I'm majorly angry about one key element of this episode, and it's hard to get past it and look at the rest of it calmly, but I'll try. Let's start with a plot summary.
In the past of Oz, we see Zelena still jealously wishing for a way to change her past and get what her sister has always had. Glinda finds Zelena and invites her to join the council of witches - each represents a powerful force and a direction. Glinda, from the South, represents Love. The other two represent East and North, as well as Courage and Wisdom. They need to fill the empty seat of the West, which is the power of Innocence. A prophecy speaks of a powerful witch arriving in Oz in a cyclone, and thus Glinda believes the prophecy speaks of Zelena. Zelena decides to join them, and she is happy with her new sisters.
That is, until Dorothy shows up in a cyclone. Zelena reads the prophecy and learns that the new witch is supposed to defeat a great evil. She figures out that the prophecy is about Dorothy, and that she, Zelena, is the evil one. Glinda says that she doesn't have to let that be her destiny, but Zelena sees herself as evil, and doesn't know how to change that.
Zelena confronts Dorothy and tries to get her with a fireball. Dorothy pours water on Zelena, melting her. Dorothy tells Glinda she's flattered by the offer of staying in Oz as one of the great witches, but she really needs to go home. Glinda and Dorothy follow the yellow brick road to the Wizard, who is no longer a monkey now that Zelena is dead. The Wizard gives Dorothy magic slippers, and she goes home. Then, we see that the Wizard was never behind the curtain - it was Zelena all along! She only pretended to be defeated, so that Dorothy would be sent home. Zelena banishes Glinda to the Forbidden Forest (in an inaccessible section of it, where we saw a while back that Snow eventually finds her).
We also learn an important detail: Zelena wears a pendant around her neck that channels her magic and helps it to be even stronger. However, if that necklace is ever removed, she'll lose her powers.
Meanwhile in Storybrooke, Mary Margaret is in labor. They all rush to the hospital. Emma and Regina put up protective spells to keep Zelena out. Emma, reluctantly bringing Hook along, goes to find Zelena and end this once and for all.
We see that Zelena has taken a symbolic "brain" from Rumple, golden like the straw he has been spinning. Zelena now has Courage, Wisdom, and Love (David's sword hilt, Rumple's brain, Regina's heart) and all she's missing is the last element - Innocence. Clearly, this will be fulfilled by taking Mary Margaret and David's baby.
Emma and Hook find Zelena and Rumple. Zelena needs Emma's powers to be taken away, so she has Rumple force Hook into a well, drowning him. Emma is eventually able to pull him out of the water, but she has to give him mouth to mouth to revive him. Their lips touch, and Emma's magic is taken from her.
Zelena is able to march straight into the hospital and take the baby. Emma and Hook show up, and everyone wonders what to do. How can they defeat Zelena without Emma's Light Magic? Henry realizes that Regina has Light Magic, too. True Love's Kiss broke the second curse, and she was the one who kissed Henry for that to happen. She can defeat her sister using this Light Magic.
Regina, Emma, Hook, David, and Robin Hood all go to face Zelena and Rumple. Rumple doesn't want to hurt them, so even as he's flinging them all against walls, he's telling them to get the dagger so that he can be on their side. It looks like all hope is lost, when suddenly Regina is able to find the Light Magic within her, and incapacitate Zelena. She takes Zelena's pendant, and thus her magic. Rumple goes to kill Zelena in revenge for Neal/Bae's death, but Regina, snatching up the dagger, says no.
She gives a speech about what it means to be a hero - heroes don't kill defenseless people. She points out that she and Rumple have killed and hurt a lot of innocent people to get what they wanted, and that they have both been given second chances. In order to be truly good, they need to give Zelena this same chance. With Zelena's powers gone, the Flying Monkey who had been fighting in the battle turns back into Little John, to Robin Hood's delight.
The Charmings coo over their newest baby member, while Emma tells Hook that she still plans on taking Henry back to New York. (Henry, earlier, had remarked to Dr. Hopper that he wanted to stay in Storybrooke).
Rumple heads to his shop, where he and Belle can finally be properly reunited. Belle reveals that Regina had given Belle Rumple's dagger. Belle offers the dagger to Rumple, as a sign of her trust in him. He refuses it, saying he trusts Belle with his heart. He proposes to her, and she says yes.
Regina talks to Zelena in her prison cell, telling her sister to try for a second chance to be good. Zelena says she doesn't want a second chance, and Regina warns her that if she ever tries anything bad again, Regina will be happy to crush her heart. Rumple also pays Zelena a visit, revealing that he gave Belle a fake dagger, and he has his real dagger to himself, giving him the power to do whatever he wants. He kills Zelena, ignoring her fearful protests.
However, then something strange happens. Green smoke issues from the place Zelena died, traveling to the time portal she had been creating with the four magic ingredients, before going inside of it. Somehow, Zelena managed to manipulate time after all?
So... at the beginning I mentioned I had one big problem. Really, there are two, but they're closely related.
First of all, Rumple's decision to seek revenge on Zelena. Seriously? Seasons and seasons of character development. All the stuff that happened to him in Neverland. All the stuff with Belle. And he's lying to her - again? Is she going to be able to forgive this one? I honestly hope not. I get that he's grieving his son, but Regina did the right thing against the odds - why couldn't Rumple?
The other huge problem was with the very ending. We were given no hint - not even a small one - that Zelena had another twist up her sleeves. It came out of freakin' nowhere. We now have the two part finale to look forward to, but I just don't understand how they're going to take us through the ringer with Zelena yet again without it seeming really stale. I'm just... annoyed. And discouraged. So many things were amazing about this episode until those final moments. Now, I just feel lost.
Other problems? The stuff in Oz was really lackluster. Not bad, necessarily, but just sort of boring. They didn't develop Dorothy at all. She seemed blander than bland, for such an iconic character. The other two witches weren't characters at all, and Glinda is still really boring to me.
But... the good stuff. There was a lot of it.
I really liked the idea of having the four witches represent the four magic sources, and how that tied in to the heart, brain, courage, and innocence. In a way, Dorothy's desire to go home and allow others to care for her, her desire to stay with family, is tied to innocence. There seems to be some commentary here about Emma, and her issues about family and loyalty, too. It could have been pushed further, but I did like some of this.
Regina! Using Light Magic! Choosing to be a good guy! Definitively! I loved how she and Emma worked together to put up protection around the hospital. I loved how she worked with everyone, together, to defeat Zelena. And I love that she showed mercy. On a practical level, it would have made more sense to kill her outright, but this isn't Game of Thrones, after all, and the powers of Good and Evil are very much realities in this world. Regina chose to close the door on her dark past and step forward into a lighter future, while still maintaining the seeds of her deepest power. Very satisfying to see.
Hook and Emma! Did Emma seriously say "come back to me?" Did I hear that, or am I dreaming? Emma chose to risk everything - her magic, her ability to defeat Zelena to save her new baby sibling - everything, in order to bring Hook back. Try and tell me that these two aren't in love. I dare you.
Emma's continued insistence on returning to New York is also interesting. I really like it, because it reminds us that Emma isn't really over her feelings of abandonment and her trust issues. She wants things to be simple and safe and good for her son, but she'll learn soon enough that they can't be that way forever. Henry is growing up, and taking him back to New York now won't solve anything. He wants to stay with his family, now.
The cutest thing ever: Henry and Hopper's conversation. Henry says he and Emma have to find a place, because Mary Margaret and David's place will be too crowded with a baby. Then he says that he'll obviously be back and forth from Emma and Regina's houses... awww! I love the fact that Henry loves both his moms and is planning a future with both of them! It's fantastic!
I guess I'll leave it at that. While there were some large flaws in this episode, it still had many great elements, and I'm eagerly awaiting the finale!
7/10
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