Frederick's the mysterious name in the title. Just who is Frederick, the audience might've asked prior to the episode. Perhaps Frederick's the name of the bearded gentleman who arrived on motorbike, flirts with Emma, and pretentiously writes on a typewriter. Actually, Frederick's the love of Abigail/Kathryn's life in the fairy tale world the curse wiped away. The teaser followed Prince Charming as he raced away from King George's company, and away from an unhappy marriage with Abigail. Abigail's men caught him. Charming told his soon-to-be wife that he preferred death over a forced marriage. Indeed, Abigail never wanted to marry Charming. We then meet Frederick, the love of her life and a solider who's been transformed into a statue of gold because of Midas' accidental touch during a melee on a road. Abigail proposes that Charming assist her in breaking the curse, and he can then live and love freely. Charming agrees, stating that he'll either end her misery or his own. The cure exists in the magic water of the world's smallest lake where a Siren must be defeated to obtain said cure.
I thought the storyline would totally annoy me, but it didn't. I was relieved that Abigail didn't possess a singular, one-sided love for Prince Charming. If such feelings were written for the character, it'd mean a never-ending love triangle between three uninteresting characters. The two-sided affair's insufferable enough. Charming's adventures in the fairyback didn't reveal anything new about the character. Charming's been portrayed as a courageous individual who'll do anything it takes to accomplish something he feels invested in. Once again, Charming faces nothing less than death in the name of true love. Even though Snow White totally rejected him, Charming's still willing to face off with a deadly beautiful Siren. His actions showed more nobility and devotion, romantic qualities that his Storybrooke self lost.
David read Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in last week's episode, which offended me. As a fervent fan of Leo Tolstoy, it annoyed me to see Kitsis and Horowitz use the book title and cover alone to comment on its own adulterous relationship. The 19th century classic and this ABC nonsense fantasy show have nothing in common, not even the characters involved in a dead-end affair. Anyway, David lied to Mary Margaret about telling Kathryn the truth about their affair. David's reluctance to honestly communicate with his wife casts Mary into the role as town tramp. Mary's feelings towards David changed as she wondered how a man who supposedly loved her could allow her to endure such abuse because of his own cowardice. In their climatic scene, Mary opined that their relationship wasn't what love is supposed to be; their relationship is destructive and has hurt too many people. In contrast to this, David's actions in the fairyback is what romantic heroes are made of: triumph over the enemy, a vow to never stop loving Snow White, and a monologue on the importance of never letting go of love.
I didn't think the stories were very good. Once Upon a Time lays their themes on thick. For instance, Kathryn told Regina that she felt her love for David was an illusion, while Abigail opined that some people will do whatever it takes to make others miserable. Both were about Regina, who overtly did both in "What Happened to Frederick." The stories spent a lot of time repeating information: we know that David loves Mary and vice versa, and we know that Snow and Charming love one another even though they hit a rough patch. David's courage and conviction was portrayed already. I should give the show credit for putting the work into showing us the trials of Charming and Snow White. I did criticize the show for putting in zero effort into making Belle and Rumple feel natural as possible lovers. Of course, this is the third Charming/Snow centric episode. Nothing's changed at all--it's rinse and repeat.
The A story concludes as Frederick, in Storybrooke, looks into a wrecked vehicle and finds no one inside. Kathryn tried to leave town. No one leaves Storybrooke though. The question is: where did she go? I'm sure many fans care about this plot point but I don't. I'd also write more about Regina if her motivations weren't rinsed and repeated as well. She tried to manipulate Kathryn; she screwed over Mary; she continued to keep Henry away from her son.
Listen, Kitsis and Horowitz: this is episode 13, we know that Regina's a manipulative bitch, just as we know all about the tortured romance between Snow and Charming. It's time to deepen the mythology. Quit trying to satisfy the masses with lazy one-off scenes in which characters vaguely refer to their past selves and just dive into what really matters.
Other Thoughts:
-Elsewhere, Emma learned the name of the bearded stranger--he is August W. Booth. August took Emma to the magical water well where one sip promises to bring back something that was lost to the drinker. For Emma, she finds Henry's book under her car, in a puddle. August actually placed the book there. It's time to give August his own episode. Instead, we'll get an episode all about finding Kathryn in two weeks. Every character will be a suspect.
-David H. Goodman wrote the episode. Dean White directed it.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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