TV Recap: Once Upon a Time 3-3 - Quite a Common Fairy

Who says back story doesn't have anything new to share.  Okay, so maybe it was fairly predictable, but I still like the twist they gave Tinker Bell tonight.

But before we get to the recap, can I just say how awesome the Once title card was tonight?  I mean, seriously, having Tinker Bell light it up like she's done for years on Disney's various TV shows?  The DisNerd in me was thrilled.

Let's start in the Fairy Tale of old, shall we?  Regina is having a lonely meal by herself since her new husband, the king is still in love with his dead wife and she hates Snow for ruining her life.  Rumplestiltskin shows up only to point out that she was skip her magic lesson that day.  When Regina tries to get out of it, Rumple tells her it is pointless.  Darkness is consuming her and always will.  In frustration, she goes to the balcony and pounds on the railing.  Only the railing breaks and Regina suddenly finds herself falling to her death.

Fortunately, Tinker Bell happens to be flying by, and she saves Regina.  The two bond almost immediately and Regina tells Tink about all that has gone wrong in her life.  But Tink offers to use fairy dust to help Regina find her true love.  Unfortunately, she has to rush off before she can.

She is actually late for curfew, and must face the Blue Fairy as a result.  Blue is not happy with all the rules that Tink breaks, and when Blue finds out who Tink was just talking to, Blue forbids Tink from ever going back.  Regina is shrouded in darkness; there is no hope for her.  But Tink believes in giving everyone a second chance, so when Blue takes off, she steals some fairy dust and goes back to meet Regina.

The dust works, and the two fly off and follow the trail to find Regina's true love.  He's a man with a lion tattoo on his arm.  Tink takes off, but Regina is too scared to go in and meet him, so she leaves.

When Tink shows up later to find out how Regina did meeting her true love, Regina tries to lie and say it was awful.  Tink sees through that, but Regina still orders her to leave.  As Tink is flying away, Blue shows back up.  She knows exactly what Tink did.  While Tink pleads for a second chance, Blue tells her this was her second chance.  And then she says the fateful words.  "I don't believe in you."  And Tink loses her wings.

End flashback.  So how did this play out in current day Neverland.  Pretty much as you'd expect.

We first meet our heroes as they are almost to where Pan's lair is marked on the map although it suddenly changes location.  Regina once again starts saying that they need to use magic, but she is shot down.  It's Hook who suggests that they need to find Tink and see if she will help them.  After all, Pan trusts her.

Regina is less than thrilled, and she pulls Emma aside to try to try to talk her into using their combined magic.  Emma isn't falling for it.  Meanwhile, Hook has pulled David aside and confronted him about being grazed with the poison arrow.  David is holding out hope that Tink will have some fairy dust because that would heal him.

As they are finally approaching Tink's lair, Regina stays behind, saying it will be better for everyone if Tink doesn't see her.  However, Tink has been tracking them and confronts Regina - blowing something in her face.  When Regina wakes up, she is tied up and in a cave.  She concludes it was poppy dust and not really magic.  But Tink is determined to kill her for what Regina did to her all those years ago.  She threatens Regina with a poison tipped arrow, but Regina offers her something better - Regina's own heart.

But then Regina warns Tink that revenge and hatred will turn Tink's own heart that color.  If she does crush it, Tink will start down the same path that Regina walked.  Tink finally relents, and when pressed, Regina does confess she was afraid, which is why she never went through with meeting the man with the lion tattoo all those years ago.  Tink then says that Regina was selfish - by her actions she ruined two people's lives.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang has found Tink's lair but with no Tink.  It feels like a transient place and not a home.  But they also find a handkerchief that we'd seen Regina drop earlier, and they figure out where Tink really is.

Somehow, they figure out where Tink is holding Regina (unless that cave was right where they left Regina, which means it wasn't such an amazing feat).  At first Tink refuses to help, but Emma and Mary Margaret are able to talk her into helping.  She promises one chance and only one.  In exchange, Tink will go with them and have a real home.  Tink also confirms she has no fairy dust left, meaning that David still has a death sentence.  And, despite a last conversation with Mary Margaret, she still doesn't tell her.

But we aren't done in Neverland yet.  We get a few scenes with Pan and Henry.  First, Pan tries to get Henry to recreate the famous William Tell story, but he refuses.  Then Pan finally explains what Henry is doing there.  In Pan's view, Henry is the savior.  Yes, Emma broke the curse, but it's is Henry that believes in Magic.  And that's what will save everyone in our world, Neverland, every place.  Magic is dying, and everyone needs the person with the heart of the truest believer to bring it back.

As proof that Pan has the right person, he offers Henry the parchment.  Henry isn't interested, and he throws it on the ground.

Meanwhile, over in modern day Fairy Tale, Neal is searching for something - anything - that will create a portal between the worlds.  And he finds it when he meets Robin's son.  Robin isn't willing to risk his son at first, but Neal talks him into it.  So the boy stands at the window and says, "I believe."  After a minute of tense waiting, the shadow comes to try to take him away.  But Robin grabs him, Mulan cuts off the hold the shadow has on the boy, and when the shadow turns to leave, Neal grabs a hold and hitches a ride to Neverland.

When he crash lands, he is greeted by one of the lost boys.  "Welcome back Bae.  Pan will be so glad to know you are back."  That doesn't sound good.

But we can't quite leave Fairy Tale yet.  Mulan is ready to go back to Aurora and Phillip, but she gets an interesting off first - become the first woman member of the merry men.  She decides she needs to try to see if she can get love from one person yet.  As she returns, she meets Aurora and seems glad Phillip isn't around.  Aurora is bursting with news - she and Phillip are expecting.  And just like that, Mulan, who was thrilled Phillip wasn't around a few moments before, is crushed.  She announces she is going to join Robin and walks off.

When she gets back to the camp, she begins to meet the rest of the Merry Men.  And wouldn't you know it, one of them has a lion tattoo on his forearm.

And the final scene.  Curious, Henry picks the parchment off the ground.  As we all knew it would, it has a drawing of him on it.  As his eyes widen in surprise, the episode ends.

So has anyone besides me noticed that it is always dark in Neverland?  I don't think that's coincidence.  They are giving us a visual cue to just how dark a place we are in right now.

Regina is evil - I get it - but they do like to remind us about how tragic her life has been.  I do feel for her, and it happened tonight.  Of course, she made choices on how to deal with her anger, and it ruined many lives, including her own and Tink's as we saw tonight.  But it does make it easier to root for her to redeem herself.  I'm not sure where the show would be if she did, but I wouldn't complain if it happened.

How are they going to cure David if he can't get fairy dust?  There has to be another cure!

Will Henry turn to Pan's side, or will he take his new status and still try to fight against him?

And how can our heroes defeat Pan who certainly is king of this island?

When will anyone find Neal?  What will their reaction be, especially since Hook and Emma are flirting a little?

I'm not sure I have that many theories, but I obviously have lots of questions.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.

If you have something figured out, I'd sure love to hear it.  Hit me up in the comments.