There have been several twists throughout this series, mostly in its first season, and last night, Once Upon a Time dropped its biggest revelation with Peter Pan being the father of Rumplestiltskin. It was incredibly difficult to see it coming. They hadn’t really set it up at all throughout the season, which is why the writers deserve even bigger props for the twist.
There was, however, a hint placed in this episode with the casting of Stephen Lord as Rumple’s father. While he had a similar voice to how the Dark One sounds like, he didn’t really look anything remotely close to Rumple and he had actually had more similarities to Robbie Kay.
Seeing him transform into Peter was a shock, but still something that made a lot of sense and it makes this Peter Pan interpretation that more intriguing. It makes one feel a bit for Rumple because he was abandoned by his only family in the cruelest way. It explains a lot about one of the show’s main antagonists.
With this first flashback to Rumple’s origin, it may be possible that the writers will explore more of his background later this season which would be welcomed with open arms. While there were some mixed reactions to the announcement that Marilyn Manson would voice The Shadow, he did a great job of making this mysterious creature more intimidating than he already was.
The scene between Pan and Rumple in the Skull Cave was surprising and with Rumple now stuck in Pandora’s Box, it will be interesting to see how that will be resolved, if it’s possible. Maybe this was something that went by so fast that it was hard to notice, but when did Pan get the chance to switch boxes?
This episode also featured all the characters on the island finally reunited before they split up again, but that is a little nit-pick. It was necessary because while they did need to save Henry, they did need to find a way to save Charming so that he can leave Neverland without dying.
There was only one minor issue in this episode which was Emma and Regina casting an eclipse-spell together so that they could go through the protection-spell that Pan cast. It didn’t feel believable that she would already be this strong enough to be able to help Regina with that spell.
Despite that they show has featured times where she is trying to learn how to use her powers, it still feels way too early for a character like Emma to do something that big. It would feel cheap if their explanation would be that she has been practicing off-screen because even Emma gets surprised when Regina tells her that they need to do it together.
This season has had to redeem the show a bit after some of the problems that season two caused and at this point, it’s succeeded in doing that. The show is definitely getting darker as the season is progressing each week, which is something that may be an advantage for the show at this point.
The one question that is now being asked is what will Neverland be like once this arc is concluded? Will fans of the show see a more Disney resembling Neverland? Because it will be incredibly fascinating to see how the writers will end this storyline and their interpretation of Neverland.
“Think Lovely Thoughts” ended on a big cliffhanger with Henry’s status unknown. Would an ABC show really feature the death of a child? If there is one thing that the show has proved to its viewers throughout these years is that they aren’t afraid to place their characters in dark situations.
The problem with Henry dying is that he has been an essential character ever since he knocked on Emma’s door in the pilot. He is the one person that Regina and Emma are fighting over and that conflict has been a key element to Once Upon a Time. That will most likely be answered when the show returns in two weeks with their ninth episode.
“Think Lovely Thoughts” was overall a fantastic episode that almost felt like a lead in for a season finale and yet, this is only episode eight of season three.
Once Upon a Time returns on December 1, 8/7c on ABC.
[Photo via Jack Rowand /ABC]
Follow Us
