Wellllll... I am feeling some frustration about some things, because I feel like we've done enough with the fake-outs at this point. At the same time, I greatly enjoyed the vast majority of this episode. Let's take a closer look.
Cons:
While most of the episode focused on the plan to get out of the Underworld, we did also focus on Rumple and Pan a bit. It was a weird detour, to say the least. Basically, Rumple and Pan blackmail Hades by taking Zelena captive, forcing Hades to tear up the contract for Belle's baby. With that done, Pan thinks that his son is going to help him out of the Underworld by stealing a heart for him, and indeed we see Rumple take Robin's heart. However, Rumple later secretly gives Robin back his heart and instead puts a container of water from the river of lost souls inside of Pan instead, disguised as a heart. He wanted to make sure his father never found his happy ending. Pan dissolves into the river, and Rumple takes the still unconscious Belle back with him through the portal to Storybrooke.
I guess I'm just annoyed that all the buildup for Pan was wasted. Instead of becoming some sort of twisted ally for our heroes, we barely got any screen time with him, and then Rumple defeated him, and that was that. The kid playing Pan is such an amazing actor. I really wish he could have had more of a chance to chew the scenery. Roping Robin into the plot line was weak and super random as well. He barely got any screen time, again, and every time he shows up for an insignificant bit of story, it just serves to emphasize how little he's had to do this season. Also, after a stressful few weeks trying to work out what to do with this whole "Hades owns the baby" thing, it feels a little anticlimactic to have the problem solved so easily. I mean, I know Belle wouldn't approve of Rumple's methods, but all he did was briefly kidnap Zelena, and then let her go free once he got what he wanted. In the grand scheme of things, and in comparison to stuff Rumple has done in the past, this seems downright tame.
The main plot of the night was generally excellent, and provided a lot of intriguing focus on Emma's character development. But after all Emma has done to open herself up to love, this episode featured yet another tragic separation scene for her and Hook. I mean, don't get me wrong: I love me some angst, and I'll talk about that in a second. But I'm not at all convinced that this was the real end for the character of Captain Hook, and if that's the case... why put us through another fake-out? Have we not done enough of that? What more is another tragedy going to do for the plot or for the character development? I've enjoyed the Captain Swan focus this season a lot. But at the same time, I think their romance works quite nicely as a subplot. They can be there for each other, supportive and in love, without there being evil forces conspiring to separate them at every turn. Let them have a little time off.
One other small thing: I've enjoyed this Underworld arc quite a lot, but I'm a bit miffed that we never got to see any of the other Greek gods. Maybe Hades will get some backstory episodes and we can meet his siblings? I guess this isn't a legitimate complaint, because I never like it when they throw too many new characters in along with a new setting (see: Frozen arc). Still, no Zeus? Poseidon? Athena? Hermes? Persephone? So many possibilities!
Pros:
So much to talk about. First of all, Zelena gets rescued from Pan and Rumple, and she and Hades share a True Love's Kiss. This is what gets Hades' heart pumping again, and also opens up the portal that will let everybody leave the Underworld. The romance between Hades and Zelena has never done much for me, but this week I found myself really interested in the dynamic. In some ways, we've got another Rumple/Belle sort of situation going on. Zelena seems to have truly reformed. Her relationship with Regina remains strong. But Hades? Well, he might love Zelena, but he's not a changed man. He might not even be capable of change. In a rather clever turn of events, Hades starts the episode promising to help Emma and the others get home, and then conspires to trap them all below while he goes up to Storybrooke. Regina, with her trust for Zelena firmly in place, hands over the baby and sends her and Hades on ahead to the portal while Regina and everybody else wait for Hook and Emma to get back from their own adventure. Zelena seems genuinely concerned when her sister and everybody else doesn't turn up at the portal. Hades lies and says he's sure they'll be coming along quickly. I love the tension created here between Zelena's True Love with Hades, and her new relationship with Regina, and by extension all the other heroes. I can't wait to see how it plays out now that everybody is back in Storybrooke.
This episode's title comes from Henry, who earlier in the season had named the mission to help people figure out their unfinished business "Operation Firebird." Henry decides to use his powers as the Author to write people's unfinished business for them, thus allowing them to move on. Now that Hades will be leaving the Underworld, it will be able to function as it's meant to: a brief stopping point for people to finish whatever they need to before moving on. I love that even in the panicked hours leading up to the tiny window of opportunity for escape, our heroes are still thinking about helping people. Henry as the Author is one of those ideas that really, really works, and this feels like a nice resolution to his own arc. Henry is a hero in his own right, now.
Cruella and the Blind Witch get to make a final fun appearance here, as they have plans to take over the Underworld now that Hades is leaving a power vacuum. They are the ones that try and trap David, Regina, Robin, and Henry, locking them up with a spell Hades provided so they won't be able to escape before the portal closes. These two villainesses are a riot. I'm a little confused that the plot thread about Henry rescuing Cruella was dropped, but I love the idea of these two campy villains running the Underworld. Hopefully they can let people move on, and won't repeat the evilness of Hades' regime. Still, if they want to hang around, who am I to stop them? It was fun to see them both again, that's for sure.
Okay. Now we get into the main meat of the episode: Emma. We see flashbacks to Emma just a few years before the events of the pilot. She is on a quest to find information about her birth family, hunting down clues about where she was found. She is picked up by a bail bondswoman named Cleo Fox. Cleo sympathizes with Emma's desire to understand where she came from, and even takes a detour with her to check out some county records. Cleo then follows Emma when she tries to break in to the records place at night to have a look around. The police show up, and the two women make a run for it. Cleo is injured by glass from the broken window, and just before she dies, she tells Emma that she had a daughter who she gave up. Emma runs off, leaving Cleo behind, but she pulls her life together, becoming a bail bondswoman in her own right. She finds Cleo's daughter and helps the young woman understand a bit about where she came from. Emma then buys the iconic red leather jacket. Cleo, who had a similar jacket, said it was her armor: her symbol of protection, of not letting her emotions get involved.
Seeing the origins of Emma's career when we find her in the pilot is one of those stories I never knew I wanted until I saw it. Cleo was a cool character, even if we didn't get much time with her. She fulfilled a nice little niche in understanding how Emma works. Despite the fact that she was bringing Emma in for arrest, Emma grew to trust in her in a certain way. In a very short amount of time, a real bond grew between them. I appreciated the origins of the red jacket. By the end of the episode, Emma tells her dad that the jacket was a way of protecting herself, but now it's a symbol of protecting the people she loves. Flashing back to before she met Henry and her parents and the rest of her family really showcases how far Emma has come in the past few years. Stellar character development if I've ever seen it.
And then there's Hook and Emma. Oh my word. Too much angst. I love it. The two of them go down into the deepest, scariest parts of the Underworld in search of Ambrosia so that Hook can leave the Underworld. They discover that his soul has left his body, so splitting Emma's heart won't work, and Hades fills them in on the whole Ambrosia thing. Of course, we later find out that Hades really just wanted to stall all the heroes to prevent them from coming back to Storybrooke, and when Emma and Hook finally get down there, the Ambrosia tree has been cut down. Hook promises Emma that they will find another way to get him out, but when it comes time to go back above and join the others, Hook tells Emma that it's time for her to let him go. The two exchange tearful goodbyes, promising to move on from one another and not let themselves be held back. Emma rejoins the others. Her magic combined with Regina's is enough to free them from Hades' blockade, and they make it to the portal just in time to get back to Storybrooke, leaving only Hook behind.
So. I mentioned in the "cons" section that there's something irritating about yet another fake-out. That being said, I think it's rather important that Emma has to learn to let go. It's not healthy to risk everybody's lives in a mad attempt to save her dead lover. Refusing to let Hook go in Camelot is what almost destroyed them all. And now that Emma has let him go, when he inevitably comes back they will be able to start from a much healthier place.
But honestly let's be real this plot line rocks because it provided me with ANGST. First, we got the confirmation that none of us really need, but that so many of us were craving: Emma and Hook are True Love. Emma weighs her heart on a scale that's supposed to test if her love is true. Hook then bursts in to flame, and she chooses to save him instead of retrieving her heart, thus proving that she loves him. This is how they get in to find the Ambrosia seeds, which are unfortunately dead by the time they get there. The fact that Emma, who always keeps her guard up, has allowed herself to fall in love in such a powerful way is so important. This is the second True Love confirmation for Emma, the first being her and her son. She's opened herself up to being a mother, then to being a daughter, and now she's completed the journey to being a partner for Hook.
Which, of course, makes it all the more tragic when it's ripped away from her just minutes later. Everything about that goodbye just broke my heart. Both of them are crying. They kiss through the bars of the elevator. They hold hands as the elevator rises up, gripping tightly until the last second, fumbling their fingers for just another split second of contact... ugh. My heart! Henry's reaction to the news that Hook had to stay behind was really heartbreaking as well. I think Henry really thought Hook was going to be a part of his life, and it just goes to show that this is a tough loss for more than just Emma. Honestly, there were a lot of devastating moments in these last few scenes, but the one that got me the worst was when Henry asked about Hook, and Emma, her voice wavering, assures her son that Hook will be able to move on. It's strange, but we tend to think of co-dependency and epic, all-consuming impossible-to-live-without love is very romantic. One of my favorite things about Hook and Emma's romance is that it's not really presented that way. Sure, Emma goes to great lengths to save her True Love, but their goodbye is filled with promises that they won't let their grief warp them. Hook will move on from the Underworld. Emma won't put her armor back on, and will continue her life with an open heart, even if that scares her. That kind of love story feels both more true and more powerful in a lot of ways.
So. Everybody makes it through the portal before it closes. Hades and Zelena, Rumple and the still sleeping Belle, Emma and her family. I figure Hook might end up finding some Ambrosia down below after all, or perhaps something else that Hook and Emma did - like their final kiss - saved Hook's life somehow and he's already topside waiting for Emma. Either way, I know Hook is coming back. Barring Colin O'Donoghue needing to leave the show for some reason, there's no chance that they would write his character off in this way. Despite my annoyance at the fake-out, I really loved the drama and emotion in this episode, and I'm eagerly awaiting our return to Storybrooke. What will Hades get up to? Will he be surprised to see the heroes? Will Zelena find out he tried to trap them? All I know is - I'm excited to find out!
7.5/10
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