Tag Archives: August W. Booth

Mar 27 2013
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ABC, Once Upon a Time, Recaps

once upon a time recapping: selfless, brave, and true

Previously on Once Upon a Time: Welcome to Storybrooke.

This week on Once Upon a Time, August returns only to be taken away from us. (Whhhhhy?) In Storybrooke, August’s actions have finally caught up with him and he’s given up on redemption. Meanwhile, Tamara comes into town with a secret agenda involving magic. Elsewhere in the world, we catch up on what August was up to before he rode into Storybrooke.

Once Upon a Time, August and The Dragon

In Phuket back in October 2011, August wakes up in pain and discovers his leg is turning into wood. The doctor he goes to in Hong Kong sees nothing wrong and thinks August is crazy, especially when he stabs himself in the wooden leg to prove his point. On his escape from the hospital, he runs into a young man who offers to take August to “The Dragon,” a man who can cure things “most people dismiss.” While waiting to see The Dragon, he runs into Tamara in the waiting room. The Dragon (played by Tzi Ma), not only knows who August truly is, but how to cure him, at the cost of a personal item (the string his father used to animate him) and $10,000. August later runs into Tamara at a bar, and they bond over being potentially cured (cancer in her case), and the minute her back is turned he steals the giant envelope of cash she left unattended next to a stranger at a bar. August returns to The Dragon for the vial of his magical cure, but Tamara chases him down and steals it back. Tamara later visits The Dragon – turns out she wasn’t sick at all, but searching for magic – and kills him.

Once Upon a Time, Neal and Tamara

In present day Storybrooke, Nealfire drops the bombshell that Tamara is coming to Storybrooke (and that Hook is back on the loose). Emma is not exactly pleased and she encourages him to tell her the truth. Nealfire, Tamara, Emma and Henry share an awkward bagel breakfast, complete with an endearing “spilled-coffee-love-at-first-sight” tale of how the two met. Henry leaves The Book with Nealfire, and he uses it to attempt to tell Tamara the truth, with disastrous results. Snow finally gets out of bed and heads to the woods for archery practice, where she discovers a completely wooden August hiding in a trailer. Though the lifting of the curse reanimated him, his wooden state is a result of straying from the path of good, and he rejects Snow’s offer to come back to town. Snow, along with Emma and Marco, go to the Blue Fairy to ask her to restore August, but since he strayed from being “selfless, brave, and true,” there’s nothing she can do. Tamara, however, visit’s August’s trailer and offers what’s left of her cure – if he leaves Storybrooke and stays out her way. Meanwhile, Regina realizes Greg’s true identity, and tells him to leave town, since his father isn’t there. On the way out of town, he finds Tamara’s personal item in her car and realizes she was responsible for The Dragon’s death. At the sheriff’s station, he tries to call Emma to warn her, but Tamara has other plans and introduces him to her taser (that works on wood, apparently?). He stumbles outside just in time to “die” in his father’s arms – but Henry recognizes his selfless act, and the Blue Fairy is able to restore him to the little boy he once was, with none of August’s memories of course. Tamara appears at that moment and pretends to be astonished that magic is real. Pinocchio’s honesty has everyone else coming clean: Emma promises not to lie to Henry anymore, and Snow tells Charming about her blackened heart. In a flashback, we learn that Tamara bumped into Nealfire on purpose; in the present, Tamara, a.k.a “Her,” shows up at Greg’s door.

Screencap from Once Upon a Fan

That’s it until April 21, when new episodes return with Robin Hood!

Thoughts/Theories

  • Ha, I was totally right about Tamara! Who is she really, though? Someone from another realm? Someone from the real world who just happened to learn the truth about magic? And if she’s been in on it with Greg from the beginning, why is she using Neal? What is the master plan?
  • I’m curious what “The Dragon” implies in terms of other realms/magics that have found their way to the real world. The Enchanted Forest seemed to have an “Asian” kingdom, but I have to wonder if each culture’s mythologies/fables constitute a realm? Imagine the possibilities if that were true!
  • Is Regina lying about the fate of Greg/Owen’s dad, or not? I want to believe he’s still alive – maybe hidden in Regina’s asylum.

Nicole N. decided to justify the countless hours she spends watching television by writing about it here. She is currently terrified of Stanley’s oddly-shaped head on Project Runway. For more tv-centric musings, check out her tumblr.

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Apr 30 2012
3 Comments
ABC, Recaps

once upon a time: the stranger

Previously on Once Upon a Time: The Return

This week on Once Upon a Time, an apparently dying August tries to push Emma into her destiny, revealing information about her past and his connection to the curse. Regina, meanwhile, sets her sights on David. In the Enchanted Forest, we cover the backstory of Geppetto and Pinocchio, and their role in creation of the magic wardrobe that saved baby Emma.

Once Upon a Time, Geppetto and Pinocchio

In the Enchanted Forest, Geppetto and Pinocchio the puppet are lost at sea, about to be eaten by a whale. Pinocchio saves the life vest for his father, and jumps into the water. When Geppetto washes ashore, Pinocchio is back to a lifeless puppet, until the Blue Fairy turns him into a real boy – with the warning that he must remain brave, truthful, and unselfish to stay that way. Later, the Blue Fairy visits Geppetto, warning him of the impending curse and Snow White’s child, and asks him to build the magical wardrobe that could save her.

When they retrieve the tree for the wardrobe, the Blue Fairy explains that it only has enough magic for two people. Geppetto worries that the curse will turn Pinocchio back into wood, and only agrees to build the wardrobe if Pinocchio can go through. As Snow goes into labor, the Blue Fairy tells Geppetto that Snow must go through with Emma, but once she leaves Geppetto makes Pinocchio promise he will lead the savior to her destiny and sends him through instead. Pinocchio/August explodes through a tree trunk into the real world, and baby Emma appears shortly after. The two end up in a foster home (?) with cruel caretakers, and when another boy offers Pinocchio/August the chance to run away with him, he takes it – leaving Emma behind.

Once Upon a Time, Emma and August

In Storybrooke, August installs a deadbolt in Ms. Blanchard apartment to keep out Regina’s skeleton keys, and Emma announces that she intends to fight for custody of her son. Henry calls in with an Operation Cobra “code red,” and Emma goes to meet him at Granny’s – though August attempts to convince her to come with him instead to “see the big picture” on how to defeat Regina, but she doesn’t bite. Henry’s “code red” is a new story in the book featuring Pinocchio, but it isn’t finished. Back at the hotel, August’s leg starts hurting him again, and he pulls up his pant cuff to reveal a wooden leg. Aha! The truth of his identity is finally known! Ms. Blanchard returns to school, and when she runs into Regina she forgives her for the setup, pitying the mayor for the loneliness that causes her to destroy other’s happiness.

August goes to Mr. Gold, asking him to steer Emma away from a custody battle so he can direct her towards breaking the curse, and he agrees. When Mr. Gold turns her down, Emma goes to August as they planned. Meanwhile, Regina has car trouble and David drives her home, and reluctantly stays for dinner. Afterwards, Regina gets a little too friendly and David runs out the door. August and Emma leave Storybrooke and go to a diner – the same diner where baby Emma brought. August knows this because he was the one who found her. August takes her to the woods where they came through and reveals everything: that he’s Pinocchio, that he added the story to the book (and they’re living out the ending), and that he was halfway across the world when she decided to stay in Storybrooke and his leg became a “painful reminder of how far [he] strayed.”

But when he shows her his wooden leg, Emma is in such denial that she literately can’t see anything wrong. He begs her to help, and she freaks out at the responsibility. Henry is the only thing she can fight for – everyone else is screwed. Later that night, a defeated August visits Marco’s (aka Geppetto) workshop and helps with a broken clock. He mentions how he tried to keep a promise to his father too late, but Marco says as long as he tried, it was good enough, and August offers to help at the shop. Across town, Emma calls Henry on the walkie and has him come downstairs. She asks if he wants to live with her, and when he says yes, she decides to take him and leave Storybrooke. Oh, Emma, will you ever learn?

Once Upon a Time, Henry

Next week, bad things happen when you try to leave Storybrooke, and Snow White meets the poisoned apple.

Thoughts/Theories
o Of course I didn’t see it coming that August is actually Pinocchio, as usual. However, I totally called it that August is the boy that saved Emma!
o I’m not sure what the weird Regina/David seduction subplot was about this episode. Does it have some greater significance? What do you all think?

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

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Apr 23 2012
3 Comments
ABC, quotes, Recaps

once upon a time: the return

Previously on Once Upon a Time: The Stable Boy.

Welcome back! This week on Once Upon a Time, Kathryn is back from the dead, Ms. Blanchard is off the hook for murder, and Emma is determined to take Regina down for framing her friend. Meanwhile, August and Mr. Gold develop a mutual curiosity about one another and come to an understanding that the curse needs to be broken, and soon. In the Enchanted Forest, Rumpelstiltskin’s son Baelfire tries free his father from the powers of The Dark One, which leads to a broken promise and a painful separation.

Once Upon a Time, Rumpelstiltskin and Baelfire

In the Enchanted Forest, we pick up where Desperate Souls left off. Rumpelstiltskin has the powers of the Dark One, which he used to end the Ogre War, but he also uses them to terrorize the villagers – turning a cart driver into a snail and crushing him for accidentally knocking down his son, Baelfire. His son wants him to give up the power now that the war is over, but Rumpelstiltskin reminds him the only way to do that is if someone kills him with the magic dagger. Baelfire insists that there must be another way, and his father reluctantly agrees to give up his power if he finds it. They shake on it. Baelfire learns from one of the other children that Reul Ghorm might have the power to help him. That night, Baelfire asks for help and gets a visit from the Blue Fairy, who tells him the only way to save Rumpelstiltskin is to send him to a world without magic, and gives him the last magic bean as a way to get there. The bean creates a vortex and Rumpelstiltskin’s cowardice gets the best of him – he lets go of Baelfire at the last moment and is left behind. Rumpelstiltskin confronts the Blue Fairy, and she lets slip that only way to get back to Baelfire is a curse that would sacrifice one world for the next. He vows to make it happen.

Once Upon A Time, August

In Storybrooke, as August is awoken by his left leg twitching so violently that it throws him out of bed. He calls someone, saying they need to accelerate the plan. He utilizes Henry to distract Mr. Gold so he sneak into his office, but the shopkeeper throws him out before he finds what he’s looking for. Emma checks on Kathryn at the hospital, but she doesn’t remember much of anything other than being kept in a basement. Regina complains to Mr. Gold that Kathryn was supposed to die. He corrects her that “something tragic“ was supposed to happen, and did, so he fulfilled their bargain. The town hosts a party for Ms. Blanchard. Henry gives her a “We’re so glad you didn’t murder Mrs. Nolan” card, and Mr. Gold asks Emma about August, who she describes as “a typewriter wrapped in an enigma wrapped in stubble.” Later, Emma warns Sydney he’ll go down with Regina, Ms. Blanchard tells David it’s really, truly over, and Mr. Gold follows August to the convent, and where he learns the writer was asking about his father. Mr. Gold starts to believe August is his son, and goes to Archie for advice, who tells him to ask for forgiveness. He confronts August, tells him how every waking moment has been spent looking for him, and they hug it out. Rumpelstiltskin offers him the knife, saying he doesn’t need it anymore. August turns it on him and tries to control him – which doesn’t work, as there is no magic in this world, something Baelfire would know. August clearly isn’t his son. He confesses that he’s dying and needs magic to fix it. Rumpelstiltskin decides to let August be for the time being, since his desire to live is the perfect motivation to push Emma into becoming the Savior. The next day, Sydney admits to framing Ms. Blanchard. Emma loses it, swearing to Regina she’s sick of playing nice and she will get her son back, one way or another.

Next week, s**t gets real and Emma might have to save the world.

Quotes
Mr. Gold – Are you proposing I’m working with Regina or against her?
Emma – I don’t know. Maybe diagonally.

Thoughts/Theories
o So now we know why Rumpelstiltskin hates fairies. One minor mystery solved! What happened to their magic beans, though?
o I’m not sure what to believe about August. A part of me thinks he really is Baelfire, but then all the conspiracies I want to believe turn out not to be true, and the ones they come up with I never see coming. And who is he working with?

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

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