S04.E22: Operation Mongoose: Part 1 / S04.E23 Operation Mongoose: Part 2

[yeswedo]

The Author proves to be a formidable wild card and forges an alliance with Gold. Emma, her parents, Hook and Regina scramble to stop them, but when Gold and the Author turn the tables on heroes and villains alike, the prospect of any happy outcome appears worlds away. Henry discovers he has big shoes to fill as he steps up to save his family before the story's final page is turned. It's a race to the finish, and everything culminates with a shocking twist that will leave the residents of Storybrooke reeling.

 

*Two hour season finale. Use the live chat thread during the show and come back here once it's over.

[DayPlayerAtKellys]

OK Loved it. Know there are lots of flaws but I was entertained, surprised and touched.

[InsertWordHere]

Well, the first hour dragged but the second was pretty darn exciting!

 

AU Charming killed AU Hook and it was kind of sexy? 

 

No, Emma. Not my baby :(

[Amelia]

Goddamnit show.

[Chaos Theory]

Ginnifer Goodwin looks like she was having a hoot playing evil.  I sure  was having one watching her  I wouldn't have minded watching a few episodes of Heroes and Villains.  

 

For the first time in like forever I really enjoyed Henry.  

 

Emma Swan the Dark One.

[ParadoxLost]

Emma as Morgana le Fay in Camelot.  Calling it now.

[sharky]

What the actual fuck? So can someone explain why it had to be Emma and not Regina? I'm hoping for more than "Because Emma needed Regina to have her happy ending." Like maybe Emma is actually so light that they can pull the darkness from her and with Regina, it would just keep going. I don't know. Seriously, WTF.

 

Thank God for Captain Swan! Hook better pick up that damn dagger and tell the new Dark One that she has to come home right now.

 

Emma as Morgana le Fay in Camelot.  Calling it now.

I have no idea what that means or who that is. I guess I have the summer to catch up.

Edited May 11, 2015 by sharky

[Selina K]

Like the rest of this season, I am taking my little CS moments and holding them close and doing my best not to dwell on the rest of this stuff. I'm glad we had hashed most of the last ten minutes out in the spoiler thread or I would probably be super pissed. Regina worked too hard? Please.

[OnceUponAJen]

That ILY wasn't even satisfying. They had to run it up until the last minute. Can't they just summon Emma now?

[pezgirl7]

Great episode up until the very end. So Emma really did sacrifice herself for Regina, ugh ugh ugh. And Hook never got to say ILU back to Emma. How ironic that he is now in love with the dark one! I know they'll find Emma and everything will be good, but when are Emma and Hook going to get their happy ending? They've worked pretty hard too.

[mjgchick]

So the writers saved up their decent writing for the last 2 episodes of the season I see. I was entertained during both hours but more the second one than the first. Ginny, Colin and Jennifer were MVP's of these last two episodes. I give Jared his props as well. He wasn't as bad as i thought he;d be.

 

I'm not sure Regina is why she did it. I think Emma said something about Hook and her family being able to get the darkness out of her as heroes. Basically Regina;s to basic for this shit and it needs someone who actually worked hard for theirs. I'm fanwanking the hell out of this.

Edited May 11, 2015 by mjgchick

[Worsel]

I'm still processing things but I did enjoy the episode, and found the acting especially by Colin, Ginny, Josh and Jennifer very good.  I'll be interested to see EE (Eeeevil Emma!) next season.  I'm glad they finally allowed Henry to save the day.  I'm nervous that Rumple will no longer be evil though.  And I do hope we get to see Camelot and Merlin.  Morgan le Fay would be a great evil character to add into the mix.  I'm disappointed at the lack of Will Scarlet, and hope next season uses this character better than it did this season.

[Writing Wrongs]

That was great and no one is gonna convince me otherwise.

 

I knew they were gonna do Camelot next season. Can't wait.

[YaddaYadda]

"Because Emma needed Regina to have her happy ending."

 

She mentioned something about her parents pulling the darkness from her, but the sound was horrible.

 

i'm guessing that since Regina saved them in the AU, it was up to Emma to do something in the real world.

[Bluerang1]

What an episode! 

 

I liked how Emma was basically Fiona. 

 

I'm wondering why Merlin is so powerful. Don't think anyone is surprised that he's the Sorcerer. 

[satrunrose]

I...don't know how I feel about this...

 

I mean, I'm looking forward to Evil Imp Emma, because I think Jen can rock it, and I'm interested to see whether Hook gets to help redeem her or is corrupted by her (either way, some good dramatic potential). I'm also excited about going to Camelot.

 

but then there's the fact that she got dark oned to save bloody Regina who made her whole life Hell (a fact which the show would rather we ignore) so, um yeah. Need to sleep on this one.

[OnceUponAJen]

I love that Henry is the Author. Very fitting.

[Writing Wrongs]

So who is gonna be Lily's dad? And where was Maleficent in all this?

[KingOfHearts]

Well I'm flustered. Dark One Emma was a plot a fan could have come up with. There's been "Lol let's make another character the Dark One!" speculation going around for a while. I'm very meh on it.

 

Didn't care for the AU. Some parts were hilarious (like Deck Hand Hook), but I really don't like Henry or Bandit Regina. It dragged quite a bit and probably should have had more pure fun. It took itself too seriously, imo. I mourned over Doc more than I did Hook.

 

 

So who is gonna be Lily's dad?

While we're at it, let's find the paternal identities of Charming, Zelena and Hook.

Edited May 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[chrisvee]

Emma basically said they pulled the darkness from her once and they are heroes so they can do it again.

Arthur Pendragon. Is he or Uther going to be Lily's father?

[Mari]

I have lots of opinions, but really, the big one is:

 

This should have played out over the whole half season--even if it was just in flashbacks we found out later were Isaac's writing.   Doing it this way wasted so very much of the concept.

 

My other big complaint makes me feel a bit like Jan Brady.   "Regina, Regina, Regina"  Regina herself wasn't particularly awful this episode, but it was like the writers had a little checklist of interesting things the other characters had had at one point, that they needed to make sure Regina got, too.  It's bizarre.

 

 

 

What the actual fuck? So can someone explain why it had to be Emma and not Regina? I'm hoping for more than "Because Emma needed Regina to have her happy ending." Like maybe Emma is actually so light that they can pull the darkness from her and with Regina, it would just keep going. I don't know. Seriously, WTF.

The only thing I can figure is that there was enough darkness there to kill Regina, but not so much Emma.  If it was enough darkness to kill Rumple and the Apprentice, and was added to Regina's already fairly charcoalish heart, she'd be gone in seconds.

 

 

As for Rumple?  If he's still got all his memories, but his "Darkness" stripped, what does that mean for his character?  Personally, I think that his memories should go with his Darkness;  how can he keep the memory of all that evil, and remember doing it, and have none of the associated evil taint?

[Selina K]

I do kind of love that dragon form is apparently the OUaT equivalent of Las Vegas.

[YaddaYadda]

I'm assuming Lily's dad is someone important if there's a whole mystery surrounding him.  We get to meet Lily's mom and dad, but guy who has been on the show for 3 seasons?  *crickets*

 

Emma is basically taking the darkness on because it was taken out of her once and she's confident it can be done again.

[scarynikki12]

I expect next season we'll see Emma murder a bunch of recurring characters (as explanation for why they're never around) and the mains will seriously discuss whether or not they should kill her. Bonus points if she kills Lily right after they learn Charming is Daddy.

On the other hand I think this is a hint that next season will be the last. Conquering the source of the Dark One's powers is a series ending kind of story. There's really no place else to go after that.

[YaddaYadda]

Is he or Uther going to be Lily's father?

 

I'd go with Uther which means that Lily would inherit Camelot or what's left of it.

[woolmintons]

"Regina worked too hard for her happy ending"

 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

[tennisgurl]

Why do they somehow save all their good writing for the last episode, every freaking season? Why?

 

I have a lot to say, some good and some bad, but real quickly...

 

Evil Charming is sexy as hell. And Evil Snow is way more fun than Evil Regina. 

 

CAPTAIN SWAN! Oh I will hold those few moments to my heart! 

 

The Authors "poor me" rant was so hilariously lame, even the Charmings were like "...really"? 

 

I loved so much of it, I`m just not thinking about that ending...nope. 

[ParadoxLost]

The tendrils  of Evil had me hopeful that the Darkness was going to effect Storybrooke in general and Emma alone was going to have to travel to Camelot with Evil Pirate Hook tagging along to find Merlin.

 

Now Emma apparently has the power to bind the Dark One to a person which was why they needed Merlin.  So what is Merlin going to do, bind it to someone else?  If he could have done something else, he would have done it before.

[KingOfHearts]

 

This should have played out over the whole half season--even if it was just in flashbacks we found out later were Isaac's writing.   Doing it this way wasted so very much of the concept.

Lost's flash sideways format would have worked well here. Or, to make it even more twisty, let the Storybrooke events be the flashbacks and the Enchanted Forest be present day and not reveal it until the finale. There was so much to be done with the characters in it and plenty to explore, but I feel this was a gutsy move A&E didn't want to take on.

 

 

My other big complaint makes me feel a bit like Jan Brady.   "Regina, Regina, Regina"

You mean you didn't like the "Long Live Regina" button? (Although the dwarves finding it was kind of funny.) The amount of meta stuff in this episode was at cardinal-rule-breaking levels. They even threw in "#NoSpoilers"!

Edited May 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[pezgirl7]

I love that Henry is the Author. Very fitting.

But he broke the pen, so is he still the author? I bet he wished he wouldn't have done that, maybe he could have undone Dark Emma.

I'm glad Snowing apologized to Hook for killing him. Wow, that death scene was emotional. Way more than Emma's ILU which I thought was rushed and fell a bit flat. I loved Emma pouncing on Hook though, since he's normally the one doing the pouncing. I can't believe after everything, she still couldn't say ILU to him when they were on the bed.

I don't understand why Emma proofed away when she became the dark one.

Edited May 11, 2015 by pezgirl7

[mjgchick]

I bet Merlin ends up being Mal's baby daddy. Let's get a DNA test done on both Lily and Zelena's bun in the oven as well. Honestly though if Emma;s the dark one then who the hell is going to try to help Lily look for her daddy?

[Selina K]

Where's that crab from the Little Mermaid when you need him?!

Just needed to say that imo, this post, in response to the "bed" scene, won the live thread.

[Chaos Theory]

This would have been so much fun if they played it out over half a season instead of the evil women thing that went nowhere. This was soooooo entertaing and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves.

As for why Emma? Because we've seen the evil queen but (although we've gotten hints) we have never seen Dark Emma, which might be interesting.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Watt]

So is coward Rumple back? God I can't wait for a summers worth of spoiler speculation and casting.

[InsertWordHere]

It would be hilariously awful if Lily's dad was the dragon Charming killed in the Shepherd. Too bad it wouldn't work with the timeline, unless dragon gestation is longer than human gestation.

[SilverShadow]

If Lily's father was a dragon I'm betting he's Merlin. In the Sword and the Stone movie he and Madam Mim could both shapeshift-and Mim shifted into a dragon.

 

I was mostly happy with this episode, aside from the Regina stuff. I loved how Evil!Snow was basically crazy and applying things through a lens of twisted morality versus Regina's pride and anger.

 

I love Emma so much. But I think in trying to save her family she's done the worst thing she could do for herself. Depriving herself of human connection may only make her go dark faster.

Edited May 11, 2015 by SilverShadow

[KingOfHearts]

 

But he broke the pen, so is he still the author?

I believe he can still write what happens, just not with a fate-changing quill. Merlin (because nobody saw that coming!) gave someone who's only supposed to record history a dangerous pin that can change the fabric of reality. Instead of destroying the darkness, which apparently he's capable of, he puts it in a person so thousands people can die at their hand. I ship him with the Blue Fairy already.

[Blue Plastic]

Well, I enjoyed the flip-flopped alternate universe because at least we got to see Prince Charming wearing some guyliner and Snow White acting unusually evil and how the actors handled their altered roles was amusing to see.  They were the most different, though - the other actors didn't get that much of a departure from normal, if any.

 

That whole thing about the Sorcerer putting the darkness in a dagger and it having to be contained by a human made absolutely no sense to me.  Pray tell, just why was that necessary, again?  It doesn't seem to serve any purpose that I can see.  How/why was this darkness created and how is containing it in a human saving anyone?  It just causes the human containing it to run around inflicting evil on others.  WTF?

 

Thank goodness Neal was killed in the "real world" and therefore can't be brought back.  Hallelujah and glory be.  However, does this mean that all the other realms aren't real?  Is fairytale land not real even though, according to the Apprentice, the stories are "true," whatever the hell that means?  If it's not real, how come the people in the stories were able to be brought to Maine, USA, Earth, Real World?

 

And finally, why would Emma sucking up the evil from the dagger make her disappear from Maine yet the dagger remains in Maine?  That's never how it worked before.  Yes, I realize usually the power/curse usually passes from one to other through stabbing, but still.

[jay741982]

Well, the first hour dragged but the second was pretty darn exciting!

 

AU Charming killed AU Hook and it was kind of sexy? 

 

No, Emma. Not my baby :(

I know :( I was screaming OMG OMG OMG NOT HER!!

[FabulousTater]

So full disclosure, haven’t watched this episode. Based on what I gathered reading through the live chat (plus piecing that together with what I know from the spoilers thread), I don’t think I will be watching the finale at all. Here's what I got happened:

 

• Emma and Hook don’t show up until the second hour
• Hook dies in the AU
• Robin and Regina TLK or something to save the day. *vomit*
• Henry is the new author *vomit x 2* (because people should be giving all powerful positions to 12 year olds. Ya, that’s not at all like giving a toddler a live grenade. I mean, what could go wrong  *rolling my eyes*….Ya, everyone single person in the Enchanted Forest is too stupid too live. This was a Henry Sue episode, wasn’t it. I'm still voting for #KillHenry2k15)
• In the last 5 minutes, Emma disappears and now Emma is the new Dark One. Pfft, f that noise. Added salt in wounds bonus: she did it save Regina, Unrepentant Mass Murderer Extaordinaire, UGH! FFS <insert_multiple_expletives_here>!! I’m composing vicious hate mail to the writers in my mind)

 

Did I get most of this right? Because if so, I’ve no interest in watching any of this. Any CS scenes can be gotten on YT and many have already appeared in GIFs on my tumblr dash, so…there’s that...

[OnceUponAJen]

This would have been so much fun if they played it out over half a season instead of the evil women thing that went nowhere. This was soooooo entertaing and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves.

I know! This felt so rushed. They were just sprinting from one plot point to the next. So Hook and the Dark One are in love? I can't wait to see this.

[scarynikki12]

What also annoys about Emma becoming the Dark One is that this will be the distraction that keeps the characters from actually talking about the events of the Authors book. Events like Evil Snow irrationally targeting Regina the exact same way Regina irrationally targeted her. Are we going to see Regina apologize to Snow now that she knows what it was like on the receiving end of a years long murder plot? Nope. If anything we'll probably see Snow somehow feel more guilt now that she's experienced the same feelings Regina did and be even more determined to make up for Cora killing Daniel. Assuming it's even addressed which I don't expect.

[chrisvee]

Will Dark One Emma still love Hook? Will she turn Hook evil? Tune in next season...

[Minneapple]

Ginnifer looked like she was enjoying herself for the first time in a very long time.

 

It's so bizarre how the writers can come up with an entire half-season of filler and then RUSH A REALLY GOOD CONCEPT into a two-hour finale.

 

Damn, Camelot. I love all things Camelot. In fact I was planning on digging up the BBC's Merlin since Bradley James is currently playing a very yummy zombie on the CW's iZombie.

[InsertWordHere]

Thank goodness Neal was killed in the "real world" and therefore can't be brought back.  Hallelujah and glory be.  However, does this mean that all the other realms aren't real?  Is fairytale land not real even though, according to the Apprentice, the stories are "true," whatever the hell that means?  If it's not real, how come the people in the stories were able to be brought to Maine, USA, Earth, Real World?

 

And finally, why would Emma sucking up the evil from the dagger make her disappear from Maine yet the dagger remains in Maine?  That's never how it worked before.  Yes, I realize usually the power/curse usually passes from one to other through stabbing, but still.

I don't think that was the actual Enchanted Forest, I think that was inside the EF inside Isaac's book. Maybe?

 

Maybe Emma went to find Merlin or Merlin summoned her to him?

[chrisvee]

Yeah this two hour AU should have been at least half the season. Much more fun than what we got with the QoD.

[Mari]

Ginnifer looked like she was enjoying herself for the first time in a very long time.

 

Damn, Camelot. I love all things Camelot.

Then I'd be afraid. 

You could have seriously venomous feelings at the end of their Camelot arc.

 

One of my fervent hopes is that they never, ever, every get the rights to Narnia or Tolkien's Middle Earth. It would make me cry.

 

(And, yes, Goodwin did a fabulous job.)

[Jul 68]

Yep. Merlin. Saw it coming. Looks like its time for a BBC cross over!

They better dip into the BBC version! They already have Michael Socha (from Being Human), why not Colin Morgan? Except that he will look older than Henry, of course.

[ParadoxLost]

Its an odd choice to make Emma the Dark One but then have the dagger laying in the street so she can be controlled.

 

I have a feeling I'll be recommending a lot of books to the writers on the episode thread that have explanations on how to give convoluted orders with no loopholes.

Edited May 11, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[sharky]

Breathing deeply, you all have talked me off the ledge. Unfortunately, that means I now have a whole list of fanfiction I have to write for the summer. This is going to be fun!