Review by Panda
Despite what last week promised, Save Henry was less of a major conclusion, and a lot more character driven than I thought it would be. I think Regina’s feelings for Henry were always a bit of a mystery, even though we saw how strongly she felt about him over the course of the series. ‘Save Henry’ was exactly what we needed to understand where those feelings came from, and how they made her throw her evil past behind her and start again.
‘Welcome to Storybrooke’ was one of the best episodes the series ever produced, and despite being a continuation of the threads that episode left over, there were still a few issues here that worsened the strength of ‘Save Henry’s flashbacks.
My first thought about the gang leaving Neverland so easily here was how anti-climactic it all was. Nine weeks of build up, and all it takes is a mother with a bit of a temper to stop Pan? Then as the ship started to sail its way back to Storybrooke, I started to come to grips with the upside of such a fast resolution.
It was what I was looking for all these weeks being stuck in the jungle. It’s great that we’re finally moving on. Then that ridiculous cliffhanger happened. I feel sorry for Jared Gilmore who seems to be more withdrawn every single week, but staking a plot like this on him makes this stretched out Neverland plot even worse.
It was Henry and Regina’s first meeting that saved this episode. I really liked the fact that Regina found a way out of knowing who Henry’s real mother was, but it does have a few strange implications. Did the spell wear off after a while? She obviously had a lot to worry about once Emma finally did come to town, wouldn’t that spell have worked to take those worries away as well?
He Said, She Said
Regina: “I should be over flowing with regret, but I’m not, because it got me my son.”
Conclusion
I think I’m thinking too much about Once these days. I should really just sit back and let the fun stuff happen, but knowing how much better this show used to be is making all of the silliness we’ve been subjected to since this season even harder to take. Even so, I’ve seen glimmers of that greatness from time to time, and returning to Storybrooke to finish this plot out might be exactly what this season needed.
Panda Rating
C+
Previously posted at PandaTV.