Once Upon a Time REACTION - S03E01 - The Heart of the Truest Believer

Where to begin... First, thank you so much for another fun reaction, and for season three's premier on top of it all! Such a good episode and what an excellent way to begin season three by having each of our main characters come to Neverland to save Henry, and at last we get to meet Peter Pan! :) First... the idea of the home office that Greg and Tamara believed in was weird. However, I do like that it turned out all to be lies conjured up by Pan in order to get these two to fight for him, as Pan knows that it's easier for most people to hate something, rather than to get them to believe in something. And Greg and Tamara are at last dead and gone. I couldn't be happier with their demise. First... one of the Lost Boys called upon a shadow to come down and rip out Greg's own shadow in order to kill him, then another of the boys shoots Tamara in her back with an arrow to kill her. However, she doesn't die right away. A short time later, Rumple comes upon her still alive and heals her in order to get her to talk about where Henry is. When she tells him all she knows about how Henry had run into the forest, Rumple then rips out her heart and crushes it... thus killing Tamara too. Boy... are their deaths just desserts and oh so sweet. :) I was so glad to see their storylines come to an end. I feel bad for hating them so much, but I can't help it. Now... this episode begins with Emma giving birth to Henry eleven years earlier, which sets up Emma's strong drive to save Henry at all costs like we see all throughout this episode. Unfortunately for her, just as she was as she was giving birth to Henry, she feels very much alone despite having her parents, Hook, and Regina there with her to help her save him. She is angry with her parents and blames them for Henry becoming kidnapped in the first place, more so than she blames herself, because they convinced her to stay in Storybrooke to fight to save everyone, instead of taking her one chance to leave town with Henry before she ever broke the curse so that they could have been together. Then... we see Hook steering the Jolly Roger through the wild portal as heroes and villains leave Storybrooke and arrive in Neverland. And what a ride! Upon their arrival, Hook comes up with a plan since he's the only one of them aside from Rumplestiltskin, who quickly abandons them... to have been in Neverland before. One of my favorite scenes in this episode is the moment between Emma and Hook, as Hook comes into the crew's quarters where Emma is working out to pass the time and to build up her strength for their upcoming fight against Pan. I love how Hook gives Emma the very sword he had once given to Baelfire when he knew him. I also love Hook's line after Emma asks him how long he had known Neal, as Hook answers, "Long enough to know that I miss him too." Next... I also love the moment between Hook and Regina as well, as they talk about how villains may not get their happy endings, to which Hook responds, "I hope not. Because if it is, then we've wasted our lives." I love the scenes between Henry and Pan, who pretends to be another one of the Lost Boys who wanted to leave them and Neverland in order to trick Henry and to see if he truly is the boy with the heart of the truest believer. What a brilliant twist that I didn't expect either. I should have known the boy was really Pan, but this idea went way over my head and I'm so glad that it did because it made this twist even more exciting. :) And for the most part, I also enjoy the scenes between Neal, Mulan, Aurora, and Phillip, but especially later with Robin Hood, who yes... is another actor than the original actor chosen to play him. I'm not sure if Tom Ellis just didn't want to come back, or if he was too busy working on other projects to do so, but either way, it most certainly worked out for the best. I absolutely love this new actor chosen to play Robin much more than I liked Tom Ellis. Sean Maguire is now Robin Hood and he's absolutely brilliant in the role. I love the whole fight scene between Regina and Mary Margaret, as well as Hook and David within the storm as Emma discovers that their arguing is causing the storm to worsen. It may have seemed odd for their arguments to increase so drastically, but I feel that not only did their arguing cause the storm to worsen, but that the storm summoned by the mermaid also caused their arguments to worsen as well, which is why Emma couldn't get through to them until she was willing to take such drastic measures by jumping overboard. A distraction. And thankfully, it worked. Unfortunately, Emma nearly dies when she's struck by a part of the ship's riggings that crashes down on top of her and knocks her unconscious. Thankfully, David immediately jumps in after Emma, as Hook urges him to tie a rope around him so that he and the women can soon pull him and Emma back up. And once they do, the storm is over and the mermaids are no longer a threat to them. Also... I like the idea of the mermaids being trouble for the heroes and villains aboard the Jolly Roger, because if you remember in the Disney movie, the mermaids weren't so nice either. I really love each of Rumple's scenes once he goes off on his own to save Henry, including the moment when he mimics his own motion upon introducing himself as Rumplestiltskin to one of the Lost Boys. Brilliant. And lastly... another of my favorite scenes is between our new team, as Emma stands up to them and takes up the role as their leader, saying they will need each of their skills and them working together if they have any hope of saving Henry and defeating Pan. I absolutely love Hook's line, "I quite fancy you, when you're not yelling at me." It's such a Hook thing to say. I love his smugness and bravado. :) Overall... a brilliant episode and a great start to an amazing season that is most certainly one of my favorite seasons like it is for most people. I can't wait for more reactions for season three from you!!! There's so much good to come. :)

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum