    
|
For the Season Three episode with a similar title, see "Going Home." For the Season Seven episode with a similar name, see "Homecoming." For the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode with a similar name, see "Home." |
"There's No Place Like Home" is the twenty-second and final episode of Season Three of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz and directed by Ralph Hemecker. It is the sixty-sixth episode of the series overall, and premiered on May 11, 2014.
This episode is the second part of the season three finale, and premiered immediately following "Snow Drifts."
Synopsis
While Mary Margaret and David celebrate the naming of their son at a coronation in Granny's Diner, Emma and Hook are pulled into Zelena's time portal and find themselves in the Enchanted Forest of the past. But in their quest to discover a way back, they must be careful not to change ANYTHING or risk altering the lives of their friends and family — as well as their very own existence.[2]
Recap
Portland - 2001. Right after Emma Swan and Neal meet, he breaks into a carnival so they can enjoy their coffee sitting on the swing ride. Neal tells Emma his “story” about his bad life and why he left it. This leads to a very important philosophy that Emma has seemed to live by since she met Neal, “You don’t have a home until you just miss it.”
In the Enchanted Forest past, Emma is thrown in a jail cell. In the cell next to Emma is a woman she saw the Queen capture in town. Even though Emma introduces herself, as Princess Leia, the woman doesn’t want to reveal anything because of her family. The woman finally reveals that they will both be killed the next day.
In another part of the forest, Charming captures Snow White asking for the ring she stole. Unfortunately, Snow doesn’t have it. Emma does. Prince Charles tells them that to get the ring they must rescue Leia to get it back.
Hook takes Snow and Charming back towards the Palace, but Snow must stay hidden because there are ‘Wanted’ posters everywhere with her face. Charming notices a pouch around Snow’s neck, which turns out to be dark fairy dust that will turn enemies into bugs. Snow is saving hers for Regina. When they arrive near the palace, Snow goes to look for a friend and will enter at night.
That night, Hook and Charming have a bonding moment when Hook confronts him about marrying Abigail. Charming admits he wanted to marry for love and not for business. Hook admits to Charming that he loves Emma, but doesn’t know if she reciprocates, plus he doesn’t know how her parents feel about him. Suddenly, a figure appears, who was instructed to bring them into castle.
Back in the prison cells, Emma admires her mother’s ring. The woman then talks about wanting to get back to her family, when Emma notices a way out and uses Neal’s technique to help escape her cell. Marian wants Emma to leave without her, but Emma hesitates.
Outside the jail, a wolf appears to distract the guards while Charming attacks him. Hook uses Red’s cloak to return her to a human. Emma appears (with the woman) stopping Hook from his “gallant rescue.” Emma returns the ring to Charming, when Hook notices that Emma saved the woman and is not happy because it messes up the future that they know. After, all of them go searching for Snow in the castle.
Snow shows up in the Queen's apartment trying to use her fairy dust. The Queen, however, sees her and as Snow throws the dust, Regina stops and destroys it. The Black Knights capture Snow and Regina talks about Snow destroying her life leading to Snow allowing Regina to kill her, that night.
Charming, Hook, Emma, and Red search the palace for Snow. Through a window, they see her about to be killed with no way to stop it. Regina sets her body on fire leaving Emma is heartbroken that her mother has ‘died.’
In the forest, Emma continues to grieve the ‘death’ and Hook tries to talk her through it. Suddenly, Emma realizes that if Snow died that means she shouldn’t exist, which means that Snow is alive. A bug then begins to annoy Hook. As they try to think of how to find her, Charming notices the bug and stops Hook from killing it to prove it is Snow, who used the fairy dust. Emma notices the bug is ‘talking’ and it turns out she was summoning the Blue Fairy. Blue appears, but knows that Emma is not ‘Princess Leia.’ Blue returns Snow to a human and Emma greets her with a big hug. But, because Snow doesn’t know Emma, she is very confused by the enthusiastic greeting. Emma, hurt by the reaction, is briefly comforted by Hook.
The next day, Snow and Charming start to get to know each other and when Snow offers to go get some water for Charming he allows it. Hook explains to Emma the issues of having the woman stay alive when she wasn’t supposed to. Emma’s idea is to bring her back with them to the future. The woman refuses, but Emma knocks her out so she’ll have to agree. When Snow doesn’t return, Charming realizes she stole the ring, again, and is heading towards the Troll Bridge. Bad news: Snow does not have the fairy dust to stop the trolls. So, Hook and Emma go try and help them.
At the Troll Bridge, Charming saves the day as Snow is sent away without him, but since she can’t use the dust, she improvises. She takes a handful of sand and tricks the trolls into letting Charming go and they leave the bridge. Hook and Emma catch up to them, but instead, watch on as Snowing say their goodbyes. Snow finally tries on Ruth’s ring and fate is sealed because that is the moment Charming fell for Snow. Once they leave each other, Hook and Emma check and now that Snow and Charming met, everything in the storybook goes back to normal.
Emma and Hook, with the passed out woman over his shoulders, return to the Dark Castle hoping they can get Back to the Future. Rumple reveals that the portal he had promised to open, can only be opened by the person who used the portal. Instead, Rumple makes a potion so he won’t remember their visit and the things they told him about his son.
Rumple sends his visitors to his vault of dangerous items where they are returned to their original clothes. Hook peruses the vault and takes out an urn. Hook gives a little pep talk to get Emma to use her magic to open the portal. Emma realizes she wants to stay in Storybrooke and not go back to New York. She says that she missed her parents and that they are her home. Once she accepts that Storybrooke is home, her magic works and can use the wand to open a portal.
Hook heads back with the woman, but Rumple appears and stops Emma from returning until he learns more about his son. Emma is forced to tell him that Neal died, and he can’t change the outcome. Emma forces Rumple to take the potion as he lets her enter the portal. Once Rumple forgets, he leaves the vault.
Hook, Emma, and the woman return to Storybrooke in the present time. Emma rushes to the diner. Once there, she tells her parents that she is staying in Storybrooke, and finally calls them Mom and Dad. Emma finds out she made the storybook and now she wants to know her brother’s name. So, David stops the festivities and announces that their new son’s name is Prince Neal. Gold and Emma are touched. Emma has a sweet little moment with her brother.
Emma joins Hook outside to discuss what happened to them. Emma thanks Hook for bringing her back to Storybrooke and asks how he got to her. Turns out, after he got Neal's letter, he traded the Jolly Roger for a magic bean and got himself to New York. Emma realizes the sacrifice and the two share a kiss.
Later in the forest, Archie officiates Gold and Belle's wedding where Belle’s father is a witness. The two share their vows as we see shots of Mary Margaret, David and the baby, Hook and Emma kissing, and Robin, Regina, and Roland happy together arriving at Granny’s. Also we return to Rumple’s lie of switching the dagger’s possession. But finally, they are married.
Back at Granny’s, Regina and Robin enter with Roland and the woman realizes who Regina is. Afraid that the Evil Queen is casually at Granny’s, Emma offers to introduce them. As the introductions begins, Robin realizes who the woman is…his wife, Maid Marian. Regina is downright pissed to see her new boyfriend reunited with his wife. Emma not sure how to react just apologizes for what she did, but Regina doesn’t want to accept it. Regina just hopes she didn’t bring anything else back.
Cue, a return to the barn where the urn was brought back to Storybrooke. Suddenly, we see what was in the urn as some blue goo makes its way through the barn. The goo slides through the labyrinth that Zelena made and transforms into a woman.
Deleted Scenes
These scenes are included on Once Upon a Time: The Complete Third Season.
"Princess Leia"
After she has been arrested, Emma, while still under the disguise of Rumplestiltskin's glamour spell, is led in front of the Evil Queen by two black knights. One black knight orders her to kneel before the queen, but Emma is incredulous at his demand. Regina retorts she needs to, and the two guards push Emma down to the queen's feet. Then, Regina asks the blonde for Snow White's whereabouts, but Emma replies she already told the guards she does not know. The Evil Queen replies she does not know what kingdom she comes from, but in her realm, the price for aiding Snow White is steep. Trying to defend herself, Emma hesitatingly states she doesn't know where Snow White is, but if Regina desires it, she can help her find the fugitive. The Queen sizes her up for a beat, and remarks that Emma isn't a princess as she recognizes a "dirty street rat" when she sees one. Additionally, the Queen remarks that Emma is not trustworthy, and then has the guards send her to the dungeon.[3]
"Liar, Liar"
Realizing Snow is not with them, Emma asks Red where she is. After some prodding, Red reluctantly admits that Snow isn't coming with them, while Charming realizes that she's using the dark fairy dust to go after Regina.
Cast[2]
Starring
Guest Starring |
Co-Starring
Uncredited
|
Trivia
Title
- The title card features Zelena's time spell.[4]
- During the original airing, "Snow Drifts" and "There's No Place Like Home" were separated by a different title card featuring a swan.[5] The manner in which the letters form to make the show logo is different from the other episodes, as is the musical accompaniment.
- On the Blu-ray/DVD, the swan title card is used as a menu background.
- The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on March 25, 2014.[6]
- The title is a reference to the famous line by Dorothy Gale from the movie The Wizard of Oz.
Production Notes
- The Season Three finale was Jennifer Morrison and Colin O'Donoghue's favorite episodes to film.[7]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The flashback scene where Neal and Emma break into the fairground was originally scripted to be them breaking through the gate to a view of Portland at night. The production team found an abandoned amusement park, and felt that Neal showing this kind of place to Emma was something that the character would do.[8]
- REUSED FOOTAGE: The "past" scenes with Snow White and Prince Charming were a mixture of reshoots and old footage from "Snow Falls."[8][9]
- ABANDONED IDEAS: The show's producers asked Jamie Dornan to reprise his role as the Huntsman for the season finale, but he was unavailable due to his packed filming schedule for the movie Fifty Shades of Grey and the drama television series The Fall.[10] He would have been spotted by Emma in the Evil Queen's dungeon and Emma would have felt tempted to reach out to him.[11]
- For the scene where Snow White is trapped in the net, the new close-ups were shot by having Ginnifer Goodwin sitting on a chair, with a net around her.[8]
- In order to keep the ending scene with Elsa a secret, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis scripted an alternate ending, so that very few people knew about Elsa's appearance in the season finale.[12] Only the show creators and a small crew that filmed the end scene, knew about the secret ending. The scripted ending featured the Sorcerer's Hat coming out of the urn instead of Elsa.[13]
Event Chronology
- The Land Without Magic flashbacks occur in the year 2001 between scenes in "Tallahassee." (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
- The Enchanted Forest events take place right after "Snow Drifts," concurrently with "Snow Falls," and before Belle is banished from Rumplestiltskin's castle in "Skin Deep."
- The story also takes place concurrently with the scene where Zelena steals Marian's identity in "Heart of Gold." (For more details, see the Enchanted Forest timeline)
- The Storybrooke events take place after "Snow Drifts," concurrently with Ruby's Storybrooke flashback in "The Bear King" and before "A Tale of Two Sisters. (For more details, see the Land Without Magic timeline)
Episode Connections
- In the Portland flashback, Emma and Neal have the drink Neal suggested they have when they first met in "Tallahassee."
- Snow White was forced out of her castle in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."
- How Snow White ruined Regina's life was shown in "The Stable Boy."
- Prince Charming says his father is "making things quite difficult" for him, referring to events in "The Shepherd."
- Red Riding Hood learned to control her werewolf skills in "Child of the Moon."
- This is the second time Hook breaks into Regina's castle. The first time was when he seeking information on how to kill Rumplestiltskin in "Queen of Hearts."
- The death of Hook's brother took place in "Good Form."
- Hook tells Emma about his brother's death; something he refused to do in "Think Lovely Thoughts ."
- Scenes from "Snow Falls" are reused.
- Emma and Hook knock Marian out and later leave her after they go after Prince Charming and Snow White at the Troll Bridge. What happens during the time they are away is revealed in "Heart of Gold."
- Marian is abducted after Emma knocks her out with a rock. Merida does the same to Belle in "The Bear and the Bow."
- STORYBOOK CONTENT: When Emma opens the restored storybook, illustrations from "Pilot" are seen.[14] An illustration of her and Hook at the royal ball in "Snow Drifts" is later shown in Granny's Diner.[15]
- After Snow White escapes from her clutches, Regina says, "I shall destroy her happiness if it is the last thing I do," which is a spin on her signature line from "Pilot."
- The story behind the marionettes in Rumplestiltskin's castle was revealed in "That Still Small Voice."
- Rumplestiltskin's memory loss potion is the same kind Regina used on herself in "Save Henry." It is also the same one Rumplestiltskin gave to Snow White in "7:15 A.M."
- How the mysterious urn ended up inside Rumplestiltskin's vault is revealed in "Smash the Mirror."
- Emma's habit of moving around and running was previously referred to in "The Thing You Love Most" and "The Price of Gold."
- Emma lost her magic in "Kansas."
- Zelena's death took place in "Kansas." It is shown to be fake in "Heart of Gold."
- Henry brought Emma to Storybrooke in "Pilot."
- Emma tells Rumplestiltskin that Neal died to save them all, which occurred in "Quiet Minds."
- Emma calls her parents mom and dad for the first time since "And Straight On 'Til Morning."
- The new curse was cast in "A Curious Thing."
- Hook refers to the kiss he and Emma shared in "Good Form."
- Emma thanks Hook for coming after her in New York; an event shown in "Going Home" and "New York City Serenade."
- The reason why magic beans are not easy to come by was alluded to in "Tallahassee," and shown in "Tiny."
- This episode reveals what happened to Hook's ship; something that was previously alluded to in "The Jolly Roger."
- Who Hook sold the ship to is revealed in "Poor Unfortunate Soul."
- What happened to Hook's ship after he sold it is revealed in "Fall."
- Hook gets his ship back in "Poor Unfortunate Soul."
- Hook finally succeeds in winning Emma's heart and fulfilling a promise he made in "Dark Hollow."
- During her wedding, Belle talks about all the times she's lost Mr. Gold; to darkness in "Skin Deep," to weakness in "The Crocodile," and to death in "Going Home."
- Mr. Gold talks about his first meeting with Belle, which occurred in "Skin Deep."
- Belle says that sometimes the best tea cup is chipped. This item was first featured in "Skin Deep."
- How the mysterious woman at the end ended up inside the urn is revealed in "Smash the Mirror." What happens after she leaves the barn is explored in "A Tale of Two Sisters."
Disney
- Emma's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Princess Leia; a reference to one of the main protagonists of the original Star Wars trilogy. This reference is made especially interesting by the fact that two years before the episode aired, Lucasfilm, the studio behind the franchise, was bought by Disney, the parent company of ABC, the network that aired Once Upon a Time.
- The dress and hairstyle of the woman who comes out of the urn is from the 2013 Disney film Frozen.
- This episode contains a number of other references to Disney works. See the list of Disney references for more.
Lost
- Dopey is wearing a Geronimo Jackson shirt.[16] Geronimo Jackson is a fictional band on Lost.
- This episode contains a number of other references to ABC's Lost. See the list of Lost references for more.
Fairy Tales and Folkore
- This episode features the ugly duckling from the titular fairy tale, Maid Marian and Robin Hood from the Robin Hood ballads, Snow White, the prince and the evil queen from the "Snow White" fairy tale, Captain Hook from the Peter Pan story, Red Riding Hood from the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairy tale, the Fairy with turquoise hair from The Adventures of Pinocchio, Rumplestiltskin from the "Rumpelstiltskin" fairy tale as well as the princess from the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale.
- Also featured is a group of trolls that inhabit a bridge. This concept is found in the fairy tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff."
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Hook goes by the alias Prince Charles in the Enchanted Forest, a nod to the then-heir apparent of the British throne, Charles III. This is also a subtle reference to Chapter V of the Peter Pan novel, which contains the following passage about Captain Hook: "In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of Charles II, having heard it said in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts."
- Red is a werewolf, a creature from European mythology.[17]
- This episode features fairy dust, a substance originating in the Peter Pan] story.
- HIDDEN DETAILS: In Rumplestiltskin's vault, there is a statue of Pazuzu,[18] the demon from Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, and the antagonist from The Exorcist franchise.
- STORYBOOK CONTENT: An excerpt from the fairy tale of "The Golden Bird" is seen next the illustration of Hook and Emma in the storybook.[15]
- The same excerpt appears in dozens of episodes; read the trivia section in the article for Henry's storybook for more information and a transcript.
- 🍎 APPLES: When Snow White sneaks up on the the Evil Queen, the latter is studying a red apple, a reference to the queen's weapon of choice in the fairy tale.
- Mr. Gold, the cursed counterpart of Rumplestiltskin (aka Beast), marries Belle, similar to how the titular characters marry in the fairy tale of "Beauty and the Beast."
Popular Culture
- The opening scene where Emma and Neal are sitting in the swings of a carousel at the fairground and Neal handles Emma's glove is an homage to the famous scene from the 1954 crime drama film On the Waterfront,[8][19] where Marlon Brando is sitting in a swing in a children's park and handles a white glove dropped by Eva Marie Saint as they recall earlier days.
- Hook's alias in the Enchanted Forest is Prince Charles, a reference to Charles III, who was then the heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom.
Props Notes
- REUSED PROPS: In the captain's quarters aboard the Jolly Roger in the previous episode, "Snow Drifts," there was an urn[20] bearing an almost identical resemblance to the one Elsa comes out of in this episode;[21] the only difference being the lid. Both props have been used in previous episodes in Season Two: They can be seen among Regina's wedding gifts in "We Are Both,"[22] and a recolored version of the urns are used to decorate Cora's heart vault in the Enchanted Forest in "The Doctor."[23] The urns also appear in the Frankenstein manor in "In the Name of the Brother."[24]
- Both golden urns also appear in the room with the crown jewels in the Red King's palace in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Heart of Stone."[25]
Costume Notes
- The part where Neal handles Emma's glove was Michael Raymond-James and Jennifer Morrison's idea.[8]
- SECONDHAND CLOTHING: Emma's prisoner dress[26] is a white version of the gray dress that the Evil Queen wore when the latter was imprisoned in the Season Two episode "The Cricket Game."[27] Emma wears the same gray dress when she emerges from the Vault of the Dark One in the Season Five premiere "The Dark Swan."[28]
- HIDDEN DETAILS: Belle's wedding hat is a cloche, a type of bell-shaped hat named after the French word for "bell."
- The hat was made by Canadian-based fine headwear maker Kelly Dunlap. The hat fabric is a very high quality millinery fur felt called Deco Cloche in Winter White.[29]
- USE IT AGAIN: In the Season Five episode "Siege Perilous," the hat[30] is on display behind the counter in the pawnshop,[31] seemingly for sale.
- BRAND INFO: Belle's wedding shoes[32] are Dolly Spectator Platform Pumps from Charlotte Olympia[33] (no longer available).
- USE IT AGAIN: Belle also wears the shoes on her honeymoon in the Season Four premiere "A Tale of Two Sisters."[34]
- The same shoes were worn by the character Kate McLean on the Friends with Better Lives episode "Cyrano de Trainer-Zac."[35]
Filming Locations
- The opening scene with Emma and Neal at the Portland amusement park, was filmed in Vancouver's Playland amusement park. The carousel that Emma and Neal sit in, is called the Wave Swinger, while The Crazy Beach Party and the Wooden Roller Coaster are sitting next to it.[36]
- RECYCLED SET: The scene with Ingrid and young Emma at the Minnesota funfair in the Season Four episode "Shattered Sight" was filmed in the same amusement park.[37] It was also used as a background plate for Emma's dream/vision of Neal in the Season Five episode "Souls of the Departed"[38] (the scene itself was filmed indoors on a soundstage[39]).
- The exterior scenes in the Enchanted Forest were filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.[40]
Goofs
- The wanted poster Prince Charming holds up, during the scene he traps Snow White in a net, does not have her name on it.[41] However, in the next shot, when Snow White looks from above,[42] and when the poster is pulled out from Prince Charming's bag by the Bridge Trolls on the Troll Bridge,[43] the name Snow White is visible on the paper.
- When Snow White comes over to thank Prince Charming for saving her,[44] you can clearly see that the one who comes over is not Ginnifer Goodwin, but her stunt double, Maja Aro, who served as the body double for a pregnant Ginnifer for the final episodes of Season Three.[45]
- Prince Neal's announcement ceremony is mistakenly referred to as a "coronation." This mistake is also present in the episode synopsis released by ABC.[2]
International Titles
| International Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Title | Translation |
| Finnish | "Oma koti kullan kallis" | "Home Sweet Home" |
| French | "On n'est Jamais Aussi Bien que Chez Soi" | "There's No Place Like Home" |
| German | "Ein kühler Wind weht durch das Haus" | "A Cool Wind Blows Through the House" |
| Italian | "Nessun posto è come casa" | "No Place Like Home" |
| Portuguese | "O lar é o melhor lugar" | "Home is the best place" |
| Spanish | "No hay lugar como el hogar" | "There's No Place Like Home" |
Videos
References
|
