The Pilot is the first episode of Season One of the series Once Upon a Time. It is the first episode of the series overall.
Synopsis
Bail bonds collector Emma Swan is confronted by Henry, the child that was given up for closed adoption 10 years ago. He asks her to come to his home of Storybrooke with him and explains that the people there are fairy tale characters who don't remember who they are. The boy insists that his adoptive mother, Mayor Regina Mills, doesn't love him, and that Emma has a destiny to fight in a final balance and help good win once and for all.
Recap
In Fairytale Land, Prince Charming races his horse along a road and into a forest. As it begins to snow, he meets with seven dwarves. They tell him that he's too late as he looks to the sleeping woman that they've placed in a glass casket. He tells them to open it, but is reminded she's gone. When the Prince asks for the chance to say goodbye to his love, they open the casket and he kisses her. A wave of energy sweeps outward and the woman awakens. The Prince promises that he'll always find her and kisses her.
Snow White and the Prince marry in front of their kingdoms as everyone applauds. The Evil Queen comes in and casts aside the guards who try to stop her. Snow White grabs Prince Charming's sword, telling her that she is no longer Queen. Prince Charming reminds her that she's already lost and that he won't let her ruin their happy wedding. The Queen informs them both she has a gift for them and she makes a vow of her own. Soon everything that everyone in their wold loves will be ripped away from them, and her victory will arise from their suffering. She promises to destroy their happiness if it's the last thing she does. Before she makes her final exit Prince Charming throws his sword at her but she dissolves into a cloud black & purple smoke and disappears.
In the "real" world, Henry is reading a fairy tale book as he rides the bus to Boston. When he arrives, he hails a cab and pays for it with a credit card.
We see a blond woman sitting at a table with a nice dress. A man named Ryan sits down and they begin to talk. They are both on a blind date, happy to find the other person is who they say they are. Emma tells Ryan it is her birthday and she has no family to spend it with, so decided to go out with him that night. She then tells Ryan that she knows he embezzled money from his employer and abandoned his wife and children. Realizes that she's a bail bondsman and makes a mad dash for it, but discovers that she's booted his car. When Emma suggests that Ryan should give what money he has to his family, he asks her what she knows about family. Emma knocks him out and says "nothing." She then goes home and lights a cupcake for her birthday. The doorbell rings and Emma finds Henry at her doorstep. She has no idea who he is, but Henry knows her by name. He introduces himself and says that he's her son.
Henry enters the apartment and explains that he is the baby she gave up for adoption ten years ago. Emma asks him to give her a minute and retreats to the bathroom. When she calms down and comes out, Henry asks her to come home with him. When she threatens to call the police, Henry says that he'll claim that she kidnapped him. Emma says that she can tell when people are lying and starts to make the call, but Henry says that he needs her to come with him to Storybrooke, Maine. Emma reluctantly agrees.
In fairty tale world, a pregnant Snow White contemplates the Queen's threat. Prince Charming tells her that they were only words. Snow White reminds him that she poisoned her, all because she thought Snow White was prettier then her. Prince Charming asks what he can do to reassure her, Snow White asks to talk to the prisoner who can see the future. The Prince hesitates, but Snow White insists that he can assure that their child will be safe. The Prince reluctantly agrees.
As they drive to Maine, Henry asks to stop for food but Emma refuses, saying they're not on a road trip. He starts reading from his storybook of fairy tales and insists that they're all true. When Emma says they're not, Henry dares her to tell if he's telling the truth. Emma does but points out that just because someone believes something doesn't make it real. Henry says that is what makes things real, and that he has problems that she's going to fix for him.
The jailer takes Snow White and Prince Charming to see Rumplestiltskin, warning her not to reveal her name. When they arrive at the cell, Rumplestiltskin knows immediately who they are, and the cloaks are pointless. He says that he can reassure them but it will cost them something in return.
Prince Charming refuses but Snow White insists and asks what he wants. Rumplestiltskin asks for the name of their child and Snow White agrees, and he tells them that they will all soon be imprisoned when time stops, imprisoned somewhere horrible where everything they love will be ripped from them.
When Snow White asks what can stop it, Rumplestiltskin says that her child is their only hope and they should get her to safety. On the child's 28th birthday, she will find them and the final battle will begin. Snow White and Prince Charming walk away and Rumplestiltskin demands the name of the child, saying that it's a girl. Prince Charming insists that it's a boy, but Rumplestiltskin says that Snow White knows the truth. She turns and tells Rumplestiltskin that the child's name is Emma.
Emma and Henry arrive at Storybrooke. He refuses to give her an address and Emma pulls over. She notices that the town clock is frozen and Henry explains that the Evil Queen sent everyone there and trapped them, frozen in time. When Emma asks why they don't leave, Henry warns that bad things happen when they try. A man, Archie Hopper, comes over, and Henry greets him.
He tells Emma that Henry is the mayor's son and gives Emma the address. When Henry claims he was on a field trip, Archie tells him not to lie because it means giving in to the dark side. As Archie leaves, Henry explains that Archie is actually Jiminy Cricket, but he doesn't know it and that none of the townspeople remember who they really are. They have all been frozen in time, and nothing ever changes.
Prince Charming meets with the council and insists that they need to fight. Jiminy Cricket warns that fighting means giving into one's dark side. Snow White says that there is nothing they can do because the future is ordained, but Prince Charming says that if Rumplestiltskin says the truth, then their child will be their savior.
The Blue Fairy arrives with a squad of soldiers bearing a mystic tree and says that the wood can be used to ward off any curse. She asks Geppetto if he can make the enchantment they need. He agrees, but the Blue Fairy warns that the tree can only protect one.
Henry asks Emma not to take him back to the mayor, explaining that his adopted mother is evil and only pretends to love him. The mayor, Regina Mills (the Evil Queen), runs out and embraces him, but he insists that he's found his real mother and runs inside. Sheriff Graham is with her and goes inside to check on Henry, Regina invites Emma in for a glass of apple cider. She explains that she didn't know who Henry's parents were and that the records of the parents were sealed.
Emma assures Regina that she has nothing to worry about, and that the father doesn't even know that Henry exists. The mayor explains that she's strict with Henry but she wants him to excel in life. When Emma comments on Henry's claims about fairy tales, Regina says that she has no idea what she's talking about. She invites Emma to leave and the bail bondsman goes out to her car.
As she turns back, she sees Henry in his bedroom window, watching her. As Emma drives out of town, she realizes that Henry left his book on the car seat. She looks up and sees a wolf on the road ahead of her. She swerves to avoid it and hits the town marker, knocking Emma unconscious. The book opens to the pages of Geppetto at work.
Geppetto and his son Pinocchio are hard at work carving the enchanted tree into a wardrobe. In her chambers, Snow White insists that she can't leave Prince Charming, but he insists that she has to be safe from the curse. As they embrace, Snow White realizes that the baby is coming.
On the battlements, the dwarves stand guard and see a vast evil cloud approaching. They sound the alarm as the curse approaches. Emma wakes up and finds herself in a cell. Leroy is locked up in the cell next to her, and the handyman, Marco, tells him not to give Emma grief. Marco comments that he doesn't have any children. Sheriff Graham releases Leroy and suggests that Emma was drunk on the mayor's cider.
Regina arrives and is surprised to see Emma in the jail cell, and tells Graham that Henry has run away again. Emma offers to help and they take her to Henry's bedroom. She checks the computer and confirms that he made a credit card payment to a birth-mother tracking site using a credit card belonging to Mary Margaret Blanchard, his teacher. Mary Margaret (actually Snow White) is teaching at the school when Regina and Emma arrive.
The teacher insists that she knew nothing about Henry's actions and claims that he stole her credit card. Angry, Regina realizes that Mary Margaret gave Henry the fairy tale book, and the teacher defends herself, saying that he's a special child. The mayor storms off and Emma talks to Mary Margaret, who says that Henry needed the book so that he could have hope of a happy ending. Emma realizes that the teacher knows where Henry is, and Mary Margaret suggests that she check Henry's castle.
As Snow White is in labor, Prince Charming assures her that the wardrobe is almost finished. Geppetto enters and says that it's finished, but Doc the dwarf warns that they can't move Snow White because it's too close to the baby's delivery.
In the forest, the Evil Queen and her retinue of black knights ride toward the castle.
Snow White gives birth to her daughter and remembers that the wardrobe will only work for one person. The Prince realizes that their plan has failed and hears the invading force attacking the castle. Snow White tells him to take the baby to the wardrobe and hopes that she'll come back for them. She says goodbye to her daughter Emma, and the Prince takes her and a sword with him. He fights his way past two of the black knights but is wounded in the process. Finally he gets to the wardrobe and places Emma inside. As he seals the door, more knights arrive and kill him. They open the wardrobe doors but discover that the baby is gone. With his dying breath, the Prince sees that his daughter escaped to safety.
Emma tracks Henry to a playground castle structure and returns his book to him. He admits that he hoped that when he brought Emma there, things would change and the final battle would begin. Henry figures that she's pushing him away because she feels guilty, and that he knows Emma gave him away to give him his best chance.
Emma insists that she's a real person and no savior, but admits that she wanted him to have his best chance. Henry asks her to stay for one week to prove that he's not crazy, saying that his life sucks with Regina. Emma tells him that his life is nothing compared to hers, and her parents abandoned her on a freeway and her foster family sent her back when she was 3. Henry insists that she went through the wardrobe and appeared on the freeway, and her real parents tried to save her from the curse, but Emma doesn't believe him.
Snow White finds her Prince and pleads with him to come back to her. She kisses him but he doesn't move. The Evil Queen enters and says that in a few minutes, Snow White will remember nothing and that it's her personal happy ending.
The Queen's knights tell her that the baby is gone and Snow White smiles, saying that the Evil Queen will lose and good will always win. The Evil Queen laughs as the roof shatters as a vast vortex sucks everything up, and says that they're going to somewhere absolutely horrible, where the only happy ending will be hers.
Emma brings Henry back to Regina and he runs inside. The mayor thanks her and notes that Henry seems to like Emma. Emma admits that when she blew out the candle on her birthday cupcake, she made a wish that she wouldn't be alone on her birthday.
Regina says that Emma shouldn't try to come back into Henry's life, because she's raised the boy and he's her son now. She says that Emma has no legal right to Henry because she insisted on a closed adoption, and tells her to leave town or she'll destroy her.
As Regina turns to go, Emma asks if she loves Henry. Regina says that she does and closes the door, and then goes to see Henry in his room. She takes his fairy tale book with her and goes to a mirror, studying it intently.
Mary Margaret is serving at the hospital as a volunteer, and goes to see a male patient, a John Doe. She places flowers at his bed side and leaves the man to slumber in his enclosed room of glass.
Henry looks out his window toward the town clock.
Emma goes to a bread & breakfast run by Granny. She's complaining to her granddaughter, but is surprised when Emma wants to take a room. Granny eagerly agrees to give her a room. As Emma gives her name for the register, Mr. Gold (actually Rumplestiltskin) comes in and comments on her lovely name. He takes a money vial from Granny and wishes Emma a lovely stay, and then leaves. Granny and her granddaughter explain that Mr. Gold owns the entire town, and then Granny gives Emma her key.
As Henry watches the clock, the hands move for the first time, meaning that Emma Swan has started the battle of fairy tales.
Appearances
- Emma Swan
- Henry Mills
- Evil Queen / Regina Mills
- Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard
- Prince Charming / David Nolan
- Jiminy Cricket / Archie Hopper
- Sheriff Graham
- Blue Fairy
- Geppetto / Marco
- Pinocchio
- Red Riding Hood / Ruby
- Granny / Ruby's Grandmother
- Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold
- Grumpy / Leroy
- Doc
- Sleepy
- Happy
- Dopey
- Sneezy
- Bashful
Videos
Quotes
- Snow White: You. You found me.
Prince Charming: Did you ever doubt I would?
Snow White: Truthfully, the glass coffin gave me pause.
Prince Charming: Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you.
- Evil Queen: You've made your vows. Now, I make mine. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you forever. And out of your suffering, will arise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do.
- Henry: This is more than just a book.
- Henry: Please, come home with me.
- Emma: Where's home?
Henry: Storybrooke, Maine.
Emma: Storybrooke, seriously?
- Emma: Just because you believe something doesn't make it true.
Henry: That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone.
Emma: Why is that?
Henry: Because you're in this book.
Emma: Oh, kid, you've got problems.
Henry: Yep, and you're gonna fix 'em.
- Snow White: What do you know?
Rumplestiltskin: The Queen has created a powerful curse, and it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison, just like me, only worse, for your prison, all of our prisons, will be time, for time will stop, and we will be trapped someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us, while we suffer for all eternity, while the Queen celebrates, victorious at last! No more happy endings.
- Henry: Time is frozen here.
Emma: Excuse me?
Henry: The evil queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here.
Emma: Hang on. The evil queen sent a bunch of fairy-tale characters here?
Henry: Yeah, and now they're trapped.
Emma: Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?
- Emma: All right, I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?
Henry: Jiminy Cricket.
Emma: Right, the lying thing. Thought your nose grew a little bit.
Henry: I'm not Pinocchio.
Emma: Course you're not. Because that would be ridiculous.
- Grumpy: A tree? Our fate rests on a tree? Let's get back to the fighting thing.
- Mary Margaret: As we build our birdhouses, remember, what you're making is a home, not a cage. The bird is free and will do what it will. This is for them, not us. They're loyal creatures. If you love them and they love you, they will always find you.
- Emma: How's a book supposed to help?
Mary Margaret: What do you think stories are for? These stories--the classics. There's a reason we all know them. There a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense.
- Mary Margaret: Look, I gave the book to him, because I want Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have: hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.
- Snow White: We have to believe she'll come back for us. We have to give her her best chance. Goodbye, Emma.
- Prince Charming: (to Emma) Find us.
- Henry: You're here because it's your destiny. You're going to bring back the happy endings.
Emma: Can you cut it with the book crap?
Henry: You don't have to be hostile. I know you like me. I can tell. You're just pushing me away, because I make you feel guilty. It's okay. I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance.
Emma: How do you know that?
Henry: It's the same reason Snow White gave you away.
- The Evil Queen: Oh, don't worry, dear. In a few moments you won't remember you knew him. Let alone loved him.
Snow White: Why did you do this?
The Evil Queen: Because this is my happy ending.
- Snow White: She got away. You're going to loose. I know that now. Good will always win.
- Snow White: Where are we going?
The Evil Queen: Somewhere horrible. Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine.
- Regina: Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry, and you're going to be held to that. So I suggest you get in your car and you leave this town. Because if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye, Miss Swan.
Trivia
- Injoke: One of the people in Henry 's e-mail inbox is Damon, a reference to Damon Lindelof, one of the people involved in the conception of Once Upon a Time.
- Filmed in British Columbia.
- When Emma makes a wish on her birthday cupcake, the candle on the cupcake is in the shape of a star. This is an allude to the famous phrase "When you wish upon a star".
- The blue star is possibly a reference to the Blue Fairy, also known as 'Reul Ghorm', or 'Blue Star'.
- When Emma is first introduced to Archie , he has a dalmation, Pongo, with him. Pongo is one of the dalmations from 101 Dalmations.
- Both Mary Margaret and her fairy tale counterpart, Snow White, are seen holding a bluebird, then setting it free.
- Pinocchio is seen sanding a wooden whale.
- When Emma crashes, pictures from the Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland are seen in the book.
- Archie is whistlng "Give a Little Whistle" as he walks away from Emma and Henry.
- In the original script, Emma was named Anna.
- Emma's baby blanket can be seen on the chair in the background. This is likely the blanket Granny was seen knitting. After Emma moves in with Mary Margret, you can see the blanket again when Emma is unpacking her stuff.
- When Snow White is holding Prince Charming's body, a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal is seen in a chair next to a tiger stuffed animal. This same stuffed animal is later seen in Mr. Gold's Pawnshop.
- Emma's unicorn mobile is in Mr. Gold's Pawnshop .
- When Emma wakes up in jail, Leroy is heard whistling "Whistle While You Work".
- Kingston is a street Henry passes on the bus and he is seen riding a Blue Bird bus when first introduced.
- The key that Ruby's Grandmother gives Emma has a picture of a swan on it, referencing Emma's last name.