We were given a week break from Once Upon a Time, and this week it has come back with a story I wasn’t sure was going to be told. Not because I didn’t think the show would last that long, but because I didn’t know if it was a story to be told without being a filler. This week we are learning about Archie Hopper, also known as Jiminy Cricket. While his role this season has been small, his story should be interesting.
Story Time
We open to a puppet show and a young boy pick pocketing the crowd. He is also ripping bags and stealing small trinkets, not just gold. We later see him sitting in the back of the travelling puppet booth, with who appear to be his parents. He tells them he doesn’t want to live the life of a thief, and comes across a cricket. He says he wants to be free, and his parents argue that he is what he is, and there is no changing that.
Later on we see adult Jiminy arguing with his parents to get out of the business of thievery. They use their age and sickness to guilt him into staying. Miserably in the rain he sets up the show, when a small boy comes over with an umbrella. He says he wasn’t there to watch him set up, but to listen to the crickets. He expresses his excitement for the show, and hands him the umbrella and runs away. That night, Rumplestiltskin works a spindle in a library where Jiminy turns in some jewels. Rumplestiltskin gives him some gold thread for his trouble, but knows Jiminy wants more. He tells him he wants to be free, and away from his parents. Knowing that Jiminy has nothing else he can give him, he strikes a deal that if Rumplestiltskin gives him a potion that contains his freedom, he leaves his parents wherever he feeds them the potion at and Rumplestiltskin will collect them. When he asks what will become of them, Rumplestiltskin replies “Worry not, they will be in safe hands, and you will be free!”
What seems to be later that evening, Jiminy’s parents convince him to continue his thievery and they stop by a young couple’s cottage to stay the night. They convince them that the next town over is cursed with the plague, but they are safe because they have “Elf Tonic.” After an unfair trade for a tiny vial of “Elf Tonic” where the parents basically rob the young couple blind, they leave.
Jiminy, feeling terrible about what happened, confronts his parents. They try to tell him that “Its better to be the ones doing the taking then being the ones being taken from.” In his anger, he splashes the vial that Rumplestiltskin gave him on the couple. They laugh, telling him that they switched his vials. Terrified as to what happened, Jiminy goes back into the young couples cottage to see the two transformed into dolls with screaming faces. His parents followed him in, laughing at the young couples misfortune. The boy who gave Jiminy the umbrella comes in and sees his parents transformed. He looks at Jiminy and angrily asks him what he did, and why he did this to his parents. Jiminy weeps at the child’s words.
After all is said and done, Jiminy is listening to the crickets in the field and looks up to the stars. He begins wishing, and the Blue Fairy appears. She tells him that he doesn’t need to wish so loud, but that there isn’t anything she can do. She offers him a counter offer though, that the boy is going to need his help through a trying life. She asks what is his wish then, and before he says it out loud, she turns him into a cricket. She tells him the boy’s name is Geppetto, and that he will find him.
Real Time
Henry talks to Archie about the curse, saying that Archie wasn’t always a cricket. Archie asks why he believes that he would be Jiminy at all, and Henry tells him that it’s because he has a conscious. He asks why this is real, and Henry says “It just is.” Archie urges him to keep thinking about that answer. Meanwhile, Emma tells the Sheriff that she won’t wear the uniform, but when she puts on the badge, the earth shakes. Everyone rushes to the outskirts of town, where a mine has collapsed. Regina tries to regain order, stating that she’s going to pave down the mines for safety, but Henry tries to stop her, saying that there must be something down there. Regina finds out that Emma has become the Deputy, and orders her around. Henry, after being banished to the car, gets out and tells Emma and Archie that this has to do with Operation: Cobra. Regina, seeing their gathering, tells Henry to get back in the car, Emma to do her job, and threatens Archie with his job that he needs to crush Henry’s delusion.
After breaking a lunch date with Marco (whom Henry says is Geppetto) Archie attempts to crush Henry’s delusion. He tells him that he’s borderline psychosis and that he puts people with psychosis in the hospital and he really doesn’t want to do that. Henry runs out, and tears are seen on Archie’s face.
During this time, Mary is playing Hangman with David in the hospital. David flirts with her, telling her he likes the new memories he’s making with her, still recalling nothing of his past. Before Mary can respond, Katherine shows up with more pictures. He says the dog, Ajax, triggers something. Back home, Mary talks to Emma about her predicament with David when Henry shows up at the door crying. Angered, Emma storms into Archie’s office, and Archie tries to defend his practice, but before Emma can respond Regina calls her, telling her that Henry is missing. Archie pauses for a second, then tells Emma he knows where Henry is. We then see Henry climbing down the collapsed mine. Pongo (Archie’s dalmatian) confirms this when he sniffs out a candy wrapper at the mine entrance. Archie climbs in against Emma’s protests, and begins to search for Henry.
Henry finds another piece of the mirror, which he pulls out of a crevice. When he does, it makes the earth shake again, and the entrance to the mine collapses, trapping him and Archie inside. Henry runs away from Archie because he doesn’t believe him, but Archie tells him that he’s afraid for him since they are in a mine with no way out.
Above ground, Emma and Regina argue about how to rescue the two, and Geppetto tries to reassure them that Archie will keep Henry safe. Emma tries to call a truce with Regina, stating that arguing is going to get them nowhere. Regina agrees, saying that all she wants is Henry to be safe and out of the mine. It is decided that they are going to use explosives to try and open the mine back up, while underground Archie and Henry have found an elevator. They start working the elevator manually with a wheel when the explosion goes off, knocking the elevator back down and trapping them inside of there. The explosion didn’t work to open the mine, but Pongo finds an air vent.
While everyone is down at the mines, David asks Mary to take a walk. He tells her that he still doesn’t remember anything, that he had lied to Katherine about the dog. He tells her that he wants to remember for Katherine, but he really feels like the world is real with Mary. He feels like he woke up in a strange land, but with Mary everything feels right. They almost kiss, but before they do they are interrupted by Katherine, who has baked cranberry muffins for David. Mary goes to leave, and David asks if he’ll see her tomorrow. She doesn’t respond, and the next time we see her she is putting a letter of resignation into the mailbox of the hospital.
Back in the mine, Henry and Archie exchange apologies, Henry for trapping them in the mines and Archie for what he said previously. Archie explains to Henry that he doesn’t think he’s crazy, he just has a very strong mother with very strong opinions. He tells Henry that he’s not the man he wants to be, and Henry explains that Jiminy wasn’t either. He tells Archie that it took Jiminy a long time to figure out what he wanted, and that it was going to be okay.
Above, Emma and Regina argue over who is going to go down the shaft to rescue the two, Emma ultimately winning because she is in better physical condition than Regina. She is lowered into the shaft where she is able to grab Henry, but before she can get Archie the ground shakes again and the elevator falls. Luckily, Archie used his umbrella and was able to grab a hold of Emma’s rope. After being pulled out, the arguments resume for Emma and Regina, by Regina not letting Emma check to see if Henry is okay. Pulling Regina to the side, Archie tells her he is going to treat Henry how he sees fit, that she can threaten him with his job all that she wants but he sees a custody battle in her future and that the one who treats the child will be the one giving the recommendations as to who should be the one in custody of the child. He then goes and sees Marco who hugs him tightly, and Henry tells Emma that they are very old friends.
For the first time in our time, crickets are heard in Storybrooke, and Henry says “Things are changing.” As the scene draws to a close, we see the two dolls from Story Time in Mr. Gold’s shop, and Regina dropping a piece of the broken mirror back down the mine shaft, where we see part of a broken castle.
While I don’t feel that this episode was informative, I think it was a necessary one. Archie is an interesting character and I really wanted to jump up and cheer for him when he stood up to Regina. It looks like next week we get more of Prince Charming’s story, which I’m excited for, hopefully involving more Rumplestiltskin.
What do you think of Archie or Jiminy? Do you enjoy how the two roles really played into one?
If you missed the previous episode, be sure to read our ‘Once Upon A Time: The Price Of Gold ‘ recap to catch up.
