A Pirate's Life

"Hook: Look, he's grown into a fine young lad, and he is lucky to have a mother like you. Emma Swan: He's lucky to have a pirate like you."

"A Pirate's Life" is the second episode of Season Seven of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Jane Espenson & Jerome Schwartz, and directed by Tara Nicole Weyr. It is the one hundred and thirty-fifth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 13, 2017.

Synopsis
When Henry finds himself in trouble, he calls upon his Storybrooke family for help, and together they set off on a mission to find Cinderella. Along the way, Hook is confronted by an unexpected foe who threatens the group’s success. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda searches for a way to see Lucy with some unwelcome assistance from Henry, while Victoria Belfrey enlists the help of Gold and Weaver to push Henry out of the neighborhood.

Starring

 * Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills/Roni
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook/Hook (Wish Realm)/Rogers
 * Andrew J. West as Henry Mills
 * Dania Ramirez as Jacinda
 * Gabrielle Anwar as Lady Tremaine/Victoria Belfrey
 * Alison Fernandez as Lucy
 * Robert Carlyle as Weaver

Special Guest Starring

 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan

Guest Starring

 * Mekia Cox as Sabine
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Young Henry
 * Adelaide Kane as Drizella/Ivy Belfrey

Co-Starring

 * Trevor Roberts as Remy

Trivia

 * -|Production Notes=

Title

 * The title card features a swan.
 * The title of this episode was revealed by Adam Horowitz via his Instagram account on July 10, 2017.
 * This episode could be named after:
 * The song "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)", which is the theme song for the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disney theme parks. It is also featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
 * The song of the same name from the Disney film Peter Pan. It is sung by Hook's pirate crew.
 * The expression "A Pirate's Life" has already been used on the show:
 * When Hook welcomes Baelfire aboard the Jolly Roger, he tells him: "It's a pirate's life for you".
 * When Hook is reunited with Emma in New York, he says, "I had a life to get back to. A pirate's life."
 * When Hook prepares to take back his ship from Black Beard, he says, "Women come and go, Mr. Smee, but a pirate's life... it's forever".
 * When Hook sings "Revenge Is Gonna Be Mine" to Snow White and Prince Charming, one of his lyrics is "A pirate's life is one to love".

Production Notes

 * The press release for the episode mistakenly says "Victoria Belfrey enlists the help of Gold and Weaver". However, it is not possible as Weaver is Mr. Gold's cursed persona, so they can't both exist in Seattle at the same time.
 * It was supposed to say "Victoria Belfrey enlists the help of Rogers and Weaver" as confirmed by the episode.
 * During the filming of this episode, Robert Carlyle decided to change the accent of Weaver to make him more different from Mr. Gold. After that, he had to re-record all of Weaver's scenes from "Hyperion Heights" via automated dialogue replacement.
 * Lucy's ballet scenes were filmed on Alison Fernandez's birthday. The cast and crew celebrated her birthday on set.
 * A sequence where Henry says that Emma is bad at goodbyes was deleted from the episode.
 * According to Andrew J. West, Colin O'Donoghue made fun of him during the scene where Henry throws Cinderella's "note" into the fire because he kept missing every time.


 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Seattle events take place in October 2017, the day after "Hyperion Heights", and before "The Garden of Forking Paths".
 * The Storybrooke flashbacks take place after "Beauty" and before "Hyperion Heights".
 * The New Enchanted Forest flashbacks take place after "Hyperion Heights" and before "The Garden of Forking Paths".

Episode Connections

 * Henry left Storybrooke in "Hyperion Heights".
 * Lady Tremaine framed Cinderella for the Prince's murder in "Hyperion Heights".
 * Cinderella left Henry the glass slipper in "Hyperion Heights".
 * Henry helped Victoria to find Jacinda and Lucy in "Hyperion Heights".
 * Rogers was promoted to Detective and became Weaver's partner in "Hyperion Heights".
 * Emma met Hook from the Wish Realm in "Tougher Than the Rest".
 * Archie began officiating wedding ceremonies in "There's No Place Like Home" with the wedding of Belle and Mr. Gold and also officiated the wedding of Emma and Hook in "The Song in Your Heart".
 * Flowers started growing again in the Community Gardens in "Hyperion Heights".
 * The identity of Wish Realm Hook's daughter and how she became trapped in a prison by the Witch is revealed in "Eloise Gardener".
 * Wish Realm Hook finds his daughter in "Pretty in Blue". The knight is returned to him in the same episode.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * Jacinda mentions Someday My Prince Will Come from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Henry Mills.
 * Wish Realm Hook used to play chess with his daughter, who is later revealed to have grown up in Rapunzel's tower. In the movie Tangled, Rapunzel played chess to pass the time.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Cinderella, the Evil Stepmother, and one of the Wicked Stepsisters from the Cinderella fairytale, along with Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story.
 * Wish Realm Hook used to play chess with his daughter, a character who is later revealed to be Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Chess is an important theme in Lewis Carroll's sequel Through the Looking-Glass.

Popular Culture

 * Weaver finds the Nancy Drew book The Secret of the Golden Pavilion in Henry's apartment.
 * The following titles can be seen on Henry's bookshelf:
 * A Thin Dark Line by Tami Hoag
 * Blessed Among Women by Arnold Michael (a bishop who founded the Madonna Ministry)
 * The Structure of Freedom by Christian Bay
 * A book about the Boer War
 * Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil
 * Seawitch by Alistair MacLean
 * H.M.S. Fidelity by Marcel Jullian
 * A Deal Undone by Andrew Cohen
 * Wild Boy by Jill Dawson
 * Samaritan by Richard Price
 * The Other Side of Love by Jacqueline Briskin
 * Contemplating Adultery: The Secret Life of a Victorian Woman by Lotte and Joseph Hamburger (the latter was a Professor Emeritus of Political and Social Science at the Yale University)


 * -|Set Notes=

Set Dressing

 * The flowers in Victoria Belfrey's office are hyacinths, the same as Cinderella's lucky flower from "Hyperion Heights".
 * A mushroom ornament sitting on Henry's shelf is the same prop that was sitting on the shelf in Archie's office in previous seasons.
 * The tree decorations at Lucy's ballet studio are a reference to her homeworld, the New Enchanted Forest.

Costume Notes

 * Ivy is wearing a Miu Miu printed shirt.
 * Jacinda is wearing a Maje 'Bianca' jacket. She continues to wear the jacket in "The Garden of Forking Paths" and "Pretty in Blue".
 * Regina is wearing a Kooples plaid jacket (no longer available).
 * Roni is wearing a Mackage painted 'Florica' jacket. She continues to wear the jacket in "Wake Up Call" and "Pretty in Blue".
 * Victoria is wearing a Rag & Bone 'Eliza' dress.
 * A white version of the dress was worn by the character Katie Logan during an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful.


 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * Burnaby's Central Park doubles as the New Enchanted Forest for the scene where Henry is being pursued by Lady Tremaine's men and the scenes with Emma, Hook, Regina, Henry and Wish Realm Hook outside the cottage in the woods.
 * The Victorian Hotel in Vancouver doubles as the exterior of Henry's apartment building.
 * The scenes at Lucy's ballet studio were filmed at the premises of the Vancouver Rowing Club in Vancouver's Stanley Park.
 * The street scene with Rogers and Weaver at the end of the episode was filmed on Columbia Street in New Westminster.