Okay, if this episode’s flashback doesn’t blow your mind, then I have
doubts you have human DNA. All this
time, Pan was Rumpelstiltskin’s father!
During Rumple’s boyhood, his father was a chronic gambler with no
intention of straightening out his life.
Boy Rumple, however, held an unconditional love for his father, and when
his two spinster caretakers (who also were the ones who taught him to use a
spinning wheel) gave him a magic bean to give him a chance to start over, Boy
Rumple decided to share the bean with his father so they could continue being a
family. However, Rumple’s father chose
to go to Neverland, a place he’d occasionally visited in his dreams long
ago. Once they get there, Rumple’s
father realizes he can’t stay on the island unless he gives up his son, as
adults cannot remain on the island. In
the end, he chooses to give up his son so he could stay on Neverland, reverting
back to a boy himself in the process.
And thus, Peter Pan was born.
While seeing this story does explain why Dark One Rumpelstiltskin was so
afraid to go through the portal with Boy Baelfire (the last time he jumped
through a magic bean portal, things did not end well for him), it doesn’t
really cast a good light on this particular bloodline. I mean, we got multiple generations of men
who abandoned their sons for their own personal reasons. Rumple’s father chose his youth over his son,
and Rumpelstiltskin chose power over his. While Nealfirebagelperson didn’t know
Emma was pregnant at the time, his actions still left Henry without a father
figure for most of his young life, and his actions, despite whatever he might say on the contrary, were fueled from his desire to continue avoiding his estranged father.. And
it’s implied that Rumplestilskin’s father was also abandoned as a boy. I can only hope that Henry can break this
endless cycle. After all, his mother
clearly came from much better stock, so that might be enough to override
whatever he might of got from his father’s side of the family.
We’re told exactly what Pan is after in this episode. Originally, the point of Neverland was only
meant to be a place children could visit in their dreams. No one was ever supposed to live there
permanently. When Pan attempted to break
that rule, it came with a price, as things oft do in this story. He could live there, but not forever, and a
magical hourglass was constructed to count down to the point when his
immortality would end. And that was the
real reason why he wanted to kidnap Henry.
He needed the Heart of the Truest Believer for some sort of sacrificial
ritual that would allow Pan to continue living even after the hourglass ran out
at, the cost of Henry’s life.
And to be
brutally honest, I am disappointed how easily Henry swallows Pan’s cover story
about how the ritual is really about saving the island. Henry, I know you believe what Pan is telling
you is true since you’re apparently the Truest Believer and all, but still, why
aren’t you asking more questions? When
Pan put up that protection spell when you two reached Skull Rock, weren’t you
the least bit curious WHY he put one up?
And why aren’t you questioning what Pan needs to do ‘before you get
started?’ You don’t even think about
following him to see for yourself? No,
it’s okay, kiddo. You just sit there
twiddling your thumbs. Come on, show
writers. Please don’t make it so Henry
inherited his father’s level of intelligence.
Although, considering the episode ends with him choosing to believe Pan
over Emma, Regina and Nealfire, it’s really looking like that’s what might
happen. I mean, seriously, did Pan ever give Henry an actual reason to
trust him? At all? Just look at that final scene, when Pan is
hissing his verbal poison into Henry’s ears, telling him that he’s never lied
to him when his parents have. First of
all, is Henry really not over that by now?
Is he still carrying around a grudge against Emma for not leveling with
him about Neal? Come on, kid. Let it go!
(And no, I will not sing that song.)
Besides, even IF Pan was telling the truth about wanting to save
Neverland instead of his own stinking skin, he DID lie to you- when he tried to
keep Wendy’s ‘illness’ from you out of a desire to ‘spare you of the burden.’ Was Henry just giving Pan a pass about that
particular issue because he bought Pan’s statement that he lied to protect
Henry? Because that’s also why Emma lied
to him about Neal. Which makes the very
idea that Henry’s still holding that against her even more ridiculous. It would be like Henry was saying it was okay
for this person who he barely met to want to protect him but it’s not okay for
his own mother to do so. How does that
even make sense? I get that Pan is the
King of Manipulation, but why is it so easy for Henry to be led astray like
this? And please don’t tell me it’s
because he’s just a kid, because I think that’s a lazy explanation. I want to like this kid. I really do.
But throughout this whole story arc, he just made me want to bang my
head repeatedly against a hard surface.
And I don’t like that.
This episode seemed to mainly focus on Gold/Rumpelstiltskin’s
character arc. When he and Regina run
into the others again, Nealfire fills them all in on the prophesy that stated
Henry could lead to Gold/Rumpelstiltskin’s downfall. As a result, everyone instantly turns on him,
refusing to trust his word that he has no intention of harming Henry. This is a really awesome scene with everyone
standing together to protect Henry from him.
Everyone’s mistrust of Gold/Rumpelstiltskin continues as they infiltrate
Pan’s camp and learn from Wendy exactly what Pan is planning to do with Henry. It’s not until the end when they reach Skull
Rock that Nealfire sees the proof that Gold/Rumpelstiltskin was telling him the
truth about splitting off from his shadow, which leads him to believe that he
was also sincere in his promise to not harm Henry. Unfortunately, this does seem to be ‘too
little, too late,’ as Gold’s plan to trap Pan in Pandora’s Box fails, as Pan
somehow switched the box when no one was looking, resulting in Gold getting
trapped instead.
Emma really was awesome in this episode, particularly when she comes
up with the idea how to get past Pan’s barrier- by blocking out the moonlight
so they’d no longer cast a shadow. That
was really good thinking, and it led to her once again teaming up with Regina
to create a lunar eclipse. Speaking of
which, what exactly is Nealfire’s thoughts about Emma being able to use magic? We all know he has a strong dislike of magic,
but whenever Emma uses magic in front of him, he’s rather mute on the whole
subject. While he might be viewing it as
a necessary evil at the moment, given the fact that they’re ? Itrying to get Henry back, what are his thoughts going to be when they leave Neverland don’t think the show ever answers that
question, but I could see it putting a significant strain on their relationship, if you
could call it that. Which is one more reason why I don't think these two should even attempt to pick up where they left off.
There was also a
small scene in this episode with Emma and Snow that I think is particularly
noteworthy. Snow is seriously thinking
about remaining on Neverland to stay with Charming, even if it means saying
goodbye to Emma for good. She is
doubting that there is another way, as she cannot bring herself to leave the island without him. Emma, on the other hand, is
very quick to scold her mother for giving up, saying ‘maybe this is just you rubbing off on me, but I don't believe that.
There's always a way.’ It might just
be the shipper goggles at work here, but I can’t help but remember that it’s
only been an hour or so since we saw Emma visibly touched by Hook/Killian’s
complete faith that she’d get Henry back.
I tend to think that played a part in Emma starting to develop an
optimistic side. That having him simply believe in her so much inspired her to
show the same level of faith in other things.
Either way, she is later seen turning to Hook/Killian to ask him if he
has any ideas of how Charming can leave the island without dying. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have an answer for
her, but Gold/Rumpelstiltskin, who had been listening in on their conversation,
reminds them of how Hook/Killian tried to poison him with Dreamshade last
season and stated he thinks he can create a potion that would permanently cure
Charming. At first, he falls back into
his typical pattern of stating he’ll only make the potion if they give him
something in return, but
Nealfirebagelperson steps in, telling him to give them the potion at no
cost. You know, as much as I dislike
Neal, which I still do, I still have to give him credit in this episode, as he
does genuinely care about his son’s wellbeing.
Not only is he doing whatever he can to make sure Henry gets out of this
mess unharmed, he’s also trying to make sure Henry's family remains intact. I admit he deserves merit for that. (I still think he’s the village idiot,
however.)
On a final nitpicky note- I couldn’t help but notice that Emma
suddenly got a wardrobe change. Last
episode, she was wearing the grey tanktop that she’s been wearing though most
of the Neverland arc, which made a lot of sense as Neverland was apparently a
hot jungle environment. But here, she’s
in a long-sleeved black shirt, which I think is the same one she was wearing
when they were still in-route to Neverland at the start of the season. Did she get a prolonged chill during the
side-mission in Dark Hollow and needed to make a quick stop back at the Jolly
Roger in-between episodes to grab the shirt?
She certainly did look chilly during the scene in question, so I suppose
that’s as good an explanation as any.
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