Until now, we've known very few details of Emma Swan's (Jennifer Morrison) past. In this week's new Once Upon a Time episode "Tallahassee" we learn how she ended up pregnant and in jail, but perhaps just as importantly, we discover why she has such profound trust issues and has learned to read people incredibly well.
Still in the Fairytale Land wastelands and accompanied by Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Mulan, Sleeping Beauty (Sarah Bolger), and now Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), Emma seeks a compass that will be key to getting them back home. The compass, however, is in the possession of a certain giant (Lost's Jorge Garcia) that lives atop a beanstalk.
Although she's wary of Hook (and with good reason — the pirate is an, albeit charming, creep) Emma has no choice but to trust him, at least as far as she must. Her only apparent sympathy for him comes from her belief that he had not only lost his hand, but his true love, to Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle). Of course, as we know, that's not exactly the truth.
We learn that Emma had been a thief 11 years before she arrives in Storybrooke, and involved with another thief who abandons her, leaving her literally holding the bag when the cops arrive. She had after many years learned to trust and in the end is betrayed by one of the few people she's ever loved.
We learn, however, that August (Eion Bailey) is manipulating events, and to "protect" Emma and preserve her for fulfilling her destiny in breaking the curse, August convinces Neal Cassady (Michael Raymond James) that the right thing to do is to leave Emma and let her go to prison. Promising to let Cassady know when he can again contact Emma, August says he'll send a postcard. And, indeed, in the opening episode of season two, we see Cassady in New York with the promised post card — now that Emma has broken the curse.
The retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is clever, suggesting that the giant is the last of his kind, the remainder murdered by humans. Explaining that the "victors get to tell the story," he holds human is little regard, assuming that they are only out to harm him. When Emma doesn't, the giant is surprised and grants Emma not only the prize she seeks (the needed compass), but also Hook's life.
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Article comments
1 - E
I think they are connected because both Sleeping Beauty and Henry were under sleeping spells. Aurora slept for years and Henry ate Regina's poison apple. I think they could have seen seen each other in the dream because Aurora said "he" and Henry said "she," but we will have to wait and see.
2 - Nancy
Seem to recall Henry being shown as Regina's father. Bizarre that the StoryBrooke folk tend to gloss over that. Emma could have been pregnant when she met Neal. Could Henry and Aurora have gotten trapped by Cora?
3 - WML
I really enjoyed the Emma backstory. I really enjoyed Emma interact with the three musketeers from ye Olde FTL. I was hoping she'd leave Hook under the rubble without negotiating his release from the giant. Hook isn't dashing. He's smarmy. ANd they made this guy a series regular? I guess if you want to put someone in the show as the one everyone can hate, the showrunners have done a great job.
4 - Barbara Barnett
Smarmy is the right word.
5 - Pixie Michele
Smarmy just for now hopefully. I trust Hook's and Cora's pasts, when revealed, to show much more and deepen their motivations. After all, the writing for Emma's backstory filled in spaces so neatly. I also adore how "what's in August's box?" is repeating in season two.
My nightmare guess for Henry and Aurora is it's a premonition. If they're in the same room, that's the portal. They both mentioned curtains, which have already been shown in "Hat Trick" as an entry to another world. Hope Oz comes soon.
Trouble is the "on fire" part probably means closing portal. Season two began with that. Will it end with it? I love the Malificent possibility for that fire!
6 - WML
This is the second episode with Hook in which he was basically the worst thing on the set, so to speak. I don't think it's the dialogue. He was okay with RC, but ever since then, the character has been hallow, shallow, pretty much unlikeable. When an ogre is more interesting than a supposed major character, that may be a problem.
If Ned is not Baelfire, then the rumors of another 30-something character going to Storybrooke may point the way to Baelfire. And maybe give some credence to the Peter Pan is Baelfire rumors being bandied about. I still say bring David Tennant to OUAT. He's not only an outstanding actor, but he'll have a Scottish brogue to go along with Rumple's.
7 - barbara barnett
WML--now that would only be too funny to bring in The Doctor travelling through time and space! It would be as ironic as Rumple refusing to go through a time/space portal, given Robert Carlyle's previous role as Dr. Nicholas Rush who opened a long-elusive portal into an Ancient (ancient) spaceship in Stargate Universe! Talk about worlds colliding!
8 - WML
Some of the other online sites are pointing to a future episode where Regina and Mr. Gold are planning to kill anyone who goes through the portal. What would make these two "competitors" stand united against a common foe - perhaps it is their love for the same person. And that person would be... I don't know if Bae and Ned are one and the same, but....
9 - Sherry
Neal mentioned he was having nightmares as well. I have to think it's connected - even though it was 11 years before! I still think he may be Bae - maybe he as amnesia. Since he was having bad dreams I assumed he is connected to Storybrooke and Fairytale land somehow.
10 - WML
One would think that if Neal Cassady didn't mean much to Emma that she would have gottern rid of the one tangible thing that reminds her of him - the yellow bug. Much like Rumple holds on to the chipped cup, Emma holds on to the car. What words cannot utter, the heart will always find a way to tell the story.
11 - barbara barnett
Sherry and WML, I think you are both right. If you haven't, you should have a listen to what Jane Espenson had to say about the episode in my radio interview with her earlier this week.
12 - WML
Barbara, I wonder if the writers and show creators anticipated that the most popular couple in the show would be Rumple and Belle (and I assume that the popularity margin is wider than a mile). With Neal and Emma, the dynamic is really quite interesting - it's two similiar people finding each other and finding that kindred souls really do match well. With Rumpbelle, it is that great unexpected joy that everyone longs for but seldom get (at least to the depth that the characters seem to experience). And the Regina/Henry love story is evolving into something special as well. It is a tribute to the overall excellence of the cast and writing staff that people are rooting for these people, for redemption, etc. We don't want to just be told stories - we somehow really root for many of them to do things and experience things that we ourselves want to do and experience. A hallmark of great creativity and great writing.
As a sidenote, my favorite TV hours came from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The two episodes, "The Inner Light" and "Darmok" present such an exploration of the human spirit, exquisitely written and fantastically acted. I think that in Robert Carlyle, we have an actor that has the same ability to captivate an audience as Patrick Stewart.