This week in present-day Fairytale Land we catch up with Hook and the warrior women at the base of the beanstalk that leads to a giant who possesses the compasses needed to return to Storybrooke. The beanstalk is enchanted to prevent intruders from climbing it, but Hook has two magical bracelets to get by…one for him and the other meant for Cora. Mulan and Mary Margaret fight over who will go, but Emma puts her foot down and dictates she’ll be the one. And this makes perfect sense because she’s the only one unfamiliar with Fairytale Land…
Hook and Emma reach the landing and there is rubble everywhere, apparently left over from the battle between the “evil” giants and the humans attempting to retrieve their magic beans. Only one giant remains and it comes storming out. Hook distracts him while Emma sends him into a deep sleep. The two enter the home and immediately begin looking for the compass.
Enter the giant because the sleep has worn off. Hook is buried under debris from the earthquake and Emma is nearly squeezed to death. However, she escapes and traps the giant in his own booby trap. She threatens him with Jack’s poisoned sword and he gives her the compass. She proves to him that all humans aren’t the same by allowing him to live. So when he breaks free of the booby trap, he allows her free passage to leave.
Emma frees Hook of the debris, but chains him to a wall. She can’t risk being betrayed by him, leaving him and rejoining the other girls. She tells them it will give them a head start to find Cora and retrieve the wardrobe ashes in order to return to Storybrooke.
Meanwhile we have a flashback of the real world this week, of Emma and her criminal days. She attempts to steal a car but is caught red-handed by the owner, Neil Cassidy…who actually stole the car himself. The two hit it off and become a duo of crooks, covering one another’s backs in sticky situations. Finally Neil and Emma decide they want to settle down. She closes her eyes and points to a map, and Tallahassee it is.
However, Neil finds a wanted poster of himself for stealing a set of watches, which he has stashed in a locker. Tallahassee is suddenly out of the question and he says he must flee to Canada alone. But Emma retrieves the watches for him. He gives her one of them, tells her to meet him later and goes off to return them.
Neil is followed and caught when he attempts to flee. It turns out to be August (aka Pinocchio, who entered the real world with baby Emma). He tells Neil that Emma has a destiny she must fulfill and he is standing in her way. To convince Neil of magic and Emma’s destiny, August shows him something in a box. It does the trick; Neil is convinced but still has a hard time letting go of her. Meanwhile, based on a tip Emma is arrested in their meeting place for stealing the watches and sent to prison for 11 months.
Later Neil meets August in Canada and August tells him what happened to Emma. He is heartbroken and gives him the money from the watches and the keys to their stolen car to give to Emma when she’s freed. We then see Emma in her cell and she’s received a package. It’s the keys to the car on the keychain Neil had stolen for her. And it is then revealed she just learned she’s pregnant.
In Storybrooke, Henry wakes from a nightmare. He saw red and curtains on fire and someone staring at him. It was the same nightmare Aurora had in present-day Fairytale Land.
The episode was pretty straightforward. It was exciting to meet Henry’s father finally! And to know that he actually cares for her when they almost had me believing he was going to ditch her on his own freewill. It was also nice to bring August back into the fold. He’s always full of mystery…like what’s in the box?! Also, what about that nightmare? Is it a premonition of what’s to come and why did Aurora and Henry both have that dream…are they connected in some way? So many questions!
Let us know what you thought! Leave a comment.