Once Upon A Time SEASON 3 EPISODE 4 FULL LENGTH REACTION

Nasty Habits- Thank you very much for another good reaction for Once Upon a Time, Timothee! Overall... I enjoy this episode! It's not one of my favorites and some of the storylines I really like more so than others. I mostly love the storyline taking place with Emma, Hook, David, Mary Margaret, Regina, and Tinker Bell. And I also really love the backstory between Rumple and Pan, which begins a new mystery as to how these two brilliant characters know each other. I especially love that Pan too has taken the place of another well known storybook character like we've seen with Rumple, who so far has taken the place of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, the Crocodile in Hook's storyline from Peter Pan, and Cinderella's Fairy Godmother like we saw back in season one's episode, titled... The Price of Gold. Here in this episode, titled... Nasty Habits, we learn that Pan has now also taken the place of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, which sets up the origin story for how he recruits the Lost Boys. And it's really, really good. I love it! In the original story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, the townsfolk of Hamlin hire the Piper to rid their homes and streets of the rats overwhelming their village and promise to pay him a pretty fee for doing so. The Piper then does his job, but when it comes time for the villagers to pay him, they refuse. So... In order to make them pay, the Pied Piper uses his musical talents and magic of his pipe to lure all of the townsfolk's children away from them, by putting them all under a magical trance. And if I remember correctly... He leads them all to the river nearby and drowns all of the children. This is indeed an incredibly dark story. Nonetheless... This is where the idea for Pan being the Pied Piper comes from. Because he lures the Lost Boys away from their homes through the magic within his pipe and their feelings of abandonment, or lack of feeling loved by their parents. Now, to be perfectly honest.. While I actually do enjoy the acting between Robert Carlyle (Rumple) and Michael Raymond-James (Neal) throughout the storyline between Rumple and Neal in this episode, as Rumple discovers Neal is alive after all... I am not really a fan of the storyline itself. I know it is unfair because I don't care too, too much for Neal's character. As I've said so many times up to this point. I appreciate Neal's distrust in his father, because he should absolutely feel such distrust as he does after everything they've been through. But the other part of it is also because I am just tired of the feud between Neal and his father, and their constant back and forth between Neal hating his father for abandoning him, then loving him again when things get bad, to Rumple fighting to prove to his son that he's changed and Neal's disbelief in him, to Rumple seeming to go back on his word again, and finally to Neal just hating his father again upon learning from Pan and later Rumple about the truth behind the prophecy that Henry is somehow destined to be Rumple's undoing. However, this prophecy could have any number of meanings. It doesn't necessarily mean death. I certainly understand Neal's feelings and why he's so constantly back and forth. However, for me... Their long time family problems have just worn thin for me. And believe me... I know that I am in the minority when I say this. But it's the truth. It's how I feel. I also just don't love hearing about the love between Emma and Neal constantly being brought up again and again either. Like I've said a number of times. I strongly feel that their love for one another is behind them, while I would prefer them to simply remain good friends, and for Neal to simply be a good father to Henry. However, their feelings of love for one another to me... It all just feels like it is just constantly being shoved in our faces, and I find it more annoying than anything. But with all of this being said... The scenes between Neal and Rumple, especially with Pan as well, are all very well acted and nicely shown. I also don't really care much for the scenes in the backstory between Rumple and Bae at first. Because again... I don't care much for the bitterness between them. However, I love this backstory once it connects to Rumple discovering Pan is the Pied Piper, who had drawn Bae and a number of other children out of their homes with the music from his pipe that is revealed can only be heard by the boys who feel lost and like they are unloved. As Rumple learns Bae feels as well. I love seeing Rumple later rip off the cloak from the Piper's head, as Pan reveals himself to him, and how we learn that Rumple has actually known Pan since he himself was a boy, which is a very long time. This scene is an absolutely brilliant scene between Rumple and Pan!!! Again... Pan is an amazing villain! At first... When it is revealed to us that Pan might be so, I wasn't so sure I would like it if Pan was a villain. Especially since Hook was the villain we've known all these years from Peter Pan. However, it was after the second episode from this season... Lost Girl, that my mind most definitely came around to loving Pan as a villain, especially since we've also come to see Hook slowly changing into a better man by the end of season two, and more so as season three continues. And in this episode... Pan is really amazing! I love this actor's acting, and seeing just how sinister this character really can be. Robbie Kay as Pan is just incredible!!! :) As for my favorite moments throughout this episode... I love the scene in the beginning as Emma, Hook, David, Mary Margaret, Regina, and Tink are all trying to come up with a battle plan to use against Pan and to save Henry. I think it's hilarious when Emma struggles to call Tinker Bell by her real name because of how funny doing so sounds to her. And I also agree with Tink that they all need to come up with a way to escape Neverland, before she agrees to risk her life by helping them all to break into Pan's camp. In all fairness to our heroes... They all fled after Henry immediately without really thinking about the consequences of their actions upon coming to Neverland. And I get it. They want to get to Henry as soon as possible. But now... They most certainly need to come up with a way to leave Neverland for sure. Once Tink leaves the others to return to their camp until they can come up with a plan, David then turns to Hook and states that Hook had once escaped from Neverland and Emma asks him how he did so. I love how we learn that Hook had once made a deal with Pan so that he could leave the island... A deal that is unknown, as Hook doesn't go into detail about it. But then... Hook guides them all to the cave in which Baelfire lived while he too lived in Neverland. I love how Hook shares with them how he had taught Bae to chart and navigate the stars in the sky, and how to make a map, even though Hook reveals he can't actually read the map due to him also teaching Bae the importance of secrecy for the life of a pirate. Meaning... Bae is now the only one who can read the map as it's made in code. Now, I have to say that one of my absolute favorite moments throughout this episode, if not my absolute favorite moment within this episode... I absolutely love, love, love the brief moment between Hook and David, as Hook continues to urge David to tell his wife and daughter the truth about being poisoned. I really love and appreciate it, especially in regards to the continuing development in Hook's character. Unfortunately, David still refuses to adhere to Hook's advice, believing that it's best to keep everyone's minds on saving Henry, rather than giving them something more to worry about. And then... In a very brief moment, David senses that Hook isn't telling him something when he asks Hook if he knows of a way to help him. And it appears that Hook may know something more than he's saying. This is one of my favorite moments throughout the entire episode, in spite of how brief it might be. Because it's just really nice to see the continued changes in Hook, to see him really grow as a character fighting to change for the better, and to see him be the wiser one between him and David, who in my opinion is making a foolish choice not to tell his family the truth about having been poisoned. I understand why he doesn't want to, because he doesn't want to deter them all from finding Henry as soon as possible. However, I also believe David is being cowardly to some degree as well, because he is afraid to tell his wife and daughter the truth. It's just really nice to see Hook be the more sensible one as he continues to urge David to tell his family he truth, as I sense Hook would have wanted to know if the person in danger of dying were someone he loved too. :) In the end... Emma finally breaks down as she admits to her parents that she has realized too late that she still loves Neal, but that she's also angry with him for only admitting he loves her back when he was about to die, before she then storms off to be alone. And while I may not like Neal or the idea of him and Emma winding up back together, I still feel really bad for Emma in this moment. I can really feel her pain and emotions... Which shows wonderful acting by Jennifer Morrison as well. In regards to Pan letting Neal go and whether or not he might have known that Neal would become the father to the Heart of the Truest Believer... I choose to believe that Pan did come to know this about Neal eventually, though not for many, many years since Neal is also over two hundred years old just like Hook and Rumple are too. Which means that he would have had to spend at least two hundred years in Neverland just like Hook did too. So yes... I suspect that upon Pan discovering this truth about Neal being Henry's father... If he did like I suspect he did, then Pan must have allowed Bae to leave Neverland so he could grow up and one day become a father. Henry was prophesied to be the boy he's looking for, so why else would Pan not want to ensure that Henry is one day born, if he knew ahead of time that Neal would one day become Henry's father? Brilliant thoughts! And as for the actor playing young Baelfire in the backstory... This backstory is definitely set just before Rumple lets Bae fall through the portal. The actor had just gone through a growth spurt, which is why he looks much older than he did back when he was seen throughout seasons one and two. In all honesty... They should have found a different actor to play this young version of Baelfire. If I recall correctly... Any time we see young Baelfire from now on throughout the rest of the show, he will be played by different actors because this actor within this episode and in previous episodes has definitely become too old. But I really do love this actor playing Bae, because he's really good in this role. And lastly... I enjoy the continued scenes between Rumple and his vision of Belle. They're sweet and while Belle isn't really in Neverland... I really love how the creators and writers found a way to keep Belle very much involved in Rumple's storyline throughout this season since they can't be together. Overall... Again, I enjoy this episode! And now... The next episode is one of my absolute favorite episodes from this season, and it is overall one of my very favorite episodes throughout all of the seasons too!! It's fabulous and I can't wait to watch your reaction for it, Tim!!!!! As well as for the episode just afterwards too... Another of my favorites from this season! So, thank you again for another fun reaction, Timothee! I can't wait until December for more Once Upon a Time from you, my dear friend!!! And thank you for your fabulous reactions for these first four episodes of season three this month!! Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum