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For the Underworld location, see Underbrooke convent. |
The Convent of the Sisters of Saint Meissa[2] is a Storybrooke location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the nineteenth episode of the first season.
History
During Storybrooke's annual Miner's Day festival, the nuns help set up light decorations around town. One of them, Astrid, accidentally spends the entire budget by buying twelve times the amount of helium that Mother Superior had required. As it compromises the monthly rent for their landlord, Mr. Gold, Astrid is worried they will be evicted from the convent. Later on, aided by Leroy, the sisterhood obtain enough money to pay off their debt. ("Dreamy")
August, a guest in town, visits the convent to seek Mother Superior's counsel. Shortly after he leaves, Mr. Gold shows up to investigate why the stranger was there. Mother Superior points out the rent has already been paid, but the landlord says that's not why he came. Mr. Gold questions Mother Superior about August's motivation in seeing her. While Mother Superior doesn't believe it's any of his concern, Mr. Gold threatens to shut down the convent, so she reveals talking with August about his severed relationship with his father. This leads Mr. Gold to believe August is his long lost son. ("The Return")Sensing strong dark magic in Storybrooke, Mother Superior hurries out of the convent to meet David and Mary Margaret, who urgently approach. As the couple shares the news of Regina and her mother planning to find Mr. Gold's dagger and kill everyone in town, Mother Superior joins them on a ride to the pawnshop to find the magical object before the villains can. ("The Queen Is Dead")
Outside the convent, Mother Superior is approached by Emma, Marco and Mary Margaret with a plea to help August, who is still stuck in his wooden state. She admits knowing about his situation since the breaking of the curse, but if there is a path of redemption for him, he must travel on his own terms. ("Selfless, Brave and True")
One morning, Mother Superior is pursued by a flying Shadow. As she tries to seek shelter at the convent, the creature kills her by ripping away her shadow. Near the convent staircase, David, Emma, Hook, Mary Margaret, Neal and Tinker Bell later stand where Mother Superior's fallen body lies. When Henry and Regina join them, the group speculate the Shadow was freed by Pan, although the villain is supposedly sealed in a box. Little do they know Pan has switched bodies with Henry, whose body he currently inhabits, and the boy pleads for Regina to protect him, which she does by taking him to the safest place; her vault. Meanwhile, Neal heads off to the Jolly Roger with Hook and Tinker Bell to fetch a lighter and the coconut halves they once used to trap the Shadow. The remaining party goes to Mr. Gold for the box they believe contains Pan. ("The New Neverland")
In order to switch Pan and Henry back to their rightful bodies, and Mr. Gold sends David, Hook, Neal and Tinker Bell to the convent to obtain a wand that might help them. Arriving at a church in the convent ground, where Mother Superior's funeral is being held, they ask the nuns to turn over the wand just as the Shadow attacks them. Urging the nuns to run away, David, Hook and Neal watch as Tinker Bell reacquires her ability to fly and destroys the Shadow. Doing so, Mother Superior regains her own shadow and is revived. After expressing gratitude towards Tinker Bell, she hands over the Black Fairy's wand and encourages them to do whatever it takes to save the town. ("Going Home")
Recently restored to his old self, August's deteriorating condition prompts Emma, Henry and Regina to take him to the nunnery, where Mother Superior oversees him. The head nun deducts that the magic which has been used to change August many times is causing a strain on his body, and he can only survive by strength alone. Afterward, Henry and his two mothers walk through the convent hallway as they figure out how to continue tricking Cruella, Mr. Gold and Maleficent about the door illustration containing the trapped Author. Regina relates to Emma that if she doesn't deliver the door illustration to the villains, they will be suspicious of her loyalties. Emma conjures a forgery of the door page, but Regina believes Mr. Gold can likely tell it's fake. Instead, she settles for taking a photo of the real illustration in the hopes the villains will be satisfied knowing what the door looks like. Later in the day, David and Mary Margaret pay a visit to August after he has gotten better. Emma arrives to show August the illustration and a key to open the door. Despite learning the villains intend to make her evil by using the Author, she still wishes to unlock the door so she can ask him questions about herself. To this, August reveals it's only possible if this Author wrote her story as there have been many Authors, all chosen by the Sorcerer and his Apprentice, that have written tales. He also explains the last Author was imprisoned in the illustration for being corrupt, and even with the danger this may pose, Emma still wants answers. After she releases the Author, David and Mary Margaret recognize him from the Enchanted Forest. Before Emma can ask anything, the Author pulls down a curtain, distracting everyone, as he flees the room. ("Best Laid Plans")
Sometime after a failed search for the missing Author, David, and Mary Margaret returns to the convent to collect the flask that he left behind, which they later use for a locator spell. ("Sympathy for the De Vil")As the heroes head to the Underworld to rescue Hook, Mother Superior and the other nuns are left to take care of Neal, Roland and Zelena's daughter.[3] ("Swan Song")
Arriving at the convent, Belle enters the babies' nursery room, carrying formula bottles for the infants. Zelena, disguised as Mother Superior, walks in and inquiries why Belle has come. Belle shows her the bottles, but when Mother Superior takes the wrong one for Baby Hood, she suspects something is off with the nun. Zelena tries to act normal, however, her cover is blown after the real Mother Superior confronts her. Reverting back to herself, Zelena prepares to take away her daughter, with both Belle and Mother Superior trying to stop her. Suddenly, an earthquake erupts and opens a portal to the Underworld. Belle, grabbing the child, falls into the portal, and Zelena jumps in to follow them. The portal then closes, leaving baby Neal and Mother Superior in the convent. Later, from the Underworld, Snow and David use a telephone booth in Underbrooke to contact their son in Storybrooke. Instead of the usual clinking of his baby mobile, Neal hears his parents singing a lullaby to him, which lulls him to sleep. After Henry records this event in the storybook, including a drawing of Neal in his crib, Snow and David realize their message to Neal went through after all. ("Our Decay")
At some point, Roland leaves the convent and eventually moves back to Sherwood Forest. ("Only You")
When one of the young nuns returns to the convent in an aged state, Mother Superior deducts Mr. Gold is responsible, with a pregnant Belle suspecting he did it to demonstrate what he'll do to her unborn child. After accidentally ingests an aging spell in her tea, Belle's pregnancy speeds up, causing her to be taken to the convent to give birth. The nuns cast a protection spell to keep Mr. Gold out, but he gets in by cutting into the barrier with his dagger. During intense labor, Belle passes out and meets her grown son "Morpheus" in a dream, where he implies she must send him away after his birth to ensure his safety from Mr. Gold. After the birth, she spends a few short and happy moments with her son, before asking Mother Superior to be his fairy godmother and to take him someplace where Mr. Gold can never find him. Additionally, Belle gives her favorite book to Mother Superior and tells her to read it to her son often so he knows his mother is close to him. She then says a final goodbye to her son by naming him Gideon after the hero in the book. Mr. Gold arrives at the birthing room in time to see Mother Superior, now in fairy form, flying away with the baby. He asks for the child's name, but Belle refuses to tell him, in fear he'll use it to track down Gideon. She vows to endure whatever pain he has in store for her while keeping her son safe from him. Mr. Gold insists he would never hurt her, but that he will find their son. ("Changelings")
Sometime later, an injured Mother Superior is found in the forest and brought back to the convent to recover. Belle, on Mr. Gold's insistence that their son is missing, phones the convent and learns about Mother Superior being attacked. At the nunnery, the couple is led by Granny into Mother Superior's room. The resting nun explains how she defended herself from the Black Fairy as hard as she could, however, the latter overpowered her and stole baby Gideon. ("Wish You Were Here")Visitors
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Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- The convent is located near the Storybrooke library.[4] ("The New Neverland")
- The convent is located at 2356 Mulberry Court. The phone number is 555–0166.[2] ("Darkness on the Edge of Town")
- The same phone number is on a poster inside the library.[5] Curiously, the headline says "port and marine safety and security certificate."[6] ("The Crocodile," "Darkness on the Edge of Town")
Production Notes
- The scenes with the nuns in "Fall" were supposed to happen in the convent. However, in the actual episode, they were shot at Granny's Diner.[7]
Biblical
- There is a statue of the Virgin Mary outside the convent.[8] ("The Return," "Selfless, Brave and True," "Changelings")
- The convent chapel is full of religious stained glass windows. Among the religious motifs are:[10] ("Going Home")
- The biblical figure Martha
- Saint Margaret of Scotland – a Roman Catholic royal saint ("in loving memory of Helena Bodie Whitmore, 1897 – 1985")
- Jesus Christ and the text "come unto me," an excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew 11:28[11] in the Bible
- Two paintings of the Virgin Mary are inside the room where August recuperates. ("Best Laid Plans")
Popular Culture
- Venus and Mars, a famous painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, is hanging on the wall inside the convent. ("Our Decay," "Changelings")
Props Notes
- In "Pilot" and several other episodes, there is a glass unicorn crib mobile in Emma's nursery in the Royal Castle.[12] In "The Price of Gold" and other episodes, the mobile is seen in Mr. Gold's pawnshop during the Dark Curse.[13] Later, the same mobile can be seen hanging in Prince Neal's nursery room in the convent.[14] ("Our Decay")
Set Dressing
- When Mr. Gold enters the convent, there is a glass-stained window in the hallway behind him.[15] It is the same window that was added to the landing outside the entrance to the Blanchard loft in Season Two.[16] ("Changelings")
Filming Locations
- For exterior scenes, the Fairacres Mansion, a historic building in Burnaby which is also known as the Burnaby Art Gallery, doubles as the Storybrooke Convent. It is an estate house in the British Arts and Crafts style, and was built in 1911.[17]
- The Fairacres Mansion also doubles as the site of a gala in the Psych episode "Santa Barbarian Candidate," as the monastery of Grannus in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Ties That Bind" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland guest star Michael P. Northey) and the ΧΦΒ fraternity building in the 2004 supernatural psychological thriller The Butterfly Effect (a movie which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Jesse Hutch and Paul Lazenby).[18]
- For the interior scenes in "Going Home," Vancouver's St. Mary's Anglican Church doubles as the convent chapel.[19]
- For the interior scenes in "Best Laid Plans," Cecil Green Park House in Vancouver and the Overlynn Mansion in Burnaby Heights double as the convent. Both are Arts & Crafts-styled mansion and were built in 1912 and 1909 respectively.[20]
- Cecil Green Park House also doubles as the Sorcerer's mansion for the show.[21]
- The Overlynn Mansion also doubles as the Happy Cottage Children's Home in "Snow Drifts."[22]
- The Cecil Green Park House has also doubled as locations for other productions:
- The location of a wedding in the 2007 romantic comedy film Good Luck Chuck (a movie which features Once Upon a Time in Wonderland guest stars Heather Doerksen and Steve Bacic).[23]
- The Candlewick Inn in Season One of Harper's Island (a show which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Adrian Hough, Beverley Elliott, Chilton Crane, Christopher Gauthier and Christopher Gorham and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland guest stars Ben Cotton and Sarah-Jane Redmond).[23]
- The location of the Milton-Staller wedding in the Fringe episode "The Bishop Revival."[24]
- The location of Carlton and Marlowe Lassiter's wedding in the Psych episodes "Deez Nups" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest star Sage Brocklebank)[25] and "Right Turn or Left for Dead."[23]
- The location of the Campus Administrator's Office in the Backstrom episode "Dragon Slayer" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Jarod Joseph and Paul Lazenby)[26] and the Portland Governors Club in the Backstrom episode "Corkscrewed."[27]
- The location of a charity in the pilot episode of iZombie (a show which stars Once Upon a Time guest stars David Anders and Rose McIver and an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest star Ty Olsson).[28]
- The home of the Santini crime family in The Flash episode "Rogue Time"[29] and the location of the Merkel Charity Fundraiser in The Flash episode "All Doll'd Up."[30]
- The office of Martin Stein in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Pilot, Part 1"[23] and the home of Vandal Savage in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Pilot, Part 2."[31]
- The home of the Darhk family in the Arrow episode "Blood Debts" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest star Ryan Robbins).[32]
- The home of the Cigarette Smoking Man in The X-Files episodes "My Struggle,"[23] "My Struggle II"[23] and "My Struggle III" (a series of episodes which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Annabeth Gish, Barbara Hershey and Giacomo Baessato).[33]
- The location of the Church of the High Prince[34] and Amenadiel's apartment in the Lucifer episode "#TeamLucifer" (a show which stars Once Upon a Time guest star Tom Ellis).[23]
- The home of the Blossom Family in Season One of Riverdale (a show which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Alex Zahara, Barclay Hope, Bruce Blain, Liam Hall, Paul Lazenby, Robin Givens and Tiera Skovbye).[35]
- The home of the Langmore family and the Laneview Country Club in the Imposters episode "Frog-Bikini-Eiffel Tower" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Andrew Jenkins and Kip Pardue).[23]
- The home of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the 2018 erotic romantic drama film Fifty Shades Freed (a movie which features Once Upon a Time starring cast member Jamie Dornan and guest star Catherine Lough Haggquist).[36]
- The Phi Delta Upsilon fraternity house in the Charmed episodes "Pilot," "Out of Scythe," "You're Dead to Me" and "Switches & Stones" (a show which features Once Upon a Time guest star Rya Kihlstedt).[23]
- The Luthor Mansion in the Supergirl episode "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (a show which stars Once Upon a Time co-star Andrea Brooks and guest star Sam Witwer).[23]
- The Cecil Green Park House also doubles a location in Fairly Legal and in the 2013 short drama mystery film Feint (a movie which features Once Upon a Time guest star Tiera Skovbye).[23]
- The Overlynn Mansion has also doubled as locations for other productions:[37]
- The Derry Inn in the 1990 supernatural horror miniseries It (a movie which features Once Upon a Time guest star Gabe Khouth).[38]
- The Santa Barbara Monarch Lodge in the Psych episode "Dis-Lodged" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time guest star Beverley Elliott).[39]
- The Central City Orphanage on Earth Two in The Flash episode "Versus Zoom."[40]
- The Plover Mansion in Season One of the The Magicians (a show which features Once Upon a Time guest stars Alexandra Metz, Bruce Blain, Charles Mesure, Christopher Gorham, Faran Tahir, Kacey Rohl, Keegan Connor Tracy, Jason Burkart, Nisreen Slim, Oliver Bell, Paul Lazenby and Ryan Robbins).[41]
- The Peregrine Convalescent Home in The Magicians episode "The Writing Room."[42]
- Kovar's mansion in the Arrow episode "Vigilante."[43]
- The Zeta Beta Theta fraternity building in the iZombie episode "Zombie Bro" (a show which stars Once Upon a Time actors Rose McIver and David Anders and an episode which features Grayson Gabriel and Jonathan Whitesell)[44]
- The headquarters of the Justice Society of America in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "The Justice Society of America" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland guest star Dan Payne).[45]
- A hallway in the Castle Varlar in the Timeless episode "Party at Castle Varlar" (an episode which features Once Upon a Time starring cast member Sean Maguire and guest star Chad Rook).[46]
- The interior scenes in "Our Decay" were filmed on a television set built inside a sound stage[47] at The Bridge Studios.[48]
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
| "Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
| Absent | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Two | ||||||||||
| "Broken": | "We Are Both": | "Lady of the Lake": | "The Crocodile": | "The Doctor": | "Tallahassee": | "Child of the Moon": | "Into the Deep": | "Queen of Hearts": | "The Cricket Game": | "The Outsider": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "In the Name of the Brother": | "Tiny": | "Manhattan": | "The Queen Is Dead": | "The Miller's Daughter": | "Welcome to Storybrooke": | "Selfless, Brave and True": | "Lacey": | "The Evil Queen": | "Second Star to the Right": | "And Straight On 'Til Morning": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Three | ||||||||||
| "The Heart of the Truest Believer": | "Lost Girl": | "Quite a Common Fairy": | "Nasty Habits": | "Good Form": | "Ariel": | "Dark Hollow": | "Think Lovely Thoughts": | "Save Henry": | "The New Neverland": | "Going Home": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears |
| "New York City Serenade": | "Witch Hunt": | "The Tower": | "Quiet Minds": | "It's Not Easy Being Green": | "The Jolly Roger": | "Bleeding Through": | "A Curious Thing": | "Kansas": | "Snow Drifts": | "There's No Place Like Home": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Four | ||||||||||
| "A Tale of Two Sisters": |
"White Out": |
"Rocky Road": |
"The Apprentice": |
"Breaking Glass": |
"Family Business": | "The Snow Queen": |
"Smash the Mirror": |
"Fall": | "Shattered Sight": |
"Heroes and Villains": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| "Darkness on the Edge of Town": |
"Unforgiven": | "Enter the Dragon": | "Poor Unfortunate Soul": |
"Best Laid Plans": | "Heart of Gold": | "Sympathy for the De Vil": |
"Lily": | "Mother": | "Operation Mongoose Part 1": |
"Operation Mongoose Part 2": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
| "The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
| "The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears | Absent |
| "Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Other Appearances | ||||||||||
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