Once Upon A Time "Snow Falls" Review

The Evil Queen wanted Snow White's heart.

The punishment for ruining her life was death, and the heart would prove that Snow White no longer walked the mystical grounds of fairy tale land. The Queen's pursuit of Snow White transformed the girl into an outlaw capable of stealing from royalty. Once Upon a Time's Snow White isn't the one from the 1937 Disney classic. The woman possesses a backbone, an attitude, a fighting spirit, and the ability to protect herself. Snow White's portrayal is one for the progressive 21st century.

The flashbacks and the present were reversals of one another. The flashback told the story of how Snow White and Prince Charming met and fell in love. The flashback contained the familiar tropes of their story. Charming saved her life more than once. In the present, the roles were reversed. Mary Margaret stirred him from the coma with a rendition of the story we were witnessing in the flashbacks. John Doe left the hospital in a delirious state, searching for the woman who read to him. Doe was weak from months in a coma, and Mary found him lying in a stream. When she put her mouth to his, he choked the water out from within his body and opened his eyes to look into the eyes of the one he loved in another life. Except he didn't remember her. You see, that's the curse.

The flashbacks were beautifully shot. The forests of Vancouver are lush and rich in color. Last week's flashbacks were weakened by weak green screen effects. The Evil Queen came from a cartoonish world with pixilated objects whereas Snow White inhabited an actual forest. I'd like to write more about the layers of Snow White but Liz Tigelaar's script provided very little about her life before we met her. In LOST tradition, her details were left out, to be filled in later in another episode. Like I wrote already, she's a strong-willed and determined heroine. The girl doesn't quiver in fear when ensnared in a net by Prince Charming. Instead, she quips and shows no fear. Charming respects her. While she wouldn't last a day in Westeros, she's perfectly fine in fairy tale world. Snow White only agrees to help Charming recover lost jewels because he threatened to turn her into the queen (where she's wanted for murder, treason and treachery). Together, they traverse the woods, fight a couple of bridge trolls, and fall in love on that troll bridge. Charming endears himself to her when he saves her from queen's men just as they're about to cut her heart out.

The Storybrooke narrative had a different energy and excitement. Henry persuaded Mary to read the fairy tale book to John Doe because he felt confident that she'd be the one to wake him up. First, though, some Mary Margaret history. Mary's a loving and dutiful teacher but she's lonely. Blind dates disappoint her because she's disappointing to men. Men look at other women instead of the one sitting in front of them, speaking to them. Henry's insistence that John's her true love makes Mary curious, so she reads to him. When he touches her hand, Mary feels a connection that surprises her. Once John disappeared from the hospital, she searched for him with help from Henry and Emma. And, of course she found him, and breathed life into him again. Mary felt happiness until Regina introduced everyone to David's wife--Katherine. Emma later confronted Regina about the "coincidence." Regina told her the security tapes revealed the woman; that she's being accused of something she didn't do.

However, the Evil Queen wanted Snow White's heart for whatever she did to ruin her life. The desire for Snow White's heart and soul is the reason for the curse, after all. Regina told Emma that being alone is the worst curse of all. Storybrooke's a place where Mary's heart is gone. Henry and Emma will help her in whatever way they can but Regina possesses the power and shares a friendship with Mr. Gold, so Mary's heart remains in the queen's hands. I liked how the queen does, in fact, get Snow White's heart--just in a way Snow White wouldn't expect.

Mary won't live a lonely life anymore, either. Emma accepted Mary's offer to stay in the spare room. I liked how tightly written the family traits were written. For example, Mary, Emma and Henry possess an ability to find people. All three are lonely without each other; now, none of them will be lonely as long as they're together. Of course, Mary's unaware that Emma's her daughter; that Henry's her grandson. 'Tis only episode three though, plenty of time for that discovery.

The episode succeeded because I'm invested in Snow White and Prince Charming. The pilot suggested they were a boring couple. Thankfully, there wasn't anything boring about their origin story. "Snow Falls" was well done. Each character was written with confidence. The series has a confidence that's not common in new shows. Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz deserve a pat on the back for a job well done thus far. I look forward to more episodes.

Liz Tigelaar wrote the episode. Dean Smith directed it.

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