S06.E06: Dark Waters

[Shanna Marie]

9 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

Wouldn't Liam 2.0 know that Nemo was in Storybrooke now? Did Hyde bring the Nautilus over too?

Maybe Nemo was in the airship and Liam brought over the Nautilus, looking for him (or for Hook)? Were the people in the Land of Untold Stories able to come and go if they wanted, or were they trapped? If Nemo wasn't with them, then Liam didn't have any reason to stay in the LoUS. But how he got to Storybrooke or knew to go to Storybrooke remains to be seen. But probably won't be.

Why did 2.0 have an American accent? He had a British-accented father, then was mostly brought up by British-accented Nemo. I wonder how much Papa Hook told 2.0 about what he did to his older brothers. Did he even know that he had older brothers? And how did he know who killed his father if it happened when he was asleep?

[ParadoxLost]

2 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Maybe Nemo was in the airship and Liam brought over the Nautilus, looking for him (or for Hook)? Were the people in the Land of Untold Stories able to come and go if they wanted, or were they trapped? If Nemo wasn't with them, then Liam didn't have any reason to stay in the LoUS. But how he got to Storybrooke or knew to go to Storybrooke remains to be seen. But probably won't be.

Why did 2.0 have an American accent? He had a British-accented father, then was mostly brought up by British-accented Nemo. I wonder how much Papa Hook told 2.0 about what he did to his older brothers. Did he even know that he had older brothers? And how did he know who killed his father if it happened when he was asleep?

I'm pretty sure he didn't know until he overhead Hook and Nemo arguing about it.  He had set aside his revenge because he didn't know who to go after.

[KingOfHearts]

Edgy Queen is kind of a dimwit. Her efforts to divide the family were weak sauce. She gloated over giving Emma's secret away like that such a big blow to the heroes. But, everyone got over it in less than one episode. The only person she should really be going after is Regina. She's the vulnerable one who can't seem to handle anything. What was the point of EQ being the villain again?

Ugh... Snow's heart. Truth be known, Edgy Queen shouldn't give a crap about her. When she was talking to Rumple, I thought I heard the Dark Curse theme in the background. I got all excited. Instead, we have whatever ludicrous game is going on next week.

This is freaking 4B. We now have Rumple using a magical object to alter fate so he can be with Belle.

Edited October 31, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Randomosity]

I have to go back and read everyone else's posts, but I just caught up on my DVR and felt the need to post my word vomit/stream of consciousness thoughts as I watched.

 

• Seriously? There was no better hiding place for the shears than the garage? Did Hook get hit with the stupid stick?
• No scurvy here today! Hee :)
• How old is Henry? Seriously, even the 10 year-old from the first season had more of a brain than this one, if he's really going to be manipulated into thinking Hook is going to ruin the family by becoming "Dad" and throwing away some Pop-Tarts. Talk about stupid stick...
• All this family talk makes me wonder if Emma is/will be preggers soon. Because TV.
• Shut up, Henry. Seriously.
• Who is the young dude in the underwater spacesuits with Hook and Nemo? All that revenge talk about family being taken away made me wonder if it was grown up kid brother Liam. Just to beat us over the head with family even more.
• Why the random Scarlett O'Hara voice from the EQ? Ugh, the coy flirty thing is gross, especially when the object of said flirting is Rumple. Blech.
• Whoa, am I right? Liam 2.0 comes up in discussion!
• I'm so proud of myself! I never see things coming! But I didn't want grown up Liam to be evil...
• Random out of order thought - where's baby do-over? Can't claim Belle is babysitting this time.
• I guess we just hope Ariel aquatically saves the day again and keeps the shears from falling into the wrong hands? I mean, I know she's now a character on 'Pitch', but they're not really using her over there either.
• Liam 2.0 is not good looking enough to be part of the brother trio.
• I'm glad Emma admitted that she would have done the same with the shears, because hi, you refused to let him die and you followed him to the underworld. She had no grounds to stand on had she gotten mad about the shears.
• Ew, vomit. EQ/Rumple. Ugh.
• Welp, guess Ariel was still over on the 'Pitch' soundstage.

[MedievalGirl]

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

Yeah, all I could think is when/why the Evil Queen turned into Blanche Dubois.

Wrong Williams play. Not Streetcar but rather Glass Menagerie with Rumple as the Gentlemen Caller. Still awkward though. 
 

[MaiLuna]

Good character development on Hook, Henry and a little bit Emma. 

I feel like Liam's actor wasn't very good, unfortunately. Is he going to stay in Storybrooke and not talk to Killian ever again? I was so happy when Nemo was alive though. 

Finally a scene with Snow and Belle! They're finally changing the usual character combinations. 

I can't believe the EQ and Rumpel actually kissed....

[Rumsy4]

3 minutes ago, MaiLuna said:

Is [Liam 2.0] going to stay in Storybrooke and not talk to Killian ever again?

Most likely, yes. Unless he and Nemo go away on the Nautilus. 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Artsda]

Henry was an annoying brat. He had no issues with Hook & has spent so long bonding/spending time with him before, now out of  nowhere he's declaring him not family?

[ParadoxLost]

I'm still trying to figure out what they are trying to do with Rumple and Regina.

They never alluded to the idea that Regina was infatuated with Rumple in flashbacks that I recall.  They managed to convey that with Zelena so I'm guessing that even though EQ is acting like this is what she is up to, she isn't.

But on the other hand, EQ's attempted seduction of Rumple is kind of pathetic,  I didn't think the show was a fan of making EQ look pathetic and without wiles.

I'm kind of hoping for some kissing curse or something to explain this.

[Shanna Marie]

23 minutes ago, MedievalGirl said:

Wrong Williams play. Not Streetcar but rather Glass Menagerie with Rumple as the Gentlemen Caller.

I was thinking "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Amanda in Glass Menagerie was pimping out her daughter to the Gentleman Caller, not so much primping herself and being all flirtatious. Blanche was all Southern Belle helplessness in the face of masculinity, while manipulating the men into helping her. Though the accent was at high school drama club levels. I was having flashbacks of dramatic monologue competitions from speech and drama tournaments. Actually, since I'm in the south, the accents I heard in high school were somewhat better.

38 minutes ago, Randomosity said:

Random out of order thought - where's baby do-over? Can't claim Belle is babysitting this time.

And who's teaching the class? Snow's running around town (and seems to have been for the past day or so), and Jasmine's hanging out with Aladdin. But wasn't teaching soooo important to Snow not too long ago? It sounded like Hook was getting Henry off to school (though I guess that went out the window, too -- that kid will never finish seventh grade).

[Dianthus]

So, aside from the scene I'd like to unsee (and you know the one I mean), this ep didn't totally suck, IMO. I was, like, "Holy crap, what show am I watching?!?" There was some character development, a bit of Snowing, SnowBelle, and resolution for 2.0. Maybe it's just the low expectations talking, but I was fairly happy with it overall. What struck me, though, is Nemo talking about "steel and rivets." These are things Hook's never encountered before, so why have him stumbling over the wookie bit, but he doesn't even quirk an eyebrow over the other?

[PixiePaws1]

So i wait ALL this freaking time and still no  CS bed scene!!!! Just some awkward comment from Emma about waking up alone!!

...not happy!

[Camera One]

It wasn't horrible, in the sense that there were a few isolated scenes which I liked.  Plus I appreciated that there was finally a happy ending.  

Still, I found nothing to get excited or intrigued about.  The pass-the-shears game is already tiresome.  What was the point of it all when it was ultimately going to end up in The Evil Queen's hands, with zero effort.  Sometimes she knows everything (exactly where Hook hid the Shears) and sometimes she's a complete idiot (falling for the pathetic "distraction" to allow Snowing entry to the farmhouse)?  Why didn't Emma give the Shears to Regina, so a magical spell could be put on it?  Of course, this was before we and they "found out" the Shears were all-purpose, and it could cut the bond between Belle and the baby, which made no sense.   The ending "cliffhanger" was pathetic.  She wants Snow White's heart AGAIN?  She could have grabbed it 20,000 times over in just this season alone!  Wasn't she about to throw at fireball at Snowing earlier?  Why not just fire-torch their loft?  Kidnap Snow from the hospital or at school?  Does she have a brain cell beneath her hairdo-of-the-week?

And like the last few episodes, there was a prevailing blandness to the proceedings and all the character stuff felt half-baked.  It was guessable that the First Mate was Liam Version 2 in his first scene.  There were a few good scenes here and there, but I just didn't buy Nemo and Liam #2's super-close connection.  They needed to show a bit more of that to make it convincing.  It was nice that Liam #2 and Hook reconciled, but again, that was unconvincingly fast.  I liked Emma having a conversation with Aladdin, but I didn't buy that suddenly, he was ready to save Agrabah again.  I think this needed to be developed over multiple episodes.  

Aladdin and Jasmine were also extremely bland.  "You don't even know what happened!" "It doesn't matter" "Agrabah - it's all my fault".  Seriously, enough with the talking around the issue to ensure a "surprise" in the flashbacks.  

The manufactured conflict between Hook and Henry was so out-of-nowhere.  I don't understand why the Writers aren't embarrassed when they simply change their main characters' mindsets on a dime to fit the plot.  It could have been possible for Henry to have issues with Hook, but why not bring them out gradually and in a way that makes sense?  Henry could have lashed out at Hook because he felt guilty that he brought the Savior-ness to Emma, for example.   Telling Hook that he's not part of the family?  Huh?  While I liked the Hook-Henry moments on the submarine, he softened immediately when Hook revealed he killed his father, which was a WTF moment.  I guess it's consistent with murder being the keystone of ever-lasting friendship.

The Regina and Rumple scenes were embarrassing to watch and so cheesy.  

Congrats Snow.  You've made it to the deepest trench in the ocean, becoming a prop for Belle.  I'm all for new character combinations, but Belle might as well have been talking to a brick wall or any other character, since there was no Snowness (or should I say Snew-ness, based on how Belle pronounces it).  Of course Belle is already having second thoughts about shutting Rumple out... who didn't see this coming?  I can just imagine the moment in the Writers' Room when someone said, "Wouldn't it be cool if Belle received two copies of the ultrasound and she didn't know what to do with the second copy?"  Riveting stuff.

This is definitely not the Captain Nemo from the book.  I don't get the sense that the original character would ever have felt regret.  It's like they went for the polar opposite making him seek out lost souls to help them let go of their revenge.  I don't mind that if that's what they're going with, but under that premise, it made no sense why he would want everyone in the submarine to go to the Land of Untold Stories, where instead of moving on, they remain in stasis forever.  Huh?  

Edited October 31, 2016 by Camera One

[Camera One]

Was I hallucinating or were there a bunch of swimming Dory's outside the Nautilus?

Some of the sets were a little too garish... looked like a soundstage from a 1980s movie.

[Camera One]

3 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Was this in tonight's episode? 

Script tease

Interesting... I thought the scene with the flowers were kind of weird.  

These call-backs to Season 1 are really forced and seems like a desperate cry for help.  Emma bringing Aladdin to the sign she crashed into... I don't know, it didn't exactly bring back memories of nostalgia... it just felt lame.

Does Jasmine have nothing better than to do than to read a book?  I mean, isn't Agrabah IN DANGER?

Captain Nemo is pretty amazing.  How long was he out there with a serious knife wound? 

Liam #2 and Nemo seemed like a variation of Charlotte and Edmond Dantes.  Except Hook got to give his two characters a happy ending while Snowing's two former friends died and we got a total downer.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason or consistency this season.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Camera One

[Daisy]

I just get the feeling that the writers have zero idea what to do now. so they are literally throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. 

[PixiePaws1]

This ep ...wow...loved Faran...always do.

Weird as this sounds, given some of the absolute rubbish eps we've been asked to swallow but this one felt like really hitting rock bottom. I  couldn't work out why at first but i think it was the 'feel' of it. Like I was watching something written by those who might write for a really bad Saturday morning real life cartoon. The EQ is this bizarre aimless version of a villain ....There's absolutely no sense of danger about her at all. It's as though she's lost any ability to plot! Her reasoning was always off but i put that down to her overwhelming grief and misplaced rage over Daniel's death..but this? She's like this annoying ad that pops up and blots out a quarter of the screen. 

I am glad that Killian made a 'save' of his own....following Emma's example of trying to put things right and I'm glad there was no forced happy families with Liam 2.0 because I  think that would be too much? But sad that Liam didn't get to have a proper chat with his elder brother about Liam 1.0 and find out what dearest dad did to his 1st 2 kids (if he doesn't already know).

I hated Emma's acknowledging that, yes, her family also pays the price of losing you if you just give up and let The Hood kill you, then she brushes it aside as if their pain is of no importance at all. 'Oh well, too bad for them.' SERIOUSLY...no real remorse that her son gets to watch her die? 

Those shears are going to have so many fingerprints on them! I  think everyone including Dopey will have had them by the time they finish passing them about. They're slippery than a greased pig at a county fair! I wonder who'll be holding them when Emma's fate gets snipped...cos you know it's going to happen.

[KAOS Agent]

Well I didn't hate it, so there's that. 

Some notes:

- I started the episode having to rewind back to reread the chyron and being completely pulled out of the story trying to figure out what the hell they had done with the timeline/continuity. Sadly, this continued the entire episode.

- Why was Zelena even there? She has no point in the story and it feels like she just shows up because she's a regular. If she's going to show up, couldn't she at least have thrown some shade for a bit?

- I liked the Emma/Aladdin scene at the sign not because I care one bit about Aladdin, but because it gave Emma's POV about the shears. It was nice to hear that she'd considered using them and dumping them was the only way she could avoid temptation. I really wish we'd get a little more of Emma's mindset because that little character moment was helpful. 

- I can understand the awkwardness between Hook/Henry at the house, but Henry jumped way too fast to claiming he doesn't care about them at all and he'll never be family. Plot over character continuity strikes again.

- How did both the Evil Queen and Rumpel know that the shears were in the garden shed? Hook put them in there like ten minutes before Henry took them out. Are they spying on Hook at all times?

- I'd love to see how Emma would react if Hook trashed her Pop Tarts. 

- So if the Evil Queen is desperate to bang Rumpel, does that mean that Regina has been hiding this need for all this time too? I don't get the whole southern accent thing and the super blingy evening gown was way overdone. Also, that kiss was completely unnecessary. The Mills women certainly do share an attraction to him. And while Gold is good looking, they also all fell for Imp!Rumpel. It's strange.

- Liam 2.0 was predictable and also has been taking lessons from Regina in the blame casting stakes. He stabs Nemo and somehow it's all Hook's fault. No, dumbass, you're holding the knife in Nemo's gut. That's pretty much on you.

- I appreciated that Emma didn't care about Hook keeping the shears. She actually seemed disappointed that he'd really ditched them this time. 

[Mathius]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

This is definitely not the Captain Nemo from the book.  I don't get the sense that the original character would ever have felt regret.  It's like they went for the polar opposite making him seek out lost souls to help them let go of their revenge.  

Actually, Nemo is featured in another book by Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island, where he IS regretful for his path of vengeance and the lives he took, does good by some people stranded on the island to make up for it, then dies.  Given that Nemo in the show was seeking "the Mysterious Island" (actually the LoUS), it's clear he's meant to be characterized as he was in The Mysterious Island rather than in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Quote

Liam #2 and Nemo seemed like a variation of Charlotte and Edmond Dantes.  Except Hook got to give his two characters a happy ending while Snowing's two former friends died and we got a total downer.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason or consistency this season.

Given Emma's success with Cinderella and Clorinda as well, maybe the message here is that Regina just sucks at giving people happy endings?

Edited October 31, 2016 by Mathius

[sharky]

I actually don't mind Henry's weirdness in relation to Hook. It's one thing to have an idea about getting a house and being a family. It's another to actually have someone living with you and making you eat mackerel instead of pop tarts. There's bound to be some growing pains. Unnessary drama? Yep. They could've achieved the dock scene another way. But it at least works.

I loved this Hook centric. Great flashback, Liam 2.0 and all of that. But damn, the hoops we need to jump through to make the continuity work are ridiculous. If this is the desperation they've reached, it's time to ditch the flashbacks. 

[Curio]

I really enjoyed this episode, but I'm also a sucker for Jules Verne, steampunk submarines, old school diving suits, and Hook backstories. The CGI of the Kraken was even impressive! I hope this isn't the last we see of Nemo because I thought the actor did a great job, and that submarine set decoration was gorgeous. It would be a shame to never use that set again.

I know a lot of people are getting hung up on the continuity stuff, but the timeline can be handwaved if you view Cora's dome like frozen Storybrooke and accept the fact that the Nautilus could probably dive deep enough under water to get around the dome. Instead, I think we need to stop and realize that we hit some pretty huge milestones in this episode that we constantly complain about not getting:

• We finally got interesting new character combinations! An entire episode about Hook and Henry? Snow and Belle actually having a serious character-driven conversation? We have to take these rare moments while we can, folks.
• Speaking of character-driven moments, that was basically this episode in a nutshell. I think that's why I'm more willing to be chill about the pretzel-twisting the writers had to do to figure out the continuity because most of the drama was based on character-driven issues that have been set up in earlier episodes. Hook's drama was all about how he doesn't want to give up the one thing that could save Emma's life and also Hook's family drama with Liam 2.0 was set up over a dozen episodes ago. Henry's drama was fueled by the fact that Hook is now living with him and Emma and also how he reacted to his mom's boyfriend lying to them about something serious. Yes, Henry and Hook's relationship needed to be set up better in the episodes leading up to this and they needed more scenes together on screen (I'm looking at you, Operation Light Swan) to better understand where Henry was coming from, but I'll take what I can get. 
• The shears secret didn't last longer than one episode and characters reacted in normal human ways. That's a huge accomplishment the writers haven't been able to pull off since Hook last told the gang about Neal being alive in Neverland.
• They wrapped up the dangling plot thread about Liam 2.0 and even gave him a happy ending. (Let's hope Hook at least mentions lunch dates with Liam in future episodes and he doesn't randomly disappear like Red or August.)
• Emma was allowed to discuss her fears about giving up the shears and the burden of being a Savior.
• An actual domestic family scene that lasted longer than 60 seconds where the characters talked about breakfast food, taking out the trash, and playing video games! (The writers even allowed Hook to acknowledge his handicap when he was trying to figure out the game controller.)

I'm willing to ignore the rest of the bumps in the episode and take those bullet points as huge positives. Yes, Lana needs to be scolded for her atrocious acting decision to use a southern belle accent. Yes, Aladdin is kind of dull and mumbles most of his lines. (Only TS;TW could make the Jasmine and Aladdin story this boring.) Yes, Zelena is fairly useless and should have been written off by now. But hey, Belle is actually engaging this season for the first time in a long time.

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I'm so on board Regina and Rumple getting freaky with each other. Obviously, they won't last long and it's not serious, but I love how twisted and demented it is. I was actually hoping Belle would walk in on them so she would have a good reason to dump Rumple for good. I just hope that this Golden Queen plot doesn't get swept under the rug and Regina faces her actions in the future. She's obviously been keeping some feelings for Rumple hidden away this entire time, and if the show never addresses that, I'll be very disappointed. Rumple has a serious upper hand on Regina now knowing that she kind of has the hots for him.

A few minor nitpicks: Henry mentioned that Hook already told him and Emma about Hook killing his father. When did this happen? In "Swan Song," Regina was making it seem like she was the only person who knew that secret, so Henry and Emma wouldn't have known then. And then Hook died and was immediately sent to the Underworld and barely interacted with Henry while he was down there. When Hook was resurrected from the dead, Emma and Henry barely got two seconds with Hook before they were forced to go on a road trip to New York. Hook didn't ride back from NYC to Storybrooke in the same car as Emma and Henry. Season 6 began a few seconds after Emma and Hook were kissing. Each episode since then has been going by at breakneck speeds and the characters barely have time to change clothes between episodes. So either Hook told Emma and Henry off screen about his father in the Underworld, or he told them about his father off screen a few days ago in Storybrooke. Either way, congrats OUAT on having yet another significant conversation happening off screen.

Also, Regina can easily use her magic again? Is she only good at magic when the plot calls for it? Why does she even have magic at all? Shouldn't the Evil Queen have most of the magic?

Edited October 31, 2016 by Curio

[Randomosity]

Ha, I did think of one perhaps legit reason that got Henry all in a snit over Hook - maybe Hook and Emma have finally been putting their bed to good use and Henry got an earful the night before the Pop Tarts scene. I'd give him a pass on suddenly being a jerk if that were the case, because awkward. However, the writer's do not get a pass for failing to show us the post-'good use' waking up together.

 

3 hours ago, KAOS Agent said:

- I started the episode having to rewind back to reread the chyron and being completely pulled out of the story trying to figure out what the hell they had done with the timeline/continuity. Sadly, this continued the entire episode.

- Why was Zelena even there? She has no point in the story and it feels like she just shows up because she's a regular. If she's going to show up, couldn't she at least have thrown some shade for a bit?

...

- I appreciated that Emma didn't care about Hook keeping the shears. She actually seemed disappointed that he'd really ditched them this time. 

Ditto. I immediately said to myself, "Wait, which curse now? Wasn't he stuck in a bubble for the original Emma-through-a-wardrobe curse?" I gave up trying to figure it out, especially with Liam 2.0.

And I said the same thing about Zelena a week or two ago. If they like the actress enough to keep her as a completely random and nonsensical regular, do her a favor and cut her loose so she can get a real role somewhere else. Maybe she and Will Scarlet can commiserate about being totally useless characters brought in/kept around for the sake of an actor rather than a story.

And I absolutely agree regarding Emma's disappointment. Relatively subtle facial expression, but yeah, it definitely looked like a whole lot of hope/excitement when it seemed for half a second that the shears would still be available to her. Especially given what she'd told Aladdin. And then definitely disappointment when Hook continued on to say they had actually been tossed this time. Like, hi Emma, maybe this is why you should have had a real conversation about the shears with your boyfriend before instructing him to get rid of them. You know, he's more than just a random Airbnb guest; he's living with you because you're supposedly true love and all that jazz. You could try talking once in a while about important stuff and feelings...

[Curio]

4 minutes ago, Randomosity said:

Like, hi Emma, maybe this is why you should have had a real conversation about the shears with your boyfriend before instructing him to get rid of them. You know, he's more than just a random Airbnb guest; he's living with you because you're supposedly true love and all that jazz. You could try talking once in a while about important stuff and feelings...

 

Right? Emma and Hook still technically haven't even had a conversation about her vision yet. Emma instructing him to get rid of the shears doesn't count as an actual conversation.

I so wanted Hook to give Henry a mic drop about loving Emma as Emma, not the Savior. I thought that's where their conversation on the Nautilus was going, but then Hook just remained silent and followed Henry's wishes. I would have loved for Hook to squeeze in one line about falling in love with Emma before realizing she ever had any Savior duties, and that she can still be a Savior even after using the shears. Wasn't that the whole point about Emma's plot with Aladdin this episode? Wasn't she motivating him to try and save Agrabah even though he's not a Savior with a capital 'S' anymore? So why can't Emma follow her own advice?

[retrograde]

I guess I'm in the minority but I thought Henry's reaction was pretty normal. Yeah, he was generally supportive of Hook in the past, but it's different when someone actually moves in and starts throwing their weight around and then you find out they lied to your mum. And teenagers are not known for consistent or logical behaviour. 

I actually thought it was Hook who was OOC by insisting Henry throw out the Pop Tarts -- he has eaten junk food with Emma and Henry loads of times, Emma evidently eats them herself, and she obviously approved of Henry's breakfast because they were already cooked and on the table. Would someone from Hook's background even have a concept of "junk food"? Anyway, that scene would've made more sense if the Pop Tarts weren't cooked yet, Henry said "It's fine I'll just make some Pop Tarts for breakfast" and Hook said "Nonsense, they're rubbish, I'll make you..." 

[Selina K]

6 hours ago, PixiePaws1 said:

Like I was watching something written by those who might write for a really bad Saturday morning real life cartoon.

So this single quote sent me down the rabbit hole this morning so I could find this, Hero High.  Ah, the 80's!  I thought I was completely mis-remembering the existence of this cartoon because all I could dredge out of my memory was Glamorous Gal (actually Glorious Gal) and that the hero guy was blond and had something to do with California.

I totally agree, though.  I wanted to like it - random little blue tang Dory shout out, Stargate on board the Nautilus, but I was completely distracted and will need to go back and watch the CS parts that I didn't attend to enough on the original watch.  I do not care for the Aladdin actor at all - he gives me this sort of Neal vibe that I don't need, Jasmine is great, but did literally nothing this episode, Belle was typically sort of maybe already reconsidering what the deal is with Rumple, and that Southern accent thing with the EQ was just over the top, out of character, bizarre.  The best EQ of the season so far to me was actually the last scene with Gold, where regardless of the squick of the kiss, was the first time she didn't seem like the aforementioned cartoon cut out.  She still kind of lost, though, because the subtlety of Carlyle where you can actually see where Gold makes the decision to buy in and play along just completely one-ups the EQ performance, imo.

I'm watching, but I don't think I'm invested.

[buffynut]

I lost interest last season and stopped watching after the winter finale and didn't come back till the 2nd last episode last season, then missed the finale and the first couple episodes this season.  So I'm still confused over how the Evil Queen showed up. But the rest I'm enjoying.

There's a more positive vibe to the show this season, after the darkness of the Pan arc and especially last season's first half. This season is more like the Frozen arc, which is the last arc I really enjoyed. I also like that the current timeline is in Storybrooke. 

This episode I liked the Hook/Henry scenes.  As well as the Nemo scenes. And Liam2. I also like Aladdin, even though I don't anything about him or Agrabah. The Evil Queen though I'm not enjoying.  Is it still revenge over young Snow White inadvertently causing Regina's fiance's murder. And Evil Queen/Rumple is all kinds of yuck.

[Curio]

Quote

I guess I'm in the minority but I thought Henry's reaction was pretty normal. Yeah, he was generally supportive of Hook in the past, but it's different when someone actually moves in and starts throwing their weight around and then you find out they lied to your mum. And teenagers are not known for consistent or logical behaviour.

 

I didn't mind Henry's tantrum either because he was reacting just as much to the shears reveal as he was to Hook straight up lying to him and his mom at breakfast. In Henry's mind, he's thinking "if Hook was lying about the gardening and lied about the shears, what else has he been lying about?" That's reason enough to get annoyed with an adult, especially one who is dating your mom. My main issue is mostly with the writers pushing Henry/Hook scenes off screen over the past two years, and if they had spent just 2 minutes showing Operation Light Swan on screen, this episode would have been so much better.

Quote

I actually thought it was Hook who was OOC by insisting Henry throw out the Pop Tarts -- he has eaten junk food with Emma and Henry loads of times, Emma evidently eats them herself, and she obviously approved of Henry's breakfast because they were already cooked and on the table.

 

The whole scene was written clunky. How did Emma know Killian was in the garage? Was she watching him the entire time in the kitchen window? What kid offers to take out the trash? Why is Hook suddenly interested in Henry's eating habits? Does he feel an obligation to act more fatherly now that he lives with Emma and this is what he thinks fathers do? Why throw out the food? Why not just leave the Pop Tarts on the table and make the mackerel in addition to the Pop Tarts? But if Hook doesn't throw away the Pop Tarts, then they lose the tension they were trying to create with Henry and the trashcan. It's like the writers needed an excuse for Henry to go outside, so they picked a random event and went with taking out the trash. It's like a writing exercise where you manage to figure out how to get the characters from Point A to Point B, but you throw out a bit of characterization to get there. 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Curio

[Amerilla]

8 minutes ago, Curio said:

But if Hook doesn't throw away the Pop Tarts, then they lose the tension they were trying to create with Henry and the trashcan. It's like the writers needed an excuse for Henry to go outside, so they picked a random event and went with taking out the trash. It's like a writing exercise where you manage to figure out how to get the characters from Point A to Point B, but you throw out a bit of characterization to get there. 

 

Yes, and you can almost hear the writers sitting around the table, eating pizza and tossing around combos: "limes and shrimp!" "no, kiwi and sardines!" "no, no - pineapple and anchovies!" to come up with "grapefruit and mackerel."  

[asabovesobelow]

I actually found this episode incredibly boring. I get that the show is about family and forgiveness, and yay for all that, but all of Nemo's "we'll be a family" felt weird and forced. Hook is a grown man, that kind of thing should happen organically.

Evil Queen. I love Regina/EQ more than life itself, but I had to physically look away when she was doing that southern belle accent. It was so OOC. Evil Queen is supposed to be a badass evil villian, not...this. And I can't comment on the Rumple/EQ kiss. I just can't.

And the whole point of splitting the two of them and bringing EQ back was to have her steal Snow's heart. Shoulder slump, eye glaze. Really? We're doing this again? AGAIN? I just feel so disappointed so far and I was really excited for this season to begin. Such a let down.

Oh, and Aladdin. That's it.

[Primetimer]

Spoiler alert: Henry doesn't drown. Unfortunately.

View the full article

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oh, Hook. "Hiding" the magical scissors in a toolbox was about on par with Damon putting the moonstone in his soap bowl on S2 of The Vampire Diaries. Dumb!

[Curio]

I usually tend to disagree with the recaps on this site, but I did genuinely LOL at the recapper's utter contempt towards Henry. A few mistakes, though:

Quote

The Evil Queen. She materializes while Henry's taking out the trash, reminds him she's been an unhappy stepchild too, and reveals the shears in the toolbox in the shed.

 

I don't think Regina has ever been a stepchild, I thought she was referring to being Snow's stepmother. (Unless you count the Charmings' recent adoption of Regina as their preferred child, then I guess she's a stepchild.) It would be interesting if Regina and Hook had a conversation about being step-parents now that she's admitted it's something they share in common, but probably won't happen.

Quote

She kisses Gold, and of course Belle, coming to drop off a print of the ultrasound, sees them through the window.

Belle didn't see the kiss. They were setting it up like she was going to walk in on them, but at the last second she decided against going in and dropped the photo under the door instead.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Curio

[Shanna Marie]

This episode managed to achieve the impossible: character assassinating someone as awful as Henry.

I totally get being irked about Hook throwing away his Pop Tarts. I could have bought some conflict on the level of "Dude, you just moved in. You don't get to tell me how to eat." I could even buy some awkwardness about just what their relationship is supposed to be now. But Henry going all-in on the idea that Hook doesn't care about Emma or their family and doesn't merit being considered a part of their family is just ridiculous and makes Henry look like a grand-prize jerk.

To start with, even the thing about breakfast is a sign that Hook cares, given that he was concerned about Henry's nutrition (never mind that Hook should have no reason to know that Pop Tarts are considered junk food, and he comes from a world where pastry would be a pretty common nutrition-delivery mechanism. He'd be familiar with the concept of a pie sort of thing as a meal). Then there's Hook's entire history with Henry, Emma, and their family: he put himself and his ship on the line to help rescue Henry from Neverland, sold his ship to get the magic bean to get to Emma and bring her and Henry back to their family, jumped through a time portal to follow Emma and helped make sure her parents met and helped her see that her place was with her family, helped rescue Emma in the AU even though she was a total stranger, sacrificed himself so that Emma and Henry could escape in the AU, was more focused than anyone on finding Emma and saving her from being the Dark One, was the one Emma's family delegated the Dark One Whispering duties to, got himself mortally wounded saving Snow from Arthur, sacrificed himself to save Emma's family from the Dark Ones. But no, he doesn't care about Emma or her family at all. Worse, the evidence that convinced Henry that Hook didn't care was that Hook had kept the thing that might have saved Emma from her doomed destiny. So because he wants to keep the option of saving her life open, that means he doesn't care? And it's even more rich given how much trouble Henry has caused by rashly wanting to destroy magic. You'd think he'd have learned a lesson about rushing to destroy something without thinking that it might be needed.

Anyway, telling someone who literally died to save his family that he doesn't care about that family and will never be a part of them is some epic brattiness.

We have way too many instances of people knowing about things when there was no witness to them. How did the Evil Queen know what Hook did with the shears? Was she spying on him the whole time? Did she run to see what he did inside the garage? How would she have known he'd put something in a case? And then how did Nemo know the whole story about Hook and Liam 2.0? There were no witnesses, and Little Liam was asleep when it happened. Did 2.0 know Hook was his brother or just the guy who killed his father? That harpoon that seeks hearts driven by revenge would have been spinning like a pinwheel in a hurricane, given the people who were in that world at that time, so it doesn't narrow it down much for him to have managed to zoom in on Hook and then know the whole story.

Also, how did Hook get back to the Jolly Roger? He abandoned the Nautilus at sea. Did he just float along until the Jolly Roger found him? Was he wearing that shell necklace so he could send out a distress call? Or did the frozen in time thing mean that he reset somehow?

[kili]

I thought Hook was joking about the making the grapefruit and mackerel. He clearly knows what tasty food is since he had to do cake runs for Pan.  I kind of suspect sailors enjoy eating a variety of food after spending months eating lemons, dried crackers and fish.  I thought he was throwing out the crappy processed treat and making something from scratch.  He's previously cheated Henry out of fries. He's eaten burgers and lasagna.  Taken Emma out for Italian. Always remembers the fried food she likes with her sandwiches. I just don't see that guy suddenly serving up mackerel for breakfast as a prelude to a fun day playing video games. I was expecting waffles.

If the Coradome was on repeat like Storybrooke, did Liam 2.0 stab Nemo every day for 32 years (remember the Ground Hog Day existence that finally convinced Regina to get a kid - that one guy was fixing the same sign every day and Snow kept teaching bird house manufacturing)? Did they only escape to the Untold Story place when the curse broke?  Or was it fairly easy for people to come and go from the Coradome? Nautilus entered and was able to leave to Untold Story World.

Despite all the continuity problems with this show (Liam 2.0's age being the most glaring one), I did like the fact that somebody remembered that Smee wasn't in the Coradome.

Rumple sensed Regina entering his shop, but couldn't sense the love of his life and his new son right outside the door. What is that door made of? They should make all of Storybrooke out of the same material and they might stand a chance against the Dark One.

The Dark One and Regina both knew that Hook hid the shears in the garden shed? Do they have time to do anything other than spy on the Charmings and co? Maybe their lives might be more fulfilling if they actually got a life. Maybe Rumple might have even noticed that his wife was right outside his door with an ultrasound picture.

[tennisgurl]

So...pro and con list. 

Pros: We actually got some decent character interaction in the beginning, AND got Hook dealing with the modern world AND his Hook hand, even if it was just in a throw away line! And, while the original fight between Henry and Hook was super contrived (we`ll get to that), I liked how it ended, and it was good seeing the two of them hash things out, and really bond and come to an understanding. The ending scenes with them were really good, and they actually succeeded in warming my heart. 

The acting was all pretty good from the supporting cast, and, hey, they actually remembered Liam 2.0! I thought for sure he had been forgotten and lost in the real Land of Untold Stories (AKA the writers room)! Captain Nemo is clearly not the guy from the original story, but he worked as the guy from the sequel who was working towards moving past revenge. Personally, I would have gone with the original vengeance obsessed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea version of the character, but I`ll take this. At least there is actual literary reason for him acting differently than we normally see him. 

The Nautilus looked awesome! I love Jules Verne and Steampunk stuff, so all those flashbacks totally worked for me. It even let me make a solid "Release the Kraken!" reference, which I am positive my neighbors really appreciated. Although, I do wonder how exactly the Nautilus found the Jolly Roger. I mean, from a multiverse perspective. I assume Nemo is from a Jules Verne steampunk world, so can the Nautilus travel through worlds? Or are oceans portals between the worlds? And have we ever established where Hook if from? I mean, when Hook he saw sub he thought it was a sea monster, which makes sense, because he comes from a magic world. Those are the kinds of cross overs this show should do more! Whatever. It was cool, so I can live with it. And I love Hook backstory when it dosnt ret con stuff we already know. 

Cons: Like I said before, the angst between Henry and Hook was SO LAME. The great pop tart conflict of 2016? Seemed really weird and random. What does Hook know about pop tarts? Did he read the dietary facts? I assume Hook is more into home made food, being a sailor? Screw you Henry, I bet his breakfast is delicious! And, man, I know Henry is an angsty teen and he did come around, but saying that Hook does not care about Emma and their family and he does not belong with them was both brutal AND stupid. First Charming being snarky about him when he moved in with Emma, and now Henry? What more does the poor guy have to do to prove himself to these people? Give them blood? 

The Evil Queen and Zelena are so freaking pointless. Zelena has literally no purpose at all, and The Evil Queen? What exactly is her plan? To cunningly, evilly...wander around town, mildly annoying the Charmings, and making family diner a little bit awkward! Truly she is a diabolical villain we all should fear! And she sucks at even doing that! All her manipulations with Henry just led to Henry and Hook working through their issues, and becoming even closer. So, she sucks at even the one thing she is actually doing! And making out with Rumple? No offense, but, ewwwwwww. Still have no idea where this came from.

I still dont get the Savior thing. I swear, I`m not imagining things, Emma was just the Savior in that she was supposed to break the curse and save the EF! There wasn't some huge multiverse wide Savior system where there is some arbitrarily selected random who`s destiny it is to save everybody from everything, ever. Because of that, I am really struggling to get into the Aladdin and Jasmine stuff. I dont understand Aladdin's struggle, because I feel like we hardly know him, or WHY he`s the chosen one.  

Meh: This show still has no idea what it wants to do with Belle. I was glad she got some scenes with Snow, but most of her scenes are just boring. Whatever.  

Edited October 31, 2016 by tennisgurl

[Daisy]

See. I am kinda wondering why they just didn't snip Emma's "saviour-dom" like. They are going to find something else to prevent Emma from being stabbed to death. Something else like what? Quite frankly, this is what bugs me. Maybe this isn't what they intend but truthfully and Henry said it - the saviour is what brought them together (i mean, not the fact that they're related - being the saviour). that's always at the core of Emma's relationship with everything but Hook. (and i am NOT a CS fan). CS should have had the conversation and said that she can protect people without being the SAVIOUR. 

As they make rules up as they go along - Emma's magic (stated) wasn't based on being the saviour. it was from being the byproduct of True Love. So cutting the Saviour ties doesn't = cutting the magic. (but i wish it did). Emma's shown she can still be resourceful without her magic even if she lost it. I just find it very hard to believe that no one Team Charming except for the one with common Sense (not enough to really hide the shears though) - thought. "Let's cut the saviour ties and then see how we can get it back if needed. .

But like I said. it's very much like this season is literally throw stuff at the wall and see how it sticks. 

[RadioGirl27]

I don't know how I feel about the episode. I've liked some things (the flashback, Nemo, Emma and Hook having and actual conversation, even if it's not the one they need to have) but the messy timeline, the gross Golden Queen scenes and Lana's horrible acting choices as the EQ really took me out of it a couple of times. Henry is a brat and the contrived manufactured angst between him and Hook made little sense. And, yeah, Emma was clearly sad when Killian told her that he had throw the shears away.

But really, it is painfully obvious that the writers don't know what to do anymore. There is no plan, no ideas, nothing. Just a wonderful cast doing whatever they can with what they are given.

[Shanna Marie]

2 hours ago, kili said:

Do they have time to do anything other than spy on the Charmings and co? Maybe their lives might be more fulfilling if they actually got a life.

That, at least, is somewhat consistent with classic Regina when she was the Evil Queen. Snow was out making friends, falling in love, and building whatever life she could under her circumstances, while Regina was killing people, even her allies, and sabotaging anything that might bring her happiness because it might get in the way of her revenge, and yet Regina was all "I can't be happy while Snow is happy, why is my life so miserable and Snow's life so happy? It's so unfair!"

2 hours ago, Daisy said:

Maybe this isn't what they intend but truthfully and Henry said it - the saviour is what brought them together (i mean, not the fact that they're related - being the saviour).

That was part of what was so annoying about Henry's Brat Attack. Emma not being the Savior shouldn't change anything about her relationship with Henry. Yeah, he went looking for her because she was the Savior who could break the curse, but the fact that she was his mother while he was living with an adoptive mother he knew was the Evil Queen and who didn't really love him (yeah, they've retconned that, but in season one, it was like she was incapable of really loving him, and Emma's superpower even told her Regina was lying about loving him) was also a factor. He wanted a mom who could love him. If she wasn't the Savior anymore, she'd still love him. And, oh yeah, she'd still be alive.

Has Emma actually done anything all that Savior-y that would cause everyone to die and Storybrooke to be destroyed if she were just Emma and not the Savior? There was the TLK in season one, but what since then? Her magic added to Regina's did stop the failsafe in 2B. In Neverland, it was a team effort, and her main contributions were magically lighting a candle and being able to relate enough to the Lost Boys that they helped them. In 3B, Regina was the one shooting light magic all over the place. In 4A, it was Anna and Belle saving the day. In 4B, it was Regina and Henry who ended the AU. I guess maybe the Savior status allowed Emma to take on the Darkness, but that was never made clear. Hook saved the day in 5A, then contributed to the resolution of 5B, with Zelena killing Hades. Hook saved himself from the Underworld. Henry brought the magic back. So, other than a couple of minor magic tricks and possibly the Darkness, what has Emma done that couldn't have been done if she were just Emma rather than being the Savior? Being the Savior just seems to make her feel obligated. It's never been critical.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Shanna Marie
Major brain lapses. Fixed to be accurate.

[tennisgurl]

Does anyone else suddenly really want Hook to have a reason to say "Hey, I`m Killian, this is my brother Liam, and my other brother Laim..."

[CCTC]

15 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Does anyone else suddenly really want Hook to have a reason to say "Hey, I`m Killian, this is my brother Liam, and my other brother Laim..."

Only if they cast Bob Newhart in a recurring role, so he can look exasperated and annoyed at the lunatics around him in an understated, deadpan fashion.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Timeline Whimeline. Whatever, I give up trying to maintain the timeline on this show. 

So have the writers.

Quote

I wish the EQ would give up on the Daniel revenge already. 

The whole idea of the "Evil Queen" now being a separate identity from Regina doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why would separating her from Regina make her go back to fixating on something she already gave up on before they were split? I don't get it.

Dr. Jekyll's potion, theoretically, split the "dark" side from him, so even if Regina's "dark" side is now manifest as an entirely different person, wouldn't her motives simply be to destroy everyone? If not, then wouldn't it be to restore the curse, since that's where she wanted to be in the first place?

[KingOfHearts]

This will sound bizarre, but Liam 2.0 has an icky, almost incesty vibe to me. The fact he's named after his older brother really grosses me out.

[Mathius]

Quote

Her magic added to Regina's did stop the failsafe in 2A.

You mean 2B.  She defeated Hook and Cora at the end of 2A, but they still got to Storybrooke anyway immediately afterward.

Quote

In Neverland, it was a team effort, and her main contributions were magically lighting a candle and being able to relate enough to the Lost Boys that they helped them.

She also activated the map they needed and, as the leader, helped bind the group together and keep it from falling apart.

She played an essential role, but none of it really depended on her being a "Savior".  At all.

Quote

In 3B, Regina was the one shooting light magic all over the place. In 4A, it was Anna and Belle saving the day. In 4B, it was Regina and Henry who ended the AU. I guess maybe the Savior status allowed Emma to take on the Darkness, but that was never made clear. Hook saved the day in 5A, then contributed to the resolution of 5B, with Zelena killing Zeus. Hook saved himself from the Underworld. Henry brought the magic back. So, other than a couple of minor magic tricks and possibly the Darkness, what has Emma done that couldn't have been done if she were just Emma rather than being the Savior? Being the Savior just seems to make her feel obligated. It's never been critical.

All of this. Emma has barely saved anyone or anything from 3B and onward, so this whole plot falls apart by default.

[Shanna Marie]

29 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Does anyone else suddenly really want Hook to have a reason to say "Hey, I`m Killian, this is my brother Liam, and my other brother Laim..."

That has popped into my head every time I find myself imagining Hook having a conversation with Liam about his other brother Liam, and why hearing that his father had named his new son after the son he sold into slavery had set him off in such a murderous rage. Then I found myself wishing Liam 2.0 had been dead so they could have all run into each other in the Underworld, and Hook would have had to introduce them as "Hi, I'm Killian, and this is my brother Liam and my other brother Liam." You do have to wonder about a father naming his new son after his other son. I've never heard of anyone doing that when they've lost a child, and it's even worse that he lost Liam 1.0 by selling him into slavery. So, did he, like Killian, think 1.0 hung the moon, and so he was honoring his favored child by naming his new child after him, or was he starting a replacement family and hoping to have a second son that he'd name Killian and then he'd have his whole family back? Either way, it's icky, and you can kind of see why that would have set Hook off.

8 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Dr. Jekyll's potion, theoretically, split the "dark" side from him, so even if Regina's "dark" side is now manifest as an entirely different person, wouldn't her motives simply be to destroy everyone? If not, then wouldn't it be to restore the curse, since that's where she wanted to be in the first place?

They even muddied that somewhat by saying that it wasn't necessarily the darkness that Jekyll split off, but rather the more animalistic parts of himself, like passion. It was kind of an Id and Ego thing. Jekyll may have loved Mary in a way, but he never made a move on her because he repressed the passionate side of himself. It was only as Hyde that he did anything. So, if we go by what they said about Jekyll and Hyde, then the Evil Queen should be all passion and lust and anger, while Regina would be the more logical side. The Evil Queen would be the part that nursed a grudge and held onto her anger, and that theoretically should have been the part making Regina miserable now, where even though she was trying to be good, there was that part that hated it. But now it looks like the part of herself that was making her miserable was the one who likes facials and manicures.

3 minutes ago, Mathius said:

You mean 2B.

Yes. Sorry, typo. Fingers flying faster than brain. Or maybe the other way around.

4 minutes ago, Mathius said:

She also activated the map they needed and, as the leader, helped bind the group together and keep it from falling apart.

She played an essential role, but none of it really depended on her being a "Savior".  At all.

In fact, her accepting the role of Savior didn't work on the map. What worked on the map was identifying herself as a Lost Girl.

[Mathius]

Another typo you made:

Quote

with Zelena killing Zeus. 

Um....

Also, I doubt Emma being the Savior had anything to do with taking on the Darkness, that was all due to the dagger.

[kili]

Quote

You do have to wonder about a father naming his new son after his other son. I've never heard of anyone doing that when they've lost a child,

I had a friend to whom that had been done. Not using real names, his brother was named X Y Z (first middle last) and he was named Y X Z . He was called X. His brother died in infancy before he was born....I thought it was a little creepy.

Then there is George Foreman who calls all his sons George.

I'm guessing Liam was a family name and once his dad discarded the first Liam, he just applied it to his new family. It would make some sense if it was to make a Liam Jones Jr., but Killian's dad's name wasn't Liam. So, maybe the Liams are named after a grandfather? Or Killian's dad is a major Oasis fan.

[Shanna Marie]

16 minutes ago, Mathius said:

Another typo you made:

Quote

with Zelena killing Zeus. 

Um....

Yeah, I'd better go edit that post. I blame the allergy drugs. Would you believe I even proofread it?

[KingOfHearts]

In a show without consequences, I couldn't care less about the shears or EQ conspiring with Rumple. The most we'll get is some crazy AU that will be undone as quickly as its introduced. Whenever the writers are faced with several options, they consistently pick the lamest one. What the villains choose to do with these shears will be no different. That cliffhanger was unbelievably weak. (Just like most of S6 so far.)

Edited October 31, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[KAOS Agent]

Liam's story makes very little sense. He said, "When I was a child, my family was taken from me. I grew up next to the docks, fending for myself, desperate to make the people who took them pay." Who is this them to which he refers? It was his father. That's it. Also, how did he manage to grow up next to the docks fending for himself when Hook went to Wonderland immediately following his father's death? He took Cora back to the Enchanted Forest, Regina talked to her "dead" mother and then ran off and cast the curse seemingly that same day. So he grew up on the docks for a day at most before being found by Nemo and taken out of the curse zone.

Edited October 31, 2016 by KAOS Agent

[Shanna Marie]

2 minutes ago, KAOS Agent said:

He said, "When I was a child, my family was taken from me. I grew up next to the docks, fending for myself, desperate to make the people who took them pay."

That makes it sound like he didn't know what really happened. So how did he find out who killed his father? There were no witnesses (that we know of). Someone might have mentioned the pirate who was talking to his father in the tavern, but they ended up seeming pretty friendly, so I'm not sure that anyone who saw them would have suspected Hook, and did any of them know that he was Brennan's son? Would a child have investigated it before going off with Nemo, so that he'd even heard that much? It's possible that Hook stayed in Wonderland with Cora for a little while before he came back and Regina cast the curse, but still, that leaves at most a few weeks before Nemo took him away, longer if he was caught in the Coradome and Nemo came in and then took him away and then brought him back. Still, 1.0 and Killian were slaves on their own for far longer than 2.0 could have been "growing up" alone on the docks. Or was that town the one place in that world that wasn't affected by the curse in any way?

It's starting to look like the Coradome wasn't so much a dome over the area excluded by a curse, keeping the curse out but still being stuck in time, as it was a dome over the tiny area affected by the curse to keep the curse from affecting the rest of the world. Since you can walk to multiple kingdoms from the Enchanted Forest in less than a day, it must make Luxembourg look like Canada, which would explain how the whole kingdom fits into a single small town. But didn't we see Cora's dome being formed, and it only covered a small area around where Cora and Hook were? And if they just didn't age but were able to go about their business, why didn't Philip go after Aurora sooner? If she'd been on the other side of the dome, she'd have gone to Storybrooke, so he should have been able to reach her. Maybe the dome was just to protect them from being transported, since they were in the blast zone. The rest of the world was affected by the time thing, but this was a fallout shelter of sorts. But then were they stuck in the dome? If so, how did Hook get out to sea?