith for good.  She tries to spin the hat to open the vortex but it doesn’t work.  David and Mary Margaret use brooms as torches to fend off the wraith while Regina works on the hate.  Still no luck.  Regina tries again and as Emma lays her hand on Regina’s arm, it finally works and a vortex is opened.  The wraith is sucked into the vortex, and Emma pushes Regina out of the way.  Instead, Emma gets sucked into the vortex.  Mary Margaret, intent on not losing her again, jumps in after her.  David tries to jump in as well, but the vortex closes before he makes in it.  He ends up on the floor on top of a smashed hat.

Enraged, David wants to know where they are, but Regina doesn’t have any answers.  Just as he’s about to get violent with her, she finds that she has magic again and pins him against the wall.  Henry walks in and witnesses all of it.  He tells her that she really is the Evil Queen and he doesn’t want to see her anymore.  She releases David, who takes Henry with him to Mary Margaret’s apartment.  David tells Henry not to worry and that he will always find Mary Margaret and Emma.

Gold sits at his spinning wheel when Belle walks in.  She tells him she was out walking and that it’s a strange land they’re  in.  She asks if he got what he wanted and he replies that it remains to be seen.  Belle notices the chipped teacup and he tells her that with everything in his shop, that is the only thing that means anything to him.  He tells her that she needs to leave because no matter what she thinks, he’s still a monster.  She tells him that’s exactly why she needs to stay. Awwwww!

Fairy Tale Land

In FTL we see two people on horseback running toward a castle.  The land is decimated and the world looks dead.  They make it to the castle and the man, who turns out to be Prince Phillip, slashes his way through dead vines to get to Aurora, who is still in her cursed sleep.  He kisses her awake and once she gets her bearings, she’s shocked to see her home castle in ruins.  He tells her that the worst is passed, but a lot has changed.  He tells her that they don’t have to worry about Maleficent anymore, but there are other dangers.  As Phillip tries to explain, his companion seems bothered by something.  Just then, a wraith enters and attacks them.  Phillip manages to draw his sword, but the only damage he does, is cutting off the amulet that the wraith wears.  Once that happens, the wraith flies away.

Phillip picks up the amulet and surveys the damage done.  His companion reveals herself to be Mulan, and tells Phillip and Aurora that it was a wraith and they eat the souls of those who are marked.  Aurora and Mulan don’t know it yet, but Phillip has been marked.  He tells Aurora everything is going to be fine, but walks away with a tear in his eye because he knows his days are numbered.

The trio have to keep moving so they head out from the castle and make camp in the forest.  Phillip leaves to go get firewood, but after a while, he doesn’t come back.  Mulan tells Aurora to stay put and that she’ll find him.  Aurora of course doesn’t listen and follows.  Mulan is irritated with Aurora for following, but Aurora sees that Mulan loves Phillip too.  Mulan tells her that they’ve fought side by side through many battles, but Aurora sees the truth.

They find Phillip who is beckoning to the wraith.  He tells them that is nothing they can do, but Mulan tells him that she’ll take his place.  Phillip won’t hear anything of it however, and tells the two women that they need to keep each other safe.  Just then the wraith appears and soul sucks Phillip to death.  Literally.  Once the deed is done, the wraith goes back into the amulet.

They take Phillip’s body back to Aurora’s castle and place him on the bed that Aurora was woken up from.  Mulan asks about the sleeping curse and Aurora just tells her that she’s not the only one who knows about sacrifice.  Mulan places the amulet in a bag and gives it to Aurora saying that she should have it.

Aurora stands by Phillip’s bedside when Mulan tells her that they need to keep moving.  Aurora says that now that the wraith is gone, aren’t they safe.  Mulan tells her that there are other dangers lurking.  Mulan then goes on to explain about Regina’s curse and for 28 years, time was frozen.  Until it started to move again recently.  At that time, Mulan resumed the search with Phillip to find Aurora then they were making their way to a safe haven where other survivors are.  Just then, they hear a noise coming from a pile of rubble.  Mulan draws her sword and tells Aurora to stand back.  Mulan moves some of the debris and tells Aurora that what is underneath brought the wraith there and is responsible for killing their prince.  Underneath the rubble is……Emma and Mary Margaret.

I was thinking during the episode what the connection was between Storybrooke and FLT.  Normally the characters in each are the same, so imagine my surprise when the episode ended.  I liked how this episode played out and think that sending Emma and Mary Margaret to FTL is going to give the show another dynamic.  Now that David knows who he is, he’s not going to be wishy-washy David anymore.  Thank goodness!  The question now will be what’s going to happen between Mr. Gold and Regina?  And how will Emma and Mary Margaret get back to Storybrooke?  Who is Dr. Whale anyway?  So many questions, but we have all season to get some answers.  Hopefully.

DarkMedia contributor Tracy Ladd has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she’s back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks.

You can find her on Facebook, on Twitter @ReelGoddess, and on her website The Reel Goddess.