I sound like a broken record, right? But AGAIN, Jane Espenson knocked it OUT of the park! And co-writer Christine Boylan as well!
What an absolutely BRILLIANT episode! So many questions answered...and so many more questions raised!
How much did you love Neal?! Michael Raymond-James is gorgeous and amazing and I'm completely head-over-heels in love with him already! Heehee!
By the way--I'm totally shipping Emma and Hook. And Emma and Neal. Either of the two, I'm good with. ;)
Before I start, I'm going to point you all towards this Wikipedia page, just in case you're not familiar with the name Neal Cassady and who he is. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.
Okay, done? Good.
Interesting parallels, no?
Cassady was arrested for receipt of stolen property. Served 11 months of his sentence. And he was a drifter.
Just like Emma.
The writers REALLY do their homework, and I love them for it!
And, lastly, I'm not even going to bother to mention that there's NO way Jennifer Morrison can pull of being a teenager. No, Emma in Portland didn't look like a teenager.
But do I care? Did it make the episode unwatchable? No frickin' way!
The end. ;)
So here we go!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Fairytale Land that Is--
It's decided that Emma will climb the beanstalk with Hook.
Jack killed all the giants but one--The strongest and biggest of them all. And they have to get past him to get to the magic compass.
They can use Cora's magic ashes to get back to Storybrooke, but they need the compass to show them they way.
Hook swears allegiance to whoever can get him there.
Snow, Mulan and Aurora settle in to wait and Aurora tells Snow about her nightmares.
Snow says it's from the sleeping spell and that they'll go away, eventually. She promises to watch over Aurora as she sleeps.
Back up the beanstalk, Emma figures out that Rumple took a lot more from Hook then just his hand....
Hook summons the giant (Hi, Jorge!), and Emma puts him to sleep with the powder (made from poppies?!).
At the bottom of the beanstalk, Aurora has a nightmare and Snow wakes her.
Aurora dreams of, "A red room. Bright red curtains, but no windows or doors and she couldn't get in or out. The curtains are on fire. She was in the corner and she looked over to the other corner and sees someone else there. She can only see HIS eyes."
Back at the top, Hook and Emma are admiring the booty (with much flirting on Hook's part). Hook wants to stay and plunder, but the giant wakes.
Holding Jack's giant-killing sword, she gets the compass from the giant but doesn't kill him.
The giant frees himself, but he doesn't kill Emma either.
He grants her two favours and frees both Emma and Hook....But Emma cuffs Hook and traps him in the giants castle because she 'needs a headstart'. She asked the giant to hold Hook there for ten hours before freeing him too.
At the bottom, Mulan starts chopping down the beanstalk, as she'd promised Emma she would after ten hours.
Snow fights her and Emma returns.
Snow makes Emma promise that they'll go home together only.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In...er....Portland, 11 years ago--
Emma steals a very familiar car.
It seems that Emma has stolen a stolen car!
Mystery Man introduces himself as Neal Cassady (see link above).
In time, Neal and Emma fall in love. And steal stuff. Lots of stuff. All over the country, it would appear!
During one such outing, Neal steals Emma a keychain and Emma steals a dreamcatcher. (The same dreamcatcher that can be seen in Neal's apartment in the season premiere, by the way!)
He seems to want to settle down. He convinces Emma as well, and they choose Tallahassee.
Sadly, Neal finds a wanted poster of himself up in the post office from a jewelry heist he'd done previously.
They can't go to Tallahassee. Neal has to leave. Emma and the country.
Emma won't allow it. She suggests that she go get the watches, sell them, buy new identities and go to Tallahassee.
Neal reluctantly agrees.
Emma succeeds and Neal takes the watches to the fence.
They make a plan to meet later, after he gets the money.
On the way, Neal is accosted by....AUGUST?!? (And I screamed at my TV)
Our darling August, with a much younger-looking face, explains that he's Emma's guardian angel.
He shows Neal something in his wooden box that convinces Neal of Emma's destiny and of Fairytale Land.
He believes everything August tells him.
Emma is obviously confused and heartbroken.
Her love has turned her in...and left her.
Two months later, Neal and August meet in Vancouver.
Neal can't move on. He wants to know about Emma. Is she okay?
August explains that she's serving 11 months in a minimum security prison. That she's going to get out and have a good life, as long as Neal stays away.
Neal makes August promise to be there for her. August does.
Neal gives August thousands of dollars and the keys to the Bug to give to Emma. He then asks August that, if anything changes...if she does her job...if she's free...
"I'll send you a postcard.", is August's reply. (This was the second time I screamed at my TV)
And in a minimum security prison in Phoenix, Emma Small gets mail from Phuket, Thiland. (Where our darling August once 'lost himself', as you may recall from 'The Stranger')
Inside are car keys...on a familiar keychain. A SWAN keychain.
And in her hand is a pregnancy test....a positive pregnancy test.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Storybrooke--
Henry wakes from a nightmare. He tells Charming, "I was in this room...and it was red. And there was no doors, no windows. And these curtains...and they were on fire. And I was in this corner...and I was looking up....and there was someone else there...SHE was staring at me through the flames..."
And Charming tells Henry that it was just a bad dream....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOLY COW, right, you guys?!?!
Epic episode of eipcness!! Jorge Garcia is a perfect giant, although I wish he'd had more lines!
The GOOD news is that...ready?...He's COMING BACK!
Yes, he mentioned in an interview that the show has called him back to appear on at least one more episode this season! *happydance*
Okay, so now I want to mention a theory I have--
Aurora and Henry are having the same dream. And if you noticed, I bolded the important parts in each's description of their dream.
Aurora speaks of a MALE in the dream and Henry of a FEMALE.
My theory? They're dreaming of EACH OTHER.
And when Emma/Snow/Charming figure this out, THIS WILL BE A WAY FOR THEM TO COMMUNICATE THROUGH THE DIMENSIONS, YOU GUYS!!!
I'm a frickin' genius, right?!? Of course, right! :P
Who's with me here?! *crickets*
(Might I add that Jane Espenson called me 'clever' when I mentioned this theory to her on Twitter? So there! Nyah, nyah!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Highlights:
-Jorge Garcia! Even speaking with mostly grunts and groans, the man is wonderful! You know, he did every single one of his scenes in front of a green screen?! How amazing is he, right?!
-Michael Raymond-James. I'm so, so in love with his character! The chemistry between he and Emma was so gorgeous!
-AUGUST!! I'm SO happy they kept his appearance a secret!
-The swan on the keychain is WHY Emma Small is now Emma Swan! AWW!
-The car was Neal's car! Now we know why Emma drives it and loves it so much. It's a piece of him!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What questions do we have after this episode?
-ARE Henry and Aurora dreaming of each other? If so, can they communicate? And if the dreams are a side effect of the sleeping spell, can Snow also have the dream and communicate with Henry??
-Will Neal come to Storybrooke for Emma?!? (Oh, God, YES, PLEASE!)
-How will Emma react if/when she sees Neal?
-Where is August? (We now know he's alive because he sent Neal the postcard!)
-Why did August leave Storybrooke after the curse broke?
-Will Hook catch up to Snow and company?
-How will Snow and Emma return to Storybrooke?
-How will Snow and Emma get the wardrobe ashes from Cora?
-How did August convince Neal about Emma?
- (BradPittSe7ev) WHAT'S IN THE BOOOOOOOOOX?! WHAT'S IN THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX?!? (/BradPittSe7ev)
-Is it possible that Neal is also Baelfire? He was convinced of Emma's destiny awfully easily.
-How much older than Emma is Neal? (This could matter if he is Bae!)
Here's the trailer for next week's episode--it's all about Red!--called, 'Child of the Moon':
Okay, you guys! Share your theories, please! I want to know what you guys think will happen with Aurora & Henry, with Neal and Emma, with everything!
And as always, I'll see you back here next week, Oncers!
It's taken me so long to get to respond!
ReplyDeleteI'm defiantly shipping Emma/Hook. Or maybe I'm just shipping Hook;)
I called the mysterious man being connected to August. My dad was all "No way." Yes way sir, it was discussed online:P
Henry and Aurora are dreaming of the same place. However if they're there how will they get out? It's a bridge between the two worlds but there isn't a way out or in? And what connects the two of them that they would have the same dream? I was trying really hard to find a story in my brain that had a red room but all I could come up with was the red room from Jane Eyre.
I feel like August could have left the city lines and still remembered his past since he traveled over them rather easily in the previous season. Time shall tell us....
I'm super excited for more of Red next week, hopefully we'll get a bit of Hook thrown in there too. See you on Sunday!
I definitely agree about August. I don't think he would have had a problem leaving Storybrooke at all.
DeleteBut WHY would he? Poor Gepetto! :(
I have SO many questions about that dream! But I want to wait to see what they do with it next before I go on and on about it. Haha!
And I really love that you watch with your dad. I love that it's a family show! :D
I have no idea what the red room thing means and it's going to drive me crazy. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI know you're thinking more about how Emma will react to seeing Neal again, but I'm actually wondering if he'll get to Storybrooke before Emma gets out and how Henry will react when he finds out he's his father.
And if Neal is Baelfire, that would be really cool.
I think the dreams only effect people who were put to sleep recently, which Henry was when Regina accidentally poisoned him. So I don't think it will effect Snow, but then does it matter how they were put to sleep? Because that giant was put to sleep just this episode and he's not going to fit into that room too well. LOL.