Title And Straight On ’Til Morning (2.22)

Written By Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

What Happens? Picking up where last week’s “Second Star to the Right” left off, this episode begins with the characters dealing with two tragedies: one recent (the shooting of Neal and his disappearance through a portal) and one impending (the destruction of Storybrooke and all of its residents born in the Enchanted Forest, meaning everyone but Henry). Regina believes she has the power to slow down the destruction of the town enough for everyone else to escape, sacrificing herself in the process. In order for the townspeople to escape, though, they have to open another portal, which means getting at least one magic bean from Tamara and Greg. Charming is aided in this quest by Hook, who believes in self-preservation rather than dying for his cause as Tamara and Greg do.

Once Charming retrieves a magic bean, he and Snow decide to take a chance and send the self-destruct mechanism to another realm through the portal instead, saving Regina in order to do what’s good even though it might not be easy. However, once the Charming Family reaches Regina, Emma discovers that Hook took the bean for himself, leaving them with no option other than to prepare for their death and leaving Henry alone without his family. While Emma says goodbye to her parents and Henry shares a moment of understanding with Regina, Rumplestiltskin prepares for the destruction of this world by restoring Belle’s memories (thanks to a magical potion made by the Blue Fairy and given to him by Grumpy, who never forgot the kindness Belle once showed him) and allowing himself to grieve for his son.

Before Storybrooke is demolished, however, Emma realizes that while Regina may not be powerful enough on her own to stop the destruction, her magic may be able to work with Regina’s to stop it—and she’s right. But as soon as the moment of relief ends, panic sets in when the Charmings and Regina realize that Henry has gone missing. It turns out he’s more valuable to Tamara and Greg than the destruction of Storybrooke, and they take him through a portal to another realm.

Just as all hope appears to be lost for Henry, Hook returns with his ship, a magic bean, and a change of heart. It turns out he has a soft spot for abandoned boys with selfless streaks and big hearts, as we discover his relationship with Bae through flashbacks. What was at first a chance for Hook to find family and redemption in raising Milah’s son and keeping him safe from the shadow hunting him, turned into one of Hook’s darkest moments when he let the “Lost Ones” take Bae after the boy learned the truth about his mother, Hook, and his father. In the present, Hook wants to redeem himself for what he did to Bae by saving his son since everyone believes that Bae/Neal is dead (although we see him at the episode’s end being discovered by Aurora, Philip, and Mulan). Hook’s knowledge of Neverland will surely come in handy on the journey to rescue Henry, as Rumplestiltskin sees that’s where the boy is headed. Leaving Belle behind to keep Storybrooke safe and hidden as he goes to rescue his grandson (although Henry was once said to be his undoing), Rumplestiltskin sets foot on Hook’s ship with Charming, Snow, Emma, and Regina to save Henry from Peter Pan—the shadow who has been hunting a boy who looks just like Henry since Bae was a child in Neverland.

Game-Changing Moment Following last week’s big moment where Neal was sent through a portal, this episode also used a different realm to change the course of the show in a major way and set the stage for a very interesting Season Three. I definitely thought this season’s cliffhanger was going to be Henry going to Neverland somehow, but I honestly believed Hook was going to kidnap him for some reason. I didn’t see Tamara and Greg’s involvement coming at all (and I can’t say I’m thrilled about it). However, the quest to find Henry has the potential to create some fantastic storytelling and powerful moments between the men and women who I feel are the best actors on the show. It unites all of these characters against a common enemy, and that can only be a good thing after a season of so much fighting and so many fragmented stories. Also, the introduction of a new realm and a new villain have me excited for next season to start already—and isn’t that exactly what a finale should do? I think the choice to make Peter Pan evil is fascinating (and actually pretty believable—his story was always darker than it looked at first glance), and making a beloved fairytale character a kidnapping shadow creature is exactly the kind of twist on a classic story that makes Once Upon a Time compelling television. This is how you create a mysterious, interesting villain—not the haphazard way Tamara and Greg were thrown into the show. With Henry and his family’s journey to Neverland setting the stage for Season Three, I feel optimistic that this show, which has felt disjointed for some time now, will find its direction and heart once again.

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Title A Land Without Magic (1.22)

Written By Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz

Major Characters Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), Regina Mills/Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla), Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle), Henry Mills (Jared Gilmore), Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), David Nolan/Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), Jefferson/Mad Hatter (Sebastian Stan), Belle (Emilie de Ravin), August W. Booth/Pinocchio (Eion Bailey)

What Happens First, we’ll tackle the Fairytale Land side of this finale…Prince Charming escapes from the Evil Queen’s dungeon with a little help from the Huntsman (Jamie Dornan) and proceeds on his quest to find Snow White. However, the queen transports him to a forest that is impossible to navigate…without a little magical help, of course. That help comes in the form of Rumpelstiltskin, who offers Charming the Fairytale Land equivalent of a GPS device (he’s enchanted a ring given to Charming by his mother to glow brighter as he approaches Snow White). But of course, all magic comes with a price. In this case, Charming has to hide a potion (made from Charming and Snow’s true love) inside the dragon form of Maleficent. After a daring fight with the aforementioned dragon, Charming succeeds, and, as promised, Rumpelstiltskin gives him the ring, telling Charming that he has a vested interest not only in true love but in what true love creates.

What happens next is a second look at the opening scene of the pilot episode, with Charming racing to his beloved Snow White and restoring her to life with true love’s kiss. The finale takes this scene one step further with a marriage proposal and a promise to “take back the kingdom” from the evil forces that are now controlling it (King George, who Charming has to pretend is his father in an elaborate “Prince and the Pauper”-type story from earlier this season, and the Evil Queen).

And now to the events in Storybrooke…After eating a cursed apple turnover meant for Emma at the end of last week’s episode, Henry is rushed to the hospital while a helpless Emma learns from Dr. Whale (David Anders) that there is no explanation for his loss of consciousness. This triggers Emma to finally see that what happened to Henry is “like magic,” and upon holding his storybook, she finally believes everything he had been telling her all season: Storybrooke is a town filled with cursed fairytale characters and she is the daughter of Charming and Snow, the savior meant to break the curse cast upon them by Regina. This is confirmed during a raw, emotional confrontation with Regina, during which Emma (Henry’s birth mother) discovers that Regina (Henry’s adopted mother) can’t bring their son back to life because she used the last of her magic to create the apple turnover that Henry ate.

The two women then go to the only other person in Storybrooke with substantial power, Mr. Gold. He tells Emma that she needs to retrieve the potion that her father hid inside of Maleficent, who is being kept in her dragon form underneath the town. Before she confronts the dragon, Emma goes to see August, only to watch him return to his original form (a wooden puppet) right before her eyes. Emma defeats the dragon, but is tricked into giving up the potion to Mr. Gold, who experiences his own shocking twist when he comes face-to-face with his beloved Belle, who was thought to be dead. She was freed by Jefferson and sent to find Mr. Gold with the message that Regina is the one who had been holding her captive.

The happiness of this moment is soon forgotten when Emma and Regina receive simultaneous phone calls from the hospital: Henry is dead. While Regina looks on, Emma says her final goodbyes to her son, telling him she loves him and kissing his forehead. True love’s kiss proves once again to be strong enough to conquer all, waking Henry and breaking the curse cast upon all of Storybrooke’s residents. With their memories restored, Snow White and Prince Charming have an emotional reunion 28 years in the making – as do Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. However, Rumpelstiltskin has bigger plans than love at the moment, dropping the potion Emma acquired into a well and bringing magic to Storybrooke through what appears to be a purple version of Lost’s infamous smoke monster.

As the one who cast the curse, Regina knows she will have hell to pay and must go into hiding to save herself now that the townspeople remember who they are. Before she leaves the hospital, though, she pleads with Henry to believe that, no matter what anyone tells him, she does love him. Her tears upon entering her son’s empty bedroom fade to a cruel smile, though, as she sees the purple smoke of magic returning to the town, presumably restoring her powers as the clock strikes 8:15, the same time that Storybrooke was frozen at for 28 years before Emma came to the town in the pilot episode.

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