"The Tower"

Title

• The title card features Rapunzel's tower.^[3]
• The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on December 20, 2013.^[4]

Production Notes

• During rehearsals for their dance scene, Jennifer Morrison and Josh Dallas were coached by choreographer, Paul Becker.^[5]
• Zelena serves Mary Margaret some chamomile tea, saying that it's "excellent for the nerves". Chamomile, an old medical herb, can actually be used to reduce stress, and has been stated to have a soothing and calming effect.^[6]

Event Chronology

• The Enchanted Forest flashbacks occur in various places of the overall timeline.
  • The first part of the story where Prince Charming finds out that Snow White is pregnant occur after "The Jolly Roger" and before Belle returns to the others in "A Curious Thing".
  • The second part of the story occur after Belle returns to the others in "A Curious Thing"^[7] and 8 months before the casting of the Dark Curse in "A Curious Thing".
• The Storybrooke events take place after "Witch Hunt" and before "Quiet Minds". (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)

Episode Connections

• The Royal Castle and the magic wardrobe first appeared in "Pilot".
• How Zelena came to possess the Dark One Dagger and the reason for the voices in Mr. Gold's head is revealed in "Quiet Minds".
• Zelena's relationship with her adoptive father is shown in "It's Not Easy Being Green".
• Emma mentions the Wicked Witch breaking into Regina's office, which occurred in "Witch Hunt".
• Both Regina and Hook allude to the events in "Witch Hunt", in which town residents began turning into flying monkeys.
• Emma recalls the lie she told Henry that their trip to Storybrooke is work-related, which occurred in "New York City Serenade".
• Belle states that Mr. Gold died, which happened in "Going Home".
• Zelena mentions meeting Mary Margaret at Granny's Diner in "Witch Hunt".
• David mentions his time working at the pet shelter, which began in "Desperate Souls".
• Robin Hood receives gold-tipped arrows for helping Regina break into her palace, which occurred in "Witch Hunt".
• Robin Hood references the death of Roland's mother, Marian, which was first mentioned in "The Heart of the Truest Believer".
• Mary Margaret mentions, during her life as Snow White, how she robbed Prince Charming's carriage and he later entrapped her in a net, which occurred in "Snow Falls".
• Zelena states Mary Margaret has already been in labor once, which occurred in "Pilot".
• Zelena brings up to David the matter in which he lost his first child the day the Dark Curse was cast, an event shown in "Pilot".
• What Hook is hiding from Emma, is revealed in "The Jolly Roger".
• Hook references Emma's ex-boyfriend, Walsh, who was introduced in "New York City Serenade".
• Hook speaks of Walsh proposing to Emma and her discovery of his true identity in "New York City Serenade".
• Snow White remembers losing Emma twice, once during the day the Dark Curse was cast in "Pilot", and when they were sent back to the Enchanted Forest in "Going Home".
• Mary Margaret's desire for a second child was first mentioned in "Ariel".

Disney

• When Rapunzel's doppelganger enters the tower, the doppelganger ties up Prince Charming with Rapunzel's hair, just like Disney's Rapunzel does with Flynn Rider in the movie Tangled.

Lost

• There is a close-up of Zelena's eye as she shaves Mr. Gold,^[8] a recurring theme on Lost.

Fairytales and Folklore

• This episode is a rendition of the "Rapunzel" fairytale, focusing on Rapunzel's entrapment in her tower.
  • Also featured are Rapunzel's parents from the same story, while Prince Charming takes the place of the prince.
• Also featured is the ugly duckling from the titular fairytale, the evil queen, the prince and Snow White from the "Snow White" fairytale, Robin Hood from the ballad and Beauty from the "Beauty and the Beast" fairytale.
• When Emma finds Zelena's farmhouse, she says that people have to appreciate the irony; a reference to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch's adversary, Dorothy Gale, lives in a farmhouse.

Popular Culture

• Regina says to David, "If you want to waste your time playing Nancy Drew, be my guest", a reference to the titular character of the book series of the same name.
  • In the Season Seven episode "A Pirate's Life", Weaver finds the Nancy Drew book The Secret of the Golden Pavilion in Henry's apartment.^[9]
• Henry mentions that Emma used to buy him gelato in Little Italy, a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City.
  • Henry also mentions that Emma "wouldn't take a job in Queens if it meant I'd miss school"; a reference to one of the five boroughs of New York City.
• There is a bicycle with a basket on Zelena's porch,^[10] which references Miss Gulch, the Wicked Witch of the West's Kansas counterpart from the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film, who has a similar bicycle.
• When David calls Emma's phone, he receives her voice mail, in which she names her work business as "Big Apple Bails Bond". The Big Apple is a popular nickname for New York City.

Costume Notes

• The dress Emma wears in Prince Charming's nightmare has swan-like feathers.^[11]
  • Emma's tiara^[12] is the same one worn by Emma at King Midas' ball in "Snow Drifts".^[13]
• The brown doublet and white undershirt worn by Prince Charming in this episode^[14] (and several others) was later worn by Robert in the Season Seven episode "Greenbacks".^[15] Robert's west^[15] is closely modeled on the west Charming wears over the doublet in the same episodes.^[16]
• Belle is wearing^[17] an alternatively colored Bow-Appliqued Lace Jersey Tee by RED Valentino^[18] (no longer available).
• Emma is wearing^[19] a Coach Cashmere Solid Knit Hat in Gray^[20] (no longer available). She wears the same headgear in the next episode, "Quiet Minds".^[21]
• Rapunzel's outfit^[22] is the same outfit that Guinevere wears for her birthday celebration in the Season Five episode "The Broken Kingdom".^[23]
  • The dress is also worn by an attendee of the ball held at the Camelot castle in the Season Five episode "The Price".^[24]

Goofs

• David explains gaining knowledge about holly berries from previously working in the animal shelter and frequently seeing dogs track them. However, that appears to be unlikely to happen in a real life scenario as holly berries are poisonous to dogs.^[25]

Filming Locations

• Some of the outdoor scenes with Josh Dallas were filmed on a foresty mountaintop in mud and snow over the course of a week.^[26]
• The scenes at the bottom of Rapunzel's tower were filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.^[27] The bottom of the tower was a real set set, while the rest was added digitally in post-production.^[28] In addition, a tower set was built in studio,^[29] presumably for the scenes where the characters are scaling the walls.
  • The set used to film the interior of Rapunzel's tower also doubles as the dungeon where Rumplestiltskin tortures Robin Hood in the Season Two episode "Lacey", and the Arendelle castle tower where Anna tries on the wedding dress in the Season Four premiere "A Tale of Two Sisters".^[30]
  • Central Park also doubles as Storybrooke for the scene with Henry and Regina by the duck pond, the scene with Emma and Hook in the forest, and the scene where Emma, Hook, Regina and David walk through the forest at the end of the episode.^[27]