What I’m Watching: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 4 “The Price of Gold” (C+)

It was only a matter of time before we met Cinderella, who in this version of events didn’t have the entirely romantic experience that the one we all know about did. The always slimy Rumplestiltskin stepped in to kill Cinderella’s fairy godmother before she had a chance to work her magic, enabling Rumplestiltskin to get her to agree to give something up, which turned out to be her first-born child. The parallel worked into the plot was decently effective, with pregnant waitress Ashley trying to figure out a way to get out of giving her baby to Mr. Gold. Having Mr. Gold task Emma with tracking down Ashley put her directly in the middle of the situation, and agreeing to owe Mr. Gold a favor definitely isn’t going to work out well, even if things in Storybrooke aren’t mandated by magic the same way that they are in the fairy tale world. Tricking Rumplestiltskin into signing the fake deal with the magic-destroying quill resulted in the disappearance of Cinderella’s prince, but that has all been rectified now that Ashley has been reunited with the guy who got her pregnant. With one fairy tale ending restored, Emma seems set to stay in Storybrooke, accepting Grant’s offer for her to become a deputy. The revelation that Regina is sleeping with Grant shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but it does create an awfully small and dangerous network of trust in the town that could come back to hurt both Emma and Henry.