What I’m Watching: Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 20 “The Stranger” (C+)

After some false starts last week, it quickly became clear in this hour that August is in fact Pinocchio, and his back story made a whole lot of things make a whole lot of sense. Gepetto’s desire to see his own son saved and sent through the wardrobe meant that Snow White couldn’t accompany Emma through to explain to her what she’d have to do upon coming to Storybrooke. August, through no fault of his own, ended up leaving his foster home at age seven to get away from an abusive father and therefore abandoned Emma to fend for herself. The fact that she’s not able to see his wooden leg means that August is going to have a tough time convincing her that what he’s saying is the truth, but their trip clearly had some effect on her, since she abruptly snatched Henry and brought him with her to leave Storybrooke, something which may be possible since Henry was born in the real world. Mary Margaret telling Regina that she must be very lonely led to an odd and unconvincing turn of events, as a dead car battery resulted in Regina trying to seduce David with some lasagna and even going so far as to plant a kiss on him. His rebuke of her is not going to make things any easier for the residents of Storybrooke, particularly Mary Margaret, who is sure to catch the brunt of her wrath both for David’s rejection and for Emma’s whisking away of Henry.