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"Breaking Glass" is the fifth episode of Season Four of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Kalinda Vazquez & Scott Nimerfro, and directed by Alrick Riley. It is the seventy-first episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 26, 2014.
Synopsis
Regina reluctantly teams up with Emma to search for the Snow Queen after Sidney, who is once again Regina's prisoner in the mirror, discovers her whereabouts and agrees to lead her to the location. With Belle babysitting baby Neal, a nervous Mary Margaret and David prepare for their first date night away from their child and find themselves on a mission to track down Will Scarlet, who has escaped from the town jail. Elsa sees Anna in the Storybrooke woods. Meanwhile, back in the past, young Emma finds herself a kindred spirit when she befriends a girl who, like her, is a runaway orphan.[2]
Recap
In the New Enchanted Forest realm, Henry, Ella, Hook go on a quest to slay a dragon that has been harassing nearby villages, but when they enter the dragon's cave, they learn it fled weeks ago. This situation now has Henry expressing his disappointment with Hook, as he came to the new realm searching for his story because he refused to believe he was just a character in someone else's tale as he feels unworthy of Ella.
When he mentions to Hook that he wants to propose with a special ring like the one of his grandparents, Hook suggests that they retrieve one from Davy Jones' locker. Using a tracking map as a guide, the two sneak aboard the Jolly Roger to overtake it from Blackbeard in order to acquire the treasure. Unfortunately afterwards they're suddenly surprised by Blackbeard, who takes back the ship and plans to kill Henry and Hook, only to have them fight back and succeeded in overtaking Blackbeard and his crew.
However, it is revealed that it was all a set-up by Hook so that Henry could feel like he partook in an epic adventure, which suddenly becomes a real one when a storm arises. As they move closer to the storm, Henry realized that this was caused by magic because of the treasure they took from the locker, so they threw the treasure back into the ocean and Hook steers it away thus calming the storm. As they returned to land, Henry tells Hook that he may not have a story of his own but he does have a heart to give to and won't need a story for it. Later on, Henry ends up proposing to Ella at a nearby lake and express his feelings to her that he wants to start a new chapter with her. She says yes, overjoyed at his prospect for a new adventure together.
In Seattle, Henry lands a job interview in New York to become a podcaster. He stopped by Roni's to see if Regina was there but wasn't, but he did run into Nick, who was disappointed (but is aware) that Ivy left Seattle and promised to find another client. Henry told Jacinda about the job but that means he would have to move to New York, and apparently Jacinda supported this decision. But Lucy and Sabine both believed otherwise and suggested to Jacinda to reconsider.
At the same time, Weaver, who is relieved that Ivy and Anastasia returned to their realm, finds Henry's "Once Upon a Time" book at the crime scene and insists that Henry help the police identify the Candy Killer, whom they conclude is a man who believes he is the "Hansel" of the story "Hansel and Gretel." Henry agreed, noting that the killer is seeking vengeance for his sister's death and he's acting out on that theory after Henry spotted a series of corrections in the book, indicating that more characters that fit the descriptions in Hyperion Heights could become intended victims. Henry also told Rogers and Weaver that the killer can detect if the victims have a scar because he might be scarred from the traumatic experiences. Like Lucy and Sabine, Weaver also thinks Henry should reconsider leaving, since he liked how his favorite character (referring to the younger Henry) is depicted in the book.
When Henry gets a flat tire driving to the airport, he discovers a piece of a glass slipper on the tire, giving him a sign that he might consider staying. Nick suddenly stops by and offers Henry a ride, and he asked Nick if he could stop by to see Jacinda, only to have Henry discover burn scars on Nick, who then drugs and kidnaps him, confirming Henry's suspicions of him being Hansel/The Candy Killer. As Lucy convinced Jacinda to take Henry's call, Nick, who took the phone and declined the message, refused to listen to a drugged up Henry as he prepares to send out more heart shaped candy boxes and vows to keep on killing his intended victims.
Meanwhile, Lucy and Zelena are working on an antidote to reverse Henry's curse when Margot overheard the conversation about why her mother wanted her to return but Zelena wasn't ready to tell her yet. Around the same time, Rogers helps Tilly get a job working with Sabine at the food truck. As Margot and Tilly meet up again at the food truck the women strike up a conversation and find they have a lot in common. Both Sabine and Rogers feel enthusiastically impressed with Tilly finding a job and a new person to relate to. As Margot returned to Roni's, she forgave Zelena but felt that it was due to not seeing her fiancée in a while, so when Margot innocently shows Zelena a box of heart shaped chocolates found outside, Zelena is horrified to find that she is next on Hansel's "Candy Killer" murder spree.
Deleted Scenes
"The Babysitter"
This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season.
An extended version of the scene where Belle babysits Neal. Belle comes to Mary Margaret's loft to look after the baby. Mary Margaret asks her who she must call first if something happens, and Belle answers that first she'll call her, then David, then Emma, then Dr. Whale and then emergency services. David encourages his wife, saying that Neal will be fine with Belle. After Mary Margaret re-checks her son's diapers, David asks Belle how marriage life is going, which Belle replies that it's great. After Mary Margaret gives the crying baby to Belle's arms, he suddenly quiets, which makes David say that they need this timeout.[3]
"Friends Forever?"
This scene is included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season.
An extended version of the scene where Emma and Lily part ways. Emma approaches Lily's adoptive father and tries to explain that she didn't know that Lily actually had a family, but the man doesn't listen to her, rather warning Emma to never get close to Lily again. From inside the car, Lily apologizes to Emma and claims to feel as a real orphan, but the blonde ignores her and walks away.[4]
Gerda and King Arendelle
A scene with Gerda and her husband was cut from the episode. However, Pascale Hutton and Oliver Rice are still credited in the episode's press release.[2]
Cast[2]
Starring
Guest Starring
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Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features the ice staircase created by Elsa.[5]
- The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on August 23, 2014.[6]
Production Notes
- ADDED RECAP FOOTAGE: The recap video at the beginning of the episode contains an excerpt from a deleted scene from "The Apprentice," where Regina is in her office, discussing Robin Hood's commitment to his wife with Mary Margaret: "He's honor-bound to stay with her. Therefore, I have to save her.," she says.
- According to Adam Horowitz, the scene was added to "jog the memory" of viewers.[7]
- Young Emma's scenes in "Breaking Glass," "Shattered Sight,""Lily," "The Dark Swan" and "Tougher Than the Rest" take place in Minnesota because that's where Edward Kitsis is from.[8]
Event Chronology
- The Land Without Magic flashbacks take place in 1998, 3 years after "Snow Drifts," and 1 year before "Lily" and the flashbacks with Ingrid and young Emma in "Shattered Sight." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- Note that some of the dialogue in this episode is rather misleading: When Emma comments on why she ran away from her group home, she refers to the events of "Snow Drifts" as if they happened recently: "This little girl from my home, Cecilia, got adopted. I watched her get in this station wagon with this perfect-looking couple. That's when I realized no one was ever gonna look at me the way those parents looked at her. I'm too old. I missed my chance. There was no point in me staying another day if I was just gonna keep feeling... Invisible?" Emma's words suggest that she ran way shortly after Cecilia was adopted, but since Cecilia was adopted in 1995, Emma actually waited a few years.
- The Storybrooke events take place after "The Apprentice" and before "Family Business." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
Episode Connections
- How Sidney was trapped in the mirror was explored in "A Tale of Two Sisters."
- Will was arrested in "The Apprentice."
- Hook takes Henry sailing, which he first did in "It's Not Easy Being Green."
- The set of photos that Sidney took of Emma and Henry first appeared in "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree."
- The photographs of Emma and Henry are from scenes in "The Thing You Love Most."
- The picture of Emma and Henry leaving Archie's office[9] first appears in "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree."[10]
- The picture of Emma in the Snow Queen's ice cream shop was taken during "Shattered Sight."
- The reason why Emma doesn't remember the time she spent with the Snow Queen is explained in "Shattered Sight." Emma gets her memories back in the same episode.
- Young Emma mentions a little girl from her group home, Cecilia, who was adopted, which was illustrated in "Snow Drifts."
- Young Emma states that she realized no one would ever look at her the way Cecilia's adopted parents looked at her. However, Emma did eventually get to experience this when she was reunited with her parents in "Broken."
- Regina's anger toward Emma is explained in "There's No Place Like Home."
- Marian's affliction occurred in "Rocky Road."
- Regina is looking at a photo of herself and Robin Hood,[11] which was taken between scenes in "A Curious Thing."
- Regina makes a reference to the first time she trapped Sidney in a mirror during "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree."
- Sidney's cell at the hospital, which Regina refers to, appears in "A Land Without Magic" and "A Tale of Two Sisters."
- The Snow Queen says that she has hundreds of mirrors. Some of these mirrors appeared in her ice cream shop in "White Out" and "Rocky Road."[12]
- Lily's origin, and how she was adopted, is revealed in "Best Laid Plans."
- After going their separate ways, Emma and Lily were reunited twice, something that is explored in "Lily."
- Emma's box of keepsakes[13] first appears when she unpacks her things in "The Price of Gold."[14] In "Tougher Than the Rest," she is seen opening the same box to show August a set of pages from "The Ugly Duckling" fairytale.[15] In "The Song in Your Heart," she opens it to look though her possessions.[16]
- Hook picks up glasses,[17] which Emma used to wear as a young adult, as established in "Tallahassee" and "There's No Place Like Home."
- The ring that Hook picks up[18] is the one that teenage Emma got when she was at the funfair with Ingrid in "Shattered Sight."[19]
- Emma picks up her baby blanket, which was knitted by Granny in "Pilot."
- The photograph of Emma and Neal[20] was taken between scenes in "Tallahassee."
- The Snow Queen's connection to Emma was first alluded to in "Rocky Road," and is explored in "Shattered Sight."
- The video recording of Emma and the Snow Queen was made during "Shattered Sight," and is seen again in "Family Business."
Disney
- This episode features Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen.
- Elsa builds an ice staircase similar to the one she made in the movie Frozen during the song "Let It Go."
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, the Knave of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (who is also Will Scarlet from the Robin Hood ballads), Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story and the Snow Queen from the fairytale of the same name.
- While in jail, Will asks for his forgotten dinner order of "bangers and mash." Emma replies "You had the water and Pop-Tart." This is a reference to a scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland where the Knave stands trial for tart burglary.
- Ingrid breaks off a piece of a compact mirror and inserts it into another mirror – the troll mirror from "The Snow Queen" fairytale. She also states that she has hundreds of mirrors in her possession, another reference to the mirror from the fairytale.
- In addition, Sidney Glass is featured as a reference to the mirror. He is also featured as the magic mirror from the "Snow White" fairytale.
Popular Culture
- Lily says that she likes to think of the star imprint on her arm as a symbol, "Like Harry Potter"; a reference to the title character of the famous book series by J. K. Rowling, and the scar on his forehead. The first book of the series was released in the U.S. in 1998 (more specifically, in September),[21] which is also the year where the flashback takes place.
Props Notes
- MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS: As Regina is looking through the spell book, we see a palmistry illustration of a hand, with astrological symbols for the mounts on the palm.[22] Mounts are the bumps of flesh on the palm, which are named after planets, and which play a very important role during a palmistry reading. Four astrological symbols can be seen on the illustration:[23]
- Venus (♀), the mount by the thumb.
- Jupiter (♃) is erroneously printed on the mound between the thumb and the index finger, which is where lower Mars should be.
- Mars (♂) is erroneously printed on the mound beneath the index finger, which is actually Jupiter's mound.
- Saturn (♄), the mount under the index finger.
- Note that the mounts of Apollo (the sun) and Mercury, which are placed beneath the ring finger and the baby finger respectively, are obscured.
- EPISODE FRAME USED AS PICTURE: The framed photo of Regina and Robin Hood[11] is taken directly from a shot in the scene with the two of them in the diner hallway in the Season Three episode "A Curious Thing."[24]
- EPISODE FRAME USED AS PICTURE: The Polaroid of Emma and Neal[20] is taken directly from a shot in the scene where Emma volunteers to pick up the stolen watches in the Season Two episode "Tallahassee."[25]
Set Dressing
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The graffiti on a gate, which Emma and Lily pass as they run from Lily's father, has "Cora" written on it.[26]
- As the girls hide inside the alley, graffiti on the building across the road says "always valiant."[27]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Many Storybrooke locations contain references to the Enchanted Forest (for more information, see the Set Notes trivia in the Storybrooke article). Although it is not actually in Storybrooke, the house where Emma and Lily crash for the night, follows the same pattern: There are two paintings depicting tree trunks in a forest are decorating the walls,[28] and when the girls are sleeping, the shadows against the curtains are reminiscent of leaf-covered branches and bushes in a forest.[29] This is a subtle reference to the world that Emma and Lily actually come from.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: As Elsa is running through the woods, she runs past a sign which says "Storybrooke Wilderness Park - Yarrow Lane."[30]
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: Young Emma is wearing[31] a TNA Canvas Maverick Bomber Jacket[32] (no longer available). She wears it again in flashbacks from "Shattered Sight."[33]
- The same jacket is worn by another famous "Swan" character: Bella Swan, in the 2010 romantic fantasy movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[34]
- It is also worn by Andy McNally on an episode of the police drama television series Rookie Blue[35] and Olivia Dunham on an episode of the science fiction television series Fringe.[36]
- BRAND INFO: Lily is wearing[37] an Aritzia Talula Edo Jacket.[38] She wears it again in flashbacks in "Lily."[39]
- BRAND INFO: Belle is wearing[40] a RED Valentino Ruffled Placket Stripe Poplin Blouse[41] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: It is seen more clearly when Belle wears it again in "Unforgiven."[42]
- Elsa's purple cape was used in this episode for technical reasons because her scenes were filmed on a green background screen, and because she wore a blue dress, which is too similar of a color to the background screen, that would have made her body completely invisible on the special-effects camera.[43]
- BRAND INFO: Mary Margaret is wearing[44] Lafayette 148 New York Women's Bi-Stretch McKenna Topper jacket[45] and a Band of Outsiders Panel Top With Leather Collar[46] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: Mary Margaret wears the same top in "Poor Unfortunate Soul."[47]
Filming Locations
- The scenes in the Storybrooke graveyard was filmed in a real graveyard, located in North Vancouver.[48]
- Donald's Market at 2332 E Hastings Street in Vancouver, British Columbia doubles as the convenience store where Emma meets Lily. The alley way behind Donald's Market doubles as the alley way Emma and Lily use to evade Lily's father.[49]
- Deerholme at 6110 Price Street in Burnaby, British Columbia, doubles the interior of James Page's summer home.[50] It is a a historic building located on the north shore of Burnaby's Deer Lake Park and was built as the retirement estate of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Owen Townley and his wife in 1913.[51]
- Deerholme also doubles as the exterior of Johanna's house in the Season Two episode "The Queen Is Dead."[52]
- The same house also doubles as the Marsden house in The X-Files episode "Fire,"[53][54] William Keith's mansion in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Turncoat,"[54] Rachel Rosso's home in The Flash episode "There Will Be Blood"[55] and Andrew Kim's house in various episodes of The Exorcist.[54]
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| Finnish | "Peili" | "The Mirror" |
| French | "Le Reflet du Miroir" | "The Reflection of the Mirror" |
| German | "Ein Splitter des Zauberspiegels" | "A Sliver of Magic Mirror" |
| Italian | "Lo specchio rotto" | "The Broken Mirror" |
| Portuguese | "Espelho Quebrado" | "Broken Mirror" |
| Spanish | "Cristales Rotos" | "Shattered Glasses" |
Videos
References
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