ONCE UPON A TIME: “What Happened to Frederick” Leaves Us With More Questions

We got a couple of major developments in Storybrooke in this week’s episode of Once Upon a Time, setting us up for the final run of the series outstanding first season.

The Fairytale Land storyline was important as a parallel to what was happening in Storybrooke, but not as compelling as prior installments. With the wedding of Princess Abigail and Prince James approaching, Abigail arrives at the castle to be greeted by King George who is covering for the fact that the Prince is missing. He doesn’t want to marry someone he doesn’t love, so he’s running away, but he doesn’t get far before he’s captured by guards. Abigail’s guards. Turns out, Abigail isn’t the vapid, stupid woman she appeared to be at first. She knows the Prince loves Snow White, she knows he doesn’t want to marry her, and she doesn’t want to marry someone she doesn’t love, either. In fact, she escorts the Prince to the edge of her father’s land and even gives him provisions. Naturally the Prince is suspicious. Abigail admits that her heart belongs to the man she was to wed, Frederick, but tragedy struck, begging the question,”What happened to Frederick?”

Abigail leads the Prince to a gazebo conveniently located nearby where a golden statue of a knight stands in perpetual battle mode. While traveling with her father, King Midas, the caravan was attacked. Sir Frederick threw himself in front of the King to save him, accidentally touched his hand, and was turned to gold instantly. According to legend, water from a specific lake will break the curse, but the lake is guarded by a horrible creature. No one who has tried to retrieve the water has survived, Abigail warns. Exactly the sort of mission the Prince needs. He volunteers to try to get the water to restore her True Love: “Either your misery is ended, or mine is.”

Arriving at the lake, the Prince performs an awesome cloak throwing move that sets me all aquiver. I have a weakness for cloaks. Just one more reason Lord of the Rings is on my list of favorite movies ever. But I digress. After a little cloak porn, the Prince fills a canteen with water from the lake and the dreaded creature appears…a beautiful woman. Oh noes! He quickly identifies her as a Siren and resists her call, until she changes form to become Snow White. He tries to resist again, but she succeeds in getting him to kiss her, leading him into the water.

The Prince breaks the kiss long enough to insist, “I don’t want an illusion. I want reality or nothing.” He pushes the Snow!Siren away, but she pushes back, knocking him underwater and pulling him lower and lower. He spots the skeletons of other men at the bottom of the lake and tries to swim away, but it’s too late. The plants on the bottom reach up and wrap themselves around him, holding him underwater. OMG! This was one of my recurring nightmares as a kid! The Prince sees a knife lying within reach, but just then the Snow!Siren swims over and kisses him. He stabs her, and escapes. Meanwhile, I’m taking deep breaths as though I’m the one who just escaped a watery grave. Thanks a lot, writers.

Alive and out of the water, the Prince returns to Abigail with the water from the lake. She pours it over the statue and…the curse is broken! Frederick is restored! Aw, True Love wins. Inspired by Abigail and Frederick, David announces that he is going after Snow. He will fight for his own True Love. Abigail warns him to make haste, that King George will come after him. “Some people will stop at nothing to destroy the happiness of others.” Chilling words.

The Prince’s search takes him to the clearing where the carrier pigeon found Snow previously, but instead of Snow, he finds Red. The Prince tells her he will keep looking for Snow and will convince her that they belong together. Red is confused. She tells him that Snow loves him, that she went to break up the wedding. The Prince realizes King George must have done something, just as the King and his knights ride over the ridge in search of him. He and Red escape on horseback, racing back into the woods.

In Storybrooke, Kathryn tells David she’s been accepted into law school in Boston. The news is a surprise to David and he makes an excuse to see Mary Margaret to talk about this development. Mary Margaret insists that he be honest with Kathryn about their relationship. David doesn’t want to do it, but Mary Margaret tells him he has to make a choice between them. “I choose…you.” “Then it’s time to tell Kathryn.” Good for Mary Margaret. She makes the tough calls, although I have a feeling she’s being naive about the outcome.

In other romance news, Writer Dude wants to have a drink with Emma. “I don’t go out with men who won’t tell me their name,” she squints. “August. August W. Booth. The W stands for Wayne.” Emma scoffs at this. So do I. Totally sounds made up. But she agrees to go out with him.

Before that can happen, Mary Margaret confesses to Emma that she’s been seeing David. Emma already knew, thanks to all those plunging necklines. Ha! Mary Margaret went from having the top button buttoned to having the top 2 buttons unbuttoned which, for her, is a plunging neckline. I love when these two talk. Meanwhile, David tells Kathryn he can’t go to Boston with her, but claims that it’s because “something” is preventing him from connecting with her. I think he’s trying not to hurt her by not admitting that he’s in love with someone else, but you know he’s just making it worse.

In the middle of this relationship drama, we have a brief scene with August making a copy of Henry’s storybook. As in a perfect replica – aged, handstitched, the whole shebang. Very suspicious.

Kathryn goes to Regina, in tears, to talk about David leaving her, and Regina spills the beans that David and Mary Margaret are having an affair. Regina has pictures of them together. Kathryn is upset with Regina for not telling her sooner, saying that a real friend wouldn’t have kept it a secret. Regina seems genuinely surprised that Kathryn is upset, maybe even a little hurt that the person who was probably the closest thing she has to a friend is rejecting her. It’s one of those rare glimpses into Regina/the Evil Queen’s humanity that keeps me from hating her completely.

Kathryn goes to the school and slaps Mary Margaret in front of the kids, at which point Mary Margaret finds out that David didn’t tell Kathryn about them. “Well then he lied to you, too.” Also, Kathryn bumps into a young man in the hallway who appears to be a high school student but seems to be significant somehow. Later in the episode, we see that he’s Sir Frederick in Fairytale Land. Surely he’s not a student in Storybrooke. Maybe he’s another teacher?

August talks Emma into getting on the back of his bike to go to some other “watering hold” for a drink. It’s a wishing well. Some cute banter about watering holes and magic follows, until August reveals that if a person drinks the water from the well, something lost will be returned. August goes into a spiel about water being the closest thing to magic on earth. He seems to be laying the groundwork for Henry’s (faux) book to appear, but why is he bringing magic into it? Why is he trying to convince Emma that magic is real? And why does he need the original book? Does it hold powers of its own? So many questions!

After the public spectacle in the school hallway, news of the affair spreads quickly and Mary Margaret has to endure the whispers of the townsfolk. Even Granny chastises her. Ouch. David tries to wash graffiti off Mary Margaret’s truck before she can see it, but she finds him and confronts him about not being honest with her or with Kathryn. This latest misstep by David is too much for her, and she decides that their “love” isn’t real, that it’s too destructive to be True Love, so she breaks up with him.

Meanwhile, ta da! Henry’s storybook turns up in the gutter underneath Emma’s car, carried there by the rainwater overflow. It’s a miracle! We don’t get any further clues about August’s motives for the deception, or why he wants the original book, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon.

Kathryn stops by Regina’s house to apologize for snapping at her. She has come to realize that what she and David had wasn’t True Love. The photos Regina gave her of David with Mary Margaret show what True Love looks like, and it’s not what she has experienced with him, even before his accident. Kathryn is ready for a fresh start, on her own, in Boston. “I’ve always had this irrational fear of leaving Storybrooke, something’s always held me back,” she muses. Regina agrees that leaving may be just what Kathryn needs. Uh oh.

Regina sneaks over to David and Kathryn’s house and lets herself in, because apparently she has keys to everywhere in Storybrooke. She spots a letter Kathryn left for David and takes it with a smirk. Later, Regina removes the letter from a desk drawer where it was stored alongside the can of spray paint that was used on Mary Margaret’s truck. As Kathryn prepares to drive out of Storybrooke to Boston, Regina burns the letter.  The boy-man from the school (aka Sir Frederick) finds Kathryn’s car crashed into the ditch next to the “now leaving Storybrooke” sign, with the airbag deployed and an empty driver’s seat. What happened to Kathryn?

New characters this week: Sir Frederick/High School Boy

In 2 weeks: Kathryn is missing, and both Mary Margaret and David are suspects.