Recap

Snow White and Prince Charming push the limits of meeting cute when she ambushes his carriage and bashes him in the chin with a rock. It is, of course, love at first sight, and for their first date they fight off loathsome creatures to save each other’s lives, but they cannot yet be together.

Two strong LOST shout-outs here — when Prince Charming uses Danielle Rousseau’s technique of trapping people in nets swinging from trees, and when a “Wanted” poster is shown revealing that Snow White is a Kate-like fugitive (she even looks a bit like Kate while peering out of the netting).

Snow White in net trap (screencap by Dramatic-Personae.Net)

Jack and Kate in a net trap in LOST 2x19 "S.O.S."

In Storybrooke, Henry is convinced that Mary M can wake John Doe (Prince Charming) out of his coma by reading to him from the fairy tale book. Henry, of course, is right. John Doe wanders off into the woods and is brought back. In the hospital, a woman (the flash-sideways version of Prince C’s bitchy fiancee) suddenly materializes, apparently due to Regina’s string pulling, claiming to be John Doe’s wife.

Emma, who had been living in her car, decides to take Mary M up on her offer to stay in her extra room — a fairy tale variation on moving back in with Mom.

Theme of the week: True love

True love can happen at first sight, and it will last forever.

Things I liked

The way it turns out the name “Prince Charming” was first used sarcastically. “Oh, you’re a real Prince Charming.” “I have a name, you know.”

Seeing Snow White as a badass, which is strikingly different from how we’ve seen her as a bird-loving princess or as Mary Margaret, a woman with the name and the buttoned-down wardrobe of a nun.

Prince Charming asking why the EQ hated Snow White, and Snow White answering because she thinks I ruined her life. Prince Charming asking if the EQ was right about that, and Snow White saying yes.

The trolls and the bad guys with the black helmets are awesome.

Things I didn’t like

Although I thought the pacing picked up in this episode, perhaps because there was less stopping for exposition, the part where our heroes tracked John Doe in the woods was draggy.

What do you think?

No spoilers, please