This week’s episode of Once Upon a Time focused on the soft-spoken Archie, while Jiminy Cricket’s backstoy was told in the fairytale world.
I have to admit, I’m not as familiar with the tale of Jiminy Cricket, so I can’t really speak to any liberties that the writers may have taken. But in the Once Upon a Time universe, Jiminy used to be a human boy. All of his life, his parents made a living through stealing and conning. Even at a young age, Jiminy had a desire to be free from this kind of life and was always drawn to crickets as a symbol of freedom. But his parents continued to guilt him into remaining with them and stealing to earn a living.
As it turns out, Jiminy’s family often sold their stolen goods to Rumpelstiltskin. One day, Rumpel realized that Jiminy wanted something more than just gold thread while making a trade: he wanted freedom and the opportunity to live an honest life. Rumpel offered him a potion to give to Jiminy’s parents and Jiminy decided not to ask too many questions about what it would do.
Unfortunately, after conning a couple into buying some “elf tonic” to help ward off a non-existent plague, Jiminy had enough and tried to use the potion on his parents. But they all quickly realized that the couple actually had Rumpel’s potion. After going back into the house, Jiminy realized that the potion turned the couple into wooden puppets and left their young son an orphan. Expressing a great deal of remorse, Jiminy begged a fairy to help him undo the spell on the couple, but she couldn’t do that. Instead, she turned him into a cricket and instructed him to help the young son, whose name is actually Geppetto. This was the start of the friendship between the two characters.
Meanwhile, Once Upon a Time also focused on Jiminy’s Storybrooke counterpart – Archie – in this week’s episode. Archie has continued to act as Henry’s therapist, encouraging his “fantasies” about the fairytale world. But when a sinkhole appeared at the edge of town, Henry was convinced it was a connection to the fairytale world. Regina insisted it was just the unsafe old mines underneath that area of the town. When Henry accused her of trying to cover up the truth, she instructed Archie to rid her son of his delusions, once and for all, or else she would ruin his life.
Archie gave in to the pressure and angrily told Henry to let go of his delusions. Later, Emma (now a deputy under Sheriff Graham) confronted Archie about his harsh words. The pair learned that Henry had disappeared and Archie knew he had gone into the mine to find proof of the fairytale world. Emma and Archie headed to the sinkhole and Archie rushed in after Henry just before the entrance to the mine collapsed.
As Archie and Henry waited inside the mine for help, Henry convinced Archie that he was a good man and, like Jiminy, he was the type of man that took a while to do the right thing. Despite Regina and Emma arguing about how to save Henry, Emma was eventually lowered down an air shaft and rescued both Henry and Archie. Outside the mine, Archie reunited with his good friend Marco (Geppetto’s Storybrooke counterpart), but he also had a warning for Regina: he was going to continue to treat Henry as his conscience dictated, or one day Regina could find herself on the losing end of a custody battle with his testimony. At the end of the episode, Regina threw back a piece of the fairytale world into the air shaft and we clearly saw that the shaft is Snow White’s glass coffin, so clear the area is connected to the fairytale universe.
Meanwhile, Once Upon a Time teased us this week with a few David and Mary Margaret scenes that were actually fairly significant in moving along their story. David eventually told Mary Margaret that he was lying to Kathryn about remembering anything about their old life together. He said that his “wife” and everything about their life just felt terribly wrong. The only thing that felt right was Mary Margaret. At the end of the episode, Mary Margaret resigned from the hospital, but I don’t think that will stop anything. With next week’s episode focusing on David making a decision between Kathryn and Mary Margaret, could this couple get together sooner than we thought?
Once Upon a Time’s Jiminy and Archie both struck me as sad characters. Jiminy allowed himself to be used and manipulated for so many years by his parents, never finding the guts to just stand up to them and leave. Archie behaved in the same manner, constantly bowing to Regina’s threats and demands. Everyone keeps calling Jiminy the “conscience” of the show, but I think the character is less about being a real conscience and more about being a mentor or guide.
But the thing that strikes me about so many of Once Upon a Time’s fairytale characters, is their unwillingness to think of the consequences of their choices. This show is endeavoring to provide a backstory and human characteristics to characters that can be two dimensional in storybooks. So it strikes me as odd that many of Once Upon a Time’s fairytale characters fail to use a more complex thought process when making important decisions. Last week Cinderella readily made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, despite the fact that he murdered her fairy godmother before her eyes. Was he really the person she should have trusted? And he warned her that the magic would come with a large price. But she took the deal with only a moment’s hesitation. In this week’s episode, Rumpel offered up the potion to Jiminy. He did ask what it would do to his parents, but when Rumpel brushed off his concerns, Jiminy ended up going through with it. The effects of the potion were horrific and essentially killed the drinkers.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Jiminy’s parents were horrible people. But suspecting the potion could kill them (which Rumpel basically hinted at), should have been a red flag not to go through with it. Jiminy would rather have potentially killed his parents than simply run away and be free? Isn’t that kind of strange? This is not a big complaint I have about the show, but after seeing two characters act in much the same manner after in two consecutive episodes, it struck me as odd. What do you think, readers? Does this strike you as strange as well or am I alone in this?
Regardless, I was extremely happy with this week’s episode of Once Upon a Time, even moreso than I was last week. As I said, Jiminy and Archie were such sad characters that I was happy to see the both of them learn to stand on their own two feet and stop cowering to the demands of others. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Archie asserted himself against Regina. And while I generally pride myself on never being a ‘shipper of television characters, I am rather thrilled about a potential David and Mary Margaret romance. We need to get those two kids together so they can start fighting against the curse.
Finally, Regina’s motives still confuse me. It’s clear that she was upset about the possibility of Henry being hurt in the mine, but she’s also very bossy and makes every effort to distance him from Emma. It seems like she has an internal fight between loving her son and ensuring that the curse remains in effect. Will she be forced to choose between the two one day? If so, which would she choose?
A new episode of Once Upon a Time will air next week on December 4, with Charming and David taking the spotlight. Watch a trailer for the episode here.
Also, take a peek at an interview we posted recently with Jennifer Morrison about Emma’s journey in the show.
Note: did the LOST fans notice the easter egg in tonight’s episode? Archie picked up a candy bar dropped by Henry when he entered the mine and it happened to be an Apollo bar, which was seen quite frequently in LOST.
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My ten year old and I screamed simultaneously when we saw the Apollo bar.
I do find it rather odd that they write the characters like that as well. Basically w/o a single brain cell in their skulls for the most part. What do they need to get the point? A big red train running over them horn blasting 4 or 5 times to even get a slight hint when it's so blatantly obvious right in front of their faces? I guess Edgar Allen Poe really was right; if you want to hide something where no one will ever find it, hide it out in plain sight right in front of their face under their noses. Like you, it doesn't put me off & it's not too big of a complaint but it's very odd & could cause a problem for me as a viewer in the future if it keeps up or, heaven forbid it, gets worse as the show progresses. I'll suspend final judgment for a while longer.
personally, i feel that these characters are in such terrible positions and circumstances that they're willing to forgo the consequences. sometimes, people are just at a point where they think that nothing can be worse than this.
especially when its a spur of the moment thing.
i can see cindie only thinking about the offer to get out of her personal hell, and forgetting what happened to the godmother in that moment when she made the deal.
ppl make bad choices, and they often take the easy way out and try to comfort themselves. in this case, forgetting the fact or choosing to omit it in her thinking, that godmother was vaporized. or someone was just vaporized in front of her, and only seeing "yes, better life!"
and i thought rumpel made it clear that his parents aren't going to die and that no harm will befall them. and…as terrible and really scary as it was, the couple are not dead and…not harmed physically i suppose (…just made into very living, creepy puppets).
what i don't get is why they blew up the mine without thinking about what would happen if they did to the ppl inside…what if they were near the entrance? what if the mine collapses on them? someone should have said something about that. i guess it goes along with your consequences point though.
also, definitely love your endpoint. i just couldn't help but applaud the actress. sincere and genuinely concerned for henry but then evil queen mode still on. until i read your article, i only thought the queen was capable of faking it all, and wasn't really concerned for henry.
but … what if? queen genuinely loving the kid could happen and having to make that choice later is a possibility.
definitely will be following what you write for next epi. :)
Yes, I suppose an absolute desire to escape such horrible living conditions in both cases would mean accepting the deals without thinking. I just kind of wish they had put a bit more thought into such big decisions. But did you really get the impression that Rumpel said his folks weren't going to die? I thought the fact that he was being so cagey should have been a clue that something horrible was going to happen (maybe not death, but certainly something bad). Especially when he said something like "leave the bodies and I'll collect them". Sounds ominous, doesn't it?
But the you're right, blowing up the mine was rather short-sighted, especially since they had no idea where Archie and Henry were located. Even without being near the entrance it ended up impacting them while in the air shaft elevator.
now that i read "leave the bodies and i'll collect them," i realized that i never thought they'd be dead when i heard rumpel said it, even though i probably should. i just took it as something bad will happen to them, but not death. and now i'm thinking i'm just as naive as jiminy here because really, when i saw the puppets, i was pretty horrified.__and the whole scene with rumpel and jiminy was ominous and foreboding for sure. the whole time i was just like: noooo! and: dammit rumpel, what story did you not dirty your hands in?__i think jiminy knew that something bad and terrible was going to happen though, but he was just clinging to hope and being naive like me. trusting the twisted rumpel for his words.
Yeah, I agree with you. I think Jiminy definitely knew something bad was going to happen. He was definitely leery & very hesitant of Rumplestitskin. Rumplestitskin just gives off that "beware of me" vibe in every scene he's in & the characters (credit to the actors on this one) definitely show that instinctual leeriness of him. Where it all goes wrong is that they don't listen to their gut, that survival instinct so native & vital within themselves, that tells them to run away from him as fast as they can. I think it has a lot more to do with hope than being naive. More about desperation & Rumplestitskin actively & artifully catching people in their darkest hour, at their lowest& weakest point, where they are in the deepest of despair. They feel like their backs at up against the wall with no other alternative. They feel like they are drowning & dying inside if not literally. When people become that desperate, their IQ & analytical thinking skills goes down the drain.They will leap at anything, any life boat that will offer the slightest bit of potential to solve that devastatingly disastrous problem He's using their other survival instinct against them. Rumplestitskin is a master manipulator & con artist. That's just my take on it.:)
Very true. I didn't really notice that about Rumples. In every episode so far, both his fairytale character & his Storybrooke alter ego, Mr. Gold, do do that. They both do target someone when they are at their lowest & weakest point. He doesn't go after someone who isn't. With that, Rumples is definitely 1,000 times more dangerous than the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen doesn't use those things against someone else making them hurt themselves through manipulation. And, Rumples brings up an interesting thing, "magic always comes with a price." Is it really magic itself that comes with a price but really power like Maleificent said in Episode 2? Magic is just a form, an incarnation, of power. Power doesn't know or care about right or wrong, good or evil. It's completely neutral. Both sides have it & can wield it if they so chose to. 99.9% of the Evil Queen's motivations (& Rumples for that matter) are firmly rooted in the gaining & maintaining of power over themselves & others. It's easier to manipulate someone when someone oversimplifies something like power to the point that Rumples does. It's misdirection, a red herring. Lies of omission. He's not truly lying to someone just not telling them everything they need & should know. Look at Cinderella. She didn't even take the time to thoroughly read the contract she signed because of her desperation. You ALWAYS read a contract, especially the fine print. NEVER sign anything w/o reading it several times over so you know what you are potentially legally obligating yourself to. That's rule #1. Naivety comes into play because I'm pretty sure Cinderella never had to deal with contracts, etc. before. It isn't a viable excuse in the eyes of the law since it doesn't fly with any court using that defense of ignorance of the terms to get out of it but it is understandable for her not to think about it right from the get go. Add severe desperation onto that &….you get what we saw.
And, the explosives with the mine. Again, that can be credited to desperation yet again. They were, especially Regina & Emma, desperate to rescue Henry. Marco suggested the explosives. The explosives could have opened up the mine further when someone doesn't think further than the surface of an idea. IQ definitely went down the drain on that one because they were only thinking of a way to get to them. One track mind. The show's creators & actors say the show is about hope but is it really about that entirely? Why would it be unless it's also about the devastation desperation can do to a soul. Like good & evil, you can't have hope w/o desperation & feeling the lack of hope. If one's missing, the other doesn't exist either.
I think part of the reason the fairytale characters act in such a rash manner is because they're being who they are, fairytale characters. A lot of fairytales were written to teach lessons to children. So how are we to have a moral to the story if we have characters who aren't being irresponsible? I see nothing wrong with how these scenes are being written…seems like they're staying true to the nature of fairytales. And you can even see it in the residents of Storybrook…every time someone acts in a rash way it's like a hint of their fairy selves creeping out (of course there are other more obvious signs ie Jiminey Crickets umbrella & Ruby's love for the color red etc).
Fairy tales are actually a part of an oral tradition and classified by type, for instance Beauty and the Beast can be traced back to the story of Cupid and Psyche. The expectation to this being writers like Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote fairy tales. I’m fairly sure his stories weren’t originally intended for children and that only happened once they were translated into English.
It wasn’t until the Grimm Brothers recorded and published fairy tales that they became solely associated with childhood. This occurred because the volumes were popular with children which lead to later editions being sanitized.
Woman in French salons and Charles Perrault also recorded fairy tales.
The Spinning Wheel image at the beginning of the episod and in Rumpel's room would rather indicate Sleeping Beauty is held down there…
Remember the story of rumpelstiltskin from fairy tales… he spun straw into gold for a girl in exchange for her first born. Has nothing to do with sleeping beauty.
In reguard to your opinion about the reckless agreements of so many characters in this series, I would say read up on rumplestiltskin. As the show has done somewhat subtlety, is show Mr. Gold (easier to type on my phone) as the psychic prayer of the weak that he is. He always seems to know what ever idea is in their mind. Almost always in a time of desperation. I feel that they are trying to convey the sure power of Mr. Gold. Mind you, even the witch has never had power over him. He gave her the knowledge to inact this curse and even stipulated absolute protection in the new world. I think focusing the queen as the main protagonist is all just a distraction for Mr. Gold’s big plan.