‘Once Upon a Time’ season 4, episode 3 review: Is the Snow Queen Elsa’s mother, aunt, or something else?
Is the story on “Once Upon a Time” becoming too “Frozen” focused? The more we see on season 4, and the more we feel like the show is just going to be one that you will objectively love or hate. It all depends on what you think about the feature film.
What we will say, for the time being, is that there were some logical bumps in this rocky road, in particular for Elizabeth Mitchell’s Snow Queen. For a woman who has been around Storybrooke for a while now, she didn’t seem that interested in hiding her true identity. For example, was it that hard to figure out that she cast a spell on Marian, or that her ice-cream shop was not run using anything electronic? We’re mostly surprised that no one ever bothered to think about this before now. Sometimes, these people have their heads in the sand.
Mitchell is very good in the role, as we learned that she was at one point trapped in an urn herself. In Storybrooke, she tried to convince Elsa that it was her own sister who put her in her own urn, which caused her to eventually be released in the town.
Through another flashback, though, we learned that this woman was actually Elsa’s aunt, which we have to say is the lamest twist ever. While we know that having all villains related to one other is an easy way to create drama, this entire story is far too predictable when it is regurgitated time and time again. Anytime there is a new villain, we may as well wonder who they are related to.
There were some good things about this episode, including a great mission with Henry and Regina to try and find the author of the book to give Regina a happy ending. She was trying to help Marian, and that was a part of her transformation.
Finally, we learned in here why Emma is staying away from Hook: Fear. Everyone else she loves has died, so it only makes sense that he also would.
Overall, “Rocky Road” was a little too rocky. All of the content for the other characters was pretty great, but that whole Snow Queen twist? Pretty awful. Grade: C+.
What’s your take on “Rocky Road”: Was it a smooth finish, or a rocky landing? Let us know in the comments! To read more news, including a preview for next week’s “The Apprentice,” head over to the link here right now. Also, be sure to sign up today to get further updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via ABC.)