"Chosen" is the seventeenth episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Paul Karp & Brian Ridings, and directed by Lana Parrilla. It is the one hundred and fiftieth episode of the series overall, and premiered on April 13, 2018.
Synopsis
Kelly comes face-to-face with the Candy Killer after someone she loves is taken hostage. Meanwhile, Samdi uses Drew to execute a deadly plan. In a flashback, Zelena learns a harsh lesson after an encounter with Hansel and Gretel goes awry.[2]
Recap
In the Land of Oz before the original curse, Zelena comes across a gingerbread house and finds Hansel and Gretel, but the occupant and her archenemy the Gingerbread witch is ready to stop her as payback for trying to banish her from Oz because Zelena saw her as a threat. The Gingerbread Witch uses her power to defeat Zelena and weaken her adversary, leaving her to pass out in the forest. She is later awoken in a cabin by a blind woodcutter named Ivo, who wants to help her regain her health. When he told her about Hansel and Gretel, Zelena realized that Ivo was their father. Sensing that she has found a kind personality in Ivo, Zelena repays Ivo by saving his children and hopefully restore Ivo's eyesight.
When Zelena returns to save Hansel and Gretel, she succeed in defeating the Gingerbread Witch by taking her sight but Hansel and Gretel had already escaped. Unfortunately when she returned Ivo was ready and waiting, as Hansel and Gretel told their father about Zelena. Ivo asked her to leave but she suddenly went furious by throwing the ring containing the witch's sight into the fireplace. Hansel tries to fight against Zelena, who responded by using flames from the fireplace to give Hansel the scars on his arms. As Zelena disappears, Hansel's hatred towards witches begins.
In Seattle, Zelena is trying to grapple with dealing with a situation about the Candy Killer, as well as how to deal with how to explain the truth to her fiancé Chad. This made Zelena more concerned as she confronted Weaver at the police station asking for help rather than asking Rogers. While Weaver couldn't do anything at this point, he did give Zelena her green necklace back as a reminder of how to defeat Hansel.
As for the now-awake Hansel, he is still holding Henry hostage and is doing everything to convince him that Regina and Zelena are his adoptive mother and aunt, and even showed him the test results that Lucy is Henry's daughter, despite Henry still in a cursed situation as he doesn't believe anything that "Nick" is telling him. Hansel wants Henry to help him kill Zelena but refused, and "Nick" isn't taking no for an answer by knocking Henry out and taking matters into his own hands.
Nick is also using Henry's phone to make it look like Henry is doing great while doing the job interview in New York City, and even Jacinda is believing this by reading the texts, but Rogers discovers that Henry's car was found abandoned and never caught his flight, so when he informed Jacinda about this he asked to see the texts and discovers that Nick had used his own words to describe Jacinda that gave it away. Rogers finds Henry and the two race to stop Hansel. Henry is later reunited with Jacinda and Lucy, telling them and Sabine he's staying in Seattle for them.
Later that evening, Zelena became startled by Regina, who wants to help her sister deal with Hansel but hours later Roni's receives a phone call from Chad. As Zelena answers the call, her excitement turns to shock as she discovers that Hansel is holding Chad hostage demanding a showdown. Zelena tells Regina that she'll handle it on her own. When she found Chad's location, Hansel explains to Chad the truth about Zelena, and a fight ensued with Zelena defeating Hansel by knocking him out instead of killing him. Chad finally learned the truth about Zelena after believing her to be Kelly. However, Chad isn't concerned about what or who Zelena is, just as long as he loves her for what she is. In the end, Zelena agreed to help Regina but Regina wants Zelena to be with Chad for now. Zelena also said goodbye to Margot and promised to reveal everything soon, and then gives Margot her necklace.
In between the events, Drew is helping Sabine out with selling her beignets, but after she leaves to buy more supplies, Drew is visited by Samdi, as it is revealed that Drew is awake and remembers his life as Naveen and made him aware of his debt to him. Later that evening Naveen brings the beignet to Samdi and used magic from the ingredients on a voodoo doll. Hours later at the jail, Hansel received an unexpected visitor, as Samdi stopped by revealing that he was responsible for waking him up from the curse, but for a certain reason, which is to kill Mother Gothel. Seeing Hansel as competition and calling him a wild card, Samdi used the cursed voodoo doll to tell Hansel that he's "taking him out of the deck," then sticks a pin into the doll to give Hansel a heart attack, which kills him instantly.
Cast[2]
Starring |
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Trivia
Title
- The title card features the gingerbread house.[3]
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on January 16, 2018.[4]
- This is one of two Season Seven episodes to have its title contained in the lyrics sung by its centric character during the musical episode. The same applies to "A Pirate's Life."
Production Notes
- CAST NOTES: This episode is the directorial debut of starring cast member Lana Parrilla.[4]
- According to Lana Parrilla, she wanted the gingerbread house to have a "horror-decay, nicotine coated, caked corners and cotton candy cobwebs" look.[5]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The Blind Witch tells Hansel to mangi, which means "eat" in Italian (the word is an imperative form of the word mangiare, which is Italian for "to eat").[6]
- REUSED ACTOR: Dan Payne, who plays Ivo, also played the Captain of the Guard in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "To Catch a Thief."
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Nick's apartment number is 1812,[7] which is the year that the Brothers Grimm published the first edition of the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale.
Event Chronology
- The Seattle events take place after "Breadcrumbs" and before "The Guardian." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The Oz flashbacks take place at an unspecified time after "Where Bluebirds Fly."[nb 1] (For more details, see the Oz timeline)
Episode Connections
- HIDDEN DETAILS: This episode shows Zelena interacting with the characters from the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale and taking the place of the stepmother from the story. Interestingly, Zelena was reading "Hansel and Gretel" to her unborn child in "Birth."
- Kelly knows that she is next on the Candy Killer hit list, something she discovered in "Breadcrumbs."
- Henry was kidnapped by Nick in "Breadcrumbs."
- Nick was revealed to be the Candy Killer in "Sisterhood."
- Nick talks about his past identity as Hansel, which was revealed in "Breadcrumbs."
- Nick talks about the death of his sister Gretel, who was murdered by Drizella in "Sisterhood."
- Weaver mentions Zelena surviving his attempt to kill her with magic, an event seen in "Kansas" and "Heart of Gold."
- Roni has found the necessary moss ingredient for a spell to cure Henry, which she started searching for in "Breadcrumbs."
- Henry told Jacinda, Rogers and Weaver that he was going to a job interview in New York in "Breadcrumbs."
- The Crimson Crow, the tavern that Jack took Henry to on the latter's nineteenth birthday, is the same tavern where Tiana met Robert in "Greenbacks."
- Rogers mentions how he and Nick visited Flynn's Barcade, which took place in "Sisterhood."
- Drew is seen working at Rollin' Bayou, a result of Sabine hiring him in "A Taste of the Heights." She also mentions Tilly working there. Tilly started working for Sabine in "Breadcrumbs."
- Kelly mentions that she killed a Munchkin, a reference to how she killed Boq in "Our Decay."
- Kelly mentions how Margot has made "a cute blond" friend, referring to Margot's story with Tilly in "The Girl in the Tower" and "Breadcrumbs."
- Margot says things with Tilly are "still really early," however, she eventually asks Tilly out in "The Guardian."
- Roni says to Kelly, "Go on, you monkey. You get on that bike and fly."; mirroring Kelly's training instructions from "The Eighth Witch," where she said, "All right, my cycling monkeys. Grab onto your bikes and fly!"
Disney
- Before being interrupted by Sabine, the pancakes that Jacinda is making are a Hidden Mickey.[8]
- Sabine is cooking an elaborate breakfast in the morning, a reference to The Princess and the Frog, where her counterpart Tiana is a waitress who likes to cook and dreams about opening her own restaurant.
Lost
- When Zelena wakes up in Ivo's cottage, there is a close-up of her eyes,[9] a recurring theme on Lost.
Fairy Tales and Folklore
- This episode is a rendition of the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale with Hansel, Gretel, the woodcutter, the witch and the stepmother. It is also a rendition of the Frankenstein story, focusing on the monster's relationship with a blind man and his children.
- In Chapter 15 of the Frankenstein novel, the monster finds shelter with De Lacey, a blind father who lives with his two children, Agatha and Felix, in a cottage in the woods. One night where the blind man is alone in his residence, the monster musters the bravery to finally approach him. De Lacey is the only person who reacts to the creature without any form of prejudice: Being blind, he is unable to see the monster's grotesque form, and he responds to him with kindness and acceptance. However, their successful conversation is suddenly disrupted when DeLacey's children enters the cottage and, out of fear, attacks the monster, who is forced to leave the cottage. This mirror's Ivo's story in this episode, with the blind Ivo accepting Zelena into his cottage and the two bond, with Ivo seeing her as a good person, which no one has ever done for her before. However, when his two children, Hansel and Gretel, return, they tell their father what Zelena did to them, and Ivo states that he now sees her as the monster she truly is.
- This episode features the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz story.
- Roni says to Kelly, "Go on, you monkey. You get on that bike and fly."; a reference to the Winged Monkeys from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
- Nick talks about how he slayed a group of giants and became Jack the Giant Killer from the legend of the same name.
Popular Culture
- When Zelena confronts the witch for the second time in the episode, she says, "I am tired of playing candy crush with you." This appears to be a play on words by the writers in reference to the Facebook game Candy Crush, in addition to the phrase being used by Zelena in the episode as a literal emphasis on the witch's penchant for baking sweets and using candy-based magic.
Props Notes
- REUSED PROPS: The box where Kelly keeps her necklace[10] is the same box where Mr. Gold kept the wraith amulet in the Season Two premiere "Broken."[11]
Set Dressing
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The gingerbread house pictured on Jacinda's gingerbread kit[12] looks remarkably similar to the Blind Witch's house.[13]
Costume Notes
- BRAND INFO: Rogers is wearing[14] a Scotch and Soda Long Sleeve Circle Print Shirt.[15] He continues to wear the shirt in "The Guardian."[16]
- SECONDHAND CLOTHING: The shirt was also worn by the Enchanted Forest counterpart of his original persona in the Season Six episode "Murder Most Foul."[17]
Filming Locations
- The exterior of the gingerbread house was a real outdoor set in Vancouver and not CGI.[18]
- The outdoor scene with Rogers and Jacinda was filmed at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium.[19]
- Stanley Park in Vancouver doubles as the area where Sabine and Drew are selling beignets.[20]
- The scenes at Ivo's cottage were filmed on a television set at The Bridge Studios.[21]
- Burnaby's Central Park doubles as the woods of Oz for the short scene where Zelena is headed back toward the gingerbread house after meeting Ivo.[22]
International Titles
International Titles | ||
---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation |
French | "Mauvaise Carte"
"L'Elu" |
"Bad Card"
"The Chosen" |
German | "Zelena und des Holzfällers Kinder Hänsel und Gretel" | "Zelena and the Woodcutter's children Hansel and Gretel" |
Italian | "Gli errori del passato" | "Mistakes of the Past" |
Portuguese | "A Escolhida" | "The Chosen One" |
Videos
References
Notes
- ↑ In "Where Bluebirds Fly," Stanum seeks out Zelena's help right after being cursed by the Witch of the North. In "Chosen," Zelena states that she banished from Oz all witches who wore the same necklace as her. As shown in "Kansas," the Witch of the North wears a similar necklace, meaning that "Chosen" takes place after "Where Bluebirds Fly."