Characters We Love: The Thrill of Henry Mills - ONCE UPON A TIME

Let's talk about one of my personal favorite characters on Once Upon a Time: Henry Mills. Henry Mills is played by the wonderful Jared S. Gilmore. Going into season five, Jared is currently 15 years old and Henry Mills, 10 when he started out on season one, is now also 15 years old. In a great way, Jared has been going on this journey of self-discovery with Henry.

In Season One, Henry Mills captured fans' hearts by coming in as the adorable, 10-year-old boy who rode a bus to Boston to track down his biological mother, Emma Swan, the woman who gave him up for adoption when he was a baby. Henry wanted her to come to his hometown of Storybrooke because he believed that she was the Savior. It was Emma's destiny to break a curse that was cast by an evil queen that trapped all fairy tale characters in the real world and took away their memories. This evil queen also happened to be Henry's other mother, Regina Mills, the mayor of Storybrooke. Just like his mother, Henry managed to sway Emma into town and she took an interest in her son, not the town's craziness. Emma saw a lot of herself in the kid and it was no surprise that fans instantly fell in love with the young boy because of his charm, heart, and strength. He was extremely clever for a 10-year-old boy. 

Henry took it upon himself to team up with Emma in Operation Cobra and break the curse. Though it was difficult throughout season one, proving to his mother that the curse was real, Henry didn't just believe in the fairy tale characters, but he believed in Emma. Fans saw that hope in Henry as he continued to do things in an effort to prove himself right and save everyone, by going into the mines underneath the town, befriending August, and trying to stop his evil queen mother. It was also that Henry believed in her so much, that Henry was able to become the common ground at times for Regina and Emma to team up. In the end, Emma chose to leave town and stay out of Regina's way, but Henry, like most kids who have been abandoned, understood Emma's position. However, Regina wasn't done with Emma and still saw her as a threat. With an apple turnover, Henry realized Regina was trying to poison Emma and ate the turnover instead, risking his life for his mother. Henry ended up in a coma in the hospital to prove to his mother that all of it was true and just as it would happen, Emma finally believed in magic and that her parents were in fact Snow White and Charming. Emma does everything she can to save Henry's life, ending in the kiss of true love when she kisses Henry on the head and breaks the curse in Storybrooke.

Coming into season two, Henry loses his mother to the Enchanted Forest when she falls through a portal, giving Henry a chance to bond with his grandfather, Charming. It also shows the strength in Henry and how he truly believes in the good of others. Regina tries to take over the town and her powers have been restored. One of the most pivotal moments of season two is when Regina realizes she can't force Henry to love her and lets Henry leave with Charming. Henry starts to believe that Regina can change and not be evil. When Regina and Rumple try to stop Cora and Hook from coming into Storybrooke, Henry shows up at the well and stops Regina. He informs Regina that Emma and Snow White will come through the portal and will succeed. Henry's strength and compassion reveals itself to Regina through the simple words of "You want me to have faith in you? Have faith in me." 

 Throughout the rest of season two, with Emma back, it became a great struggle between Regina and Emma as they both became two very important figures in his life. Henry believed in Regina, however, and got her to stop practicing magic in order to win him back and have him love her for who she was, not some evil queen. Emma knew it was best for Henry to continue having a relationship with Regina, so Emma made an effort to get along with Regina for Henry's happiness. However, in season two, Regina and Emma weren't the only figure that came into Henry's life. 

When Henry and Emma went with Rumple to New York City to find Rumple's son, Baelfire, Emma discovers Baelfire is Neal, Henry's biological father. When Henry asked about his father, Emma lied and informed Henry he was a firefighter who died a hero. She didn't want Henry knowing that Neal left Emma to be arrested and left in jail. However, when Neal and Emma go back to the apartment, Neal sees Henry and discovers the age matches up to when Neal last saw Emma and she informs Neal that Henry is his son and Henry is angry with Emma for lying to him.

Neal returns to Storybrooke with Emma and Rumple and Henry in an effort to be a part of Henry's life and his father's. Henry ends up kidnapped by two villains working for Peter Pan and taken to Neverland. It wasn't until Season Three that Henry Mills' involvement in the show became bigger. Pan informs Henry that he has the heart of the truest believer. After years of reading storybooks and believing in magic, Henry becomes a pivotal part of the series. Pan asks Henry to save magic and the only way to do so is to give Pan his heart.

Emma and the gang team up, including Henry's father, Neal, to rescue Henry from Pan. When they make it to him, Henry still gives his heart to Peter Pan and thinks he is doing right by magic. Henry might be considered naive for doing so, but Henry happens to be one of the show's purest characters. He believes in the best of everyone and believes good always win. Henry isn't naive for trying to save magic, but he's simply trying to do what he thinks is right. After risking his life, Emma and the others save Henry and restore his heart to him. However, Pan hijacks Henry's body for a few days when they arrive back in Storybrooke while Henry ends up trapped in a box and in Pan's body. When they release Pan, Emma is the only one who knows that Henry is trapped in Pan's body since she knows that Henry seems different. When everyone discovers Pan and Henry switched bodies, Rumple casts a spell to separate them back to their original forms. Pan's curse is cast and Emma and Henry must leave Storybrooke before the dark curse makes everyone disappear. Regina erases Emma and Henry's memories of Storybrooke. In the end of the season, Henry continues to have no memory of the place he grew up in or believe in magic while Emma returns with her memories in tact to try and figure out how Storybrooke didn't disappear. When Emma and Regina help Henry get his memories back, Henry realizes his mother might want to leave still. 

Going into season four, the heart of the truest believer had a few things that he had to deal with personally. Regina and Robin Hood had gotten together. Emma and Hook had gotten together. A new uncle was born. Henry Mills has always lived in a world where he believed in magic and when it finally came true, he became a part of the world that magic came from. He is the son of the Savior and the son of the son of The Dark One. His mother, Regina Mills, is an evil queen. Season Four turns into a nice shift for Henry because he starts to help Regina find her happiness in Operation Mongoose. What the writers did best was give Henry a character flaw. It's an interesting character flaw in season four because Henry didn't focus on it until Emma struggled with her identity in this season. Henry felt he was too normal in this world he lived in. Emma was struggling with her powers throughout the season and to

Henry, he wanted to understand her and help her, but he couldn't, because he considers himself too ordinary. Regina informs him that he has the heart of the truest believer and he is far from ordinary. No doubt, this particular moment was a great foreshadowing to how Henry ends up in the season finale. After Henry's efforts to find the author pays off, his loved ones end up trapped in an alternate world thanks to the author, Isaac. Henry is the only one left in Storybrooke, but he tracks Isaac down and throws himself into the alternate Enchanted Forest where heroes are villains and villains are heroes. 

Henry goes to find Regina, the version of Snow White, a bandit, and tries to find Emma, but according to Isaac, she doesn't exist in that world. When Henry finds Hook, he teams up with him to go to an island where Emma is trapped and saves her from the prison. Henry and Emma find Regina again and think they only way to break this curse is true love's kiss and if Regina and Robin Hood find their happy ending together, they can go back to Storybrooke. Emma tries to stop Rumple, but he kills Regina when Regina sacrifices herself to save Henry. Naturally, in this moment, the fans have already lost so much

in the exciting finale and all of their emotions were being toyed with, including Hook dying to save Emma and Henry. However, when a show like this has a young boy such as Henry, a normal kid, who believes in magic and has the heart of the truest believer, it's time to give him a new destiny. Isaac broke the rules as the author and couldn't change the story back, so there was no way because he was no longer the author. In that case, it was time to appoint a new author. Fans got to see the amazing transformation of Henry Mills as he became the new author, took the quill in his hand, and undid all of Isaac's magic. Everyone was returned to Storybrooke and Henry had a new fate. 

In the end of the episode, instead of keeping the quill, Henry broke it. He believed that having the ability to manipulate the future was too much power for one person. Now that Henry has lost his mother, Emma, to the darkness and she has officially become The Dark One, there is no telling where Henry's journey will take him going into season five. Perhaps Henry will become closer to Hook. Perhaps he will become closer to Regina for sure. 

Of all of the characters on Once Upon a Time, Henry Mills is by far one of the best written transformations on the show. Each character wasn't exactly ordinary starting out. Emma was magical and the Savior, though she felt ordinary in the beginning. However, here is this little boy, Henry Mills, who is already understanding, forgiving, strong, and compassionate. Henry sees the best in people always, believes in magic, believes in the ones he loves, even if they don't deserve it. It's through those incredible traits that make him deserving of such a magnificent gift as becoming the author. 

We're talking about a character who brings out the best in everyone he's around. Henry has an untouchable strength, a tremendous amount of compassion inside of him, and a true spirit that believes the best in everyone and everything.

For that, Henry Mills is indeed extraordinary.  


Once Upon a Time Season Five Premiere airs on September 27 @ 8/7c on ABC.

Characters We Love: Rumpelstiltskin Spellbound - ONCE UPON A TIME

"All magic comes with a price." 

One of the most diabolical, warped, yet delightful characters on Once Upon a Time has cast a spell on Oncers for the past four seasons on the show. Played by the very talented Robert Carlyle, Rumpelstiltskin a.k.a Mr. Gold, is a mastermind of evil and manipulation, but has a heart of...well gold...underneath. It is no wonder why fans have fallen in love with this character for the past few seasons and now Rumpel has been given a chance at redemption in season five.
In the original story, fairy tales coined Rumpelstiltskin as the wicked man who could spin straw into gold and had a strange obsession with babies. In the first concept, Rumpelstiltskin does help a daughter spin straw into gold overnight, a miller's daughter. (Ring any bells?) After aiding her, he requests one thing from her on the third day, which is her firstborn child. He is willing to strike the deal if the daughter can guess his name in three attempts. Of course, in the original stories, Rumpelstiltskin was more like an imp, but seeing the makeup they did on Carlyle in the show, he comes pretty close to a imp-like creature. 

Oncers get a first glance at Rumpel when Snow White and Charming make a deal with him in the prison he is trapped in as the curse is about to occur. Rumpel strikes a deal with Snow White as long as she gives him the name of her unborn child: Emma Swan. In the cursed world of Storybrooke, Oncers assume Rumpel has no memory of who he is, but in that land he is known as Mr. Gold.

As the Oncers followed the crazy and insane adventures of Rumpelstiltskin, fans enjoyed the psychotic tendencies he had. Throughout the season, fans discovered that there were elements to this character. Though the writers followed the regular tale of a creature spinning straw into gold, Oncers discovered Rumpelstiltskin had a son and a wife before he was this creature. In an effort to not seem like the town coward, Rumpelstiltskin took on the powers of what Once Upon a Time coined as The Dark One; a powerful, evil sorcerer under the control of a dagger or whoever possesses the dagger. The Dark One is the most dangerous and darkest of the Enchanted Forest, therefore unstoppable, except by one thing: the person holding the dagger must kill The Dark One and become The Dark One in order to eliminate him. Basically, the darkness never disappears. Rumpelstiltskin took this power on to prove he wasn't weak, but the darkness overcame him instead and he became a monster. He lost his son, but throughout the season, Oncers discovered that Rumpelstiltskin was capable of loving someone. 

In an interesting twist to Rumpelstiltskin, aside from straw spinning and The Dark One, he became the love interest for Belle, the young female from the known Beauty and The Beast tale. Suddenly, Rumpel became the beast as well, not just what he already was. The beautiful thing about Rumpelstiltskin is that he has a lot of depth to him. The darkness within him is powerful, but the man underneath is capable of feeling all of these emotions and genuinely cares about people. Belle becomes the one woman in his life he truly loves and has a connection to. In all reality, Rumpel never really loved Milah. In season two, fans got to dive into Rumpel's past a little bit more when they discovered he was also the Crocodile in the Peter Pan tale as well. Rumpelstiltskin made friends with a familiar pirate. 

Rumpel murdered his own wife after she chose to leave with Captain Hook instead, leaving behind him and their son, Baelfire. As a result, Rumpel cut off Hook's hand, making him the crocodile that gave Hook is infamous new hand attachment. It's safe to say, in the series, Rumpelstiltskin and Captain Hook have a very complicated history. Hook even met Rumpel when he was a coward and weak, but Rumpel returned to duel with him, revealing he was no longer scared or weak. After Milah died, Hook spent years finding a way to kill The Dark One. However, it wasn't Rumpelstiltskin's history with Hook or Belle that made his character so interesting. It was Baelfire. 

Rumpelstiltskin chose power over his son. Baelfire fell through a portal to a land with no magic, so Rumpelstiltskin spent years and years searching for a way to find his son. When he discovered that Baelfire was alive and in this other world, he followed the destiny a seer gave him. Which goes back to the original Rumpelstiltskin tale. Rumpelstiltskin met a woman named Cora, who promised the king she could spin straw into gold in order to marry the prince. To prove him right, Rumpelstiltskin decided to help her for her firstborn child. Cora promised Regina to him, so Rumpelstiltskin began training Regina when she was older to become a powerful witch. Regina learned magic and the fans discovered the only reason Rumpelstiltskin was teaching Regina magic was so she could cast the dark curse that would send all fairy tale characters to Storybrooke. His motivation was purely to go to a land without magic so he could find his son again. It took him years to find Cora, to find Regina, but he did in an effort for this curse to be cast, which was successful, but there was another part of the puzzle that the seer informed him of. The curse must be broken and a young boy would lead him to Baelfire, but the boy would be his undoing. Rumpelstiltskin asks for the name of Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, which is Emma Swan. When Rumpelstiltskin first greets Emma, it begins. She breaks the curse and Mr. Gold brings magic back to Storybrooke in an effort to find his son again. In season two, Mr. Gold asks Emma to come with him to New York City to track down his son, Baelfire, who turns out to be Emma's old boyfriend, Neal Cassidy. 

Neal had been running from his father for years, but when reunited, Neal returned to Storybrooke, so Rumpel finally had what he wanted: his son. However, Rumpel couldn't stop at that at all, because his character was full of darkness. Once Neal supposedly died and Neal's son, Henry was kidnapped, Rumpel decided to honor his son, rescuing Henry, knowing full well Henry would be his undoing. Rumpel discovers Neal didn't die after all, so they try to team up to save Henry, but what becomes even more interesting throughout Season Three is the fans got to find out one of the coolest twists on the show.

Rumpelstiltskin turned out to be the son of Peter Pan! His father was a coward and a thief, so when little Rumpel took a magic bean and both of them disappeared to a place called Neverland, Rumpel's father had his shadow take his son away from him so he could have eternal youth and power. Talk about family dysfunction. Oh wait! Rumpel did the exact same thing for Baelfire. The only difference is Neal assured Rumpelstiltskin that he wasn't anything like his father because he came back for his son and wanted to start a new life with him. Unfortunately the only way to get rid of Pan was to kill him with the dagger, which killed The Dark One. Still can't understand that one to this day. Pan cast another dark curse on Storybrooke taking all fairy tale characters away, but while back in the Enchanted Forest, Neal wanted to get back to Emma and Henry so he went back to the castle to try and find a way to resurrect his father. The resurrection cost Neal his life in return, so Rumpelstiltskin wanted revenge on the woman who killed his son, which was the Wicked Witch. Heading into season four, Rumpelstiltskin decided to make peace with his dark past and married Belle. However, he continued to lie to her and kept the real dagger. After years of searching for Baelfire and losing him, his new goal in season four was to free himself from the control of the dagger. For that time, it seemed to make sense since Zelena controlled him with it at the end of the season three, but through that endeavor, Rumpelstiltskin sacrificed another loved one: Belle.

She used the dagger on Rumpelstiltskin to force him across the town line so he could never return. However, it was The Dark One, so the writers would never get rid of him. This character was too good to lose. He united some fellow villains, Ursula and Cruella De Vil to get back to Storybrooke. This time, Gold was searching for the author of the book to change his fate and make sure villains got their happy endings. Fans soon discovered the new motivation for this angle was that Rumpelstiltskin's heart was becoming blacker and blacker as he made worst decisions. Once his entire heart was black, there would no longer be a Mr. Gold, but just The Dark One. In an effort to change his fate, Rumpel searched for the author, but in return, Emma once again thwarted his plan and Rumpel ended up almost dying. The sorcerer's apprentice attempted to trap the darkness in the hat and left Rumpelstiltskin in a preservative state with a pure white heart. Now, the question that remains is whether or not Gold is now light magic instead of dark and will he be a different person once he awakens? He is the only one who has lived with the Dark One's powers the longest, so it's been hinted that he could be the only one to help Emma understand its power now that she has taken on the darkness.

Oncers love Rumpelstiltskin and have grown quite fond of his antics. It's no surprise that Carlyle has cast a spell on the fans with his portrayal of the evil creature, but what is it about Carlyle that makes Rumpelstiltskin one of the most loved characters on the show? Fans are rooting on the epic relationship between Rumpel and Belle, the happy ending that he deserves. Perhaps, what made Rumpelstiltskin truly shine with depth was his unconditional love for his son, Baelfire.

Michael-Raymond James & Robert Carlyle are unstoppable human beings and there was no denying the connection these two had on the series. The energy in the scene was top notch whenever Neal & Rumpel were together. Aside from Belle, Neal had this great effect on Rumpel, bringing out the best in him because there was truly nothing that Rumpel wouldn't do for his son. After years of searching for him, there is a sense of fear that comes from anticipating the moment these two characters finally unite. Thankfully, Once did it with panache by settling Neal into the show as Emma's love interest and getting fans attached to him automatically.

Perhaps it's the infamous Rumpelstiltskin laugh that everyone loves so much. Maybe it's the eccentric style that Carlyle irradiates when playing the character. There is no doubt that Rumpelstiltskin is crazy, evil and downright heartless. There is also no doubt that Mr. Gold, the alter Storybrooke ego, irradiates intimidation and he's manipulative in a phenomenal sinister way. Gold is more subtle in that lovable villain approach, which makes it less obvious, but that's why Rumpelstiltskin is such a treat. Rumpelstiltskin gives Carlyle the chance to tap into that electric energy that makes his character so fun to watch. In a way, Robert Carlyle dominates the cast with the ability to play a character that kind of reminds fans of a person with split personalities really. Not to mention, he juggles both versions of Rumpelstiltskin and Mr. Gold and plays off of every other cast member so well, it's almost hard to imagine a world without his energy he brings to the show. Rumpelstiltskin is quite similar to the mind of a mental patient. One of the best deliveries Carlyle had was in Season Three when Rumpel was possessed by himself and his son. Watching him dissolve into the psychotic, twisted version was a real treat for fans. Nobody does Rumpelstiltskin better than Robert Carlyle and that's why he truly is a beloved character on the series. No matter what fate has in store for Rumpelstiltskin in Season Five, good or bad, Carlyle has proven himself a worthy performer to transform into the shapeshifter of his craft.

Season Five of Once Upon a Time airs on ABC on September 27, 2015 at 8/7c.

Characters We Love: The Appeal of Neal - Once Upon a Time

THE APPEAL OF NEAL.

In Season Two of Once Upon a Time, fans got to take a look into Emma Swan's past and included in her past, was her first true love, Neal Cassidy. The show brought in Michael Raymond-James to play Emma's love interest, but not only did fans discover Emma once was in love, but he was also the son of Rumplestiltskin.

The writers of Once have a natural talent for creating a universe that is absolutely enticing and exciting. Somewhere along the line, the twists and turns become more and more intense and with each season, they still dazzle the fans. Once is separated by their fresh take on fairy tale characters, but also how well they add in their own character such as Neal and Emma, who aren't naturally part of the fairy tale world. Kitsis and Horowitz combine fairy tales and real life in for what would seem like to some, complex forms, but to fans, a real treat to watch. Once is also uniquely divided up in what they call Season 4A and Season 4B. Instead of running with the whole season of one storyline, Once mixes it up and involves different villains through the first part of the season then the second half of the season. The only season that appeared to have a straight structure was Season One, which the whole basis was for Emma to find out the truth about Storybrooke and break the curse.

Season Two was a great background season for Emma. After Emma returned from the Enchanted Forest, Mr. Gold asked Emma to go with him to New York City to track down his son, Baelfire. In the Enchanted Forest, Rumplestiltskin wouldn't give up his power for Baelfire, so his son fell through a portal to a land with no magic. In an effort to find his son, Rumple spent years trying to find the witch that would cast a dark curse on the Enchanted Forest and then made certain that Prince Charming and Snow White would end up together so they could conceive the product of true love who would break the curse in Storybrooke, making it possible for Rumple to find his son finally. To think, a father went through all that effort to find his son is an impressive feat.

When Emma discovers that the son Rumple was looking for happens to be her love interest, Neal, from her past, Emma is terrified that Neal knew she was the savior and the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming the whole time they were together. Neal wasn't aware that Emma was the savior, but he knew he spent most of his life trying to run from his father. Neal also discovers that Emma had a secret of her own and was pregnant with Henry after he left her in jail for stealing some watches when August/Pinocchio asked him to leave her so she could fulfill her destiny and break the curse. Neal and Henry reunite as father and son, and instead of running from his past, Neal takes it upon himself to be there for Henry and try to make it up to Emma and returns to Storybrooke.

Neal and Emma join forces when Neal finds out his fiance, Tamara, is working for Peter Pan. Henry is captured and taken to Neverland in Season Three, but by then, Neal has fallen through a portal again but this time back to the Enchanted Forest. If you didn't see some kind of irony in that, then that is your fault. Think about it momentarily. Neal fell through a portal into a land without magic when Rumple lost him and then he falls back into another portal that lands him back into the Enchanted Forest with Mulan and Aurora. Neal also got to meet Robin Hood for the first time. The Neverland story was part of Season 3A, in which case, pinning Neal up against his father and grandfather, which was a neat exploration. The relationship between Neal and Rumple is a unique one, when fans know that Belle is a weakness for Rumple as well as the dagger that controls him, but in all honesty, Neal is probably one of Rumple's biggest weaknesses.

There isn't anything in the world Rumple wouldn't do for Neal or to have his son back. Fans could clearly see that more than ever in Neverland when Neal was able to ask Rumple to not harm anyone using magic. In the long run, it was Rumple's sacrifice that surprised fans when he killed Pan, losing his life in the process.

Before fans could assume that Neal wanted Rumple back when a second curse came and took all the characters back to the Enchanted Forest except for Emma and Henry, Neal wasn't looking for Rumple to resurrect the Dark One so he could be reunited with his father. It would've been nice to think that Neal wanted his father back, and maybe some part of him did in the long run, but Neal wasn't aware of the price it would've cost him to do so. Neal's motivation was to get back to Emma and Henry. In order to do that, it cost Neal his life.

Now, in the end of season four, Henry was blessed with the gift of being the author. The author is the one person that writes all the happy endings for everyone and sort of can dictate where the story goes as long as what he writes about is the truth. It was a nice destiny for Henry since he was the one with the heart of the truest believer and from episode one, Henry was always a believer. After all of the adventures that Henry went on, to finally be given the opportunity to somehow be a part of that world was a nice twist. Not to mention, Henry is the son of the Savior and Baelfire, who is the son of the Darkest Magic. Henry is a bloodline of good, light magic as well as dark magic. It's tempting to write his own version of the stories because what he asked to the apprentice was whether or not he could bring back Neal. The apprentice assured him that there was no way since Neal died in the real world and not in the Enchanted Forest. It was a part of the present and not the past, so Henry couldn't alter anything. Henry mentioning the possibility of bringing back his father could mean nothing, but in TV world, sometimes the littlest mention can make a fanbase curious. Could Henry bring Neal back? Could Neal come back in any way?

When asked, fans mention some of their favorite characters that they miss and would love to see come back. The characters range from Mulan to Ruby to Cruella even, but out of popularity, Neal Cassidy is one character that fans would like to see again. It's not just the shippers that love Neal and Emma together, but the fans of Neal in general. However, the real question becomes what would happen to Hook & Emma if Neal were to return? The relationship between Neal and Emma is undeniable, but Hook & Neal have a friendship as well. Hook was willing to honor Neal by standing aside so he could try to work things out with Emma, but now that Emma has chosen Hook, would Neal have that same honor and respect for Hook?

If Neal were to return somehow or some way to Storybrooke, Neal would more than likely still make an effort to be a part of Henry's life. In every way, Neal would care for Emma and love her, but also respect her wishes that she has found happiness and true love with Killian. Neal wouldn't just do that for Emma, but he would do it for Killian too. That isn't to stop Neal from having a relationship with Henry because he would be a part of that world and still continue to live his life. Even if he wasn't with Emma, Neal was a fabulous addition to the team. Neal was the one who got everyone off the island in Neverland because Neal's knowledge of that world was in surplus amounts. So what is the appeal of Neal? Why would he be worth bringing back?

Neal is smart. Neal is equipped to handle both the magic world and the real world because he is just as crafty as Emma. He might not be the Savior, he might not have magic, but he is certainly strong and capable. If Neverland wasn't proof of how clever and efficient he was, then I don't what it is. He outsmarted his powerful grandfather and certainly has a way with words with his father. However, it would be interesting to see a different bond between Rumple and Neal now that Rumple is no longer that Dark One and Emma is. Neal adds a great flare to the crew and had great chemistry with Henry. Once has proved that there is never too little room for extra members to the gang. Even though Robin Hood, Killian, and Charming fit out the bill of men in Storybrooke, heroic, fun, and strong, another addition to the crew wouldn't hurt. The women of Storybrooke are certainly in abundance and can definitely take care of themselves.

For fans who worry about whether bringing back Neal would mess up the Captain Swan relationship, fear not. There will be undeniable history and chemistry between Neal & Emma, but all Neal wanted was for Emma to be happy. If Neal were to return, his love for her would surpass any reason to try and ruin what Killian and Emma have. Fans just love Neal Cassidy/Baelfire and bringing him back wouldn't hurt the Storybrooke universe. Having his familiar face and great energy is just the exact reason, Neal should return.

Who knows? It's Once Upon a Time. In Storybrooke, anything could happen.

Best Kept Secrets: ONCE UPON A TIME

Once Upon a Time has been the featured show for a while and this particular blog entry contains spoilers for those who haven't seen the show at all. SPOILERS ALERT!
Character development is a vital and important part of any television show, which makes for great stories. Without depth, characters have no motivation or direction to go, therefore the story has no movement or progression throughout. Some pretty great television shows that involve ideal transformation are shows like Smallville and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Some shows that involve fairly decent transformations, but lack character development are shows like How I Met Your Mother, House MD, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Chuck, and Psych.

As one can see, character development is not easy if not done properly.

Once Upon a Time is great at character transformation. They've been successful enough to guide slowly through the seasons, starting their characters off as they are and transforming them through experiences. Emma Swan started off as an orphan. She was an abandoned, yet tough female lead and has now transformed into a more compassionate, selfless woman who loves her family and takes big leaps of faith, believing in the ones she loves. Emma proved that by making the sacrifice she did at the end of season four when she took on the Dark One, knowing full well her family would find a way to save her.

Regina and Henry are also two successful characters with phenomenal transformations so far. As well as Captain Hook and Rumplestiltskin. 

However, the characters need pivotal moments and challenges to push them in the right direction to make big decisions that affect how the audience perceives them. Aside from character development, any good television show knows to have their best kept secrets. Audiences love a good puzzle along the way! 

Some of Once Upon a Time's most successful stories throughout the series so far are because the writers were able to throw some curveballs at the audience. For this particular entry, I've chosen some of the highlight moments throughout the series that are considered some of the best kept secrets revealed in the show.

10. Marian is actually Zelena.

 In Season Three, Hook and Emma went through a portal that took them back in time to when Snow and Charming met for the first time. While Emma was captured by Regina and imprisoned, she met a prisoner there named Marian, Robin Hood's wife. Emma freed Marian and in an effort to save her from Regina's death sentence, Hook and Emma brought Marian along back to Storybrooke. Later on, the audience discovers that the Wicked Witch herself killed Marian and took on her face, pretending to be her the whole time. It was an exciting reveal in Season Four to find out that Zelena had been playing Robin Hood and Regina and not only that, Zelena ended up pregnant with Robin Hood's baby, which will make for an interesting story in Season Five.






9. Zelena is Pregnant With Robin Hood's Baby

Zelena might be an acquired taste for some audience members, but envy has never looked so good on an actress. Rebecca Mader came in on Season Three as the Wicked Witch from Oz, but this was no focused character on Dorothy or the Great and Powerful. Once Upon a Time does this right and brings Zelena in as an important villain, but not necessarily to Emma, but to Regina. From a standard heroes versus villain standpoint, sure, Emma Swan and her heroic parents are always fighting evil, but it was an interesting twist to see Regina had her first official enemy as a budding hero herself. In Season Four, the fans thought Zelena was dead, but as she resurfaced as Robin Hood's "technically dead wife", Marian, she also surprised Regina with another bomb in the form of a baby. Zelena is pregnant with Robin Hood's unborn child and now it puts an interesting wedge between Robin Hood and Regina, but makes for an interesting story heading into Season Five.


8. Neal/Baelfire Plot

Once fans had the pleasure of falling in love for almost two whole seasons with Michael-Raymond James. Coming into season two, audiences began seeing a back story for Emma when she was eighteen and in love with a man named Neal Cassidy, a fellow bandit type, who boosted cars and other fun items. Fans were also aware that Rumplestiltskin lost a young boy named Baelfire through a portal to a land without magic. When Emma and Mr. Gold traveled to New York City in the middle of season two to help track down Gold's son, Baelfire, fans got to be surprised just as much as Emma was when she discovered that Rumplestiltskin's son was in fact, the one she truly loved, Neal Cassidy. Fans found out that Neal hadn't known Emma was the daughter of Snow and Charming, but found out from Pinocchio while dating her and left her alone to fulfill her destiny. Neal had his memories and in fact, desperately wanted to avoid Rumple, but not only that, fans got to enjoy the whole plot twist even more when Neal also turned out to be Henry's biological father and they were reunited as father and son. Neal's story had been fun to watch unfold throughout the span of two seasons, when Baelfire experienced a lot throughout his childhood and connected with many characters. Baelfire fell through the portal to London, where he met Wendy Darling and her brothers and ended up traveling to Neverland. Baelfire met Captain Hook there, worked on his ship for a while, also discovering that Hook was the one who his mother, Milah, left with. Baelfire played an important role in season three as the one who helped get the entire group off the island in Neverland and officially freed from Peter Pan, but also the reason that the Dark One was able to return. Neal was a hero, very selfless, the moment he came back into Emma's life, but perhaps the most enjoyable dynamic was how strong-minded he was towards his father. 

The dagger could control The Dark One, but fans also got to see a different side of Rumple. Neal was able to get his father to do anything out of love rather than make deals or try and trick people Neal cared about. Unfortunately, while fans had the chance to fall for this lovely hero, the writers took Neal away, but not without honor. He died saving his father's life, protecting Emma from the Wicked Witch. 


7. Regina's Soulmate

Bring on the band of merry men! There was a Robin Hood like figure in Season Two for a brief moment when Belle met him in Rumple's prison, but eventually the real Robin Hood surfaced in Season Three. Like before, the adventurous Baelfire got around and was able to interact with Robin Hood first in Season Three when Neal fell through another portal, but didn't end up in Neverland. Instead, Baelfire and Mulan adventured back to the castle where Rumple lived and found a bandit taking up residency there. Robin Hood teamed up with Neal and Mulan to help Neal get to Neverland, but in Once Upon a Time fashion, flashback scenes revealed Regina was also familiar with the fairy Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell was trying to help Regina find true happiness with her soulmate before Regina became the evil queen. The only clue fans got in the episode was Regina's soulmate was a man with a lion tattoo on his arm. By the end of the episode, when Mulan decided to join his band of merry men (which we never see Mulan again in the band of merry men), when Robin Hood shakes her hand, the tattoo on his arm is revealed to be a lion, proving that Robin Hood is Regina's soulmate. It takes a second curse to bring Regina and Robin Hood together, but the fans are quite satisfied watching this romance grow and hope to see it stay strong in Season Five after Emma sacrificed her life to protect Regina's happiness. No baby with Zelena will stand in the way of that, hopefully. Neal has all the fun meeting these characters! 


6. Lily and Emma

Lily turned out to be the daughter of Maleficent. Fans were introduced to Maleficent back in season one with Regina in a flashback to the Enchanted Forest. In season four, flashbacks revealed Maleficent and Snow had a history and that Maleficent's daughter was taken and sent through a portal just like Emma. Once through a nice bombshell on the fans when Lily turned out to be the young girl that at one point shared a foster home with Emma, but also was one of her closest friends growing up. Though Emma and Lily had a rocky relationship in the end when Emma decided to walk away from Lily after constantly getting into trouble, they were reunited when Maleficent asked Emma to find her daughter. Fans are curious now as to how that relationship will play out in season five, but they were hinted to the fact that Lily is going to go on a search for her biological father. The only clue to him is a necklace on Lily's neck with a crescent moon hanging from it. Lily is also a dragon. Best to have her as an ally. 


5. One Big Messed Up Family: Cora, Regina, & Zelena

"Love is weakness." Nothing says "I love you" like stealing hearts, abandonment, tough love, and killing your boyfriend. Season two was a blessing for fans because not only did Killian Jones make his debut, but Barbara Hershey officially wreaked havoc as Regina's mother, Cora, in season two and for half the season was considered the villain to watch out for. Though she was in a flashback in season one, "The Stable Boy" episode, Cora didn't become an issue until Emma and Snow fell through a portal to the Enchanted Forest and had to go head-to-head with her in a battle to get back home. Later on, season three added more to Regina's family dysfunction when it was revealed that Cora had another daughter, Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West. Cora gave Zelena up when she was a baby, much like mothers do on this show, and Cora raised Regina instead. Big sister came back to reunite with Regina, but it was also fun finding out that Regina's mother was the queen of hearts in Wonderland. Come on! That was pretty cool! 


4. Snow Queen was Emma's Foster Mom

There was the Wicked Witch, the Queen of Hearts, later in four, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, and Ursula, and of course Peter Pan, and Once is great at bringing in the whole pile of fairy tales that fans can click their remotes into. Coming into season four, Emma Swan brought with her from the other realm a vase containing Elsa from Arrendale, but also, the Snow Queen. Somewhere down the line, Emma discovered that Ingrid, the Snow Queen, knew her on a personal level, but didn't know why. It was revealed in an episode when Emma was going through some of her old things, she found a video of her and Lily, but part of the video was also when Emma was at another foster home. At the foster home, Emma discovers in the video, that her mother at the time was Ingrid. Ingrid cared for Emma at one point, but she knew Emma was special. Fans had a neat twist into Emma's past, which they didn't get to really dive into much in season three. 


3. The Savior is Dark

Emma either has to die or even better, the Savior becomes dark! This goes back to saying that the main reason a television show succeeds is character development. Second reason: Give them a challenge to overcome that will force a great decision upon their character. In this particular case, the end of the season four revealed one of the coolest best kept secrets among the writers of Once, Emma Swan becomes the Dark One. In an effort to protect Regina's happiness, Emma sacrifices herself to take in the darkness, trusting full well that her loved ones will save her. After a year of having trust issues with Snow and Charming, once discovering what they did to Maleficent's baby and the price it would cost them for Emma turning dark, Emma was able to take a leap of faith in the end and believe in the best of Hook, Snow and Charming to rescue her going into season five. Rumple is now in a preservation state, probably with a pure good heart, no one knows what will come of that. However, Emma Swan is in for a phenomenal journey. The author revealed in season four that the savior must go dark in order for villains to get their happy endings and somehow, though the story flipped in reverse and took them to an alternate realm where villains were heroes and vice versa, Emma still managed to get them out of that realm, but had to make a great sacrifice in return. Fans have been awaiting the anticipated premiere to see what will happen with Emma, the Dark Swan, in season five as she now becomes a villain.


2.Peter Pan is Who Now?! 

Cora & Regina might be amateurs when it comes to family dysfunction. The expert category goes to Rumplestiltskin and his father.

Perhaps one of the coolest secrets to reveal itself back in Season 3 was that Peter Pan was Rumplestiltskin's father. The reason I say this, and I will go personal here, my father had never watched the show before. He caught some episodes of season four, which isn't good for someone who doesn't watch it from the beginning. It gets very hard to understand when you don't know the back story of a show like this one. Since he hopped into season four, I took him back through the whole show and we recently got to the episode before Pan is killed. My father knows a few secrets about the show, but going into Season 3, I knew that telling my father that Peter Pan was Rumple's dad was too good a secret to share, so I didn't tell him how Rumple knew Pan. When the episode finally came to reveal that Pan was Rumple's father, my dad's reaction was priceless, yet again proving my theory about how most fans reacted to that big secret reveal when the show first aired the episode.

The Peter Pan/Rumple father and son relationship was one of the most exciting reveals in the series, also proving that Rumple has a really messed up personality from the beginning, not just because he became the Dark One. Rumple was afraid to tell Baelfire because Rumple didn't want to be like his father. See, now Peter Pan was a jerk. In fact, possibly one of the best villains on the show. He wasn't wicked like the witch or downright cruel like Cruella. Pan was a manipulative little ass with psychopath written all over. In the original Pan story, Hook was the good guy and Pan was bad, but Once makes Pan look like Hannibal Lector in my opinion. My father, after a few episodes, already wanted Peter Pan dead, he's just that good of a villain. Of course, Robbie Kay is a phenomenal actor. 

No. The solution for Pan is not putting him in the time out corner. Rumple got to be the hero. It was a nice touch. 


1.

The official #1 Best Kept Secret on Once Upon a Time goes to...HENRY IS THE AUTHOR!

You know what's great? A 10-year-old boy got on a bus with a fairy tale book to go to Boston to find his biological mother and bring her to a town in Maine to break a curse cast by an Evil Queen that trapped all of the fairy tale characters with no memories of their real identities. 

You know what's even cooler? A boy was taken through a portal by two people to a magical land run by an evil little boy named Peter Pan and discovered that he had the heart of the truest believer and could save magic from being destroyed, make pixie dust work, and create things out of thin air simply because he believed in magic more than anyone.

You know what's absolutely phenomenal?! That boy grew up believing good always wins, true love conquers all, and hope is the most powerful thing to hold onto. 

Henry Mills isn't part of the fairy tale world, but by far, one of the best characters on the show. Henry has the love of not one, but two mothers willing to do anything for him. It's Henry's ability to love and forgive and see the best in everyone that transforms the people around him. Henry is fearless and downright cool. Though for three seasons, he didn't fit in quite well into the fairy tale world, but was a part of it in a big way. I mean, how cool is that you're the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming? Your dad was the son of the Dark One, okay, maybe that's not the best thing, but Henry is the product of darkness and light. His biological mother is the Savior, his foster mother is an Evil Queen, and Henry has the heart of the truest believer. For one little boy, could also be the undoing of Rumplestiltskin. 

Yes, it's true. Henry has had a great life, but in one of my favorite episodes with Regina, Henry was worried about Emma struggling with her powers after she hurt him in the forest. Henry told Regina that "I couldn't do anything because I'm just ordinary." Little did the fans know, the writers had a way to transform Henry into an extraordinary character in the end of the season.

In season four, Henry was on a mission to find Regina her happiness. Going on this adventure, they found an author who ended up betraying the entire cast and writing his own version of fairy tales by making the heroes into villains and villains into heroes. Henry was the only one unaffected by this parallel universe because he wasn't a fairy tale, so instead of letting that stop him, Henry faced the author and found his way to the alternate realm and tracked down Regina to help her save Emma. Henry and Emma found each other with Hook's assistance, once again, proving Henry to be one of the strongest characters in the show, only to have Regina sacrifice herself for her son in the end. 

Writers held onto the best kept secret in the series for probably a whole season, knowing full well they were going to give Henry a great gift. Henry picked up the pen and was appointed the new author of all happy endings. See, now if you don't follow the show or do, obviously season four became about finding out who the author was. In season one, Snow White gave Henry a book called Once Upon a Time with all of the fairy tale stories in it, but they were true. A sorcerer's apprentice appointed a new author every so often to write down these stories of truth about the fairy tale characters' lives. In the season four finale, Henry was appointed the new author of those stories. 

Though Henry broke the quill, now that Emma is dark, there is no telling what season five will bring for Henry. He has a new destiny and a big influence on what happens, which I'm excited to see unfold for one of my favorite characters on the show.


So how about it then?

What were some of your favorite best kept secrets on Once Upon a Time? 

Season Five of Once Upon a Time airs on September 27th at 8/7c on ABC