Once Upon a Time: Breaking Glass Review

Raise your hand if you quietly want David and Mary Margaret to go through some sort of marital discord. Is it just me?

Once Upon a Time tantalized us with the whole Mary Margaret Getting Her Tracking Groove Back tonight. While it’s always good to see that broad do something kind of clever and goofy and adorable (pardoning Will Scarlett was all of those things… except for maybe clever) and not relegated to perma-shut-in status at home with baby Neil, I think the very real possibility that Mary Margaret’s priorities in a post-baby (who was not sent to another world) life have shifted, and not necessarily in ways David is equipped to handle with his usual aplomb. It’s interesting and we’ll see where it goes. Sadly I fear that Charming is too, well, charming to give his wife a hard time about anything for too long. He’s empathetic to a fault. Also his hair is excellent. Moving on.

I can go on not one second longer without addressing the excellence of the female friendship storyline that made up most of tonight’s episode — much though I love ruminating about any possible clouds in the Snow and Charming sky. I was initially exceptionally skeptical of the flashbacks to Emma’s past. Not that they didn’t work. The story of Emma meeting, trusting, and then eventually being hurt by someone new is one we’ve certainly heard but before, but it’s also one that’s exceptionally affecting. While I don’t doubt that “Lily” will reveal herself to be someone major in the Storybrooke universe (I have my own theories), even if we only met her once, that would be fine in light of the juice it gave Emma in terms of her relationship with Regina.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to getting slightly teary (okay, exceptionally teary) when Emma confronted Regina and basically was all “DAMN IT WOMAN JUST BE MY FRIEND.” Emma is not a reticent person, bearing this in mind, I’d like to go on record as believing that her opening herself up that way to Regina is one of the bravest things she’s ever done. Especially considering that the writers really upped what-crawled-up-her-butt-and-died quotient where Regina was concerned this week. It was like, yeah dude, we know. Robin Hood has a wife. That sucks. But really — grow a pair and quit snipping. It is no wonder Sidney betrayed her with that attitude! 

I should address the show’s frostier elements before I take my leave. Elsa is not doing it for me. She seems weak and full of truisms. She’s also really easily adapted to being in a world so completely unlike her own, which just seems strange. Thankfully, a lot her weakness worked this week in the face of The Snow Queen. She is scary! The horror movie-esque staggered movements they’ve given her, their adherence to the traditional Snow Queen story, her quiet menacing nature and her just-revealed connection to Emma’s past? Yes please to all the things.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!