Boy, what an episode! I am beyond excited that we learned who the Mystery Man from the season premiere is, although, I’m a little disappointed that we still haven’t learned too much about him. I was truly happy to see August return in last night’s episode as well. However, it still didn’t tell us where August went to in present day StoryBrooke. One question I had about last night’s episode was what did August show Neal that immediately made Neal cooperate with August? Knowing what I do about the writers for the show, I’ll bet it was something, for lack of a better word, magical. The long awaited mystery as to who had sent Neal the “Broken” postcard was also revealed to my delight. I’m not going to lie; this episode had me going, “Aww, Yay, and Oh my gosh!” a lot last night.
Last week I raised a question, that to some may seem quite obvious, about Captain Sexy Pants Hook. I asked, “Can Hook be trusted?” 
Of course I received the usual answers pointing out that for me to believe that he could be trusted left me with less of my cerebral cortex than I thought. However, I did receive some answers that I was looking for: who cares the dude is frickin’ hot. Apparently I’m not the only one who would, as Betsy and Rio (contributing fans) lovingly pointed out, “follow [the man] to hell and back.” I was pleasantly surprised last night when Hook and Emma had some time to talk when they were climbing the beanstalk. Their little chat gave me brief insight into Hook’s character and I see some wisdom creeping through. Did anyone else laugh excitedly when Hook thought Emma was making a move on him? Oh how I wish I had been her in that scene, though I think it would have ended a bit different. I’m slightly angry with Emma for handcuffing our one-handed pretty boy and leaving him stranded though I understand why she did it. (But honestly, give that man all the screen time in the world.)
In a lot of ways, I felt like this was Emma’s biggest moment on the show yet. We finally got to see the backstory of her life and how it shaped her into the woman she is today. Watching Emma fall in love was interesting and had me smiling throughout the entire episode. It was so nice to see her truly happy and relaxed for once. 
She and Neal were a very cute couple and I’m very excited to now know who Henry’s father is. I wonder if Henry is more like Emma or Neal. We really didn’t get to see a lot of Neal, sadly. Hopefully future episodes bring his character back and possibly a reunion between him and Emma, though I doubt it will go over smoothly. It may even cause strain between Emma and August. Which, by the way, does anyone have any idea where the hell August is now? I think one of the most heart wrenching scenes that happened on the show so far has to be the scene where Emma gets arrested and learns that Neal set her up. I wanted to run up to her, hug her, and tell her everything was going to be ok; too bad my TV screen got in the way. Here’s a question for all my women readers: Can you imagine being pregnant in jail? I think being pregnant outside of jail is hard enough; imagine what Emma had to go through. She’s one tough cookie, huh? Neal redeemed himself a little by giving Emma his now legal car and the money for the watches that had sent her to jail. I loved the way August addressed his mail, “Phuket.” He was trying to give her a hint, I think, but she probably didn’t recognize the name.
A few weeks ago I said that I didn’t care for Aurora because she was too whiny and seemed like a bratty kid. However, I have to say that after tonight’s episode she is growing on me. She still acts very much like a kid, but I suppose that is exactly what she is meant to be. And who better to have as a mother figure around than Snow White? Snow has really been revealing her maternal side lately and my goodness, I think she earns the “Best Mother of the Year Badge.” I’d nominate my mother for the position but she hasn’t slain an ogre or tackled a samurai warrior for my safety this year. Maybe next year’s her year for that, but I digress. The fact that nightmares are the side effect for sleeping spells is interesting to me. I’ll explain why in a moment. During this episode we see Aurora and Henry having a nightmare: a red room without windows or mirrors with curtains on fire and a mysterious figure in the corner. If you listen closely to both Henry’s and Aurora’s retelling of the dream, Henry says “she” and Aurora says “he” when speaking about the other figure in the room. Do you think it’s possible that the two are seeing each other? This is why the nightmares are fascinating to me. I’m thinking that anyone who’s ever undergone a sleeping spell is going to experience this dream. We haven’t seen Snow sleep yet, so it is plausible that the next time she dozes off, she too will be in a red room on fire.
If this theory does become truth, I wonder what the dream means for everyone involved. Not to mention throughout this episode there are several references to “capturing dreams.” Emma alludes to it when she finds the dream catcher in the motel room, Snow mentions the phrase when telling Aurora about Charming lighting her candles and we see the act in motion when Henry wakes from his nightmare.
This show has so many possibilities it makes my head hurt just thinking about them. I can’t believe how incredibly creative the writers are at taking our favorite fairytales and somehow making them even better. We’re only part way through season two and the show already has us under its own spell. However, this is one spell I’d forgo true loves kiss just to know how the story would end. Thanks for reading; don’t forget to comment about the show or this article in the comments section down below. You can also join other Once fans in conversation on the Joker’s Updates “Once Upon A Time” forum HERE.
