Once Upon a Time #2.6 “Tallahassee” Recap & Review

Emma and Hook journey up the beanstalk in search of the enchanted compass, eventually gaining the help of the Giant at the top. In a real-world flashback, Emma’s criminal past with the Mysterious Stranger is explored. Here is a recap and review of “Tallahassee.”

Recap:

Portland, 11 years ago: Emma breaks into the yellow Volkswagen bug and is soon startled by the Mysterious Stanger, aka Neal Cassady, who was the car’s original thief and sleeping in the back seat. They bond and begin a crime spree together, but run into trouble when Neal realizes there is video footage of him stealing. Emma retrieves the watches that he hid in a locker and he goes out to fence them. However, August ambushes Neal and informs him that Emma has a great destiny that she must be left alone to complete, and August will send a postcard to him when the curse is broken. Emma is arrested because of an anonymous tip and placed in a Phoenix prison, where she learns she is pregnant.

Emma volunteers to go up the beanstalk with Hook. At the top, the two devise a scheme to knock out the Giant with poppy powder. Successful, Hook and Emma go in search of the compass, but the Giant quickly wakes up and rushes after them. Emma captures the Giant in his own trap and he hands over the compass. In return for not killing him, Emma asks the Giant to look after Hook, whom she handcuffed to the wall, while she gets a head start.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the stalk, Aurora has a nightmare about being in a red room with no windows or doors, with curtains on fire, and a set of eyes staring at her. After Hook and Emma have been gone for ten hours, Mulan begins chopping down the beanstalk per Emma’s instructions. Just then, Emma arrives and Mary Margaret lectures her about how they are going back together. In Storybrooke, Henry wakes up screaming, having had the same nightmare as Aurora.

Review:

This was a long awaited episode for the reveal of Henry’s father and Emma’s first flashback. Overall, “Tallahassee” provided answers in the past, while seemingly stalling in the present. It took an entire episode to retrieve a compass with several scenes between Emma and Hook that were not necessary to the plot, and not much went on with Mulan or Aurora (aside from that strange nightmare- which we’ll get to).

With the title of the episode being “Tallahassee,” one would expect some of the story to take place there, but this was not the case, and a smart move at that. Tallahassee represents for Emma a grand idea of her future happiness, settling down with a man and having a home, so if she had attain that, her past would not be nearly as tragic and compelling.

There were certain elements about Emma’s past that were expected and those that were not.  We knew she had Henry while in jail, so her criminal past was not shocking; however, her having an accomplice was. Emma has always been presented as a loner, better on her own, so I’m not sure what to make of this storyline. The line from episode seven of season one (“The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”) that Emma says to Mary Margaret: “One nighters is as far as I ever go,” made it seem reasonable to assume that this was the case with Henry’s father and that would have further solidified Emma as an independent individual. But, her having a stable-ish relationship fits the character as well. Having lost her love once, her “wall” makes sense in that she attempts to prevent it from happening again. With Neal having received the postcard allowing him to get Emma back, the question becomes if he is still interested in her romantically or simply curious about her life.

The fact that Henry’s father was not presented as a huge surprise made it more realistic and believable. It would appear that Neal is just an ordinary man, which almost provides a sigh of relief that the writers are not trying to stretch everyone into a fairytale character (though that’s mostly the case). Neal was a difficult character to read because on the one hand, he did encourage illegal behavior from out heroine, but on the other hand, he appeared to genuinely care about Emma so he could be a “good guy.” Although Henry deserves to have a special father who can be a role model, not the guy who committed crimes with his mother, with Prince Charming as your grandpa, how much more epic can you ask for?

The more Captain Hook appears, the stranger he is. Colin O’Donoghue gives off a slight Captain Jack Sparrow vibe that doesn’t work without the swagger. The relationship between Emma and Hook, while it has not amounted to anything yet, seems slightly forced. It was awkward watching him try to hit on her because Hook has not had enough screen time to have developed a “playboy” air, nor has strikingly good chemistry with Emma for this to seem natural. His mystery is enjoyable and figuring out his motives is entertaining, but he does not have much substance.

So far, there has not been a love interest, or potential love interest, for Emma that is fitting for the long term (there was Sheriff Graham, but that hit a dead end). While it would be interesting to see Neal come back into her life and find out he has a son, in order for Emma to have made any progress and growth in her life, she needs to let her past go.

There were a few small things in this episode that leave more questions unanswered. It was not overtly obvious, but the flower tattoo Emma has on her wrist makes a brief and unexplained appearance. Details are not placed into this show on a whim, so what does it mean to her and why have we barely seen it? Also, the mysterious magical box that contained a mysterious magical typewriter was capable of compelling someone? Or did August possess magic back in the day? August asked Neal if he believed in magic, and waala, Neal is willing to leave Emma.

The scenes in modern day fairytale land, especially those with the Giant, came off a little campy. The look was slightly jarring, maybe because of the growling, maybe because of the green screen or acting. The scenes here sadly had unreached potential. Having loved Jorge Garcia’s comic relief on Lost, his Giant deserves another chance to impress.

The moment when Mary Margaret lectures Emma made me miss her strong presence in the story. It was a nice reminder of the strong relationship she built with Emma last season, coupled with her recently recovered identity as her mother. I still have yet to figure out Mulan’s purpose and her lifeless performance makes me apathetic. It seems that she is just around to be bossy and the leader of the pack. Aurora may become more interesting in the near future. Her and Henry sharing the same dream seemed to come out of nowhere, but was a welcomed surprise. Is their connection because of the relationship between the lands, or is something magical going on with one of them or to one of them? With next week’s episode focusing on Little Red, could the red room and frightening eyes in the nightmare be a premonition?

What did you think? Come share your thoughts about the episode on the KSiteTV Forum! – See some images from “Tallahassee”