"Secret Garden" is the eleventh episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Mick Garris. It is the one hundred and forty-fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 2, 2018.
Synopsis
Eager to harness her burgeoning magical skills, Robin engages in a risky relationship with Mother Gothel. Meanwhile, in Hyperion Heights, Roni and Kelly strike a deal with Eloise, desperate to save Lucy from her mysterious illness. But nothing comes without a price. As things finally come to a head between Victoria and Ivy, someone may have to pay with their life.[2]
Recap
Cast[2]
Starring |
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
|
Trivia
Title
- The title card features Madame Leota in the "O" of "Once".[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on October 18, 2017.[4]
- MUSICAL INSPIRATION: This episode shares its name with a song from Bruce Springsteen's 1995 compilation album Greatest Hits. Adam Horowitz is a big fan of the singer.[5]
Production Notes
- CAST NOTES: This is the last episode to credit Gabrielle Anwar as series regular.
- The establishing shots of the Hyperion Heights Hospital,[6] Eloise Gardener's transitional housing[7] and her hideout[8] is stock footage from the website Getty Images.
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The footage used for the exterior of the Hyperion Heights Hospital is stock footage of a New York City hospital.[9] The footage was used previously in the episode "Beauty".[10]
- The same stock footage was used for an establishing shot of a police station in the 2021 Amazon Prime streaming film Jolt.[11]
- The footage used for the exterior of Eloise Gardener's house is stock footage of residential apartments in Chicago, Illinois.[12]
- The same footage was used in the iZombie episode "Patriot Brains" (a show which stars Once Upon a Time guest stars David Anders and Rose McIver).[13]
- The footage used for the exterior of Eloise Gardener's hideout is stock footage of a decaying brick warehouse in Los Angeles, California.[14]
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The footage used for the exterior of the Hyperion Heights Hospital is stock footage of a New York City hospital.[9] The footage was used previously in the episode "Beauty".[10]
Event Chronology
- The Seattle events take place after "The Eighth Witch" and before "A Taste of the Heights". (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The New Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place after "A Taste of the Heights" and before the flashback with Alice and Robin in "The Girl in the Tower".
- The Storybrooke flashbacks take place after "Hyperion Heights", after Regina left to go help Henry in "A Pirate's Life".
Episode Connections
- More about Robin's time growing up and living in Storybrooke is mentioned in "The Girl in the Tower".
- Regina first obtained Cora's spell book in "We Are Both".
- Zelena lost her magic in "Where Bluebirds Fly".
- Lucy was born in "The Eighth Witch".
- Hook reunited and was separated again from Alice in "Pretty in Blue".
- Roni found Kelly West and helped her regain her memories in "The Eighth Witch".
- Henry's heart was poisoned in "The Eighth Witch".
- Anastasia ended up with Eloise in "The Eighth Witch". Both Ivy and Victoria were trapped in the pit by Eloise in the same episode.
- Rapunzel poisoned Cinderella's mother in "One Little Tear". Her murder of her husband Marcus was mentioned in "The Garden of Forking Paths". Rapunzel killed a prince during "Hyperion Heights" and had plans to rip out Drizella's heart in "Wake Up Call".
- Victoria put Lucy to sleep in order to revive Anastasia in "One Little Tear".
- The backstory that Eloise mentions to Anastasia is seen in "Flower Child".
- Kelly's daughter references her mother's many calls to her in "The Girl in the Tower".
- Gothel trapped Alice in her tower in "Eloise Gardener".
- Victoria attempted to buy Roni's bar in "Hyperion Heights".
- Rapunzel found her way home to her family by following the lanterns in "One Little Tear".
- Zelena recalls how her father prevented her from finding herself, which was seen in "It's Not Easy Being Green".
- Regina cast the Dark Curse to save Henry in "The Eighth Witch".
- Commenting on the arrow Robin found, Gothel says, "Legend has it this arrow was enchanted to always hit its mark"; an indirect reference to Robin Hood's enchanted bow, which was introduced in "Lacey".
- Eloise refers to Rogers as her "white knight", an indirect reference to the chess piece Alice kept from the chess games with her father, referred to in "A Pirate's Life".
- Robin's interest in following in her father's footsteps is further explored in "The Girl in the Tower".
- Ivy deals with the aftermath of her mother's death in "Knightfall".
- Weaver and Rogers continue to investigate the coven in "Knightfall".
- Eloise mentions that, while some were scared of her for her magic, there was someone who helped her thrive. Who that is revealed in "Flower Child".
Disney
- Madame Leota from Disney's The Haunted Mansion appears.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Lost
- Jacinda buys an Apollo bar from a vending machine at the hospital.[15] This was a fictional brand on Lost.
- When Eloise leaves her house, there is a close-up of Anastasia's eye as she looks out from between the closet doors,[16] a recurring theme on Lost.
Fairytales and Folklore
- This episode features Cinderella and one of the stepsisters from the "Cinderella" fairytale, Dame Gothel from the "Rapunzel" fairytale, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, and Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story.
- The Scarecrow from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is also mentioned.
- At the police station, Rogers mentions that he served Tilly some tea, a reference to the Hatter's tea party from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- PAUSE AND READ: Among the gardens and greenhouses on Weaver' list,[17] there is a location called Pomona's Greenhouse. Pomona is the goddess of fruitful abundance in Roman mythology. Another location is called "The Garden of Proserpine". Proserpine is the Roman version of Persephone, the goddess of grain and agriculture in Greek mythology.
Popular Culture
- Henry wonders if Lucy would say that Doctor Sage is in fact Doctor Dolittle or Doctor Strange.
- Doctor Dolittle was mentioned in the Season Six episode "Mother's Little Helper", where Regina mentions to Henry that part of cleaning up after her serum counterpart involved freeing Doctor Dolittle from a cage.
- Zelena and Robin compare themselves to Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy. They also compare Robin Hood to Jay-Z.
- PAUSE AND READ: Among the New Enchanted Forest locations listed on Wish Hook's map are:[18]
- A castle called Thrushcross Grange. Trushcross Grange was the home of Edgar Linton in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights.
- Puddleby on the Marsh. Puddleby-on-the-Marsh is Doctor Dolittle's hometown in The Story of Doctor Dolittle, the first Doctor Dolittle novel.
- A castle called Gateshead Hall. Gateshead Hall is the childhood home of the titular character of Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre.
- A castle called Pemberley. Pemberley is the country estate owned by Mr. Darcy, the male protagonist in Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.
- Barchester Bridge, a possible nod to Barchester Towers, the second novel in Anthony Trollope's series "Chronicles of Barsetshire".
- Also mentioned are two unknown locations called Silver Ridge Mountains and Vultures Peak.
- Issue 1141 of the motorcycling magazine Motorcyclist[19] is sitting on the shelf in Eloise's house.[20]
Props Notes
- MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS: When Zelena opens Cora's spell book,[21] we see a palmistry illustration of a hand, with astrological symbols for the mounts on the palm. 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. Five astrological symbols can be seen on the illustration:[22]
- Venus (♀), the mount by the thumb. Below that, the word "Vita", Latin for "life", is printed.
- 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.
- Apollo, the sun (☉), the mount under the ring finger.
- Note that the mount of Mercury (☿), which is placed beneath the baby finger, is obscured.
- MYSTERIOUS WRITINGS: Next to the hand, there are micro-excerpts from Ars grammatica, a survey of Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus, a fourth century Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. The excerpts in the spell book are from Donatus' first Ars grammatica, known as Ars Minor, which is a brief overview of the eight parts of speech.
- The paragraph at the top of the page consists of selected words from the section De praepositione,[23] "about preposition". The paragraph from the spell book reads thus: "Vbi locum significat, magis [three or four illegible words] ablativo ubi onem alicuius facimus accusativo casui ervit". The following is the excerpt in its entirety, with the selected words (and pieces of words) in the spell book set in bold:
- Vbi locum significat, magis accusativo casui servit quam ablativo; ubi mentionem alicuius facimus, ablativo tantum, ut "multa super Priamo rogitans". In quam vim habet? Etiam tum accusativo casui servit, cum significat contra, ut in adulterum, in desertorem.[23]
- The paragraph at the bottom begins with "Legendus legenda legendum participia venientia a verbo passivo temporisum futuri generis" (the rest of the text is illegible), which is from the section De participio,[23] "about participle". Note that the original excerpt from Ars Minor says "temporis", not "temporisum".
- Additional text from De praepositione can be glimpsed on the opposite page. The following is the excerpt in its entirety, with the parts that can be seen in the book (most of the text is obscured by Zelena or illegible) set in bold:
aedes, adversum inimicos, cis Renum, citra
forum, circum uicinos, circa templum,
contra hostem, erga propinquos, extra terminos,
inter naues, intra moenia infra tectum, iuxta macellum,
ob augurium, pone tribunal, per parietem, prope fenestram,
secundum fores, post tergum, trans ripam, ultra fines,
praeter officium, propter rem, supra caelum, usque Oceanum,
penes arbitros. Da praepositiones casus ablativi A ab abs
cum coram clam de e ex pro prae palam sine absque tenus. quo
modo? Dicimus enim a domo, ab homine, abs
quolibet, cum exercitu, coram testibus, clam
custodibus, de foro, e iure, ex
praefectura, pro clientibus, prae timore,
palam omnibus, sine labore, absque iniuria,
tenus pube, quod nos dicimus pube tenus.
Da utriusque casus praepositiones. In sub super subter.[23]
Set Dressing
- REUSED PROPS: The cymbal-banging monkey toy sitting on a table in Memento Mori[24] is the same toy that was sitting in Mr. Gold's pawnshop when Aladdin broke into the shop in the Season Six episode "I'll Be Your Mirror".[25]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: A dreamcatcher is hanging on the wall in Memento Mori.[28]
- REUSED PROPS: The remote lying on the table when Anastasia is watching television in Eloise's living room[29] is the same prop used for the "space commander" remote that came with the television that Isaac tried to sell the middle aged couple in the Season Four episode "Operation Mongoose Part 1".[30]
- ARTWORKS: The painting hanging on the wall outside of Eloise's door[31] is A January Evening in the Woods of The Hague (1875) by Dutch painter Louis Apol.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: A bunch of hyacinths are sitting in a vase next to Lucy's hospital bed.[32]
Costume Notes
- The belt Henry is wearing around his doublet while he is spending time with his family[33] is held together by hinges.[34]
- BRAND INFO: While trying to save Lucy, Kelly is wearing[35] an Aritzia Wilfred Pilier Jacket (no longer available).[36]
- The same jacket was worn by the character Betty Cooper on the Riverdale episode "Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primary Colors".[37]
Filming Locations
- RECYCLED SET: The Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia doubles as the Hyperion Heights Hospital for this episode.[38] The location has been used in numerous movies and television shows[39] and doubled as the Storybrooke General Hospital in previous seasons.[40]
- The Riverview Hospital also doubles as the Hancock County Courthouse for the Season Five episode "Firebird".[41] If you watch the entrance to the courthouse,[42] you can see that it's a redressed version of the Storybrooke General Hospital entrance from the Season One episode "The Return".[43]
- The tunnels beneath the hospital double as the secret tunnel beneath the Storybrooke Town Hall in the Season Five episode "Last Rites.[44]
- A forest in Vancouver doubles as the New Enchanted Forest for the outdoor scenes with Wish Hook and Zelena.[45]
- The scenes at Memento Mori were filmed on a television set built at The Bridge Studios.[46]
- RECYCLED SET: The set used for the interior of Eloise's house[47] is a redressed version of Henry's apartment[48] from "Hyperion Heights" and "A Pirate's Life".
- The same set doubles as the restaurant where Rogers confronts Michael Griffiths in "The Garden of Forking Paths". Notice how the doors, which were changed for the restaurant, are in exactly the same spots for both locations,[49] and the wall with the cut-out by the doors is the same,[49] as is the alcove in the wall that runs parallel to one of the doors (Henry has a bookshelf in his).[50]
- The scenes at the Hyperion Heights Greenhouse were filmed on a blue-screen set at The Bridge Studios.[51]
Goofs
- Victoria mentions Regina casting the Dark Curse in "The Eighth Witch" to save Henry. However, part of the curse was that Victoria would believe she was the one who cast it to save Anastasia and she is never shown onscreen learning otherwise.
International Titles
International Titles | ||
---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation |
French | "L'Orchidée Sacrée" | "The Sacred Orchid" |
German | "Madame Leota will wieder leben" | "Madame Leota wants to live again" |
Italian | "I piani di Gothel" | "Gothel's Plans" |
Portuguese | "Jardim Secreto" | "Secret Garden" |