Once Upon a Time REACTION - S01E11 - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

Thank you for another reaction for Once Upon a Time... for season one's episode titled, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. I like this episode overall. Although, It isn't one of my favorite episodes from season one, and it's definitely one of the weakest episode this season for me, it's still enjoyable. Mostly because I love how it was that Sidney wound up a prisoner trapped within Regina's magic mirror. It is a brilliant twist for his character that I never saw coming, as is Sidney being a Genie from Agrabah on top of it. Brilliant. It's never established whether or not this Genie, is meant to be the Genie from Aladdin, but most people assume so because Sidney is from Agrabah. For me... I choose to just see him as a random Genie, as there are most likely more than one. Also, as far as Emma's superpower goes... her ability to tell when someone is lying at times seems wonky. However, in this case... I don't believe that Sidney ever once lied to Emma. He was manipulating Emma for Regina yes, but he never once actually lied to her about what he was doing. Regina did actually fire Sidney from The Mirror (the newspaper), and if you pay careful attention to Sidney's past storyline upon him discovering that Regina had manipulated him all along to get him to kill King Leopold for her, we see that Sidney absolutely holds a grudge against Regina and despises her for her despite still being unable to let go of his love for her. So when Sidney spouts off to Emma about how he distrusts Regina and is angry with her for being so manipulative, for firing him, etc... it's all true. He loves Regina and is still working for her, but at the same time he despises her and doesn't trust her. Plus... Emma never did outright ask Sidney if he was still working for Regina to try to set her up, she never asked him if he had anything to do with cutting the brakes on her car, etc... Therefore... Sidney technically never lied to Emma, which is why both Regina and Sidney were able to get away with manipulating Emma so perfectly. They were very careful and tricky. Now... like I said before, I really like the twist with Sidney being a Genie and becoming trapped within Regina's mirror because of his own wish given to him from King Leopold. In the beginning, Sidney stated that all wishes come with a price, like all magic, and he never intended to use it for himself because he knew of the consequences. And yet, after everything Regina did to him, he misguidedly wanted to punish Regina for her betrayal and thinking that by him always being by her side, would do just that. Little did he realize that making this wish meant he would become even more of a slave to her and that he would forever become forced to do her bidding. The consequence of his wish, or the fruit of the poisonous tree as the title of this episode suggests. It's a brilliant twist and I really liked it a lot. As for King Leopold... yes, he was a good man, a good King, and a good father, even a good husband to his first wife. However, he was a lousy husband to Regina and it was absolutely wrong of him to treat Regina as he did. And he read her personal diary, then had her locked away within her own room. Very wrong indeed. But then... Regina also left her diary out for her husband to find and hoped it would be enticing to get him to read it, so that he would come to fall into her trap she set up for him too. And then... she pleads with Sidney to kill Leopold by claiming that her only chance to be free and to love Sidney, was for the King to die. And sadly, Sidney falls for it. Regina is clever to give Sidney a weapon he can use to do so with from his own kingdom, the Agrabah Viper. And unfortunately, Sidney doesn't see the cleverness in her plan to use this snake until it's too late. Again... I don't care about David and Mary Margaret having their affair. Honestly, I have a really difficult time with any storyline involving affairs in any show, movie, and especially affairs in real life. Needless to say... I think they're wrong and it shows that those who cheat on their loved ones don't really love them. Obviously, David is truly in love with Mary Margaret even if he doesn't understand why, and not Kathryn who he feels obligated to love, but... well I won't continue with this train of thought. I just don't care much for this affair storyline so much because I simply just want David and Mary Margaret to be together and for Kathryn to find happiness with someone else. However, this brings me to my next thought. Under the curse, everyone is kind of the opposite of who they truly are, or at least they are too afraid to be who they truly are. The curse causes them to make mistakes that their true selves would never make. However, for one example... in the Enchanted Forest, Charming is known to be charming, brave, honest, and noble. And under the curse, David is for the most part quite the opposite. He means well and he tries, but he always seems to fail and fall short. That's the curse making them different from who they really are and it's not just David that the curse effects this way. Mary Margaret, Kathryn, and everyone else is effect by the curse this way too. David is the character I chose to point this out about with because the actor who plays him... Josh Dallas once pointed this out in a interview he gave and I really always loved how he explained the kind of men Charming and David are. And as for what King Leopold said to the Genie just before he died, he states that he never should have wished for the Genie to be free. Like Sidney said to him, all wishes come at a price, like all magic does. And in freeing the Genie, he later kills the King upon becoming manipulated by Regina. I really loved this about the episode upon them bringing this back. Next... Sidney was foolish to fall for Regina's deception and absolutely wrong to kill King Leopold for her even it he believed Regina's lies. And was Regina ever cruel and devious. But after all... she is the Evil Queen. As for her crying... I feel that perhaps a small part of her might have appreciated that Sidney felt for her the way he did and was sorry for setting him up like she did because he truly and foolishly loved her. Regina's past has yet to be revealed at this point, but she's made it pretty clear that love is very scarce in her life. Now, back to the Storybrooke storyline with Emma and Henry, etc... Sadly, Emma fell for Sidney's and Regina's deceptions too, and she paid for her mistakes. For awhile, she's lost her rights to be with Henry and its really sad. Emma absolutely made a mistake by allowing herself to fall down to Regina's level and it's fair for her to be penalized for her role in their deceptions. Unfortunately, Regina won this battle because she was smart. And while it's sad that Regina had Henry's castle torn down, it was still good of Regina to build him a newer, perhaps safer place for him and the other children to play. And as for the design of the new playhouse... it's designed after the Evil Queen's castle in the Enchanted Forest, as it appears in Henry's storybook. As far as the Stranger's role in this episode, no matter how brief it was... I really like his interaction with Henry inside Granny's Diner and how he mysteriously keeps asking Henry questions about the storybook. I also like how Henry is also suspicious of him like Emma and Regina are. And then... in the end we discover that this Stranger is the one who found Henry's book and now has it in his possession. I love this continued mystery behind him. :) And lastly... I did enjoy David's and Mary Margaret's brief scene together, even if they are having an affair. At least, in their minds they are. It's unfortunate that their cursed memories are making them believe that they are having an affair and that Kathryn will wind up being hurt by their affair should she find out. But that's what this curse is meant to do... make everyone trapped within it miserable because they're not themselves. And Regina's loving their misery too. Overall... this was a good episode. It was interesting to learn about who Sidney Glass really is and just how deep he is in with Regina within both worlds. Thank you again, so much! As always... I enjoyed this reaction from you and I can't wait for more!!

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum