Once Upon a Time “Going Home” 

With more twists than a bag of snakes, this episode almost feels like the series finale. We finally see everyone together in Storybrook. Loved ones are reunited, lives are restored. Tinkerbell regains her confidence and destroys the Shadow, and it appears as though everyone is safe. Even with the looming danger of Peter Pan’s incarnation of the curse, a happy ending seems within their grasp. A quick whip to return Pan and Henry to their former selves, and presto change-o, everything is put to rights.

But as we all know, things are never that easy in the fairy tale world.

We know from early on that a boy would be Rumplestiltskin’s undoing, and although he assumed the boy was Henry, I think we quickly realized it would turn out to be Pan.  Sadly, despite all his precautions and even the power of the Dark One, Rumple finds he still can’t best his conniving father in magical trickery.  Still, he has learned a lot about fatherly love in recent days, and he is finally prepared to do what needs to be done. Here’s a thought: if the Dark One’s power is transferred to the person who stabs him with that knife, and Rumple technically killed himself, then does this leave the door open to him returning at some point in the future because he still possesses the power of the Dark One?

Watching Regina stop Pan’s curse and return the Storybrook residents to their fairy tale lives is quite bittersweet. On the one hand, congratulations, everyone gets to go home.  On the other, Regina goes back to absolutely nothing.  Quite frankly, I can’t believe they got me to care so deeply what happens to Regina, but I do. Knowing she killed her own father to enact the curse in the first place, that her mother is gone and that Henry is left behind paints a picture of Regina rattling around that huge castle all by herself without another living soul for company. Then again, I suppose there’s always the chance she’ll run into Robin Hood one day soon.

Very happy to see the previews that show the Wicked Witch of the West as our new villain for the second half of the season.  They hinted at the Land of Oz back when Tinkerbell used poppy dust as a sleep agent for Regina, and I’m looking forward to see how they manage to incorporate the Wicked Witch into the storyline. Speaking of hints for the future, sharp-eyed viewers may also have noticed Henry’s TRON lunchbox during his flashback conversation with Miss Blanchard. Rumors to that effect have been floating around for a while now, and this finally confirms their intent.

A kiss is just a kiss, but a chocolate kiss is bliss…

There were so many small Moments of Goodness in this episode, it’s hard to choose which one to discuss. Should it be both Regina and Rumple admitting that villains don’t get happy endings? Or Regina offering Emma a lifetime of happy memories with Henry? How about Hook showing up to demand Emma’s help and steal a kiss? Or even better, Emma dealing him a low blow? I think the best moment, the one example of pure goodness, love and hope in this episode, was Henry telling Emma she forgot something at breakfast. That little nod to their family tradition of hot chocolate with cinnamon serves us a huge helping of hope. It allows us to rest easy during the winter break knowing that in the end, one way or another, all will be well.

Once Upon a Time returns with new episodes in March 2014.