Once Upon a Time: The Stranger

This was a great episode of Once Upon a Time, and it almost made me cry.

Henry finally finds the new story that August put in the book. The story is about Pinocchio.

Pinocchio (still a wooden boy) and Geppetto are in the sea during a storm and are almost swallowed by a whale. Pinocchio risks his life to save Geppetto and the Blue Fairy turns Pinocchio into a real boy. She tells Pinocchio "Be brave, truthful and unselfish. So long as you do that you will always remain a real boy."

Later, the Blue Fairy tells Geppetto about the curse and tells him that he's the only one who can save them. He must build a wardrobe from the wood of an enchanted tree, so Snow White can escape with her baby, Emma. Geppetto says he will do it only if Pinocchio can be saved through the wardrobe along with Emma. Geppetto tells Pinocchio that he has to be the one to take care of Emma in the new land. He has to make sure Emma believes in 28 years so she can save them all.

When Geppetto puts Pinocchio in that wardrobe and they say good-bye, it broke my heart. Especially when Geppetto opens the wardrobe again and Pinocchio is gone.

And then in Storybrooke, when August sees his father and his father doesn't know him, it just broke my heart even more.

Pinocchio lands in our world and just a few minutes later, Emma appears in the tree. They both end up in an orphanage, and Pinocchio isn't treated kindly. When Pinocchio/August is given a chance to leave the orphanage, he takes it, leaving baby Emma behind. Poor August is suffering now for poor choices he made as a little boy.

Now that Regina can't keep Mary Margaret away from each other using Kathryn or framing Mary Margaret for Kathryn's murder, she's going to try to seduce David and keep them apart that way. David isn't falling for it. I hope he stays away from her.

August takes Emma out of Storybrooke to the diner where she was found as a baby by a seven year old little boy. He tells her that he was the boy who found her. That he found her in a tree after he came from the land of fairy tales into this world through the same tree. That he is Pinocchio. Emma doesn't believe him. She can't even see that August's leg is turning to wood.

August shirked his duty of caring for Emma when she was a baby. He was selfish. Now he's paying for that, and he may not be a real boy for long. Well, maybe it's time he became a real man. *wink*

August goes to his father's shop and asks him if he can work with him. It's sweet to see August wanting to be with Marco/Geppetto. He says he feels like "fixing things." What a great line with a double meaning.

Emma decides that if she can't get Henry away from Regina legally, she'll just take him away. She picks Henry up that night, and they're on their way out of Storybrooke. Or are they?

Observations:

Doc is attending Snow White when she has her baby. Can she trust a doctor who got his degree from a pic axe?

How many of you wanted so much for Emma to see August's leg as it really was? What will it take for her to finally believe?

Quotes:

Mary Margaret: I don't care what it looks like, as long as it keeps Regina out.

August: You're our only hope.
Emma: Then you're all screwed.