Fans of Once Upon a Time, be prepared to meet a new captain and uncover a story from Hook’s past.
The episode opens on the Jolly Roger and in the past, back when Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) is aggressive in his ways and is out to kill the Dark One. A shipmate is defying Hook, so Hook goes to kill him. Hook gets distracted when his men see something in the depths of the sea — a submarine. The man pushes Hook into the water and onto the submarine.
Regina (Lana Parrilla) goes to Zelena’s (Rebecca Mader) house and tells the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) to come out and talk. The Evil Queen materializes and Zelena comes out shortly after. Meanwhile, Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) are in the house, and they let Jiminy Cricket out of the cage Zelena put him in. Snow and Charming think about taking Zelena’s baby too, but the baby starts crying, and Zelena and the Evil Queen come in. Snow, Charming and Regina make it out before the Evil Queen can unleash her powers on them.
Emma (Jennifer Morrison) has to leave Henry (Jared Gilmore) and Hook alone to help Jasmine (Karen David) with Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz). Aladdin is being stubborn and will not help Jasmine. After Emma leaves, Henry takes the trash out, and the Evil Queen shows up. She knows Hook kept the shears and reveals it to Henry. The Evil Queen tells Henry that Hook does not have his and Emma’s best interests in mind and asks, “What are you going to do about it?” When Henry doesn’t come back, Hook goes out to find Henry and the shears missing.
In the past, Hook wakes up aboard a peculiar looking ship. The man from the Jolly Roger walks down the steps in a fancy uniform and tells Hook to call him Nemo (Faran Tahir). He is the famous Captain Nemo, a character created by author Jules Verne. Nemo helps pirates whose hearts are full of vengeance and gives them other tasks to channel their energy into while providing them with a family. Nemo has a mission for Hook to prove to him that he belongs on Nemo’s ship.
Hook goes to the docks to find Henry who Henry is going to take a boat out in the harbor and get rid of the shears. Before Hook and Henry can do anything, there is a rumbling coming from the water and Captain Nemo’s submarine, the Nautilus, surfaces and men take Henry and Hook onto the ship.
In another flashback, Hook, Nemo and his first mate (Nick Eversman) are on the quest. They find the thing they’re looking for — a treasure chest. When Nemo turns his back, Hook starts to run away but a giant squid uses its tentacle to trip and capture Hook. Nemo’s first mate tries to save Hook, but can’t do it without the help of Nemo who throws his spear into the squid’s eye.
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Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) goes to see the Evil Queen at Zelena’s house. He wants the shears because they can change the fate of everyone, not just Saviors. Rumple wants to change something about his fate or the fate of a loved one.
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Emma and Aladdin go to the town line to see the “Welcome to Storybrooke” sign. She shows Aladdin the place on the sign where she crashed her car when she tried to run from being the Savior. Aladdin says he blames himself for causing the problems in Agrabah.
On Nemo’s ship in the present day, Hook tells Henry the reason he wants to keep Emma alive — Hook killed his father, which was revealed in an earlier season. Hook killed his father because he had a child with another woman and named him Liam, which was the name of Hook’s other brother who died on a quest. This prompts another flashback.
In the past, Nemo opens the treasure chest and finds a key. Nemo says it opens a portal to the Mysterious Island, a place where everyone will be safe and never lose another loved one. Nemo wants Hook to join his crew, but a distracted Hook sees a knife on the table. The knife belongs to Nemo’s first mate, but Hook recognizes it as his father’s knife. Does this mean Liam is Nemo’s right-hand man?
In the present, Hook tells Henry that he wants to do right by Henry and make up for killing his father and making Liam an orphan. Henry and Hook have a bonding moment then Henry pulls the shears out of his pocket. Hook takes Henry to put on a wet suit. Henry asks why Hook isn’t coming. It turns out there is only one suit. What a coincidence. Hook puts a helmet on Henry and throws him through the portal as Liam comes walking toward his half brother with a knife in hand.
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In the final flashback, Hook tells Nemo why he has to leave. Nemo tries to convince him to stay when Liam shows up wielding a knife. Liam lunges toward Hook and tries to stab him, but Nemo jumps in the way. While Liam is tending to an injured Nemo, Hook throws on the helmet to the water suit and escapes.
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Back In the present day, Liam tells Hook that Hyde took Nemo to the Land of Untold Stories, which means Nemo is still alive. Earlier in the episode, Charming took a man he found in the forest to the hospital. Could this be the same man? Liam is about to kill Hook when Henry shows up and distracts Liam long enough for Hook to knock Liam unconscious. Henry understands why Hook kept the shears: “You love her too.” Hook ensures Henry they will find another way to save Emma, so they put the shears in the treasure chest and send through a portal and into the water.
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In the meantime, Aladdin meets up with Jasmine and says he is willing to help even though he isn’t the Savior anymore. Jasmine says they can’t go back to Agrabah — it vanished in a sandstorm. Why in the world would she tell him to help if Agrabah vanished? This doesn’t make any sense.
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Liam wakes up in the hospital with Hook by his side. Hook and Liam make peace and Liam wishes Nemo was there to see it. A bed is wheeled in with Nemo resting on it and the two are reunited. Emma and Henry are waiting for Hook in the waiting room, and when he comes out, Henry leaves and Hook tells Emma the truth about everything. Emma forgives him and says, “I would have done the exact same thing.”
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In the final scene, the Evil Queen walks into Rumple’s shop saying she came to make amends. “I forgot the most important thing you ever taught me — go after what you want and don’t stop until you get it,” she says. Rumple asks what she wants, and she kisses him. What? This is very bizarre. There is something else she wants, but before she tells him, she hands him the shears Hook just went to great lengths to hide. Then she reveals her deepest desire — Snow White’s heart.
The episode was all about showing what can go wrong when a person is vengeful and draws parallels to the Evil Queen’s desire for vengeance. The other stories about revenge did not go as planned, so hopefully it is a sign that the Evil Queen will fail in her mission.
Rating: 3.5/5
