“I brought magic to this land to fine Bae. And now he’s dead. Magic always comes with a price and this, this is it. But I’m prepared to pay it.”
- Mr. Gold
We have finally made it to the finale of season 2. No worries, folks. It will be back in the fall for season 3. We pick up pretty much right where we left off at the end of episode 21. Bae is drying out below decks on the Jolly Roger while Smee and Hook contemplate his origins and whether he might belong a nefarious “him”. Hook pays our young portal jump a visit and learns two key things: he’s not fond of pirates and his name is Baelfire. You can tell Hook recognizes the name and hands over a blanket, proclaiming a pirate’s life for Bae.
In Storybrooke, Henry is out by the water swinging on a rope swing over some precarious rocks while Rumple watches. He’s fantasizing about making the rope break so Henry goes crashing into the rocks but stops when the Charmings arrive. I missed on first watch but Granny is babysitting Henry and she’s dutifully carrying her crossbow. I had to laugh. Emma breaks the news about Neal to Henry while Snow and Charming share it with Rumple. Instead of getting super angry and ripping people’s still-beating hearts from their chests, Rumple just kind of shuts down in shock and grief. He blames himself for Neal’s death, claiming it is the price he had to pay for magic. But he’s willing to pay the cost, even if it means dying by not stopping Greg and Tamara. Speaking of, they’re down in the mines with Hook and end up activating the trigger. They are really only good for Evil Speech of Evil stuff. Otherwise, I can’t stand them. They don’t even know who they’re working for. Which is probably going to bite them in the ass at some point. I can hope anyway.
Back at the Charmings’ loft, Regina is getting ready to go when the Charming clan returns and Regina and Henry share a much-needed hug. Things aren’t happy for long though. The ground shakes, dishes smash. The trigger’s been activated. They’re all going to die! Well not Henry, but everyone else. Henry is worried about being left alone. Emma freaks out and demands Regina fix the problem. And then Hook of all people just waltzes in the room, bold as you please, offering to help them. Apparently he’s not thrilled with the idea of getting his revenge on Rumple by dying himself. He’s gotta look for numero uno after all. Charming punches him in the face for the last time they met (presumably when he was being a jackass to Snow about the ship). But they’re going to split up. Hook and Charming will go nab the beans back from Greg and Tamara, Snow will get Henry and the townsfolk ready to jump and Emma and Regina will try to slow down the diamond’s progress.
Back in Neverland, the Lost Ones, led by Felix, show up searching for Bae. Hook isn’t willing to hand over his golden ticket to Rumple’s destruction though. It seems he’s going to develop a soft spot for our young lad. He even lets Bae steer the ship while they talk about their crappy daddy issues. Bae gives him the goods on Rumple (including his dagger) and Hook admits he and his dad sailed around a while til one day Papa Hook up and left (he was a fugitive). So they’re really bonding over their shared experiences. Something tells me that warm and fuzzy feeling isn’t going to last long.
On the bean-retrieval front, things don’t go very well. Hook and Greg scuffles for the beans while Charming chases after Tamara. I honestly don’t know why Hook didn’t just use his hook to like…gouge Greg’s eyes out or something. Anyway, Tamara slips and falls and Charming is about to corner her when Greg comes out of nowhere and tackles him. The baddies scurry away before anything else can go down. But Hook announces he nabbed a solitary bean. He stows it in his little leather pouch and Charming takes that for safe keeping. Meanwhile, Regina and Emma get to the diamond and Regina drops the bomb that she’s not going survive delaying the trigger from going off. Emma is a bit distraught over this seeing as Henry just lost one parent (yes I’m sure the Swan Queen fans were cheering). I liked that Regina finally did the right thing. I know her journey has been kind of all over the place but I like both sides coming together to save their family.
Elsewhere in town, Gold finds the dwarves looting his shop. Well they’re getting Sneezy’s drinking stein so he can get his memory back with a potion from the Blue Fairy. Grumpy even gives Gold a bottle for Lacey/Belle. Speaking of, she and Rumple are sharing an end of the world drink, which she spills and tries to mop up with Bae’s shawl. Rumple freaks out and decides now might be a good time to try out the potion. He conjures Chip (back in one piece) and the potion actually works. Huzzah for no more slutty Lacey! They share a good cry in each other’s arms as they await the impending doom. And god can Robert Carlyle make me cry!
The Charmings arrive back at Granny’s with the bean but Henry refuses to believe letting Regina die so they can all escape is the only option. Snow agrees with him and suggests they use the bean to create a portal and chuck the damn self-destruct into a void like they did with the wraith as the start of the season. Emma’s skeptical but with some boastful words from Archie and the dwarves about her parents’ leadership abilities, she’s all for it. She finesses the pouch with the bean from Hook by telling him he can be part of something or be a loser and a loner. And she drops the bomb that Neal (aka Bae) is Henry’s father and he’s dead. I found it really interesting to see the way Hook’s face just falls when he learns that news. The Charmings head down to the mine to clue Regina in on the plan but there’s a problem; there’s no bean in the pouch. Hook has absconded with said bean on the Jolly Roger and is making off to save himself. Things are looking bleak and Emma has a rare moment where she calls Snow and Charming “mom and “dad” as the family hugs and Henry embraces Regina again (after calling her a hero for being willing to sacrifice herself for everyone). But all is not in fact lost. Emma has magic (as we were made aware of earlier) and with her combined effort, they manage to defuse the trigger. Too bad this gives Greg and Tamara a chance to kidnap Henry. Yes, you read that right. The bitch shoots the poor boy’s father and then abducts him. Have I mentioned she’s a skanky bitch?
Hook’s paternal mood sours back in Neverland when Bae finds his drawing of Milah. Hook comes clean about his relationship with the boy’s mom and Rumple’s part in her death. Bae’s first reaction is “she abandoned me”. The kid can’t catch a break really. Which sort of explains why he felt so shitty about ditching Emma (other than you know it was just a crappy thing to do to another human being). Bae wants off the ship and so Hook arranges it by turning him over to the Lost Ones. They get back to the island and Bae gets to live (lucky him) because he’s not “the one”. We see a drawing of “the one” and of course it’s Henry. Oh and did I mention it looks like Peter Pan is going to be evil? Sweet!
Man, everyone just wants their paws on Henry. Rumple wants him dead thanks to a prophecy. Evil Peter Pan wants him dead for some unknown reason and now Greg and Tamara want him for who knows what. The Charmings and Regina race after them just in time to see them jump through a portal. Rumple arrives with Belle to learn the news of Henry’s disappearance and Hook hauls ass back to offer his services. Rumple tells Belle she needs to stay and protect the town with a cloaking spell (gee that woulda been helpful oh….maybe 10 episodes ago!). Belle promises they’ll see each other again as Rumple joins the Charmings, Regina and Hook aboard the Jolly Roger in search of Henry. He’s going to defy the damn prophecy to honor Neal. After a little venom spews between himself and Hook, we find that Henry has been taken to Neverland. (I’ll be $20 that Pan is the head of the “home office” and he’s just been using people like big freaking meat puppets). I don’t quite know why Rumple was the one who pricked his finger to make the blood globe thing work when Emma has a stronger connection (being his blood mother and all). Oh and the best part of the episode? Neal lands in present day Enchanted Forest and is immediately found by Aurora, Mulan and Phillip. He will find his family again and hopefully get to be kind of badass next season in rescuing Henry.
While this finale wasn’t as emotional as season 1, it answered a lot of questions, wrapped up some storylines and introduced a million more questions. I honestly hope we focus more on present and past Neverland and a little of Enchanted Forest just until Neal reunites with everyone else. I know Storybrooke still has people in it but I think we need a break from the little Maine ‘berg. And now we must wait until September to see how this all shakes out.
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