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
Hook looms over Regina, who is lying on a stretcher in an adjacent warehouse room. Regina tells Hook that whatever the two-headed obstacle is offering him it's not worth it. He disagrees, since they're offering him the chance to off Rumpy. Regina mocks him for trusting them. "You don't even know who you're working for." The conversation is interrupted by Groan who wants to know where his father is. Regina repeats her lie that Kurt left town. Groan knows his father would have found him, so he ignores her and hooks up some electric leads to Regina. Hook refuses to help. "Sorry, mate. I'm going to have to say no. When you're interested in killing Rumpelstiltskin, not torturing the Queen, find me." After Hook swans off, Groan goes about torturing Regina with electric shocks and a lot of muahahahaing about how, "This is how we deal with your kind," and it's going to be unpleasant, nearly as unpleasant as Groan and Tamara themselves. He again asks where his father is. When Regina doesn't answer she gets the first shock. Commercial.
London. Circa 1904. Bae is living in a little crawl space off the Darling nursery. Wendy knocks on the door and gives him some food. Bae worries that her parents will suspect. Wendy laughs. "They're grownups. They can't see anything that's not right in front of them." This provides Mama and Papa Darling with their happy ending, because they're right at the doorway. Papa Darling says, "We can't, can we?" As Wendy struggles to explain, Papa questions Bae who says that his mother is dead, and lies that his father is too. Bae says he'll leave right away. Mama Darling won't hear of it. Bae is afraid she's going to send him to a work house, but instead she welcomes him to their home. Score. We flash forward to...
Storybrooke. Present. Emma arrives at Neal's room and explains that since Regina is missing, she's looking for Tamara. I really hate that Neal gets these moments of thinking Emma only suspects Tamara, because she (Emma) is still into him. Granted, Tamara isn't only suspicious but guilty, so it will eventually blow up in his face, but I still begrudge him the momentary feeling of superiority. I don't hate Neal. I don't even hate the thought of Neal with Emma. I just hate how this all must make Emma feel. It's extremely effective storytelling, since it has me empathizing with Emma but it makes me feel so bad for her, that I don't want to watch it unfold.
Neal explains to Emma that Tamara is training for a marathon and is off for her usual run in the woods. Inspecting the floor of their closet, Emma notices not soil, but sand. Neal reasonably shrugs this off and says, "Maybe she runs along the beach instead. What does that prove?" Emma answers. "That she lied to you. If she lied about this, then you can bet she's lied about other things too." Neal says, "Maybe she just likes to run on the beach," which feels stilted. Like we're trying to prove that Neal is willfully blind to Tamara's actions. It would have worked better for me, if he pointed out this is a seaside town and she probably cools down on the beach after her run. At any rate, Emma tells him there's one way to find out. We flashback to...