Line #25 Recap/OnceUponATimeS1E3SnowFalls


1	'''Season 1, Episode 3''':
2	!Snow Falls
3	!!!'''Centric Characters:''' Snow White, Prince Charming
4	!!!Previous: [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS1E2TheThingYouLoveMost The Thing You Love Most]] \| Next: [[Recap/OnceUponATimeS1E4ThePriceOfGold The Price of Gold]]
5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03_snow_falls.jpg]]
6
7	->'''Prince Charming:''' I told you I'd find you. No matter what you do, I will always find you.\
8	'''Snow White:''' Is this the only way you can catch a woman? By entrapping her?\
9	'''Prince Charming:''' It's the only way to catch thieving scum.\
10	'''Snow White:''' Aren't you a real Prince Charming?
11
12	->'''Mary Margaret Blanchard:''' That's an interesting job: finding people. How did you fall into it?\
13	'''Emma Swan:''' Looking for people is just what I've done as long as I can remember.\
14	'''Mary Margaret:''' What made you start? Your parents. Henry told me that you're, er, were from a similar situation to his own. Did you ever find them?\
15	'''Emma Swan:''' Depends who you ask.
16	----
17
18	{{FLASHBACK}}! Prince Charming rides in a carriage with his fiancée, Princess Abigail, who is constantly complaining about the trip. The carriage is stopped by a fallen tree. Charming discovers the tree was cut down just as a cloaked thief robs Abigail and escapes on horseback. Charming follows and takes down the thief, but is surprised to find that it's a woman - Snow White, though he doesn't know her yet. She takes advantage of his moment of shock to slap him with a rock and get away, after which he promises to find her.
19	----
20	Mary Margaret is on a date at Granny's Diner with Dr. Whale, but after he is continually [[{{DistractedByTheSexy}} distracted by the scantily clad waitress Ruby]][[labelnote:*]]Red Riding Hood[[/labelnote]], she cuts the night short. On the walk home she finds Emma living out of her car, as there were no vacancies outside of Granny's. She offers Emma her spare room, but is turned down as Emma is "not really the roommate type". The next day, Mary Margaret's class is on a field trip to the hospital to decorate. Henry asks Mary Margaret about the comatose John Doe, and she claims not to know him outside of when she brings flowers to patients. The camera pans to show the man is [[WhamShot Charming]]. Henry tells Emma about him, insisting that they tell Mary Margaret that he's her true love. Emma presents her less awkward alternative in having Mary Margaret read to John Doe from Henry's storybook. Mary Margaret agrees to it despite realizing Henry's intention, thinking that it could help him ease into reality. That night she begins to read to him, and during the story of Snow White and Prince Charming, John Doe unconsciously grabs her hand. Dr. Whale tells her that she must have dozed off and dreamt it as there are no changes in his life support's records. After she leaves, Whale calls Regina to inform her of the happenings.
21	----
22	{{FLASHBACK}}! Charming hunts down and traps Snow White, revealing that he knows who she is and that she is a wanted outlaw by the Queen, and he will hand her over unless she gets him back the jewels she took along with his mother's wedding ring.
23	----
24	Mary Margaret tells Emma and Henry about what happened, and agrees with Henry that she needs to read to him again. Upon arriving at the hospital, they find that John Doe has disappeared, with Whale, Graham, and Regina in a commotion over it. Regina reveals that she is his emergency contact as she was the one who found him and brought him to the hospital. Emma and Graham go over the security footage as security guard Walter[[labelnote:*]]Sleepy[[/labelnote]] had fallen asleep during his shift and didn't see it. They find that John Doe got up and left for the woods.
25	----
26	{{FLASHBACK}}! Charming points out Snow's necklace, she tells him it's full of dark fairy dust which can turn one into an easily squashed form. Charming deduces she's saving it for the Queen. She explains that she became a bandit after the Queen ordered her huntsman to execute her, but took pity and released her, and now the Queen is doing all she can to kill her while Snow robs the carriages she sends along the road, having mistaken Charming's for such. Charming inquires what Snow had done to have the Queen hate her so much, and Snow responds that she ruined the Queen's life. She tricks Charming and gets away, only to be apprehended by the Queen's guards.
27	----
28	Graham, Emma, and Mary Margaret search the woods for John Doe, and Emma and Mary Margaret have a conversation about how Emma's life revolves around searching for people after years of searching for her parents. Henry catches up to them and tells them that John Doe is trying to find Mary Margaret.
29	----
30	{{FLASHBACK}}! The guards try to cut out Snow's heart, but Charming arrives and together they defeat the guards. Snow reveals that she sold the jewels to a group of trolls.
31	----
32	Emma argues with Henry that he needs to go back home or they will both suffer Regina's wrath, but the argument is cut short when Graham discovers John Doe's bloody hospital bracelet.
33	----
34	{{FLASHBACK}}! Snow and Charming arrive at the trolls' bridge. Snow returns their money in exchange for the wedding ring, but the trolls see that Charming is a royal and think it's a setup. They fight, and Charming is overpowered by the trolls. Snow uses the fairy dust to turn the trolls into bugs. Charming thanks her and tells her his real name: James.
35	----
36	Graham, Emma, Mary Margaret, and Henry find John Doe by the old toll bridge, in the water. Graham calls an ambulance while Mary Margaret does CPR, and he revives when their lips touch. Back at the hospital, a woman[[labelnote:*]]Princess Abigail[[/labelnote]] bursts into John Doe's room, calling him David. Regina shortly follows and informs Mary Margaret that she is his wife.
37	----
38	{{FLASHBACK}}! Snow returns the jewels and ring to Charming, and he has her try on the ring, but they both decide it's not her style. They part ways, with Snow saying that he'll find her if he needs her again.
39	----
40	Regina introduces the couple as David and Kathryn Nolan. Kathryn reveals that she and David were having marital problems and figured that he had ghosted her when he disappeared, but is now relieved that he's alive and well. Whale presents his theory that when David awoke, he couldn't remember much of anything and felt that he had to seek something out, which is why he left, with Henry insisting that it was Mary Margaret. Emma confronts Regina about conveniently finding out who David was and where Kathryn was, but Regina waves it away, saying that Emma and Mary Margaret should be glad that they brought the couple back together. Afterwards, Emma goes to Mary Margaret's apartment to accept her previous offer.
41
42	!!Tropes
43
44	* ActionGirl: This episode establishes that Snow White was a bandit who could escape Prince Charming and his guards by her own guile and skill.
45	* BiggerOnTheInside: Regina says as much about Storybrooke.
46	* BlackHumor: Sleepy is revealed in this episode to be a hospital security guard who keeps falling asleep at his post. Regina really does have a twisted and delicious sense of irony.
47	* ChekhovsGun: Snow's necklace with fairy dust.
48	* CombatPragmatist: Snow fends off Charming by hitting him with a rock while he has her pinned down. When he's being held captive by trolls, she turns them all into bugs.
49	* CouchGag: The title card features one of the trolls.
50	* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Mary Margaret attempts CPR on the comatose 'John Doe' in the forest. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane It works but it's because of the magic rather than the proper procedure]].
51	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The wanted posters list Snow White's crimes as "murder, treason, treachery."
52	* FirstNameBasis: Charming reveals his actual name to Snow: James.
53	* ForegoneConclusion: It's one that Prince Charming won't marry Princess Abigail and will end up with Snow White. In the present, things aren't so sure.
54	** It's also one that Snow won't use the fairy dust on the Queen, given how she's not a bug in the first episode.
55	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Charming's ridiculously good aim taking out the Queen's henchman with a bow and arrow.
56	* LoveTriangle: Sets one up between Charming, Snow and Princess Abigail. But quickly subverted as it's made obvious Charming isn't interested in Abigail - and we know he marries Snow anyway. But played straight when Abigail's Storybrooke counterpart Kathryn shows up.
57	* ManipulativeBitch: When it looks like Mary Margaret and David might be getting back together after the former finds the latter in the forest and wakes him with CPR/a kiss, what does Regina do? Contact Kathryn and get her to the hospital to interfere with any loving reunion happening. She then has the gall to claim that despite no one (not even her) being able to find the John Doe's family for all this time, she was "inspired" by Emma and Graham using the security footage to find where he went, went back over older footage, and "found" he'd been talking in his sleep about Kathryn. To twist the knife even further, she claims what Emma did reunited true loves, that because of this she'll "forgive" her for her actions with Henry since this all reminded her "how lucky I am to have him", and then comments that having no one who loves you is "the worst curse of all" while smugly watching Mary Margaret.
58	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: While Mary Margaret talks to Dr. Whale Ruby can be seen in her ''very'' short skirted waitress outfit stretching and bending over a table, and it's not just one shot, but multiple poses, establishing that she's not only MsFanservice but this is not a typical fairy tale, or Disney fare for that matter.
59	* MeaningfulEcho: "I will always find you", the Charmings' ArcWords, start out as ones he yells after her when she runs away with his engagement ring, but eventually become meaningful and romantic by the end.
60	** "It was the honorable thing to do." First said by Charming when he saves Snow from the Black Knights, then said by Snow when she turns back and uses the dark fairy dust to save him from the trolls.
61	* MeaningfulName: More oblique than most, but the episode title likely refers to the fact this is when the romance between Snow White and Prince Charming begins--i.e. when she "falls" for him. [[{{Pun}} It's also a hilariously-literal reference]] to what happens to her [[{{Troll}} after Charming cuts her out of the net]].
62	* NoArcInArchery: Charming's arrow work.
63	* OurTrollsAreDifferent
64	* ProperLady: Princess Abigail. She's also portrayed as dull and uninteresting.
65	* SamusIsAGirl: When Charming catches the robber, he pulls the hood down to reveal Snow.
66	* SignsOfDisrepair: The "Toll Bridge" sign has a red "R" scrawled on it between the "T" and "O".
67	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Snow and Charming's first conversation.
68	* TragicKeepsake: The engagement ring Charming got from Ruth (though we won't learn this for three more episodes) gets tried on by Snow (with the ironic comment it "doesn't suit me"), but then we cut to the present where Mary Margaret is wearing it at the hospital as she watches David's reunion with Kathryn. Thanks to the curse she has no memories of it, but we know how meaningful it is, why she has it, and how tragic their separation is. The fact she's toying with it back at her loft suggests she may understand, deep down inside, that it has more value than she remembers.
69	* TrueLovesKiss: The first instance of it happening in the real world.

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