Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 6 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT The Shadow Knows
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.05.2013
London. Six months later, in whatever year this is. For now, I'm pretending it is 1904, which would make it early 20th Century. A soiled, weary looking Bae finds nothing but a browned apple core to eat. Then he notices a workman has left a ladder leaning up against a fine house. Bae climbs it and finds three fresh loafs of bread. As he tries to stuff his face and pockets, he is startled by barking from beneath the table. It is Nana! Wendy Darling (a perfectly cast Freya Tingley) rushes in the room. Clutching a statue (I believe it's a fairy statue, but my TV is far from my desk) as if it were a weapon, Wendy demands to know what the intruder wants.
Bae stammers as he tries to explain himself. When he drops a piece of bread, Wendy realizes he's just a hungry boy. Bae looks chagrinned, but Wendy is compassionate and well-bred, so she does what she can to set him at ease and encourages him to eat as much as he'd like. Bae and Wendy introduce themselves with shy, pleased smiles. We flash forward to...
Storybrooke. Present. 6:00 AM. Granny's B&B. Neal and Tamara's room. Tamara is suiting up to go "running." She's allegedly training for a marathon in three weeks time. Neal tells her to come back to bed and he'll give her a workout. I tell the Show to knock that off. This is family fare. Tamara smiles and kisses Neal goodbye. He tries to go back to sleep, but then hears noise outside, including his father's voice. We cut...
Outside. Gold and Laceybelle are standing over someone. Okay, if it's 6:00 AM, Laceybelle must be still up, rather than just getting up. Outside the Rabbit Hole, Dr. Whale (Dr. Frankenstein) is lying on the ground, with Gold's foot over his face. That's right. Gold wants him to kiss it. Apparently Whale committed the grand crime of staring at Laceybelle. Bae breaks up the scene. He holds back Gold until Whale gets away, then cracks that he's surprised Gold didn't turn Whale into a snail. Laceybelle finds this too amusing, so Gold gives her his keys and tells her to wait in his shop.
Alone with his father, Neal gives him what for. "You're unreal. You know that? You spend years looking for me. I come to town. You disappear." To be fair to your dad, Nealfire, I think that's more of a narrative choice. None of these poor suckers have truly connected with their near and dear this year. Neal continues, "You haven't even bothered to meet Tamara." Gold asks why he should concern himself with that half of the two-headed obstacle. Steeling himself for a bunch of the slippery-slope arguments, Neal announces he's going to marry that half of the two-headed obstacle. Gold says it will never last so long as Neal carries a torch for Emma, so Neal changes the subject. He tells Papa he hasn't changed one bit; he's not worth his time. Gold: "And yet you're still here." Neal nods. "For Henry. Not you. As far as I'm concerned, you can stay the Hell away from both of us." Really Neal, what you should do is take your son and his mother to Tallahassee and never return. We cut to the...