Once Upon a Time, “Souls of the Departed”, Review!

Jondee here at the Underworld,

Once Upon a Time picks up from the mid-season finale where Emma kills Hook to destroy the Dark Ones and Gold becomes a powerful Dark One taking in all of the powers of every Dark One which would make him Dark One Plus. Our heroes and Gold are about to enter the Underworld to save Hook. This episode, “Swan Song”, aired before the new episode to get viewers caught up. Now, it’s time for episode one hundred! The dead return! Emma opens her eyes in her car at an abandoned theme park with The Revelation roller coaster. She is next to Neal (Michael Raymond-James), the father of Henry, he warns her about the Underworld, “This won’t end the way you think it will.” Neal is not in the Underworld, he is “someplace where he is happy.” Emma wakens next to Mary Margaret and David. Gold says they have arrived. They walk a broken down Storybrooke and Regina says, “I don’t think we’re in Maine anymore” lol. Cruella passes in her car. The soldiers part for the Evil Queen, she is brought a blueberry pie, and shoves it away because she prefers apple pie. She wants Snow White’s heart and is stopped by a man, the same man who is spray painting CLOSED on Granny’s. She kills the man and faces Snow White, Prince Charming, and the Dwarfs! The Queen backs down and disappears in a swirl of purple. Henry, the Valet, her father (Tony Perez) says it is the fault of her mother, not Snow White, she sent her mother to Wonderland. The man walks up to Regina’s mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey) in the Underworld!

Back in the Underworld, Mary Margaret is at Granny’s, a run down diner and she asks about Hook. David is in black leather and kisses her, I suspect it’s not David, it’s James, his brother! He walks off as David enters and Emma and Gold follow. Gold knows that Hook is in the Underworld since he died as a Dark One. Henry brings his mother a Room 8 key. Robin walks with Regina, she hears from the man who was following them. The Evil Queen plucks apart a black rose. The Valet calls up the Magic Mirror (Giancarlo Esposito) and wants to summon “her”, it’s Cora in Wonderland. She says, “She needs to finish it.” Cora breaks through the Magic Mirror! The Underworld, Regina sees her mother, and hugs her. She wants to find Hook, but Cora distracts her. She has arranged for a boat to take away Regina, Henry, and the bowman. She purple clouds them away to a fiery pit with the man on a ledge. The fire burns him and Cora sends him into the pit. She says, “Go home or there will be a cost.” Her father! Gold walks into the Underworld version of his store. He sees the dish and broken cup. Flashback, Gold tells Belle he is going, his blood will summon the fairy. He sees a puppet of a little boy. Gold is confronted by Peter Pan (Robbie A. Kay). He says the shop belongs to him. Peter puts a flask next to the puppet and he wants to return. Gold rejects his deal.

Mary Margaret is surprised at Regina telling them Cora threatening to destroy her father. Gold interrupts them with a flask that will enable them to speak with Hook. He says that there is a boat that is going to leave soon. Flashback, Henry is confronted by Snow White with her bow drawn in a misty forest. He is worried about his daughter. Henry appears and the other Henry takes her heart and turns into Cora. She places Snow White’s heart in a box, Regina’s birthday present! The group is at a cemetery and go to the gravestone of Killian Jones. Emma pours the flask and a bloody form of Hook appears. It blurs and he disappears! Emma wants the others to take the boat, it arrives in a half an hour, she wants Regina to leave. The Evil Queen stares at her birthday cake interrupted by the Jester (Stefano Giulianetti). The queen knocks him away and Cora arrives from Wonderland. She shows her the box with Snow White’s heart. The Magic Mirror shows the Dwarfs celebrating with Snow White and Prince Charming. The queen crushes her heart and Snow is in pain when Jimminy Cricket pops out. The heart collapses in ice and a guard falls. The queen faces her father who made the switch. She feels betrayed, but he wants redemption for his daughter. She purple clouds her father into the box. There is a tombstone of Henry Mills. Regina pours the flask on it to see her father and cries. “I love you no matter what, that’s what fathers do.” The feels! Henry wants her to stay and finish the task. He fades into a cloud.

The queen faces her mother and brings her the box. Cora likes her evil. The Magic Mirror draws Cora back to Wonderland. She takes the box and is drawn back to Wonderland. The Evil Queen is now alone. Regina races to see her father at the crevice with Henry. Cora sends the flames to pull her father into the inferno. Regina cries. The flames die down, a light opens and her father is ready for heaven! His unfinished business was Regina. I love this show! Henry see his grandfather and thanks him. He walks into the light. Regina thinks that everyone can be saved. Gold arrives, but he only wants to find Hook. Henry says it’s Operation Firebird. His mother holds him and they head off. Regina looks at the fallen clock and smiles. Cora looks at her daughter and then opens a chamber to an elevator. The elevator plunges down and Cora has arrived at a smoky pit. Five colored rivers flow form a center. Music is playing while a man in a suit, Hades (Greg Germann), is getting a pedicure. He sees her as a failure and says, “She’s going to regret her decision.” Hades also knows about Zelena. He transforms her to peasant clothes, her old life a miller’s daughter. Hades sends her away and his hair ignites into blue flame. This episode was worth the wait! Once a Oncer, always a Oncer! Five Daggers of the Dark One out of Five!