Once Upon a Time Review: Best Laid Plans (Season 4 Episode 17)

Our favorite enchanted fairy tale characters gave us another thrilling episode with “Best Laid Plans” last night, and I’m beginning to think they’re on a bit of a streak.

This week’s MVP award goes to Henry Daniel Mills (Daniel! Oh, my heart!) for being the smartest, cutest, most wiley little kid on the planet.

Putting the entire town to sleep seems like it would open quite a few doors to our group of villains, which is why I loved the twist that the curse doesn’t work on townsfolk who had been under a sleeping curse before. Namely: Charming, Snow, and Henry. And probably Aurora too now that I think about it.

Sadly, the sleeping curse doesn’t open the one door they were looking for, as Henry has absconded with it.

I’ve moaned before that Henry is largely ignored on Once Upon a Time lately, but in this episode he takes center stage, and it’s great. His interactions with Regina are especially rewarding to see when you remember how at odds and disconnected they were back in Season 1. Now, they work together like a well-oiled machine.

Henry: “She just gave me a look and I knew exactly what she meant.”

Snow and Charming finally face the consequences of their morally bankrupt actions, and we as an audience get to see just how low they have sunk back in the Enchanted Forest. Sacrificing Maleficent’s child for the sake of Emma’s goodness is a step too far, and I’m beginning to wonder why on earth they’re still in the hero column. Didn’t Regina rip a newborn child away from her mother and send it to a different world too?

I’m sensing a little bit of unfair bias here…

I did love to see them struggle with the realization of what they do afterwards. Knowing that they might not be heroes anymore only makes them choose to work harder than ever to spread hope and kindness in their kingdom as penance for their evil act. That’s what distinguishes the good guys from the bad guys when it comes right down to it.

Snow: “Heroes do what’s right, not what’s easy.”

Their fallout with Emma in the present seems totally deserved, but not as deserved as Maleficent’s rage at them. I can’t imagine how Snow and Charming are still living right now, actually.

And now we’ve discovered that Lillith — Maleficent’s lost daughter — was in fact Emma’s friend, Lily, from earlier in the season. She doesn’t seem unspeakably evil to me in those flashbacks, but I guess you never know. I’m more excited than ever for her to roll up into Storybrooke now. Emma and Maleficent’s reunions with her are sure to be AMAZING.

Finally, let’s talk about that author.

Did anyone else feel like it was a bit… anticlimactic? I know there aren’t a lot of ways to follow through on a character that’s been built up this much,  so maybe I’m being unduly harsh. But I kind of wanted more. Hopefully now that he’s out and about in town, he can outrun the villains long enough to do something interesting.

What did you think of Walt, the author? Will Lily find her way to Storybrooke soon?

Leave you theories in comments below and be sure to give Once Upon a Time Season 4 Episode 17, “Best Laid Plans” your own rating!

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Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.