Once Upon A Time: The Crocodile

Tonight we met Captain Hook...and what a HOT villain he is! Phew!

Another brilliant episode from the Once crew, and I'd seriously love to know who does the casting for this show. They never miss! Every character has been absolutely bang on, right?

After last week's Gold-lite episode, I was more than ready for a big Rumple/Belle return...and what a return it was!

Ready? Here we go!

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In Storybrooke, Belle wakes from a horrible dream where her new and improved Rumple turns into the Rumple that was.
After she wakes, she goes downstairs and spies him in the basement, working some magic.
Later that day, she confronts him. She wants to know why he brought the magic to Storybrooke.
He gives her a line about power, but she's not buying it.
Rumple goes to speak to her and finds that she's gone.
He goes to the flower shop to speak to Belle's father, Moe. (If you recall, Maurice French, Belle's dad, runs Game of Thorns, the local flower shop!)
Moe hasn't seen or heard from Belle since the curse broke.

Belle is at Granny's, drinking iced tea.--a luxury she's never had before!
She and Red talk, and Red convinces her to see if she can reopen the library. With Belle's love of books, it would be the perfect place for her.
Belle heads there and is suddenly kidnapped by a man in a red toque.

Meanwhile, Charming is putting in some time at the mines with the Dwarfs.
He heads back to his temporary Sheriff's duties, just in time for Rumple to come by. He needs help finding Belle.
As Charming asks around town, Rumple asks Charming for dating advice. Charming tells him that honesty is the secret to any relationship.

The man in the red toque brings Belle to her father, who was the one who had her kidnapped.
Belle tells her father that she'd fallen in love with Rumple and the two argue.
Her father ties her up and puts her on a mine cart to go across the townline through the tunnels. He's willing to sacrifice her memories of him as long as she forgets Rumple as well.
The man with the red hat send the mine cart towards the townline, with Belle handcuffed inside.


Charming and Rumple head to Granny's where Red first denies seeing Belle.
Charming  convinces her to talk, and she offers to help sniff Belle out.
The trail stops at Moe's flower shop.

Moe won't tell them where he's sent her. Luckily, Charming sees the mine dust on Moe's hands and puts two and two together.

Rumple uses magic to easily bring the mine cart back and open the handcuffs. Belle is still Belle, and still angry at both her father and her love.
She tells them she never wants to see either of them again.

Back at Granny's, Red gives Belle a small package...It's the key to the library.
She enters and gazes in wonder.
Of course, Rumple is there--he's the one who gave her the key.
Rumple finally uses honesty.
He tells Belle everything. He's a coward who uses magic as a crutch. He has so much guilt for losing Baelfire, and now he's trying to use magic again to break the curse so he can leave Storybrooke to find his son.
Rumple says goodbye and walks away...When Belle asks him to go for a hamburger one day.
She's never had one, and they're supposed to be good. (*cue my tears*)

Back in Gold's basement, the man with the red hat is tied up. Rumple wants to know about the man he works for. His Captain.
The man has never seen his Captain in Storybrooke. For some reason, the curse didn't take him.

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In Fairytale Land That Was, Rumple goes to find his wife, Milah, who's MIA.
He finds her at a bar, drinking with a band of pirates.
She insults him and calls him a coward in front of their son, Baelfire.

The next morning, Rumple is told that his wife has been taken by the pirates.
He goes to try to get her back, and the Captain, Killian Jones, challenges him to a dual. Rumple stands down and loses Milah.

Years later--after he's become The Dark One and lost Baelfire--Rumple meets a man in a tavern. The man tells him that he can get a 'magic bean that can transport people between worlds'.
The two agree to a deal.

After the man walks out, a familiar face walks in--Captain Killian Jones.
The pirates leave and a disguised Rumple bumps into the Captain, who calls him a crocodile.
Rumple reveals himself and he uses Killian's own words when the Captain recognizes him.
Rumple asks about Milah and Jones tells him she's dead. Rumple challenges Jones to the dual they never had  and tells him to be ready the next day.

The next day arrives quickly and the two fight. Just as Rumple is about to end it by pulling out the Captain's heart, Milah makes herself known. Yep, she's alive.
She tells Rumple that she and Killian fell in love and that's why she left. Again, Rumple is about to kill Killian when Milah pulls out a red toque and tells him that she has the magic bean.
She'll give it to him in exchange for their lives.

They go to Jones's ship and Rumple confronts Milah about leaving Baelfire. Milah confesses that she never loved Rumple. He rips her heart out and kills her.
Killian refuses to give Rumple the magic bean, so Rump cuts of Killian's hand to get it.
With a hook from the deck, Killian tries to kill Rumple, but fails. It takes more than that to kill the Dark One.
Rumple poofs away in a puff of smoke.

Once home, Rumple pries open the dead fingers of the hand he chopped off and discovers that it doesn't contain the magic bean.

On the ship, Killian has the bean.
He says goodbye to his love and then speaks to the prisoner--the same man with the red hat who offered the bean to Rumple.
Killian offers the man a chance to join his crew and tells him that they're about to set said to a place where no one ever grows old.
He asks the man his name, "William. William Smee."
And Mr. Smee once again dons his familiar red hat.

Captain Killian throws the magic bean into the water where it turns into a whirlpool.
He then snaps his hook into place where his hand once was. Mr. Smee asks where they're headed and Captain Hook replies, "Neverland!", as they sail into the whirlpool.

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In Fairytale Land That Is, Captain Hook appears to be looking at an island through a telescope when Cora appears.
Cora shows Hook the ashes she took from the wardrobe.
She tells him their destination is Storybrooke. That's where 'she' is...and so is 'he'.

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So many goosebumps, so many giggles, so many squeals of joy during this episode!
I really, really enjoyed it!

Highlights:
-Rumpelstiltskin. Back to his giggly, flamboyant self, and I LOVED every second of it!
-"That's going to save us time during the question and answer portion of our game!"

-"I will find you and gut your entire crew, like-ah de feesh!" LMAO!!!

-"TICK TOCK, DEARIE! TICK TOCK!" (Nice nod to Peter Pan's crocodile!)

-"Well I've had many a mans wife."

-"Sparkly dirt. Wonderful."

-Colin O'Donoghue was amazing as Hook! PERFECT casting!
-The sword fight!

-Belle and Rumple. I just adore these two together!

-Charming in the mine. Phew, hawtness!

-Smee! I LOVED Chris Gauthier (Eureka) as Smee!

What questions do we have after this episode?

-How does Cora know Hook?
-What is Cora going to do with the ashes?
-Why didn't Hook get sent to Storybrooke?
-What is the island Hook is watching? The safe haven, maybe?

-Is Rumple going to be able to break the curse?

-How are Cora and Hook going to get to Storybrooke?

-Is Rumple turning over a new leaf, like Regina?

-Will Snow and Emma somehow follow Cora and Hook to Storybrooke...or vice versa?

-Will Rumple find Baelfire?

Okay, you guys, this time I WON'T be posting next week's OUAT promo.

I'm sorry, but I REFUSE to spoil my readers like that. ABC decided to pretty much spoil Dr. Whale's identity in the trailer, which is a VERY stupid move.

I urge all of you to avoid it like the plague! I'm SO MAD that I saw it. :(

Go in as blind as you can, okay?

See you back here next week, Oncers, after "The Whale"!