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Previously on Once Upon a Time: Desperate Souls

This week’s episode is all about family. While Hansel and Gretel are desperate to find their father, doing the Evil Queen’s dirty work for a chance to be reunited with him, Emma is desperate to find their Storybrooke equivalents a home, sparing them the pain of an upbringing in foster care. Emma has a lot to deal with this episode – her own abandonment, giving up her child, and Henry asking questions about her past that she’s not ready to answer. It makes for an interesting episode, and it feels like we just might be making some progress. To top it all off, a stranger shows up in town at the end, but we’ll have to wait until next week to learn more.

In the Enchanted Forest, Hansel and Gretel’s father (Nicholas Lea, aka Krycek from The X Files) sends them to collect kindling – giving them his compass so they won’t get separated. Upon their return, their father is missing, and they follow the compass to the road, where the Evil Queen stops them. They resist, and it impresses the Queen so much that she offers to find their father, ifthey do something for her first. She takes them to the home of the blind witch so they can retrieve a satchel, and warns them not to eat anything once they’re inside. They sneak in, and Gretel has the satchel in hand when Hansel eats a cupcake. The witch awakens and traps them inside. When she goes to cook them, they overpower her and lock her in her own oven, and Regina fries her via magic mirror. They return to the Evil Queen with the satchel, which contains a poisoned apple, and she offers the children a chance to live with her in luxury. They refuse, and she uses magic to cast them into the middle of the forest. She brings in their father, whom she had the whole time, to ask why they chose him over her. He replies that they’re a family. She says they’re welcome to be together, if he can ever find them.

In Storybrooke, Henry meets a brother and sister at the drugstore, Nicholas and Ava. They ask him to hang out but on the way out the shopkeeper stops them – the two were attempting to smuggle out stolen goods in his bookbag. Regina collects Henry, and newly appointed Sheriff Emma is left to deal with the two. They lie about their parents being in financial trouble, but Emma soon discovers they’ve been abandoned. Miss Blanchard argues that she should contact social services, but Emma wants a shot at finding their father – and keeping them together – first. Of course, Regina has thrown a wrench in this plan by reporting them, and the two are due in group homes in Boston that night.

Emma’s search causes Henry to ask about his own father, and Emma spins the tale of a young waitress and a young fireman that bonded over pie, and that he died saving a family. Henry is impressed. He asks about a keepsake, which reminds Emma of her baby blanket and prompts her to ask the two if they have anything of their father’s. Ava gives her a compass. She takes it to Mr. Gold, who gives her a name in exchange for tolerance – Michael Tillman, the local mechanic. Despite Emma’s best efforts at persuasion, he’s not ready to be a dad. She reports her failure to Miss Blanchard, and reveals she lied to Henry about his father. Emma has no choice but to take them to Boston, but on the way out of town her car stalls and she calls Tillman, and at the last minute he decides to take them. Later, Emma tells Miss Blanchard that Snow White is supposedly her mom. She goes out and runs into Henry, and almost tells him the truth. A handsome stranger rides into town looking for somewhere to stay, and the two of them are at a loss for words.

Thoughts/Theories
o I’m curious as to why Mr. Gold made a show of checking records when he knew Tillman’s name all along. The more I see, the more I think he’s completely aware of the curse. The real question is: why does he seem to be helping Emma?
o Emma is briefly shown looking at her own file, and apparently she was found by a 7-year-old boy. I’m thinking he might be the mysterious stranger?
o I really, really wish Emma would realize every lie she tells Henry is a weapon that Regina will use against her.

Nicole N. decided to justify the countless hours she spends watching television by writing about it here. She enjoys a challenge and is currently re-watching all 15 seasons of ER. Follow her@nicolemnelson