Once Upon a Time has Frozen over but things weren't all icy when we returned to Storybrooke in the Season 4 premiere A Tale of Two Sisters. In fact one Rumpelstiltskin and Belle scene almost had me tearing up from all the Beauty and the Beast nostalgia.
However any happiness was offset by Regina back in Evil Queen mode (with her newly returned mirror sidekick Sidney Glass) Emma's resistance to Hook's advances and well ... all of the frozen fractals Elsa dragged all over town. But before we could get into the action we had to start with a time jump of course.
In the episode's opening scene we get the backstory of Elsa and Anna s parents' death that Frozen never gave us. Maybe it was the film's G rating that prevented animators from showing the former king and queen of Arendelle dying on a boat Titanic style but the episode kicked off with their mom quickly scrawling a note with the truth about Elsa to send back home in a bottle.
Spoiler alert it never made it home because when we flash forward five years later Anna and Elsa are just as confused about their parents' death as ever.
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Casting was A on the show s part with Elsa (Georgina Haig) Anna (Elizabeth Lail) and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) embodying their characters perfectly. The only thing missing was Olaf but we did get Elsa's scary abominable snowman wreaking havoc on Storybrooke so we're almost there. We even got Kristoff's rock troll grandpoppy to roll in and give the sisters some advice in a flashback. (Unfortunately he was not singing about fixer uppers. Though Kristoff did get a sleek new haircut.)
The new twist on Frozen is that Elsa discovers that she's the reason her parents died after reading her mom's diary during wedding planning for Anna. Apparently mom and dad were scared of Elsa's powers and were going to Misthaven to find answers. This of course prompts Anna to run off alone to this mysterious town without thinking hmm sound familiar but as we discover Misthaven is just another name the Enchanted Forest. Don't worry Anna I will find you Elsa says as she watches Anna's ship sail off into the distance. Is this the new I will always find you because Snow and Charming got next to no screen time in the premiere.
In present day Elsa didn't directly interact with anyone in Storybrooke save for icing up Grumpy's truck when they almost hit her and sending her evil snowman after Hook and Emma but she is already deeply embedded into the town. She spots her snowflake necklace pictured in the newspaper and heads to Mr. Gold's shop to find it. Since Anna was last seen wearing it it's her first clue of her sister s whereabouts. Honestly given the timeline I can't figure out where Anna is post curse and if she's even alive since Elsa came from the past but I'm guessing there will be some answers later in the season.
Well this is awkward.
Image ABC/Eike Schroter
Elsewhere in Storybrooke Regina has a serious case of the sads. This formerly evil gal just can't catch a break in the romance department and the most awkward introduction in history goes down when Robin Hood tries to exchange pleasantries with his girlfriend Regina and his not so dead wife Marian. This only gets worse when Marian screams You're a monster multiple times at Regina. Not to condone cheating does this even count since she was presumed dead but Marian is kind of basic and boring and I totally 'ship Robin and Regina.
Robin tries to apologize to Regina in private later and even gives up a glimpse of hope for their love but then he pulls the whole 'til death do us part card about his wife. Regina sheds a single tear and then she smashes a mirror with her mind after he leaves.
The Evil Queen is back.
The Evil Queen can't operate alone though and Giancarlo Esposito's show Revolution was just canceled so he's back as the Magic Mirror. She plucks Sidney out of his cell at the mental ward saying I need my mirror. There's someone standing in the way of my happiness. I need your help getting rid of her.
Her first plan is to go back in time and kill Marian before she can be saved by Emma but then she has a slight change of heart. She actually saves Marian in the woods after the evil snowman almost stomps her and decides that she has to find the writer of Henry's fairy tale book. (This may or may not have been prompted from Emma saying she's going to help get Regina a happy ending which all SwanQueen fans are already making fan art about I'm sure.)
As Regina so expertly points out villains never find love so she wants to find the writer of the curse and then force them to give her what she deserves. It's time to change the book she tells Sidney. It's time for villains to get their happy endings. Hey remember when we thought August was the author of the book Bless his wooden heart. R.I.P.
The only happy couple in town seems to be Belle and Mr. Gold who celebrate their wedding by going to Neal s grave natch. It's actually Gold's version of confession as he tells Neal about swapping out the Dark One dagger before he gave it to Belle and soon after he does exactly that at a mysterious honeymoon house that Belle found for them. The most beautiful and perfect homage to classic Disney happens when the newly married couple dances to Tale as Old as Time in the exact outfits from Beauty and the Beast in a library. It's romantic and so much better than Let It Go. And speaking of classic Disney Gold also uses his dagger to discover the iconic blue hat from The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence in Fantasia in the house which hints we could see Mickey Mouse in the future.
I know what you're thinking what about Hook and Emma I'm just saving the best for last.
Hook and Emma's important conversation was interrupted by a giant snow monster. Because Storybrooke.
Image ABC/Katie Yu
In the whole episode they only kiss once but we do see Emma physically on top of Hook when they get blasted by a snowman. So I ll count that as two. Emma is as hot and cold as Elsa honestly. Out of the blue when they re in the woods she says Want to go home and see what s on Netflix He responds adorably saying I don t know what that is but sure. (Are they more of a House of Cards couple or Orange Is the New Black I m betting on the latter. They could be marathoning Gilmore Girls though.)
Then Emma suddenly wants to talk about stopping whoever created the ice monster and he points out that there s always a crisis when it comes to her. While she claims she's avoiding him because she feels too guilty about what she did to Regina I think it has something to do with her baby daddy Neal just dying. But then she kisses him and it solves things for the moment. I have all the time in the world he tells her dryly. Unless another monster appears and kills me.
For now Elsa doesn t seem ready to freeze Storybrooke over like she (accidentally) did with Arendelle but with no trolls hanging out in town if she zaps someone s heart there s no sisterly bonds to help anyone. Honestly I m just waiting for the inevitable Regina vs. Elsa or Rumplestiltskin vs. Elsa showdown hopefully neither of their relationships keep them from battling it out with magic this season.
What did you think of the Frozen storyline on Once Upon a Time Are you ready to let it go already or did Elsa Co. pull you in Tell us in the comments
Alyse Whitney is an entertainment writer whose life revolves around her DVR conflicts and all things Shonda Rhimes. Her work has appeared on MTV POPSUGAR TVLine Wetpaint and more. Follow her on Twitter AlyseWhitney.
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