The Price of Gold

Goodman wrote the character as a naive though sweet woman who makes bad decisions that places her in even more "unfortunate circumstances."

Several months later, at a gala wedding ball for Ella and her new husband, Prince Thomas (Tim Phillipps), Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Joshua Dallas) congratulate the couple on their wedding, as does Rumpelstiltskin who tells Ella that he does not care for her riches or baubles, but instead shall claim her firstborn child.

Seeking to avoid fulfilling this deal, Thomas, Charming, Grumpy, and The Blue Fairy (Keegan Connor Tracy) come up with a plot to capture Rumpelstiltskin by luring him into signing another contract.

A skeptical Rumpelstiltskin agrees, but as he signs the contract, he is rendered powerless due to a special red quill pen, that was created by The Blue Fairy.

In the present day, Sheriff Graham (Jamie Dornan) gives Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) an offer to become his deputy.

Emma reluctantly agrees, and learns from Ruby (Meghan Ory) that she should stop by the home of her ex-boyfriend Sean (Phillipps).

Emma and Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) find the vehicle has crashed just short of the city's limits, with Ashley about to deliver the baby.

After hanging up, the sheriff picks up his socks under the bed, revealing that Regina's "council meetings" has actually been a cover for sexual encounters with him.

"[2][3] Executive producer Steve Pearlman developed the series to have standalone episodes that still encouraged viewers to watch each week.

[5] While the traditional fairytale involved Cinderella serving her step-mother and step-sisters and eventually being helped by a fairy godmother to marry her prince, Once Upon a Time portrayed her in differing circumstances.

[11][12] With an estimated 11.327 million viewers tuning in, it ranked second in its timeslot all together once again behind Football Night In America on NBC but ahead of The Amazing Race on CBS and The Simpsons on the Fox network.

She expressed appreciation for the "charismatic and captivating" Robert Carlyle, but wished that she could see Schram and other guest stars every week instead of infrequently.

"[17] The episode also made Murphy appreciate the "bold and bright" Snow White, when compared to Cinderella's naive agreement with Rumpelstiltskin.

[17] TV Fanatic writer Christine Orlando was not shocked by the affair, but was surprised that "Emma fell into Mr. Gold's clutches so easily.

"[18] IGN's Amy Ratcliffe gave the episode 6.5 out of 10, and stated that she "like[d] the addition of more fairy tale characters," especially as "their stories don't follow traditional paths.

Club writer Oliver Sava graded the episode with a B and considered it the best of the series up to that point, citing its "fair share of forward momentum," Morrison's large amount of screen time, and an improvement in flashbacks.

[10] Sava compared it to the previous episode, believing "The Price of Gold" to be superior because it deviated further from the traditional fairytale formula.