Once Upon a Time S04E23: Operation Mongoose Part 2 (Full Reaction)

Operation Mongoose Part Two- Thank once more for this phenomenal reaction from you, my dear friend!! I really loved watching this beautiful two part finale again with you!! And I truly appreciate your insights. :) First... I absolutely love seeing Henry fight to help all of his family and loved ones in the way they have always helped him. Taught him. Henry most certainly repays them all for being so good for him, and it's so beautiful. Part Two of Operation Mongoose is definitely among my favorite episodes within this arc, as well as throughout the entire show!! I absolutely love this second half of the finale, and I was so excited to watch your reaction for it! You certainly didn't disappoint me. I really, really had a lot of fun watching it. :) Now... In my opinion, I think that it would have been really amazing to see an entire season, or at least half of this season be an arc where our characters are all trapped in Isaac's storybook... Heroes and Villains such as they are for this incredible two part finale!! I think it could have been absolutely incredible if the creators and writers had done so. Don't get me wrong... I love the Queens of Darkness arc overall just as it is, and I do love Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula as villains as well, along with Gold being a major villain throughout this entire season!! However, I really love this two part finale, and seeing these characters in an all new way upon them being written into a twisted version of the original storybook. I feel like so much could be done with Isaac's alternate world. I think it would be amazing had they even created a one season spinoff with all of these characters from within Isaac's storybook. I would love it! But... I am a fanfiction writer, and I have written many fictions for Once Upon a Time because it is my favorite show. And I have plans to write my own full length story centered around our characters within this alternate world inside of Isaac's storybook. It's gonna be a blast to write! :) And now, as for my favorite moments throughout this episode... First... I love, love, love the beautiful scene between a powerless, Saviorless Emma and the cowardly Deckhand Hook. I love that Emma has her memories of who she really is intact, yet that she is no longer the Savior so that she wouldn't have the power to save everyone. And I love that Killian has become Deckhand Hook like Black Beard calls him, and that he has become a coward like Rumplestiltskin has always been known to be, especially back when Hook and Rumple first meet. It's so very sad to see Killian the polar opposite of who he really is. A man who is always confident in his fighting skills and more so... who is a hero unafraid to face the dangers they come against head on. However, I really love seeing Emma teaching Killian how to fight with a sword, like I'm certain Killian in their true reality must have taught her during their time together. Absolutely beautiful. But more so... I absolutely love that Emma now does for him, as Killian has done for her, as she works to remind him of the strong and loving man she knows he truly is, and she gives Killian the courage to be more than just a cowardly deckhand. I love seeing how close they are to one another, and the looks they show as they stare into one another's eyes. Beautiful. :) Another of my favorite scenes... I love, love, love the battle that takes place between Killian and Evil Charming and Evil Snow, after Killian finds the courage to fight for Emma and Henry. I love Killian's words to Emma... "If I can help return things to how they were meant to be, then what happens to me here won't matter, will it? Now go. Save your boy." So beautiful, and it shows us that Killian and Emma are absolutely meant to be, as they are both heroes no matter what happens to them. Tragically... This battle between them ends with Killian's death, as Evil Charming stabs him in the back while David states, "I never did like pirates". This phrase is perfect for David to say and perfectly in character with who David would be if he were evil, given that he has always hated pirates, especially Hook back when they first started getting to know one another throughout season two and throughout the first half of the Neverland arc in season three. Until of course... David and Hook now have come to be really close friends. And I love the look of sheer fear and despair on Emma's face upon seeing Killian die right in front of her, and her being powerless to save him just before Henry urges Emma to run off with him so they can escape. My heart completely shatters in this moment when Killian is killed. Of course... I suspected that somehow everything would be righted, and that Killian would come back somehow. However, this moment still really scared me when I first watched it, and I cried like Emma did. I cry every time I watch this moment because I am such a crybaby when it comes to the shows and movies I love. Putting that aside... I absolutely love that Killian makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect Emma and Henry. It's really beautiful, and once again... it shows just how much Killian truly does love Emma, as well as Henry very deeply, no matter how his memories might be twisted and no matter what world he finds himself in. Fabulous! :) Another favorite moment... I love when Emma and Killian are first brought together inside the tower after Henry frees his mother, and seeing Killian completely in awe of Emma's beauty and at a loss for words when Henry introduces them. So adorable! They are so adorable!!! :) Another of my favorite moments... I love when after everyone returns to their true selves once they are freed from the storybook thanks to Henry, I love seeing Emma run back to her parents' loft to make sure Killian is alive again, then seeing her run into Killian's arms with so much relief upon seeing him alive. This moment between them is so beautiful. My only disappointment with it... I am so sad that Emma still isn't able to bring herself to tell Killian she loves him in spite of her words earlier to Regina, because her fear once again gets the better of her. I understand why, but it's still sad. And you can see when Killian's smile drops a little and his eyes become sad, that he knows what she was about to say to him, only to feel crushed a little when she fails to be able to do so. Like he's afraid maybe she doesn't love him as he deeply longs for her to. Nonetheless... This moment is still beautiful, and I love it!! :) Now... I love the scene when Henry boards the Jolly Roger to find Killian so he can enlist him to help him save his mother from the tower across the ocean. I love seeing Killian as Deckhand Hook, as he acts cowardly especially upon Black Beard's arrival, who happens to be Killian's Captain, much like the real Black Beard would love. And because of this... I love that Henry uses the skills he's learned about sailing, the Jolly Roger, and sword fighting, all from Killian in order to knock Black Beard unconscious for Killian. Next... I love that Hook and Henry use the Wookie Prisoner gag... an idea Henry takes from Star Wars: A New Hope, in order to break into Emma's prison so they can save her. Brilliant and just like Henry to do. Because it's been made known that the original Star Wars Trilogy are his favorite movies. And it's just like Hook to be confused by the movie references too. After all... he's never watched a movie before. I love it!! :) I love their fight to escape from the tower aboard the Jolly Roger, as they escape from the guard that guarded its sole prisoner, who turns out to be Lily as she transforms into a dragon to try to kill them. I love that Emma and Deckhand Hook work together to take her down with a chain shot. And I also really like the small detail that Hook is made allergic to rum too, given that the true Hook loves his rum. Very funny. As for the scenes between Rumple and Isaac, as well as Belle... I like that the Author comes to Rumplestiltskin to try to stop Henry and Regina, after Evil Snow fails to stop them. It makes perfect sense that Isaac would come to Rumple because of how selfish he knows Rumple can be. But I still don't care much for the changes in Rumple's character, and I really don't like the lack of changes in Belle's character aside from her being a mother. She could have been written a little differently too, I think. Although... She is meant to be a part of Rumple's happy ending. So, it makes sense that she wouldn't be any different. Light One Rumplestiltskin is better in this second half of this two part finale, than he was in the first half. However, I still just don't really care much for how his alternate version is written. With the exception of Rumplestiltskin once again giving into his nasty habit of giving into his dark side upon his instinct for survival kicking in, as we know Rumple has a nasty habit of doing. I love how his nasty habit brings him back into being the Rumple outside of this twisted storybook, as we know Rumple always does from season three's episode, titled... Nasty Habits. And I don't just mean his longing to physically survive, but to also hold onto the life given to him through the Author's powers. It's maddening for sure, because we want for Rumple to just be good, but I still love the dark side of him as well. And certainly, so much more than this weird, twisted side of him inside Isaac's storybook. Now, another of my favorite moments... I absolutely love, love, love the scene between Emma and Regina after Killian's death, as Emma finally admits how she loves Killian when she pleads with Regina to help her and Henry break the Author's power so they can return to who they truly are and find her own happy ending with him!! I love the tears in Emma's eyes and the heartbreak in her voice as she shows her emotions, allowing herself to be truly vulnerable in a rare moment. This scene is absolutely beautiful. Sadly, like I mention above... Emma is still unable to tell Killian how she really feels about him, until the very end. But first... I absolutely love that it is Henry who sets everything right, when he becomes the new Author, since Isaac stopped being Author the moment he wrote himself his own happy ending, which is forbidden of the Author's. Henry becoming the Author is very fitting to his character because he's been the protector of the storybook ever since the beginning of this show in season one, and knows every story written by heart. And I really love seeing him become the hero he has longed to be for so long. This is brilliant! And then... I really enjoy seeing everyone celebrating at Granny's, and I love the moment between Emma, Killian, David, and Mary Margaret, when Emma's parents apologize to Killian for killing him while trapped inside the storybook. And more so... I love that Killian teases them, especially David about holding this over them for years to come. Afterwards, Emma talks with Lily, who tells Emma that she hopes to find her father. It's interesting to learn that Maleficent conceived Lily while she and the father were in dragon form, and therefore doesn't know who he actually is. I like it. I also love the scene between David, Mary Margaret, and Isaac when the Charmings appear just in time at the town line as Isaac is about to escape from Storybrooke, in order to arrest him for all he's done to them. And I especially love Mary Margaret's words to him about how she knows what it's like to feel the darkness creeping into her heart and how villains are nothing more than someone who should be pitied. How villains seek to make themselves happy at the expense of others. I also love how David mocks Isaac about how he's no longer the famous author he was in his own happy ending. Now... Isaac is powerless and under arrest. A villain who has just gotten his comeuppance. And it's oh so satisfying. :) Meanwhile... Gold is continuing to die now that he and the Author have failed, while the Darkness in side of him is consuming him. And Isaac runs off in order to avoid being arrested and at the Dark One's full wrath should he come out with Gold's death. I like the moment Belle first scolds Gold for his actions, until he collapses. Even though I hate how she then reminds Gold that she still loves him in spite of everything Gold has done. I mean... we know she does, of course. It's just so frustrating. Their relationship is frustrating. Especially in this season. Belle then runs to Granny's to get the heroes for help. And they enlist the Apprentice to help pull the darkness from Rumplestiltskin once and for all. He succeeds in doing so, but unfortunately, the hat is unable to contain such great and dark power, and therefore... the Darkness nearly consumes the Apprentice until Emma uses her light magic to save him. Unfortunately, without a tether, the Darkness escapes out into the night. And now... The Darkness suddenly attacks Regina and threatens to consume her as it is drawn to the former Evil Queen and her darkened heart. Robin attempts to help her, only to be thrown back. Tragically, the only way to save Regina is for Emma to also make the ultimate sacrifice like Killian had done for Emma and Henry within Isaac's storybook, as she uses the Dark One dagger in order to draw the Darkness away from Regina and into herself. But first... Emma pleads with her parents to save her once more like they had done before, only this time as heroes, which I really love. More so... I love, love, love the moment between Emma and Killian as he runs up to her and pleads with her not to make this sacrifice, to which Emma finally tells Killian she loves him. This brief moment between them is so beautiful and sadly, it ends in tragedy when Emma at last vanishes along with the Darkness, leaving behind only the Dark One dagger now with Emma Swan engraved upon it. Amazing! It makes a lot of sense for Emma to become the new Dark One, because ever since season one, Emma has been the Savior, destined to bring back everyone's happy endings. And upon finally accepting her role as the Savior at last in the end of season three's two part finale, Emma vows to make sure everyone including Regina, finds their happy endings. So, by Emma sacrificing her life to save Regina's so she can stay good and with her True Love... It just makes so much sense. And Emma is the most powerful of them all because of all of her light magic. She is not only the Savior, but the product of True Love thanks to having been born of Snow White and Prince Charming. Plus... Through the entire Queens of Darkness arc, it has been hinted that Emma could very well become a villain upon her heart becoming darkened, as Rumple and the Queens of Darkness all work together to try to accomplish this goal. However, Emma manages to refrain from giving into her own darkness. Now... Emma takes ia darkness of a different kind into herself and is about to become a villain nonetheless, but of her own free will. And I just absolutely love this twist. Emma still becomes dark, yet in a way no one ever expects. It's fantastic! And with what's to come in season five... I just really love it all the more!!! :) Overall... This episode is just phenomenal, and I absolutely love it!!! So, thank you so much once again for your reaction for it, Reds!!! I really had so much fun watching these episodes with you! :) I can't wait for your reactions for season five to begin!!! I absolutely love season five so much, and what's to come is absolutely phenomenal!! Now, I can't say for certain which season is my favorite season throughout the entire show. It is extremely difficult for me because I love each season so, so much for various reasons. However, I would have to say that season five as a whole is just absolutely phenomenal! It also has one of this show's biggest twists that no one sees coming. A twist that I feel is this show's biggest and most phenomenal twists ever!! My absolute favorite twist for sure. And I am so excited for you to see it and all that's to come!! It's absolutely brilliant! Oh... And as for the episodes throughout all of season four that I love the most, my favorites are... Rocky Road, The Apprentice, Smash the Mirror Part One and Smash the Mirror Part Two, Fall, Shattered Sight, Heroes and Villains, Poor Unfortunate Soul, Sympathy For the De Vil, and Operation Mongoose Part One and Operation Mongoose Part Two. I would love to know what your overall favorite episodes throughout all of season four are too, Reds. And anyone else who may wish to answer as well. Please let me know! Thank you very much, my dear friend!! Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum