Heart of Darkness (18 Mar. 2012)

Mary Margaret hires Mr. Gold as her attorney when Emma is forced to arrest her for the suspected murder of David's wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, Prince ... See full summary »

Director:

Dean White

Writers:

Edward Kitsis (creator), Adam Horowitz (creator),

Stars:

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ginnifer Goodwin	...	Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard
Jennifer Morrison	...	Emma Swan
Lana Parrilla	...	Evil Queen / Regina Mills
Josh Dallas	...	Prince Charming / David Nolan
Eion Bailey	...	August W. Booth
Jared Gilmore	...	Henry Mills (as Jared S. Gilmore)
Raphael Sbarge	...	Jiminy Cricket / Archie Hopper
Robert Carlyle	...	Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold
Lee Arenberg	...	Grumpy
Meghan Ory	...	Red Riding Hood
Mike Coleman	...	Happy (as Michael Coleman)
Faustino Di Bauda	...	Sleepy (as Faustino di Bauda)
Edward Foy	...	Black Knight
David-Paul Grove	...	Doc
Jeffrey Kaiser	...	Dopey

Storyline

Mary Margaret hires Mr. Gold as her attorney when Emma is forced to arrest her for the suspected murder of David's wife, Kathryn. Meanwhile, back in the fairytale land that was, Prince Charming sets out to stop a determined and unhinged Snow White, whose memory is still clouded by Rumplestiltskin's potion, from assassinating the Evil Queen.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kitsis/Horowitz, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Quotes

Happy: You broke my mug!
Snow White: You're lucky it wasn't that mug you call a face!

User Reviews

BEST episode of Season 1!

I haven't actually reviewed the show itself yet(waiting for end of Season 1) but ONCE UPON A TIME is fast becoming one of my favorite shows in years and I think THIS is the episode, Heart of Darkness, I've been waiting for to justify my love of this show! Two of my previous "best of Season 1" eps were the Snow/Charming-centric Snow Falls and 7:15AM and they were both outstanding and are probably still going to be in my top 5 come season's end, but it was this ep, Heart of Darkness, that took everything on this show to another level. While technically, HOD is a Snow/Charming ep, they actually only have a couple of direct scenes together and most of their action is separate from each other, with major interactions with the other main characters.

HOD's plot is that Snow is acting different as she is under a spell from Rumple's potion and has forgotten Charming completely and is now on mission to kill the Evil Queen, while the Dwarfs are against this new path of hers and Charming must save her in time before she loses herself. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, Snow's real-world counterpart Mary-Margaret is in jail under suspicion of murdering the wife of David (Charming's real-world counterpart) and while town sheriff Emma is trying to clear her best friend Mary-Margaret, town miser Mr. Gold (counterpart of Rumple) offers to defend MM, while town mayor Regina (counterpart of Evil Queen) is soaking it all up as she hates MM and is most probably the one setting her up.

HOD is an ep where all the MAIN characters of the show interact and the best traits that makes each character so unique really shows. It's not a "single-character" backstory ep like others have been. Its' more interactive and fast-paced. Every scene in this episode just WORKS! The Charming/Rumple scene in FT land is the standout, but every character interaction is so well-written(a staple of this show) and performed and placed within a an involving episode that it is addictive! The fairy tale scenes (the aforementioned Charming/Rumple scene, the Snow/Dwarfs scenes, and the two Snow/Charming scenes) are very entertaining, laced with snappy dialog, genuine humor, and wit, while the more serious Storybrooke scenes, (the MM/David and Emma/MM scenes at the jail, the Regina scenes of her holding in her hatred of MM/Snow and the Emma/Gold scene at his shop) really grab the viewer and holds it's attention that things are getting serious. Both stories are told with flair and one can sense the plot moving forward in both FT land and also in Storybrooke. After this ep, I can't wait to see what OUAT has in store next!