~ Review: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, How Did You Come To Us After All? ~

By being a genie first!

This week’s episode focuses on Sidney Glass and his fairytale character two fairytale characters: the genie and the mirror.

 Once upon a time:

A good king finds a magic lamp; he rubes it and out comes a genie from Agrabah. The genie give him, in a bored manner, some rules of what he can and can’t do. However the king states he has everything he already wants and instead wishes the genie free and gives him his final wish (the 2^nd wish was for the genie to have his 3^rd wish). The genie is touched by this kindness, but states he will not use it (as from his experiences, it can be quite dangerous) and wants to use his freedom looking for love. The king invites him to his palace and introduces him to Snow and the Evil Queen, Regina.

During the king’s birthday celebration, the king talks about the love he had for his first wife and who, like Snow, is “the fairest in all the land.” So that's how the phrase started. All the while Regina is looking sad and lonely. At least now we know why she is obsessed with being beautiful. She goes outside to her apple tree and the genie follows her. Regina is hurt by the fact that the king will never love her like his first wife. So why did he get married after all? To help make her feel better, the genie presents the queen with a mirror so she can see herself the way he sees her, “as the fairest in all the land.” So that’s how that phrase started. The genie and Regina look at each other with love and longing.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall: Who is the fairest of them all?

The king finds out that his queen is in love with another man by reading her journal (of course), and asks the genie to find the man who gave her the glass mirror. In the meantime the king locks Regina in her room and her father, Henry, asks the genie to deliver a box to her, which will send her free. When the genie delivers the box to Regina, he finds a pair of poisonous snakes of which Regina tends use to kill herself so she can be free from this prison. But the genie wouldn’t allow her and suggests they use the snakes to kill the king. Regina asks if he would do that for her and the genie replied he would do anything for her.

Later that night, as the king sleeps, the genie releases the snakes and they the king. As the king is dying, the genie apologizes and tells him he is the one that the queen loves. Before he dies the king says, “I never should have made that wish.”

You Are....

Now with the king dead, the genie believes that he and Regina can finally be together. Alas, it turns out that Regina was playing him all along. Regina had always wanted to kill the king, and she specifically used Agrabah snakes so that it can be traced back to the genie.  However, she helps him escape, but instead the genie uses his wish to always be with Regina and to always see her face. He is magically transported into the same mirror he gave Regina. He is now a prisoner once more. Like the saying goes, “be carefully what you wish for.”  

Reaction:

This episode felt a bit slow, and while I liked the story in fairytale land, I wasn’t too crazy about what was going on in Storybrooke. Maybe it was because I hated how Emma got played when she is supposed to know when people are lying to her. Maybe she should have considered Mr. Gold as an ally, although his true intentions are still questionable. I liked the twist with the genie and the mirror being the same person, although it didn’t seem too shocking to me.

Reflection:

1) The Evil Queen’s real name is also Regina. That makes sense, but I was hoping it would be something a bit more evil.

2) I think this episode shows that Regina has always been evil, but I could be wrong. I can see why Regina hates Snow, but what exactly did she do to Regina? In an earlier episode Regina claimed that Snow hurt and betrayed her somehow. The big question now is: what is it exactly?

3) I actually felt sorry for Regina during the birthday celebration scene with the king and Snow. Interesting enough, it kind of mirrors (no pun intended) the relationship between Emma, Regina, and Henry. Henry prefers Emma over Regina just as the king prefers Snow over his queen. 

Favorite Quotes:

“Making a wish comes at a price,” ~ Genie ~ I wonder if he ever met Rumpel, since he says a similar phrase as well.

"The palace guards won't allow me to her chambers. They know I die for her." ~ Henry ~ Oh the irony!

"You will be with me...forever" ~ Regina to the genie magic mirror ~ I guess that also includes in Storybrooke.