For the Season Three episode, see "The Tower". |
"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
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]
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 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 smock, similar to what she wears in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. She also sings "The Unbirthday Song" with different words.
- 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 Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Cinderella from the "Cinderella" fairytale, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story, and Robin Hood from the ballad.
- The Troll is an allusion to the BFG from the novel of the same name.[9]
- Alice has a tea party with her stuffed animals on her birthday, a reference to the Hatter's tea party from the book. She also picks up a top hat and jokingly refers to it as "Mr. Hatter".
- When Alice is looking at the stars, she mentions the "second star to the right", quoting the directions to Neverland in Peter Pan.
- Alice says that she once outran a Bandersnatch, a reference to the creature from Through the Looking-Glass.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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,[10] 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
- Henry has a volume of The American Peoples Encyclopedia in his bookshelf.[11]
- In the Season One episode "The Stable Boy", young Henry had several volumes of The American Peoples Encyclopedia in his room.[12]
- 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.[13]
- One of the Marvel comics in Henry's apartment is X-Factor Vol 1 #9.[14]
- 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.
- 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[16] and the Season Three episode "The New Neverland".[17]
- 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
- At Alice's tea party, a rabbit plushie is sitting by the table,[18] a reference to the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
- In "The Guardian", Alice has the same rabbit plushie in her cottage[19] and refers to it as "Mr. Rabbit".
- The Hyperion Grocery logo[20] is based on the real life Hannaford Brothers Company,[21] a supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine.
- The label Tilly finds stuck under her shoe says "Certified organic"[22] 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.[23]
- The cover of Margot's copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland[15] is based on Chronicle Books' 2002 edition of the novel:[24] 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
- Alice's tea set[25] is a Toysmith Deluxe Ceramic Tea Set with Basket.[26] In "The Guardian", Alice has the same tea set in her cottage.[19]
- The same tea set was used for the Mad Hatter's daughter Grace's tea party in the Season One episode "Hat Trick".[27]
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.[28][29]
- Santa Barbara Market in Vancouver doubles as the exterior and interior of Hyperion Grocery for this episode.[30]
- The Bridal Gallery, also known as The Vault, in New Westminster, doubles as the exterior and interior of Mr. Samdi's hotel.[28]
- CRAB Park in Vancouver doubles as the area where Kelly confronts Roni and Mr. Samdi.[31]
International Titles
International Titles | ||
---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation |
French | "La Fille de la Tour" | "The Tower Girl" |
Italian | "La ragazza nella torre" | "The Girl in the Tower" |
Portuguese | "A Garota da Torre" | "The Tower Girl" |