Episode 3: Quite a Common Fairy
Lana Parrilla as Regina & Rose McIver as Tinker Bell
This episode was just alright. Mostly it centered around Tinkerbell helping Regina find her true love. Regina doesn’t go through with even meeting him and Tinkerbell loses her wings. This means in the present Tinkerbell doesn’t really want to help the crew get into Pan’s camp but Snow offers her the chance to come back to Storybrooke. Tink accepts. Also Charming is dying from Dreamshade. Fun name!
In the Enchanted Forest, Neal gets to Neverland using Robin Hood’s son to lure the shadow to them. Robin offers Mulan a place of the Merry Man squad but she has to return to tell the person she loves that she loves them. The person is Aurora but she’s pregnant so Mulan tells her she join the Merry Men. I thought she had a thing for Philip back in season 2 but either she changed her mind or she didn’t. Whatever poor Mulan, unrequited love sucks, hope she finds true love. Speaking of unrequited love Regina’s true love is really… wait for it,. Robin Hood. Not sure how I feel about the revelation.
Anyway just an alright episode. Enough good stuff to keep a viewership engaged but not a strong episode on it’s own.
Episode 4: Nasty Habits
Michael Raymond-James as Neal & Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin
While I do like Rumpelstiltskin heavy episodes, it a case of second verse same as the first, he has a bad past except that he did love his son and he trying to change but it’s hard. The character’s past involve Rumpelstiltskin meeting the Pied Piper who took away Baelfire. Rumpelstiltskin confronts him but he turns out to be Peter Pan who Rumpelstiltskin curiously knows, hmmmmm. Curious indeed.
The Neverland plot deals with Rumpelstiltskin and Baelfire meeting again. It should be pointed out that Rumpelstiltskin was down for killing himself along with Pan because he thought Baelfire/Neal was gone but now that he know Neal/Baelfire is alive that nasty habit of self-preservation as kicked in. Neal gets the idea to use squid ink to immobile Pan. When they get to camp Henry is gone. Pan tells Neal about the seer’s prophecy that Henry will be Rumpelstiltskin undoning. Rumpelstiltskin says he won’t hurt Henry but Neal doesn’t believe him and immobilizes him with the ink.
Meanwhile Emma and crew find Neal’s secret cave and find a coconut that has a star chart and Henry falls deeper under Pan’s influence believing that he will bring the magic back to Neverland.
Is this combination of the Seer’s prophecy? Another confrontation between Neal and Rumpelstiltskin? How Rumpelstiltskin wants to be redeemed but he likes being alive and death is scary? Isn’t he immortal? Why should self-preservation even be a thing for him?
It wasn’t an unenjoyable episode but characters don’t seem to move forward as much as one would hope. I guess Rumpelstiltskin is the most dynamic character but he moves in small increments.