Magic Beans…they’re everywhere! I guess Tiny and the dwarves must’ve finally found a way to grow those things by the bushel because they are evidently cheap and easy to find now. And if they’re so easy to find and use now…why hasn’t anyone been in touch with Henry? It sounded like this was the first time they’d seen him in ‘many years’ yet he was only a bean-ride away all that time?
Henry and Rumple – One of my biggest gripes with Once is how they almost totally ignore the ties between Henry and Rumple. Even as an adult Henry is acting like Emma, Regina, Snow/Charming, and to a lesser extent Hook are his only family. As Baelfire said back in season 3 ‘family meant something to dear old dad’ so why do they write the show as if Rumple doesn’t give a hoot about Henry and vice versa?
About Hook and Milah – were they really true loves? I don’t think there was ever solid proof of that and let us not forget that most cringy of lines… “You lasted longer than I expected. If you’d fought me with such vigor back in the day, I might have returned your wife to you. Soiled…but returned” (Hook to Rumple in season 5, ‘Broken Heart’). Granted that’s just one quote from when Hook was The Dark One (for a hot minute) and I’m sure someone who really wanted to could compile a list of every time Hook has referenced Milah to try and figure out how he really felt about her…but really when was the last time this show was consistent anyway? My take on Hook and Milah at the moment is that they were both unhappy selfish humans who found kindred spirits in each other. Sort of a Rumple and Cora thing. That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her, but I think this ‘true love’ concept from Once seems like a higher less selfish love or something? Like Rumple would absolutely give his life for Baelfire and Belle (cause he did), Charming and Snow would give their lives for one another ect. …but would Hook? Would Milah? Has anyone ever really outlined what True Love really is in Once?
We have had Charming breaking Snow’s sleeping curse, Emma breaking the dark curse by kissing Henry, Belle (briefly) breaking Rumple’s curse… but we also had Hook’s dad being woken from a sleeping curse by the ‘true love’ of a stranger…. yeah that’s a thing that happened.
Regina and Henry – I love that Regina stays with Henry to help him on his quest. It makes total sense and it’s nice that something in this episode did.
Emma – she was basically wasted here. But that has been true for her in a lot of Once at this point. I hated her whole storyline in this episode. Not that there was that much there to begin with. Regina and Hook’s sad looks about Emma were nothing but death bait. But hey I guess pregnancy over forty can be dangerous. They could’ve at least made her 9 months pregnant or something where it would be reasonable to say she shouldn’t be jumping through magic bean holes right then.
(sigh) Wish Hook – OK so there are now two Regina’s living separate lives and two Hooks. Great. It’s not like there was a better choice to split, perhaps a delightfully quippy (and insane) little imp who might liven up some of these flashbacks perhaps? Kidding aside (if I was kidding) the ‘old rummy’ version of Hook was funny for a minute in the dream realm, but those double shots were painful to watch and this from someone who thought Emma’s wig looked just fine. The daughter subplot makes me worry that they’ll make Alice his missing daughter and ruin the fun of her being a Rumple or Jefferson descendant. I really hope this daughter is Rapunzel instead. The one good point in all of this is that now they have a real chance to reset Hook back to the fun version…and yet I sense they won’t. Captain Hook always worked best to me as a pirate. Not as a boyfriend or a husband or a father…but as a pirate. Dashing, flirty and nefarious, with an occasional good deed tossed in to keep him interesting.
By the way since saying Wish Realm wasn’t real at this point would be pointless, I’m adding the murders of Snow and Charming to Regina’s list. If WishHook and Wish Evil Queen were real alive people…so were the wish Charmings.
Overall this season is still a mess to me. The timelines are too vague. The characters ages are glossed over. Magic beans are growing on trees now. Would it really be so hard to put a firm date on things and say Henry met Cinderella five years after leaving home and to say Emma, Hook ect. aren’t any older because of magic whatsits and that Tiny’s bean-field had a bumper crop this year. Just the basics. And if Henry could at some point acknowledge and show some affection for his other grandpa and vice versa, I would truly appreciate it.
I’m still happy with new Henry though. Andrew J. West was a great casting choice and he is doing a fine job.