Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 1 “The Heart of the Truest Believer,” premiered last night and we have the full recap of the maiden voyage to Neverland!
Eleven years ago, in a seemingly normal delivery room, Emma Swan gives birth to a son she cannot raise. After a flickering of lights and a few final pushes, Henry enters the world, but is taken from the room and whisked away to a life unknown to Emma. As Henry’s crying fades, Emma admits that she is not fit to raise a child.
Flash forward to the present and Emma finds herself clinging to a rope on a ship hurtling towards Neverland to save the son she once gave up. Joining her on-board are the almost annoyingly optimistic Snow and Prince Charming, Regina, and Hook. At the helm of the ship, Hook explains to an aggravated Regina that his plan is to steer the ship to the widest part of the river that runs directly into the heart of Neverland. Hook has a moment of personal reflection as he describes to Regina the ironic circumstances surrounding his return to these particular waters. Hook explains that he spent a majority of his years trying to escape this world and unleash his vengeance on Rumpelstiltskin. Now he finds himself sailing back to the island with his nemesis on board as his guest.
Neverland contains a nostalgic influence not only over Hook, but the rest of the crew. Regina takes a moment after Hook’s story to ask him a personal question she struggles with. Can a villain ever have a happy ending? Regina examines her life as a mother, as an evil queen, and looks for a way to rectify the wrong doings of her past and make her future a little brighter. Hook responds not optimistically, saying that they chose to waste their lives with vengeance. There will always be a black cloud hanging over their happy days.
Meanwhile on shore, Henry, Tamara, and Greg try to contact the “one they work for.” When the bandits discover that their communicator does not work on the island of magic, Henry scoffs their lack of belief in the powers of an enchanted world. Henry warns them that both of his moms are on their way to rescue right now. As the group begins to make their way to the command center, a group of lost boys show up to take Henry away. The Lost Boys are not the cute prepubescent boys in knit caps and long johns from your childhood. Just a few years older, these grungy boys in large cloaks kill Greg and shoot Tamara as Henry flees their clutches.
Back on the seas, Mary and David attempt to give Emma a parental pep talk. Much to the amusement of the audience, Emma points out that the three of them are the same age, with the same amount of real world experience, however their worlds are different. There is nothing that they can say to make the situation any better for her at this point. Mary points out that the second she decides to let go of hope, she is certain that things are done for. Above them, Rumple changes into travelling clothes and informs the crew that if they truly want to succeed, he needs to be the man in charge of getting Henry back.
In the land empowered by imagination, Emma is not the best suited for the job of wondering around without a plan. Evidence in plain sight will not help her in a place where everything can change on a whim. With a twist of his cane, he disappears from the ship to the island. Beneath his cold, selfish exterior, Rumple sees the faults of his attempts to be a good father and the shortcomings of his patriarch and wants to redeem himself. Neverland nostalgia strikes again!
Emma is not sure what to do with herself and decides to hang out below deck and train for a physical fight. Hook comes down to talk to her about Neal. He presents her with a sword that once belonged to Neal when the two were paired up for a long time. Emma addresses the elephant in the room, “I didn’t know you were so sentimental.” Hook admits that he knew Neal long enough for him to miss Neal now. With that they toast to Neal, until a disturbance in the water calls them back to the deck. Mermaids are on the attack.
On another shore, Neal wakes up in the care of Aurora, Prince Phillip, and Mulan. She and Neal have a few great exchanges about the movie created about her in the other world. Unable to comprehend the concept of a movie, Neal moves onto more pressing matters; finding Emma and proclaiming his love for her. Aurora attempts to travel the dreamscape and find where Henry and Emma are, but she does not have any success. Neal may not know his father in a loving sense, but he knows that at the deepest corner of his heart, he has family on his mind. Neal and Mulan set out for Rumpelstiltskin’s kingdom to see what tools he may have left behind.
Henry is aided by a lost boy trying to live on the run from the grasps of Peter Pan. The boy claims he found himself on Pan’s bad side after stealing Pixie dust. His plan was to flee Neverland, but he did not believe enough for the dust to work. As he and Henry make their way towards the Echo Caves, they two fugitives find themselves on the edge of a cliff with the Lost Boys close behind. It seems as though the lost boy’s sense of direction got the best of him and Henry says that they need to use the pixie dust to make their escape. Henry tells the boy that he believes in the dust enough for the both of them to take flight. As the dust is released Henry grabs the boy’s hand and they take flight over Neverland.
Back on the ocean, the mermaids are creating a storm of both physical and emotional intensity. When the man power of the cannons and nets are too weak to take on the legion of merpeople, Regina unleashes her fierce fireball powers and drives them away, save one. In the fishing net, Mary and Emma pull up a captive on board. The mermaid has other plans for the crew and will not be held in contempt. She pulls out a conch shell and unleashes a warning to the ship. Suddenly, the crew becomes emotionally enraged at each other and the boat begins to take on water because the crew is preoccupied with fighting each other. The mermaid remarks that she will not kill the sailors because they will end up killing themselves first.
Emma’s perceptiveness comes in handy as she realizes the problem and tries to break up the fighting. Snow and the Evil Queen bring up qualms of the past and the queen taunts Snow with the woman she became after the curse. Unicorn stickers cannot fix everything after all. The Snow of the forest unleashes as she strikes Regina for mocking her positive attitude, driving David to get in on the action. Hook blames Regina for getting them mixed up in the mess when she turned the captive mermaid to a wooden block. Not able to get the crew’s attention, Emma throws herself overboard. Everyone puts their arguments on hold and bands together to fish her out of the sea. Once she is safely back on board, the storm breaks up and the ship sails on calmer waters. Who knew that the memories of the past mix with the lives they live in the present would create a means for a full out brawl. This will not be the last time the past mixes up the progress of the future.
On the shores of Neverland, Rumpelstiltskin finds Tamara and rips her heart out after she claims that she told Henry to run. Family may hold something for Rumple after all. Deeper in the woods, the leader of the Lost Boys finds Rumpelstiltskin and taunts him with the captive Henry. Pan always gets what he wants, including the boy. Rumpelstiltskin says that he will not stop until he gets to Henry, even if Pan wins, he will take down as many Lost Boys as it takes to get to him. With the gauntlet thrown between the Dark One and Pan, the pack leader tosses a doll at Rumple’s feet that takes him to his knees in tears. Nostalgia takes its grasp on Rumple.
Neal and Mulan break into his father’s castle and encounter a house guest. Robin Hood makes it known that he looks over the abandoned kingdom after an encounter with Rumple left his life spared at the hand of the Dark One. Owing him a debt, Hood calls the home his own unless someone can prove the owe allegiance to the place in a greater way. In this case, offspring trumps a debt. Neal and Mulan find a cabinet that opens for blood relations and they embark on a quest to find something to help him return to Emma.
Henry’s escape from Pan and the Lost Boys is short lived as he discovers that the lost boy he began to trust, is none other than Pan himself. Pan gets what he wants; the heart of the truest believer. (Oh hey there, episode title!)
This season’s course it set for a trip down memory lane as the characters face their pasts and try to fight their former selves for the preservation of their futures. Looking ahead, Oncers are due for encounters with Pan, Ariel, Robin Hood, and the inevitable return of Belle back in Storybrooke.
Next week, the crew land on the shores of Neverland and Emma faces Peter Pan face to face!
Once Upon a Time season 3, episode 2 “Lost Girl,” airs Sunday, October 6 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.