Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 12 recap: The Savior Returns

OUAT is finally back after 4 months of waiting, and this time there are more twists and turns! I thought this was a fantastic episode, and though there were some questionable and timey whimey scenes, the episode was still very well-written and at par with its normal standards. The twists and turns still seemed more rational rather than absurd. I also especially loved the character interactions and development on this episode.

PRESENT - OUR WORLD


Emma and Henry are leading normal lives in New York. They don't remember ANYTHING about their past, but they seem pretty happy about it. Emma is on a date with this seemingly regular and normal guy named Walsh. He seems like the perfect guy for Emma Swan and for Henry, who he gets along with. He takes Emma to the restaurant of their first date and preps to pop the question. 



While he leaves for the bathroom, Hook appears (still wearing his pirate clothes btw even if he is in our world because Hook gets away with anything because he's Hook) Emma recognizes him, but not in the way she should. She remembers Hook as that man who tried to kiss her earlier, and Hook defends himself by saying that it was his way of jogging her memory. "Give me one good reason not to punch you in the face." Emma retorts, at least we know she's still the same Emma! We then find out that the reason why Hook is trying to find her is because Mary Margaret and David are in trouble. Emma is skeptical still thinking of Hook as a stalker, but listens to him when he tells her to go to an address and it will explain everything. Hook leaves. Walsh proposes to Emma, but Emma freaks out and tells him she'd have to think about it.


Emma comes home, and Henry is waiting for her as he plays PS3. Emma joins him and they play together. I love this because it's just something that is SO normal! Oh and by the way, Henry's voice has gotten deeper and this kid is definitely growing! Henry, the clever boy, had actually foreseen Walsh's proposal and asks Emma if she said yes, but she tells him that she didn't. He tells Emma that Walsh is okay for him, but Emma apparently still has trust issues because Neal set her up before. At least she remembers that!


The next day, Henry has a museum trip. Emma is obviously preoccupied and Henry asks her if she' s been thinking about Walsh. She says she is, but apparently not because the moment Henry leaves, she goes to the address Hook gave her. The address leads her to Neal's apartment, and she finds some stuff there including a camera with Henry's name. She finds Hook and demands him to explain, but he does a poor job at it and offers Emma a drink that will make  her remember. Of course she doesn't drink it - would you drink something offered to you by a stranger who has only one hand and is dressed like a pirate? NO, I don't think so. Instead, Emma handcuffs him and calls the police accusing him of assaulting her.

Henry meets Emma and they walk home. Emma tells Henry that she might say yes to Walsh, but Henry's already one step ahead, as he had invited Walsh for dinner that night and arranged him to be sleeping over at a friend's house so Emma and Walsh could have some privacy. Emma tells Henry to go in first, then she discovers the film from Henry's camera which is filled with pictures of her and Henry at Storybrooke and a bunch of memories she does not remember. She bails Hook after this. "They force fed me baloney!" he complains. Oh Hook. Hook tells her to drink the bottle. Emma hesitates, because she doesn't want to give up her life. She eventually drinks the potion and now she remembers everything. YAY!

Hook explains everything that had happened to Emma- Snow and Regina settled their differences, but there's a new curse and everyone's back in Storybrooke. Wait, what? Didn't the episode start with them being back at Enchanted Forrest, but now they're back in Storybrooke again? Oh wait, different timelines.

Walsh suddenly arrives, and Emma goes to talk to him. This time she rejects him, telling him that she has things to settle with her past. Walsh turns out to be a flying monkey! Emma evades and the monkey falls down the building into a puff of smoke.


The next day, Emma tells Henry he has to skip school because she apparently has work to do somewhere, and can't leave Henry all by himself.

"No school? A trip with you? Sold!" Henry says. I just love their mother-son dynamic here! 

Hook appears and Henry's like "why are you dressed like that?" Thanks Henry, finally someone is asking. Before they leave, Emma takes out her leather jacket - the one she wore the first time she got to Storybrooke, and I think I just got hit by a wave of nostalgia! Aww, has it really been 3 seasons?


They arrive at Storybrooke and Henry's asleep in the backseat of the car. Too bad Hook doesn't have any more Remember Me potions so it would take a while for them to explain to Henry everything. Emma goes looking for her parents. She goes to the old flat, and knocks. David opens the door, and Emma is afraid that he doesn't remember her. But he does! They have a big hug- a touching moment. Mary Margaret appears and she hugs Emma too, she remembers as well! Turns out they remember everything! Except what happened the past year! Their last year was wiped away! So they don't know who took them back to Storybrooke! And their last memory was saying goodbye to Emma and Henry! Oh, and turns out Aurora isn't the only one pregnant because Snow's got a bun in the oven too! And this is the only way they found out that it's already been a year!




PAST - ENCHANTED FOREST

 "We're back."

The midseason premiere opens with Prince Philip galloping on his way to Aurora, who is pregnant, as she prepares a sweet lunch date in their quiet kingdom. Suddenly, dark purple clouds appear in the sky, and the sound of thunder booms across the forest. These bring in a pool of Storybrooke people, including Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen. Aurora and Philip are shocked, naturally. What happened? They're back! Except they don't sound or look so happy about being back home.
The gang are off to look for their castle, this time Snow and Regina are united. As they leave, Aurora and Philip appear to be tense and they quietly discuss what to do. Aurora says that they have to tell "her" or else their baby will be endangered. Who is this "her" they are referring to? Could it be the Wicked?

A moment of silence for the Charming/Hook bromance

Other Storybrooke people appear in the Enchanted Forest , including the 7 dwarves who comment that they apparently look more handsome now (you all look pretty the same to me) and Jiminy Cricket who is now a cricket again (I wonder if he misses being a human?). Hook tells Charming that he is leaving. Storybrooke is not his home, the Jolly Roger is. On the other hand, Neal wants to go to his father's castle to find a way to crossover to the other world to find Emma. But Rumplestiltskin is dead and reset = no more portals, so it's impossible. Snow tells him that Emma and Henry wouldn't even remember them so it's best to let them be and just "give them their best chance".  Neal doesn't seem satisfied about this. That's makes it two of us!

Belle tells Neal that they can find a way to get back to them. They discuss the probability of Rumpelstiltskin being alive. When he died, his dagger was nowhere to be found, so he might have pulled off a trick or two. Belle assures Neal that if they can find Rumpel's castle then there MUST be a way to get back to Our World. Neal's like "Yeah, but I don't want to curse a kingdom, just to get back there." Point taken, Neal. Wouldn't want that happening again.

Snow Queen!

Regina's suddenly missing. Snow goes to look for her, and finds her burying her heart in the woods. Whomp, that sounded really weird. Yeah, because it's such a safe place to hide a heart there. It's too painful for Regina to know that Henry's out there not remembering her and that she'll never get to see him, so the solution? Take her heart out and bury it under dirt. Snow comforts her saying that things will get better, and though there may be pain now, there will be room for happiness as well. Regina's like "I can't be happy without Henry" Awwwww poor Regina.

Finally Snow manages to convince Regina to put back her heart, and this is such a touching moment because we never actually see these two become friends. I'm loving the Snow/Regina bromance and I love it especially when Regina says "Let's go find our castle." Using OUR instead of MY.

Flying monkey ruins the moment

But the moment is over because a flying monkey swoops in from nowhere. And gone is the vulnerable and emotional Regina. "I don't run from monsters, they run from me!" she says, shooting a fireball at the thing. But the monster retaliates, and Regina is almost taken, if not for Robin Hood who saves the day. They introduce themselves and Robin cracks a joke about finally meeting Snow White, since their WANTED posters used to be side to side back in the day. I like him already!

Reunion!

They meet back with the others and Robin and his men join them. It turns out Robin and Baelfire used to be good friends, as well as Belle and Robin! Tell me, who aren't friends on this show?
Regina and Snow have another moment, this time a little banter that is more fun.

Regina: So what do you think of our new friend? Can we trust him? He is a thief.Snow: Think of it from his perspective. How does he think of you?Regina: Point taken.Snow: He's kinda cute huh?Regina: He smells like forest!
I'm guessing they've gotten used to the nice showers and clean roads in Storybrooke.

They finally find the castle - but it's under a protection spell! Regina is angry about this - but wait, it's a protection spell, isn't that a good thing? Everyone else thinks Regina's the one who put on the spell and that she can just take it off, but she tells them it wasn't her.  They decide to camp out since the castle is hidden because of the spell.


The flying monkey apparently got blood from Regina after attacking her a while ago. The flying monkey lands in another castle, and we finally meet the person we've all been looking forward to all winter . Green skin and pointy hat - The Wicked Witch of the West. She puts the blood in a flask, and cackles saying she will finally get her revenge on Regina.

"She may be evil, but I'm WICKED!"


WOW! What an episode! What did you think? Sound off below! :)


 Watch Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 13, “Witch Hunt,” Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.