Welcome back, Oncers, to the penultimate episode of ‘Once Upon a Time’ before next week’s season finale. For those who have been following the show, the story of Rumplestiltskin and his son is a tragic one. You may recall, he lost Bae through a portal that led to a place where no magic existed. Bae thought that would be the place where the two of them can stay together. Instead, Rumple lets go of the boy’s hand and we never see him again until we found out his connection to Emma and Henry. Fate has a twisted sense of humor, don’t you think?  But what happened to Bae in those lost times when he was a lost boy? ‘Second Star to the Right’ answers those questions.

She is a Darling, isn’t she?

After falling through the portal, Bae finds himself in London by himself without his dad. Six months had passed since the fall and Bae is hungry and a street orphan. He sees a window and decides to break into the home and sees freshly baked loaves of bread.  As he stuffs his mouth with the delicious goodness (hey, I’m a sucker for hot out of the oven homemade carb loaded delicacies too!), he is found out by Wendy, the daughter of the household who, after seeing how hungry Bae was, willingly gives him all the bread.

Wendy decides to hide Bae and secretly cares of him for several weeks until her parents find her sneaking him some food. Instead of sending him back on the streets, Mrs. Darling welcomes him into their home and family (insert awwwww here).

Now that Bae is part of the Darling family, he gets to sleep in the children’s quarters and that’s where Wendy tells him about the shadow that comes to visit. It’s not until she mentions the word “magic” that Bae gets defensive and tells them not to open the window to let the Shadow in as magic is dangerous. He then confides in them and tells the Darling children where he’s from and how magic destroyed his family.

This is not the Peter Pan from our childhood!

But Wendy’s curiosity gets the better of her and one night, Bae wakes up to find the Shadow (and a creepy looking one at that) taking her away to Neverland. When Wendy returns, she tells Bae about the world of Neverland and while it had wonderful magical things like fairies there, there was also an ominous tone. The land is called Neverland because once a child steps foot there, the Shadow won’t allow you leave. The only reason Wendy was allowed to return was because the Shadow only wanted boys and will be returning to the Darling home to take one of her brothers in her place.

The next night, Bae sets a trap and together the kids booby trap the room but to no avail. The Shadow still comes in and just as he’s about to take Michael, Bae jumps in his place on the condition that the Shadow never visit the Darling house again. With that, the Shadow takes Bae by the hand and they’re off to Neverland.

But before the Shadow can deliver Bae, Bae lights a match which makes the Shadow release him and he falls into the ocean only to be found by none other than Captain Hook! (And that’s how Hook and Neal know each other!)

Present Time:

In Storybrooke, Neal/Bae still won’t believe Emma that Tamara is up to no good.  He tries to enjoy the rest of the morning in bed when he hears a commotion out the window and rushes down to prevent his father from humiliating one of the townspeople for staring at Lacey. Of course, we all know that Gold is acting all evil because that’s a turn on for his new/old love of his life, Lacey, but Bae is disgusted by his behavior and tells his father to stay away from him and Henry.

David and Emma rush to the mayor’s office to find Regina and confront her about the stolen beans, but when she isn’t there, they begin to suspect something bad happened to her. Emma immediately suspects Tamara and heads to her room to find evidence of this hunch.

And she is right! Tamara had broken into Regina’s office to steal the beans and brought her stash to Greg who showed her the failsafe diamond that Regina had retrieved. Together, they amass all their findings for the “home office” who will be giving them their next instructions, but Greg has one more thing he needs to do before they leave Storybrooke.

Greg and Tamara’s mission finally revealed!

He’s determined to find out what happened to his father and hooks Regina up to an electromagnetic machine that administers shock treatments. As he tortures her, he and Tamara finally reveal their mission. See, they are part of a group called ‘Believers’ whose quest is to rid the world of magic. Storybrooke is not the first town to have magic cross over and according to the two Believers, it will not be the last town they will destroy to remove magic. This is obviously bigger than anyone ever thought.

While Emma heads to Tamara’s, Dave and Mary Margaret visit Gold to see if he can help them find Regina. He gives her a spell using Regina’s and Mary Margaret’s tears to help lead the two love birds to their kin. David drops the tear mixture in Mary Margaret’s eyes and she instantly sees and feels the torture Regina is going through. She tells David that Regina is powerless and in a lot of pain and tries to describe where she could be and describes the smell of sardines. Emma and Neal are at the docks and as David is relaying what Mary Margaret told him, Emma sees a sardine cannery and tells David to head down as quickly as possible.

The four examine the cannery and Tamara tells Greg to hurry as they’ve been made, but Greg won’t leave until he finds out where his father is. Knowing he will kill her regardless of what is said, Regina tells him that she killed his father and buried him at their old campsite. Greg, enraged, gives one final shock to the helpless Evil Queen who falls unconscious.

The final goodbye?

Just then David arrives and shoots at the Greg who runs off. David warns Emma that he’s coming her way and just as Neal is relieved to know that it’s Greg who’s involved and not Tamara, his fiancée decides to knock Emma out cold from behind. She tells her beloved what she is involved and has been since the beginning. He can’t believe their entire relationship was a set up and as he approaches her, Tamara shoots him. As he lay dying, she’s about finish off her fiancée but Emma manages to come to and a girl fight ensues. I say girl fight as there was some major hair pulling and girl pushing going on. Not to be defeated, Tamara uses a magic bean to create a portal under Emma’s feet in hopes to suck her through it. Instead it manages to pull both Neal and Emma and as Emma desperately tries to hang on to Neal and to keep from falling in, he gallantly tells her to let go as Henry can’t lose both parents and grow up like they did. Before Neal makes the grand gesture for them both, the two star crossed lovers express their love for each other and Neal lets go of Emma’s hand.

Meanwhile, Greg goes to the camp ground where Regina stated his father was buried and finds a piece of clothing and a skull he thinks is his dad’s. Tamara finds Greg and shows him the diamond and tells him that the home office found out what it is capable of.

Mother Superior is able to save Regina and when she wakes, she sees its Mary Margaret that is caring for her. Regina asks where Tamara and Greg are and she is told they got away. In a panic, Regina realizes they still have the failsafe diamond that can destroy all of Storybrooke. Unbeknownst to them, the Believers have already been ordered to use it.

OBSERVATIONS:

* It was pretty obvious that the Peter Pan tale would be used in this episode but the creepy dark version of the boy that didn’t want to grow up, while a great twist, will now haunt me each time I read or watch the Disney version.

* What is it with Bae and the inability of holding on? Rumple couldn’t hold on to him before falling through the portal to England, the Shadow couldn’t keep a hold on him and now Emma.

* Do you think we’ll see Neal again? And what are your thoughts about the Believers?

Next week is the finale of Once Upon a Time and I’m looking forward to learning more about the Believers and how Regina and Rumple plan on trying to save the town! How about you?