Souls of the Departed

"They're not the dearly departed. They are dead, wretched souls."

- Mr. Gold

"Souls of the Departed" is the twelfth episode of Season Five of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the one hundredth episode of the series overall, and premiered on March 6, 2016.

Synopsis
Emma, Regina, Mary Margaret, David, Robin, Henry and Gold arrive in the Underworld, on a mission to rescue Hook, only to discover that their search will be more difficult than they had anticipated. The inhabitants of the Underworld—all souls with unfinished business and many with quite personal vendettas—hound our heroes at every turn. Meanwhile, in an Enchanted Forest flashback, a familiar face from the Evil Queen's past returns to present Regina with the perfect birthday gift.

Starring

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
 * Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills
 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan
 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle French
 * Colin O'Donoghue as Hook
 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
 * Rebecca Mader (Credit only)
 * Sean Maguire as Robin Hood
 * Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold

Guest Starring

 * Lee Arenberg as Grumpy
 * Emma Caulfield as the Blind Witch
 * Giancarlo Esposito as Magic Mirror
 * Greg Germann as Hades
 * Barbara Hershey as Cora
 * Robbie A. Kay as Peter Pan
 * Tony Perez as Valet
 * Michael Raymond-James as Neal Cassidy

Co-Starring

 * Jesse Blue as Black Knight
 * Michael Coleman as Happy
 * Faustino di Bauda as Sleepy
 * Stefano Giulianetti as Jester
 * David-Paul Grove as Doc
 * Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey
 * Gabe Khouth as Sneezy
 * Mig Macario as Bashful
 * Steven Roberts as Blacktooth
 * Julia Tortolano as Blueberry Pie Gal

Uncredited

 * Josh Dallas as Prince James
 * Unknown as Charon
 * Unknown as Cruella De Vil

Trivia
Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The title card features the Underworld's fallen clock tower.
 * Adam Horowitz is a fan of the singer Bruce Springsteen. This episode shares its name with a song from the rock star's 1992 album Lucky Town.
 * Jiminy Cricket appears in this episode, but Raphael Sbarge did not return to voice him.
 * The opening scene with Neal Cassidy was not filmed during the original filming schedule of this episode, which occurred back in November of 2015. Instead, Michael Raymond-James filmed his scene the following January. The actor went through great lengths to keep his return a secret.
 * The flashbacks of this episode take place on February 1st of an unspecified year.
 * -|Episode Connections=

Event Chronology

 * The Underworld events take place after Hook's death in "Swan Song".
 * The Enchanted Forest events take place after "Lost Girl", and before "Hat Trick".
 * The Storybrooke events take place during "Swan Song", after Emma makes a deal with Mr. Gold and before the group's departure for the Underworld.

Episode Connections

 * Neal's room key number is 8. Neal previously stayed at room number 8 at the inn, which was established in "The Evil Queen".
 * After the Valet is taken prisoner by Cora, the Evil Queen travels to Wonderland to rescue him, an event shown in "Hat Trick".


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * Hades' hair turns to blue flames just like in the Disney film Hercules.

Fairytales and Folklore

 * This episode features Snow White, Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, the Magic Mirror and the Seven Dwarves from the Snow White fairytale, the Miller's Daughter from the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale who also serves as the Queen of Hearts from the Alice in Wonderland story, the Prince from the Prince and the Pauper story, Captain Hook and Peter Pan from the Peter Pan story, the Blind Witch from the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, Robin Hood from the ballad, Cruella De Vil from The Hundred and One Dalmatians story, and Hades and Charon from Greek Mythology.
 * Emma uses ale of Seonaidh to try to contact Hook. Seonaidh is a Celtic water spirit from the Isle of Lewis, who had to be offered a cup of ale in hope of prosperity in the forthcoming year.

Lost

 * Neal's room key number is 8, the second Lost number.
 * -|Other Notes=
 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * The scenes in the Underworld graveyard, were filmed in Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery.