Posted by Dustin on 03.11.2014 at 1:29 pm

So “Once Upon A Time” finally returned, and it was a great episode . . . with no Pan! So here is the low down on what happened and my thoughts:

The fairytale crew were zapped to Fairytale land, complete with wardrobe and hair changes. Aurora and Phillip were stunned to see them back, but didn’t tell them about something they needed to know. Aurora decided they should tell them, but there would possibly be punishment in store for their baby. Oh yeah, I forgot about that little tidbit!

Snow convinced Regina to return to the castle together, united, to reunite the people and bring peace. Charming and Neil meanwhile decided to head to Rumple’s house to find something that could be of use to them. Hook however was determined to get back to Emma, certain that the Jolly Roger must have been beamed back here somewhere. He set off to find it and sail to Emma.

On their way to the castle Regina and Snow are saved from an attacking flying monkey by Robin and his merry men. Of course we know this is Regina’s future love interest, the one man Tink told her could make her happy. Robin only knows Regina by reputation, so she’s probably going to really have to prove she’s changed to snag him. They also learn that someone has taken over their castle in the their absence. The entire thing is sealed off by a dome. Okay wait, I’m having an issue here. Didn’t the curse not only take half of the characters from Fairytale Land to Storybrook, but also wipe half the land off the map? I swear the survivors were living in camps on the outskirts of the old kingdom because they were the only places in the land left? How is it that the castle and all this land was there to be taken by the witch? I’m presuming the Witch took it of course.

In New York, Emma and Henry have been having a pretty good last year, including Emma meeting a man who proposed. Yes a year has passed since the Pan/Curse winter finale. However Hook showed up to thwart things. He eventually got to Emma with his questions about her past and parents and convinced her to drink a potion to remember all. While she remembered, Henry was still without his memory. I guess they couldn’t share the potion. After dumping the guy she’d been dating, he turned into a flying monkey and was off back to the Wicked Witch. Yup he was a plant to keep an eye on Emma and keep her from remembering. On the way home he also got some of the Queen’s blood (Regina’s) for a potion the Wicked Witch needed to get her revenge. The very end was the only time we got to see the Wicked Witch.

Emma, Hook and Henry headed back to Storybrook. We learn what we had been seeing in Fairytale Land was not concurring along side what happened in New York. That was the past. The Fairytale Crew are all back in Storybrook, but nobody has any memory of the past year. They do know they’ve lost time because Mary Margaret is pregnant and about to pop!

So the questions are: What happened to them? Who sent them back and why? How is Regina tied to the Wicked Witch? Where did Mulan go? Where did Ariel go? Where is Tink? Does Hook own any other clothes? Is Rumple really dead given we saw him in the teaser poster and he showed up in the credits?