Once Upon a Time, Episode 2: "Lost Girl"
The quest to find Henry continued in this episode. The theme of this episode was all about confronting and accepting who you really are. Emma and Rumplestiltskin took long hard looks in the mirror. Did they like what they saw? Hit the jump to find out.
In Never Land, the search to locate Henry continues. The dysfunction is still high, not as high as when they were on the Jolly Roger, but Regina is still pushing back against Emma's leadership. Somewhere else in Never Land, Rumplestiltskin uses a magic dagger to detach his shadow from his body. He hands the dagger to his shadow and instructs it to hide the dagger in a place where no one will find it, not even Rumplestiltskin.
Snow is still trying to mother/daughter bond with Emma. She tells her daughter that she can call her "Mom" rather than Mary Margaret. Unsurprisingly, Emma declines. Not the right time, Snow! Charming is still not comfortable with working with Hook. Hook tries to flirt with Emma, using how well they work together as an entry point. This leads to Emma's snappy retort, "If wax mustaches and perms are your thing." "I take it from your tone perms are bad," Hook deadpans. Classic. Keep it up with these Disney film references, writers. I'm loving them. The intrepid rescuers reach a cliff that gives them a clear view of the whole island. Hook advises them that they should avoid the Dark Jungle.
Flashback time! We are treated to a scene from the pilot, with Charming charging into the forest to plant true love's kiss on a glass coffin encased Snow. At the palace, the Mirror (Hey, Giancarlo Esposito. Long time no see! I mean, are people still watching Revolution?) shows Regina what has happened. She is not happy. She shows up during a rally where Snow is trying to rile up the peasants and get them to rise up against the Evil Queen. Regina has other ideas. She offers Snow a deal. Renounce her claim to the throne and Regina will allow her, her prince and her dwarves to leave in peace. That way, Regina can live with the satisfaction of knowing that everything that should be Snow's is hers. Shockingly, Snow is not super psyched to take the deal, until Regina starts to choke one of said peasants. Good play, Regina. Prey on Snow's bleeding, liberal heart. ;-) Snow grabs a sword and charges Regina, who disappears in a flash of smoke. She gives Snow a day to make her choice, leaving her with this snide bon mot, "You may be a princess, but you'll never be a queen."
Emma is woken by the sounds of boys crying. It draws her into the jungle where she comes face to face with Pan. Pan wants to toy with Emma. He hands her a map that will lead her to Henry, but it's blank. Pan tells Emma that the only way she can read the map is if she stops denying who she really is. Pan tells Emma that it's not about finding Henry, but about how he is found.
Back in flashbackville, Snow is folding like a card table. She is ready to pack up the dwarves and head for the hills. Charming tries to convince her otherwise, but Snow will not be moved. Charming looks to the dwarves for support, but they think the former shepherd is shifty and just wants to use Snow to be a ruler again. Charming is not easily deterred and he still has some tricks up his sleeves. Of course, he goes to Rumplestiltskin. Seriously? Why do they keep thinking this is a good idea. It's not like they haven't had thousands of bad experiences with him before.
Rumplestiltskin is still having issues in Never Land. The straw doll that Felix left with him is missing and he has a vision of Belle. He originally thinks Pan sent the vision, but Rumple conjured up Belle all on his own. It's great to see Belle and Rumple together again. The chemistry between Robert Carlyle and Emilie de Ravin is great and this was a nice treat for fans. Who knows how long this excursion to Never Land will last.
Belle assures Gold that everything is fine in Storybrooke. She's more concerned with why he has donned his Dark One duds. Rumplestiltskin is wallowing in self pity telling her that he is a coward. Belle is not convinced. She knows that Rumple sees the good in himself. Rumple is not convinced. He thinks he will take Pan's deal and abandon Henry to save his own skin. Belle knows the doll has something to do with Rumple's feelings. It turns out that the doll is the last thing that Rumple's father gave him before he abandoned them. Belle urges him to let it go. He drops it off a clif and that is the end of Belle.
It turns out that it's not that easy to get rid of the doll. It lands in Rumple's path. He tries a fireball, but nothing. Rumple sticks it in his pocket. What is up with this doll? Could Rumple's father be on Never Land? Any theories?
Flashback to the flashback, Charming goes to see Rumplestiltskin, ready to bargain anything to get Snow to not take Regina's deal. Rumple has nothing for him and tells him to take the deal. Charming isn't convinced. He finds Snow and tells her of the sword in the stone. Snow is able to pull Excalibur out because she is the realm's true ruler.
The deadline hits for Regina's deal and she confronts our heroes again. Excalibur has given Snow confidence and she refuses. Regina decides to choke Grumpy. If I'm being honest, no big loss. Sorry. I'm not a huge fan of Leroy/Grumpy. He's kind of lame. Why, out of all the dwarves, would they single out this guy. Alas, it's not to be. Snow charges Regina. She pulls her purple smoke trick, but not before Snow is able to slash her cheek.
Snow, newly empowered, decides that she wants to pay for Charming's deal, so she calls Rumplestiltskin. Rumple re-iterates what he told Charming. He then dissolves Excalibur. You been punked by your man Snow! Rumple will not have his time wasted, so he steals Snow's mother's necklace.
Snow confronts Charming about his ruse. Charming uses the "I had your best intentions at heart" speech. He points out that Snow needed to see for herself what he already knew. Snow accepts this. So do the dwarves. A little deception and they are firmly Team Charming. Damn. These are some shady little people.
In Never Land, Emma is having a helluva time getting the map to work. She tries everything that she can think of to trigger the map, but nothing works. She finally throws her hands up (they are not playing her song) and let's Regina use a tracking spell. The spell leads The Fellowship of the Annoying Child right into a trap, as they are ambushed by Pan and a group of Lost Boys. Pan crows that he knew Emma would resort to magic. During the battle, Charming is nicked by an arrow that's tip has been dipped in dreamshade, the same poison that Hook used on Rumple. David assures everyone that his jacket took the brunt of it. Emma goes easy on a lost boy and eventually the are able to drive them back.
Snow attempts to have a mother/daughter chat, but Emma isn't having it. This is not a glass half full situation. I'm really glad the show is going there. Last year, a lot of this familial drama got swept under the rug, so it's nice to see it coming to the forefront now. Snow asks Emma why she hesitated when it came to the Lost Boy. She admits that she recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look she used to have in the foster system. This causes Emma to make a painful admission, especially in front of her mother. That she's an orphan. Jennifer Morrison and Ginnifer Goodwin were gold in this scene. Everything worked. Their body language, the pained look on Snow's face when Emma makes her admission, it's so fleeting, almost immediately replaced by a look of grim determination. Snow's response to her daughter is perfect. "You were an orphan, it's my job to change that."
Pan is ecstatic that Emma has been able to decipher the map. He taunts her and through his taunts we get a better idea of his plan. Pan knows that Emma still hasn't forgiven her parents for orphaning her ad despite what he says, Henry hasn't forgiven her. When she finally does find him, Henry won't want to leave Never Land. It seems that rather than take what he wants by force, Pan would rather it be given freely. He also plans to make Emma a literal orphan before she leaves Never Land.
One more thing, turns out Charming was being a liar face when he assured everyone he was fine. The arrow left a nasty gash in his side that is not looking good.
Now I turn it over to you. Two episoes in. How are you feeling about this season so far?
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