Title The Tower

Two-Sentence Summary In the Enchanted Forest during the lost year, Charming goes on a quest for a plant to cure his anxiety after Snow tells him they’re going to have another baby, but instead he discovers Rapunzel, held captive in her tower by her own fears. In Storybrooke, Zelena causes Charming to face his fears about fatherhood—possibly stealing his courage (or at least a symbol of it)—in the process, while our heroes finally discover that Rumplestiltskin is alive and apparently on the loose in the town.

Favorite Line “That’s the best part of a small town; everybody knows everybody. It’s like a big family.” (Regina)

My Thoughts If last week’s “Witch Hunt” was a reminder that Once Upon a Time could recapture some of the humor that had been missing for long stretches of the show’s recent past, then “The Tower” was a reminder that it could also recapture the show’s sense of mystery. I love character beats as much as (if not more than) the next person, but I also love smart, interesting plotting. And the fact that I couldn’t sleep last night because my mind kept turning over new theories about where this season is going makes me a very happy (and very exhausted) fan.

While there were moments in Neverland that were dark (both literally and thematically), nothing Once Upon a Time has done before was as thoroughly creepy as “The Tower.” When an episode begins with a doll with a spinning head, you know you’re in for something unsettling—and that was putting it mildly. Credit should be given to director Ralph Hemecker for setting a strong, disturbing tone through his camerawork. What I was most impressed with was the way he made a variety of scenes equally suspenseful: the intimately sadistic showdown between Rumplestiltskin and Zelena in his cell; the choppy, panic attack-esque tone of the nightroot-induced confrontations; and the “demon among us” feeling invoked by the way he shot the meeting between Zelena and the Charmings.

Hemecker showed a deft directorial touch from the episode’s opening moments. I loved the use of color in Charming’s nightmare—everything felt just a little too bright, a little too surreal. I had seen the promo for this episode and knew we’d be seeing Emma in a princess gown, but even knowing that couldn’t take away the pain of watching Charming live out the life he never got to experience with his daughter. The hauntingly beautiful piano version of the show’s true love theme certainly didn’t improve my emotional state.

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Title Witch Hunt

Two-Sentence Summary In Storybrooke, Emma and Regina team up to try to figure out who is behind the new curse, while Hook, Charming, and Robin Hood learn that Storybrooke residents are being turned into flying monkeys. In flashbacks to the previous year in the Enchanted Forest, Regina and Robin journey back to Regina’s castle, where she discovers that its new tenant—the Wicked Witch of the West (aka Zelena)—is more familiar with her than she could have imagined.

Favorite Lines
Emma: The Wicked Witch of the West? Seriously, she’s real, too?
Hook: Says the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.

My Thoughts It seems Once Upon a Time is going back to its roots. Last week’s “New York City Serenade” wasn’t shy about directly paralleling the show’s pilot in several obvious ways. But it was the tone of this week’s “Witch Hunt” that really reminded me of Season One. This episode featured mysteries, dramatic irony, strong emotions, sly humor, some long-lost (but beloved) cast members, and one heck of a last-minute twist—all of my favorite things from this show’s early days wrapped up in one incredibly well-acted package. And to top it off, it was wonderfully self-aware in the way that this show is when it’s at its best. Putting all of these elements together, it should come as no surprise that this was a Jane Espenson episode. She’s always been one of my favorite Once Upon a Time writers, and her strengths were on full display once again in “Witch Hunt.”

One of the best things about Espenson’s writing is her sense of humor, and this episode had me laughing more than any episode of this show has in quite some time. From Grumpy/Leroy wondering which witch they were dealing with (because houses and water are two very different methods of murder) to Hook and his faux sympathy for Charming and Snow being near harvest time but not remembering the planting (in reference to Snow’s pregnancy), this episode had some great one-liners. And any episode that allows Emma to react to the fairytale situations around her in a very real way is a winner in my book because Jennifer Morrison never fails to make me laugh in those moments. The only thing better than Emma’s exasperation over the Wicked Witch was Hook’s equally exasperated response. He’s right; she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming—you’d think she’d be used to this by now. But that’s the great thing about Emma; she always manages to feel like a real person caught up in this crazy world. Kudos to Morrison for never letting us forget that “fairytale mode” is not Emma’s default mental state.

I also love when Once Upon a Time isn’t afraid to have a little fun at its own expense. In this episode, I especially enjoyed the little nod to Grumpy constantly being used as a town crier. The edit from Regina saying she knew exactly who to use to get the word out quickly to Grumpy running into Granny’s was fantastic. Another example was Charming’s sarcastic shock that Regina actually didn’t do anything to upset the Wicked Witch. If Josh Dallas is the master of delivering what could be the cheesiest lines with disarming sincerity, he’s also the master of deadpan delivery of fairytale-based humor.

One of my favorite comedic moments of the episode was Hook bringing up that Emma was going to marry a flying monkey in front of Charming. I thought it was perfect that Charming was more concerned about Emma getting married than he was about her nearly marrying a flying monkey. But leave it to Hook to remind Charming where his priorities should be with just the right amount of sass. Dallas and Colin O’Donoghue have developed a great rapport and nice sense of comedic chemistry together. Their gift for “bromantic” banter has made them one of the show’s most entertaining dynamics.

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Title New York City Serenade

Two-Sentence Summary After getting her memories back, Emma must leave behind the life she thought was real to journey with Hook and a still-in-the-dark Henry back to Storybrooke, which has been re-created by a mysterious curse that has also wiped a year’s worth of memories from all of the town’s inhabitants. Though the residents of the town aren’t sure who brought them back there, all signs point to the Wicked Witch, who has taken over Regina’s castle in the Enchanted Forest and sent one of her flying monkeys to take some of Regina’s blood and later pose as Emma’s boyfriend in New York City.

Favorite Lines
Emma: You could be a crazy person, or a liar, or both.
Hook: I prefer dashing rapscallion…Scoundrel?
Emma: Give me one good reason not to punch you in the face.

My Thoughts After what felt at times like the longest midseason hiatus imaginable, Once Upon a Time returned last night with a new energy that has me excited for how this half of Season Three is going to play out. In a similar way to “The Heart of the Truest Believer,” “New York City Serenade” did an excellent job of highlighting what appear to be the important arcs of Season 3B: the mystery of the new curse, the Wicked Witch versus the Evil Queen, Henry and his missing memories, the quest to find out what really happened to Rumplestiltskin, and Emma’s struggle to find normalcy and happiness in her life as the savior.

The biggest theme of this episode was the idea of finding a home. Just as “The Heart of the Truest Believer” set up the Neverland arc’s major theme of belief, “New York City Serenade” raised the question of what home means for each of the major characters.

And what does home mean for a woman who’s never really had one? Yes, Emma built a home with Henry in New York, but that was a home with a false foundation. It seems that, for Emma, home is less about a place than it is about a feeling, and I think the same can be said for all of these characters. Home is where you feel safe, stable, and loved. Emma has been searching her whole life to find that, and I think this episode showed that she may never find it in any one place—because, for these characters, home is often found in another person.

This universal search for a place to call home brought characters together in fresh ways in “New York City Serenade.” Even characters we’ve seen interact many times before worked together with a new energy. Maybe some of that was due to the writing being a little brighter and lighter than it has been for quite some time. But I think a lot of the credit should go to the actors. There was a genuine sense of comfort, confidence, and understanding between all of them in this episode. Nothing felt forced, and that was important for an episode that was heavily dependent on the chemistry between certain actors to make various plot points believable.

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