'Once Upon A Time' 206 Review: 'Emma Swan's Portland Hipster Origin Story'

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This week the focus was almost entirely on the Emma Swan of now vs. the Emma Swan of the past and how they both wind up having adventures with charming raffish bad boy types. It answered a few questions including Henry's paternity, and brought a welcome return to a fan favorite character who's currently M.I.A and well, made of wood. We also saw another LOST veteran become part of Once Upon A Time canon in 'Tallahassee'.

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The title of this week's episode refers to the dream destination of young Emma Swan back when she had no job, no connections, and no purpose. She meets up with Neal Cassidy when she steals a car he was hiding out in--the very same yellow VW bug we all know from her arrival in Storybrooke back in season one. Neal and she became a sort of hipster version of Bonnie & Clyde without the killing spree as they squat in recently vacated motel rooms, and rip off convenience stores for whatever Emma can fit into her stylishly shabby messenger bag. Oh, this Neal guy is also the very same man who received the mysterious 'Broken' postcard from Storybrooke in the premiere of this season. So these flashbacks serve the purpose of showing us how Emma once believed in love until she thought herself betrayed by Neal, and how her destiny in Storybrooke was always a looming certainty with a little help from an outsider.

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When the name of this episode was first announced you wouldn't have been alone in getting flashes of the memorable Sawyer episode of LOST that shared a very similar title. Especially when the big conclusion of Emma and Neal's story is that he leaves her to get busted by the police as she is in possession of his stolen merchandise--a collection of expensive watches nicked from when Neal worked at a jewelry store before he came to Portland. When he brought up the watches and their current location in a locker at the bus station all the 'he's totally conning her' red flags went up. But it was a clever red herring as Neal had zero intention of leaving Emma holding the bag--wearing the watch, same difference.

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This is where things got really good in tonight's episode. Not to mention when they made sense in the show's intent with even having this flash to Emma's pre-Storybrooke past. Sure, people want the answers to all of their questions including who is Henry's father, but this story gave us an idea of how much of a figure in Emma's adult life August (Eion Bailey in the flesh once more) proved to be. It was amazing to see August inform Neal about the nature of Emma's true destiny. It turns out he was the one who, through he and Neal's actions, had Emma Swan serve time in prison. Neal had no idea she was pregnant at the time or I don't think even whatever August revealed to him in that mystery box could have convinced him to play his part in keeping Emma Swan in one place until the time came for her to take a trip out to Maine.

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From the moment he drove into town on his motorcycle with his antique typewriter and knowledge of events surrounding the cursed townspeople, August has been one of the best OUAT characters. It was a real treat to have him back in action even if it was something that took place in the past. Hopefully we'll be seeing him in the present soon as well. Michael Raymond-James as Neal was such a great unexpected choice for Emma Swan's one-time love. He really just has that special something--a spark that makes his roles memorable no matter how long they're around for. It was also a great change of pace to see Jennifer Morrison get to play a more fun-loving and carefree Emma. It just goes to show how one of the themes of this show, the power of love, works both ways in that when someone loses love in such a painful manner it can change them so profoundly. But heroes have to suffer in the course of their journeys that's just how these stories work.

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In the present-day we have the Emma we know best volunteer to ascend the heights of a magical beanstalk in order to retrieve a magic compass from the last of the giants (Jorge Garcia) that should help she and her mother, Snow find their way home. Their recent captive Killian Jones aka Hook aka Tumblr's new boyfriend joins her in her quest and along the way the sparks fly between them. Now that we see the source of so many of her trust issues it's truly no surprise that she can't be convinced to trust Hook even though he's never done anything but help her and her comrades--yet. Sure, he's charming but that's part of as he puts it, 'the pirate thing'. He even said his allegiance lies with anyone that can get him to Storybrooke to enact his revenge mission against Rumple for murdering Milah and taking his hand. So if you don't see the fact that, even though we all would like Emma to start trusting again, Hook is not someone to put your faith in well that’s probably shipper blindness setting in. It's okay, it happens to the best of us.

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I don't see him causing great harm to anyone he's traveling with right now, but you can be damn sure that if he obtains the means to go to Storybrooke all on his own then he'll leave them without a moment's hesitation. Again, Colin O'Donoghue is impossible to take your eyes off of and it's going to be exciting to see what impact his Killian Jones makes in the lives of the other characters if he reaches his goal--I don't necessarily think that Rumple is forever in the clear, not at all.

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One of the big new mysteries for the forums to go wild over has to do with a shared dream by both Aurora in the enchanted kingdom present and Henry back in Storybrooke. It has to do with a red room with fiery curtains and the fact that both see each other in their respective dreams, but have no idea who the other person is. It's all very ominous, intentionally vague, and will probably show up either in the pre-break episode or in the finale. Maybe it has to do with what's in August's mystery box that so readily convinced Neal to assist him in pushing Emma to her curse-breaking destiny. 

The scene with Aurora and Snow bonding over sleep curse side effects was just the kind of thing you want in a show where all fairytale characters essentially inhabit the same bit of time and space. One thing is certain is that Emma Swan needs to just have a sword with her all the time because that is always a good look for her, and I wonder how Neal will react when he inevitably sees her again now that she's turned into a bit of a fairytale character in her own right. Next week we get a Ruby story and a chance to see the likely fairytale peasants of Storybrooke do what they did best in the stories--form an angry mob.