Tamara

Tamara is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the fifteenth episode of the second season. She is portrayed by Sonequa Martin-Green.

History
Before the breaking of the Dark Curse, August met Tamara in a small clinic run by the Dragon in Hong Kong. She drops her phone and Neal offers it to her. Tamara removes her sunglasses and thanks him. Later, after August meets with the Dragon, he encounters Tamara at a restaurant in Hong Kong. She waves him over and offers him a drink to celebrate, revealing a large envelope of cash. She tells August that she had been all over the world to search for a cure to her cancer, and she finally found it in the Dragon. She tells August as well that she gave the Dragon a photo of herself and her grandmother, and though she regrets losing it it allowed her to find a cure. After speaking with August, Tamara's phone rings and she walks away to answer it. While she does, August steals her cash and runs out of the restaurant.

After August obtains the magical potion from the Dragon, Tamara encounters him on the fire escape outside the apartment and runs after him, shouting for him to stop. August runs, but eventually is stopped as his body is wracked with pain and he turns to more wood. He drops the potion and Tamara takes it. She looks at August and says that he deserves what he has, then vanishes into the streets of Hong Kong.

Tamara later appears in the apartment of the Dragon, holding the bottle of magic she obtained from August. She admits to the Dragon that she does not really have cancer, but has been searching for magic across the world for a long time. She tells him she struck out all this time until she met him. She asks the Dragon how come the potion does not contain any element from Earth, and the Dragon says because he treats things that are not from this world. Tamara then says she can't let anyone know she has been there, and takes out a taser. The Dragon then attempts to attack her, but Tamara thrusts the taser into his chest, killing him. She then strides out of the room, but after grabbing the photo of her and her grandmother.

Tamara later in New York is watching August and Neal talk in the mirror of her compact. Timing things just right, she walks into Neal as he turns to leave. Neal then offers her his scarf.

Tamara bumps into Neal and Emma on the street of Manhattan as they prepare to take her car to go to Hook's ship. She shows up and hugs Neal, asking him where he is going. She notices Emma and introduces herself, and then Neal tells Emma that Tamara is his fiancée.

Tamara comes to Storybrooke after gathering some bags of stuff for herself and Neal and checking the storage closet in Neal's apartment building, discovering that Hook is no longer there. She arrives in Storybrooke and meets up with Neal, Emma, and Henry at Granny's Inn. Upon Henry asking, Tamara tells the story of how she and Neal met, mentioning that he ran into her on her way to work and knocked her large coffee all over her blouse. Neal then offered her his scarf and said that she could either keep the scarf or call him, and she decided to call him, and they hit it off. Emma and Henry then leave, and Neal then attempts to share with Tamara his past in the Enchanted Forest. Tamara seems to be in complete disbelief at the tale he is attempting to tell her, and rebuffs him, saying that she believes that Neal is still in love with Emma and saw the way he looked at her. When Neal assures her that this is not the case, she angrily storms out, telling him that when he is ready to tell her the truth, then he can find her.

In Granny's Diner, Tamara overhears Mary Margaret tell Emma and Marco that she found August living in the woods outside of Storybrooke. As they leave, Tamara turns with a wicked look on her face. In the woods, Tamara finds August's trailer and knocks on the door, greeting him. She tells August that it is none of his business why she is in Storybrooke, and that she is here to offer August a deal. She tells him to leave Storybrooke and that if he goes to her apartment in New York City, he will find the bottle of potion that will allow him to change from wood back to a man. August seems to not want to, but Tamara tells him that he is the same man she encountered in Hong Kong all those years ago. Later, August instead goes to the sheriff's office and calls Emma. He attempts to tell her about Tamara, but Tamara cuts the phone line. August then tells her that she saw the photo of her and her grandmother in her car, and knows she was the one who killed the Dragon. He then tells her that he will reveal her to Emma, and Tamara states he will not do that before jamming the taser into him.

Later, Tamara sees August transform into Pinochio as she joins Neal. She gets nervous when Emma tries to question him about what August was trying to warn them about, but is relieved when Pinochio cannot remember. She then tells Neal that she is here for him, and that she loves him. Later, at Granny's Inn, Tamara is revealed to be the woman that Greg Mendel has been calling since he arrived in Storybrooke. When Tamara tells him Neal is in the shower, Greg tells her they must take advantage of the moment, and the two kiss and embrace while slamming the door to Greg's room shut.

Trivia

 * Her casting call describes her as "African American, Late 20s to mid 30s. She's beautiful, artistic, relaxed, friendly, charming and smart. She's also ambitious, fearless and a born leader, and she won't stop until she gets what she wants."
 * The name "Tamara" is of Biblical descent, meaning "palm tree".  It was also used in England as the name of a river goddess.