Once Upon a Time: The Heart of the Truest Believer (3x01)

I know I expressed a lot of annoyance with the end of Season Two. There were a lot of really weak episodes, and even though the finale managed to be decent enough, it still did not match the intensity of Season One. I'm happy to report, however, that the start of this new season is very strong indeed.

In a show like Once Upon a Time, you have to suspend your disbelief in more ways than one. Of course there are the magic beans and the fairies and all that stuff, but there's also the utter cheesiness of the characters and themes. Since this is a show centered around fairy tales, I'm okay with the theme of the episode being: "let's all work together!"

But let's first take a look at the plot.

Emma, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Hook, and Gold are all on a ship headed to Neverland. They get through the portal okay, and now they are sailing on their way to find Henry. Rumplestiltskin makes an early exit, donning his fairy tale outfit and magic-ing himself off to find Henry the quick way.

So, now it's just the Charmings, their daughter, the pirate who's in love with her, and the queen who pretty much hates all of them. Sounds like a fun Thanksgiving dinner. In all seriousness, though, things are tense. Emma blames her parents for what happened to Henry, and tells them that they can't treat her like parents when they're all the same age. Hook and Emma commiserate over Neal, and he gives her Bae's old sword. This scene was adorable and full of material for all those rabid Captain Swan shippers out there. Unfortunately, they are interrupted by... a mermaid attack!

Remember what I said about suspension of disbelief? Well... the mermaid effects are kind of silly. Regina uses magic to drive the mermaids off, but they take one of them captive. She is obviously not happy to be there, and using some sort of magic, she starts a terrible storm. Regina and Snow argue over how to handle this development, and Regina then turns the mermaid into wood, hoping that this will stop the storm. It does not.

Fighting breaks out. Regina and Snow start fighting over the solution to the problem - Regina says that a more brutal approach is necessary, and that they can't always be the good guys. Snow says she's tired of Regina ruining her life. When they start physically beating on one another, David tries to intervene. Hook stops him, and the two of them start fighting as well. Then, Emma has an idea.

She realizes that the storm is being caused by them. They all need to work together to stop the storm. But nobody will listen to her. In desperation, she throws herself overboard. Hook helps David tie a rope around him so he can jump in after her. After a brief struggle, they all manage to save Emma. The storm ends, proving that Emma's theory was correct. They go ashore, and Emma makes a speech about how they'll need to all cooperate to find Henry. She gets some arguments from people, but she firmly declares herself their leader, along with listing her other asset: "I'm a mother."

This line was a great contrast to a brief scene at the start, which showed Emma giving birth to Henry and saying how she couldn't be a mother.

While all of this great team building is going on, Henry is brought into a forest in Neverland by Tamara and Greg. They are horrified to discover that the "home office" they've been talking to all this time was Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Their leader, Felix, has Greg's shadow ripped from him and Tamara is shot with an arrow. In the confusion, Henry manages to escape.

Cue Rumplestiltskin's entrance. He finds Tamara, who reveals what happened with the Lost Boys and Henry. She tries to apologize about Neal, but Rumple takes her heart and squeezes until she's dead. I must say, I think it was a smart move to eliminate Tamara and Greg. They were very weak characters. Felix then shows up to talk to Gold. He tells him that if he's here for Henry, then that makes Rumplestiltskin Pan's enemy. When Rumple states his intention to take down as many Lost Boys as he can, Felix shows him a doll, which reduces Gold to tears.

Henry has found a former Lost Boy, and the two of them attempt to escape. Henry, due to his strong powers of belief, manages to make Pixie dust work, and Henry and the boy fly away and "escape" the other Lost Boys. But... it turns out to all be a trick. This boy is Peter Pan, and he needs Henry because of his singular talent - he has the "heart of the truest believer," hence the title of this premiere. As we finish the episode, Henry is surrounded by a very menacing looking group of Lost Boys.

Now, I saw the twist coming with Peter from the very beginning, so this part was a bit weak. However, that closing shot was properly scary, so I'm still excited to see what's to become of Henry.

There was one other plot going on. Neal has awoken in the Enchanted Forest to find himself in the company of Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip. We still have no answers as to how Phillip is alive again, but I guess we can just assume that Mulan and Aurora found a way. After Aurora fails to contact Henry through the dream world, and states that she doesn't think anyone can get to them, Neal goes with another plan.

Neal and Mulan go to Rumplestiltskin's castle, looking for some way to get back to Emma. While there, they come across Robin Hood who has apparently been living there since the curse. Once he learns who Neal is, he gives them permission to look around. Neal finds his father's staff, and wielding it causes a cloaking spell to lift (apparently this has something to do with blood magic, and the fact that Neal is Rumple's son. Who knows.) Inside the hidden cabinet he grabs a crystal ball, and after focusing on Emma and what he feels for her, he is able to see her in the crystal ball. But, to his dismay, he discovers that she's in Neverland!

(This was actually a slightly humorous moment, because literally the only thing he can see in the crystal is Emma's head and a bit of trees behind her. Like, how the hell did he know that was Neverland?)

Overall, this episode did have its slip ups. I was particularly unhappy with the Peter Pan twist. He is a threatening enough enemy without the silly fake-out business. However, on the whole, this was a strong opening and I'm looking forward to where it takes us.

8/10