For the Season Three episodes with a similar title, see "Going Home" and "There's No Place Like Home." For the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode with a similar name, see "Home." |
"Homecoming" is the twenty-first episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by David H. Goodman, and directed by Steve Pearlman. It is the one hundred and fifty-fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on May 11, 2018.
This episode is the first part of the season seven finale and the series finale.
Synopsis
As the residents of Hyperion Heights celebrate the breaking of the curse, Henry is visited by Wish Rumple, who's hatched an evil plan to use Ella and Lucy to keep Weaver from destroying the Dark One powers. In order to stop him, Henry, Roni, Weaver and Rogers must travel to the Wish Realm, home to versions of some of our most beloved and fearsome characters. In a flashback, a discouraged Young Henry is visited by Wish Rumple and offered a deal that could have tragic consequences.[3]
Recap
During the early days of his travels through the realms, Henry comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress, but another prince arrives to save the day. Despite being disappointed, Henry lets things go, content to keep trying to find his story. The Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin appears ready to give him a deal, but Henry turns him down, vowing never to make any deals.
With the curse destroyed, everyone is celebrating a new beginning. When Henry brings up Samdi to Roni, he started to wonder about him. At another part of town, Rogers and Tilly have a conversation but from afar. When Roni showed up at Samdi's office, she finds Weaver tied up and released him and warned her about the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin.
Speaking of the Alternate Dark One, he surprised Henry at his apartment just as Henry, Jacinda, and Lucy were celebrating their reunion. When they blew out the candles on the cupcakes, Henry discovers Jacinda and Lucy are gone. Rumpelstiltskin sent them away and is using them as bargaining chips by forcing Henry into attaining The Dagger, despite Henry's refusal to make deals. Henry later informed Roni, Rogers, and Weaver about what happened. So the foursome, with the use of Rogers's magic hook, create a portal that brings them to the Wish Realm.
In between the events, Tiana is trying to adjust to being Sabine while remembering her previous life as a queen, but Drew assured her that she still has a responsibility to do what is right for her people in this realm. At Roni's, Tilly begins to feel pain and senses something is wrong, and she tells Margot that they should help the others in the Wish Realm. They turn to Sabine for advice, who gathers the residents by the food truck to find something that will guide Margot and Tilly to the Wish Realm. After a little hesitation and Drew getting their attention, a resident came forward and gives them a magic bean that he had harvested, which Tilly and Margot use to create a portal. Sabine decides to stay behind and guide the neighborhood's residents. As they entered the portal in the food truck, Margot tells Tilly that she knows where to find help, which is in Storybrooke.
When Henry, Roni, Rogers, and Weaver enter the Wish Realm, the portal splits the quartet up. Henry and Roni end up in Rumpelstiltskin's castle and run into his father Peter Pan, who is being held in a pillory and warns the two about Rumpelstiltskin. They also run into another prisoner, a Wish Realm version of Cruella De Vil. After dealing with her, the two find Jacinda and Lucy trapped in a snow globe and discover that The Dark Rumpelstiltskin is the only one who can release them but because Henry brought along others he fills the snow globe with real snow and increases the temperatures to freeze them.
In the forest, Weaver and Rogers end up at the home of the original Rumpelstiltskin before he became a Dark One. Weaver believes it was there to torture his past. The two arrive at a cavernous location and encounter the Wish Realm Ariel, who is ready to bring them to the Castle.
When Weaver rejoins Henry and Roni at the castle, Weaver and Roni suggest that Henry stay and help save his family despite Henry being reluctant. Weaver then returns to the farm and confronts the alter ego, but this time he is ready by tricking him by giving him the Dagger. As the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin takes possession, he is frozen by squid ink and Weaver is about to kill him. Roni interrupts his attempt, allowing the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin to free himself of the ink, then reminds Weaver of the previous encounter with the Seer, who told him that Henry would be his undoing, as he wanted to use Henry for different reasons altogether.
Henry finds a quill and finds a way to use it, but knocks Hook out. He seeks out the Wish Realm Apprentice, who is now blind. He reminds Henry of the responsibility that came with being the Author, and the quill appears in his hand. When Henry returns to the castle, he uses the quill to suck the ink out of Cruella, but before he can write in the book, the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin takes the quill and book away from him and surprises Henry with a new ally: Sir Henry from the Wish Realm, who unlike his counterpart did make a deal with the Alternate Dark One. It appears that the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin wants Sir Henry to use the ink and the book to rewrite the story to give the Wish Realm Rumpelstiltskin the power he craves, and to keep the Guardian from taking possession of the Dagger. With the stroke of a pen, and despite pleas from the Adult Henry that what he is doing is making a serious mistake, Sir Henry alters the course in the book and made Adult Henry, Hook, and Weaver disappear, joining Jacinda and Lucy as prisoners inside the snow globe. Roni is spared because Sir Henry got something in exchange for the deal, which is to seek revenge on Roni for killing his grandparents during the previous encounter when Regina rescued Emma from the Wish Realm.
Deleted Scenes
"The Hopeful Ones"
This scene is included on the Once Upon a Time: The Complete Seventh and Final Season Blu-ray, but not the DVD.
While Roni searches for Weaver in the Wish Realm, she stumbles upon the Wish Blue Fairy, Wish Granny and Wish Grumpy by the statue of King David and Queen Snow. Roni magically conjures a cloak for herself to avoid being identified as her Wish Realm counterpart, and asks them if they saw someone who may have crossed through here not long ago. Before she even finishes her words, she recognizes them and calls them by their names. The trio then tries to rob her and Granny aims a crossbow at her. After Roni immediately creates a fireball to scare them away, the fairy asks her to let them go, which Roni quickly does. They ask her if she is not evil anymore, and Roni says that she is not. She asks what happened to them, as they should have been the hopeful ones, and the trio explains that they tried, but that's what Wish Rumplestiltskin does, making people desperate.
The scene was cut for time, because it was the only scene that could be cut without disrupting the whole flow.[4] However, the scene can still be seen in promotional pictures.
The statue was previously used in the Season Six episode "Wish You Were Here," but that prop had been tossed because Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin weren't going to appear in Season Seven, so they had to build a new one for the scene.[5]
Cast[3]
Starring
Guest Starring
|
Co-Starring
Uncredited |
Note:
*: Only in archive footage
Trivia
Title
- The title card features the "O" of "Once" formed by a portal.[9]
- It is also the second Season Seven title card to not feature the Seattle skyline. The two other are from "The Guardian" and "Leaving Storybrooke."
- The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on March 6, 2018.[10]
- The fifteenth episode of the first season of Lost shares its name with the title of this episode.
Production Notes
- Adam Horowitz has stated that the Henry seen in the flashback with Wish Rumplestiltskin was Sir Henry from the Wish Realm, and not Henry Mills.[1] This is also confirmed by episode writer David H. Goodman and episode director Steve Pearlman on the Season Seven Blu-ray-exclusive Audio Commentary.
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The two opening aerial shots of Sir Henry riding are stock footage of Prince Charming riding through the Enchanted Forest from the filming of the "Pilot" episode.[5]
- Tiera Skovbye was ill the day they shot the big celebration at Roni's, which is why Robin kisses Tilly on the shoulder instead of her face.[11]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The scene with Tilly and Rogers outside the latter's apartment building was initially written as taking place inside the hospital, but there were no buildings available for that during production and instead it was pitched as Rogers coming home and meeting Tilly on the street.[5]
- The "I love you" exchange between father and daughter was ad-libbed on the day of shooting.[5]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The scene where Roni discovers Weaver trapped inside the wall of Mr. Samdi's office was initially written as Roni realizing a painting was askew. Director Steve Pearlman suggested that they used the living wall in the office instead and made it more interesting, with Regina noticing the little stream of water hitting off the rock.[5]
- The part where Wish Rumplestiltskin samples the icing on the cupcakes in Henry's apartment was pitched by Steve Pearlman to Robert Carlyle the night they were shooting. Pearlman had asked the prop department to have enough cupcakes available in case Robert Carlyle liked the idea, which he did. While they were filming it, Pearlman was afraid that the actor would get lead poisoning because of the number of times he sucked cream and the make-up off his finger, or get a sugar high. They did at least 20 takes of the scene, where Robert Carlyle ate the frosting every single time.[5]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The music during the sword fight between Henry and Wish Cruella was originally more dramatic, but the director asked for something more fun and swashbuckling, which gave the scene a new energy and fun and tension.[5]
- The scene with Wish Cruella in the cage was tough to shoot because it was hard getting everything perfectly lined up because the characters' faces were between little six-inch squares.[5]
- The part with Jacinda and Lucy in the snow globe was filmed by having the actors on a green-screen stage and miming that they were inside a glass dome that was much bigger than them. It was shot before the scene with Henry and Roni finding the globe, so they had to make sure the eyelines matched. They shot it in two different ways, with the actors looking both to the right and the left, so that they had options in editing.[5]
- Although the water around Wish Ariel was visual effects, the crew had to spray JoAnna Garcia Swisher with a hose so she would be wet and it would appear real. According to the director, this was a little chilling for her because the scene was filmed late at night.[5]
- It took 10 hours to shoot the scene where Weaver first meets Wish Rumplestiltskin. Weaver's part was shot on the first day and took about six and a half hours. The other part was shot several days later, because Robert Carlyle had to be in make-up. A photo double played the opposite part and learned all the lines. The scene with them in the castle was also filmed over two days with a photo double.[5]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The scene with Henry and the Wish Apprentice was originally written as taking place inside the cabin, but was ultimately put outside as the schedule didn't allow them to build the interior.[5]
- Timothy Webber was originally going to wear contacts for his portrayal of the blind Apprentice, to make his eyes look foggy, but the plan was scrapped when the actor said that the contacts would make him unable to see and move. He told them that he could play blind without the contacts and then he could move wherever they wanted, so they went for that instead.[5]
- The Wish Apprentice's quote to Henry, which is "That is indeed a complicated story. The timelines alone would make one's head spin. Only a true author could weave such a tale. [...] Every story an Author has ever written lives in his heart. You have done good work — could use a little more romance, perhaps, but maybe in your next book." is a reference to the showrunners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, and other writers of Once Upon a Time.[12]
Event Chronology
- The flashback where Sir Henry[1] meets Rumplestiltskin takes place in an unidentified realm, sometime after "Tougher Than the Rest."
- The Seattle events take place after "Is This Henry Mills?" (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The Wish Realm events take place place after "Tougher Than the Rest" and before "Leaving Storybrooke."
- The Storybrooke events take place after "Is This Henry Mills?" (due to the time travel revealed in the same episode; this is confirmed in "Leaving Storybrooke") and before "Leaving Storybrooke."
Episode Connections
- The Dark Curse was broken in "Is This Henry Mills?"
- Mr. Samdi was killed by the Wish Realm counterpart of Rumplestiltskin in "Is This Henry Mills?"
- Rogers was hospitalized after getting too close to Tilly in "Is This Henry Mills?"
- Sabine rescued Drew in "Is This Henry Mills?"
- Henry became the Author in "Operation Mongoose Part 2."
- Henry mentions the time Emma wished on a cupcake to not be alone, an event in "Pilot."
- Rumpelstiltskin became a coward in "Manhattan."
- The Seer told Rumplestiltskin that Henry would be his undoing in "Manhattan."
- Regina killed the Wish Realm counterpart of Snow White and David and rescued Emma in "Wish You Were Here."
- How the ink for the Atuthor's pen got in Cruella De Vil's hair is explained in "Sympathy for the De Vil."
- As the Apprentice tests Henry, clips from "Operation Mongoose Part 2," "The Brothers Jones," "Ruby Slippers," "Page 23," "Mother's Little Helper," "The Final Battle Part 1" and "The Final Battle Part 2" appear.
- The Wish Realm counterpart of Rumplestiltskin references the titles of two episodes depicting Rumplestiltskin's backstory.
- He tells a young Henry "some scars go more than skin deep," a reference to the Season One episode "Skin Deep."
- After kidnapping Jacinda and Lucy, he tells Henry "I prey on desperate souls, remember?," a reference to the Season One episode "Desperate Souls."
- Wish Rumplestiltskin calls Henry the Truest Believer, a title he was first acknowledged by in "The Heart of the Truest Believer."
- The opening sequence of Wish Henry riding his horse through an unknown forest to a sleeping princess mirrors the opening sequence of "Pilot" where Prince Charming rides his horse to Snow White who is also under a Sleeping Curse.
Biblical
- The Cross of Saint Peter (an inverted Latin cross) is pictured in a book sitting on the bench where the snow globe is sitting in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle.[13] The Cross of Saint Peter was traditionally used as a Christian symbol, but in recent times, it has also been used as an anti-Christian symbol.
- PAUSE AND READ: When Henry is doing research in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle, an open book on the table[14] contains verse 19 – 21 from Job 36 in the Bible. Note that some of the words are obscured on-screen; the following is the excerpt in its entirety:[15]
20 Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
- A book that he opens as he continues doing research[16] contains verse 1 – 3 from Isaiah 47 (there is additional text underneath, presumably additional verses, but they are too blurred to read). Some of the words are illegible due to a fold in the page; the following is the excerpt in its entirety:[17]
2Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
Disney
- In order to free the princess, the prince has to battle a dragon; a reference to the Disney film Sleeping Beauty, where Maleficent transforms into a dragon and Prince Phillip has to fight her to get to Aurora. The prince throws his sword, directly hitting the dragon in the heart, just like Prince Phillip did. After battling the dragon, the prince awakens the sleeping princess with true love's kiss, just like Prince Phillip does with Aurora in Sleeping Beauty (in the Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale, the prince stoops down and gives the princess a kiss just as the curse break, but does not actually wake her).
- Remy mentions an incidence from before the Dark Curse, where he was preparing a cassoulet (a French casserole), a reference to the rat protagonist from Ratatouille, who works as a chef in France.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Fairy Tales and Folklore
- This episode features Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumplestiltskin" fairy tale, the little mermaid from "The Little Mermaid" fairy tale, Cruella de Vil from the The Hundred and One Dalmatians story, the apprentice from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the princess and the prince from the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale, and Peter Pan from the Peter Pan story.
- 🍎 APPLES: The drink Roni is having during the celebration of the broken curse is a red appletini,[18] a reference to the poisoned apple from the "Snow White" fairy tale.
- Tilly has a looking glass in her boxcar, a reference to the Through the Looking-Glass story, where Alice travels though a looking glass.
- Wish Ariel is carrying a trident. In classical mythology, tridents are three-pronged spears serving as the attribute of a sea god.[19]
- The magic bean used by Tilly and Margot to cross to the other side of the country is from the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk."
Lost
- Weaver pours himself and Roni a glass of MacCutcheon Scotch Whisky,[20] a fictional brand on Lost.
Popular Culture
- A travel photo from Belle and Mr. Gold's travel book shows them posing in front of the Triumphal Arch of the Star in Paris, while another photo shows them with Gideon in front of Stonehenge.[21]
Props Notes
- A Polaroid from Belle and Mr. Gold's travel book shows them posing in front of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post in Arendelle.[21]
- Weaver finding the photo on the floor was Robert Carlyle's idea.[5]
- USE IT AGAIN: A regular version of this photo appears on a shelf in Belle and Gold's house in the Edge of Realms in "Beauty."[22]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: The table which Wish Rumplestiltskin places the snow globe (where Jacinda and Lucy are trapped) onto in the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle is a modified version of the rack,[23] a well-known medieval instrument of torture. This rack has spiked rollers designed to slice into the skin and muscles of the victim's back, an "improvement" made by the French.[24]
- REUSED PROPS: The same torture device was sitting in the Underbrooke Sheriff's Department in the Season Five episode "The Brothers Jones."[25] The black cage in the great hall,[26] where Cruella is trapped, is another re-used prop from the episode, where it was sitting in the corner of the sheriff's station.[27]
- The cage and the rack could also be seen in Dream World version of the original dark castle in the Season Six premiere "The Savior."[28]
- Two hanging cages can be seen in Wish Rumplestiltskin's basement.[29] The hanging cage was a medieval torture device in which the victim was either displayed and later freed from, or locked inside and left to die.[30]
- The same props were sitting on the floor in the Black Fairy's chambers in the Season Six episode "Mother's Little Helper."[31]
- One of the cages also appeared in the Underbrooke Sheriff's Department in the Season Five episode "The Brothers Jones"[25] and the Dream World version of the Dark Castle in the Season Six premiere "The Savior."[32]
- According to director Steve Pearlman, the torture devices were re-purposed for fans who remembered back to Season Five.[5]
- REUSED PROPS: The trident Wish Ariel is wielding when meeting the Dark One[33] is the same prop used for Poseidon's trident in the Season Four episode "Poor Unfortunate Soul."[34]
- The same prop is on display in the Dark Castle in the Season One episode "Skin Deep."[35]
- MYSTERIOUS WRITINGS: When Henry is doing research in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle, he puts down his quill on top of a piece of paper, which is full of notes[36] (some of the text is obscured on-screen, but most of it can be seen on a photograph from an online prop auction; the obscured text which can be seen on the prop photo is set in fuchsia):[37]
[obscured]M[symbol] – cross reference in Journal
[obscured]ns pretiam sollicitadin, tinacidant saggitas
[symbols] check Volume 7 of
chamber book
[symbol] = seen this before
Lorem | ipsum | ador | sit | amet | valumtas | turpis |
Lament | power | adore | for | peace | valour | time |
- "Lorem ipsum ador sit amet" is an edited version of "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" (replacing "dolor" with "ador"), the opening words of Lorem ipsum, a filler text commonly used as mock-content when testing a given page layout or font.
- MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS: Three of the strange symbols are symbols for alchemical processes: Fire of reverberation, purification 1 (slightly modified for the show) and composition 2.[38]
Set Dressing
- REUSED PROPS: When people are celebrating the broken curse at Roni's, one of the food containers on the counter[39] is the same dish used to serve Regina's lasagna in the Season Two episodes "The Cricket Game"[40] and "Welcome to Storybrooke,"[41] and the Season Six episodes "The Other Shoe"[42] and "The Final Battle Part 2."[43]
- REUSED PROPS: Two small paintings hanging on the wall in Mr. Samdi's office[44] also appeared over the fireplace in Regina's study in the Season Four episode "The Snow Queen"[45] and by the bed in Mr. Gold's hotel suite in the Season Five episode "Only You."[46]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Two dalmatian-spotted cushions are sitting on a piece of furniture in the great hall of the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle.[47]
- ARTWORKS: Two modified versions of Garland of flowers around a cartouche with Jesus and St. John the Baptist as children, a 1630s painting by Flemish painter Daniel Seghers and the Dutch Flemish Baroque painter Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, are hanging on either side of the exit of the great hall in the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle.[48] The painting has been edited for the show; the most noticeable differences are the two children in the middle, who have been replaced with a different motif, and a large skull which has been added to the bottom.
- REUSED PROPS: The same paintings appear in the Dream World version of the original Dark castle in the Season Six premiere "The Savior."[49]
- MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS: When Henry is doing research in the Wish Realm version of the Dark Castle, an illustration in one of the books[50] shows the Sigillum Dei, a late Middle Ages magical diagram.
- REUSED ILLUSTRATION: The same illustration appears in Cora's spell book in the Season Two episode "We Are Both."[51]
- PAUSE AND READ: When Henry sits down to use the Author's pen in Wish Rumplestiltskin's castle, a book on the table (seen upside-down)[52] contains pages 3652 and 3653 of The decisions of the Court of Session: from its first institution to the present time: digested under proper heads, in the form of a dictionary, Volume 5 by William Maxwell Morison and the Court of Session (the supreme civil court of Scotland), published in 1802.[53]
Costume Notes
- SECONDHAND CLOTHING: Wish Cruella's earrings[54] were previously worn by Snow White in Isaac's alternate reality in the Season Four episode "Operation Mongoose Part 1."[55]
Filming Locations
- The opening scene with Wish Henry and Wish Rumplestiltskin was filmed in the woods by the White Pine Beach in Vancouver's Belcarra Regional Park. The segment with Henry riding was filmed in the woods by the west beach, while the dialogue segment with the Dark One was filmed in the picnic area in the woods next to the east beach.[56]
- Note that the two opening aerial shots of Sir Henry riding were not included; they are stock footage of Prince Charming riding through the Enchanted Forest from the filming of the "Pilot" episode.[5]
- The scene with the Rollin' Bayou driving into Storybrooke at the end of the episode was filmed on White Pine Beach Road near the same beach.[56]
- 500 Alexander Street in Vancouver doubles as the exterior of Rogers' home.[57] Ironically, this is a building where sailors used to live in the 1800s.[5]
- The scenes in Wish Rumplestiltskin's great hall were filmed on a green-screen set at The Bridge Studios.[58]
- RECYCLED SET: The scenes in Wish Rumplestiltskin's basement were filmed on a television set built at The Bridge Studios.[59] It was a redressed version of Gothel's tower from previous episodes.[5]
- The basement set[29] previously doubled as the Royal Castle's wine cellar in the Season Six episode "A Bitter Draught."[60] This can easily be seen from the identical chandelier, the shape of the walls and the door.
- A redressed version of the basement also doubles as Dr. Jekyll's laboratory in Mr. Hyde's hospital in the Season Five episode "Only You."[61]
- Moreover, the hospital scenes with the cage in "Only You" were shot on the same set as the scenes in Dr. Jekyll's laboratory. The cage was removable, and the set was redressed as the laboratory. Some of the walls were removed, and windows put in.[62]
- The scenes by the Wish Realm version of Rumplestiltskin's farm was filmed in Vancouver's Everett Crowley Park.[63]
- A deleted scene with Roni and the Wish Realm versions of Grumpy, Granny and the Blue Fairy by the statue of Queen Snow and King David was filmed in the same location.[64]
- The scenes in Wish Hook's hideout were filmed on a green-screen set at The Bridge Studios.[65] The rocks Rogers and Weaver were standing on were real, as was the rock Wish Ariel was sitting on. The rest of the surroundings were added digitally in post-production.
Goofs
- Wish Rumplestiltskin implies that he and his other version heard the prophecy about the boy being their undoing on the same day they met the Seer. That is not true, at least for the original Rumplestiltskin, who didn't get that prophecy until years after his first encounter with the Seer. ("Manhattan")
- When a portal opens in front of Henry, Weaver, Rogers and Roni, a shadow appears in front of them, when it should've appeared behind them, because of the light of the portal.[66]
International Titles
International Titles | |||
---|---|---|---|
Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
French | "La Plume de la Sagesse" | "The Pen of Wisdom" | |
German | "Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind" | "And If They Haven't Died..." | German equivalent of "And They Lived..." |
Italian | "Ritorno a casa" | "Homecoming" |
Videos
References
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