A lesson in letting go.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
The heroes of Once Upon a Time have had their moments of being naive -- I'm looking at you Snow White. But it's been five seasons. Villains occasionally redeem themselves sure, but by and large, if a transformation does happen, it's going to take more than a minute. Hook pointed this out to the heroes when they all believed Hades would truly help them and keep up his end of the deal. He said, "A man can't change so quickly." Duh. Why on earth did Regina and company make the monumentally stupid and difficult to believe choice of trusting Hades?
Regina giving Robin and Zelena's baby to Zelena was different. She was trying to connect and show her trust in Zelena. They've truly forged new territory with the relationship, and I like the forward momentum. However, putting faith in Zelena didn't have to extend to her love. There were ways to be smarter about it. It was a time for baby steps, not for believing Hades wholesale. Too much was at stake.
You could spin what happened in a different way and say they didn't have a choice but to take Hades at his word because of the extreme circumstances, but it's a flimsy stretch. We're not dealing with dumb people here. This group has experience with being burned by villains. Their desperation to leave the Underworld shouldn't overrule all reason.
The misstep with Hades was just one failing of "Firebird." The second issue was indirectly caused by the former ruler of the Underworld. He tricked Emma and Hook, and Hook had to be left behind. I am a fierce supporter of Captain Swan, so this should have stirred some emotion. It didn't. I couldn't get over the sense of deja vu.
Once Upon a Time: "Firebird" Photo Gallery:
We've watched Emma say goodbye to Hook before. We've watched her experience loss repeatedly. It's not that I'm numb to it, but it's too close. Given how Hook has come back in one way or another, it's also hard to be upset. History has shown death doesn't necessarily stick.
The flashback introducing Emma's mentor and the woman who taught her to let go and be dead inside was seemingly placed to convince us this goodbye was truly real and legit. Maybe it was. If we watched the end of Hook and I didn't experience any pain over it because I have no reason to believe he'll ever go away, that's a problem. I've cried over Hook before; I'm not inclined to do it again. You can't bring characters back frequently and then take them away because the loss won't hit home, like it didn't here.
The episode did have a few shining points. Henry embracing his author role and reminding his mom of Operation Firebird, which she conveniently forgot about, was admirable. It might have been a slapdash solution to someone in the writers' room pointing out they hadn't tied up that dangling thread, but even if that was the case, it was a nice bit of character development for Henry.
Also a relief: Rumplestiltskin only partnered with Pan temporarily. His interaction with his father wasn't about him being evil, it was about him not being stupid. He knows Pan; he's aware his father isn't going to change. Rumple could teach the heroes a thing or two about healthy cynicism/realism.
The Verdict
Once gets stuck on the repeat cycle too often. There are minor variations on the same conversations, or in the case of Hook staying behind, it's basically the exact same conversation. Emma did let go like he asked but not even the flashback could give the moment enough heft to make it resonate on any level – we went through this goodbye already.
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