Review: Once Upon A Time (Season 2, Episode 3)

The Lady of the Lake

The bond between mother and daughter continues to grow as Snow and Emma, still stuck in the land of magic, team up with unlikely companions, Mulan and Princess Aurora, to find a portal back to our world.

Barbara Hershey (Beaches, Black Swan) reprised her role as Cora, Regina’s mother, who is even more manipulative than the Evil Queen. It seems the poisoned apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Henry seeks out Jefferson, the Emo Mad Hatter, hoping he has enough magic to retrieve Emma and Snow. In turn, Jefferson suggests asking Regina, telling Henry that she may have something in her vault that would be powerful enough to bring them back. Following an overly dramatic chat with Henry, Jefferson reunites with his daughter, Grace. I keep half expecting him to start singing “Welcome to the Black Parade”

Then Henry arranges to have lunch with Regina but never shows up, instead using the opportunity to sneak into her vault. Regina sounded so touched by his invitation, that I felt a great deal of sympathy for her inevitable disappointment. This was compounded when Charming rescued Henry from the snakes in the vault, saying “She would have come herself but she didn’t think you’d go with her”.

I am enjoying the season so far but I have mixed feelings about this episode. I believe the writers are introducing too many new characters while ignoring already established fan favorites. I am mildly curious about Cora, indifferent toward Mulan and I have absolutely no interest in Princess Aurora.

The idea of a Lancelot character was wonderful but his storyline seemed to be little more than a plot device and, in my opinion, his biggest contribution to the episode was quoting Lord Alfred Tennyson, “God in His mercy, lend her grace” when he found the last of the enchanted water.

“But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in His mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shallot."
- Lord Alfred Tennyson (The Lady of Shalott)

The poem is about a woman who lives in a castle on an island, which is situated on a river that flows toward Camelot. The woman is cursed, though the details of her curse remain a mystery. She is compelled to weave images on a loom and only view Camelot through the reflection of a mirror. Some mistakenly believe her story is related to another Arthurian tale, The Lady of the Lake, which was the name of tonight’s episode.