CityGal

WISHES FLY WHEN ALADDIN’S LAMP FALLS INTO UNEXPECTED HANDS,
AS GOLD AND BELLE WORK TOGETHER TO DISCOVER AN UNIMAGINABLE DANGER FACING THEIR SON, AND OUR HEROES UNCOVER A WEAPON CAPABLE OF WOUNDING THE EVIL QUEEN, ON THE WINTER FINALE OF ABC’S ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’

“Wish You Were Here” — When she learns that our heroes possess a weapon capable of defeating her, the Evil Queen steals Aladdin’s magic lamp from Jasmine and makes a wish that could sideline the Savior forever. Unwilling to wake Snow while Emma is missing, David works with Hook and Henry to hold the Evil Queen at bay in Storybrooke, as Regina goes on a rogue rescue mission. Meanwhile, Gold and Belle face a surprising danger to their newborn son, on the winter finale of “Once Upon a Time,” SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 (8:00–9:00 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network.*


“Once Upon a Time” stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O’Donoghue as Hook, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills, Rebecca Mader as the Wicked Witch/Zelena and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.

Guest starring are Lee Arenberg as Leroy/Grumpy, Keegan Connor Tracy as Mother Superior/Blue Fairy, Beverley Elliott as Granny, Karen David as Princess Jasmine, Deniz Akdeniz as Aladdin, Gabe Khouth as Mr. Clark/Sneezy, David Avalon as Doc, Faustino Di Bauda as Sleepy, Mig Macario as Bashful, Geoff Gustafson as Stealthy and Giles Matthey as Gideon.

“Wish You Were Here” was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz and directed by Ron Underwood.


ABC

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IrishWristWatch

My thoughts:

I loved the portrait of Bae/Neal and the tribute to him!!!!

I LOL when Aladdin said “ew” when the EQ caressed him, to me he captured the spirit of the cartoon Aladdin

That was genius when Regina figured out the wishes were HERS too

Snowing “old age” makeup was very believable!

David had 2 more wishes, why didn’t he used them?

Best cliffhanger! Robin Hood!!! I squealed when I saw him!!!!

I wish all the epis were this good, this one had just the right mix of angst, adventure and humour IMO - well done! Looking forward to March!

Miss Cam

I really, really, really, really did not like that. Really.

linnki

Why not, Cam? I agree with Irish, I enjoyed the episode. There were a couple of dumb things, but, overall, I thought it was good.

Gwen107

I liked it a lot too with all the little hints to the Pilot, Robin coming back, Rumbelle maybe reaching a truce because of Gideon for now, Henry the knight, Rumplestiltskin as great as we know him in his ftl role in the wish world.... The only thing I would change was Snow and Charming's deaths, but I think it was a plot point they created so that in the second episode Emma and Regina will be chased and wanted and they have to adapt to this too. But they could have done this differently, make them wanted for something else. But other than this it was one of the best 3 episodes of this season and the last so far for me.

Miss Cam

First off, I found it hugely rushed, and the characters felt like they were acting certain wyas for the sake of plot rather than because of who they are.

The AU was just... An Emma raised by Snow and Charming would not have been like that. And then they had Regina actually murder alternate versions of two people she consider family and then Emma thank her for it seconds later. (A&E confirmed the wish made this an actual place. This wasn't a dream Emma was having.) That I found rather horrifying. Not to mention the fact that they wasted a chance to show a what-if scenario of Emma actually growing up with her parents on a rushed plot like this that became all about Regina instead. The Charming family has been sidelined so much over the seasons this is another depressing example.

Then there was the fact that they had Charming actually turn down the opportunity to to wake his wife with a wish despite how desperately they both miss each other - so now we're still stuck with sleeping curse. With my luck it'll be for most of the season.

I just found the whole thing so discouraging in so many ways it made me actually want to stop watching the show. I... just don't know.

obisgirl

There was a lot of stuff in the wish world that didn't make sense. I refuse to believe Charming and Snow would not have taught Emma as a princess how to be brave, fearless and stand up for what she believes in.

The way the Evil Queen was dealt with felt like a cop-out. The only thing Regina needs to do once she gets back to Storybrooke now is to release the viper from her cage and fireball it. Evil Queen is gone.

And then, what would Regina learn from that? Nothing! At least with the Author storyline, Regina had a revelation that she didn't need the author to find her happy ending.

The way this Evil Queen storyline was resolved has zero character growth. It's just taking the easy way out of a failed storyline.

Meliana

I'm surprised you think the EQ's storyline is dealt with. We all know a particular storyline doesn't have to be resolved by a particular episode, as we have a one-season arc. I think it's more likely to be on the back-burner for a few episodes whilst a new threat rolls into town.

Meliana

My thoughts on this episode:

My main problem was that Netflix uploaded the episode wrong so that I couldn't turn off the subtitles.

- So where have Aladdin and Jasmine gone? i wonder how their story will be resolved.

- I loved Killian and David working together, but David is clearly still bugged by Killian living with Emma, I hope he gets over this in a future episode.

- The wish-world was interesting. The fact that Emma had met Baelfire made no sense, but then it was a weird wish-world, so ok. It didn't bother me that the Charmings were killed as they weren't acting like Emma's parents as others have said, the whole world was geared to making it so Emma didn't want to be the Saviour anymore, an effective prison, but totally unreal or true to life. Emma was like Killian in the AU world of season 4, and like him her true self shone through under the right conditions. They had to die to force her to realise that.

- I totally knew that Gideon/Morpheus was manipulating his parents, it annoyed me last episode that Belle took what he was saying without any suspicion at all. So now I wonder what is his motivation, and what is the Black Fairy's motivation?

- A good episode for Rumbelle, and I'm glad to see it. It's great they've got such a good storyline this season.

- Robin! Well I knew he was coming back months ago, and I suspected he would turn up in this episode. Looks like it was David's wish that caused it, though. Even if that was not clear in the episode.

- I have to say I really wanted Hook to turn up in the wish-world; still I'm glad that Emma and Regina didn't make it back, I'd like to see more of this world and the people in it. They will have to go on an adventure in order to get home, and to interact with Robin too.

TMK06

So Black Fairy was behind it all - or some of it anyway. I hope they have a good plan for what is to come next. Still feels a bit random but we'll see. At least I hope this explained the adult son in Belle's dreams.

Seamstress90

I think the Black Fairy has been lurking around since the first season. I bet she's the "little fairy" who told August about Rumple and the dagger. Also, in 1x03 (and 3x22 too) Snow carries around a little bottle of fairy dust that she was going to use on the EQ to turn her into a bug. She said she got it from a dark fairy (A backstory I'd really like to see!). Sounds like the Black Fairy to me. I think she's been keeping an eye on the characters/events of the show since she was confronted by Rumple.

CityGal

^ wow, hadn't considered all those instances.

I'm not sure with the one short scene between her and Rumple if that is what the story was hinting at. Although it is not out of the realm of possibilities, since many fans already believe in the shadiness of Blue Fairy. Having it be the often mentioned Black Fairy in the series wouldn't be a far reach.

obisgirl

Emma meeting Neal made no sense at all. Everything is a domino effect on Once.

Rumple becomes the Dark One to protect his son, he needs the curse to get to Baelfire, so why then if there's no curse at all and presumably, Baelfire never falls through the portal, then that would mean he would age normally and die a normal death.

I mean, let's also not forget that Rumple becoming the Dark One and Baelfire lived 300 years before Emma was even born, so there's no way Bae would even live long enough to even meet Emma and then later sire, Henry because Neal would have been dead for centuries.

Therefore, Henry would not have even been born.

Meliana

I think what you have to remember is this is not an alterative timeline nor is it a 'what if Emma grew up in the EF' realm; it's a realm created by a wish and the EQ to trap Emma and prevent her from being the Saviour, therefore it needs no internal logic, or to pay attention to timelines. Emma's personality was also changed by it just as Killian's was changed in the AU created by Rumple. That is why her parents aren't the people we recognise, why Emma wasn't herself etc. I think the only real thing there is Robin, and we haven't found out why that is just yet.

Seamstress90

I thought it made sense, actually. I got the impression that the curse was going to happen in the Wish AU, but Snowing managed to defeat the EQ before she had a chance to cast it. And Rumple was locked up for 30 years instead of a few months. He became the DO like he did in the "real" world, and Bae ended up in the Neverland. And as we know, in reality he ended up in the Land Without Magic at some point after the curse was cast, became Neal, met Emma and they had Henry. In the Wish AU, Bae went to the EF (from NL) instead and met Emma there. Because even if Emma didn't want to be the savior, she would always want Henry. She'd never wish him away, thus her meeting Neal in the AU needed to happen, whether it makes sense or not.