“I thought he didn’t fight for us but he did, with everything he had. He did the right thing and it wasn’t enough.”
- David
I have to admit I wasn’t overly thrilled with this episode of “Once Upon a Time”. I’m glad they resolved the mystery of David’s father’s death but did we really need a David and Hook buddy-drama episode? I suppose it’s best to get this out of the way then. David, still running on a massive lack of sleep, decides he’s going to find out what happened to his father and he needs magic to do it. But he’s not going to go to Emma because what he needs involves a little breaking and entering and theft. So naturally, he turns to Hook, being a pirate and all. And therein lies part of Hook’s dilemma for the episode. He doesn’t want David to just see him as a pirate. He wants his girl’s dad to see him as potential son-in-law material. Hell, he’s even bought a ring (from where … Gold?). Archie suggests that Hook just tell David what he’s worried about and see if David will give his blessing for the union.
Before Hook can pop the question about popping the question, he needs to help David solve this mystery (especially when David starts hallucinating his dead father’s ghost). In flashbacks, we see Rumple come and take baby James away in exchange for live saving medicine. It seems both boys had weak lungs (I guess medical care in the Enchanted Forest for the poor people is about what it is today in the US). So, they give up one baby instead of losing both sons to sickness. But it is clear that this has haunted David’s father because we see him hitting the booze hard when David is about six years old. But then his chance for redemption arrives in the form of King George. Ever the tool, he says his son has been abducted and he’s offering a reward for any help and information. So, David’s father goes back to Rumple and demands that Rumple help him find James. Rumple makes a show of taking a hair from the mans’ head as payment for the information on where the boy is. But really, I think for a hot second Rumple felt the fear and anxiety of another father just trying to find his little boy.
With a little distracting from Hook to keep Emma out of the shed, he and David figure out the last place his father was before he died: Pleasure Island. This leads them to seek out August (as in flashback we see David’s father run into a still-wooden Pinocchio). August remembers that the man was stone cold sober and little James didn’t want to go back to King George and be a knight. In fact, he seemed quite keen on the idea of being a normal boy with a brother on a farm. This is kind of sad given how the brothers met in the Underworld. A lot can happen I guess. Instead of giving the man the gold, George orders his men to kill David’s father and make it look like an accident.
The other frustrating plotline of this episode revolved around Regina and Robin. And boy are they definitely not Outlaw Queen. He’s still getting used to things in this world (including alarm clocks) when Zelena pops by demanding that he stay away from her baby. Regina even has to stop Robin from killing the Sherriff of Nottingham. He’s quite angry and violent really which makes me wonder if somehow when the Evil Queen created the Wish Realm, she created a version of Robin for herself. He certainly seems like a schemer and I don’t trust him. It also broke my heart more than just a little bit when they kissed and Regina felt nothing. As she described to Snow (in the two scenes that someone apparently convinced David to take a nap) it felt like kissing a picture. Snow points out that this isn’t Regina’s Robin. I think we all get that but did the writers really have to break our hearts again by bringing him back if Regina wasn’t going to get a happy ending? I mean really! By episode’s end we see Robin sneaking into Regina’s vault and stealing a box that she previously told him was dangerous. I’m wondering if the Evil Queen is locked in there or something.
When David realizes that George is behind his father’s death (or so he believes) he goes to try and kill him but Hook steps in and reminds him that if he does this, he will have to live with it forever. David, ultimately being a good guy and a hero, doesn’t go through with hit and breaks down with Hook beside him. Things are looking pretty good for our one-handed pirate, especially when David gives his blessing. But things aren’t all happiness and puppies because August swings by Emma and Hook’s place to share the pages he originally took out of Henry’s storybook way back in season 1. He apparently didn’t want anyone to see his days at Pleasure Island. But as Hook looks at the pages, we see that he in fact killed David’s father for being witness to Hook killing the King’s soldiers. Well, he was kind of an epic dick back in the day. But he’s got that secret hanging around his neck like an albatross. So how he expects Emma to accept him as her husband when he killed her grandfather in cold blood is going to be an interesting thing to see.
As I said, I didn’t particularly enjoy this episode. I appreciated it gave closure to a storyline that was introduced at the start of the season (and the little cameos by characters really makes me think that this should be the final season) but it mostly just frustrated me. No matter how much they push Captain Swan, I’m never going to get behind it. I know they are endgame but it doesn’t mean I have to like it!
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