Once Upon a Time: Tougher Than the Rest (6x11)

I have so many questions. So many, many questions.

Cons:

I didn't hate this episode, in the sense that many of the details in it were quite nice. But I've got to be brutally honest, here: the entire "Wish Realm" thing ends up being a total cop-out. Emma and Regina are already back, safe and sound. That was quite a detour for no real payoff. I wanted to see how things played out here! I wanted to see Prince Henry. I wanted to spend time with Emma as she fought the duality of herself. The princess that never was but could have been, and the Savior part of herself that she both cherishes and dreads. But... nope. As has become abundantly clear by the end of this episode, the entire Wish Realm is just a convoluted way of getting Robin back into the story.

Yep. That's right. Regina takes Wish Realm Robin back with her, defying one of the key plot points that started off this whole show in the first place. The magic wardrobe is only supposed to be able to take two people! But now suddenly three can go, no problem? Seriously? And conveniently, while everybody else aged, Robin hasn't. This is because maybe somehow the real Robin's soul was transferred to this realm through a wish or some such bullshit? Now, the thing is, I didn't like the fact that Robin was killed off, so a part of me is happy to have him back. But the Wish Realm could have provided us with episodes worth of fun storytelling. Instead, we get half a second with campy Rumple, a fun scene with older Hook, and... bam. Back to our regular story. Ugh.

Oh, also, Gideon is the person destined to kill Emma with the sword, as we learned in the mid-season finale. In this episode, we finally learn why. Apparently, he was raised in a different realm where time moves differently, by Rumple's mother the Black Fairy. This upbringing was hard on him, but it didn't turn him "evil" the way his grandmother wanted. Instead, he is seeking the opportunity to become the Savior, so that he can reenter the realm where he was raised and defeat the evil there. For some reason, he thinks the way to become the Savior is to kill Emma and take on her role. This is dumb. Where did he get the idea that killing the Savior would turn you into the Savior? This isn't like the Dark One, is it? It makes no sense! Belle and Rumple are both trying to reconnect with their son, but at no point do either one of them stop and explain to him that he can be a hero and save his realm without first pointlessly committing murder. Why don't Belle and Rumple just offer to help him take down the Black Fairy? All this buildup about Emma's destined death, and the actual rationale behind why Gideon would want to kill her is super weak.

Pros:

But I actually did not dislike this episode, due to many of the character beats and fun callbacks it provided.

In Storybrooke, we see Hook and David working desperately to figure out what to do about Gideon. David refuses to wake Snow up, because he wants to fix this mess before bringing her back into it. I loved the brief moments of Hook and David together, as they really do work off of each other quite nicely. It looks like we'll be getting a lot more of that next week, so that's nice.

Rumple and Belle are both on the same side, in a way, as they fight to establish some sort of a relationship between themselves and their grown son. I liked that Rumple admits that he's addicted to his evil power-seeking ways, but he's got enough humanity left in him to want something better for his son. That was always the key sticking point with Rumple - as horrible as he was, his motivation was always about getting to Bae. And as horrible as he still is, I believe him when he says he wants what's best for Gideon. I do not want Belle and Rumple to get back together in any way, shape, or form, but I do like the idea of them being united in this one thing: their son.

We see a brief flashback of young Emma living on the streets, burning the pages of a fairy tale book for fire. A young August comes up to her and tells her that if she believes in herself enough, she can change her fate. This prompts Emma to go to the police and try again for a better home. We also learn that August's words, about the story of the Ugly Duckling, is how Emma gives herself the last name "Swan." The episode is tagged with a moment where Emma visits August in Storybrooke and thanks him for looking after her when she was growing up. I love the idea of Emma naming herself, and as a big August fan, I'm really happy with the idea of him having a big part of setting her on the right path, even if he did fail her in so many ways.

The stuff in the Wish Realm, while ultimately a pointless Robin-fetching detour, was still quite fun. August played a big role, as he helped Princess Emma create a wardrobe to send her back to her realm. I loved seeing him again, and I loved the big hug between the two when they first reunited. Emma still has all of "Princess" Emma's memories, and it appears that she and August have a sort of friendship in this alternate realty. That's delightful. I love August. I can't even put my finger on why. I just do.

As I said, Robin's reappearance here feels super forced, but since I hated his death in the first place, I can't be too mad about it. Regina wants to see if this version of Robin is happier, having never known her. At first she thinks he is, but she then learns that Marian died before the two could ever marry, and while he's still a thief, he doesn't give anything to the poor. He keeps it for himself. Truth is, his life is pretty miserable, which is why he decides to drop everything and come with Regina. This show has a real knack of taking stupid premises and milking some good character moments out of them. I'd like to see Regina and Robin fall in love again, with the added complication that Regina will always be looking for somebody who isn't quite there. And does this mean that Roland will come back to see his new "dad"? That would be an interesting element to explore.

Wish Realm Captain Hook is hilarious. He's a drunken, grey-haired, pot-bellied pirate who wants to "rescue" Emma from Pinocchio for the reward promised by Emma's family. I love how Emma is just bemused and confused by the whole thing, and later when she gets back home, she tells Hook: "it'll be okay... we're going to switch to water." He replies, slightly horrified: "what, for drinking?" That cracked me up.

Speaking of Emma's return, we see her have her fateful encounter with Gideon on the streets of Storybrooke. She manages to take control of her own fate and overpower Gideon, but he vanishes, living to fight her another day. This might have been a bit anticlimactic, but I do think it worked alright. We haven't solved the problem, just delayed it a bit. Emma's reunions with everybody were really sweet. She hugs Killian, David, and then hugs Killian and Henry at the same time, a reunion of her little family. I loved this. So sweet. I'm a sap for this kind of thing, I must admit it.

That's all I've got for now. This episode is sort of confounding. I thought I understood what this half of the season would be about. I was ready to explore this Wish Realm and see all the cool things it could unveil. It would have given us a solid reason to stay in the Enchanted Forest instead of forcing additional flashbacks. But now it's all done with, in one episode? I don't know... is Gideon the thing we're going to spend the rest of the season focused on? If so, I'm going to need a better explanation for his behavior. All that being said, I liked seeing Emma and Regina in this alternate world. I liked watching David grow increasingly stressed over his situation. I liked seeing Emma take control of her own fate. And I like Robin. I'm glad he's back. I even got to see August, an old favorite of mine. How do I rate such a mixed episode? I'll give it a shot...

7/10