Once Upon a Time: Wish You Were Here (6x10)

From a structural standpoint, this season has been sort of... off. But from an individual episode standpoint? I'm pretty happy!

Cons:

So. Structurally. What about all the other people from the Land of Untold Stories? Are we just done with them? Why have Aladdin and Jasmine interwoven into the story, just to send them off again? We're contending with like a bajillion subplots here, and now we're adding in an alternate reality to boot? It's messy and it's overcrowded.

But setting that aside, we should look at this episode for its individual merits. I only have one really big complaint, here, and that's that Aladdin was way underutilized as the genie. These characters are idiots! So, first, the Evil Queen gets hold of the lamp, and wishes for Emma to not be the Savior anymore, which sends Emma to the Enchanted Forest and an alternate reality where her parents defeated the Evil Queen and she was raised as a princess. No curse, no Savior. Okay, fine. But then Regina figures out that she can make a wish too, because she and the Evil Queen are the same person. What does she wish for? To be sent to wherever Emma is. Why couldn't she wish to bring Emma back to Storybrooke? That wouldn't be undoing a wish! She still wouldn't be the Savior, right? And then David gets the lamp, and wishes that the Evil Queen "get what she deserves" which is super vague and ends up doing nothing at first, but then later she gets turned into a snake and trapped in a cage. Weird.

And then David refuses to even try to use Aladdin to wake Snow up. Like, here's the thing. Genie wishes "always come with a price," but that's usually because the genie is a trickster who likes messing with people. Aladdin is on your side, dude! He wouldn't mess this up on purpose! I'm sure they could have tried to put some thought into it in order to break the sleeping curse. To not even attempt it felt very weak. In the end, Jasmine uses a wish to take herself and Aladdin to the missing Agrabah, where ostensibly we'll see them in the back half of the season. That's fine, or whatever, but all it really does is disconnect them once again from the story proper, making me wonder why they even showed up as a subplot in the first place.

Pros:

That being said, this season's other main subplot paid HUGE dividends tonight. Rumple is trying to track down his son, but he quickly realizes that something is wrong. Not only can he not find Gideon... it seems that he's gone. Like, gone, gone. Not in this realm. He tells Belle, and although she still isn't keen on trusting him all the way, she does call up the convent to make sure everything's alright. And... it's not. Belle and Rumple go to the convent and find that Blue has been attacked. She tried to fight off the evil force that took the baby from her, but she was ultimately defeated. Who took Belle and Rumple's child? The Black Fairy! Rumple's mom!

And then, it gets even better: David, Hook, and Henry, who are all back in Storybrooke as Emma and Regina have traveled to the Enchanted Forest Alternate Timeline, learn from the dwarfs about the Evil Queen being transformed into a serpent. Who did it? Why, a figure in a mysterious cloak! This figure comes in to Gold's shop, removes its hood, and... it's Gideon. It's Belle's son! Now, this is just brilliant. All season long we've been building to the reveal of the baddie under the hood. This show is often not to be trusted with big reveals, but sometimes it gets one really right, and this is an example of that. We knew it wasn't going to be Regina or the Evil Queen, because... well... too obvious. Was it going to be Aladdin? Another version of Emma herself? A returning character who died, like Robin or Hades or even Neal? What about Zelena? There were a lot of possibilities, but whenever I thought of one, it just seemed like a cop-out. Either it's too obvious, or it's so out of nowhere that it makes no sense. But meanwhile, we've had this really compelling subplot with Belle and Rumple. And now, everything comes together and it makes so much sense! Even Rumple's mother is back in the mix, and I really thought she was just going to be a one-off.

I'm still rooting for Belle to stay away from Rumple forever, but even so, I liked seeing the two of them set aside their personal issues to try and find their son. That could be a compelling avenue to explore. Instead of Rumple wanting to find his son because he's selfish, he now wants to rescue his son from harm. Rumple's redeeming moment could come if he manages to rescue his son and then turn him over to Belle and agree to stay away. Of course, that might be difficult now, considering that Gideon appears to be a full grown man, but still. I'm quite intrigued.

The main story obviously follows Emma, who is living as a princess with no memory of her real life, and Regina, who follows Emma into that world to try and bring her back home. But before I get to that, I do want to mention David and Hook, who spend the episode getting increasingly agitated about their situation. David in particular gets so worked up that he wants to murder the Evil Queen, even knowing that this will mean the end of Regina as well. Hook is there to save him from the Evil Queen, along with Aladdin and Jasmine, and he's also there to give David some words of encouragement. They didn't get a lot of screen time, but I adored the moments they did have. Their relationship is a complicated one, but I do truly think they care for one another.

Okay. Onto the alternate universe, where it looks like both of Henry's mothers will be hanging out for at least part of Season 6B. Emma is a happy princess living in a peaceful land with her appropriately aged mom and dad, who are the king and queen of the realm. She has her son Henry, who is about to be knighted. His dad Neal unfortunately died as a heroic knight before he was born. So, things are pretty darn boring in Emma's life... that is, until Regina shows up to try and get her to come back home. Of course, everybody who sees her thinks she's the Evil Queen, and they all run screaming to warn the royal family of her return. Regina gets Rumple's help (Rumple in this world is imprisoned at the palace) by promising to free him. Rumple tells Regina that in order to get Emma to remember who she is, Regina will have to play the villain and awaken the hero within Emma. Rumple also promises to procure a magic bean that will open them a portal back home.

This is where things get awesome: Regina shows up and hams it up as the Evil Queen, kidnapping Snow and David in front of a horrified and plaintive Emma. Emma immediately goes to try and rescue her parents by surrendering the kingdom to Regina. No matter what Regina does, she can't get Emma to remember she's a hero. She even crushes Snow and David's hearts, and Emma doesn't do anything to stop her! (Of course, it turns out that those were just fakes of Snow and David). What does end up snapping Emma out of it? Henry shows up to kill Regina. Regina says she won't hurt Henry, and just as Henry lunges forward to deliver a killing blow, Emma snaps out of it and freezes Henry before he can hurt one of his moms.

Regina and Emma then go to meet Rumple, who offers them a magic bean and then vamooses to wreak havoc. But just as they open the portal, somebody appears to rob them: Robin Hood. Regina, mesmerized by the sight of her lost love, won't listen to Emma as she begs her to hurry up. They miss their portal home, and are stuck in the Enchanted Forest, at least for the time being.

Okay. Where to even start with this? I love all of the possibilities in this alternative world. Snow and David as middle-aged monarchs, Henry as a young brash knight, and Emma as a sheltered and pampered princess who has a good heart, but has never had to fight for anything in her life. It's a genius setup. I'm almost a little sorry that Regina got her to remember who she is so quickly. But then again, I loved the way that Regina got Emma to remember. The moment when Emma offered Regina the key to the kingdom was hilarious. Regina was just so flummoxed and annoyed. She doesn't want to be the Evil Queen right now, she just wants Emma back.

Robin's return was something I totally should have seen coming, and yet I didn't. It was the perfect way to end the episode, and this scenario is the perfect one to come back to for 6B. I honestly find this setup much more compelling than the Land of Untold Stories ended up being, even though I thought that had such promise at first. How are Regina and Emma going to handle this new reality? Especially considering they've just freed Rumplestiltskin, and everybody thinks that Regina is evil? A few seasons back, we got the alternate reality double episode which ended with Henry becoming the author. It was a cute idea, with the villains and heroes switching places and all of that, and it worked really well as a concept for a few episodes. But now, we've got something even richer. An Emma who was raised in this world. An Emma who knows who she really is, but can still remember the life she's led as a princess. I can't wait to see what alternate reality treats they've got up their sleeves for us. Are we going to see alternate Hook? Eeeeep I'm so excited.

Comedy shout-outs: Emma finds out that Regina freed Rumple from his prison, and this is her reaction - "Regina! What if he's, like, razing villages or something?" Also, back in Storybrooke, the Evil Queen makes a lascivious advance towards Genie Aladdin, and his reaction is just "ew." That made me laugh!

I can't believe we've got to wait until March for the next episode. This mid-season finale did a great job of getting me pumped for what's to come!

8/10