Yikes! I can't believe I have to wait until March to see more. Lots of sadness and drama in this one, but also some hope and happiness. Let's jump in.
Because of Ingrid's magic, nobody can leave Storybrooke unless they plan on never coming back. Even though Elsa is able to take down the ice wall, it looks like the Arendelle people are still stuck in Storybrooke. They need to get back, quick, to save Arendelle from Hans' control. Hook, spying on Rumple's orders, reports to him that Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff are stuck here. Rumple needs to get Anna out of the way, because she knows about Rumple's plans to part from the dagger. So, he has Hook tell Emma and the others about a portal that will take the Arendelle folk back home. Emma notices that Killian is acting weird, but Hook insists he's fine.
They go to the Sorcerer's house, where Ingrid first came through and entered this world. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff say their goodbyes, and enter through the portal. Just before sh goes through, Anna asks about Mr. Gold, wanting to thank him for helping them find the portal. David tells her that Mr. Gold's real name is Rumplestiltskin, and Anna is able to tell them what she knows about him.
Back in Arendelle, Anna and Elsa successfully defeat Hans, and Anna gets ready to marry Kristoff. All is well for them.
Now that Emma and the others know something fishy is going on with Rumple, they head off to stop him. While all of this has been going on, Rumple tells Belle to pack her bags so they can go on their honeymoon. While Belle is packing, she comes across a magical gauntlet that leads people to their greatest weakness (aka the thing they love the most). We learn the story of this gauntlet in the flashback, which is back during the time that Belle was Rumple's prisoner. At one point, Belle is kidnapped by Cruella de Vil, Ursula the Sea Witch, and Maleficent. They demand that Rumple bring the gauntlet, and he does, trading it for Belle. Later, however, he goes back and takes the gauntlet away from the three villianesses. When Belle sees the gauntlet, it makes her realize that Rumple will never be able to truly give up power for her.
She uses the gauntlet to find the real dagger, and she commands to Rumple to stop what he's doing, just as Rumple was about to crush Hook's heart. Belle then commands Rumple to take them to the edge of town. She orders Rumple to leave Storybrooke. Rumple is heartbroken, because he knows he will never be able to come back. Good news for Hook, though. Emma puts his heart back in him and the two share a kiss.
While all of this has been going on, we also see Marian awaken from her frozen curse, now that Ingrid is gone. Regina knows that things must be over for her and Robin now, but Marian actually goes to talk to Regina. She says that she'll back down if Robin wants to be with Regina now. She doesn't want Robin to be with her out of obligation. Robin says that he chooses Regina, but their happiness is short-lived - it looks like the Curse on Marian is still in effect, and she begins to freeze again. Regina can think of only one way to save her: she must cross the town border and thus be in a land without magic. But, she'll need someone to go with her: Robin and Roland. At the town border, Regina and Robin say a tearful goodbye, and then Robin, Marian, and Roland cross the border and leave Storybrooke for good.
Emma offers to drink with Regina to console her. Henry runs into the diner with good news for his moms - he's found something! Inside the Sorcerer's mansion, where the portal back to Arendelle was, Henry has discovered a strange room. Inside are rows and rows of blank storybooks. Regina and Henry tell Emma about "Operation Mongoose," and Emma agrees to help. Now that they've found this place, maybe they'll be able to discover more about the author of the book!
Six weeks later, we see Rumple in New York. He goes to see Ursula where she works at an aquarium. He tells her that he wants to find the "Author," in order to get himself the happy ending he has been denied, due to his being a villain. He wants Ursula's help, and he plans on bringing Maleficent and Cruella in on the plan as well.
I do have a few little complaints, but they are fairly minor. The first one is this: how the heck did Ursula end up in NYC? I thought everybody who came over to this land got stuck in Storybrooke? It doesn't make sense. The only people who should have been in our world but outside of Storybrooke are the ones who got there in strange ways - Emma and August, and Neal. That's it! So what's Ursula's deal? And Maleficent, last I checked, had been killed by Emma in dragon-form. All I'm saying is - they better have a good explanation for this.
Secondly, there was a weird pacing thing going on with the Regina/Robin story. We went from Marian awake to Marian and Regina talking to Robin and Regina talking to Marian collapsing and then to the tearful goodbye all in one really rapid-fire collection of scenes. It just felt a little bit... rushed. And what exactly what the explanation for Marian's relapse? I guess it was because she didn't have an act of true love to bring her back?
But mostly, I was really, really happy with this episode.
The flashback stuff wasn't anything too phenomenal, but it was a good way to introduce are villainous trio, all of whom will be back for the second half of the season. Great costume design on all three of them, by the way. This is going to be interesting!
Still, it was good that we just got a taste of them now, so we could use screen time in saying goodbye to our friends from Arendelle. I was surprisingly emotional, watching Emma and Elsa hug and say goodbye. Emma hasn't had a lot of close friends in her life. She had Mary Margaret, but now of course things are different - Mary Margaret is her mother, after all. Emma and Elsa shared quite a special bond, and it's sad to see that end. However, I was glad to see Anna and Elsa happy, together, and back where they belong. They took over their kingdom again and Anna is getting married. All is well! (I also appreciate that they never tried to give Elsa any sort of a love interest, although a lady friend for the Queen would not be amiss...)
Regina and Robin's story line may have felt a tad rushed, but I was still super upset when Robin had to leave. Their goodbye kiss was really intense and emotional. I'm rooting for Regina. I want her to have her happy ending.
Speaking of, I bet the Swan Queen fans were pretty happy with the way this episode ended. Regina and Emma as drinking buddies! I loved it. I also love the fact that Henry rushed into the shop and called out to both of them: "Mom! Mom!" And now Emma is in on Operation Mongoose! This is going to be so good. I'm very intrigued by this whole thing about the Author. Part of me wants to jump to the obvious conclusion and say that the Sorcerer is the Author, but another part of me knows that maybe that's too easy. In any case, I'm sure it'll be interesting.
One of the highlights in this episode was the conversation between Rumple and Regina in the car. Rumple came to say goodbye to Regina, revealing that he planned on leaving Storybrooke permanently. These two actors work so well off of each other, and we haven't gotten to see them onscreen together much this season. They have such a complicated history - student/teacher, allies, enemies... I just loved seeing this exchange.
Of course, the real highlight of this episode? Belle! Belle Belle Belle I am so happy for you. I mean, I'm not happy that you're probably miserable right about now... but at least you know! Belle was such a bad ass in this episode. She was so brave and it was so tragic and I just loved her to pieces. Finally. Finally. I was so worried that she was going to try and make excuses or some such thing, but no. She knows now what Rumple truly is. She understands that no matter how much he might love her, he loves power more. It was such a nice moment of realization after seasons and seasons of watching Belle be in this twisted and abusive situation. You go, girl! And she saved Hook, Emma, and Mary Margaret! Yes!!
Finally, Hook and Emma. I love how in their first scene, Emma just immediately knows something is wrong. And Colin O'Donoghue did a brilliant job in that scene. He was acting like somebody else was forcing him to say things that sound just like what he would really say, but like everything was a tad bit forced. It was perfect. And then of course there's that scene at the end, with the kiss and the smiling and all the adorable-ness. I will never get over these two.
You know, I've been doing a lot of thinking about Captain Swan, and why it's pretty much the best canon couple I've seen on a show, ever. I mean... there's Jim and Pam from The Office, of course. Maybe they'll always be #1 for me. But I digress. The thing about Hook and Emma is that this isn't their story. It's Emma's story. Hook is Emma's love interest, but their relationship isn't what drives the plot or the drama for the most part. It's just one facet of what's going on. Emma remains such a nuanced and independent character. She's interesting to watch whether or not Hook is around. Of course, being the shipper that I am, the moments wherein she and Hook do spend time together make my heart sing. It's just so wonderful. In this episode, you've got two tragic separations of couples - Rumple and Belle, and Regina and Robin. Juxtaposed to them, Hook and Emma seem so happy. But Hook and Emma are also not as far along on their journey. They haven't declared their love for one another. Yet.
I just love them to pieces. I just love this whole show to pieces. And I am not happy that I have to wait until March to see what happens next!
8.5/10
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