Episode 3: Quite a Common Fairy

Lana Parrilla as Regina & Rose McIver as Tinker Bell, ABCs Once Upon a Time Season 3 Episode 03 Quite a Common Fairy Picture image

Lana Parrilla as Regina & Rose McIver as Tinker Bell

This episode was just alright. Mostly it centered around Tinkerbell helping Regina find her true love. Regina doesn’t go through with even meeting him  and Tinkerbell loses her wings. This means in the present Tinkerbell doesn’t really want to help the crew get into Pan’s camp but Snow offers her the chance to come  back to Storybrooke. Tink accepts.  Also Charming is dying from Dreamshade.  Fun name!

In the Enchanted Forest, Neal gets to Neverland using Robin Hood’s son to lure the shadow to them. Robin offers Mulan a place of the Merry Man squad but she has to return to tell the person she loves that she loves them. The person is Aurora but she’s pregnant so Mulan tells her she join the Merry Men. I thought she had a thing for Philip back in season 2  but either she changed her mind or she didn’t. Whatever poor Mulan, unrequited love sucks, hope she finds true love. Speaking of unrequited love Regina’s true love is really… wait for it,. Robin Hood. Not sure how I feel about the revelation.

Anyway just an alright episode. Enough good stuff to keep a viewership engaged but not a strong episode on it’s own.       

 

Episode 4: Nasty Habits

Michael Raymond-James as Neal & Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin ABCs Once Upon a Time Season 3 Episode 04 Nasty Habits Picture image

Michael Raymond-James as Neal & Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin

While I do like Rumpelstiltskin heavy episodes, it a case of second verse same as the first, he has a bad past except that he did love his son and he trying to change but it’s hard. The character’s past involve Rumpelstiltskin meeting the Pied Piper who took away Baelfire. Rumpelstiltskin confronts him but he turns out to be Peter Pan who Rumpelstiltskin curiously knows, hmmmmm. Curious indeed.

The Neverland plot deals with Rumpelstiltskin and Baelfire meeting again. It should be pointed out that Rumpelstiltskin was down for killing himself along with Pan because he thought Baelfire/Neal was gone but now that he know Neal/Baelfire is alive that nasty habit of self-preservation as kicked in. Neal gets the idea to use squid ink to immobile Pan. When they get to camp Henry is gone. Pan tells Neal about the seer’s prophecy that Henry will be Rumpelstiltskin undoning. Rumpelstiltskin says he won’t hurt Henry but Neal doesn’t believe him and immobilizes him with the ink.

Meanwhile Emma and crew find Neal’s secret cave and find a coconut that has a star chart  and Henry falls deeper under Pan’s influence believing that he will bring the magic back to Neverland.  

Is this combination of the Seer’s prophecy? Another confrontation between Neal and Rumpelstiltskin? How Rumpelstiltskin wants to be redeemed but he likes being alive and death is scary? Isn’t he immortal? Why should self-preservation even be a thing for him?

It wasn’t an unenjoyable episode but characters don’t seem to move forward as much as one would hope. I guess Rumpelstiltskin is the most dynamic character but he moves in small increments.

 

Episode 20: The Evil Queen

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Lana Parrilla as Regina Season 2 Episode 20 The Evil Queen, ABC Once Upon a Time picture image

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White & Lana Parrilla as Regina

Poor Queen Regina, no one likes her. In this episode Regina wants Snow White dead, of course, and hates that the subjects prefer Snow to her. Rumpelstiltskin disguises her as commoner to learn about the common people and kill Snow. However Regina and Snow hang out and Snow thinks there is good in her that is until Snow sees the village Regina has slaughtered and takes it all back.  Regina then decides she doesn’t want her people to love her but fear her for she is The Evil Queen.

A lot in Storybrooke this episode. It’s introduced that the curse has a fail-safe trigger that will destroy everything. Regina plans on using it and having her and Henry escape back to the Enchanted Forest.  Regina and Hook, who has double crossed Greg and Tamara go adventuring to get it down in the dragon pit. However it was a super double cross as Hook only did it so that the fail-safe will kill Rumpelstiltskin.  And they take away Regina.

While that is happening Emma is suspicious of Tamara  and Henry overhears and wants to restart Operation Cobra or now Preying Mantis.  Emma and Henry break into to Tamara and Neal’s room but Neal catches him and call Emma out her lie detector power, thank you Neal.  

This episode was more of the alright to average range. The show is trying to do a lot to get the plot to the season finale and set-up the next season. The magical doomsday for Storybrooke seems like straight out left field and Greg and Tamara are weird as villains.   Greg has some motivation but Tamara doesn’t so far.

 

Episode 21: Second Star to the Right

Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire & Freya Tingley as Wendy Darling Season 2 Episode 21 Second Star to the Right, ABC Once Upon a Time picture image

Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire & Freya Tingley as Wendy Darling

I was wrong and yet I was sort of right. Baelfire was not Peter Pan, though he did go to Neverland and was Lost Boy for a time. In the character past after Baelfire went through the portal he went to Edwardian London, sure ok, wardrobe goes to Maine, Beans go to London. There he was an orphan till he met Wendy Darling and is taken in by the Darling. Baelfire learns that Wendy is being visited by a shadow and it takes her away. When she returns in the morning she says the shadow let her go because it only wants boys and it will come for one her brothers. Baelfire doesn’t want the Darling family ruined and so he gets taken away. He arrives in Neverland but gets away from the shadow and Hook saves him.

Still a lot going on in Storybrooke but the main thing is Greg and Tamara are torturing Regina. Turns out they are working for someone to get rid of magic in the “world without magic” but also Greg wants to know where is his father is. Rumpelstiltskin gives Snow a spell so that she can see thing through Regina’s eyes, but all see senses is pain and the smell of fish.

Emma, Baelfire/Neal, Snow and Charming all converge of the canary.  Snow and Charming save Regina but Greg gives them the slip. Tamara confronts Neal and Emma. Neal gets shot and then goes through a portal as Tamara threw a magic bean at them. Emma is heartbroken as she believes Neal won’t survive the portal and a gunshot wound. Also Tamara and Greg get away with the trigger to Storybrooke destruction.      

While I don’t love the story of Peter Pan, I do like that there is a somewhat nefarious tone to the story.  Pan’s shadow is near demonic taking boys away in the dead of night. Though he doesn’t like girls. Though it’s weird because Neal says the World Sans Magic wasn’t his right stop way back in episode 14 but it was. He just went to Neverland too afterwards. Would have sucked for Rumpelstiltskin if Neal was dead in the real world the whole time, very convenient.  

This was an ok episode. Lots of stuff happening though Tamara and Greg are not as enjoyable as Cora or Hook. They are weak bad guys.  Really they just seem like zealots, and no one likes a zealot least of all a boring zealot. But the episode was engaging aside from them. I love that Neal called BS on Emma’s on again off again lie detector.

  

 

Episode 22: And Straight on till Morning

Colin O'Donoghue as Captain Hook & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire Season 2 Episode 22 And Straight on till Morning, ABC Once Upon a Time picture image

Colin O’Donoghue as Captain Hook & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire

The character’s past involves Baelfire’s involvement with Hook and the lost boy pursuing him. As it turns out Peter Pan is a bit of some demi-god who controls Neverland, you don’t leave unless Pan lets you. Baelfire and Hook are bonding nicely till Baelfire learns that it was Hook who took his mother away even though Milah and Hook had plan on going back for Baelfire one day. Baelfire leaves Hook and that is how he becomes a Lost Boy but he is not the boy Pan is REALLY after, Peter Pan is really after Henry, who now is apparently some child of prophecy or something. Man everyone wants this kid.    

In Storybrooke, Tamara and Greg activate the trigger but Hook, is having second thoughts as he doesn’t want to die. The people come up with a plan THAT Regina will hold off the trigger as long as she can while everyone escapes back to the forest with a bean portal. Things go awry and everyone thinks they will die but together Emma and Regina stop the trigger.

Rumpelstiltskin learns that the Blue fairy fixed the whole cursed persona thing so the Dwarf and Belle are cured, wow that whole Belle as bad girl plot really went far.  Also apparently Tamara and Greg’s goal were to bring Henry to Neverland.

The season  ends with Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, Regina, Snow White, Charming and Hook going through a bean portal to Neverland. 

Also everyone thinks Neal is dead but Mulan, Aurora and Phillip save him.  Wow, Aurora and Mulan saved Phillip off screen huh?   

This episode was ok, not real conclusion to any storyline but set-up for next season. It’s really dumb that ALL the character think Neal is dead. Like why do automatically assume that. Because it’s most dramatic?


Season 2 was more smaller stories than a long goal narration so it felt more choppy than season 1 but it wasn’t bad. It had some strong episodes and even the lower episodes felt better than the lower episode in season 1. So while no ultimate conclusion was reached in season 2 it definitely made you want to continue to season 3.

 

Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Return picture image

Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiktskin & Dylan Schmidt as Baelfire

Episode 19: The Return

The title of this episode made me think of a Japanese movie called “The Returner.” Which I recall not liking.

So far this might be my favorite episode. The Fairy Tale world plotline follows everyone’s favorite “evil” manipulator, Rumpelstiktskin and his son Baelfire. Though who thinks it’s a little funny to hear Rumpelstiktskin calling his son “Bae”? Baelfire doesn’t like that his Papa has become the Dark One and can see him losing his humanity. Baelfire strikes a deal with Rumpelstiktskin that if can find a way to make him normal again without killing him,  Rumpelstiktskin will return to his old self. Baelfire learns from the Blue Fairy that the only way for Rumpelstiktskin to be normal is to go to a world without magic using the last magic bean ever. Rumpelstiktskin agrees to go but as a green vortex opens he chickens out and Baelfire falls in and the Vortex closes. Rumpelstiktskin instantly regrets not following his son. The Blue Fairy shows up and berates him. Rumpelstiktskin then learns the only way to go to the Land without magic is through a powerful curse. Thus revealing Mr.Gold/Rumpelstiktskin motivations for the whole thing.

In Storybrooke, Mr.Gold is growing suspicious of August. He suspects that August is after the knife that can kill/control Rumpelstiktskin making him think that August is Baelfire. Mr.Gold confronts August  and August says he is his son but after Mr.Gold shows him the knife which can’t control him without magic he knows August isn’t his son. Turns out August is dying and he needs to speed things up to get Emma to be the savior.

While that is going on Mary Margaret exonerated as Kathryn isn’t dead and the lab report of the heart MUST have been falsified. Regina fears everything is going to tie back to her so she uses Sidney love for her to get him to confess which Emma doesn’t believes and Emma vows to take back her son from Regina. Also Mary Margaret and David are still off even though David tries to get Mary Margaret to forgive him for doubting her.

This may be the first episode where I don’t prefer one plot over the other.  I will say I was hoping that August was Baelfire as it would make perfect sense why he could come into town as he would have been in the world without magic pre-curse but he is still of the story world. However he is not so give me another reason show. I really enjoy Carlyle duel performance, still think he is the best actor on this show, not that the other principal actor aren’t good because they are at least competent.

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Eion Bailey as August Booth ABC's Once Upon a Time, The Stranger picture image

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan & Eion Bailey as August Booth

    

Episode 20: The Stranger

Well, Well, Well the question from the last episode is answered.

I hate Pinocchio. I saw this casting on wiki so I wasn’t surprised by August being Pinocchio but I was confused by August claiming he was Baelfire. Well Pinocchio is a liar so it does fit.

In this episode we learn that Geppetto makes a deal with the Blue Fairy that  Pinocchio is to go  through the wardrobe with pregnant Snow as the wardrobe can fit two people which is why the Blue Fairy told everyone that only one can pass through. However Snow goes into labour early and the Blue Fairy wants Snow and the Baby to go through together. Geppetto being a desperate parent maintains the lie that only one can go through and makes Pinocchio promise to protect the Baby. But he is a seven year old child and can’t.

In Storybrooke, Regina is up to her shenanigans by trying to seduce David, which fails. August tries to convince Emma of the fairy tale reality which also fails. This means because August couldn’t keep his promise to help Emma he turning back into wood. He tries to show Emma his wooden leg but she can’t see it.  At the end Emma tries to leave Storybrooke with Henry as she has had with it.

It seems that Emma’s super lie detector power is thwarted by her own denial. She doesn’t want to believe any of it nor does she want to help. All and all I did like this episode. I do think it was overly simplistic to have August know about the fairy tale world because went through the wardrobe, also now I have to wonder about Baelfire and who is Dr.Whale? Also if the Blue Fairy knew about the tree then why didn’t she tell Rumpelstiktskin? Because then the curse wouldn’t have happen and there wouldn’t have no show. It’s all very tidy except for the whole lying thing Geppetto made the Blue fairy tell so her would make the wardrobe. Sorry for nitpicking, I did like the episode and I do like the show.