Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | 11 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT In A New York Minute
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 14 | Aired on 02.17.2013
Back in the apartment, Neal tells Rumpy the clock is ticking. Rumpy acknowledges he's made mistakes, but he wants to make up for it. "There's no greater pain than regret." Neal says, "Try abandonment." There's no way Rumpy can make up for that. Rumpy then makes the worst offer he could possibly make. He invites his son to come back to Storybrooke. "There's magic, there. I can turn the clock back, make you 14 again. We can start over." Neal says, "I don't want to be 14, again. Are you insane?" I know, right. That would land him in middle school. Nobody wants that. Nobody. Rumpy says while he can't make up for the lost time, he can take away the memories. Neal would rather not have his mind raped, thanks. Rumpy continues to plead his case, but Neal wants none of it. "You have no idea what I've lived with. You're so worried about you -- you know what I've dealt with. Every night for more years than you can no, the last thing I see before sleep is the image of you and me at that pit. Your hand wrapped around mine, and then you open your grip, and as I fall away, all I can see is your face." Aping Rumpy's trademark hand-wave, Neal continues: "Choosing all...this crap over me. Letting me go. Now it's my turn. Now I'm letting you go." He doesn't care if his father is sorry. He didn't get closure so he's not getting it. He tells Rumpy to go. His time is up. It's time for a little self-plagiarism from me as we flash back to the...
Enchanted Forest. Rumpy (now the Dark One) meets up with the seer again. After summarizing all he's been through and lost, Rumpy acknowledges that while her prophecy came true, "...it would have been nice to know about all the pesky details." I love how this episode gives such an organic explanation for Rumpy's devotion to detail, don't you? Although the Seer can tell him he will see Bae again, and that it will take years and require a curse (which will be cast and broken by others) powerful enough to rip everyone from the land, she does not provide the specifics Rumpy wants, so she eagerly offers him her powers. Rumpy says, "Glady." The magic washes over him and we flash forward to...
Manhattan. Neal's Flat. Emma goes back inside and tells Neal that Henry wants to meet him. Neal: "You weren't going to tell me about him." Emma is unapologetic, and I don't blame her. "No, I wasn't." Neal says since he's his kid too, she can't make those kind of decisions without him, anymore. Emma: "Great. Go talk to him, then." As Neal exhales and heads toward the window, Emma stops him. "Wait...but don't break his heart." Neal: "Trust me, I'm not going to do to him (Henry) what he (Rumpy) did to me." Emma says, "And what you did to me." Good for you, Emma. Now knee him in the nuts, just because you can. Neal smiles and is all like, "Okay. I get it. We're all messed up. What do you say we try to avoid that with him? All right?" As he walks off, Emma quietly says, "All right."