ONCE UPON A TIME – “Quite a Common Fairy”

Previously on Once Upon a Time, Peter, oh yes that Peter, threatened to Emma that not only would she lose Henry to him, but that she would lose her parents as well. With that Emma and her band of mythical fairytale allies set off to rescue Henry; however as the episode starts off they are having challenges in locating Peter Pan’s camp more than ever before. Captain Hook realizes that he’s using magic to manipulate his camp’s position on the map itself, and believes that the only way to find Pan, the Lost Boys, and Henry is through Pixie Dust… you know what that means… cue the wings… TINKERBELL. Immediately after this request the Evil Queen argues against Tinkerbell’s magic, and contends that the Pixie Dust would be no more powerful than the Evil Queen’s magic. Through her fervor we find out later on that the Queen, in fact, has a far more complicated and damaged relationship with Tinkerbell. Read ahead for the rest of my review and recap of the episode…

Meanwhile while this is happening, Neal is in his father, Rumpelstiltskin’s, castle looking for a means to get to Neverland to help Emma find Henry. He said that in the past that there were hats, magic beans, and ruby slippers that people used to travel between worlds. Immediately when I heard the first two I thought Mad Hatter and Jack, yet when they said ruby slippers I was pleasantly surprised that they went there.  Since near the end of the first season I was waiting for Eddy and Adam, the show’s creator, to finally have a legitimate Oz reference in one of the episodes. Considering that’s the pre-eminent American fairytale, I was pleased that they are starting to lay the groundwork to bring in some Oz in the future.

ONCE UPON A TIME – “Quite a Common Fairy”

They continue to search until Neal is introduced to Robin Hood’s Gang, and with it his son Roland by Little John, which enables the wheels to start turn for Neal. He later approaches Robin Hood about using his son as bait to get Peter Pan’s minion, the shadow, to come go through portals. Although it takes some time to convince Robin Hood, Neal ultimately convinces him on a paternal level, that he could relate on, because he almost lost his son along with his wife during birth, and this sense of loss. The parallels are tangible. Ultimately at the end of the episode Robin Hood’s concern proves justified as after Roland approaches the window, he exclaims, “I BELIEVE.” With that the window swings open and as the Shadow comes to take Roland, Roland struggles to hold onto his dad, but with the blade of the fierce Mulan, she’s able to cut away the Shadow. Right as it about to make its break, Neal jumps on and is taken to Neverland where Pan’s lead Lost Boy greats him to his chagrin. With that, after a lifetime away from the place he went to for the first time as a sacrifice to protect the Darlings to keep magic coming into their world, he now must rescue his family and loved ones.

Meanwhile with Mulan, after her heroics with saving Roland from the Shadow, Robin offers her a place among his Band, and she initially turns it down with the utmost respect. She tells Robin Hood that there is someone she has to see, and you guessed it, that special someone is Princess Aurora. Tragically when it seemed like Mulan was seeking romance from her, it didn’t pan out because Aurora was in fact expecting Phillip’s child, which was absolutely devastating for Mulan. As she walked away with tears in her eyes, this reality leaves her no choice, but to join Robin Hood’s Band of Merry Men.

ONCE UPON A TIME

The final piece in this multi-layered show is the alliance that is driving this show at it’s core, and although the group has never been more unified, they also have never been more challenged with the likes of a villain like Peter Pan. As they go through the forest a few of the major storyline is one the fact that Prince Charming reveals to Captain Hook the gash in his chest that he suffered in battle. Tragically Captain Hook says he only has a few weeks to live at most, and furthermore that there’s nothing that he can do to heal himself. Yet Prince Charming holds out on the Tinkerbell’s Pixie Dust as a means to an end in curing him of his ailment. Sadly when Tinkerbell is brought on as an ally at the end of the episode, Charming realizes that she no longer has the Pixie Dust she once had, and must find some other means to save himself before he tells Snow. On another through line, Emma is able to pry out of the Queen to an extent what she did to Tinkerbell, which as we find out later on from Tinkerbell is far more sinister and cruel then anticipated. After Tinkerbell finds the Queen and ropes her and is on the brink of killing her, she realizes that she would be no better a human being or a fairy if she were to choose hope over revenge like the Queen did. What was the choice exactly?

ONCE UPON A TIME – “Quite a Common Fairy”

Back when the Evil Queen was simply Regina, wife of Snow White’s father and by extension stepmother to Snow White, Tinkerbell went out of her way and broke a number of rules, which ultimately cost her everything in the end. After promising that she would help Regina find her true love again, she is compelled to see the good in her against the tutelage of the Blue Fairy, who condones her for spending time with the daughter of Cora and the pupil of the Dark One. After getting Pixie Dust and sneaking out to help her, tragically because Regina feared happiness she was stripped of her wings, and with it her identity. After becoming a human again, Tinkerbell has the utmost zeal to inflict pain on Regina who became the Evil Queen. Yet ultimately the Evil Queen is able to play to her sense of self, and gives her the choice of ripping her heart out stabbing it with the arrow, or allowing her to live and take the high ground. After much contemplation she decides to let her go, and ultimately is recruited into the alliance to defeat Pan and save Henry, who is beginning to truly question his fate in bringing magic back to all of the worlds.

I thought this was an outstanding intermediary episode, and was looking forward to how the writer would characterize Tinkerbell and they couldn’t have crafted or casted a better one. This episode served in advancing Neal’s quest, Mulan future, and Henry’s potential legacy as savior of all magic. With next episode being sold as the one and only opportunity that the alliance will have to take Pan’s camp with the help of Tinkerbell, everything should come to a head for Prince Charming, Emma, and even Rumpelstiltskin.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Is this season all you’ve expected? Leave your comments below.