OUAT: There's Something Rotten in Denmark

Well, Storybrooke, but if the writers are citing Hamlet, then so am I!

Last time on “Once:” Belle and Rumple reeled from the revelation that the hooded figure fated to kill Emma was their son, now all grown up after being kidnapped by the Black Fairy. He explained he needed to kill the Savior in order to free the realms from the Black Fairy and Rumple tried to help him while Belle pleaded with the heroes to give her a chance to get through to her son. David and Hook agreed, though they were determined to keep Emma safe.

Speaking of Emma, she was still trapped in the wish realm. Regina was shocked to see Robin Hood alive and well, though he robbed them. Prince Henry was also determined to capture her and make her pay for killing his grandparents. Emma believed she knew a way for them to go home.

That way? Pinocchio, all grown up and one of Princess Emma’s good friends. She asked him if he still had the wardrobe but he said his father destroyed it. But he believed he could make another one to send Emma and Regina home. Well, Emma at least as Regina decided to go off to see if Robin’s life was better without her.

She found him in the tavern and he told her that he had a great life. She believed he was happy without her and went to leave. They were then captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham and Regina learned that Robin was not an honorable thief but a common one stealing for himself. Marian died before they could marry, so he was all alone and without love. After Rumple freed them but then locked them up again, Robin admitted that he wasn’t happy. He asked her about the other Robin and she told him about his other self—including the fact he died. Still, Robin believed his other self had a good life.

He then broke them out so Regina could find Emma.

Speaking of Emma, she and Pinocchio found another enchanted tree to turn into the wardrobe. Captain Hook, though, showed up to “rescue” Princess Emma. Emma was shocked to find he was older and heavier as well as drunk. He was easily taken care of with a wave of her hand but in the process, Pinocchio’s chisel was broken. He believed he couldn’t make the wardrobe and stormed off, apologizing to Emma for letting her down.

Emma tried herself but when she found a wooden swan, she realized what she had to do. She showed it to Pinocchio, who tells her an alternate interpretation of the Ugly Ducking that she once heard as a child. Emma gave Pinocchio a pep talk and he managed to make the wardrobe. Regina showed up with Robin, who gave her a feather off his lucky arrow. She confessed she believed part of her Robin ended up living on in him and Emma convinced her to bring Robin with them. He agreed and they all headed back to Storybrooke.

In Storybrooke, Emma came face-to-face with Gideon. They fought and it seemed he got the upperhand when he got the sword from her. But despite her tremors, Emma was able to use her magic on him and shattered the sword. Rumple pleaded with her not to hurt his son, allowing Gideon to get away. Emma and Regina were reunited with their family and they prepared to save Emma while Gideon threw a teenage temper tantrum in the clock tower as his parents fretted at the well.

And thus started the second half of Season Six. Let’s continue!

It’s a dark and stormy night. A man enters a cabin and we hear two babies crying. His frantic wife asks him if he was able to get the medicine and he says he couldn’t, that he failed James and David. Yes, the woman is a younger Ruth and the man is David’s father, Robert. They don’t know what they will do.

(Babies!)

Enter Rumpelstiltskin, who throws down money to buy the medicine the boys need. However, there’s a catch. He tells them the story of King George, who has a lot of riches but no sons, and of Robert, who has no riches but two sons. Ruth pulls a knife and tells Rumple that he won’t take one of her sons, but Robert says it’s for the best. They can assure both their boys a good life that way, especially once Rumple tells them that neither would survive the winter otherwise. Rumple gives Robert a coin to flip—heads he takes David, tails he takes James. Robert tosses it and it ends up tails. Rumple takes James as his parents say their goodbyes, promising that they will always love him. Rumple warns them that they’ll never see him again and they can’t speak of this to anyone.

And then he’s gone with James, leaving David crying all alone in his crib.

OUAT: Bombshell

Last time on Once’s First Season: Gold repossessed florist Moe French’s van right before Valentine’s Day due to non-payment on a loan or whatever racket Gold is running. Moe got revenge by breaking in and stealing things from Gold’s house. One item in particular incensed Gold and he went after Moe despite Emma’s warnings not to. She rescued Moe from Gold, locking him up when he refused to explain why he was beating the man senseless.

In the Enchanted Forest, Moe was a duke named Maurice. He asked the Dark One for help in the Ogre Wars and Rumple’s price was Maurice’s daughter, Belle. She agreed to go be the Dark One’s servant to help her people. Over time, she and Rumple grew closer and she came to love him. He felt the same but feared it.

After killing her fiancé Gaston, Rumple tested Belle. He sent her out to the village, fully expecting her not to return. Belle met Regina, who told her about True Love’s Kiss. Eager, Belle returned home and used it on him. When he realized it, though, he flipped out and threw her in a cell. He then let her go, saying he loved his power more than her. Belle didn’t believe that but left.

Later, Regina went to Rumple and told him that Belle had died. She gloated before he threw her out of Dark One Manor.

Regina visited Gold in jail and gave him back his chipped teacup. She then got him to reveal that he has his memories and there was clear animosity between them. The episode ended with Regina going deep in the hospital to visit someone locked up—Belle.

We open in the Enchanted Forest. Princess Can’t Be Bothered is greeted by King George, arriving in No-Name Kingdom for her wedding to Prince “James.” She asks if everything’s alright and he assures her it is. He then turns to his knights and orders them to find “him.”

(She looks so beautiful and so bored)

“Him” is David, who is riding as hard as possible. The knights pursue him and he has to hide from them, pulling himself and his horse off the road. Confused, they turn back and David breaths out in relief…until he is knocked out.

(They'll never find me in this bright red cloak!)

OUAT: David and Goliath

Last time on “Once:” Emma became the deputy sheriff as an old mine shaft collapsed. Regina looked ready to kill Graham but had to focus on assuring the people of Storybrooke that something will be done with the mine…and then assuring her son that she wasn’t hiding anything. Except she totally was, but he didn’t realize that. Regina demanded that Archie step up his therapy and squash all the fairy tale notions from her son. He was reluctant but she threatened to destroy his life.

So Archie did so and an upset Henry decided to explore the mine by himself. Archie went in after him as Emma searched around the mine. Another collapse trapped Archie and Henry in the mine, forcing Regina and Emma to work together to save their son. Emma did so and Archie confronted Regina, threatening her so he could continue treating Henry the way he saw fit.

In the Enchanted Forest, we learned more about Jiminy Cricket. He wasn’t always a cricket and was a human man trapped by his conmen of parents. He met a young boy who shows him some kindness but he ruined everything when he accidentally gave the boy’s parents a potion meant for his parents. The parents are turned into demonic marionettes and Blue turned a guilty Jiminy into a cricket so he could protect the young boy, Gepetto.

All the while, David and Mary Margaret were undeniably attracted to each other. But he still has a wife.

That, my friends, is a conundrum.