Once Upon A Time Recap: The Heart of the Truest Believer

Well, dearies, the long wait is over and Once Upon A Time Season 3 has jumped into the portal and has landed in our TV screens! Storybrooke has been left behind as the most dysfunctional Fairy Tale family sets sail for dangerous shores in order to rescue the one thing they all have in common: Henry.

The story picks up right where we left off. Charming, Snow, Emma, Hook, and Rumpelstiltskin are aboard the Jolly Roger and sailing towards a strange and mysterious island.

No, not that one.

But there is a distinct lack of "jolly" on the Roger for our heroes...and....villains....and....anti-hero....Almost from the start they begin bickering about the best way to rescue Henry. Emma even goes so far as to question the optimism and experience of her parents. But, not to worry, because Grandpa Rumpel has decided to take matters into his own hands. What's more, he's brought the proper attire.

All magic may come with a price, but I got these half off at Men's Wearhouse.

Meanwhile, late Season 2 baddies Greg and Tamara arrive ashore, shoving Henry along as they make their way to the Home Office. But nothing seems to go according to plan, starting with their communicator's batteries turning to sand and ending with a confrontation in the jungle with a creepy group of natives who want to take the boy, who has been deemed special by their leader.

Closer, but still no.

Things go south quickly for the duo on a mission to destroy magic. As it turns out, Neverland is the Home Office and the Pan himself has used the magically-slighted Greg and Tamara to abduct Henry and bring him to the island. The Lost Boys (who, if they had their own Facebook game app it would be called Creepville) demand that they hand over Henry, and when Greg refuses he meets his end at the hands of a dark, shadowy, evil spirit.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Tamara is injured by what doctors call a "freaking arrow to the back", but Henry manages to escape. He is aided by a former Lost Boy who is eager to avoid the wrath of his former colleagues. They make off towards the Cave of Echoes, a place where Pan's soldiers cannot track them. Meanwhile, back on the boat, Hook and Emma bond over their shared connection to Neal/Baelfire, unaware that at that moment the Son of Stiltskin wakes up in the Land That Was. And the first face he sees is that of...

Heyyyy.....Mulan's back everybody....greeaaaatt.....

Baelfire then recruits Mulan, Aurora, and Prince Philip in his quest to get back to Emma and the others. Meanwhile, the extended Charming family are all on the boat, lounging on the Lido deck sipping Mai Thais and playing shuffleboard.

Nah, I'm just kidding. They're getting attacked by mermaids.

As the storm rages around them, the ship is buffeted by both waves and fins as the sirens shriek and ram into the side of the Jolly Roger. Charming utilizes the firepower of the ships cannons and Regina uses the power of fire from her hands to ward off the sea-devils. It was like shooting fish in a barrel...except it was hurling magic fireballs at mythical creatures in an enchanted ocean. Luckily, they are able to capture one of the mermaids using a big ol' net.

"Wait, is that ship of protesters from PETA or the ACLU?"

Back on the mainland, Rumpel stumbles upon a wounded Tamara, who reveals why Henry was brought to Neverland. Mr. Gold shows compassion in removing the arrow from her body, allowing her to spill the beans and ask for forgiveness. The answer, certainly and deliciously, is no. Tamara pays for her crimes against the family by having her heart crushed into dust.

While Tamara's heart is getting the ol' Rumpel Crumble, the crew aboard the Jolly Roger is getting a lesson in group dynamics as they decide what to do with the captured mermaid. As the mermaid writhed and wiggled (and boy did she do both!) the team could not decide if they should use her as leverage or if they should kill her on the spot. The mermaid (who, let's face it, is Ariel), tells them that they will wind up killing themselves...and boy was she right. Regina takes action and temporarily turns the mermaid to wood...and that's when the crew reaches the "storming" stage of group dynamics....literally. As Charming fights Hook and Regina and Snow have it out, the winds pick up, the rain howls, and the mother of all tidal waves descends upon the ship.

Meanwhile, Neal, Aurora, Philip and (sigh) Mulan arrive at Rumpelstiltskin's castle in the hopes of finding something that will lead him back to his family. They are greeted, however, by a squatter who just happens to be Robin Hood.

"The rent in the Enchanted Forest is too damn high!"

As the Jolly Rogers and Rogerettes duke it out, Emma realizes that the mermaids words were coming true, that they were making to storm worse with their anger. She realizes that they need to be reunited, and fast, and so she dives into the watery depths.

Man, water-skiing in Neverland is extreme

The plan goes a little awry as she is knocked unconscious by a piece of the ship, but it does work. The rest of the team stop fighting long enough to save her, and the storm abates.

Meanwhile, Henry and his newfound friend are still on the run from the Lost Boys but run out of space quickly as they reach a cliff. The boy has pixie dust, but he doesn't believe that it will work. And this is where, for the first time, Henry really comes into his own. Displaying the optimism and belief that helped his mother break the Curse, Henry uses the pixie dust to send him and his friend soaring through the air. I have to say, I'm not the biggest Henry fan (see most of my Season 2 posts), but he really stepped up and displayed not just childlike belief, but also leadership, courage, and optimism. I hope they continue to develop his character into this series' "Man of Faith".

Don Corleone would tell you not to play around with orange peels in your mouth.

Elsewhere on the island that Seuss forgot, the Dark One comes face to face with the Creepy One as the head Lost Boy offers Rumpel a deal. Stay out of Pan's way, let him have Henry, and his life will be spared. Well, Grandpa ain't havin' that and he promptly rejects the deal. As a parting gift, Blondie leaves behind a doll that presumably belonged to Baelfire. Rumpel is overcome with grief for the son that he believes is dead, and is left to weep in the woods. I really enjoyed this scene. Whoever this kid is playing the lead Lost Boy, he's doing a fantastic job in giving me the wiggins (yep, I've been watching too much Buffy). And watching Mr. Gold act as his old self while sticking up for his family and grieving for his son shows just how far the character has come. At least he is fighting for someone other than himself, but he's still got that Dark One flair

Haters Gonna Hate.....then I turn them into a frog.

But Bae is very much alive. Using his father's old walking stick, Neal makes like Donatello and shows off some moves which removes a cloaking spell on a cabinet containing Rumpel's secret stash. Neal grabs an orb and, after focusing on Emma, finds her in what Aurora and Mulan believe to be their land. But Baelfire knows, much to his terror, that she is in Neverland.

As the Jolly Roger crew comes ashore, Emma takes full command of the group. Heroes, villains, pirates, and Saviors, all of them will need to work together to get Henry back. And nothing is going to stop them.

And nothing better, because as it turns out Henry's friend isn't really a friend at all. He IS the Pan.

BANGRARA-ooooh crap!

I have to say, after a lull in Season 2 I was starting to think that maybe we had seen the end of the great stories that had made Season 1 such a smash hit. But the show has really upped the ante on this one. First, we are introduced to Neverland and Peter Pan in a way that is so far from what we know, we can only wait to see what happens next. We also are introduced to what I think Season 2 lacked, an over-arching theme. This season, it is "belief" that will permeate each episode...belief in magic, family, and oneself. I really can't wait to see just how this season unfolds and how, if ever, our favorite characters get back to where they belong.

No! No! No!

Once Upon A Time Recap: And Straight on 'Til Morning

Well dearies, we've made it to the season finale! From the aftermath of the broken Curse and an adventure in the Land that Was, to the threat of a new and powerful evil, to the reuniting of family and a plot to destroy Storybrooke, we've been through a lot! So let's get to it:

The episode begins with a loving Grandpa watching his Grandson play on a swing. Except it's Rumplestiltskin, and he's trying to kill the threat to his existence. As he begins to fray the ropes of Henry's swing, causing him to fly into some pointy-looking rocks (seriously, who designed this playground?), Emma, Charming, and Snow rush to tell him the news about Baelfire. They also tell him about that Greg and Tamara have the trigger, and he must help stop them. Gold refuses, distraught over losing his son again. Meanwhile, Greg and Tamara take Hook down to the mines and, with a dwarf's pick-axe, strike the trigger to the fail-safe and set in motion the end of Storybrooke, literally wiping it off the map. The forest on which it appeared begins to take back the land as trees jut out of the ground and the earth begins to shake.

"Time to run, then? Yep...let's run..."

The Family Charming, including Regina, are at the apartment when Hook shows up to tell them the news. But not everyone will share in Storybrooke's fate. Because Henry was born here, he will remain here....alone. It is decided that they will take a two-pronged approach: Regina will try to stop the trigger, and Hook and Charming will go after Greg and Tamara in order to get some magic beans as a means to escape destruction. The dashing duo manage to succeed in obtaining a bean, but the Muggle Patrol manage to slip away yet again.

Anyone else see a buddy cop spin-off coming out of this? 

Meanwhile, knowing that their doom is imminent, the dwarves raid Gold's shop in order to find a potion to restore Sneezy's memory so that he can at least die as himself. When they finally are able to get a batch, they offer some extra to Mr. Gold, who restores Belle's memory so that, in their last moments, they can be together. Even knowing that Belle would eventually get her memory back, hearing Gold say "I didn't want to wake you up to die..." just tugged at all of my heart strings.

In Neverland, Hook discovers that the boy brought on board his ship is actually Rumplestiltskin's son, and decides to use him to enact his revenge. When the Lost Ones (a very dark take on Peter Pan's band of misfits) board the ship demanding the boy that the Shadow has great need of, Hook will not give Baelfire up (even under threat of having his shadow ripped out...ouch). After they leave, Baelfire tries to kill Hook, having found a picture of his mother on Hook's desk (proving even then that you need to delete your search history and not leave things open on your desk). Hook tries to tell Bae about what really happened, that he and his mother fell in love...and that his father killed her. Hook offer Bae the opportunity to stay with him and his crew, as a way to make it up to Mila, but the Son of Stiltskin refuses. It is then that he is captured by the Lost Ones. I have to say, not calling them "boys" makes them truly seem like lost souls in the service of a dark, great evil. And it definitely makes them more threatening. 

Back in the tunnels, things are not going so well. Regina does not have the power to stop the trigger from detonating. When Emma goes to pull out the bean, hoping to send the failsafe into oblivion (or at least a dimension in which it can do no harm), she discovers that Hook has absconded with their only hope at survival. No bean, assured destruction, and no way to stop it.....well, it looks like it's sayonara, Storybrooke.

"Not one of my better backup plans..."

Emma is hesitant to leave Regina, but her arch-rival pleads with her. She has been known for so long as the Evil Queen, she just wants to die as Regina. Henry realizes that there's good left in his mom and finally (oh, finally!) he goes over and hugs her. It's then that Emma realizes that she might be able to help. Nubile as she is in the magical arts, she has seen for herself that she has the potential to be quite powerful. And so, together, in the best Mother's Day salute ever, Emma and Regina combine their strengths and defuse the bomb. They are blown back a bit, but a few scrapes serve as confirmation that they are, indeed alive. Yes: Prince Charming, Snow White, their daughter, and even the Evil Queen are all okay. And Henry...Henry? Ahhhh, crap.

Greg and Tamara, seizing upon the distraction caused by the trigger, abduct Henry and bring him back to the docks. As all the main cast members rush to save him, the two villains prove "like father, like son" as they drop a magic bean into the water and jump, arm in arm with their captive, into the portal. Since it is pretty much impossible to cross worlds without one, they must come to terms with the fact they they will never see Henry again. But, ahoy mateys! Captain Hook has a change of heart and sails back into port, magic bean in hand! Mr. Gold knows that, indeed, the boy will be his undoing, but he must find him to honor Baelfire. He bids Belle farewell, and together, the most unlikely family sets off for Neverland.

Neverland....as in "never gonna go to that land"

As the waves crash on a distant shore, we come across a man in bad shape. Clinging to life, Baelfire is discovered by none other than Princess Aurora and (ugh) Mulan. But he is worlds apart from where he needs to be in order to protect his son. Because Peter Pan never wanted him....he was after Henry.

Well, then! I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed when I watched it last night, but going over it again really made me appreciate the subtleties of the episode and how it sets up an exciting Season 3. 

Til' then, dearies!

- Joe

Once Upon A Time Recap: Second Star to the Right

Tons of secrets were revealed, and new mysteries surfaced, in last night's episode of Once Upon A Time, "Second Star to the Right." From a boy who knew all too well the price of magic, to the true ambitions of two outsiders, to the unthinkable plot by a too-often slighted queen. The penultimate episode of the season was, as expected, one giant build up to the finale.

Let's start with Baelfire, shall we? We had long suspected him of being Peter Pan (that is, after we learned that Greg Mendell wasn't!), so seeing him dropped from the portal into Victorian London definitely set the Anticipation Alarm off. We see him in a short confrontation with the Darling's dog, Nana (a great nod to the classic Disney movie) before befriending Wendy, who secretly takes care of the poor boy until her parents find out...and welcome him into their home (because if upper class Victorian parents were one thing, historically, it was nice to beggar boys that their daughters have hidden away in a crawlspace).

"Harumphaphurphurphurumph"

One night, Wendy (and brothers Michael and John) tell Bae about a shadow that visits them in the night. It can do all sorts of things like change shape, fly, and take them to a land with magic! Bae, with his One Direction haircut, pleads with Wendy not to let the shadow in, because he knows from experience how magic can destroy a family. I thought this was a particular bit of great acting on the part of young Dylan Schmid, who manages to show some real concern for his newfound family mixed with the pain of his past. You really believe him when he tells Wendy that magic comes with a price. One person who did not believe him, however, was Wendy.

"Woopsie?"

When she returns from Neverland, she is distraught. The shadow, it seems, is not a friendly spirit. At night, she tells Bae, she can hear all the lost boys crying out for their parents. Ultimately, the shadow rejects Wendy....because he's after the boys.

An APB has already been called in by London Metro Police.

I have to say this was a really great twist on the classic tale. To imagine Peter's shadow as a living entity, and a malevolent one at that, was pretty creepy and really brilliant. Neverland isn't some happy place, it's where abducted children are forced to spend eternity by a wraith-like being. In any case, Baelfire does his best to ward off the shadow, but to no avail. When the shadow reaches for Michael, Baelfire boldly takes his place. He is carried off to Neverland, a dark and foreboding island shrouded in mystery.

Now where have I heard that before?

But, the quick thinking Son of Stiltskin uses a match to ward off the shadow and he crashes into the ocean, where he is rescued by none other than Captain Hook. Will Baelfire rise to become the Pan, defeat the good Captain, and rescue the lost boys of Neverland? We'll just have to wait and see!

Back in Storybrooke, Neal is just a liiiittle bit upset with his dad, who has taken up some old bad habits now that he's with "Lacey". I'm not too thrilled with how this is all turning out, honestly. Rumplestiltksin created the Curse to find Baelfire, had to almost die to reunite with his son, and now is basically telling him not to crimp his style with his new lady friend. This, of course, will all get resolved in the finale, but it just seems a little forced.

"Hateth the game, noteth the player, deary!"

Meanwhile, Regina is put into a bit of an uncomfortable situation, as she is strapped down by Greg and hooked up to a machine so that she will finally reveal what happened to his father. I have to say, as much as I cringed at seeing Regina electro-tortured, Mendell really let out his evil, vindictive side and it was a fine piece of acting. It's about this time that we learn that Tamara and Greg are not the only two out there who know how to "take care of" magic and magical beings. Showing their Lost roots, the writers reveal that there is an entire organization dedicated to finding and eliminating magic from this world. Storybrooke is apparently not the first breach that has been made into our land, and the dastardly duo have discovered a way to make sure that the town will go the way of the others.

"Did I leave the oven on? No...Locked the doors? Yep....Hid away the thing that can destroy the whole town? ...ah, crap"

In an effort to locate Regina, the Charmings visit Mr. Gold, who blends Regina's and Mary Margaret's tears so that Mary Margaret can see and feel everything Regina is at the moment...which...of course...is searing pain from electrocution. They then liberate Regina, letting Greg go in the process, as Emma and Neal track down Tamara. A gunshot to the abdomen finally convinces Neal that his finacee hasn't exactly been truthful with him, and when Emma steps in to save him, Tamara uses the magic bean she pilfered from Regina to open up some distance between them...as well as a portal to another world. Emma and Neal hang on for dear life, both having been sucked into another dimension before and not eager to do so again, but this is a drama we're talking about, and someone's got to go!

"It's okay! I'm an expendable secondary character!"

The portal closes and Emma is left in shock. Having just declared their love for each other, they were ripped apart by magic. You can bet that, wherever Neal winds up, Emma will find him. After all, it's in the family genes. Back at Chateau de Charming, David and Mary Margaret are watching over a recuperating Regina. They are again (really, again?) shocked by Regina's malice as they learn that she has created, and then lost, the failsafe trigger for the Curse. Cut to a distraught Greg Mendell as he digs up the remains of his father. Tamara approaches him with a gift, a black diamond that holds the key to the final and absolute destruction of Storybrooke.

And so, we head "Straight on Til' Morning".

Til next time, dearies!

-Joe