Let’s talk about Once Upon a Time- Quiet Minds

Less than halfway through this episode and I was already an emotional mess. Like, that scene with Hook and Neal in he hospital? How perfect was that? Like Hook, I tend to forget that they spent that time together on the Jolly Roger and that Hook watched over him for quite a bit of time. What sits on my mind is the time they vied for Emma at the same time. Hook hugged Neal. Neal called him Killian. And my heart melted. And it was broken by the end of this episode.
but before we get to that, Robin and Regina finally met in Storybrooke. He almost shot her with an arrow at the farmhouse and she thought he was a flying monkey. Whatever, I love them. Outlaw Queen for the win. As they searched the farmhouse for any trace of the Witch, Robin noted that Regina didn’t seem to live up to her Evil Queen legacy. And then he found some whiskey and offered to share a glass, revealing his lion tattoo. The one that Tink pointed out to Regina all that time ago when she showed her who her true love was. As you may expect, the reveal was quit surprising to Regina and she reacted by… running away.
After Neal was discovered and brought to the hospital, after his moment with Hook, he went out to the woods to try and find his father. The team found out in last week’s episode that Rumple was alive and had escaped the Wicked Witch’s creepy lair, and this week Emma and David went to the woods to find him.
When Neal and Emma found each other there, they were able to have a good moment. After a year apart, Neal was able to let Emma go despite the fact that he will always care about (love) her. It was nice to see that they could be good even if the weren’t together. Alas, it was short lived.
Neal had a strange triangle shape burned on his hand and when Belle found out what it was, she also came to find that Neal should be dead. He wasn’t, though, because Rumple was living inside of him due to what that Witch did to them back in the Enchanted Forest. Neal begged Emma to use her magic and separate the two of them, even though it meant that he would die. She did it and Rumple, much more sane, appeared as Neal died. Before perishing, though, he told Emma to be happy and that he loved his Papa for teaching him what true sacrifice is. The good thing that came out of Neal’s death was that it brought Rumpled back and he was able to tell them who the Wicked Witch is. Zelena.
Zelena who was back at the loft with Mary Margaret. Zelena who escaped through the bathroom window before Emma and David could get back and confront her. Zelena who held the Dark One’s dagger and got to Rumple in the woods and led him back to his cage. Freaking Zelena.
Another good thing about Neal’s death was that it led Emma to begin telling Henry the truth. After revealing to Neal that she didn’t want Henry to get his memories back and telling David that once the curse was broken, they were going back to New York, she told Henry that his father was a hero. He lived as a good man and died a hero. All Neal wanted was to die to help Emma save herself, Henry, and the town. And now that everyone knows who Zelena really is, I think they’re one step closer to reaching the end result that Neal wanted. I, for one, will miss Neal.