Snow Drifts

"Once you change something in the past, anything from that point forward becomes uncertain. The future, as you can see, is a blank page."

- Rumplestiltskin to Hook and Emma

"Snow Drifts" is the twenty-first episode of Season Three of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman & Robert Hull and directed by Ron Underwood. It is sixty-fifth episode of the series overall, and premiered on May 11, 2014.

This episode is the first part of the season three finale.

Synopsis
While Mary Margaret and David celebrate the naming of their son at a coronation in Granny's Diner, Emma and Hook are pulled into Zelena's time portal and find themselves in the Enchanted Forest of the past. But in their quest to discover a way back, they must be careful not to change ANYTHING or risk altering the lives of their friends and family—as well as their very own existence.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle/Belle French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Michael Raymond-James (Credit only)
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Tony Amendola as Geppetto/Marco
 * Lee Arenberg as Leroy
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny/Granny
 * Christopher Gauthier as William Smee
 * Anastasia Griffith as Abigail/Kathryn Nolan
 * Rebecca Mader as Zelena
 * Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
 * Charles Mesure as Black Beard
 * Meghan Ory as Ruby
 * Alex Zahara as King Midas

Co-Starring

 * Mik Byskov as Black Knight Archer
 * Faustino di Bauda as Walter
 * David-Paul Grove as Doc
 * Gabe Khouth as Mr. Clark
 * Christie Laing as Maid Marian/Shackled Woman
 * Hannah Longworth as Adopted Little Girl
 * Abby Ross as Young Emma
 * Iris Truong as Little Girl
 * Colleen Wheeler as Group Mother

Uncredited

 * Unknown baby as Prince Neal
 * Lucas Wolf as Armed Escort*
 * Unknown as Tony

*Only in archive footage.

Trivia
Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The title card for this episode features Zelena's time spell.
 * When Emma says, "As soon as we get out of here, the better", an extra (a little girl) smiles as the Evil Queen walks by.
 * The "past" scenes with Snow White and Prince Charming were a mixture of reshoots and old footage from "Snow Falls".
 * When Princess Abigail and Prince Charming arrive at King Midas' castle, there is a swan swimming in the lake.
 * The scars featured on Jennifer Morrison's chest in the Enchanted Forest tavern scene are a direct result of the actress herself having multiple moles removed.
 * In "Pilot", one of the moles that were removed can be seen while Emma in wearing her red dress. In "The Thing You Love Most", it is gone.
 * The show creators have said that they view Captain Hook as their version of Han Solo from the Star Wars franchise. Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Princess Leia, Han Solo's love interest.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Enchanted Forest events take place concurrently with "Snow Falls", on the same day that Maid Marian is taken prisoner in "A Tale of Two Sisters", after "Lacey" and "The Shepherd", and right before "There's No Place Like Home". The story also takes place before Belle is banished from Rumplestiltskin's castle in "Skin Deep".
 * The Storybrooke events take place after "Kansas", and before "There's No Place Like Home".
 * The Land Without Magic flashback takes place eighteen years earlier, after "The Dark Swan", and before "Breaking Glass".

Episode Connections

 * The adoption of the foster child is later mentioned by a teenage Emma in "Breaking Glass". The girl's name, Cecilia, is revealed in the same episode.
 * The baby crib from "The Jolly Roger" has been put together.
 * The naming ceremony tradition that David is talking about was first seen in "The Miller's Daughter".
 * Henry started looking at apartment listings in "Kansas".
 * Mr. Gold mentions Moe kidnapping Belle, which happened in "The Crocodile".
 * Gold proposed to Belle in "Kansas" where he also entrusted her with the "fake dagger".
 * Regina talks about how her first love was killed because of her, which occurred in "The Stable Boy".
 * Regina's heart was stolen in "Bleeding Through", and returned to her in "Kansas".
 * Regina tells Robin about how Tinker Bell helped her find her soul mate in "Quite a Common Fairy".
 * Zelena was killed by Mr. Gold in "Kansas".
 * Aurora was transformed into a flying monkey in "A Curious Thing".
 * Prince Charming became betrothed to Princess Abigail in "The Shepherd".
 * Zelena's time portal was opened in "Kansas".
 * When Hook finds Emma, she is sitting on the park bench where she told Henry about his father in "Quiet Minds".
 * Emma broke the Dark Curse in "A Land Without Magic".
 * Hook mentions the defeat of Zelena and Peter Pan; events featured in "Kansas" and "Going Home".
 * Emma's life with Henry in New York City is explored in "Going Home" and "New York City Serenade".
 * Emma's habit of moving around and running was previously referred to in "The Thing You Love Most" and "The Price of Gold".
 * Emma tells Hook about how she ran away as a kid, something that is explored in "Breaking Glass", "Shattered Sight" and "Lily".
 * Hook mentions the Ogre Wars. The first war occurring in "Manhattan", the third war in "Skin Deep". The second war is referred to in "Red-Handed".
 * How Maid Marian became the Evil Queen's prisoner is revealed in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Hook mentions the first time Emma came to Storybrooke; an event featured in "Pilot".
 * Hook makes a reference to Emma's trademark leather jacket, which first appeared in "Pilot".
 * Scenes from "Snow Falls" are reused, and the episode is similarly named.
 * Prince Charming's ring was first given to him in "The Shepherd".
 * Hook and the Dark One's "complicated past" is explored in "The Crocodile".
 * The curse Rumplestiltskin creates is enacted in "Pilot" and "The Thing You Love Most".
 * Rumplestiltskin was reunited with his son in "Manhattan".
 * Rumplestiltskin wonders why his future self hasn't killed Hook, and Hook remarks that it "wasn't for lack of effort", referring to events in "The Outsider" and "In the Name of the Brother".
 * The story behind the marionettes in Rumplestiltskin's castle is revealed in "That Still Small Voice".
 * Belle's servitude as Rumplestiltskin's maid occurred due to a deal made in "Skin Deep".
 * Rumplestiltskin is shocked to hear that he and Belle will fall for each other; an event featured in "Skin Deep".
 * Rumplestiltskin mentions giving King George a son, which is an event explored in "The Shepherd".
 * The crystal ball used to spy on Snow White is the same one that was used by Neal in "The Heart of the Truest Believer". It is also used by Rumplestiltskin to spy on Anna in "White Out", and the Apprentice in "The Apprentice". It was brought from Oz by Jefferson in "The Doctor".
 * The flute music opening tavern scene can also be heard in the pub Anton visits in "Tiny" as well as the tavern where young Cora worked in "Bleeding Through", and Robin Hood's tavern in "Heart of Gold".
 * This is not the first time Emma uses her beauty and feminine charm during a mission; she also did so with Ryan in "Pilot".
 * Hook's ship is docked in the harbor where the encounter with Black Beard in "The Jolly Roger" took place. It is also the very same harbor where the ship is docked in "Good Form", "Fall", "Poor Unfortunate Soul" and "Operation Mongoose Part 2" (although the buildings look slightly different in "Good Form" "Fall" and "Operation Mongoose Part 2", since the scenes in these episodes place during the day).
 * Hook stops Smee from killing a rat and adds that Smee will "understand someday", referring to Smee's future self being transformed into a rat in "The Outsider".
 * The glamour spell Rumplestiltskin casts on Emma and Hook is the same one he used on Regina in "The Evil Queen".
 * Snow White uses a grappling hook to climb Midas' castle wall, which is the same tactic that she uses to break into King George's castle in "An Apple Red as Blood".


 * -|Cultural References=

Biblical

 * When Hook is pondering where and when in the past Enchanted Forest he and Emma have landed, he briefly mentions the belly of a whale; referencing the biblical story of Jonah.

Disney

 * Emma mentions the 1994 Disney movie The Lion King as an example of a royal baby announcement.
 * Eighteen years ago, young Emma watched a woman give her new adoptive daughter a Mickey Mouse doll.

Fairytales and Folkore

 * This episode features Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen from the Snow White fairy tale, Red Riding Hood and Granny from the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, Captain Hook and Smee from the Peter Pan story, King Midas and his daughter from the Midas myth, Geppetto and Pinocchio from The Adventures of Pinocchio as well as Robin Hood and Maid Marian from the Robin Hood ballad, Belle from the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale and Rumplestiltskin from the Rumplestiltskin fairytale.

Popular Culture

 * Leroy says "Ding Dong!", and Granny asks, "She's really..?", a reference to The Wizard of Oz song "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead".
 * David mentions that the security video tape is Betamax.
 * Emma makes references to Marty McFly and the 1985 movie Back to the Future.
 * There are several similarities between Back to the Future and this story such as the family scene where the story of how the parents met is retold, the child interfering with the parents' first meeting by causing one of them to fall from a tree while a "vehicle" approaches, seeking out a "wizard" to help return to the present (a similarity Emma points out), the visual of the family brought back disappearing after the future is rewritten and reappearing after being set back on course, Star Wars identities being used due to the unfamiliarity of the characters from those in the past, a dance being used as an opportunity to bring the parents together, one parent's enemy disrupting that plan, and keeping the future from those who know of the time travel, but ultimately informing them of a death.
 * Black Beard is based on the character of the same name from popular culture.
 * Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Princess Leia; a reference to one of the main protagonists of the original Star Wars trilogy. This reference is made especially interesting by the fact that Lucasfilm, the studio behind the series, was bought by Disney, the parent company of ABC, the network that airs Once Upon a Time.
 * Hook's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Prince Charles; a reference to the current Prince of Wales, who is currently first in line for the British throne.


 * -|Props Notes=

Props Notes

 * The bottle of wine that Regina and Robin Hood share is Bordeaux wine from the French winery Chateau Baum.
 * In "Birth", King Arthur and Guinevere drink the same wine in their tent in Storybrooke.
 * During the celebration at the diner, the picture on the wall depicts the new baby swaddled in a cloth with Prince Charming's crest on it.
 * When Henry flips though the storybook, an excerpt from the fairy tale of Snow-White and Rose-Red can be seen next to the illustration of the Troll Bridge.
 * An excerpt from the fairy tale of "The Golden Bird" is visible when Emma flips through the storybook while sitting on the bench.
 * One of the images is from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Gnome". It is an artwork by the famous English book illustrator Arthur Rackham, known as "He Played Until The Room Was Entirely Filled With Gnomes" and published during the late nineteenth century.
 * Two other images by Rackham can be seen when Emma flips through the book in Rumplestiltskin's castle:
 * "The Meeting of Oberon and Titania", a 1905 artwork depicting a scene from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
 * "What Did She Find There But Real Ripe Strawberries", from Little Brother & Little Sister and Other Tales By The Brothers Grimm (1917). This image depicts a scene from the fairy tale of "The Three Little Men in the Wood".
 * Maid Marian's dress was supposed to be a "beautiful" gown, but it wasn't used for this episode.
 * In the Enchanted Forest, Emma has her two necklaces, including the swan necklace, tied around her left wrist alongside her wrist strap.
 * While past Hook is gambling at the tavern, the dice do not have the traditional dots. Instead, they bear the traditional playing card suits: Spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦) and clubs (♣).
 * According to the label, the bottle sitting on past Hook's table contains "Fine Old Rum" from "Langtree & Sons".
 * In the captain's quarters aboard the Jolly Roger, there is an urn bearing an almost identical resemblance to the one Elsa comes out of in "There's No Place Like Home"; the only difference being the lid.
 * For the "princess" scenes, Jennifer Morrison wore a pair of sandals with a crocodile motif, a reference to Rumplestiltskin. The shoes, however, do not appear on-screen.
 * At King Midas' ball, Emma is wearing the diadem from her father's dream in "The Tower".


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * David mistakenly calls his son's announcement ceremony a "coronation". This mistake is also present in the episode synopsis released by ABC.
 * When Emma is keeping past Hook occupied, while future Hook is skulking around the room, there is a wide shot where future Hook can be seen in the background, sneaking past a corner, and you can see the face of Colin O'Donoghue's body double.