White Out

"White Out" is the second episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jane Espenson and directed by Ron Underwood. It is the sixty-eighth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 5, 2014.

Synopsis
While desperately trying to find her sister Anna, Elsa is startled by Emma and accidentally traps them both inside an ice cave, with the frozen temperature placing Emma's life in peril. Regina, depressed over her likely breakup with Robin Hood, secludes herself away from the town and Henry, which saddens her son. And with the townspeople considering Mary Margaret their leader, she faces her first leadership task in trying to re-start a generator and restore the town’s electricity after Elsa freezes and damages the power lines. Meanwhile, in the Enchanted Forest of the past, Anna tries to teach a meek David to fight Bo Peep, a brutal warlord who is threatening to take his and his mother's farm away if they don’t pay her price.

Unnamed Scene 1
Regina is sitting in her house when she hears knocking on the door. Despite telling the person to go away, the person breaks in and reveals them self to be Mary Margaret. Regina claims that Neal Nolan's pushchair through her off and made her forget that Mary Margaret used to be a bandit. After she discovers that Regina didn't cause the blackout, she attempts to get help from Regina. However, Regina claims that because Snow White was the one to cast the second curse, she should become Mayor as that's how it worked for Regina. As Mary Margret goes to leave after Regina attempts to encourage her, Regina asks how Henry is. Mary Margaret reveals that Henry is upset at Regina for distancing herself but Regina claims that it should just be temporary. Mary Margaret tells Regina that temporary can seem like for ever for children before leaving.

Unnamed Scene 2
Belle and Mr. Gold enter the shop to discover it has been broken into. Before discussing who could have done it, Henry reveals himself. Belle leaves the room so Henry and Mr. Gold can talk about why Henry is there. Henry claims that he wants his false memories back because Regina is excluding him. Mr. Gold refuses, telling Henry that having both good memories and bad memories are what make a person who they are. He also tells Henry that he has both the blood of the Dark One and the blood of the savior running through him so he shouldn't give up. As Henry goes to leave the shop, Mr. Gold tells him that he needs to pay for the lock to which Henry tells him that it was broken when he got there.

Starring

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

Guest Starring

 * Lee Arenberg as Leroy
 * Beverley Elliott as Granny
 * Georgina Haig as Elsa
 * Elizabeth Lail as Anna
 * Elizabeth Mitchell as Snow Queen
 * Gabrielle Rose as Ruth
 * Robin Weigert as Bo Peep/Bo Peep
 * Sean Owen Roberts as Ruffian (Credit only)

Co-Starring

 * Michael Coleman as Happy

Uncredited

 * Unknown baby as Neal Nolan

Quotes
Henry: What do you supposed babies dream about? David: Bullfighting Emma: Laser tag. Mary Margaret: That's not true.

David: So, what's your name? Anna: Joan.

David: So I think it's time you and I had a little chat about your intentions with my daughter. Hook: That's old fashioned even by my standards, and I still play with doubloons.

Mary Margaret: I am not magic, I have gotten eight hour sleep in the last week, I am breastfeeding, and I am exhausted! I don't need this! I'm starting to get why Regina was evil. It wasn't her, it was you. You have survived your entire lives without lightbulbs. Buy a flashlight!

Mary Margaret: Who wants some milk from mama mayor?!

Ruth: In case you get hungry. Anna: Oh, I love sandwiches.

Emma: Aren't you cold? I'm freezing. Elsa: It's never bothered me.

Emma: I mean this is kinda ... cool. Pun intended.

Production Notes

 * The title card features the ice wall created by Elsa.
 * The title of this episode is the same name as one of the scores on the Frozen soundtrack.
 * Neal has a baby mobile decorated with sheep. This is a reference to his father having originally been a shepherd.
 * Granny suggests they seek help from Dr. Whale in order to bring the power back to the town. Leroy dismisses this idea by saying, "He's a doctor, not an electrician." Though given that Victor Frankenstein had created machines to harness and redirect electricity in order to resurrect his brother, Granny's suggestion may have had some merit.
 * Initially, the show producers had planned on filming the scenes inside the ice cave, in a meat locker, in order to capture the characters' breath on screen. The idea was scrapped when they realized that viewers wouldn't see Elsa's breath since she is not affected by the cold. Instead, the scene was shot in a studio mimicking temperatures on a hot summer day. While Jennifer Morrison pretended to be freezing and shivering, she was actually sweating from the heat.
 * In the pawnshop, the information card for Anna's pendant says:

INV. ITEM: 2081

SILVER BROOCH. ICE CRYSTAL DESIGN [obscured] Possibly mid 1830's - Northern Europ[obscured] Silver is unmarked but acid test con[obscured]

Nice vintage condition. Attachment [obscured] sterling with some wear and light co[obscured]

Event Chronology

 * The Storybrooke events take place after "A Tale of Two Sisters" and before "Rocky Road".
 * The Enchanted Forest events take place before "The Apprentice" and "The Shepherd", and after Anna leaves Arendelle for the Enchanted Forest in "A Tale of Two Sisters". The story also takes place several years after the Snow Queen and her sisters visit the Enchanted Forest in "The Snow Queen", and five years before Gerda perishes at sea in "A Tale of Two Sisters".

Episode Connections

 * Elsa finds her sister in "Fall".
 * Anna left Arendelle in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Prince Charming's life as a shepherd is further explored in "The Shepherd".
 * Henry mentions Regina's breakup with Robin Hood, which was prompted when Robin Hood's wife time-traveled back from the past; referring to events in "There's No Place Like Home and "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * The last time Storybrooke lost power was in "Dreamy" when Leroy sabotaged the power lines in an attempt to sell more candles and impress Astrid.
 * Recalling Henry's fancy for making up "operation" names for missions, Emma suggests various ones, such as Operation Nightshade or Blackthorn, for their latest investigation of a town blackout. Henry named Operation Cobra in "The Thing You Love Most", Operation Scorpion in "Lady of the Lake" and Operation Praying Mantis in "The Evil Queen". Additionally, before Henry suggested Operation Praying Mantis in "The Evil Queen", Emma used the working title Operation Tiger for that particular mission. Regina called the mission to rescue Henry from Neverland as Operation Henry while Emma later called it Operation Cobra Rescue in "Quite a Common Fairy".
 * Emma and Hook have their first date in "The Apprentice".
 * When pushed into fixing the power outage, Mary Margaret maintains that Regina, as mayor, should sort it out. Regina first became mayor in "Welcome to Storybrooke".
 * Granny insists, since Mary Margaret cast the last curse, it's her responsibility to restore the town's electricity. Snow White enacted the curse in "A Curious Thing".
 * Leroy references how everyone helped reclaim Snow White's kingdom so she could rule, which begun in "Lost Girl" with war being waged in "Lady of the Lake" and ended with their foe's capture and banishment in "The Cricket Game".
 * Hook and Emma make references to the snow monster that Elsa unleashed in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * While looking at the ice wall, David remarks, "So, once again, we can't leave Storybrooke". The first time residents weren't allowed to travel out of town, lest bad things would happen, was for the duration of the first curse from "Pilot" to "A Land Without Magic". The second time, occurring as a direct result of the first curse being broken, was discovered in "We Are Both".
 * Elsa informs Emma about finding Anna's pendant in the pawnshop, which happened in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Elsa's unfamiliarity with technology, like when she became frightened of David's gun and Emma's walkie-talkie, was already presented in "A Tale of Two Sisters" when she froze an incoming car and was startled by a passing motorcycle.
 * In conversation with Elsa, Emma mentions the enormity of her role as savior, which was first noted by Henry in "Pilot".
 * Elsa gets Anna's necklace back in "Fall".
 * Mr. Gold, while spending time with his new wife, Belle, expresses annoyance at David and Hook barging into the pawnshop by saying, "It appears the honeymoon is over". He and Belle went on their honeymoon in "A Tale of Two Sisters".
 * Ruth wears a green ring, which she later gives to David in "The Shepherd" as a parting gift for his future wife.
 * The crystal ball that Rumplestiltskin uses to spy on Anna was brought from Oz by Jefferson in "The Doctor". It is also used to find Snow White in "Snow Drifts", and to spy on the Apprentice in "The Apprentice". It is also used by Neal to locate Emma in "The Heart of the Truest Believer".
 * The fact that both Henry and Emma like hot cocoa with cinnamon was established in "The Thing You Love Most".

Disney

 * This episode features Elsa and Anna from the Disney movie Frozen.
 * Anna goes by the name of Joan. This is a reference to Anna's line, "Hang in there, Joan", during the "Do You Want to Build a Snow Man?" song in Frozen.
 * In the ice cave, Emma asks Elsa if the cold is bothering her. Elsa says, "It's never bothered me", a reference to the famous song "Let It Go" from Frozen. In the song, Elsa sings the line, "The cold never bothered me anyway."
 * When Ruth gives Anna a sandwich, she says "I love sandwiches!" which is a reference to the song "Love Is an Open Door" from Frozen in which Anna and Hans sing, "We finish each other's sandwiches."

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Prince Charming from the Snow White fairytale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Bo Peep from the nursery rhyme, Rumplestiltskin from the Rumplestiltskin fairytale, as well as the titular character from the fairytale of "The Snow Queen".

Lost

 * When Mary Margaret takes out her anger on her friends, she states that she's had eight hours of sleep in the last week, a reference to the second Lost number.