[kfchimera]

I want lots of good plotting to reveal a fascinating chess match between equally matched villains, Jafar and the RedQueen, while the Heroes struggle to find true love, goodness and hope despite those schemes.

[kfchimera]

I agree with TimeSpacer, that I had hoped for a look more conflicted from Regina rather than smirking satisfaction.  Greg did torture her, did kidnap her son, but it came off that Regina felt she’d repaid him by offering him a chance to live rather than kill him the moment she recognized him in SB.  That speaks to me about how much further she still has to go.  We keep wanting these characters to be through that journey, then we see they aren’t.  I feel a lot of Rumple’s conversations with Belle illustrate that perfectly.   We keep seeing the end-point and his desire to get there, but we get yanked back to the harsh truth of where his internal conflict continues to boil because it is not time for the Happy Endings yet!

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

timespacer, I love learning all these things you share about history/navigation/stars.  Awesome to justify my fandom with saying hey, I learned something today!

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

So many feels from that scene!  I am prepared for more angst and heartbreak ahead but it was awesome to see Neal being competent.  Yes he did get rolled in the end, but at least Peter did not kill him.  I hope Neal does not see the THING but if he does that he is not too angry to be understanding, to realize how hurt, lost and lonely Emma has been, to remember how charming Hook can be and as well how less than forthcoming.   This is what gives me the nerves for SF–it is not that Hook will be so compelling to Emma.  It is like in tennis how you can default and lose the game on your serve to even an unworthy opponent, let alone one who offers a challenge.  I hope Neal’s shock and anger at both Hook and Emma does not drive him to forget how much he loves Emma, how much pain she suffered, how he too tried to move on when he thought the door closed–but most importantly the words of wisdom from Yodathat there is no try.    He never moved on and he will have to believe she has not either despite how it might appear (and be aggressively asserted on Tumblr) that she has because she is trying.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

It is interesting that Greg and Tamara did not shoot Hook, and I think they had orders not to hurt him.  They totally exchange this look like “yeah right” when he says he is willing to die, but they go on about their thing leaving him time to backstab them.  They did not trust him enough in the dvd extra, you see they march him at gunpoint to the cave.  Yet they had no further need of him and were going to kill him with the bomb so what, Miss Taser Killer of adorable sassy dragons and wooden men, shooter of a guy she thought a good man and felt a little bit sorry to shoot, suddenly has qualms about a pirate known for dirtywork?  GOAT were not the sharpest tools in the shed, but  (plot armor for Hook aside).  I think Pan told them not to kill Hook, he might be useful later and they blindly followed the order.

Pan most definitely has extensive dealings with and interest in Hook, and I cannot wait to see the backstory. Pan appears to have played multiple people.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

Neal didn’t just start screaming and yelling at Rumple the moment he saw him out of old hurt and anger.  Instead, they teamed up and he trusted Rumple with the secret of the squid to go get Henry.    It was not until Pan revealed that Rumple had motive to kill Henry, that Rumple tried to conceal, that Neal questioned whether he should trust his boy around his father.

I did see this as parallel to Hook, but in the sense that Hook too held something back with Bae.  He didn’t tell him he knew his mother and knew who he was when he met him.  Both Hook and Rumple tried to forge a relationship that shattered when Bae discovered their duplicity.  A  little honesty would have saved them a lot of trouble, just as Charming advised Rumple about how to how to win Belle’s love with honesty of the heart rather than merely avoiding flat-out-lies.  Both Hook and Rumple had struggled with wanting to kill someone important to Bae, and both tried to hide that from him.  They didn’t trust him to understand in both cases they wanted to give up on that for him.  That reminds me of Henry Jr. saying If you want me to believe in you, believe in me.

Trust is so important to a relationship and must be earned, and cannot be demanded.  Especially if there is a power imbalance, whether that is Dark One to women he wants to woo, and most especially parent to child, the party with more power must go more than halfway sometimes with patience and understanding because the other party has more to fear and lose.  If not, it might turn out like Henry. Sr’s relationship with Cora and Regina, constant forgiveness even when not earned.

I absolutely agree that  Neal indeed does need to handle his anger and hurt, but I felt the contrast in the way he dealt with Rumple before he knew about the lie and after showed that he did not react out of just stubborn unrelenting anger for a past wrong.  He asked Rumple to give him proof and unfortunately, Rumple had cut off his shadow to hide the dagger.  So Rumple could not assure him, so Neal felt he could not take the risk.

The risk is still real, because Rumple has the doll that symbolizes his own anger and abandonment issues, and is still under a curse.  Neal doesn’t worry (yet) that Rumple would kill him, but like Henry with  Regina, he worries whether his parent will protect the other ones he loves or seek to harm them to maintain power and control over him.

I found it interesting that Pan did not mention Regina, then Henry went from “Moms” to “mom” in reference to having lost his dad.  There might be a parallel of underestimating the Mills family here, so I’m rooting for Regina to put her dark heart aside and surprise Pan.  Yet I feel it will not be down to any one of them.

I think saving Henry will not be about physically getting to him, but being able to (besides having  a way home) mentally reassure Henry that he has a safe, loving home where people are not trying to kill each other or him.  Pan keeps his boys because they do not want to return, not just because they have no way to return.

(I am also still pulling for a certain mermaid to be a portal jumper and provide that ride home…but we’ll see.  I just want some REAL Belle to get in the action instead of Rumple’s conscious in the form of Belle).

 

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

I agree the thing is not coming from moving on, at least so far I would not think so. It would feel like whiplash.  Also I felt like Hook’s evasiveness about how he cut a deal with Pan, as well as exactly how he knew Bae make me wonder to what extent Hook is going to reveal certain things before the thing.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

I think I like the idea they are not brothers by blood but from the spinners, and that somehow Peter got mixed up with fairies. That will partially ex[lain why Rumple is so convinced fairies are evil.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

Favorite:

1) Neal showing he has skills in NL.

2) Rumple and Belle’s heart to hearts

3) The Squid Ink suprrise

4) The star map to home scene

Least Favorite

1) Charming Dying! OH no

2) The Henry being rescued then not.

3) Bae because while I love Dylan as Young Bae, I can’t help but think “Why are you taller and your voice deeper than when you fell in the portal!?”  It’s just a suspension of disbelief thing that is silly, and I brought it on myself by watching old episodes because if I had not, I would not have had it stand out so much.

In general though good episode!

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

[kfchimera]

Very very interesting, I noticed that uniform too but it reminded me of Rumple’s doll with the blue and white trim called to mind Naval Captains.  I wonder what deal Hook made to get off the island too, and just what was the first time Hook encountered NL.  So very curious about Pan too, how he met Rumple as a boy.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

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