Article first published as ONCE UPON A TIME Recap Season 3 Episode 1 The Heart of the Truest Believer on Seat42F.
ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME returns for a third go-round with “The Heart of the Truest Believer.” Six people are on the Jolly Roger, come to Neverland to find the missing Henry (Jared Gilmore). But when they get there, they discover Neverland is not quite what they expect. This goes double for the duo that kidnapped Henry, soon learning the Home Office hasn’t been entirely truthful with them.
ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME returns for a third go-round with “The Heart of the Truest Believer.” Six people are on the Jolly Roger, come to Neverland to find the missing Henry (Jared Gilmore). But when they get there, they discover Neverland is not quite what they expect. This goes double for the duo that kidnapped Henry, soon learning the Home Office hasn’t been entirely truthful with them.
The Home Office is, apparently, Peter
Pan (Robbie Kay) and the Lost Boys. Pan needs “The Heart of the Truest
Believer” for some unknown purpose, and for anyone who has ever watched
even a little bit ONCE UPON A TIME, you will know immediately that said
heart belongs to Henry. Henry has always held the faith that fairy tales
are true and good win will, even when others falter. Now the question
is, can Henry keep his heart in his chest, and what does Pan want with
it?
The twist in “The Heart of the Truest
Believer” is a pretty predictable one. Given the nature of the Neverland
jungle and the ease at which the boys move around in it, I assumed
immediately that the “turned” lost boy was none other than Pan. I wasn’t
sure about his motives, but it makes sense that Pan would want to
confirm Henry really is whom Pan is seeking before doing anything more
to the boy.
I’m surprised to see Greg (Ethan Embry)
and Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) meet their fates so swiftly. True,
Martin-Green has a full-time gig on The Walking Dead, but considering
that the pair were the villains for much of season two, one expects
there to be more to their tale than being cut down by boys in the woods.
However, ONCE UPON A TIME is moving into a new chapter, so I suppose
it’s appropriate that the bad guys are new, too. Plus, I like the way
this episode ties into last year and makes the viewer rethink things
seen previously.
Actually, the Lost Boys don’t straight
up kill Tamara; she hangs around just long enough for Rumple (Robert
Carlyle), who has magically left the Jolly Roger, to find her and
extract a little information. This is the cruel side of Rumple, returned
in full force. We see that Rumple is determined to save Henry at the
end of last season, willing to sacrifice himself, but apparently he
doesn’t mind dipping back into his old bag of tricks to do, as reformed
as her might have seemed.
Neverland seems the perfect place for
Rumple, extremely well versed as he is in all things magic. Neverland is
bursting at the seams with magic, much more so than the Enchanted
Forrest, so it makes sense that the character who flourished with the
element should have better command of it than the others. This prompts
Rumple to ditch them, whether that’s because he thinks they’ll slow him
down or he just doesn’t care about them, he’s at home here.
But Rumple has a weakness, too, and
that’s his family. An old straw doll is enough to stop him in his tracks
and bring him to tears. We don’t know why, as “The Heart of the Truest
Believer” breaks format and abstains from doing a full flashback story,
but assumedly we’ll get to that soon enough, and Rumple has been to
Neverland before.
Of course, this weakness leads Rumple to
dabble in blood magic, which provides a way for Neal (Michael
Raymond-James), stuck in the Enchanted Forrest with Mulan (Jamie Chung)
and Robin Hood (Sean Maguire, recast from Robin’s previous appearance),
to locate Emma. He’ll need more help than just them, and Aurora (Sarah
Bloger) and Phillip (Julian Morris), to reunite with his loved ones.
I like very much that Neal’s assistance
comes in the form of familiar faces. These characters were seen quite a
bit early last season, then disappeared. ONCE UPON A TIME does have
quite a few people to serve, but it’s satisfying that it’s beginning to
reuse those that haven’t been fully explored, rather than just
continuing to add new ones all the time. The quartet Neal gets involved
with deserve the screen time, and I look forward to seeing how they can
help him next, as well as to how long they will stick around this time.
The more help Neal can bring with the
better, as Neverland is full of dangers, a reflection of the erratic
children who run the land, left to their own devices without guidance or
structure, which Emma, Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin), Charming (Josh Dallas),
Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), and Regina (Lana Parrilla) soon find out. They
are beset by mermaids and drive them off, only to be further threatened
by their hostage (Natasha Wilson) with a rough storm. It’s too bad
Rumple leaves them, as they could sure use his help!
It’s really cool how the storm is
mirroring the discord within this group, feeding off of them and ramping
up their hostility at the same time. It may be an obvious metaphor, but
it’s an effective one, making for a tense scene.
Emma is the one that saves the day. In
all of this, Emma has remained the most neutral, and she is able to do
that because she exits outside of the Enchanted Forrest web of
relationships, not having lived in that place. Emma and Charming want to
be her parents, and so love her as mothers and fathers do, but not
having grown up with them, Emma is hesitant to let them in, still
holding onto anger towards them. Emma saves Regina so Regina respects
her, but they feud over Henry, so they won’t be buddies anytime soon.
And Hook takes a fancy to Emma, even giving her Neal’s sword, but Emma
isn’t about to hop into bed with a known scalawag.
When Emma jumps in the ocean, though,
they all work together to save her. I think they realize that Emma is
their best chance at getting what they want, whether it’s family or sex
or a way to get back to one’s world. Emma is a powerful force, as is
Henry, and they are driving factors in this show.
The one flashback we do see is Emma
(Jennifer Morrison) giving birth to Henry. It’s telling that this moment
is chosen, as the episode is not about Emma’s relationship with Henry. I
believe this means Henry’s origin story and how he came to Storybrooke,
as well as what his destiny is, it vital to the plot this fall.
“The Heart of the Truest Believer” isn’t
just an exciting story and the beginning of fresh plots in a new world;
it’s also reestablishing the role both Emma and Henry play in the show,
as leads. It reorders the relationships, Emma taking command over the
other four on the ship. It reminds us of what the show is about and why
it works in the first place. In short, it’s pretty much the best season
premiere one could ask for from the show.
ONCE UPON A TIME airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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