TV Recap: Once Upon a Time 3-9 - Save Henry

Yes, I really am this late on watching Once Upon a Time this week.  It’s what happens when you take a long Thanksgiving and spend time with family instead of watching TV.  And it was completely worth it.  (Have I mentioned how cute my niece and nephew are recently?)  But that means we’ll have a short recap tonight.

The flashback took place in Storybrooke and at least partially answered the question I’d been wondering – how did Regina get Henry in the first place.

Okay, so actually we start as the curse is coming.  Regina goes to gloat to the still jailed Rumplestiltskin (you know, I’d still love to know he came to be jailed).  He tells her she still has a hole in her heart she will eventually come to him to fulfill.  He also hints about the curse breaking.  But when she tries to negotiate something with him, he tells her he is exactly where he wants to be.

Flash forward to Storybrooke of eleven years ago, and sure enough Regina decides she wants to adopt a child.  Fortunately, Gold is able to help her find one without the two year wait list.  It didn’t work out with the first family that tried to adopt this boy from Arizona, and he’s just down the road in Boston.

So Regina adopts Henry, and Henry does nothing but cry.  She is certain that something is wrong, so she tries to get the records even though it was a closed adoption.  She manages to get them, and she learns that the mother was found just outside of Storybrooke eighteen years ago.  She freaks, but she just can’t give up Henry.  Instead, she takes a potion that will make her forget that bit of information so she won’t worry about it.

If Regina had given up Henry, John and Michael were ready to adopt him.

So, let’s move over to Neverland.  We start with Regina and Emma both threatening Pan.  Emma stabs at him, and it does draw blood.  Pan brags about capturing Gold and tells them who he is to Gold and then flies away.

Regina manages to put a spell on Henry that will slow down his death from losing his heart, but they only have an hour.  Emma manages to get the information from the lost boys by promising to take them away when they leave.  Mary Margaret, Emma, and Regina take off while everyone else is supposed to get on the ship.

Sure enough, they find the spot and even Pandora’s Box containing Gold, but it’s a trap.  Vines come from a tree and capture them and the tree will feed off their regret until it crushes them.  Just one problem – Regina doesn’t regret her actions since it brought her Henry.  She frees all three of the ladies and gets the heart from the surprised Pan.

They use the heart to revive Henry, and then using Pan’s shadow and some magic, they take off.  They’ve also grabbed Pandora’s Box and freed Gold who reconciles with Neal.

Regina had enchanted Henry’s heart so no one can take it from him, and it’s a good thing because Pan shows up steal it back.  When he finds he is thwarted, he tries to steal Henry’s shadow.  Gold shows up and traps Pan in Pandora’s Box as the ship sails back to Storybrooke.

Or so we think.  In the final scene, Henry goes to talk to the one lost boy who is actually a captive because he stayed loyal to Pan.  Since Pan was grabbing Henry’s shadow when Gold used the box, he was able to switch bodies somehow.  Henry is in the box and Pan is in Henry’s body.

Meanwhile, we also got a couple of scenes with Wendy and Tinker Bell.  Wendy has saved some pixie dust for Tink, but it will only work if Tink is a fairy.  As Tink is then talking to Regina, it starts to glow a little.

Obviously, the big twist is Pan now being in Henry’s body.  I can’t wait to see how that plays out next week.  And I will enjoy being back in Storybrooke as well.  I really wasn’t expecting some of the twists in this episode (like leaving so soon), so I’m quite anxious to see how it all plays out.

I also found it interesting that Regina was able to leave Storybrooke to go get Henry.  I guess that's the advantage of being the one to create the curse.

No theories of my own, but if you have one, hit me up in the comments.