Once Upon A Time - Going Home

Winter finale time! Tissues - check. Wine - check. Chocolate - check. Let's do this!

Felix and Pan/Henry (Pan in Henry's body) are chatting about the curse that he wants to cast. He starts to toss the ingredients into the well where he wants to enact the curse. Felix inquires if everyone will die. Pan/Henry answers no, that death is final. He wants them to suffer, eternally. He mentions that what Regina did is child's play. Jared Gilmore did a pretty good job acting evil in this scene. Pan/Henry mentions that there is one last thing he needs. The heart of the thing he loves the most. Felix is confused, and asks if it's Rumple. Pan/Henry says no. There are many different kinds of love - friendship, romance, the kind given for loyalty. He tells Felix he values his loyalty and not to be afraid, that he should be flattered. He rips Felix's heart out and crushes it over the well. The curse begins to seep out of the well. EEEP!

Elsewhere, Emma is lamenting the fact that there is going to be another curse. Rumple tells them that the first curse was as per Regina's design, this one will be as per Pan's so they can count on something nasty. Obviously, Pan is sick and twisted. Regina tells them that the curse is meant to be unstoppable. Rumple says that it can be stopped by using the scroll. Only Regina can stop it because it has to be the person who used the curse before. Rumple tells Regina she has to break the scroll and both curses will be broken. Rumple wants to perform a spell that will switch Pan and Henry back into their proper bodies. Henry/Pan says that once the switch happens he can just bring them the scroll. Regina seems unconvinced Rumple can do this. He says he can, with the right tool. Tink (LOVE HER!) mentions a wand that belonged to the Black Fairy. This fairy practiced dark magic. They want to go find it and Tink wants to go pay her respects for the recently departed Blue. Charming, Neal, Hook and Tink head off while the rest go prepare Henry/Pan for the spell.

FLASHBACK - ENCHANTED FOREST

Snow, Charming and Blue are getting ready for the Evil Queen's curse to hit. They are discussing Emma going through the wardrobe. Snow seems unsure that Emma will know what to do. Blue tells her that one day their story will reveal itself to the savior. She's not sure how, but she has hope that it will happen. Is this a clue that she had something to do with the book Henry got? I just want to know where it came from! Snow gets wistful looking at a pretty glass unicorn mobile that is above Emma's crib. Charming tries to make Snow feel better by telling her that sometimes happy endings aren't always what you expect. They can find a new one, an unexpected one. Why is Charming so...charming? He knows EXACTLY what to say to Snow, always.

PRESENT DAY - STORYBROOKE

Snow shows Emma the unicorn mobile, and tells her it was to hang above her crib. Emma smiles softly, and tells Snow that she likes the unicorns. Love these little bonding moments. More of them please (less triangle). Snow lets Emma know that she often thinks of how different things could have been if she didn't have to give her up. Emma says she does the same thing with Henry. She muses that they might be living some normal life somewhere together (maybe Boston, or some place else). Emma wistfully says that wasn't meant to be.

Henry/Pan says that he is ready to be himself again. Rumple says he is done, and just waiting for the wand.

FLASHBACK - NEVERLAND

Hook and Smee are trekking through the jungle. Hook is being his usual snarky pirate self. He wants off this island because he knows how to end the dark one. This is obviously after he handed over Bae to Pan. They hear a noise and Tink is there holding a knife to Hook's throat. She sasses him with "aren't you too old to be a lost boy" and he sasses back that he is not a boy, nor lost. He tells he he wants magic, and wants to get off the island. He asks if she has any. She says she's fresh out. He calls her a liar, and says that if he didn't know better he'd say she was a fairy. She shoots back that if she didn't know better she'd say he was a pirate. Alright, this entire scene is filled with sexual tension. They're hot together. I don't wish current Hook on any woman (especially poor Tink after that whole using her to make Emma jealous thing) but CAN WE PLEASE HAVE THEM GET TOGETHER? They are ridiculously sexy. As the scene continues it becomes even more obvious that they eventually hooked up. He wants her help, she taunts that isn't he afraid she'll slit his throat (as he is totally invading her personal space, but she doesn't mind AT ALL). He tells her no, it's not the fairy way. She's supposed to be helping him find his happy ending or something equally as precious. She tells him that she's not a fairy anymore, her wings are gone. She tells him that he's on his own to find his happy ending. Hook must sense a kindred spirit because he offers her rum, and they drink together. He tells Tink about Milah, and his revenge plan saying that he would only risk his life for love or revenge.

PRESENT DAY - STORYBROOKE

Charming, Neal, Hook and Tink are in the church . Neal tells the fairies that they need the Black Fairy's wand. They say no. Tink is quick to say 'too bad' basically. Pan's shadow shows up and the fairies run away  (so they're not brave, good to know). Neal is going to catch the shadow in the coconut thing again, except this time he wants to destroy it. Hook wants to lure the shadow out. Tink says she thought he only ever risked his life for love, and revenge. He tells her that he would also risk it for one other thing - himself. Hook taunts the shadow and gets thrown for his troubles. Neal says he needs to get closer to get it, and says that he needs Tink to fly up and get it. Charming tells her that she made the pixie dust work before, she can do it again. She totally does, and ends up capturing the shadow because she kicks ass. Everyone is happy for her, and it's a beautiful moment of belief. They destroy the shadow in the flames. Hook comes over and says "Look whose still a fairy" and she replies "Look whose still a pirate" I know he was horrible to her, but I ship them again (for purely shallow reasons - they are smoking together. Lots of chemistry). Tink tells him that he risked his life for Emma (blah, can this triangle DIE please?!). BLUE IS ALIVE?! I am beginning to think Blue might not be so pure. She does however give Tink back her wings, and she hands over the Black Fairy's wand to Charming.

They take the wand to where Rumple, and everyone else is waiting. Rumple takes out the magic cuff that Greg and Tamara used on Regina. Regina quips looking directly at Hook that she 'hasn't forgotten about all that by the way' and I cheered. If they are going to shove Hook and Emma at us, they need to have him be accountable for the fact that he shot Belle (and tried to kill her before), hit and held poor Archie captive, and helped to torture Regina. It didn't happen YEARS ago, this is stuff he's done less than a few days/weeks ago. It needs to be addressed and not swept under the rug so the fact that they are dealing with it (even a little bit) makes me happy. Rumple puts the cuff on Henry/Pan so that when Pan is back in his body his magic will be neutralized. Regina tells Henry/Pan to keep hold of the scroll and run right back to them. Rumple does the spell and makes the switch (So that happened much quicker than I anticipated). Everyone leaves to go find Henry. Rumple is going to stay (unfinished family business with his father) and Belle asks if he wants her to stay. He tells her no. This is not going to go well, but at least Belle won't be hurt in the crossfire.

FLASHBACK - EARLY STORYRBOOKE

We're getting the scene where Snow gives Henry the book! OMG! Henry is feeling upset. He says that his mother didn't love him. Regina says she does, but he doesn't believe it. Snow tells him that he is loved, and gives him the book as a means to make him feel better. She says that she just found the book in the back of her closet, like it just appeared there. She doesn't know where it came from (did the book just poof into existence as part of the curse's need to unveil their story to Emma?). She tells him fairytales help you believe in the possibility of a happy ending. She tells Henry he can keep the book. Henry calls after her as she is leaving to say thank you, and as Snow turns around he sees her not as his school teacher, but as fairytale Snow White. This is when Henry first starts to believe! I am so glad we got this scene. He flips through the book and sees a picture of Snow, Charming and baby Emma and reads Emma's name off the baby blanket in the picture (*feelings* This set the entire show in motion!).

PRESENT - STORYBROOKE

They run towards the clocktower because Granny says she can smell Henry there (okay....) and Henry comes rushing out. Regina and Emma hug him and Henry whines that they just saw him (such a typical teenage boy). Regina takes the scroll and it zaps her. She falls down on the ground.

Back in Rumple's shop, Pan is just waking up. He sneers that he figured Rumple would have killed him in his sleep. Rumple says he wanted to see Pan (more importantly have Pan see him). Pan sneers that he does see him. He's always seen him. He goes off on this crushing speech where he basically accuses Rumple of leeching out all of his dreams, time, happiness, etc. So your standard father of the year stuff. He ends it by saying that Rumple is a couple hundred years old now, can't Pan be free of him (yup, totally father of the year). Rumple says he will be in death. Pan says he has one last lesson for him - never make a cage you can't get out of and he rips off the cuff. He uses magic to put it on Rumple (leaving him helpless) and starts beating him up. Rumple immediately seems like a little boy. It's heartbreaking. He tells Rumple that he is going to kill Belle and Neal because they are special to Rumple. Tells him that he won't stop him because without magic, Rumple is just the village coward. He leaves Rumple desperately trying to remove the cuff. Robbie Kay and Robert Carlyle are stunning in this scene. The whole thing with the way they've approached the Peter Pan tale is that it required someone quite young who could hold their own against Robert Carlyle. They manged to find it in Robbie Kay and their scenes together are electric as a result. Rumple debates cutting off his hand to free it from the cuff, but we don't see it happen.

Back with the rest of the gang, Regina is waking up. She calls out Emma's name. They ask what is going on. Snow asks what happened. Regina says she saw what needed to be done, and that Henry will be safe. Just as she is saying this Pan comes out of Gold's shop and freezes everyone in place. He, like all villains, feels the need to run his mouth for a bit. He muses that he is not sure who to kill first - Belle or Neal. He decides on Neal first (so his grandson, charming). Rumple comes out (so my money is on him cutting off the hand, freeing it from the cuff, and using magic to reattach the hand). Pan sneers that he came to protect his loved ones. Rumple tells him he'll finish the job, and that Pan won't be touching either of them. Rumple says he is finally ready to pay the price. He gives a heartfelt speech saying goodbye to Bae. Tells him that he used the curse to find him. He wanted to have Bae find happiness and says that happiness is possible, just not with him. He tells Neal that he loves him, tells Belle he loves her (and I am crying right now). Oooh, Pan just said that Rumple had no magic. Did he not cut off the cuff? I am confused. Either way, Rumple says he doesn't need it. He tells Pan that he also lost his shadow, and that he sent it away with something to hide. He calls back his shadow and it gives him the Dark One dagger! Rumple uses some kind of force to bind him and Pan together and stabs Pan with the dagger. Black smoke appears and it ages Pan into the grown man he was before turning into the teenage Pan. Pan makes one last plea. Tells Rumple to stop and they can have a happy ending. Rumple tells him that he is a villain and therefore doesn't get one, and jams the dagger in further. Both Rumple and Pan disappear in a flash of light, and what is left of Rumple's dagger falls to the ground. I am calling it right now - Rumple is fine, but is no longer the Dark One. Technically Henry did lead him to his undoing, but it was the Dark One being undone. I predict we'll see Rumple as a normal man when we next see him.

Belle falls to the ground, devastated. Even Snow looks crestfallen. Hook looks numb.  His foe is dead, but it seems like he took no pleasure from it (almost like he's fully let it go). So much is going on. Emma goes over Neal and asks if he is okay. Neal seems forlorn, but is holding together much better than poor Belle. He tells Regina to not have let his father die in vain. Regina seems conflicted, and shocked. Dazed. I think perhaps Rumple dying shook her more than she expected.  Hook reminds Regina that the curse has to be stopped. They need to deal with this, even if they are mourning. Grumpy comes running telling them that the curse is coming. Charming implores Regina to stop it. Emma wants to know what the price is. Regina says it's HER price to pay. She has to say goodbye to the thing she loves most. Emma quickly realizes that is Henry. Regina says she has to undo what she started. She says that Storybrooke, and the Enchanted Forest people do not belong there. If she breaks the curse everyone will go back to the Enchanted Forest, except Henry. Emma reacts quickly as she doesn't want Henry to be alone. Regina says that since Emma is the savior she can use that loophole to avoid this curse as well. Emma can raise Henry so that he has one of his parents. I don't like that Regina says that nobody can return...NOT OKAY! Emma offers to go back with them, both her and Henry. Regina says she can't. If Regina doesn't pay the price, it won't work. Snow tells Emma that she has to go. Snow tells her to leave to give Henry his best chance. Emma  says NO! She is supposed to bring back the happy endings and they are a family. Charming tells her that her and Henry will be a family. She'll get her wish to be happy, and like everyone else. It's obvious that Emma is not okay with this. Regina tells her that since she's known Emma all she's wanted is for Emma to get the 'hell out of her life' but now she wants Henry to be happy. She urges Emma to take him and go. This is MAJOR character development for Regina. I hope this sticks. She not only is undoing the curse, and bringing everyone home to Enchanted Forest, but is actively acting in Henry's best interest. She knows Henry can't be alone, and that Emma is the only one who can escape. She could have been selfish, but I am liking this new Regina.

FLASHBACK - ENCHANTED FOREST

Rumple is holding a birthday vigil/remembrance for Bae. He murmurs that it's been too many years to count, but he's counted every one. Belle walks in and apologizes for coming in. She notices the candle, and cloak. She says that she's sorry and asks how old he would have been. Rumple says he's not dead, just lost. He explains the story of letting Bae go (a short version anyways). Belle, who is always positive and hopeful, says that it might not be too late. Rumple says he hopes not, but that his ending won't be a happy one. He is a villain after all. A sweet flashback, but really? Kind of added nothing to the plot other than Bae/Rumple feelings.

PRESENT - STORYBROOKE

Henry tells Regina this is all HIS fault. He didn't realize she loved him. She tells Henry that she was wrong, and that she cast a curse out of vengeance. She's a villain and like Mr Gold said she doesn't get a happy ending. Henry tells her she's not a villain, she's his mom. Seriously, this new Regina is admitting she is wrong? I think she might be in a perfect place to welcome love into her life, a certain Robin perhaps?

Emma is saying goodbye to Neal. She says she is sorry (about his father's death I am guessing). He tells her not to be, and to get their son the hell out of there. She looks sad and says that he has to go back "there". She knows he doesn't have fond memories of the Enchanted Forest. I love that she realizes that this won't be easy for him, for MANY reasons (on top of his father dying in front of him). She gets him. They get each other.  They hug, and he tells her that it isn't over. He promises that he will see her and Henry again.  Anyone else immediately reminded of Charming's 'I will always find you' ?

Emma walks to her yellow bug (why have we not seen Neal's reaction to the car?!) and Hook stops her. He makes some joke about her car and tells her that there won't be a day that he won't think of her. She replies "good" and smiles at him (Ugh...die, triangle, die). Regina comes over, and tells Emma that she'll forget everything that happened in Storybrooke once she is across the town line (so will Henry). Regina is going to give Emma and Henry fake memories to make up for it though, so that they can have a happy ending. It's her gift to Emma and Henry. She's going to give them a good life. (Again with the tears, this episode has made me shed so many tears). One last hug from Snow (Henry and Regina hug) and Emma gets into the car to drive her and Henry out of Storybrooke. Regina rips the scroll and uses magic to create a barrier. The curse engulfs Storybrooke as Emma and Henry drive away. The music in this scene is perfectly haunting as we see the town disappear. *sniff*

FLASHBACK - PORTLAND

Emma giving birth to Henry scene again. This time instead of not holding him, she decides to hold him. The new memories Regina implanted start from this point I am guessing. One simple choice changes everything. I wonder what Emma thinks happened to Neal in this new reality Regina created?

FLASHFORWARD - ONE YEAR LATER

Emma wakes up at 8:15 AM (when everything seems to happen on this show). Emma and Henry are making breakfast, complete with hot chocolate and cinnamon. Emma also is listening to the EXACT same song Neal is listening to when we first meet him in the season two premiere. This gives me hope. Oh, and did I mention they are in NEW YORK CITY?! The same place Neal lived. Emma gets a knock at the door, and I get excited for about two seconds until it's revealed that it's Hook. He tells Emma that her family is in danger, and she has no clue who he is. He tries to use True Loves Kiss to break the curse she's under, but it doesn't work (doesn't prove anything, sadly, because she can't remember who he is. We've seen that it only works if the people involved remember each other. Basically, this triangle is FAR from over *cries*). She knees him in the groin, and threatens to call the cops on him as she slams the door in his face.

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MARCH?!

So we pretty much leave all of our characters in incredibly heartbreaking places. Is Rumple alive (of course he is! but still)? Will Emma make it back to her family? Will Regina's sacrifice mean character development that actually stays (one can only hope)?

Neal seriously has it the worst. He just lost his father, son and the woman he loves in less than an hour. Anyone who doesn't feel sorry for him.... I can't even. He has literally had the worst luck ever. Poor guy can't get a break.

Side note - if this was Robbie Kay's last appearance on Once Upon A Time it was an impressive performance to go out on. It feels like it might be (we might see him briefly again in flashbacks to explain why Rumple is still alive, etc) and it feels right that it should be. *slow clap of appreciation for Robbie and his eyebrows*

Until March....Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust