Tonight on ABC their new fantastical, epic adventure ONCE UPON A TIME continues with a new episode called, “Nasty Habits.” On tonight’s show Mr. Gold makes a decision to confront Pan, David struggles for his life as the poison begins to take its toll on him, and in the Fairy Tale land that was, Rumplestiltskin goes in search of Bae – who has followed a mysterious figure who steals away children with his music. Did you watch last week’s episode? We did and we recapped it right here for you.
On last week’s show in their continuing quest to find Peter Pan’s hideout and save Henry, Hook suggested tracking down Tinker Bell in the hope that she would lead them straight to his camp. Pan revealed to Henry why he had brought him to Neverland and in the Enchanted Forest, Neal had a plan that could transport him to Emma, but it would involve using one of Robin Hood’s most precious possessions. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was, Tinker Bell offered to help Regina improve her life.
On tonight’s show Mr. Gold makes a decision to confront Pan, but will he go there to save Henry or give in to the prophecy that the boy will be his undoing? Neal finds himself back in Neverland and in the custody of one of Pan’s most loyal Lost Boys. And David struggles for his life as the poison continues to take its toll on him. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was, Rumplestiltskin goes in search of a missing Bae, who has followed a mysterious figure who steals away children with his music.
Tonight’s new episode is going to be exciting, and you won’t want to miss it. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of the season 3 Episode 3 of Once Upon A Time — tonight at 8PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how your excited you are about Once Upon A Time being back! Check out a sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!
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Neil is walked inland by the Lost Boy (LB from here on out) who tells him that Pan will never give him Henry because he’s been waiting eons for the heart of the true believer. Neil secretly unties the ropes binding his arms and knocks out the LB that “captured” him. Flashback to Gold talking to Baelfire as a child – he’s sick of being stuck in the house and Gold offers him a castle. He tells his son he’s scared to let him out in the world because he has many enemies.
Gold paints stripes on his face – like war paint. He tells Belle he needs to let the monster in him out to save Henry. She reminds him that saving Henry will be his undoing. He tells her he has nothing to live for without Henry and she asks what about her and he says she’s just a vision. She says she’s waiting on him in Storybrooke and he says that’s a bad idea.
Emma traces out a diagram of Pan’s camp courtesy of intel from Tink. Emma is still freaked out she’s talking to “the” Tinkerbell. Regina says the LBs are nothing to worry about and Tink reminds them the LBs have poison-dipped weapons. They’re ready to go but then Tink asks what’s the exit plan – turns out they don’t have a way off the island. Tink says she won’t take them in until there’s a confirmed way out. Tink stalks away. Emma agrees that you never go in someplace without a way out.
Hook only got away from Neverland before because Pan let him. Only one person has ever escaped NL without Pan’s help – Neil. Hook says they need to talk to him.
Gold walks into the LB’s camp area and knocks out two sentries with magic. Someone rushes up on him and he grabs one of their poison spears and turns to defend himself, but it’s his son – Neil/Baelfire who looks just as shocked to see him. Gold thinks Neil is a vision just like Belle and Neil tells him he was shot but survived. Gold freaks out and says he’s dead and the vision is there to torment him. Neil convinces him he’s real. Gold says he’s ready to sacrifice his own life to save Henry.
Flashback to Gold who comes in and finds Bae gone from their house. He strides into a village and demands they return his son to him. He tracked him via magic there. The town leader tells him that many children were lured away by the Piper. No one saw his face only that he had on a patched cloak and led the children into the forest. Gold says he’ll get him.
Neil explains in short how he got there and Gold explains how he came. Neil asks if the LBs are dead and Gold says they’re just asleep. He takes a quiver of poison arrows but doesn’t want to kill any LBs if they don’t have to. Neil tells Gold there may be another way to save Henry without sacrificing any lives.
Neil tells him that through some seashells you can hear the ocean and through others, the ocean can hear you. He toots a shell and up comes a sea monster – actually it’s a huge squid. Gold and Neil grabs its tentacles and pull it into shore. He wants to use the giant squid’s ink to make a potion that will paralyze most magical creatures – Pan included. He plans to shoot Pan with an arrow dipped in squid ink to take him down (without killing him) so they can get Henry and get away.
Hook brings the group to a giant rock with ropes but needs help since he’s one handed. David pulls the ropes down to pull a rock out of the way and the ladies go first. Hook hangs back to ask David how long he plans on keeping his deteriorating health a secret. David says there’s no use telling them since it can’t be helped – he wants them to focus on saving Henry.
Once inside, Hook lights a lamp and they see it was Neil’s hideout in Neverland. Hook is hoping he left a clue as to how he managed to escape back to the real world.
Flashback to Gold watching from a rooftop. He hears the piper start playing and watches children climb out of windows entranced by the music. He follows a long and sees the children frolicking in the forest. He calls for Bae but can’t find him among the boys. They are wearing masks and he grabs them in turn, looking for his son. He finds the piper and breaks the flute – he takes off his hood and we see it’s Pan and apparently they know each other! Pan calls him Laddie – whoa – was Gold an LB at some point?
Pan mocks Gold as being all grown up and now the Dark One. He tells him he wants boys to take back with him – that visiting them isn’t enough. Gold says he won’t be able to take his son. Pan tells him the only boys who can hear the music of his pipe are those who feel unloved and have no place in the world. He tells him these boys are all lost and then says he’ll call his new collection of boys – Lost Boys. Gold says he’ll get Baelfire back and Pan says if Bae chooses to stay with him, he’ll let him go – all they have to do is ask.
Now, Henry mopes around the campfire while the LBs dance and frolic. Pan tells him the party is for him because he’s there to save magic, but Henry doesn’t feel like joining in and tells him he’s not like Pan or them. Pan plays his enchanted pipe and Henry hears nothing. He tells him it can only be heard by certain people and Henry asks who but Pan is interrupted by the LB that Baelfire escaped from.
Pan realizes Baelfire and Gold are reunited and re coming from Henry. The LB suggests they move and Pan says the real party is about to begin and they’re not going anywhere.
The group looks at Neil’s cave drawing and through his belongings looking for a clue. Hook reveals he knew Neil pretty well back in the day. She looks sad and he asks if she’s okay. David finds a coconut with holes in it and they wonder if he made a homemade colander. Emma snuffs the light and shines light through the coconut. It projects stars on the ceiling and Hook says it’s a map and Emma says to home.
The LBs party but then all fall asleep as Pan announces they have a guest. He sees Gold standing there and asks if he’s there to save Henry. He calls for Neil to come out and he does telling him his name isn’t Baelfire isn’t his name anymore. Pan mocks their family reunion. He shoots the arrow at Pan but he catches the arrow and tells Neil that he never learns. Neil tells him he actually did because this time he didn’t coat the tip. He starts to glow with magic and his time is limited. He tells Neil that Gold has tricked him because he didn’t tell him about the prophecy. He tells Neil that Gold is there to kill Henry, not save him…
Gold sets Henry down by the fire where he and Neil have escaped to on the other side of the island. Neil demands to know what Pan meant about the prophecy. Gold tries to put it off but Neil snaps and yells at him. Gold relents and tells him a seer told him a prophecy about a boy that would reunite him with Balefire and that boy would be his undoing. Neil realizes Gold was planning on killing the child to cheat fate and Gold says he was but that was before he knew it was his grandson. He tells him he didn’t come to Neverland to hurt Henry. He says he came to save Henry even if that meant sacrificing his own life. He asks Neil to trust him and he asks how he can.
Flashback to Gold watching the boys frolic in the forest. He can’t recognize him among the other boys. He finally figures out which is his son and Pan says Bae is happier with the other boys playing. He weaves magic around them and transports them back to their little house. Bae is angry when Gold tells him that he’s known Peter Pan since he was a boy and he tells him Pan betrayed him and went to Neverland and now he’s immortal. Gold tells him that Pan’s true nature is dark and repulsive and Bae says he can’t be worse than his own father. Bae tells him that he heard Pan offer him the deal to simply ask him to come home – he says all his father had to do was ask but he didn’t trust him to choose him. He stomps out the door of their cottage.
Now, Gold asks Neil what he has to do gain his trust. Neil tells him to give him the Dark One’s dagger. He says he know he wouldn’t leave home without it. Gold tells him he hid it – that his shadow took it. Neil says he can’t trust his father day to day. Gold insists he’s willing to die for Henry. He asks what if they get back and he’s with Belle and the only thing standing in the way of his happy ending is Henry. He says that his family is his happy ending and that he just needs to have faith in him.
They grasp hands and Neil tells him that he would dream about his father rescuing him but he never came. He asks how can he trust him with his son when he never showed faith with him. Gold looks at his hand and sees that Neil has hit him with the same squid stuff that knocked out Pan.
Gold tells him he can’t survive in the jungle without him and he says he’ll make do. He throws Henry over his shoulder and heads into the forest, telling his father good-bye.
Hook tell the group that he taught Neil to navigate by the stars but he can’t read the map because he also taught him that the key to piracy is secrecy and that it will be in code. Emma says that means the only person that can read it is dead. Emma is pissed and her parents try to comfort her. She cries and says she spent years thinking he never loved her and that she never stopped loving him. She heads of into the trees. Mary is upset too because she has no idea how to comfort her own daughter. Mary tells David that if he died she wouldn’t be able to move on. He tells her if something happened he would want her to move on and be happy and she tells him nothing bad will happen to him. They embrace.
Neil finds a campground he recognizes as Emma’s and lays Henry down. But then Pan and the LBs are there and they surround him. He tells Neil that Gold could have protected him from the jungle but then who would protect him from Gold. Pan says everyone is where he wants them. He implies that Neil didn’t escape Neverland, that Pan lets him go. They take off with Henry and he tells him the game is afoot and they’re resetting the board. They take off with Henry as Neil cries in anguish and promises to come for him.
Gold comes out of the spell and Belle tells him that Neil should have trusted him. She wants to know why he’s upset – she says that he has something to live for because his son is alive. He says the prophecy still remains and Henry is his undoing. She tells him that having something to live for – Neil – has brought back his terrible self-preservation instinct. She tells him bad habits can be broken and he tells her to go away – that he doesn’t want to talk and she’s gone.
Henry wakes in camp as the LBs are frolicking again. He asks what happened and Pan says he fell asleep. Henry says he heard his father calling for him. He says it must have been a dream because his father is dead. Pan says it makes sense to dream about things we lost and hope for. He says he just needs to find new things to dream about. Pan tells him that’s what he did. He says that Neverland was once a place where new dreams were born and Henry can bring that back to them. He plays a song for Henry, their guest of honor. Henry watches the boys frolic and hears the music and begins to join in! Oh no, Pan has him! He asks if Henry can hear the music now and he smiles and says yes and then dances away!!!
