OUAT: What a Tangled Web

Get the pun? If not, hopefully you will by the end of the recap.

Last time on “Once:” Alice believed she had found a cure for the curse that separated her from her father—Wish!Hook. However, it didn’t and Hook ended up injured. She ran away to Wonderland, pursued by Ella and Henry. Henry realized Ella was familiar with Wonderland and she revealed that her mother ran away to Wonderland, abandoning her father. Ella hoped to find her mother and get answers, entering the infinite maze to do so.

Ella found Alice as well as her mother’s locket. Alice knew Ella’s mother, Cecilia, and revealed that her mother ran away to Wonderland because she was poisoned the same way Wish!Hook was. She had to stay away from the people she loved and was looking for a cure. Unfortunately, she was killed when the Jabberwocky attacked. Ella thanked her for telling her that and seemed to make peace with the fact that her mother hadn’t just abandoned them for no reason.

Alice revealed a pretty sorceress tricked her into thinking she was cured and Ella realized it was Drizella. Meanwhile, Drizella tried to poison Henry’s heart with the same curse but Ella got there just in time to save him thanks to her Magical Lockets of True Love. She finally gave into her feelings for Henry and they shared a Big Damn Kiss, complete with 360 camera work.

They returned to camp to assure Wish!Hook that Alice was fine and that she hoped they would be reunited one day. Regina noticed they were holding hands and wished them the best. Tiana then revealed that someone claiming to be friends with Henry showed up. He introduced the man as Jack, one of his first friends in the Enchanted Forest, and Jack joined the rebellion.

Meanwhile, Hyperion Heights reeled over Victoria’s arrest. Henry recorded some footage of Drizella for his podcast and she asked if he would want to make videos with Belfrey Industries’ backing. Regina stepped in and warned Drizella away from her son but Drizella was feeling pretty in control, revealing that Eloise Gardiner was Mother Gothel. Regina certainly knew who she was and how dangerous she was.

Gothel, meanwhile, checked in with Officer Rogers and brought him a cake. Regina later threw it out when she found out Gothel made it and she encouraged Rogers to give Tilly a second chance. It certainly gave Rogers something to think about it and he later made a standing appointment with Tilly to play chess with her each week.

Lucy was put into a foster home and Sabine convinced Jacinda to enlist the help of Lucy’s bio-dad (at least according to the curse)—Nick, who is just a cursed Jack. He has become a lawyer and he agreed to help her get their daughter back, though he was probably also flirting with her—even taking her to a fancy restaurant. He met Henry and the two bonded immediately, though it was dampened on Henry’s side when he learned who Nick was. But he had to admit he was a good man and tried to get Lucy to bond with her father. She was having none of it, convinced Nick was the “Kathryn.”

Meanwhile, Regina met with Rumple and told him that she was awake. She told him that Gothel was around and that they both knew they couldn’t let her continue to be free. Rumple, though, played dumb and pretended he wasn’t awake. So Regina said she would get help from somewhere else.

Henry continued to work on the food truck but when he saw Jacinda and Nick coming back from a date, he left after giving her the keys. She chased after him and explained that she felt something for him but she needed to focus on Lucy. She confessed that she didn’t lose Lucy—she signed her parental rights over to Victoria, believing it was for the best. Now she was scared that Lucy will hate her for it. Henry reassured her that it wouldn’t happen and encouraged her to tell that to Nick so he could help her. He then said that maybe it wasn’t a good time for them to start anything and they parted ways.

He then went and drank his feelings, horrifying Regina when she found him at her bar. It only grew as he railed against love, especially since it wasn’t going to work out with Jacinda. She took the bottles from him and said that she needed to go to San Francisco to enlist the help of someone who hates Victoria Belfrey…but hates her more. She invited Henry to come along with her to get a change of scenery and he agreed, saying he had the perfect playlist for their car ride.

Jacinda and Nick got Lucy returned to her custody and Lucy happily returned home to her mother. Jacinda apologized for giving her up but promised that she would always fight for her going forward. Lucy forgave her and told her she believed in her. Jacinda then introduced Lucy formally to Nick, though she wasn’t too thrilled about that. After, Jacinda went to Roni’s to give Henry a mix tape but was told he went to San Francisco with Roni. She left, disappointed.

Drizella and Gothel continued to work together. Gothel asked Drizella to find Anastasia’s body so they could get to her magic. Drizella finally found her in one of Victoria’s other properties but when they opened the coffin, it was empty and so their search continued.

We open in the middle of a storm as a team of horses race through the night, leading a carriage. A clocked figure guides them as two small children rest in the back, caring for a sick man. The carriage comes to a stop by a gate and the man asks the driver why they have stopped, addressing the person as “Rapunzel.” We see Rapunzel in the front seat—and this time it is her, the woman whose appearance Mother Gothel stole in order to seduce Wish!Hook. She explains that she found some food for them and he apologizes that she must care for them. Rapunzel assures him—Marcus—that things will get better and all the dreams they have for their family will come true. She then tells her daughters to stay with their father and assures them that the lanterns will connect them—they will see hers and she’ll see theirs. She promises that family always finds a way to stay together before heading into the garden beyond the gate.

(It's Rapunzel--the real one!)

OUAT: Are We Really Doing This $#!* Again?

Last time on “Once:” Roni was still reeling from discovering the picture of her and Henry from another life while Henry was worried that the pictures Ivy posted of him and her from Halloween had cooled Jacinda to him. Lucy, meanwhile, was excited to know about the picture and realized that Roni was Regina, Henry’s adoptive mother and the Evil Queen. Roni was less than thrilled to be an Evil Queen but Lucy ran off to find a way to prove it to her.

Roni revealed that she had tried to adopt and came close to having a baby boy of her own before the adoption agency decided she wasn’t mother material. Henry told her that she was like a mother to him and she pushed him to help Jacinda fix up her food truck. She decided to go help Lucy, hoping that if they play along she’ll then realize that the stories were just fairy tales and leave them alone.

Lucy had been hoping for the storybook to appear in her closet but Roni took her to see Rumple instead, asking him to see if a woman named Regina Mills ever adopted a son in Boston. He asked what he would get in return and she promised to owe him a favor. They had a deal. Rumple quickly delivered, giving Roni Regina’s adoption application. She compared the handwriting and realized it matched.

Meanwhile, Rogers got some advice from Tilly about his case. She advised him to look at the pieces he already had and he would see he had more clues than he thought. It pushed Rogers to find the man from the previous episode but he dead. Oops.

In the Enchanted Forest, Regina was feeling a bit useless since Henry seemed to be able to take care of himself and had found a kickass almost girlfriend to watch his back. So she took a walk in the woods and rescued Drizella from the Audrey II. Drizella admitted she has magic but was never allowed to learn to use it. She wanted it so she could get out of her life with her controlling mother who was forcing her to marry a prince. Regina definitely could relate so she offered to teach Drizella herself.

Rumple reappeared and told Regina about his life with Belle and his goals. She wished him luck and he warned her to be careful, saying there was probably a reason Lady Tremaine was letting Drizella learn magic. Regina thought of Cora and realized he was probably right. So she used her mirror to allow Drizella to see Lady Tremaine. They learned Lady Tremaine was preparing to take Drizella’s heart out to bring back her dead daughter, Anastasia. Regina promised to protect Drizella but drew the line at killing Lady Tremaine. So Drizella ran off.

Regina followed her and watched in horror as Drizella killed her fiance in order to darken her heart. She then told her mother that she was going to cast the Dark Curse so that Lady Tremaine was sent to a place where she would suffer. Regina promised to stop Drizella and told her that heroes always break curses. Drizella vowed to make hers unbreakable and poofed away.

Later, Regina confided in Henry that she felt foolish for telling Drizella about the Dark Curse. She also admitted that she felt useless since he didn’t need her. Henry assured her that no matter how old he got and whoever he befriended, he was always going to need his mother. She loved him and he loved her. That was that.

Back in Hyperion Heights, Drizella paid Roni a visit and gave her a drink. It contained a magical potion that woke Regina back up, restoring all her memories. She lashed out at Drizella but realized she didn’t have her magic. Drizella also reminded her about what would happen if the curse is broken—namely, everyone Regina loves would suffer. So she had to keep Henry and Jacinda from falling in love. It broke Regina’s heart, especially at the end when she’s so close to her son—who thinks he was an orphan raised in the system—and can’t tell him the truth.

Poor Regina.

We open in the Wish Realm, where Hook wanders through a marketplace. He grabs a silver pot and bangs it, waking up his drunk crew. He orders them to get the Jolly Roger ready because they were going on a trip. Smee asks him where they are going and Hook tells him that the Evil Queen is going to cast a curse that will take them from this land. And then he can get revenge on the Crocodile.


The Evil Queen tells him to put a pin on those plans. He asks why she’s not casting her curse and she reveals that Snow White and Charming have stolen her magic. Smee marvels at the fact that the Evil Queen was defeated and she tries to choke him before remembering she doesn’t have any magic. He asks how he’s supposed to get his revenge now and she says that she needs a ship to get her away from that land before Snow and Charming find her. In exchanged, she’ll give him a map to a tower in a distant land that contains magic that will destroy anybody—including his crocodile. He asks what the price is and she says that a powerful witch guards the tower so he’ll have to go it without her magic. He agrees to the exchange and takes the map from her.

(Welcome back, Your Majesty)