- Title: Once Upon a Time – Operation Mongoose
- wiki: link
“It’s time for a world where up is down, where villains can have happy endings.”
Once Upon a Time‘s season finale turns its world upside down as the Author (Patrick Fischler) finishes his rewrite returning the heroes and villains to the Enchanted Forrest but in vastly different roles. Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) is now a famous knight. Regina (Lana Parrilla) is a plucky woodland thief. Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) is the evil queen. And the only one remaining in Storybrooke is Henry (Jared Gilmore) who forces himself into the Author’s new stories and struggles to find both his mothers and put right what the Author has done.
Memorable mostly for showcasing the characters in new roles, the season finale also plays on large ongoing themes of the show. As the name implies, “Operation Mongoose” centers around Regina claiming her happiness with a little help from a deranged boy she doesn’t know and a Savior freed from her tower by a spineless pirate and the son who only she recognizes. And, in true Savior fashion, it falls on Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to save her loved ones when the darkness locked in the dagger is released by setting up next year’s big arc with Emma Swan as the new Dark One.
Henry is the catalyst of the entire episode, forcing himself into the story and slowly convincing Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) and Regina about what needs to be done. In doing so, and playing a large part in the Author’s defeat, Henry finds his destiny as the new Author (although it’s a little unclear how he’ll perform the duties of his job without a quill). With a dark Emma, Henry the Author, Regina and Robin (Sean Maguire) together at last, and a curious Lily (Agnes Bruckner) sticking around Storybrooke looking for her father, and the search for the Sorcerer about to begin, next season should be quite an adventure.
