Once Upon a Time — Episode Three

The day after another exciting episode of Once Upon A Time. Yesterday the third episode in season seven was aired on ABC. Many fans were eagerly anticipating what this episode would hold, as in true Once Upon A Time fashion, the show's plot is beginning to pick up heat. More characters are being introduced and their stories are becoming entangled with the main plot. From the previews after the second episode, fans were treated with a glimpse of Princess Tiana from the Disney movie, The Princess and The Frog. Fans were eager to learn more about her story on the show and her connection with Cinderella. Tiana was not the only character to make an introduction in this episode. There were many new faces, such as the arrogant contractor and the mysterious woman that is being held captive within the city of Seattle by Cinderella's stepmother. With the introduction of new characters, fans also gained more insight on the already established characters. In this week's episode, fans discovered why Cinderella's stepmother is so wicked to her. Then when Cinderella was faced with a difficult decision, she received advice from an unlikely ally. Yet again, Once Upon Time offered it's fans an exciting new episode and left them with a lot to contemplate until next week. This article is going to touch on a few of those highlights and bring about some new questions for fans to ponder. Beware of spoilers in the upcoming paragraphs if you have not seen the show or caught up with the latest episodes.

As the second episode of the season ended, fans saw that the main character of Cinderella would be teaming up with Princess Tiana in the third episode. It was no secret that Tiana would make an entrance on the show this season. The casting for her character had been announced only a short time after season six ended. Fans spent the summer break speculating how her story of frog love would intertwine with the existing characters of the show. During the first episode, fans discovered that, in Seattle, Tiana and Cinderella are friends and roommates. While they do not remember their fairy tale lives, due to the curse that had been put on them, the two princesses clearly still maintained their friendship. Through flashbacks in this third episode, the show revealed that Tiana and Cinderella met shortly after Cinderella fled from the royal ball. By showing Cinderella kindness and understanding, Tiana managed to recruit Cinderella into the resistance, whose mission it is to bring down Cinderella's stepmother.

While at the resistance camp, Henry, Regina, and Captain Hook (the Hook from the Wish World) caught up with Cinderella and Tiana. The Princesses explained their mission and the rest of the gang agreed to help them. They split up into teams. An interesting point was when Henry introduced the princesses to Regina and Hook. While Cinderella seemed very excited to meet Henry's mother and friend Captain Hook, Tiana gave the Captain a strange look from the corner of her eye. It is possible that the Frog Princess has a past with the Captain. Perhaps they had crossed paths before in this or another realm. Tiana and Hook teamed up, while everyone else split up, giving fans the idea that we might find out what the strange look was for, but the topic was not further explored, as the focus shifted to other characters. The possibility is left open along with the thought that, if the two had met in the past, which Hook had Tiana met? In the previous episode, we discovered that Wish Hook also knew Cinderella's stepmother. While the details of that story are still a mystery, it was her who made Wish Hook look young and healthy again, like his original counterpart. One theory is that Princess Tiana, as a part of the resistance, was a wear of Captain Hook and Lady Tramaine's relationship. If she was, then it is understandable why she would be surprised to find him willing to work alongside the resistance to take down the Lady Tramaine. There are a lot of unanswered questions in both the Wish Hook's storyline, as well as Princess Tiana's story. Over the course of the next several episodes, fans will be looking for more clues to determine what their connection is, if there is one.

While Tiana and Captain Hook were teaming up in the flashbacks during last night's episode in present time, Captain Hook, Regina, and Henry were also teaming up. In this new season, with all the new characters, stories, and settings, bringing the three characters together gave the feel of the previous seasons. The actor playing Henry is new, but he fit well with the original characters. The three of them teamed up to work to take down Victoria Belfrey, also known as Cinderella's stepmother. Oftentimes the flashbacks will mirror what is taking place in present day. This remained true for the third episode. With Regina, Hook, and Henry together at Roni's bar, Roni, also known as Regina, explained that she heard about a shady deal between a contractor and Victoria. Regina told everyone that Victoria set up a time to pay the man off. Using his connections and training as a police officer, Hook, also known as Officer Rogers, made sure he was in the right place at the right time, so he could see the exchange take place between the contractor and Victoria. Then he cornered and confronted the contractor about the deal. The question arose whether or not the contractor might be a fairy tale character. There are no obvious answers, as of right now. There was very little revealed about the character at this point. At this point, views only know that he works with Victoria and he managed to get out of his charges with the help of Weaver, who is also known as Rumple. If the contractor returns, it is possible that fans will learn more about him, so that he can be tied to a fairy tale.

Now that everyone is beginning to work together, it brings to light the fact that Henry will start to form real connections with all of these new characters and eventually break the curse Lucy keeps trying to tell him about. The main story is very reminiscent of season one. One question was brought up, which character will begin to remember the truth about who they really are first? Will it be Henry, Cinderella, Roni, Rogers, or Weaver? In the first season, Weaver, or rather Rumple, knew about the curse the entire time, along with Regina or Roni. Emma's character had to officially break the curse in order for the other characters to fully remember who they were. If this season follows that logic, then Henry will have to remember or believe first, in order for Cinderella to remember. Though it might be interesting to see what would happen if Cinderella did remember and needed to help Lucy convince Henry to believe, so the curse could be broken for everyone.

Also in the first season, Rumple acted like a secret guide for Regina, as she tried to get rid of Emma. In this season, it is clear that Victoria and Weaver have a connection and relationship. It is not clear how far that relationship goes. It is not clear if Weaver is a wear of the curse as he was in season one. Though towards the end of the episode, another new character was introduced, who might be used to fill the role of adviser and guide for Victoria. Victoria spoke to the mysterious woman about her plans to bring her daughter back to life. The mysterious woman is obviously Victoria's prisoner. The episode ended without giving any other information on the woman, leaving fans to theorize and speculate as the week progresses.

In the next episode, it will be interesting to discover more about the characters introduced in episode three, as well as learn more about their connections with the characters we are familiar with. In the next article, we will discuss theories and facts about Cinderella's other stepsister, Anastasia, and her death. As well as the highlights of episode four with Rumple and Belle reunited.