1.01 The Pilot that started it all

[Deleted]

Way back on an email list, I posted a really detailed breakdown of "The Pilot" episode. I totally saw Swan Queen from the first moment Regina blinked and said, "You're his birth mother?" and Emma replies, "Hi."


(these images were shrunk from fanpop's site)

Anyway, I broke down the entire episode with the help of the transcripts at ouattranscripts.wordpress.com and all the action that accompanied the dialogue since, as a writer myself, seeing how a creative process comes together into its final product is interesting to me.

If you're interested in talking about the Pilot, post your thoughts/memories here. If there's interest, I'll post the really long thing, but I want to hear other people's thoughts, too.

[captainswanqueen]

To an extent I saw Swan Queen in the pilot; their instant chemistry was definitely something that piqued my interest but I thought it was just my brain playing tricks on me. But, looking back now, after all we've learned about the two characters I definitely see the dynamic throughout the first episode.

Especially during one of the last scenes after Emma brings Henry home. Considering that Emma, from what we've seen, is a very closed off person I find it incredibly interesting that she was willing to share such an intimate truth with Regina, a woman who she had literally just met. The entire time that Emma was talking about her birthday wish, and how it had come true once Henry arrived at her door, was something that I shrugged off during my initial watch of the episode.

Yet, now, I can't help but wonder what the writers were trying to do by adding in that part of dialogue. Though, in the commentary Eddy and Adam mentioned something about how Emma wanted to open up to Regina, which is incredibly interesting considering her history with trust. Which leads me to believe that, at least in Emma's perception, there was an instant connection between the two women of some kind.

But, that's just my two cents.

[Deleted]

Interesting points!

Here's what I wrote about that last scene between Emma and Regina in my super-long analysis:

Now this time when she meets Regina again returning Henry, she's "reading" the mayor very carefully. She is not planning to take Henry away, but she, ultra-private, loner Emma, reveals the wish she made over a cupcake. This is calculated expressly to witness Regina's reaction. And the threatened woman side of Regina shows herself. Emma concludes her subtle interrogation when Regina's walls are completely down with the quiet "Do you love him?"

Regina's response is barely made before she turns her back and shuts the door. Regina refuses to be "read," refuses to be pinned down by someone she considers beneath her. And Emma has her answer, though she still has a lot of questions. Regina will defend what is hers. Everything that is hers. It is difficult expressing love for a child who has, as obviously as Henry has, for all intents and purposes rejected everything you have ever done for them. But Regina knows this complexity, intimately. Her relationship with her own mother (episode The Stable Boy, 1x18) was similar. She DOES love Henry, but her ability to show it, to fully feel it, is complicated by her own damaged notions of love in general and familial love in particular.

[captainswanqueen]

I really enjoyed reading that small piece of your analysis, it is rather thorough and brings up several points that I've never considered, which I love.

I like that you acknowledged Regina's struggle when it came to Henry, and properly showing her love for him, something she is still battling with. It was definitely a large part of season one but it's a point that many people seem to leave out; either because of their hatred for Regina's character or their dislike of Henry's treatment towards her.

Anyway, I'm rambling and getting off topic, basically I just wanted to say that I would be very interested in reading throughout the analysis in it's entirety

[sapphonest]

I didn't start watching Once until that break before The Return, so I literally watched the first 17 episodes in three days. Unfortunately, I took me FAR TOO LONG to see Swan Queen. Not until the third day did it click. IDK. Maybe if I had actually started when the show started, it would have been shorter.

But in retrospect, the pilot was fucking obvious.

[kniggi]

You know, to be quite honest, it took me a while before I could really 'see' Swan Queen. The first few episodes actually had me thinking "Huh? Considering how tumblr regularly freaks out over this, I thought it would be totally obvious, almost canon. But they just seem to dislike each other." But I kept watching and with every episode that told me more about Regina and Emma, I began to see their actions in a different light.
Suddenly I realized how fucking weird and unusual it was for Emma to greet someone she had just met with a hesitant, almost shy "Hi" and just how damn telling her willingness to confide in Regina was.

And I'd just like to repeat something I already wrote on tumblr, because it seems relevant:

Episode 1x01: This is Emma's face the first time she looks Regina in the eye ->



Episode 1x18: This is Snow White's face the first time she looks Regina in the eye ->



They both have the exact same smitten look on their face. And we all know that Snow had a massive kiddie crush on Regina. She saved her from death by horse after all.
So that leaves me with the conclusion that Emma was definitely crushing on Regina in that moment.
(Until Regina started bitching at her, I guess. xD)

[virginsuicid3s]

Nov 25, 2012 15:34:30 GMT -6 sapphonest said:

I didn't start watching Once until that break before The Return, so I literally watched the first 17 episodes in three days. Unfortunately, I took me FAR TOO LONG to see Swan Queen. Not until the third day did it click. IDK. Maybe if I had actually started when the show started, it would have been shorter.

But in retrospect, the pilot was fucking obvious.

I didn't see Swan Queen until 1x20. THAT was really f*cking late...

[Deleted]

Nov 25, 2012 16:00:56 GMT -6 kniggi said:

They both have the exact same smitten look on their face. And we all know that Snow had a massive kiddie crush on Regina. She saved her from death by horse after all.
So that leaves me with the conclusion that Emma was definitely crushing on Regina in that moment.
(Until Regina started bitching at her, I guess. xD)

LOL! Wow! I didn't put that together. Excellent observational skills! And there's no way Jen and Bailee consulted on exactly how to look at Lana. LOL

[enjoymyshirt]

It's funny to look back-I started to see it in "That still small voice" but looking back to those first eppies I see it clearer than ever.

[Deleted]

OK. To save space, I have attached my seriously long 1x01 analysis as a text file. (handy, that!) Copy/paste from there the shorter bits if you want to quote something in particular.

I look forward to the conversation.

Attachments:

[killerelephants]

I already had my Swan Queen tinted glasses on before watching the pilot, so it was all kinda 'oooh, yay, there they are! NOW KISS!' for me. I only really got into Once because the (mostly) American people on tumblr that I followed generally seemed to love it, and quite a few were Swan Queen fans.

It got to the point where I honestly didn't know if Swan Queen was canon or not, which really frustrated me, so I started watching youtube videos and... well, convinced myself (or perhaps it was just wishful thinking) that they were in the early stages of one of those 'protagonist/antagonist' relationships.

But speaking of the pilot, the chemistry between the two of them completely sold me on Swan Queen. I mean... the way they look at each other.. damn. It's like, 'Hey, Emma! You can do that cute puppy face all you like, but is it really necessary you aim it at Regina's boobs?' (answer: OF COURSE). I just loved how Emma took in Regina's 'turn' from "concerned parent" to "bitch mayor" when she kicked her out and basically told her never to come back again.

During that part, there was that little glint on Emma's face that said, for me, 'oookay, something is not right here, I need to know this woman'. And I really like the idea of Emma being really unsure about Regina and needing to know her, really know her, for Henry's sake. Only, that'd obviously take her forever, and by the time she knew the real Regina, they'd be shacked up together with twelve kids and a puppy.

(Also, on an unrelated note: Lana's hair in the pilot.. aGSDFHGJ unf. Her face when she says 'of course I love him' just... boom. done.)

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2012 5:36:24 GMT -6 killerelephants said:

But speaking of the pilot, the chemistry between the two of them completely sold me on Swan Queen. I mean... the way they look at each other.. damn. It's like, 'Hey, Emma! You can do that cute puppy face all you like, but is it really necessary you aim it at Regina's boobs?' (answer: OF COURSE). I just loved how Emma took in Regina's 'turn' from "concerned parent" to "bitch mayor" when she kicked her out and basically told her never to come back again.

During that part, there was that little glint on Emma's face that said, for me, 'oookay, something is not right here, I need to know this woman'. And I really like the idea of Emma being really unsure about Regina and needing to know her, really know her, for Henry's sake. Only, that'd obviously take her forever, and by the time she knew the real Regina, they'd be shacked up together with twelve kids and a puppy.

(Also, on an unrelated note: Lana's hair in the pilot.. aGSDFHGJ unf. Her face when she says 'of course I love him' just... boom. done.)

OMG. LMAO. Yes, Regina Mills, don't fuck with me, in those first episodes was just... it is any wonder there were dominatrix fics almost right out of the gate with that woman's utter command of... well, everything. And drop-dead gorgeous to boot.

[killerelephants]

^ Ha! Right! And reading all of this really makes me want to revisit the pilot.

In fact, thinking back on it, and to the recent interview with Lana (by Scribes) and her explanation for the 'stepping into personal space - almost kiss' scene at the collapsed mine (where she basically said that Regina wanted to show a vulnerability, to manipulate Emma - not that I think she really needed it, really - into hurrying to save Henry), it just makes me really appreciate Lana's acting and just how many Reginas we saw in the pilot.

Haven't seen it in months, now, but we were introduced to the Evil Queen first, right? But then you see her in Storybrooke and, I'll admit, it wasn't until The Heart is a Lonely Hunter that I was absolutely certain that Regina had her FTL memories. She's like a friggen chameleon, the way she adapts to suit what she wants people to see. It's like... I'm not even sure if that's who she particularly wants to be, but who she feels she needs to become in order to keep the balance and the control over Storybrooke. And when bringing all of this up with the past we know she's had, it's likely that she doesn't know how to be her own person... She was always acting under somebody, or being manipulated, or just f***ing chiseled away into a monster. (Slight spoilers for latest episode: I haven't seen it yet, but a gif of when Regina is smiling at Henry or something, and then looks to Gold, who shakes his head, and the smile just slips off her face - it's like she needs someone to tell her how to behave, what to do, because she's never really been able to decide that for herself - on a greater scale - in her life).

But the way her mask slipped a little in the pilot, when she did just kinda snap a little and tell Emma to gtfo, and Emma saw that and was wondering if there was any truth in Henry's claims that Regina didn't love him. It's just really... damn, it hurts a little, when you think about it. How much fear must she have had of Emma, if she let a streak of the Evil Queen shine through her facade? (there needs to be a 'Hug The Evil Queen' charity set up or something...gah)

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2012 12:29:40 GMT -6 killerelephants said:

But the way her mask slipped a little in the pilot, when she did just kinda snap a little and tell Emma to gtfo, and Emma saw that and was wondering if there was any truth in Henry's claims that Regina didn't love him. It's just really... damn, it hurts a little, when you think about it. How much fear must she have had of Emma, if she let a streak of the Evil Queen shine through her facade? (there needs to be a 'Hug The Evil Queen' charity set up or something...gah)

Yep, *raises hand* I'd join that crusade!

[enjoymyshirt]

I'll admit it was "That still small voice" and that damn mine scene that did it. Then I did a re-watch and realized the pilot on was so swanqueen.