Season 1, Episode 14:
Dreamy
Centric Characters: Grumpy, Nova
Previous: What Happened to Frederick | Next: Red-Handed
Dreamy: Why? What makes us different from any other dwarf and fairy out there?
Nova: Our love.
FLASHBACK! In the clouds above the Enchanted Forest, a young fairy named Nova meets with the Blue Fairy while delivering fairy dust from the mines. Nova is disappointed to hear that she won't be a fairy godmother anytime soon, but the Blue Fairy doesn't care and sends her off. Nova spills a little fairy dust as she takes off, and it falls back into the mines where it lands on an egg, which begins to shake. The dwarves watching over the eggs are surprised to see that it's ready to hatch early, and within seconds a wide-eyed dwarf* breaks out.
At Granny's Diner, Leroy grumps at Mr. Clark and Walter who are trying to get his seat, which he relinquishes after Clark accidentally sneezes on his food. Mary Margaret shows up to remind everyone in the diner that Miners' Day is coming up and the local nuns will be fundraising by selling candles, for which they need volunteers to help. Only Leroy approaches, but he just wants to leave the diner and Mary Margaret is standing in front of the door. He reminds her that she and him are the two most unpopular people in Storybrooke, so even if he did want to help they wouldn't have much luck.
Hurt, Mary Margaret leaves closely pursued by Emma. Mary Margaret explains to Emma that Miners' Day is a tradition from when the nuns used to trade candles to the miners in exchange for coal, and while there's usually plenty of volunteers the ones this year have all cancelled since Mary Margaret is one of the lead organizers and they don't like her anymore. Emma comforts Mary Margaret and tells her she doesn't have to try to win people back over, but she's unconvinced.
At the Miners' Day fairground, Leroy mills about when a nun* accidentally spills glitter on him from atop a ladder. Leroy is unusually chill about it and offers to take a look at the lights she was trying to set up, and informs her that she's put too many lights on one place and could overload the transformer. She thanks him for the help, introducing herself as Astrid. Leroy fixes the lights and tells Astrid that he used to dream of sailing away from Storybrooke and even bought an old boat, and she encourages him.
Emma investigates Kathryn's crashed and abandoned car at the town line, soon joined by Sidney who claims to be doing freelance reporting. Emma tells him that Kathryn is missing, and Sidney's reporter wheels start to turn but she shuts him down, saying that Kathryn probably decided to hitchhike to Boston after her car broke down, but this theory holds less water when they find Kathryn's luggage still in the trunk. Sidney offers to have an old contact of his at the phone company pull up Kathryn's records quicker than Emma could and she accepts, before David arrives on the scene.
FLASHBACK! All the fresh dwarves are cleaned up and prepared for dwarf life, and the one that hatched early asks the guy working on him who the woman he saw before hatching was, but is met with laughs.
The older dwarf explains that dwarves mine diamonds that are crushed into fairy dust. The eight new dwarves are given magical pickaxes which grant them their names: Stealthy, Happy, Doc, Sneezy* , Sleepy* , Bashful, Dopey, and Dreamy.
Leroy arrives at the school to see Mary Margaret about signing up for Miners' Day, and although she tries to hold to his earlier rejection out of pettiness she quickly relents since she's in desperate need of help. Leroy sees Astrid getting in trouble with Mother Superior* for ordering twelve dozen non-refundable helium tanks instead of just twelve. Leroy checks on Astrid and she explains that her mistake cost the convent all the money they had from their monthly stipend, meaning they can't pay rent since it's due before the next stipend and their only income is from selling the candles, and they'd have to sell around a thousand to make up the difference. Leroy suggests that Astrid negotiate with the nuns' landlord but she says they can't since it's Mr. Gold, who's quite unforgiving. Determined to help Astrid, Leroy promises that they'll sell all the candles.
Emma takes David's statement, and assures him that he's not a suspect since she knows he's telling the truth.
At the Mayoral office, Regina prints out Kathryn's phone records before calling Sidney to tell him they're ready.
FLASHBACK! One year later, Nova is collecting fairy dust at the mine again when her bag begins to overfill and she's not strong enough to turn the valve off, so Dreamy comes to her rescue before recognizing her as the woman he saw before hatching. Nova absentmindedly sets the fairy dust on some equipment and it's soon whisked off towards the incinerator, but Dreamy saves it in just in time. Nova laments that she could never be a fairy godmother when she can't even collect fairy dust without help, but Dreamy reassures her.
Nova tells Dreamy that's she's going to see some cool fireflies later, so he tells her to have a good time and they part ways as friends.
At the fairground, Mary Margaret and Leroy aren't having luck selling candles. Leroy suggest they go door to door, counting on "Begone" Bribes to bail them out. Emma meets Sidney to tell him that she contacted Kathryn's law school and learned that she never arrived. Sidney's shocked that Emma doesn't suspect Mary Margaret, but Emma insists that she knows Mary Margaret well enough to look elsewhere.
Mary Margaret and Leroy's gain no traction on the doorsteps.
FLASHBACK! The dwarves go out to dinner at an inn, but Dreamy doesn't feel like eating. Bossy, the lead dwarf, tries to cheer him up, but from another table none other than Belle chimes in, telling them that Dreamy's in love.
Dreamy isn't sure that Nova's in love with him, but when he tells Belle about their last conversation she explains that Nova was trying to ask him out and encourages him to go be with her.
At the school, Leroy goes to tell Astrid that they couldn't sell candles, but chickens out and instead tells her that they were completely successful and sold out, and she buys it to Mary Margaret's horror. She pulls Leroy aside and he tries to convince her that he'll come up with something, and Mary Margaret realizes that Leroy has a crush on Astrid.
Leroy retorts that she's one to talk, having had an affair with a married man, before swearing that he will get that $5,000 for the nuns.
FLASHBACK! Dreamy meets Nova at the Firefly Hill, and they look out over the kingdom below. Nova admits that she wishes she could go see the world, and not just from flying over it. Dreamy suggests that they run away together and sail across the world, and they share a kiss before arranging to meet the next night.
At the Storybrooke docks, Leroy tries to sell his boat to Mr. Gold but he won't pay $5,000 for it. Leroy tries to convince him to forgive a month of rent for the nuns but Gold refuses because he doesn't like the nuns for private reasons. Gold leaves, and Astrid arrives to deliver a thank-you pie, but for some reason Leroy has all the unsold candles right there and she discovers his lie.
Sidney gives Emma the phone records and points out a call Kathryn had with David hours before her disappearance, contradicting David's statement. Emma doesn't believe that David lied but Sidney insists that the record is proof.
Leroy meets Mary Margaret at Granny's to drink.
FLASHBACK! Dreamy prepares to sneak out but is caught by the other dwarves, courtesy of Stealthy, but they end up supporting him and he heads off until getting caught by Bossy and the Blue Fairy, who tell him that Nova will lose her wings if she leaves her duties and that it'll be better for everyone if the two of them stay in their original places.
Leroy and Mary Margaret chat about love and dreams, and how even if an experience turned out to be bad you shouldn't regret the parts that made you happy.
Leroy: Then sittin' here and drinkin' won't end this pain.
Mary Margaret: What will?
Leroy: I can only think of one thing.
Leroy goes to the fairground where he climbs onto a building roof and stands up on the ledge. Mary Margaret chases after him to convince him to not jump, but that's not what he was planning to do. Instead, he uses a pickaxe to break a nearby transformer, knocking out the fairground lights so that people will buy candles.
FLASHBACK! Dreamy meets Nova on the hill where she shows him that she's prepared a boat for them to run away together, but he lets her down. Nova tries to convince him that he doesn't have to be what the world tells him, and soon pieces together that he talked with the Blue Fairy, but he won't say what she told him and leaves Nova in tears.
Returning to the mines, Dreamy tries to feign happiness but it gives way to rage as he breaks his pickaxe against the rock. Dreamy asks for a new pickaxe, and as he takes the pickaxe it bestows him with a new name: Grumpy.
Leroy and Mary Margaret are swamped by customers and are soon sold out. Leroy delivers the profits to Astrid, and tells her that he's going to fix up his boat and offers to have her be his first passenger.
Regina visits Emma at the police station where she pores over the phone records, but Emma won't tell her any details on the case since she doesn't have anything definitive.
At the fairground, David watches Mary Margaret from afar before Emma arrives, asking him to come to the station for further questioning, and Mary Margaret sees as David gets into the back of the police car.
Tropes
- Back-Alley Doctor: Lampshaded by Bossy.Dreamy: Maybe I should have Doc look at me.
Bossy: You're gonna trust a doctor who got his medical degree from a pickaxe? - Break His Heart to Save Him: Grumpy was told by the Blue Fairy to do this to Nova.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Dreamy reveals to Nova that he had seen her when he was hatched from his egg, she is stunned that he's only a year old. His response? "I know, I look young for my age."
- Couch Gag: The title card features the dwarves.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Nova and her Storybrooke counterpart Sister Astrid, oh so much. Spills fairy dust accidentally on a dwarf egg. Leaves the bag of dust on a hopper mine car so it almost gets dumped from the conveyor belt into the furnace. Almost caused a power outage by overloading a transformer with too many lights. Makes a typo that puts the convent five grand in debt.
- Destructive Romance: The Blue Fairy and Bossy convince Dreamy that his love for Nova will turn into this because fairies lose their wings if they fall in love.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Though not his literal father, Bossy keeps Dreamy from leaving the mines to travel the world with Nova. Ironically, once the other dwarves find out he wants to leave for love, they are all happy for and supportive of him.
- Forgot About His Powers: Nova could have easily flown to save her fairy dust from the fire. It's likely she was too flustered to do so though.
- Happy Ending: One of the few times in the first season where at least one character gets a completely happy ending.
- Hypocrite: Mary Margaret, getting after Leroy for being interested in a nun when, as he himself lampshades, she had an affair with a married man so has no room to talk.
- Hypocrite Has a Point: However, while having such an affair is generally frowned on by most societies (as Mary Margaret experienced quite painfully last episode and throughout most of this one), she's right that it's also generally seen as much worse to violate a religious vow of celibacy.
- Ironic Echo: Of the Tear Jerker Type: "I'm a Dwarf. I can't love."
- Irony: The Blue Fairy tells Nova that fairy dust is the source of all hope and joy in the world. But when said dust causes a dwarf egg to produce a dwarf who can love, and he and Nova want to run away together, the Blue Fairy crushes that hope and joy to enforce the caste system (because it's more important for dwarves to mine and fairies to carry dust so the rest of the world can be happy).
- Match Cut: Of the ironic sort, between Dreamy hatching from his egg and Leroy fiercely breaking open his hard-boiled egg at the diner.
- Meaningful Name:
- "Bossy" is named as such because he's the boss, but he doesn't embody the word's more negative connotations. We also see "Watchy", the mine's watcher.
- Nova is Latin for new, and the fairy Nova is about as new as they come when it relates to her duties (or competence at them). Meanwhile in Storybrooke her name is Astrid, which means "star" (as in, the thing people wish on to summon the fairies, and to make dreams come true which is what she and Leroy's story is all about, both past and present).
- Odd Friendship:
- One is established between Dreamy and Belle.
- In Storybrooke, the "town harlot" and the "town drunk" working together to sell candles. Made more heartwarming when you know how close they were as Snow White and Grumpy.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Played with. While the mining aspect is obviously there, there are no female dwarves (or dwarf children), dwarves are hatched from eggs (fully grown in appearance, but wearing undergarment sleepwear), and they receive their names from their axes (which can change if their personalities change).
- Plot Parallel: Nova takes Dreamy to see the fireflies on Firefly Hill; in Storybrooke, after Leroy makes the power go out by driving a pick axe into a transformer, all the sold candles look like a field of fireflies when lit. The first ends up being tragic due to Break His Heart to Save Him, the second is a happy ending since it provides the nuns with the money they need to pay off Mr. Gold (and even indirectly allows Mary Margaret to make up with Granny) and brings Astrid and Leroy together.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Bossy is friendly to his workers and concerned about their well-being. However, he does stop Dreamy from seeing the fairy he fell in love with.
- Take a Third Option: Mary Margaret and Leroy aren't able to sell the candles, and Gold won't buy Leroy's boat (at first, not for the price he's asking, then not at all when he learns it's for the nuns). So Leroy decides to cause a power outage at the festival, forcing everyone to buy the candles.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Mary Margaret tries to do this when she finds Leroy on the ledge of a tall building, only for him to quickly clarify that he isn't going to jump.
- That Man Is Dead: Never directly stated, but Dreamy "dies" around the time Grumpy is "born".
- Travelling Salesman Montage: Done with Leroy and Mary Margaret as they try to sell candles.
- Wham Shot: David being taken away in the sheriff's car, arrested under suspicion of Kathryn's disappearance.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Nova/Astrid is never seen again and no definite resolution is given to her and Grumpy/Leroy's romance (other than in one behind-the-scenes special feature from the DVD, and even that doesn't fully resolve it).
