Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | 193 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT PANjandrum
By Cindy McLennan | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.17.2013
Papa climbs up to where the flowers are in his grasp. He smiles, grabs some dust and sprinkles it over himself. Closing his eyes, he says, "I want to fly." It's then that the ominous Shadow whooshes past him. Voiced by Marilyn Manson (because who is creepier), the Shadow says, "I am the sole inhabitant of Neverland." Papa asks if the Shadow can tell him why he can't fly. The Shadow says, "You have to believe." Papa says he's trying, but it doesn't work. The Shadow says, "Because you don't belong," then whooshes off, and knocks off Papa's wallet or something, as he goes. Wee Rumpy is sitting below, clutching his straw doll. When the (let's call it a wallet) falls, the boy looks at it then up into the tree. He cries for the father who is out of sight. We flash forward to...
Neverland. Neal rows Rumpy, Regina and Emma out to Skull Rock. Once ashore, Emma follows Henry's footprints to the staircase, but smacks into the magical barrier with such force that she back flips down onto the sand. Neal rushes to her side, and asks what that was all about. Rumpy says Pan cast a protection spell. Regina says there must be a way to break it. She flings a fireball at it, which comes rushing back at the team. Silly Regina. How are you this impulsive after all these years? Rumpy has no problem passing the barrier. He explains the spell is designed to keep anyone with a shadow from entering. Neal says, "And you don't have one. You were telling the truth about ripping your shadow off." Rumpy agrees and says, "And Pan knows it. That's why he cast the spell he did. This isn't about keeping you out. It's about drawing me in. He knows I won't give up the chance to finish what I came here to do." Neal: "You really did come here to save Henry." Rumpy tells his son, "I gave you my trust with that box. Now I need you to give it back." Regina's smirk says more than words could. She grabs the box from Neal's hand, and closes in on Rumpy. "You'd better come through, Gold, or I'll make whatever Pan has planned for you look like child's play. You understand me?" Rumpy's features float up off his face to form the words, "Oh, please." He reaches through the barrier, and takes the box. "Well, a simple 'good luck' would have sufficed." Commercial.
Regina doesn't know how to remove shadows, so Emma suggests magically blocking out the moon. Regina says she needs help. It will require a lot of magic. Like the newbie in aerobic class, Emma follows her lead. They raise their hands. Neal stands behind them. As they waggle their fingers, Emma sneaks a sidewise glance at Regina, and they hide the moon. I'll just say it here, before I forget. A lot of people are pooh-poohing this approach, because there are torches on the beach, right where the staircase is, and certainly those torches provide enough light to cast Henry's parents' shadows. Sure. But if Emma and Regina can hide the fricking moon, I'm pretty sure they're competent enough to put out a couple of torches. I don't want to be spoon fed such minor details. You shouldn't want to be either.