Is Staying Good Good For Snow?

Once Upon A Time, S02E15

Snow discovered Regina and Kora's plan, and she and David rushed to find Rumpelstiltskin's dagger first.  In the past, Snow tried to find a way to save her ill mother and fought the urge to use dark magic to achieve that.  In New York, Rumpelstiltskin asked Emma to convince Neal to come to Storybrooke with them and tried to endure Henry's anger.  They had to make hurried plans back to Storybrooke when Hook unexpectedly showed up and attacked Rumpelstiltskin.

I thought maybe Regina and Kora so openly talking about their plan to get control of Rumpelstiltskin was incredibly foolish until I realized they must have wanted their plan revealed in order to have Snow and David lead them right to it.  I mean, they shouldn't be doing anything supsicious in town, at least not together if they can help it.  I don't know why else they would risk being overheard when there's no guarantee that no one would see them out in the open like that.  I'd just like to believe that they are sneakier than they look, rather than careless.

I don't know if it was the best idea for Snow to confront Regina about the truth and appeal to her distrust of her mother.  If anything, it seemed to convince Regina to continue with her mother's plan rather than bother to win over the townspeople who would probably take a hundred years to honestly forgive her crimes.  I mean, Regina did seem a little doubtful of her mother's intentions when she heard that there was a beef between Snow's mother and her own, but so far it doesn't look like Snow's words really reached Regina at all.  I'm sure there will come a time where Snow will prove to be right (I totally agree that Kora would kill Henry in a second if he got in her way), but I think Regina will have to see her mother betray her first before she realizes that.

It was horrible that we got to see someone who played a mother-like figure for Snow get killed so easily during that dagger exchange.  I sort of wanted Snow to hold onto the dagger and let Johanna go, even if that would be cruel to an innocent woman.  The things that Regina and Kora could do with Rump in their power would be far worse than one old woman dying.  But Snow being the Snow who wouldn't even execute Regina, handed over the dagger in the end.  And her reward for doing the "right" thing was that Johanna got her heart back only to be pushed out of the window to her death.  Kora is not playing around!  She seems much more frightening now that it's clear that she has an axe to grind with Snow as well.

In the past, I didn't care too much about the Queen's illness as much as I did the meeting between Snow and the "Blue Fairy."  Even though I knew that Snow's mother died, I felt a little afraid she was going to sacrifice someone's life with that candle and it would turn out not to work at all (letting two people die).  Instead, Snow followed her mother's wish to stay good and stayed away from black magic.  It was a surprise to find out the whole thing was just a plot by Kora to get Snow to go to the dark side.  It was a little disturbing to see Kora hovering over the Queen's dead body, gloating about how she was going to corrupt Snow one day.  What in the world did Snow's mom do to Kora?  Did she just hate her because Kora was a miller's daughter and Snow's mother happened to be royalty?  There's got to be more to that story than that.

I feel a bit disappointed that Snow is deciding to stray from the path of good and dip her toe into the dark side.  Sure, I'm all for killing Kora--that bitch needs to die--but I'd hate to see Kora win by tainting Snow and getting revenge on her mother as well.  Charming tried (and I'm sure will keep trying) to tell her about this, but Snow rationalized that all of her seemingly good choices had led to bad endings.  I can't argue with her there, but almost all of that was due to someone else wanting to do her harm.  You can't beat evil with evil--it doesn't work that way.  I really hope once Emma comes back she might be able to convince her mother that being a cold-blooded murderer isn't the best decision.

Speaking of Emma, I hate that she has to put up with Henry's attitude.  I really wanted to punch him in his face when he talked about how the pizza didn't lie to him.  Shut the hell up, Henry!  How is Emma supposed to make up for her lies when Henry keeps throwing it in her face?  I'm starting to wish that Rump would kill Henry for whatever reason he needs to.

I really liked, though, when Henry asked Rump if he should call him "Grandpa" now.  Rump casually told him to call him whatever he liked.  It's funny that Rump doesn't really seem to care all that much that Henry is related to him now.  I mean, he's not thrilled or anything.  I think he likes better that Emma is sort of connected to him and he can get her to help with Bae a little bit by using Henry.  Can't blame him for that.  His son barely wants anything to do with him, so he's got to use whatever method he can.

The biggest surprise in this episode was when Hook attacked Rump seemingly out of nowhere!  One moment he was in Storybrooke reclaiming his hook, and the next he was stabbing Rump through the chest.  That was crazy!  Later, they explained that he used he boat to travel so quickly, but it still feels like he teleported or something.  I was just so shocked that Hook showed up that I couldn't pay attention to the mortal wound that Rump had been given.  I felt like he was going to be okay (even though he was poisoned) because he was well enough to yell at Henry to stay away and blame him for everything.

I can't believe that Neal once lived in Neverland.  That's the only explanation of how he knows Hook and isn't much older than he should be.  If they reveal he's freaking Peter Pan too, I'm going to be pissed.  That's too much for one character to be.  Come on.  But at least it allows Neal to be able to navigate a boat that could get them back to Storybrooke quickly (although how the hell will they find the boat?).  I'm about ready for them to get back and have them deal with this dagger business.

Speaking of that dagger, which Rump had hidden in a pretty clever place, I guess it wasn't the best idea for him to entrust the location to Emma and the others.  Snow and Charming had that thing for like two minutes before it was in the hands of enemies.  But I guess Rump can't really worry about that at the moment.  He could be dead before he even reaches Storybrooke, so having power over him would be moot.

Neal's fiancee...  Well, I saw that coming.  I hate that I sort of feel bad for Emma, despite that she and Neal are through at this point.  But I think that Rump is right in that she sort of hoped that they might work things out.  I don't know if I want them to right now.  I'm still a fan of Emma and Graham.  I know he's dead, but he was still my favorite for her so far.

In the next episode, I'm most looking forward to Emma and company coming back to Storybrooke with a still alive Rumpelstiltskin.  Fans would riot if he died, so I know he'll make it, but brushing that close to death might have a bigger effect on him than expected.  Of course, once they do return, it'll become clearer whether Kora is playing Regina for a fool or really sticking to her word.  Either way, Rump will get controlled and Snow and Charming's family will be in danger.  I doubt that the new Snow "Black" will be able to do any better in protecting her family, but we'll see how her new attitude will play out against Kora and Regina.  I guess after failing to save Johanna, Snow should at least be better motivated not to let one more person die she loves and perhaps release a little more whoop-ass on her enemies.

The Cycle of Abandonment

Once Upon A Time, S02E14

Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Henry arrived in New York and found the apartment of who they assumed was Rumpelstiltskin's son.  Emma was shocked to find that Baelfire was actually Neil, and she struggled with the decision to let him go or turn him into his father.  In the past, Rumpelstiltskin went to war and met a seer who predicted the birth of his son and Rumpelstiltskin leaving his son fatherless.  Regina, her mother, and Hook looked for information about the whereabouts of Rumpelstiltskin's dagger.  Greg also got video proof of magic in Storybrooke.

Wow.  This episode was incredible.  I actually realized that Baelfire might be Neil when I saw that they were in New York City.  Before I had thought that they were just going to that airport, but going to a different city.  It's weird that I didn't immediately think New York City.  I'm just glad I had gotten to that conclusion before Emma had chased Neil down the street otherwise I would have kicked myself for not piecing the obvious clues together.

I can't believe that Neil is Baelfire, making Henry Rump's grandson.  Henry has some kind of amazing blood ties and non-blood ties (if you count Regina and her mother).  Also, Emma is firmly connected to Rump more than ever now that Rump is her son's grandfather.  She's never going to be rid of him.  I really like that they decided to do this.  Baelfire's identity has been something I've wanted to know for the longest time, and it was satisfying to know that we've already seen him, but we just didn't know who he really was.

I don't blame Emma for not telling Rump right away about Neil.  The reunion of that father and son was inevitably going to make the father-son reunion of Neil and Henry, and Emma didn't want any part of that.  I was just scared when Rump knew she was lying and started to threaten her even without magic.  He's still pretty scary without fire coming out of his hands.

Neil, even with his abandonment issues, has some nerve giving Emma crap about hiding Henry from him.  He can go straight to hell, as far as I'm concerned.  I know that Neil only acted as August had told him to, but I could give two craps about that.  That's actually another lie that he kept from her--knowing that she was the savoir.  I don't think her ending up in jail for his crimes while pregnant was such a small thing that she should have been looking for Neil a long time ago.  Yeah, right!  I would never want to see his punk ass again!  Anyway, Neil being involved would have stopped Henry from ending up in Regina's hands and Henry bringing Emma to Storybrooke.  So if Neil was so damn concerned about following August's advice to get her to Storybrooke, he didn't need to know about Herny in the first place.  I was pissed that he wanted to be outraged.  

Still, I got a little teary-eyed hearing that Neil went sleep every night seeing his father let him go as a boy.  That's damn harsh.  No wonder he turned out to be a thief who would send his girl to prison.  I can't imagine the kind of trauma that put upon him.  I would hate to see that happen to Henry (although, you can't feel too abandoned when you think your father's dead to begin with).

I was disappointed in Rump's first words to Neil.  Instead of talking about the struggle he went through to be reunited, he kept talking about making up their separation with magic.  What the hell was he thinking?!  Who wants to have magic turn them back to fourteen so their father can raise them again?  That's so messed up.  Rump could have done so much better.  He didn't show that he had changed at all.  And he has changed, to some degree.  I never thought that Neil and Rump would get off to a good start, but Rump pretty much killed their reconciliation before it even began.  Damn.  I hope that he finds another way to redeem himself with Neil.  I really want him to show that from the first moment he held Baelfire, he just wanted to be there for him.

In the past, I felt bad at how manipulated Rump was by his own fate.  Once that seer had put the fear of the future in him, he was doomed to be the father he never wanted to be.  It's so damn sad.  Milah was so quickly disgusted with the way he had injured himself so he could come home alive to his son, and his cowardly decision to desert the war only put him the fast track to become the Dark One.  Rump's story is such a tragedy because all he wanted was to not be a coward nor an absent father.  His efforts to avoid that put him directly on that path.

The past also showed that Rump will be undone by Henry one day.  How ironic that the boy the seer foretold ended up being his grandson.  Rump declared that he would just kill him, but is he going to live up to that promise?  He'd have a lot of people against him if he tried.  Maybe Henry will be the one to break him of the Dark One status or something.  Those futures are so vague, it's not quite clear whether Henry is a life-threatening danger to Rump or not.

Speaking of Henry, I hated that he didn't quite understand why Emma lied to him.  Even if she was being selfish, she did have a decent reason for being so.  Likening her to Regina is a bit childish.  If he thinks everyone is just going to tell him the truth all the time, than he's a bigger child than he looks.  Maybe Henry could have handled the truth, but Emma sure as hell couldn't.  And if Emma did tell him about Neil, we know Henry would have sure as hell went looking for him.  He's that kind of gun-ho kid.  It pisses me off.  He has no idea the pain that Emma went through.  Him thinking his father was a dead hero isn't so bad as the reality.  Get over it, Henry.  As if Neil in your life would have made everything better (then again, maybe so because he might not had to live with Regina).

Back in Storybrooke, it was sort of weird to see Regina, Cora, and Hook hanging out together semi-publicly.  They were all at least in the library (which is closed, granted) looking for that book.  I think that Cora is straight-up playing Regina.  She's probably after Rump's power, not seeking to use it to destroy their enemies.  Hook isn't going to get anything out of helping them.  He's been played like a damn fiddle.  I would have loved to see him go to New York and fight Rump fairly.  Rump probably could still kick his ass with just that cane, I bet.

Regina was a moron in this episode, though.  Not just for believing that her mother is just going to use that power to get Henry back, but for openly using her powers to go through Belle's purse.  What the hell?  I knew that was going to be a problem, but I hoped it wouldn't be.  Nope.  Greg got it all on video!  Damn.  Well, the only good thing is that perhaps Regina will get involved in keeping Greg quiet later on.  If it's just left to Charming and Snow, I don't think they'll be able to keep a lid on the town's secret for much longer.

Also, Charming sounded like such an idiot when he was getting confused about how it was possible he was Henry's grandfather and Rump was too.  Um, duh!  Charming is really lucky he's brave and good with a sword because he's sometimes a moron.

Can't wait to see if Rump can get somewhere with Neil.  With the way he started to repair their relationship, Rump has a very long way to go.  Emma also needs to smooth things over with that moron Henry.  Sure he feels hurt that he's been lied to, but Emma's situation is too complicated for me to feel that Henry was betrayed severely.  Henry's getting to meet his father, so he should get over already.  Now that Neil has been named Baelfire, and Henry has been named Rump's grandson, it's unknown whether Rump will still see Henry as a threat and do away with him for his own sake.  Rump probably has a greater threat from Regina and Cora, who are conspiring to find the dagger that can kill and control him.  I'd hate to see Snow and the others get killed, but it would be entertaining to see someone use Rump as a puppet for a while. That could make a really awesome story down the line.