19 replies to this topic

[honorableninja]

This is something that been bothering for awhile now -- what was Storybrooke before Regina's curse? Did an entire town just pop up in a purple cloud of smoke in the middle of Maine and nobody wondered why? Were there people in storybrooke before the curse and if so what happened to them?

Edited by TWoP Tennison, Jan 6, 2013 @ 8:18 PM.
Insane lack of capitalization and punctuation

[Deirbhile]

Having been to the middle of Maine many a time, I can say it's entirely plausible that a town could appear without anyone noticing it. :-)

I think they've at least implied that the town didn't exist prior to the Curse, and that everyone who lives there comes from the Enchanted Forest. But "exists" may be too strong a word: who is to say anyone outside can even see the town? Other than Emma, August and Henry, nobody has been able to cross the border in either direction. It's almost like it's a biosphere - self-contained and disconnected from the "grid" of modern life.

[Medieval Girl]

I've wondered if the Curse copied an existing town. That wouldn't explain the spring up out of nowhere but it would explain why it looks so lived in. Yes, I know it is Steveton but they could have chosen to film on a set and make it look new.

[Schmacky0]

Creators have talked about purposely wanting a lived in feel for the town.

[Whodunnit]

I've wondered this also: I mean, to be fair it has been lived in for twenty eight years but did it have the lived in look when it was new? They do have trucks and such go in and out and they do at least order stuff online, given some of the modern things they own. Maybe we'll find out more about it in future episodes.

[Irish64]

A main function of the curse was to not only keep the inhabitants of the town from leaving the city limits (and thus under Regina's thumb) and keep other people from coming in for any length of time and discover something was "wrong." People still came in to deliver things (I doubt if food magically appeared everyday) but never stayed long or probably even talked much to anyone there. The rest of the world "knew," about Storybrooke (i.e. it was on the Maine electrical grid,) but never really gave it another thought. I would think that if anyone was just taking a Sunday drive and saw a town named Storybrooke up ahead they would suddenly get a case of the squirts or a headache, or just would think,"Looks like a boring town lets skip it." So it was important that the town looked like any other small Maine town that had been there since the 1800's, with a typical "old," look.

[Miss Muffet]

I would think that if anyone was just taking a Sunday drive and saw a town named Storybrooke up ahead they would suddenly get a case of the squirts or a headache, or just would think,"Looks like a boring town lets skip it."

That's too funny! (the squirts is what made me belly laugh) ;)

The only time a stranger has entered, it was Emma or August. So bad things probably happen to those that try to enter like they do when they try to leave. Although, now that the curse is broken, who knows!

[metaphysicist]

The only time a stranger has entered, it was Emma or August. So bad things probably happen to those that try to enter like they do when they try to leave. Although, now that the curse is broken, who knows!

The show can't sweep the 'outsiders' question under the rug, anymore. How do they get their food, etc? How did Emma get her things from Boston?

The Curse (since it is essentially omnipotent) could replenish the perishable goods, etc., magically, but Emma did get one or more boxes with her possessions (albeit meager.)

Also, two state policemen were present to take Mary Margaret away in The Stable Boy. Regina states that she contacted Children's Services (for Maine?) in True North.

So Storybrooke can't just be an 'invisible' town.

Now we can postulate that as a 'price of magic' (previously) Cursed inhabitants would lose their FTL memories upon leaving (the newly magical) Storybooke. This insulates the Land Without Magic from the magic in Storybooke. But it's hard to imagine a converse effect. What could happen to outsiders who enter Storybooke? While the Curse still held both Emma and August entered and left Storybooke. Emma is probably a special case, but August is not. August and Baelfire would hold the same 'status' regarding the Curse and its followon. As far as the Curse (and followon) is concerned August and Baelfire are inhabitants of the Land Without Magic.

We, of course, don't know what has happened to August. It seems likely we will find out what happens to Baelfire regarding Storybooke, or if not Baelfire, then Neal certainly.

[Irish64]

The show can't sweep the 'outsiders' question under the rug, anymore. How do they get their food, etc? How did Emma get her things from Boston?

Oh this show takes "Sweeping under the rug," to new levels...(i.e. the heart in the box, who did Cora kill to replace Archie, etc.) but yea, they really need to answer those questions (I sometimes wonder if other viewers are like me and think, "Where did Snow get that skirt she is wearing? Is there a dept. store around, is it stocked in the latest stuff or 1985 clothes.Regina is always up to date on her clothes where does she get them???)

I do think that when they say "A stranger has never come here," they mean "to stay." I think the delivery people, utilities guys etc would come in, do their stuff and leave, and as soon as they left their memories would get foggie (i.e. they wouldnt remember that that hot but bitchy Mayor Mills or anyone else, never ages.) I don't think things magically appeared as the curse went to a lot of trouble to create a town that looks "real," with real funcionality, like a newspaper which would report fictional events of citizens leaving town and coming back, etc. If they went to all that trouble it had to be because the citizens were a bit aware of what should pass for reality, and magic food in your fridge would make people question it.

Or maybe we are thinking harder then the writers?

[MorninStar]

I think the writers/creators of this show never intend to satisfactorily answer the question of where goods/food/clothing come from. While the curse was enacted I could (grudgingly) buy that the curse provided for food, clothing, goods, via 'magic' and that literally NO outsiders came to Storybrooke, but now that the curse is broken.. not so much.

As for the original topic, in my opinion, Storybrooke 'appeared' out of nowhere via magic/the curse but that it is invisible/glamored to outsiders, just like Hooks ship. No outsider was able to enter. I think Emma's things arrived from Boston via 'magic' (she didn't realize it came via magic.. but we never saw a UPS man, for example) and the State police who took Mary Margaret into custody were not really 'State' police. I think the curse did whatever it had to do to maintain the appearance of a normal town that has been 'lived-in.' Our biggest clue that this may be so is that Red was waiting for a bus to leave town. Although she'd 'lived' in Storybrooke for 28 years she didn't seem to realize that buses never came to town but she *thought* they did. Emma confirmed that no buses ever came to town.

My biggest question would be .. How did Henry get on a bus to Boston to find Emma? Did he ride his bike to the nearest town?

[Loandbehold]

My biggest question would be .. How did Henry get on a bus to Boston to find Emma? Did he ride his bike to the nearest town?

Another question involving Henry - how did he arrive in town when Regina adopted him? Did Regina leave town to pick him up? Was he brought to the town? The show has never said that Regina left town for x amount of hours/days to pick him up.

[Miss Muffet]

When the writers wait so long to answer some mysteries it makes it more difficult for us to accept their explanation. Some things are better left unanswered.

[Camera One]

I'm assuming there will be a future flashback episode where we find out how Henry was brought to Storybrooke. I'm guessing it will involve August yet again.

As for the rest of it, the writers probably have a list of these questions and are discussing how to craft a scenario which would fit most of the data. If the show goes on for long enough, I'm guessing we will get a "Storybrooke before Emma" episode (maybe combined with the one where Henry arrives) to show how forlorn and lonely poor Regina was before she adopted a child.

The arrival of Emma's belongings is probably the only major question that isn't easily explained, since Henry could have biked outside of the town boundary as mentioned above. I think the idea above of Storybooke being like Hook's ship most easily explains this. The postal service would leave Emma's stuff in one building of the town that they could see (or some mail depot shed just inside the town boundary), and Storybrooke's own fake postal workers would deliver it to Snow's loft.

[notwisconsin]

I"m probably wrong, but I don't think the showrunners have figured that out yet.

[Camera One]

I wouldn't be surprised either, notwisconsin. That's the problem with writing whatever and then trying to come up with an explanation after the fact, I suppose.

[BelovedMaeve]

We also don't know if the cure worked like a reset button. Maybe every year was like a new one until Emma came along. The people of Storybrooke had no real memory of meeting one another for the first time, they obviously didn't have much memory of extended family (if they weren't already there i.e. David's mom, MM's mom, etc.). Kind of like a cursed Groundhog's Day.

[Fable]

As for the rest of it, the writers probably have a list of these questions and are discussing how to craft a scenario which would fit most of the data. If the show goes on for long enough, I'm guessing we will get a "Storybrooke before Emma" episode (maybe combined with the one where Henry arrives) to show how forlorn and lonely poor Regina was before she adopted a child.

I"m probably wrong, but I don't think the showrunners have figured that out yet.

This probably true, but I'm okay with it. It's not like a novel where you turn the whole piece in for editing and bring us the finished product. It's a serialized story and they have to come up with some things as they go along. Obviously they have a road map, but things like the availability of recurrent and guest actors have to be considered.

I think, or at least hope, much of this will be addressed.

[stealinghome]

Take it with a grain of salt, but I seem to remember the creators saying that they are very interested in seeing pre-Emma Storybrooke (or that they'd be very disappointed if we never saw it or however they usually answer questions when they don't want to say "yes"). So I suspect at some point we'll get a flashback, though maybe not this season.

[LittleGhost]

I always assumed that it was sort of a Harry Potter-style confundus charm used to make the Muggles go away, coupled with video-game respawn mechanics due to handwaving and magic. Like, you know that "smart fill" option in Photoshop? The magic just fills in details that are congruent with the surrounding areas. Food reappears on shelves, and people don't notice it because of magic. The same way 28 years can pass and people simply don't become aware of it, I guess?

[neplusultra]

Reason for edit: Insane lack of capitalization and punctuation

LOL, I love this.

My impression was that there was no Storybrooke before the curse.

People still came in to deliver things (I doubt if food magically appeared everyday) but never stayed long or probably even talked much to anyone there.

I figured the food did magically appear every day. As I mentioned in the nitpicking thread, there is also the issue of the bus--does anyone ever get on and off the bus except Henry?

The show can't sweep the 'outsiders' question under the rug, anymore.

Sure they can, and I pretty much guarantee you they will. A lot of us won't be very happy about it but c'est la vie.

Or maybe we are thinking harder then the writers?

Bingo. And the writers wish we would stop thinking so hard, thank you very much.