Now that New York Comic Con has passed for another year, my recap of the 4-Day event will be posted shortly; it’s time to get back to the shows we care about. Fortunately for me, I got home just in time for the latest Once Upon A Time with “The Other Shoe”. Warning, spoilers ahead…
In this Cinderella-centric episode, Ashley (Jessy Schram) returns to the program with her daughter and we see her abruptly leave as she searches for her step sister Clorinda. Ashley blames herself for ruining her life and now needs to make things right again. Emma, Henry and Hook go in search of Ashley not knowing the full circumstances, thinking she is out to harm her step sister. Through a series of flashbacks the story of Cinderella gets retold. After Cinderella’s dress gets destroyed by her stepsister she strikes a deal with Rumple and this allows her to attend the ball. She meets Snow White who suggests that the prince has eyes for her. The prince and Cinderella dance and get to know each other. When the prince is pulled away for a moment, she spots him handing Clorinda a flower and is immediately hurt by this. Adding insult to injury, Cinderella’s stepmother tells her that the prince and Clorinda are meant to be together and that he was only making fun of her while they danced. Cinderella storms out leaving a lone glass slipper behind.
As it turns out, the prince was only giving Clorinda his blessing to marry his footman so that they can start a new life together. Clorinda apologizes to Cinderella and tells her that she wants to rid herself of her mother’s vile nature. Cinderella gives Clorinda the key that would lead to the Land of Untold Stories to help her. When Cinderella’s stepmother later confronts her and threatens the only proof that would link her to the other glass slipper that was left behind. Cinderella caves in and tells her stepmother about Clorinda’s whereabouts.
The prince finds Cinderella and they agree to wed. Before doing so however, Cinderella races to help Clorinda and protect her from her stepmother’s rage. Clorinda feels betrayed by Cinderella. Cinderella’s stepmother uses the key that opens the portal to the Land of Untold Stories for herself and drags Clorinda with her thus leaving her love behind.
Fast forward to the present and Ashley does indeed find Clorinda who appears hurt but it turns out to be a trap instead set by her stepmother who has Clorinda’s fiancé in tow. It turns out that the Evil Queen has arranged all of this. With Clorinda now re-united with the prince’s former footman, she reconciles with Ashley much to the stepmother’s disappointment. The stepmother stabs Ashley in the gut and it would appear that she would die until Emma, Henry and Hook arrive. Emma uses her healing magic to save Ashley.
As Cinderella’s story unfolds, Regina has her hands full with Hyde (Sam Witwer) as she tries to pump information out of him to defeat the Evil Queen only to discover he has already made a deal with her alter ego. Snow gets involved in the matter by helping Jekyll and introducing him to Dr. Frankenstein to devise a plan to destroy the Evil Queen. Then there’s the issue with David and the mystery surrounding his father’s death. He seeks Mr. Gold’s help and as we’ve seen countless times in the past, Gold never does something for nothing. David learns that his father was stabbed to death. In return, David delivers a taped message to Belle who is staying aboard Hook’s ship. The taped message turned out to be an old poem for his unborn son.
Emma still has her fears of the future with Hook but in a nice moment after watching Hook play with Henry, Emma asks him to move in with her. The final scene has the Evil Queen freeing Hyde from his prison cell and seeing them as they walk arm in arm down the hall and we fade to black.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
