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For the Season Three episode, see "The Tower." For the character known as Tower Girl, see Alice (Hyperion Heights). |
"The Girl in the Tower" is the fourteenth episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Dana Horgan & Leah Fong, and directed by Antonio Negret. It is the one hundred and forty-seventh episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 23, 2018.
Synopsis
Rogers works to prove Tilly's innocence in the case of the Blind Baker's death, while Ivy attempts to make amends with Anastasia, and Samdi makes a revealing confession to Roni. Meanwhile, in a faraway realm, Alice forms an unbreakable bond.[2]
Recap
In the Characters' Past
Early Years
In the new realm during a flashback, Alice makes a birthday wish to get out of the tower and shortly after, a troll suddenly appears and helps her escape the prison, hopefully to search for her father.
Several Years Later
Alice, who is still seeking out her father, is caught spying on the resistance group by Robin, who had just recently arrived to the New Enchanted Forest. Robin intends to honor her father's legacy by hunting down the troll, who has since been destroying villages, but Alice goes after her to protect it, calling it a "friend" since it had rescued her.
When they finally confront the troll, Robin is ready to kill it but Alice steps in to save him, infuriating the villagers. However, in a surprise twist, Robin ends up shielding Alice from the villagers, and uses magic to summon Emma's Yellow Bug, which transports them to the Tower, where Alice admits that she wanted to go back but now wants to experience freedom. Suddenly, the troll appears and begins destroying the Tower. Robin theorizes that Alice, by means of her wish, unintentionally created the troll to free herself. Alice then confronted the troll, calmed him, and forgave him before he, clutching the car, is turned into stone (the same stone statue that she, as Tilly, hangs out on in Hyperion Heights). Afterwards, Robin makes Alice make another wish on a birthday candle, and they bid the tower goodbye, beginning a journey together.
In The Present Day
Days after the death of the baker at the hospital, Rogers tracks Tilly down, just in time to keep the officers from finding her, and are later joined by Henry as they start looking for signs of evidence of Tilly being elsewhere during the time of the murder to clear her name. At first, while taking refuge at Henry’s apartment and hopefully find a clue, she retraces her steps after she sees a sticker on her shoe sole. Tilly grows frustrated when she finds that no one can remember seeing her at the places she had visited.
As Tilly is becoming more convinced that she might be a murderer after she discovers the snipped hair locks in her backpack, she runs away from Henry's home. She visits her troll statue, saying goodbye to it, as she plans to run away. She almost gets hit by an SUV when she is rescued by a woman named Margot (Robin in this cursed realm), and she thanks her, which Margot responds to by convincing her not to run away. Tilly also notices that Margot is reading “Alice in Wonderland,” which Margot tells her is a favorite of hers. When Rogers tells Tilly that she’ll have to turn herself in, Tilly discovers a surveillance camera hidden inside the troll's eye that can provide an alibi for her. When Tilly returns to her place, Rogers stopped by to ask her about staying at his place, and she accepts.
Meanwhile, Regina and Lucy put their plans to free Henry of his curse in motion but Regina wants to leave some of the details to herself and not share it with Zelena yet. Regina asks Samdi out on a date as a cover, so that Lucy can break into his suite to look for clues as to what he seeks in Hyperion Heights. However Zelena suddenly finds out and becomes concerned for Lucy’s safety, prompting Regina to text Lucy to leave immediately before Samdi returns. Moments later, Lucy escapes upon seeing the text but Samdi catches on when he finds Lucy’s hat.
Lucy does manage to photograph a Tarot card layout that she shows to Regina, and when Samdi visits the bar to let her know about what she did, Regina demands an answer from him about the cards, and he details a future that will determine a new love in her life, but at the same time she will have to let him seek out his quest, which is acquiring the Dark One's Dagger that Weaver currently has in his possession, a move that doesn’t sit well with Regina. Later, Regina comes clean to Zelena about this situation, as Zelena’s daughter Robin (Margot) returns to her, with Zelena remarking to Regina that it truly is hard to interact with your child under cursed circumstances.
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Deleted Scenes
"I Didn't Expect to See You"
This scene is included on "Once Upon a Time: The Complete Seventh and Final Season."
Henry and Rogers arrive at the site of Rollin' Bayou to ask Jacinda or Sabine if they ever saw Tilly, who is a potential murderer. Though Rogers asks Henry if he's fine with talking to Jacinda, Henry stays neutral. Henry tries to talk to Jacinda, but he messes up. Then, they talk about Lucy, before Rogers asking her if Tilly was here yesterday, to which Jacinda replies "no." Soon, they realize that Tilly stole some beignets instead of buying them, despite what she said.[3]
"If She Can Change…"
This scene is included on the "Once Upon a Time: The Complete Seventh and Final Season" Blu-ray, but not the DVD.
Ivy comes to Eloise's "gathering place" to look for Anastasia, but sees Eloise standing before her. Eloise says that she does not keep Anastasia where she kept Ivy and that she would never torture Anastasia, as she is like her own daughter. Ivy mocks Eloise and her coven, saying she's sure that that's what she tells all the girls and also that Eloise wants to watch people suffer while she gets what she wants. Eloise reminds Ivy that she was the one who tried to steal her sister's magic and leave her for dead. Ivy accepts herself and says that she wants to be changed just like her mother. She threatens Eloise, saying that she will tell her sister the truth, which is Eloise wanting her just to get the Dark One's powers. Eloise suddenly takes Ivy's doll and wants to use it for her own advantage to gain Anastasia's trust. As she walks away, Ivy yells that "it is not over."
"One-Upped by a Nanny Cam"
This scene is included on the "Once Upon a Time: The Complete Seventh and Final Season" Blu-ray, but not the DVD.
Eloise and Anastasia move from place to place to avoid getting caught by Ivy or anyone else. Anastasia tells her that she's getting cold, but Eloise assures her to trust "mother." While they walk down the street, they stumble upon Ivy, who reveals that she found them thanks to the camera that was put on her doll by Victoria, the doll which was previously taken by Eloise. Ivy admits to Anastasia that she's sorry that she tried to hurt her, and that if Anastasia allows it, she can learn how to be a sister. As soon as Eloise tries to walk up to Ivy, Ivy aims a gun at her and tells Anastasia the truth, that Eloise killed their mother and she is using her just like she used her. Anastasia, who's had enough, magically pushes the both of them, which gives her a time to run.
Untitled
A scene where Tilly is eating Mochi balls was cut from the episode.[4]
According to Rose Reynolds, she had to eat around ten Mochi balls, which resulted in her feeling sick by the end of the take.[4]
Cast[2]
Starring
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Guest Starring
Co-Starring
Uncredited
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features the troll's statue form.[6]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on November 29, 2017.[7]
- According to Leah Fong, the second choice for the title of this episode was "Goodbye, Tower Girl."[8]
Production Notes
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Tilly talks to Mrs. Lewis, whom she bought an apple from, but the woman doesn't remember her, and neither does Mr. Charles, who she usually buys a marmalade sandwich from. "Lewis" is a reference to Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, while "Charles" is a reference to Carroll's real name, Charles Dodgson.
Event Chronology
- The Seattle events take place after "Knightfall" and before "Sisterhood." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The New Enchanted Forest flashbacks occur in various places of the overall timeline.
- The flashback where Alice escapes the tower takes place several years after "Knightfall," and before "Greenbacks."
- The remaining flashbacks take place years later, after "Secret Garden" and before "The Guardian."
Episode Connections
- How Alice was trapped in Gothel's Tower is explained in "Eloise Gardener."
- Alice lights a candle on a cupcake to celebrate her birthday, just like Emma did in "Pilot" and "Wish You Were Here," and Zelena in "Our Decay."
- Tilly was accused of murdering Hilda Braeburn in "Knightfall."
- Henry's daughter Lucy was born in "The Eighth Witch."
- Robin's skill with a bow and arrow was first seen in "Secret Garden."
- Alice explains that she keeps a distance to her father because his heart is poisoned and he will die if she gets too close; referring to events in "Pretty in Blue," where Wish Hook became injured when he and Alice embraced.
- Robin references Nook, the nickname Zelena first called Hook during "Secret Garden."
- Robin says that she thought Henry and Cinderella left Alice in Wonderland looking for a cure for Alice's father, referring to events in "Pretty in Blue."
- How Robin came to the New Enchanted Forest is explained in "Secret Garden."
- Lucy and Roni continue Operation Hyacinth, which they began in "Knightfall."
- Lucy mentions Henry was poisoned, an event that happened in "The Eighth Witch."
- Ivy first spoke of her plans to find and reconcile with Anastasia in "Knightfall."
- Victoria's death occurred in "Secret Garden."
- While in Henry's apartment, Ivy is holding her childhood doll Beatrice, which she got from Jacinda in "Knightfall."
- Rogers tells Henry that Tilly once shot Weaver. This event was seen in "Beauty."
- Tilly references how upset she felt when she saw Eloise, which occurred in "Knightfall."
- The book Robin Hood: Myth and Legend, which Tilly finds in Henry's apartment, is the same book that Regina finds in Robin Hood's old apartment in "Only You." According to Regina, she gave the book to Robin before he left Storybrooke with his family.
- Tilly mentions buying marmalade sandwiches, a favorite of hers that Weaver gave her in "Beauty."
- Robin talks about stealing the sheriff's yellow bug. This well-known vehicle was first seen in "Pilot."
- Robin says that her father died when she was a baby, an event that took place in "Last Rites."
- Kelly is surprised to see that Mr. Samdi is awake. She and Roni attempted to find out if he was cursed in "A Taste of the Heights."
- The lock of hair that the killer took from Doctor Sage was first seen in "Secret Garden."
- Roni refers to her long history with Weaver when he was still Rumplestiltskin, which began in "We Are Both" when they first met.
- Kelly left one of her 37 messages for Margot in "Secret Garden."
Disney
- At Alice's tea party, she wears a blue dress and white smock, similar to what she wears in Disney's animated film Alice in Wonderland. She also sings "The Unbirthday Song," replacing "A very merry unbirthday to you" with "A very happy birthday to you."
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Fairy Tales and Folklore
- This episode features Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Cinderella from the "Cinderella" fairy tale, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, and Robin Hood from the ballads.
- When Alice is looking at the stars, she mentions the "second star to the right," similar to the titular character's directions to Neverland in Peter Pan: "Second to the right and then straight on till morning."[9]
- Alice picks up a top hat and jokingly refers to it as "Mr. Hatter," a reference to the Hatter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She proceeds to have a tea party with her stuffed animals, which include a rabbit wearing the top hat, and a dormouse.[10] This is a reference to the Hatter's tea party with Alice, the March Hare and the Dormouse in the novel.
- Note that the rabbit plushie seems to be a dual reference, as it is white, like the White Rabbit, but the character does not participate in the famous tea party in the novel – the March Hare does.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: At Alice's tea party, a rabbit plushie is sitting by the table,[11] a reference to the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- This episode features a troll, a giant, monstrous being from Scandinavian folklore.[12]
- The troll is also an allusion to the BFG from the novel of the same name.[13]
- Alice says that she once outran a Bandersnatch, a reference to the creature from Through the Looking-Glass.
- Alice refers to the troll as "The gentlest of giants." Giants are huge mythical beings from worldwide mytholgy.[14]
- When talking to Mr. Charles, Tilly refers to herself as the "girl with the marmalade sandwiches," a reference to the scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice grabs a jar of orange marmalade from a shelf while falling down the rabbit hole.
- Margot refers to the angry villagers who are after the troll as a "Frankenstein mob," a reference to the Frankenstein novel, where there is an angry mob out to destroy Dr. Frankenstein's creation.
- Alice says that her father used to say that the best people in this world will "make you see the world through a whole new looking glass," a reference to the novel Through the Looking-Glass.
- When Alice's yellow bug shows up, Alice says to Robin, "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast," directly quoting what the White Queen says to Alice in the novel Through the Looking-Glass, when Alice tries to convince her that one cannot believe impossible things.
- Margot holds a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[15]
- When she returns to Roni's, Margot says "There's no place like home," which is a reference to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy tells the Scarecrow, "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."
Lost
- There is a close-up of Alice's eye when she uses the spyglass,[16] a recurring theme on Lost.
- Robin says that she drove the yellow bug for eight minutes before she was caught, a reference to the second Lost number.
Popular Culture
- BOOKS AS SET DRESSING: Henry has a volume of The American Peoples Encyclopedia in his bookshelf.[17]
- In the Season One episode "The Stable Boy," young Henry had several volumes of The American Peoples Encyclopedia in his room.[18]
- When Tilly goes to fetch her backpack from the dumpster, Henry says, "Unless you ran into Oscar the Grouch, you're not gonna find an alibi back here." Oscar the Grouch is a character on the children's television program Sesame Street, who lives in a trash can.
- The Triumphal Arch of the Star is pictured on a painting in Mr. Samdi's living room.[19]
- MARVEL COMICS: One of the Marvel comics in Henry's apartment is X-Factor Vol 1 #9.[20]
- According to the cover, Margot's copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is illustrated by Arthur Rackham,[15] a famous nineteenth/twentieth century English book illustrator. The cover illustration is "At this the whole pack rose up into the air and came flying down upon her," one of several illustrations created by Rackham for Lewis Carroll's novel in 1907.
- REUSED ILLUSTRATION: The same picture can be seen among the numerous fairy-tale illustrations pinned to the wall in Henry's room in the Season One premiere[21] and the Season Three episode "The New Neverland."[22]
- When she returns to Roni's, Margot says "There's no place like home," which is a reference to the famous line by Dorothy Gale from the movie The Wizard of Oz (the line also appears in the novel).
Props Notes
- USE IT AGAIN: At Alice's tea party, a white rabbit plushie is sitting by the table.[23] In "The Guardian," Alice has the same rabbit plushie in her cottage[24] and refers to it as "Mr. Rabbit."
- REUSED PROPS: The spyglass Alice is using[25] is the same spyglass the original version of Hook uses throughout the series.[26]
- The Hyperion Grocery logo[27] is based on the real life Hannaford Brothers Company,[28] a supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The label Tilly finds stuck under her shoe says "Certified organic"[29] and it is revealed that Tilly buys marmalade sandwiches there. Tilly's penchant for organic marmalade is later commented on by Rogers in "Breadcrumbs."
- The drink Roni gives to Kelly when she apologizes, is a green appletini.[30]
- The cover of Margot's copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland[15] is based on Chronicle Books' 2002 edition of the novel:[31] The color and layout is similar and the cover illustration is the same, as is the cover text ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – Illustrated by Arthur Rackham").
Set Dressing
- USE IT AGAIN: In "The Guardian," Alice has the same tea set in her cottage.[24]
- REUSED PROPS: The same tea set was used for the Mad Hatter's daughter Grace's tea party in the Season One episode "Hat Trick."[34]
Filming Locations
- The parking lot at Ki Sushi in New Westminster is used for the outdoor scene where Henry and Rogers are talking to Tilly after they find her on the street.[35][36]
- Santa Barbara Market in Vancouver doubles as the exterior and interior of Hyperion Grocery for this episode.[37]
- The Bridal Gallery, also known as The Vault, in New Westminster, doubles as the exterior and interior of Mr. Samdi's hotel.[35]
- CRAB Park in Vancouver doubles as the area where Kelly confronts Roni and Mr. Samdi.[38]
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| French | "La Fille de la Tour" | "The Tower Girl" |
| German | "Sie war einst das Mädchen aus dem Turm" | "She once was the Girl in the Tower" |
| Italian | "La ragazza nella torre" | "The Girl in the Tower" |
| Portuguese | "A Garota da Torre" | "The Tower Girl" |
Videos
