Introduction - Maplepunzel

The genesis of this one doesn't go back nearly as far as Hilary and the Beasts. I was originally going to do "Little Red Riding Hood" for Maple's fairy tale, but then I watched "You've Met Your Match" from the fourth season. Maple and Victor's date was one of the only ones that actually worked well. They had chemistry and looked really cute together. They worked together with Betty and Scott to help stop Abernathy and Brumpton in "And If I've Died Before I Sleep," too. 

I enjoyed writing Maple and Victor's part of Hilary and the Beasts so much, I thought the next story should go to them. "Red Riding Hood" didn't seem romantic enough, so I switched it to something that could highlight both of them. I never liked the ending of the original Grimm's "Rapunzel" story. That ends with Rapunzel either wandering in the wastelands or raising children there, the blind prince finds her, and she sobs on him and restores his sight. Then again, Disney's Tangled, though it's cute and funny, doesn't really have that much to do with "Rapunzel" other than the long hair and the girl in a tower. The question was, how could this be action-packed, dark, and funny, without going off the original story that much?

Maple LaMarsh is feeling like the lady in a tower. She's thrilled that she and Victor Comstock were able to work together with Scott and Betty and help the station with the sabotaged 52-hour broadcast, but not so much that Victor's mind is still scrambled from his work in England. He can't remember anything about the night he came back, including the first time she saw him in the police officer's uniform. As the still-ailing Maple hears Betty read "Rapunzel" on the radio, she wishes that Victor could rescue her from the tower...and that sends her feverish mind off into a romantic fairy tale, where she's more than just the girl in the tower. She's a woman who is taking control of her love and her life, in more than one way...