Once Upon A Time Finally Thaws
The Once Upon A Time storyline based on characters from the movie Frozen that has been the theme of this season melted away on Sunday as Ingrid the Snow Queen, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, experienced a sudden turn-around from her evil persona and sacrificed herself to save the Town of Storybrooke. Ingrid had cast a spell over nearly everyone in the town and the only way to reverse it was to destroy herself, which she did in a shower of glass and magic shards. The Spell of the Shattered Sight had caused all of the occupants of Storybrooke to turn on each other, transforming almost all into malicious, combative versions of themselves that the Snow Queen hoped would result in all of the characters killing each other.
This episode of Once Upon A Time was particularly entertaining, as viewers were provided with a glimpse of characters in a different light from their usual roles. Sweet Snow White became hostile toward Charming, the two spending much of the first part of the episode trading insults as they were trapped in adjacent jail cells.
Regina reverted to her evil former self. “I’ve missed you,” she quipped as she looked at her image in a mirror dressed in classic, black evil queen garb. Very likely, many fans of Once Upon A Time have missed her as well. She is soon visited by Emma and Elsa, who are going to use Regina’s tremendous hatred to break them free of the wristbands that were intended to be a sisterly love bond between Emma, Else, and Ingrid, the Snow Queen. Emma tells Regina that she sabotaged her romance with Robin on purpose. Regina reacts with an intensity that releases Emma and Else from the wristbands. Emma and Else then run off to confront Ingrid.
Strangely, rather than chase after Emma who told her she had ruined her life, Regina heads to the jail to confront Snow White. She releases Snow from the cell and gives her a sword so that Regina can watch Snow bleed. The fight plods along until Snow White thinks Regina is going to wake her baby, who is in a nearby bassinet. This is too much for Snow White and the tide of the fight begins to turn.
In the meantime, Emma and Elsa reach the Snow Queen, show her the error of her ways, and bring about her sacrifice. All is right again with the world as the spell is broken everywhere.
With the winter finale coming up this Sunday, the popular series chose to wrap up the Once Upon A Time storyline a week early, presumably to give fans a glimpse of the upcoming season rather than conclude with a Frozen-themed cliffhanger. The teaser at the end of the episode provided a glimpse of future threats to the inhabitants. Although the premise of the show in which storybook characters have been transported to a real world location is unconventional at best, Once Upon A Time still holds a certain fascination for a large number of viewers who will, no doubt, look forward to next season.
