OUAT: Wake Up Call

Last time on “Once:” Hook made it from Agrabah to a little village by the sea, finding Blackbeard there. He played him for a magic bean so Hook could get back to Emma, betting the Jolly Roger. He lost because Blackbeard cheated but Hook had an ace up his sleeve (not literally, though). Since he didn’t have the Roger, Blackbeard had to give him the bean so they could get it.


In Storybrooke, Regina worked to try to undo the sleeping curse but was having no luck. Henry offered to help her but they were sidetracked when he went into a trance, writing some strange things down. They had to go to Isaac to get help and he agreed to do it provided Regina freed him so he could get out of town. He said that Henry’s author powers were taking over and they were going to get worse.


Meanwhile, Emma agreed to help Gideon stop the Black Fairy if he brought back Hook. He took her to the Sorcerer’s mansion so that they could open a portal but instead of a pirate, a giant spider came through. It chased after them and they ran, trying to find a place to hide. However, the spider soon found them and Gideon betrayed Emma, leaving her to the spider so that he could drain her powers and open the portal so the Black Fairy could enter that dimension.


We got a glimpse of Gideon’s childhood with the Black Fairy. He stole back the book Belle left for him, reading from it to his friend Roger until the Black Fairy caught them. She decided to show Gideon he wasn’t a hero by giving him the option of saving Roger when she tortured him. But Gideon was a scared child and so he hid instead.


Gideon grew up and the Black Fairy tested him again. He was reunited with Roger, who told him of a Savior who could defeat the Black Fairy and her nefarious plans. The two of them tried to summon the Savior but the Black Fairy interrupted them, disappointed that Gideon failed. She turned Roger into a bug and then squashed him before taking Gideon’s heart, controlling him.


Emma almost died but Rumple saved her, helping her defeat the spider. Snow and Belle joined them as Emma told Rumple that his son was no good, that she couldn’t save him. He told her that she was making a mistake and Emma reminded him that she didn’t start this. Snow and Emma left as Belle wondered if Gideon was really a lost cause. Rumple believed he wasn’t especially as he was far away from the Black Fairy’s influence.


Except he wasn’t as even Emma’s brief brush with death was enough to open a bit enough hole for the Black Fairy to come through. She’s in Storybrooke and she has plans.


Hook and Blackbeard ended up in Neverland and the Lost Boys were not happy to see them. They chased the two pirates to a beach, where Blackbeard knocked out Hook and stole the only rowboat. Hook came to in time to see his frenemy row away without him. With the Lost Boys closing in, he ran off again.


Regina gave in to Isaac’s demands, though not completely. He was allowed to leave Storybrooke but in a minivan rather than a sports car and sans tickets to Hamilton. (Which apparently was a thing because the writers no doubt forgot their own timeline and the fact the show is still currently in 2015 at best). Before he left, Isaac told her and Henry that his powers were acting up because they were nearing the end of the book and the final battle was near. He warned them to leave the town too.


Can things get any worse?


Let’s find out!


Hook is still running from the Lost Boys as the episode opens. He takes a tumble down a hill that allows the Boys to surround him. Realizing he was cornered, he offered to tell them where he had hidden his treasures and rum but they just want him to suffer for what happened to Pan. Hook sighs and pulls his sword, ready to fight them. He tells them that he has someone waiting for him and so they need to make this quick.

(Hook is reunited with his first love, Floor)

The Lost Boys then all take tranquilizer darts to the necks and fall down, asleep. Hook spots Tiger Lily near by and greets her. She says she never thought she’d see him back in Neverland and he tells her it was not a planned trip. He thanks her for rescuing him and she responds by asking “Who said this was a rescue?” Before Hook can react, she jabs a dart in his neck and he passes out as well.

(Tiger Lily is not amused)

After the title card, Emma and David review the strange writing Henry did last episode. She realizes that if the final battle is looming, then they are at the end of the book. David says they should’ve seen it coming since Rumpelstiltskin mentioned her having to fight the final battle back in the Enchanted Forest. They just thought he meant breaking the curse. If they knew this, they wouldn’t have sent her through the wardrobe. She tells him not blame himself and then asks Henry to come with her to do some more research. Her hand starts to tremble and Henry assures her everything will be fine. She says it will be and they leave.


Regina slams the book closed as David says they can’t go into the final battle like this. Hook is trapped in another realm while David and Snow are stuck under a curse. Emma is going to need her family. Regina says she understands and he asks her to break the curse. She says it’s not easy, that this kind of magic needs experimenting and research and testing. This just reinforces my belief that Regina would’ve been a science nerd pushed into politics by her mother had she lived in our world. Anyway, David tells her that they will do whatever it takes so they can be there with Emma.

(Look how far they've come!)

Remember the pilot? Well, here are some clips flashed at you in case you forgot! We return to time of the First Dark Curse. Mary Margaret walks through town, clutching a bouquet of yellow flowers. She passes Granny, who puts out the sign for the diner. She says that Ruby is sleeping off another bender and wishes her granddaughter did more. These are supposed to be her golden years, after all. Mary Margaret then greets Marco, which causes him to drop something from his ladder and he’s annoyed at her. She apologizes as Archie and Pongo approaches. Pongo starts barking and pulling at Archie, who explains the dog is off gluten and so is moody.


I don’t blame him.


Mary Margaret collides with Regina, destroying her flowers. She apologizes and Regina snaps at her to watch where she is going. Mary Margaret explains that she was going to give the flowers to John Doe but she’ll pick up a fresh boutique. Regina tells her not to bother since he can’t tell anyway. Mary Margaret asks if there is any progress about finding his identity or family. Regina says no but that it doesn’t matter. Dr. Whale thinks he’ll never wake up. She then walks away, grinning happily.

(She looks so pleased with herself)

Just as Regina intended, the news disheartens Mary Margaret. She throws the flowers away and starts to head back the way she came. It appears she’s decided not to visit John Doe but then she spots a little pink flower growing by a curb. She picks it and heads off.


Mary Margaret enters John Doe’s room and places the flower in a little cup of water. She admits that she almost didn’t come but that she knew she had to give him the flower. With that, she turns to leave John Doe’s room and misses the glowing magic that flows from the flower to John Doe. His machines start going crazy and she grows worried as John Doe awakens.

(Is it a rose? A poppy? A combination?)

John Doe pulls off all the cords and wires, jumping out of bed. He calls Mary Margaret “Snow,” confirming that Charming still has his memories. She tells him she’s not Snow and tries to get him back in bed so she can get the doctor, telling him he’s been in a coma. But Charming is still in fight mode from when he was fighting the Queen’s guards to save Emma. He asks where the Queen is and if this was the curse. Mary Margaret thinks he’s insane.


Charming tries to convince her she is Snow White and that the curse made her forget. She offers to get a doctor but he tells her to look inside of herself, knowing Snow is still in there. She asks how he knows that and he says because he loves her and she loves him. He asks her to trust him, holding out his hand to her. She takes it and the flower’s magic wakes her as Snow gasps out his name. They share a Big Damn Kiss right there in view of the hospital staff.

(Reunited!)

In present times, Snow and a sleeping Charming are with Regina and Zelena in the vault. Regina makes sure that they want to do this and Snow confirms it, saying they can’t leave Emma to face the final battle alone. Regina apologizes for the pain before removing Snow’s heart while Zelena removes Charming’s. They see the curse darkening the heart halves and dip it into a potion. Zelena says it should wash the curse out of the hearts and the two should be good to go. When Regina removes it, the hearts do look bright and red. They return the halves but Snow collapses as Charming jerks around a bit. Regina realizes Queenie put a fail safe into her curse and now they’ve just weakened their hearts. Both Charmings will be asleep forever by nightfall.

(Why is Zelena here? When did we start trusting her again?)

You think Queenie would’ve remembered that and mentioned a way around it in those notes she supposedly left for Regina.


Charming storms down the hospital hallway, spotting Leroy. He calls him Grumpy and demands that he round up the other dwarfs. Leroy, of course, doesn’t take this well. Snow pretends Charming is a mental patient and pushes him into a ready room. She tells him that they are the only ones “awake” and everyone else is under the curse as she gives him clothes. He asks if she’s really been living in this awful place and she says Mary Margaret has but she has every miserable memory. Charming asks about Emma but Snow doesn’t know where she ended up. They figure Rumple might know and make plans to go ask him.

(Leroy is ready to take David)

However, they stop short when Regina arrives. She is berating the security guard (Sleepy?) about losing a coma patient. Snow gives Charming directions to Gold’s shop, saying he’s really Rumple. They arrange to meet up at the farmhouse on the edge of the woods—where Zelena now lives. Snow then goes to Regina, claiming that John Doe was sleepwalking and that she saw him heading into the woods.


The camera cuts away but I’m sure Regina laid into her for not stopping him or letting someone know.


Snow leaves a video message for David to let him know what happened while the others promise to keep looking for something to counter the curse. David, though, thinks Snow found it. He zooms in on something behind her and shows it to them. Regina realizes it’s a flower and Zelena identifies it as a Pixie. He says pixie dust should be powerful enough to undo the curse. Zelena, though, is worried about what the Pixie’s presence means. She says they only grow in the presence of strong dark magic, meaning that whoever Emma has to fight is in Storybrooke.


Rumple hangs out in his show as the door opens. He doesn’t turn around and the Black Fairy greets him. That gets him to face her and she says that the response he’s looking for is “Hello, Mother.” He asks her what she’s doing there and she says she had a little help, which is Gideon’s cue to enter. He greets his father, who realizes the story about stealing Emma’s powers to stop the Black Fairy and be hero were all lies. He just needed the power to bring the Black Fairy to Storybrooke. Gideon explains that she’s his mother and tells his father that one day, he will understand.

(Surprise!)

Belle comes out from the back and asks what’s going on. The Black Fairy says she’s glad to finally meet her. Belle tells Gideon that no matter what he’s done, he can come back them. The Black Fairy doesn’t think he’ll be going anywhere. Rumple then tries to use black fairy dust on her but she magicks his dagger into her hand, ordering him to put it down. He obeys and she says that she practically invented black magic, so of course she knows how to use his dagger. (Of course, the Dark One had existed long before her judging by the timeline of the show, so she didn’t practically invent it). Rumple asks if she’s going to control him but she gives the dagger back, saying she wants him to help her willingly. He says he’ll never do that but she says that when the darkness comes, he will come to her and they will be the family they should’ve been.


Back to the First Dark Curse. Charming makes it to Gold’s shop and is surprised when he sees Gold. He says he didn’t recognize him without the scales, which unnerves Gold. Charming tells him to cut the act, saying Rumple would never allow himself to be put under Regina’s curse. Gold thinks Charming is insane and directs him to Dr. Hopper’s office. It makes Charming grow angrier as he demands to know where his daughter is and he even pulls a sword on Gold. When Gold cowers in fear and continues to insist he doesn’t know anything, Charming realizes he is telling the truth and backs off. He says he and Snow will find a way to find Emma on their own.

(You can hear the alarm bells ringing)

The name “Emma” brings a change to Gold and he wakes up, commenting on how lovely Emma’s name is. Charming realizes he’s awake and Rumple confirms he just woke up. He asks Charming what woke him and Charming tells him about the flower Snow found. Rumple confirms it’s the pixie and says its magic can reunite true loves who are separated. Charming realizes it worked with him and Snow and Rumple says it should work on them and Emma. Charming thanks him and leaves. 


In the present, David asks Emma if she’s okay. She given an unconvincing answer before asking if the grid is all drawn up for the search. He confirms that it is and says that if they want to find the flower quickly, they are going to need Snow’s tracking skills. He says goodnight to his daughter and kisses her forehead. She asks how they do it—how her parents can still work together despite being separated by a curse. David tells her that it’s because he knows Snow is fighting just as hard as he is to get back to each other. And he assures Emma that Hook is doing the same for her. She thanks him for that.

(Daddy-Daughter hug)

Speaking of Hook, Tiger Lily slaps him conscious and he finds himself tied up. He asks her if this has to do with Skull Rock and she replies that if has to do with that Noodle Incident, she would’ve just left him to be killed by the Lost Boys. He then rages at her, saying he needs to get home to someone. She says he’s going to do something for her first, showing him a piece of wood. She says it’s a powerful weapon and it will be needed in the upcoming war. He has the fastest ship in all the realms so he can get it where he needs to be but he insists it’s not his war. But when Tiger Lily mentions the word Savior, he realizes that it is. He tells her that the woman he loves is the Savior and has her pull out the engagement ring to prove it.

("Do I look like I was born yesterday?")

Tiger Lily believes him and she starts to free him, explaining that the Black Fairy is in Storybrooke and the Savior is destined to fight her. She’s going to need that magical piece of wood. Hook explains that there is a curse preventing him from returning Storybrooke so he needs magic to break it. He asks if she has some and she says she doesn’t…but Pan might. She warns that if he does, it would be in his old camp. They would have to deal with the Lost Boys and there are a large number of them. Hook, though, says that he feels sorry for them because they will be no match for him and Tiger Lily.


Back during the Dark Curse, the search party is having no luck finding John Doe in the woods. Regina suggests heading back into town but Snow insists they have to keep looking, saying John Doe may be hurt or lost. After taking measure of her, Regina agrees and asks Archie to search the mines with Pongo. He seems reluctant but he heads in with his dog.


After circling Snow, Regina pulls out a box and opens it. She turns some knobs and reveals that the mine is rigged for detonation. All she has to do is flip a switch and the explosives go off—with Archie and Pongo inside. Snow puts on her best Mary Margaret voice as she asks why Regina would do that. Regina says that she thinks Mary Margaret and John Doe are awake. Snow acts confused, insisting she was just doing her rounds but Regina isn’t fooled. She suspects that Snow and Charming are trying to run away together. Snow is a hero who wouldn’t let Archie get hurt while Mary Margaret would be unable to stand up to her. It’s time to see who she really is. As Regina stares at her, fingers hovering over the switch, Snow pulls out a pair of scissors from her coat pocket, ready to stop Regina.


The cavalry shows up and Marco takes the box from Regina, warning her that it is dangerous like one would warn a child. She pushes past everyone else, noticing that Snow is gone. Angry, Regina demands to know where she went but no one knows.

(That face is the epitome of "God damn it")

In the present, Snow and Emma track the flower to the woods. They find a whole field of them, growing from the snow. They marvel at it before Emma grows concerned. She recalls that Zelena said they only grow in the presence of evil and wonders who it is that she needs to fight in the Final Battle to warrant a field of flowers.


Enter the Black Fairy. She tells Emma that she’s been eager to meet the her since she was destined to break the Black Fairy’s Dark Curse. Emma asks how she got there but gets her answer when Gideon enters the picture. She asks the Black Fairy if this is it and the Black Fairy replies that everyone will know when it’s time for the Final Battle. Snow, having nocked an arrow in her bow, tells the Black Fairy that they won’t let her hurt their daughter. The Black Fairy says that it will be hard when Snow and Charming are both asleep. She gives an order to Gideon, who destroys all the flowers. As Emma watches, horrified, the Black Fairy tells her that it’s better that way since no mother should watch her child die. She and Gideon then poof out of there.

("I already win the most fabulous competition, so I'm ahead in this game.")

In Neverland, Hook and Tiger Lily wait to raid Pan’s camp. However, the Lost Boys are doing what any unsupervised child would do—party and stay up late. She hands him the piece of wood, explaining it’s part of a powerful wand that once exiled the Black Fairy. Hook asks her how she got it and she says that he isn’t the only one with a past they are trying to forget. She says she once was a fairy and she gave up her wings because she was the closest to the Black Fairy. She feels that if anyone could’ve stopped her, it should’ve been her. So she gave up her wings once the other fairies exiled the Black Fairy and moved to Neverland. Hook tells her that if he can get a second chance, than she can to. But she says no one will get a second chance if Emma doesn’t get that wand…piece. She points out a tree and says that its sap will have the magic Hook needs. He asks how they are supposed to even get there with the Lost Boys around. She tells him to leave it to her.


Tiger Lily interrupts their Lord of the Flies recreation and leads the Lost Boys away from camp. Hook rushes in, using his hook to draw some sap from the tree. As he starts to cut his shadow from him, another Lost Boy spots him and sounds the alarm. They descend on Hook, having already captured Tiger Lily. Hook tries to fly away on his shadow but they pull him back. He makes a choice, sending the wand piece and his hook with his shadow as the boys capture him. His shadow flies off to Storybrooke.


At the farmhouse, Charming and Snow reunite. He says he was worried about her and she explains that Regina knows that they are awake. She warns that Regina will come looking for him. Charming asks if she brought the flower and she pulls it out. He says that it should reunite with them Emma and they start to head out to be reunited with their daughter.


Rumple, though, stops them. He tells them that they’ve only been cursed for ten years and so Emma isn’t twenty-eight, when she’s destined to become the savior and break the curse. He says that if the Charmings reunite with her now, she won’t fulfill her destiny and so while they are awake—no one else will ever come out of the curse. He holds out a potion he says will put them all under the curse until Emma comes to break it. Charming yells that Rumple doesn’t have a child waiting for him out there and so he doesn’t understand. Rumple snaps back that Charming doesn’t know who he has waiting for him. Charming points out that Rumple doesn’t have magic and can’t stop them, storming past them. Rumple focuses on Snow, giving her the potion and pretty much telling her that she’ll see he’s right. She leaves as he watches, almost knowing what they’ll do.

(How many times do I have to say this? Do not trust this man!)

Snow apologizes to Emma, saying she never wanted to leave her alone again but she was going to be forced to do so. She also apologizes for making her the Savior and setting her up for this terrible destine. Emma assures her mother that it’s not her fault and that everything will okay. She tells Snow it’s not her fault but Snow says that’s not exactly true. She’s about to spill some big secret when Emma spots one Pixie growing in the snow. They pick it and Snow wonders how it survived. Emma thinks it was because it had to.

Or because they grow in the presence of evil and even though Gideon destroyed an entire field, the Black Fairy is still in Storybrooke so they are going to keep growing? I mean, that plan was very flawed, Black Fairy.

Back in what we now know is 1993, Snow gathers up some pixie dust from the flower. She asks Charming what they do now. He guesses they think of Emma and let the magic do the rest. So she closes her eyes and tosses the dust in the air. It creates a door which Charming opens, revealing the same effect they used for the Land of Untold Stories. Snow touches it and it clears up to reveal little Emma sitting on her bed, listening to music and reading. They stare in awe at their daughter with Charming close to tears. He says they can’t waste another minute and rushes toward the door, saying they have to get her.

Snow stops him, saying that they can’t. He tells her to ignore Rumple (excellent advice) but she says it’s not him. Regina reminded her earlier that they are heroes who wouldn’t selfishly go after their own happiness at the cost of others’. She was willing to risk everything to keep Archie safe and after years of living in the same town as all their friends, seeing them separated from the loved ones, she’s willing to risk it all again. Snow says they have to wait a little longer to be reunited with their daughter in order to make sure everyone gets saved. Charming resists, wondering about Emma. She says they have to trust she’ll be strong enough without them. He caves and they close the door, leaving Emma to a foster care system she’ll constantly run away from, end up resorting to petty theft, get pregnant, go to prison, give up her child and ultimately have trust and relationship issues.

As you can tell, I have feelings about this. We’ll unpack them later.

They hear the search party looking for him and Snow starts crying, saying she didn’t think she would have to say goodbye so soon. He assures her it won’t be long before they are reunited with each other and Snow adds Emma as well. They share a kiss before taking the potion, Charming slipping back into the coma and Snow becoming Mary Margaret once more.

As Emma helps her mother into bed, Regina drains the pixie of its dust. She thinks there’s enough dust to break the curse but they have to hurry as they are losing time. The window blows open and Hook’s shadow flies in. At first, they think it’s the Black Fairy but Emma soon recognizes the truth. She asks it where Hook is but of course the shadow can’t talk. It hands her the wand piece, drops the hook and caresses her cheek before disappearing. Henry reassures his mom that they’ll find Hook but Emma isn’t sure. She knows something is wrong but she doesn’t know where he is so she can help him.

Snow says there is a way to find him. She tells Emma that the pixie magic will reunite separate loves and she tells Emma about how they used it to find her when she was little. Snow says they could’ve been a family, Emma wouldn’t have become the Savior, wouldn’t need to fight the Black Fairy. Despite all her issues, Emma takes it very well and says that she understands her parents put everyone else above their own happiness. Snow says they are going to put Emma first and let her find Hook so that she’s not alone for the Final Battle. Snow falls asleep as Emma clutches the dust.

Umm, what about Neal? Is no one going to talk about how they have an infant reliant on them for everything? Who is taking care of him? Granny? And who is going to take care of him? Emma? Regina? Hello?

Hook is tied to a stake and the Lost Boys are about to burn him at it. Tiger Lily apologizes but Hook’s okay with his fate, glad Emma got the wand. But then a door opens and Emma stumbles out, ready to rescue her man. Hook apparently could just walk away from the stake and does so as Tiger Lily takes out a few Lost Boys, as does Emma. She grabs Hook and they dive through the door as Tiger Lily races off, taking shelter in the woods as the Lost Boys try to figure out what just happened.

Emma and Hook land on the floor of the loft. He asks her how she got to him and she says she got his message. That…didn’t answer the question he asked but okay. She gives him back his Hook and he apologizes for not telling her about killing her grandfather. She apologizes for being so hard on him. Hook says there’s something he needs to do before another portal swallows him and thought he’s hurt, he pulls out the engagement ring. He tells her he’s going to ask properly this time as Regina hurries Henry away to give them privacy.

Hook tells Emma that he knows she faces an uncertain future but he wants her to know that one thing is certain: he will be by her side. He gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him. Emma kneels in front of him and accepts, kissing him. Hook puts the ring on her finger and they share a smile.

He then asks to speak to her parents, to get that over with. Emma’s mood darkens and she looks at the bed, where her parents are sound asleep. He asks what’s going on and Emma says that they went under a sleeping curse so she could rescue him. He tries to comfort her as Regina tells Emma that she has an idea that might just work.

Regina gathers several of the cast in her office and says that she knows that life in Storybrooke hasn’t always been easy. She admits she hasn’t always made it so (though she did curse them to live in a relatively safe town in a first world country and froze everything at 80s prices if screenshots can be believed). She says she found out that Snow and Charming had the chance to leave long ago but they chose to stay for the sake of everyone in Storybrooke. So she’s asking everyone now to make a sacrifice for them. She holds out a silver chalice and explains that it contains the sleeping curse put on the Charmings. She thinks if they all share it, it will weaken the curse and allow the Charmings to wake up.

Okay.

Hook volunteers first, taking a sip from a clearly empty cup. Couldn’t they have at least put water in the chalice? Anyway, Regina goes next, followed by Emma and Henry. Leroy declares he needs a nap anyway and leads the recurring characters in drinking from the chalice. Once everyone has sipped from it, we see the same effect used for True Love’s Kiss and then a close up of Snow’s eye.

She turns her head to see David is awake as well. They share a kiss and he tells her that he knew she would figure it out. Snow says she didn’t do anything and they finally notice everyone on the floor around them. They panic and David heads straight over to Emma, who is curled up with her head resting on Hook’s chest. David strokes her cheek and she wakes up, greeting her father. She hugs her parents and explains that they all shared a bit of the sleeping curse. David then helps up Hook, who asks if David knows about what he did. David says he does but that it’s in the past, that Hook is a different man. They share a hug as well.

Regina approaches the family reunion and Snow thanks her for figuring it out. But Regina says it was because Snow inspired the entire town by giving up her family. Snow says they got a bigger one in return and she then tells Emma that’s how she knows Emma will defeat the Black Fairy—she’ll never be alone.

Rumple meets up with his mother outside the library. The Black Fairy waxes on about time but Rumple just wants to know why she gave him his dagger back. She repeats that she wants him to join her willingly and he asks if it’s because Gideon didn’t. He says he knows she has Gideon’s heart and she asks him how he knew. Rumple says it’s because Gideon left one flower after she ordered him to destroy them all. He says Gideon was able to resist her because he has his real mother in, the one who truly loves him. The Black Fairy grows upset and insists he wouldn’t betray her like that but Rumple tells her he did. He tells her that he’ll get Gideon’s heart back and the Black Fairy says that will ignite a conflict that could destroy the town. He’s cool with that and he walks away, leaving her by herself.

Okay, rant time. You have been warned.

I get that they had to get Hook back and so they introduced this McGuffin to do so. But did it have to come at the cost of Snow and Charming? Because they did not emerge from this episode in a good light. In fact, they came out looking like horrible parents. There was no mention of Neal. We didn’t have to see him but it was like no one remembered that Snow and Charming had an infant. Snow went into the sleeping curse having no plan for her son. No one even brought Neal up. They put one child over the other, which they do tend to do. Of course, they put a whole town over their child when they decided not to go after Emma. Which brings us to…
This probably should’ve been a plot done in an earlier season, not now when the writers are trying to wrap up every storyline. It would’ve provided some good drama between Snow, Charming and Emma—especially when Emma was still hurting over being abandoned as a child. (Though I still find her easy acceptance of it here still to be out of character, even for an Emma who is in a good place with her parents and understands what it means to be a hero). Instead, it’s a one and done and doesn’t deal with some of the issues it raises—once again, parents choosing an entire town over their child. Do the ends justify the means?
Of course the writers couldn’t have Snow and Charming go get Emma as a ten years old as that would throw everything off. But it just seemed a bit weak. Nothing before ever suggested that Emma needed to be away from her parents to become the Savior. It always seemed she was just destined to fill that role when she turned twenty-eight. After all, the original plan was to send Snow through the wardrobe so she could give birth to Emma and then help her fulfill her destiny. Why couldn’t Charming and Snow get her and raise her to be the Savior? Why did Snow believe Rumple of all people? It just seemed like there could’ve been alternatives or compromises that they tried to explore before someone stopped them, maybe by force or something else.
Just…this episode. I think I’m going to have to stop before my blood pressure skyrockets.
Next time: We return to Oz as Zelena goofs up in Storybrooke.