Title Quiet Minds

Two-Sentence Summary In Storybrooke, Neal joins Emma on the quest to find Rumplestiltskin, a quest he began in the Enchanted Forest during the lost year. Flashbacks reveal how Rumplestiltskin returned, why Zelena has his dagger, and who was prepared to pay the ultimate price for using dark magic.

Favorite Lines
Emma: Go ahead and laugh. I almost married a monster from Oz. It’s hilarious.
Neal: I almost married an evil minion of my grandfather, Peter Pan. So I know what you’re saying.

My Thoughts “All magic comes with a price.”

This has always been one of the core themes of Once Upon a Time. Actions have consequences, and the choices we make have lasting ramifications on not only our lives but the lives of those around us. “Quiet Minds” was an episode about choices—both the good and the bad ones; the smart and the foolish ones; the ones we make and the ones made for us. Yes, it had some confusing magical/supernatural elements, but the moments that stayed with me had nothing to do with special effects or fairytale mythology. What I’ll remember about this episode long after this show is off the air (hopefully many years from now) was the story it told about a group of fairytale characters struggling with the very real and very human choices they’ve made.

In this season’s “Quite a Common Fairy,” we were shown that Regina made a choice to run away from the prospect of a second chance at love and happiness with Robin Hood. Ever since that episode, I’ve been waiting for her to come face-to-face with the consequences of that choice, but I’ll admit that it happened much sooner than I expected.

I still predict that Regina and Robin fell in love during the lost year without her seeing his lion tattoo. They definitely shared more than just that one adventure during their missing year; they were immediately drawn to each other in the same way Snow and Charming were back when they were cursed Mary Margaret and David. The way Regina showed a flicker of recognition after they repeated their dialogue from the beginning of their Enchanted Forest relationship reminded me immediately of Charming knowing that Snow was the only thing that felt right about his life in Storybrooke back when they were cursed. Once Upon a Time always has fun with dramatic irony, and I’m having fun watching it play out with this relationship. Another thing I’m having fun with in terms of this relationship is the chemistry between Sean Maguire and Lana Parrilla. Their scene in the farmhouse was as blatantly driven by sexual tension as any scene in Once Upon a Time’s history.

Parrilla did a superb job of showing that Robin could actually make Regina happy. Her smile when she talked to him about whiskey absolutely melted my heart. But there is still a part of Regina that is afraid to open her heart, which is why she bolted the second she saw his tattoo. However, this Regina isn’t the young woman who ran away from Robin in the pub in the Enchanted Forest. She’s grown so much since then, and she’s become a woman who has made choices—both awful and good—and has finally learned to own up to the consequences of those choices. It doesn’t surprise me that she finally met the man who was destined to make her happy after selflessly giving up her true love—Henry—to pay the price for casting the first curse. Just as casting the curse had a consequence (giving up Henry), so did Regina choosing to undo it (meeting Robin Hood).

At the end of “Quiet Minds,” Regina had to once again own up to the consequences of a choice she made. Watching Robin play with Roland, Regina was watching the life she could have chosen for herself; the happiness that could have been hers had she chosen differently all those years ago. Parrilla broke my heart in those silent moments because you could feel her being drawn to this man whom she believes she’s finally ready to love but has missed her chance to be with. I can’t wait for her to discover that she can still choose to open her heart to him; she can still choose happiness, and it’s not too late.

You could see it written on Parrilla’s face as Regina watched Robin and Roland: She believes she isn’t meant to have a happy ending. That was a running theme in this episode as well: Is it really as simple as “heroes get happy endings and villains don’t,” or is the real world a whole lot less black-and-white?

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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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Title The New Neverland

Two-Sentence Summary In flashbacks, Snow nearly destroys her own happiness when a quest to find Medusa in order to destroy Regina turns her honeymoon with Charming into a potentially fatal mission. Snow’s appreciation for small moments of happiness in the past is contrasted by her daughter’s inability to appreciate or even have such moments in the present, as Emma gets thrown into the center of another crisis when she’s the first to realize that something is wrong with “Henry” upon returning to Storybrooke.

Favorite Lines
Emma: You sure you don’t have other reasons for pushing me towards Neal?
Charming: Like what?
Emma: I don’t know—keeping me away from Hook?
Charming: You think I’m interested in Hook? Emma, I’m a married man!

My Thoughts This episode still has my head spinning. It was an interesting setup to next week’s midseason finale because it asked way more questions than it answered, but that doesn’t always make for easy analyzing/reviewing. Therefore, I’m going to set this week’s episode up as a series of 20 questions I was left with following “The New Neverland.” Some are meant to spark debate and discussion; others are meant to get us speculating for next week’s big midseason finale.

So read on and then share your answers to some (or all!) of my queries. But just try to keep the spoilers out of the comments, if you would be so kind. I’m aware of most of the spoilers floating around now, but I know some people like to be surprised. If you want to talk spoilers, feel free to leave me a Tweet or an email, and I’ll be happy to indulge to your heart’s content!

1. Who else was impressed with Jared Gilmore in this episode?
Gilmore seemed to relish getting to play the villain for once, and he made the most of it. There were more than a few times where I was truly unsettled by his presence in a scene (especially when he was walking around Henry’s room), and I thought his physical performance was better than I could have hoped for.

2. Is Pan the most evil villain this show has ever had?
After all of this, I’m inclined to say yes. Cora was a close second, but she got that way by taking out her own heart because she still had a capability to love (which she saw—until her final moments—as an ultimate weakness). Pan, however, doesn’t need to have his heart removed to feel nothing but enjoyment at ruining (and ending) the lives of others for his own twisted power trips. The thing that stuck with me the most about Pan in this episode was the way he was still able to play his mind games away from his home turf and out of his own body. I’d been waiting to see him play on Regina’s MANY issues from the beginning of the Neverland arc, so it was sad but also perfectly executed to watch Pan prey on her desperation for love, especially love from her son. To be able to play the Evil Queen like a fiddle by using her emotions against her is about as evil as it gets. And to think of it as one parent preying on the love another parent has for their child makes the whole thing even more disturbing.

3. What is the thing Pan loves most?
In order for Pan to enact the Dark Curse, won’t he have to kill the thing he loves most? But what does he love, apart from himself and his youth? At first, I thought the final scene between Pan and Felix was going to end with Pan killing his most trusted Lost Boy to enact the curse. But does Pan love Felix? Does he love Rumplestiltskin? I think it would create an interesting conflict in the midseason finale with Pan trying to kill his son, but I don’t think he loves his son enough (or even at all) for it to work. Is it the Shadow? But how does one kill a Shadow?

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