Once Upon a Time 2.21: Second Star to the Right

A common complaint about this show lately is the characters’ sudden bout of stupidity. It’s something that makes it hard to not only feel for them, but to believe in the story, particularly when the answer to their question is almost always right in front of them. This episode rectified that, at least in Emma’s case, but it still had a few flaws.

The biggest of these imperfections was the flashback, which consisted of four whiny kids, and a disturbing looking shadow floating around for 15 (?) minutes. I guess there was a lot that happened in those scenes, but it wasn’t until Hook popped up that I really gave a damn about any of it. Maybe the real fun starts in part 2?

While I’m on that topic, this episode did have enough to it so that it felt like a full episode, but it still had part 1-ish vibes to it. Though we got the inevitable confrontation with Tamara, which ended with Neil getting shot and being sent away, 'Second Star to the Right' was more about putting the big players in place for next week’s conclusion; pretty typical part 1 stuff, saving the majority of the revelations for the conclusion.

With the entire town at stake, there’s a lot to lose, and now that Regina is forcibly back on team Charming, I think there’s a good chance she might have to step up and finally bring her character retribution full circle. Sacrificing herself for the town seems like a fitting price to pay for destroying all of its residents’ lives, doesn’t it? There’s a slim chance of her actually biting the dust, but if she steps up and makes the decision to save everyone she once hurt, maybe we have a shot of seeing her back on the right side permanently.

I’m surprised that Owen’s father was simply killed right after he was caught. Either Regina’s lying, or they want to use it as bait for Owen’s revenge next week. Now that both he and Tamara are caught, I think they’ll do pretty much everything they can to fulfil their objective of removing magic from this world. It’s pretty cool that Emma was proven right, though. I really enjoyed seeing her take advantage of her talents, and have faith in them, which is something she hasn’t done in a while. She was the major reason why this episode felt devoid of a lot of the over-dramatic and dense actions of the past few weeks.

I’m not necessarily blown away by this one, but there was still enough material to make ‘Second Star to the Right’ worth it. I think this more about getting us to the right place for the finale. Last year ended on such a high note, hopefully ‘And Straight on Till Morning’ will start an annual tradition.

7/10

Plus

I wonder where Neil ended up. Neverland, Enchanted Forest, or elsewhere?

One scene that struck me hard was Emma after Neil disappeared. 

Tamara and Owne keep referring back to the “Home Office”. I wonder who they are, and when we get to see them.

He Said, She Said

Tamara: “Magic does not belong in this world, it’s un-holy. We’re here to cleanse this land of it.”

Neil: “Emma, Henry needs you. He can’t lose both of us, don’t make grow up like we did.”

Also posted at Doux Reviews and Nads Reviews.