Once Upon A Time: The Stranger

Okay, who else was a sobbing mess by the end? Lets see a show of hands.
Yeah...it was the ugly cry. Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE this show??


Let's begin in Fairytale Land.

A terrifying storm is tossing a raft on treacherous seas.
The raft contains Gepetto and puppet-Pinocchio. The storm is too bad. They have to abandon the raft.
Gepetto tries to give Pinocchio the only life vest, but Pinocchio saves his father instead and is swallowed by a whale.

Gepetto washes up on a beach and spies his son, the wooden boy, lifeless in the water.

As he's sobbing with the boy in his arms, the Blue Fairy (Um. Was anyone else worried her boobs were going to pop right out of her dress while she was flying!?) comes and turns Pinocchio into a real boy.
"Be brave, truthful and unselfish. So long as you do that you will always remain a real boy."

Back at Gepetto's shop, the father is teaching the boy to repair a clock. Pinocchio fixes it and out pops poor Jiminy, all tied up. It appears that Pinocchio isn't always the best at being a good boy. ;)

The Blue Fairy arrives and Jiminy takes Pinocchio upstairs.
She tells Gepetto about the curse the Evil Queen plans to use on the kingdom. She asks for Gepetto's help. He must make wardrobe from an enchanted tree.
This tree will protect the saviour child--Emma--from the Queen's curse by sending her to a place where there IS no magic.
She explains that when the child turns 28, she will return and save them all.
The problem is that the tree only has enough magic to protect two people--Snow, who's pregnant with Emma, and Charming.
Gepetto refuses to build the wardrobe until the Blue Fairy agrees to allow Pinocchio to be one of the people the magic saves.
He's worried that once the curse hits, Pinocchio will turn back into a lifeless puppet.
The Blue Fairy must lie to Snow and Charming, and she tells them only one of them can be saved from the curse.

As we all know, it's Emma herself who's saved after Snow gives birth early.
The Blue Fairy must return to the fairies to make preparations because the curse is almost upon them, and she begs Gepetto to tell Snow that she must keep the baby safe.
Gepetto decides not to do as the fairy asked, and instead saves Pinocchio.
He makes Pinocchio promise that he'll take care of the saviour and protect her until she's grown. That, in 28 years, he will make her believe.
Jiminy tells the boy that, as long as he's brave, truthful and unselfish, he will not fail.
Just before closing the wardrobe door, Gepetto tells his son, "You will find me there. And on that day, I will look at you with pride."
The door closes and when it's reopened, Pinocchio is gone.

(There's something in this scene that made me rewind and check a bunch of times.
Just before the Blue Fairy leaves Gepetto, she says, "All we can do is hope that one day, the saviour will restore all that we have lost."
RIGHT after she speaks that line, she looks in the direction of the crystal (?) unicorn mobile and nods towards it.
Is she nodding at the mobile, or at the enchanted tree behind it?
I've seen that same mobile in Gold's shop a hundred times.
This could be a clue...or it could be nothing.) 


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In OUR world, we see part of a tree's trunk break off and Pinocchio climb out.
The first thing he sees is a plane fly overhead (Flight 815?! Ha!), and he's terrified.
He tries to climb back in but the tree won't allow him to. The curse has fallen over his kingdom.
Baby Emma cries inside the tree and Pinocchio gently takes her out.

In an orphanage months later, Pinocchio soothes Emma when she cries. He tries to fix her old, shoddy crib but gets in trouble from the mean old foster father.
An older boy comes and shows Pinocchio a wad of cash. He's stolen it and he's buying bus tickets for all the kids to get out., but Emma is too young and can't come.
Pinocchio struggles with the decision briefly, but in the end decides to go.
He kisses Emma goodbye and leaves her there.


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Over in Storybrooke, August assists Emma and Mary with installing a new Regina-proof lock.
The three talk about Emma's plan to take custody of Henry when he suddenly calls an Operation Cobra Code Red on Emma's walkie-talkie.
As she walks to meet Henry at  Granny's, August tries to convince her to take a day off and go with him on a trip.
She declines because Henry needs her.

In the diner, Henry shows Emma that the book has been changed. Someone has added an unfinished story to it.
The story is about Pinocchio.

Flash to August.....who's staring at a hat. An oddly familiar hat, isn't it? ;)
And there we have it, folks. Finally, the truth. August IS Pinocchio.
He calls Mr. Gold and asks him to meet to talk about Emma.
As he's leaving the room, his leg again goes wonky. He pulls up his pant leg and this time we SEE that it IS turning to wood!

Next we see Mary, in the schoolyard. Regina comes up for a little chat, looking for Henry.
Mary's speech here is AMAZING.
"(...)But I forgive you.Even if you can't admit what you did, I forgive you anyway. Your life must be filled with such incredible loneliness if your only joy comes from destroying everyone else's happiness. It's so sad, Mayor Mills because, despite what you think, it won't make you happy. It's only going to leave a giant hole in your heart."
I mean, come ON. How Snow White is that speech?! Perfect!

Regina gives Henry his lunch (TRON lunchbox!) and she tells him she wants to transfer him out of Miss. Blanchard's class.
Henry calls Regina out, calls her the Evil Queen and tells her the curse will end and good WILL win.
Yay, Henry!

Back we go to August, entering Gold's shop. And who's in the shop with Gold? Marco--Gepetto's Storybrooke persona--with a very familiar clock.
Gauging August's reaction, Gold finally figures out who August really is.
Marco, of course, doesn't recognize his son. In this world, he HAS no son.

After Marco leaves, August asks Gold for help. It seems that Emma plans to go to Gold for legal advice regarding Henry and August needs him to steer her in the right direction.

Later, Emma is in Gold's shop. She asks for his help but he refuses to take the case.
As planned, Emma goes to August and agrees to take his trip.

EWWWWWW BLECH!

Next up is Regina, who's having car trouble. David comes to the rescue and gives her a ride home.
She manipulates him into staying for dinner, after which she attempts to put the moves on him.
She's preeeeeeeetty pissed off when he turns her down.

August and Emma--the only two who CAN--leave Storybrooke. When Emma asks, he tells her he's going to tell her HIS story.
They stop at a diner. August takes an article out of his pocket and tells Emma that it's the diner she was brought to as a baby.
He tells her HE was the 7 year old boy who found her.
August brings Emma to the exact tree they came from. He does everything he can to make her believe,

"You're asking me to believe that you're a fairytale character."
"Pinocchio."
"Right. Pinocchio. Explains all the lying. You're the one who added the story to Henry's book!"
"I needed you to know the truth."
"The truth is that you're out of your mind...and you're not even a very good liar! Why not write the end of that story?"
"Because THIS is the ending, and we're writing it, right now."
"How does this story end?"
"With you believing."
LOVED!!!! That whole exchange was amazing. Magical. Wonderful!


He tells her that he's sick. He knew the exact moment she decided to stay in Storybrooke because at 8:15am, his leg started hurting. The exact time time started again in the town.
He pulls up his pant leg to show her what's happening to him...but she doesn't see. Her denial is too strong.
Pinocchio has failed.

Emma doesn't want to be responsible for saving everyone. It's too much for her to deal with.
"You're our only hope."
"Then you're all screwed."

August goes to Marco's house and sees him in his garage trying to repair that familiar clock.
He tells Marco how to fix it and it works.
August tells Marco his father taught him how to fix it.
"Your father must be very proud."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I don't think I became the man he wanted me to be."
"Have you tried to make it up to him?"
"I made him a promise....a long time ago. By the time I got around to making good on it, I think it was too late."
"But you kept your promise. You realized your mistake and you tried to fix it. That's important. If I had a son, that would be enough for me."
(Aaaaaaand, cue my sobbing.)
August asks Marco if he needs an assistant. Marco says he can't pay. August is okay with that and Marco brings the boy man into his garage and starts showing him around.

In the last scene, Henry is in bed asleep when Emma calls a Code Red on the walkie-talkie.
He meets her downstairs and she kidnaps the boy, telling him they're leaving Storybrooke.

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So, HOLY MOLY did we get a LOT of answers in this episode!! And many, many more questions!

Highlights:
-The CGI in the FTL opening with Pinocchio and Gepetto in the storm.
-Mary's speech to Regina in the schoolyard.
-The way Gold figures out who August is.
-August's face when he first sees Marco.
-August and Emma on his bike with the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign behind them. Poignant, no?
-Regina calling David her "knight in shining armour'. Ha!
-The use of flashback in this episode was wonderful!
-LOVE that August is BOTH Pinocchio AND the boy who found Emma. Nice touch!


What questions do we have after this episode?
-Did Regina REALLY think her seduce David plan would work? :P
-How will Henry convince Emma not to leave Storybrooke?
-How will Henry/August convince Emma the book is real?
-Will Emma save everyone?
-What on earth do the writers have planned for NEXT season?!
-How will Emma save August from completely changing?

Only two episodes left, Oncers! Here's the promo for next weeks episode, An Apple As Red As Blood.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Ahem....See you back here next week!