Who is Lacey?

Belle's amnesia has been a real downer.  Her not remembering her name and not believing people who say they are her friends is getting old.  Not to mention her spilling her guts to the stranger Greg Mendell (who is looking for proof of magic) or keeping a clue in her bag to the location of Rumple's dagger.  This storyline needs to be over, like yesterday.  If only she could have true-love's kiss, the spell would be broken.

Luckily, the creators of the show have said that Rumple will help Belle get her memory back this season.  Hooray!  But when?  The next few episodes have a lot of good stuff coming up - Snow's mom, Cora's backstory, a death or two, Pinocchio trying to redeem himself, and a flashback to the beginning of the curse. All signs point to episode 19 "Lacey" as the episode we have been waiting for.  I saw this on twitter last night - https://twitter.com/robertcarlyle_/status/306235771310968833/photo/1 .  A clue?  "19" is the episode number, "waiting to be kissed" probably means that Belle needs to be kissed by Rumple for the curse to break, and that picture!  Beauty and the Beast ballroom scene?  Can't wait!  April needs to get here, now!

So that brings us to the the question - who is Lacey?  I really have no idea, but my theory is that before Belle's curse is broken, Lacey is what she decides to call herself.  Other ideas are floating around on the internet - a city in New Jersey, something to do with the Sheriff of Nottingham, but I am sticking with my theory for now.  Can't wait!  Rumbelle forever!!!!!!!

Baelfire Finally Revealed!

"Manhattan" was a great episode that answered many of our questions.  How did Rumple hurt his leg?  Self-inflicted injury because of a seer's prediction.  Why did Milah stop loving Rumple?  While they loved each other at one time, Milah couldn't stand that her husband didn't die honorably in the Ogre War.  Was Rumple always a coward?  No, he used to be brave.  Will Henry ever find out the truth about his father?  Yep, though he was disappointed in Emma for lying to him.  Who is Baelfire?  Of course, it was Neal Cassidy, former thief and Emma's baby-daddy.

Lots of answers.  Some surprises.  I was really surprised that Rumple had no idea that Henry was his grandson.  I thought Rumple always knew everyone's business.  I wondered if Rumple was surprised that his son was a forty-year-old man.  Was he expecting Bae to still be a child?  Hey kid, we are only ten years apart now!  I really liked the reunion between Henry and Bae.  It was cute, though it was heartbreaking for Rumple that Bae wanted to spend time with Henry instead of with him.

Will Emma and Neal reconcile?  I really hope they do.  They obviously loved each other years ago.  There is a complication though - according to TVLine, Neal is engaged.  There is a character named Tamara who will be recurring this season and possibly next season.  Tamara will probably be accompanying Neal when he comes to Storybrooke.  Would Neal come to Storybrooke just to be with Henry or will he reconcile with his father as well?  Rumple really needs something good to happen to him because his life really sucks right now.  Not only was there a prophecy that probably Henry will get between him and Bae, but Bae doesn't really want anything to do with dear old dad.  And of course, there is the little matter of his girlfriend Belle being in the hospital with amnesia.  And if that isn't bad enough, the Villain Squad is looking for his dagger to take control of the Dark One.  Rumple could use some love about now.

Mama Drama

We have already met so many characters on "Once Upon a Time" and we are about to meet a few more.  It is hard to imagine some of these characters as anything other than their present selves or their Fairy Tale Land counterparts, but we are going to see some of our favorites as children and young adults.  Once upon a time, Rumple was a young boy and had a father.  Snow was a little princess with a beautiful mother.  Cora was once young and unmarried, perhaps with a family secret or two.

Episodes 15 and 16 are called "The Queen Is Dead" and "The Miller's Daughter", and I believe they are a continuation of the same story (a two-parter).  In "The Queen Is Dead", we will flashback to a time when Snow was a child, before her father married Regina, and she had a beautiful mother named Queen Eva.  There have been rumors that Queen Eva may be related to another queen we may know, a certain Queen of Hearts.  We know that Snow's mother died when she was a child, and it is a save bet that we will see how and why she dies in this episode.  Sisterly feud maybe?

The second half will focus on young Cora, played by the fab Rose McGowen.  The creators of the show have made it no secret that Cora was the miller's daughter who had to guess Rumpelstiltskin's name in order to keep her baby (probably Regina).  If you want to learn more about that fairy tale, here is the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin.  This may also be the episode we learn about Cora and Rumple's relationship and why he taught her magic.  We might want to prepare ourselves, because that relationship may have been romantic at one point (the horror!).  I hope we get a definite answer about who Regina's father is as well.

Both episodes should be really interesting and I can't wait!

A Little Wooden Puppet Returns

Besides the flashback in "Tallahassee", we have seen neither hide nor hair of August W. Booth this season.  In the season one finale, August turned back to wood and when his father Gepetto was told where his son was, August had somehow vanished.  Where in the wide world of Storybrooke could little Pinocchio be hiding?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I have a feeling that the big blue-eyed wooden puppet crossed the town line.  Remember, since he was in our world before the curse happened, he will not lose his memories.  The question is - is he walking around as a man or as a puppet?

Eion Bailey was a main cast member for the second half of season one and then suddenly disappeared.  Was this the writers choice or his choice?  We know that Eion filmed a pilot that did not get picked up.  So, couldn't he come back to Storybrooke?  Or is his story over?  It has been confirmed that August will appear again.  The very awesome Vancity Filming caught the actor in action filming scenes with Neal Cassidy in NYC (really filmed in Vancouver).  And, episode 18 is titled "Selfless, Brave, and True" which is a play on what the blue fairy told Pinocchio he should be.  Maybe this is an August/Pinocchio-centric episode.  Could this also be the character's final episode?  Because the actor is rarely on the show, I hope I am wrong but I really have a feeling that the character could be killed off in this episode.  The character may no longer be needed.  We know his character's history and how he wronged Emma.  He was even a possible love interest for Emma, but with Neal and Hook in the picture, he is no longer needed for that.  The only thing left is for him to reunite with his father Gepetto.  I bet that will happen in this episode.  When I find out anything more, I will let you know.  :)

Manhattan

I am really excited to see the new episode "Manhattan" this Sunday.  Really excited.  Will some of our questions actually be answered?

This will be a Rumple-centric episode, which are always good.  Emma, Henry, and Rumple will be in NYC trying to track down Rumple's son Baelfire.  SPOILER ALERT!!!!  In the preview for this episode, we saw Emma chasing down a man in the street and looks startled when she discovers who he is.  The man that she runs in to is Neal Cassidy, aka Henry's dad.  The real question is - is Neal also Baelfire?  We won't know for sure until Sunday, but I am 99.999% certain that they are one and the same.  If they are the same person, did Rumple know?  Did he ask Emma to accompany him because he knew they had and history?  Did he know that Henry was his grandson?  Is it Sunday yet????

The other really cool thing about this episode will be the flashbacks.  As far as I know, these will be the earliest flashbacks we have seen, focusing on Bae's birth.  Below, I have included part of the press release for this episode.  We see Neal of course, but we also see Milah.  There are some pictures of a time when Rumple and Milah appeared to *gasp* like each other!  From what I understand, Rumple is going off to fight in the Ogre Wars (presumably where he hurts his leg) and returns to find Milah either pregnant or with a new baby.  We may even see why Rumple and Milah's relationship started to sour.  Another guest star also caught my eye: David Quinlan as father.  I think this man is playing Rumple's father, when Rumple was a child.  Wouldn't that be cool?  I never really thought of Rumple ever being a child, but it could be really enlightening.

This episode won't be all fun and games.  Cora and the rest of Team Evil will be trying to track down Rumple's most treasured possession - the dagger that controls the Dark One.  Oh dear.  Can you imagine these three having Rumple for their personal slave?  I have a feeling that even if they do get the dagger, Rumple will outsmart them as he always does.


WHILE MR. GOLD GOES IN SEARCH OF SON BAE IN NEW YORK, CORA ATTEMPTS TO TRACK DOWN ONE OF RUMPLESTILTSKIN'S MOST TREASURED POSSESSIONS, ON ABC'S "ONCE UPON A TIME"
"Manhattan" - While Mr. Gold, Emma and Henry go in search of Gold's son Bae in New York, Cora, Regina and Hook attempt to track down one of Rumplestiltskin's most treasured possessions. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin realizes his destiny while fighting in the Ogres War, on "Once Upon a Time," SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) 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 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, Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood/Ruby, and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.
Guest starring are Barbara Hershey as Cora, Michael Raymond-James as Neal Cassidy, Rachel Shelley as Milah, Ethan Embry as Greg Mendell, Spencer Drever as boy, Brighid Fleming as little girl, Shannon Lucio as Seer, David Quinlan as father, Primo Allon as Gadling, Mackenzie Gray as Hob, Toby Levins as sergeant and Aaron Brooks as soldier.

If you want more hints about what happens in this episode, check out this link to an interview with the always awesome Jane Espenson:

http://portalsofperception.tumblr.com/post/42897408775/just-listened-to-barbara-barnetts-radio-show

Where in the World is Baelfire?

I remember reading an article where the producers said that Baelfire would be revealed this season.  Well, yay!  Is it too early though?  We are only halfway through season 2 and they have already broken the curse and now we will meet a person who was the reason that curse was created.  We know that Rumple has been looking for his son for hundreds of years.  Why would he think that his son is still alive?  We know that he is because he showed up on the magic globe from Cora, but really, how did Rumple know?  Do they share some sort of psychic connection?

When we do finally meet Baelfire, how does that change the show?  Obviously, Rumple will be very happy (or at least he will be once Belle remembers who the heck she is).  Will it be a happy reunion between father and son?  Does Bae know Rumple killed his mom?  I kindof have a feeling that Rumple and Bae are going to have some problems.  After all, Rumple did choose magic over his own kid, even if he did regret it immediately.  

A lot of people (me included!) speculate that Baelfire and Neal Cassidy (Emma's baby-daddy) are one and the same.  If that is the case, we may get our answer very soon.  In an upcoming episode "Manhattan", Gold, Emma, and Henry attempt to track down Bae in NYC.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are pictures on the internet of Emma and Neal Cassidy meeting in a restaurant during this episode.  We really won't know more until that episode airs, but I also found this:

http://vancityfilming.com/once-upon-a-time-michael-raymond-james-arriving-for-rehearsals/

and this:

http://vancityfilming.com/once-upon-a-times-michael-raymond-james-has-a-twitter-qa/

Yep, Neal will be in Storybrooke!  And, according to the actor, he will be there for most of the season!  Are we convinced yet?  I am really anxious to see the reunion between Rumple and Bae, as well as the reunion between Emma, Henry, and Neal!  Can't wait!