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This article focuses on the yellow bug owned by Emma Swan.
For the one Alice conjured, see Alice's yellow bug.

I stole a stolen car?

Emma Swan to Neal Cassidy src


The Yellow Bug[1] is a vehicle featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It first appears in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.

History

During First Curse

In an alley in Portland, Oregon, a seventeen year-old Emma breaks into a yellow bug. Using a screwdriver, she starts the vehicle without a hitch before a man in the backseat pops up to surprise her. Believing him to be the car owner, Emma follows his instructions to drive. He introduces himself as Neal, and she reluctantly states her name before running a stop sign. This attracts the attention of a cop, so she pulls over, though Neal smoothly assures the police officer that he was just teaching her to drive stick shift. After the cop is gone, Neal seats himself in the front passenger seat and reveals the car isn't his, and he, like her, was trying to steal it. ("Tallahassee")

At night, Neal drives the yellow bug to a closed amusement park where he and Emma have a conversation about their pasts. Love blooms between them, and the two become partners-in-crime as they pull off small robbery heists. ("There's No Place Like Home")

After a successful robbery at a convenience store, Emma and Neal celebrate by jumping into the car and sharing a kiss before heading to a motel. Discovering himself on a wanted poster, Neal makes plans to cross into Canada alone to elude police, but Emma suggests she sell stolen watches. With the earned money, they can run away to Tallahassee and start a new life together. After nabbing the watches, Emma joins Neal in their yellow bug. Before he leaves to pawn the items, he tells Emma to meet him at nine o'clock. Instead, a cop, apparently tipped off by Neal about the watches, arrests Emma for thievery. Two months later, Neal meets a man named August on the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada. Driving up in the bug, he asks about Emma, and August reveals she was sentenced to prison. Neal wants to know more about Emma's whereabouts, but August reminds him of the deal they made months earlier. Full of remorse, Neal hands over three items he wishes Emma to have; the car keys, a keychain and a large sum of money. Via mail sent from Phuket, Thailand by August, Emma receives the keychain and car keys, but not the money. While in jail, she also learns she is pregnant. ("Tallahassee")

In 2011, in Boston, Emma meets Henry, the child she gave up for adoption ten years earlier, and drives him home to Storybrooke. During the ride, the boy reads a storybook. He believes every story in the book actually happened, and claims all fairytale characters were brought to the real world by a powerful curse cast by the Evil Queen. As they enter Storybrooke, Henry refuses to give his address to Emma, who exits the car in frustration. Through a chance encounter with Henry's therapist, he gives Emma the address, and she drops the boy off in front of the house. Henry's mother, mayor Regina, invites her in for a drink, and Emma leaves shortly after this. On her drive out of town, Emma notices Henry left his book on the car seat. Having taken her eyes off the road momentarily, she looks back up to see a wolf in the road, which makes her swerve the car, hit the town marker and fall unconscious. The morning after, she wakes up in jail for driving while drunk, but is released in order to help Regina and Sheriff Graham find a missing Henry. After meeting the boy at his castle playground, Emma brings him home again. Determined to acquaint herself with Henry, she later checks in the local inn for a week's time. ("Pilot")

The next day, as Mr. Gold crosses the street and passes by Archie, the car is parked nearby. Awaking in her first morning in town, Emma is given a basket of apples from Regina's tree. While walking Henry to school, Emma passes across the yellow bug. As she is about to bite one of the fruit, the boy urges her not to, because it might be poisoned. Later on, Emma is evicted from the inn by the owner, due to the mayor's last minute reminder of a "no-felons policy." Next, her car is booted just as Regina calls to arrange a meeting with her, during which Emma says Henry's idea of a curse is crazy. The boy overhears her and is upset, but later that day they reconcile as Emma seems to accept to move on with his plans against the Queen, in a mission he calls "Operation Cobra." ("The Thing You Love Most")

Out of a place to stay, Emma begins sleeping in her car while looking for open rooms in the town newspaper. The relationship between Emma and Henry's teacher, Mary Margaret, who he claims to be Snow White, grows stronger and Emma ends up moving into her loft. ("Snow Falls")

Emma is offered the position of deputy by Sheriff Graham, but she takes time to think about it. The next morning, pawnbroker Mr. Gold asks her help in tracking down a pregnant girl, Ashley. Emma drives to Ashley’s boyfriend Sean’s house and talks to him while Henry waits in the car. After finding out from Ruby that Ashley is attempting to flee to Boston, Emma and Henry rush to the town border, finding the pregnant blonde is going into labor. Emma then puts Ashley in her car and drives her to the hospital. Later, Henry is driven home by Emma just before Regina arrives back. Deciding to stay for Henry's sake, Emma calls Graham and accepts the job he offered her as sheriff's deputy. ("The Price of Gold")

As Emma puts the deputy badge on, an earthquake hits Storybrooke due to an old mine collapsing. When Henry enters the cave to search for proof that the curse is real and is getting weaker, Emma drives there, just in time for Dr. Hopper to get trapped down in the mines with Henry. Emma manages to rescue them, aided by a group that includes Billy, Graham, Marco, Regina and Ruby. ("That Still Small Voice")

Acting on his growing feelings for Emma, Graham kisses her, which triggers her magic and slowly returns memories of his former life. Desperate for answers about the memories, he consults with Henry and the storybook. As he departs after this conversation, he finds Emma waiting outside with her car nearby. Emma skeptically regards Graham's claims about the curse, but both are shocked by the appearance of a wolf. The animal leads them to a mausoleum where Graham believes his heart is hidden. ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter")

During the evening, Emma, now sheriff, ventures into the woods with Sidney to investigate a mysterious meeting between Regina and Mr. Gold. Unbeknownst to Emma, Sidney is working for Regina and has cut her brakes, which causes her to lose control of the car. Later, when Mr. Gold reveals the mayor plans to buy some of his land, Emma and Sidney drive to the town hall and break into Regina’s office to search proof that the transition is illegal. When they confront the madam mayor herself with their evidence, Regina coolly asserts her plans to build a new playground for children. She then forbids Emma from seeing Henry without her permission. Later on, Emma talks to Henry via walkie-talkies, from inside the car, and promises to figure out a way to reunite with him. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree")

Curious about a stranger, August, who is visiting the town, Emma spends the day sharing a drink with him at a wishing well. Near the clock tower, she brushes leaves off her parked car and then notices a red metal box in the street gutter. On further examination of the box's inside, she finds Henry's storybook, that had gone missing earlier. Puzzled, Emma looks around to see who dropped off the book, but she doesn't see August watching her from behind a building. ("What Happened to Frederick")

By car, Emma and Ruby, who is temporarily working for the sheriff's department, go to the woods after Mary Margaret reports seeing a very confused David. Finding him unconscious, Emma takes David to the hospital as Ruby goes back to the station. Ruby is later tasked by Emma to drive the yellow bug to the Toll Bridge to search for evidence on David’s wife, Kathryn, who is missing. Not long after she gets there, Ruby finds a box buried under a wooden plank and screams after seeing it contains a human heart. Following a DNA test, Emma discovers the box is a match for Mary Margaret's fingerprints and then arrests the schoolteacher on charges of possible homicide. ("Red-Handed," "Heart of Darkness")

Upon learning Mary Margaret has escaped from her cell, an alarmed Emma drives in search of her and accidentally hits a man, Jefferson, on the road. To make it up to him, she drives Jefferson home. He invites Emma into his house, where she eventually finds Mary Margaret. When the two women escape from an insane Jefferson, they find the yellow bug where their captor had hidden it. Emma offers Mary Margaret the keys to the car to leave Storybrooke. However, she admits Mary Margaret is like family to her, to which the latter decides to trust her and returns to jail. ("Hat Trick")

As Emma leaves the diner and preparing to get into her car, David approaches her to ask how is Mary Margaret doing. He expresses a desire to see the jailed schoolteacher, although Emma rebuffs him from doing so as Mary Margaret is too upset at him for not believing in her innocence. ("The Stable Boy")

After Mary Margaret is released from jail, Henry calls Emma via walkie-talkie and she goes to the diner to meet him, followed by August. On their way, they pass by the yellow bug, parked near the library. Later that day, August reveals to Emma that he is the seven-year-old boy who found her in the woods as a baby. When he claims to believe Emma is the savior who must return everyone’s happy ending, Emma vehemently claims she did not ask for such a responsibility. Under pressure, she decides to leave Storybrooke for good by taking Henry with her. She picks up Henry for a drive in her car, but, unbeknownst to him, they are leaving town. ("The Stranger")

Once Henry discovers where Emma is taking him, he begs her not to since the townspeople still need her to break the curse. When she does not listen to him, he purposely swerves the car, and the vehicle crashes into a ditch. Pushed by his insistent pleads that Emma's family needs her, she decides to stay in town for now. After talking to Archie, Emma realizes it might be better for Henry if she stops interfering with Regina's parenting. After a drive to the mayor’s house, Emma explains her intent to leave Storybrooke as long as she and Henry can meet from time to time. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

After First Curse

When Emma breaks the curse by giving Henry a kiss of true love, Mary Margaret is joyful to reunite with the daughter after twenty-eight years. Near the yellow bug, Emma tries to explain to Mary Margaret and David that it is difficult for her to treat them as parents. During what seems to be a storm, but in actuality is the attack of a Wraith summoned by Mr. Gold, Emma is driving through Storybrooke when she passes by a man and nearly hits him. ("A Land Without Magic," "Broken," "Down the Rabbit Hole")

After Emma and Mary Margaret fall through a portal to the Enchanted Forest, David does his best to find a way to rescue them. During one day, Henry is in the car watching Jefferson and his daughter’s reunion, when David approaches to give him a wooden sword so they can start to practice fighting. From inside his car, Albert observes them. (“Broken”, “Lady of the Lake”)

When Mary Margaret and Emma safely return to Storybrooke, their friends gather for a welcome-home party. As Regina leaves the celebration, the yellow bug is parked in front of the diner, and as she walks past the vehicle, Cora and Hook secretly observe her from the top of a building. ("The Cricket Game")

On a new mission, Emma and Henry hide in the yellow bug to spy on Neal’s fiancée Tamara, who they believe murdered August. As they observe the couple leaving the diner, Henry talks about his desire to have more adventures, to which Emma asks if he would like to see to the Enchanted Forest. (“The Evil Queen”)

As Emma honors Regina's wish for her to leave Storybrooke with Henry, she and the boy depart in the car, crossing out of the town border just as Regina stops Peter Pan's curse. ("Going Home")

Before Second Curse
Directly after driving out of Storybrooke, Emma and Henry obtain false memories from Regina of their life together, in which they recall a fire breaking out in Emma's apartment in Boston. This causes them to start over in New York, where the yellow bug remains in Emma’s possession. ("Going Home," "New York City Serenade")

During Second Curse

A year later in New York City, Hook tracks down Emma, insisting she must return with him to Storybrooke to save her family. After some reluctance on Emma's part, she drinks a potion to regain her old memories and brings both Hook and Henry with her on the drive back to the town. When they reach the town center, Emma and Hook get out of the yellow bug, but while Emma continues on to her parents' apartment alone, Hook stays behind to watch over Henry, who is asleep in the back seat. ("New York City Serenade")

When Little John is taken away by a flying monkey, Emma drives the yellow bug to the limits of Storybrooke to investigate the disappearance. Setting up a scheme with Regina and Leroy, they spread a rumor about a crafted memory potion capable of restoring one's memories of the missing year spent in the Enchanted Forest. At night, Emma and Regina have a stake-out in the yellow bug, and they talk about Henry’s life in New York. Emma wants to introduce Regina to Henry as an old friend, but the latter refuses as it would be too painful to pretend not being his mother. Upon seeing a shadow in the office, the two get out of the car and rush to catch the invader, but the assailant vanishes before they can. ("Witch Hunt")

Under the effects of a magical plant, David begins hallucinating a hooded figure who confronts him about his fears of not being a good parent to the baby his wife carries. With a sword, he attacks the creature and it vanishes, right before Regina, Emma and Hook arrive in the yellow bug, asking for news about a midwife named Zelena, who turns out to be the Wicked Witch of the West. ("The Tower")

Missing since the new curse, Neal mysteriously reappears and collapses outside the pawnshop. While unconscious, he is taken to the hospital for recovery. When Emma arrives and asks what happened to him during the past year, all he recalls is the yellow bug, with her and Henry inside, crossing the town line the day Regina stopped Pan’s curse. ("Quiet Minds")

Having enough of Emma's erratic behavior and her refusal to tell him the truth about Storybrooke, Henry decides to leave Storybrooke on his own. Believing the driving lesson he had with David is enough, he swipes the key to Emma's car and rushes to where it is parked near the flower shop. However, before he can go inside, Hook arrives to stop him. Later that day, Regina gives Henry true love's kiss, which breaks the curse. ("A Curious Thing")

After Second Curse

When Mary Margaret goes into labor, Emma drives her to the hospital to get help. As Henry sits in the waiting room, he searches in the newspaper for a spare place for Emma as he doesn't want her sleeping in her car and the current loft will be too crowded once the baby is born. ("Kansas")

Finding herself in Storybrooke, Elsa grows fearful in a completely new world. Determined to stop anyone from leaving town until she finds her sister Anna, Elsa creates an ice wall around Storybrooke. As David joins Emma to investigate the cause of a sudden blackout, she drives the yellow bug to the town line, where they find the ice barrier, which has knocked down power lines. Later, when Emma assures her she will help to locate Anna, Elsa agrees that the barrier is no longer necessary. By car, she and Emma go back to the town line, but, despite the ice maiden's attempts to remove the wall, it remains, unknowingly because of a another person's magical influence. ("White Out")

Hook, gaining insight from Elsa about Emma's probable reasons for pushing him away, waits outside the diner to talk to her. When Emma finally exits the diner and prepares to enter the yellow bug, she reveals her fear of losing him as she did with all her past boyfriends; Graham, Neal and Walsh. Hook assures her that he is good at survival, and they make up with a kiss. ("Rocky Road")

When Emma decides to ask Hook out on a date, Henry encourages her to drive to the diner to meet the pirate. As Emma leaves, she finds a puddle next to the yellow bug. During the date with Hook, she shares her suspects that the water has something to do with the Snow Queen. The next day, a layer of ice covers part of the street as Emma drives near the library, causing her to lose control of the yellow bug. Managing to stop it, she gets out of the car. Looking around, she sees the Snow Queen and tries to fetch her. (“The Apprentice”)

After finding a photo of herself and the Snow Queen, Emma drives to Regina’s vault to confront her about it. Elsa, who has accompanied her for the drive there, listens to Emma talk about the difficult relationship with the former mayor. Deciding the two should settle their differences, Elsa stays in the car while Emma departs alone into the vault. A few minutes later, Elsa leaves the yellow bug to follow what seems to be her missing sister Anna. Finding Elsa missing, Emma ventures into the woods in search of her. ("Breaking Glass")

Getting a magical candle from Belle, Emma captures the Snow Queen and takes her to the sheriff’s station for interrogation. Infuriated at Ingrid's taunt that her loved ones will see her as a monster, Emma loses control of her powers and explodes a wall, to which the Snow Queen then escapes. With her magic spiraling out of control, Emma damages a streetlight, which injuries David. To avoid hurting her loved ones, Emma enters the yellow bug and flees. At night, in the woods, from inside the car, she observes the view of Storybrooke. (“The Snow Queen”)

The next morning, Emma wakes up in the car. Sensing her magic flow, she tries to calm down and control it. As she gets out of the yellow bug, Henry approaches; hoping to help her. Instead, Emma warns him to stay away, but her amplified powers accidentally injure him. After he flees, Ingrid appears and advises Emma to accept herself. Defensively, Emma refuses to listen and takes off in her car. After driving for a distance, she exits the car and phones Mary Margaret. She explains to her mother that she found a way to get rid of her magic. From her lair, Ingrid watches the yellow bug via her mirror. On her drive to an abandoned manor where Mr. Gold plans to remove her powers entirely, Emma sees a manifestation of Ingrid and crashes to the side after swerving to keep from hitting her. Although Ingrid warns that Mr. Gold only wants to use her, a distrustful Emma returns into the car and leaves. By the time she parks the car in front of the manor, David, Henry, Mary Margaret and Regina examine the road looking for the vehicle's trail. On his own, Hook arrives at the mansion and, upon seeing the car, he thinks it might be too late to save Emma. He yells her name, but Mr. Gold stops him from interfering by binding him to the gate and later rips out his heart. ("Smash the Mirror")

With the spell of shattered sight cast, Regina estimates it will reach the whole town by sundown. Planning to leave before that, Emma drives the yellow bug to the town line. When David vainly attempts to pass through the ice wall blocking exit from Storybrooke, Elsa, Emma, Leroy, Henry, Mary Margaret and Regina realize there is no escape from the curse. ("Fall")

After Ingrid sacrifices herself to lift the curse, Emma drives the yellow bug to the limits of Storybrooke. Even with the ice wall removed by Elsa’s magic, Emma senses something wrong and tests the town line barrier by touching it with her hand. From this, she concludes to Anna, Elsa, Henry, Hook, Kristoff and Mary Margaret that the Snow Queen created a barrier so those who leave town can never re-enter. When Anna explains that Hans conquered Arendelle, Elsa urges Emma to find a portal so the trio can return to their homeland and depose the villain, which they eventually do. ("Heroes and Villains")

One morning, near the yellow bug, Hook drinks coffee while waiting for Emma. As she arrives, he drops the cup on the car hood to hug her. After handing Emma her own cup of coffee, the couple walk towards the library, where she parts from him, as he helps Belle research a spell to release the nuns from the Sorcerer's hat. When they succeed, a demon comes out of the hat as well. Learning its aim is to obtain the heart with the most potential for darkness, Regina deduces she is the one the monster is after. With Emma, she plans to attract the Chernabog out of Storybrooke as there is no magic there and it will vanish out of existence. The two women then drive to the town line, chased by the beast, and, when it causes damage to the car windshield, Regina teleports to the town line to offer herself as bait. The Chernabog, actually after Emma, continues to attack the car and ignores Regina. While the beast is on the car roof, Emma accelerates the vehicle and halts the car abruptly, which throws the Chernabog across the town barrier, where it ceases to exist. ("Darkness on the Edge of Town")

After infiltrating Cruella, Maleficent and Ursula's group to spy on them, Regina fails to report back to David and Mary Margaret. Worried something has gone awry, Emma stops her car outside the diner and rushes out. Hook, having spoken to Granny, tells her Regina and the trio spent the night drinking and creating a mess in the diner. ("Enter the Dragon")

As Regina prepares to travel to New York to rescue Robin Hood from Zelena, Emma drives the yellow bug to her house and delivers a gun, claiming that Regina might need protection in the outside world, as she would not be able to use magic. The women's conversation is interrupted by a message informing that Henry was kidnapped by Cruella. ("Sympathy for the De Vil")

Obligated to reunite Maleficent with her daughter Lilith, who Emma discovers is her childhood friend Lily, she prepares to go out of town with Regina. After Emma says goodbye to Henry, Mary Margaret attempts to have a word with her, but much to her disappointment, the blonde awkwardly tells her to take care of her son, before climbing into the yellow bug. After reaching a dead end in Massachusetts, Emma swerves the car upon seeing a wolf in the road, causing a flat tire. Emma believes fate is trying to tell her something since the same scenario once happened the first time she tried leaving Storybrooke, while Regina opts for a nearby gas station to fix the tire. At the next door diner, Emma finds Lily, but the brunette insists she has moved on with life. Suspecting she is lying, Emma procures her real address and drives there with Regina, where they discover Lily already knows the truth. Hearing a car start, they rush outside in time to see Lily driving off in the yellow bug. Borrowing another car, Emma and Regina force her into stopping on the road. There, Lily argues with Emma, whose parents she desires revenge on for banishing her away. The two get into a fight, trading blows, until Emma pulls a gun on her. Eventually, Regina talks her out it. The trio then travel in the yellow bug to New York, where Zelena reveals to Robin she has been pretending to be Marian and Regina discovers Zelena is pregnant with Robin's child. ("Lily")

In an effort to sort out Zelena's situation and reunite Lily with her mother, they all return to Storybrooke in the bug. Emma's parents, Henry and Maleficent draw near as they see the car pulls up into town. Lily steps out, and as she walks past David and Mary Margaret, she gives them a cold stare, to which Emma attempts to soothe the tension by leading her to Maleficent, who is in tears over seeing her daughter. ("Mother")

Finding himself alone after Isaac sends everyone into an alternate universe, Henry wanders around the town and passes by the yellow bug, parked on Main Street. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")

When Emma is transported to the Enchanted Forest after becoming the Dark One, a personal belonging is required to direct a portal to her location. When Mary Margaret realizes that Regina is using Emma's baby blanket, the mayor jokingly remarks that it was easier to carry than the yellow bug. ("The Dark Swan")

After Third Curse

Six weeks later, back to Storybrooke, everyone's memories about the quest to Camelot are erased, while Emma herself claims to be punishing them for what they did to her. Near the yellow bug, Hook summons the Dark One, who appears behind him just to magically teleport both of them away. Later on, at night, Emma drives the yellow bug to her new house, where it remains until the next day when Emma returns home after stealing Happy's ax. ("The Price," "Siege Perilous")

Merida is taken hostage by Emma, who binds her to the front of a car hidden in one of Storybrooke's tunnels. After a time, Emma returns to rip out Merida's heart, before ordering the redhead to fetch her bow from the inside of the car. Merida has no choice but to obey. ("The Broken Kingdom")

After Henry enlists Emma's help to find Violet Morgan's horse, the pair enter the yellow bug to begin the mission. As she puts her seat belt on, Emma asks about Violet, and Henry reveals that he approached her the same way his father did Emma, with Yaz's hit song "Only You." After a moment of silence, during which Emma is moved to remember Neal, she turns on the car. She drives to Peter Peter's pumpkin stand, where Nicodemus is hiding. After that, the car is returned to her house, remaining on the street until the night Regina, Mary Margaret and David come to rescue Zelena, who was kidnapped shortly after giving birth. ("Dreamcatcher," "Birth")

When Henry leaves Storybrooke with Violet planning to destroy magic, Emma and Regina drive to Boston in the yellow bug but fail to find him. In the car, Regin takes a map from the glove compartment and uses Emma's blood on it, which locates Henry in New York. The pair then leave immediately in the bug to find their son. Upon returning to Storybrooke, the bug stays on the street in front of Emma's house. By the time Hook, Emma and Henry plan to track Ashley, the bug has been moved to the street across from Archie's office. ("Only You," "The Savior," "The Other Shoe")

Wanting to know how close Dr. Jekyll is to completing his serum, Emma drives the yellow bug to Dr. Whale's garage, which was turned into a lab. ("Strange Case")

Disguised as Archie, the Evil Queen approaches Emma outside the psychiatry office as she packs up in preparation to go search for Aladdin. Unaware that it is actually the Evil Queen posing as her therapist, Emma expresses her hope that, if the previous savior survived, so can she. After entering the yellow bug, Emma explains to "Archie," who stays outside of the car, that she won't have to hide her visions from her family for too long. She turns the engine in and drives away, leaving "Archie" behind. ("Street Rats")

To encourage Aladdin to embrace his role as the savior, Emma drives him to the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign that she hit when trying to leave Storybrooke on her first night in town. Emma encourages Aladdin to accept his destiny, even if he has made mistakes, which leads him into deciding to fulfill his duty to save Agrabah. ("Dark Waters")

As Regina plans to trap the Evil Queen in her vault, she sends Emma and Hook to retrieve all the magical items from there to stop her doppelganger from using them. The couple gets the objects for Henry to pack the bug. Later on, David drives his truck to search for Snow in the woods, and Emma follows him there in her car. Emma later exits the car to travel into a deeper part of the woods, where a sleeping Snow is found in a coffin. ("Heartless")

After David celebrates Emma's defeat of Gideon, he steps outside to muse over Snow, who is still cursed. He hears a voice calling his name and gets up to peer out into the street, where Emma's car is sitting on the curbside. When the voice fades, he turns back around, only to be surprised by the ghostly spirit of his father Robert. Later while Hook keeps watch outside Emma's shed as David goes in to steal some magic potions, he spots the yellow bug pull up in front of the house. Emma then steps out and heads to the shed, where she bumps into Hook and explains she needs to get the life jackets that she and Henry need for their canoe trip. Hook distracts her long enough for David to grab the potions and leave before Emma realizes something is going on. Presumably, she departs in her car after retrieving the life jackets. Later that night, Emma's yellow bug is already parked outside her house when Hook is returning home. August arrives on his motorcycle to give Hook some pages from the Pinocchio story that he previously removed from the storybook. ("Murder Most Foul")

During Fourth Curse

Under the Black Fairy's curse, Emma is freed from the psychiatric ward by her son Henry, who tries to make her remember her life prior to the curse. Emma is only interested in leaving Storybrooke for her old life in Boston, and Henry seemingly relents by agreeing to swipe her car keys from Dr. Hopper's office. Instead, Henry goes there to get his storybook to make Emma believe in magic again. ("The Final Battle Part 1")

Later, Emma packs up her things into her yellow bug and drives back to her apartment in Boston. After reading a makeshift storybook from Henry which depicts her as the fearless person she wishes she could be, she makes a return trip in her car to Storybrooke to help Henry defeat the Black Fairy. ("The Final Battle Part 2")

After Fourth Curse

Sometime after the final battle is won, Emma is in the driver's seat in the yellow bug as Hook is beside her and puts on his new sheriff's deputy badge. Hook puts a flashing siren on top of the car, and Emma answers the radio before driving off down the street. ("The Final Battle Part 2")

At some point during her childhood, Robin attempts to run away from Storybrooke to New York City by hotwiring the bug. She is eventually caught by Emma, but later recounts this story to Alice while they are locked up in a dungeon because Alice threatened to stop Clayton and his hunters from killing a troll. Robin also shows Alice, who thinks the "bug" is a literal insect, a picture of herself with the vehicle. Later, when Clayton attempts to kill Robin and Alice for protecting the troll, Alice conjures a replica of the bug to save them and they escape. This replica is turned to stone alongside the troll, becoming the Fremont Troll when the Dark Curse takes everyone to Seattle. ("The Girl in the Tower")



Known Users

Trivia

On-Screen Notes

Production Notes

  • For the scene where Emma first arrives in Storybrooke, the yellow bug represents the first bright little bit of color that is coming into the town.[14] ("Pilot")
  • Two different cars were used as Emma's vehicle on the show.[15] One was a regular car, while the other served as a "stunt bug."[16]

Lost

Goofs

Other Notes

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

References

  1. "I hot-wired the Sheriff's yellow bug. I stole it. I would have hit New York by morning if she hadn't caught me. But for eight glorious minutes it was just me and that bug and the wide-open road." Margot, "The Girl in the Tower", Once Upon a Time, ABC.
  2. "Tallahassee." Once Upon a Time. ABC.
  3. File:311Title.png
  4. File:408Title.png
  5. File:419Title.png
  6. File:520Title.png
  7. 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle [Typ 1]. Internet Movie Cars Database. Retrieved on January 31, 2019.
  8. File:102EmmaOnFrontPage.png
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 File:101Ridiculous.png
  10. File:206Drive2.png
  11. File:113LicensePlate.png
  12. File:121Crash.png
  13. 13.0 13.1 File:419SwanWatchIt!.png
  14. 14.0 14.1 Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis on Season One Blu-ray/DVD Audio Commentary for "Pilot"
  15. InstagramIcon Jordyn (@ouat7669) on Instagram: GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!!!! (April 19, 2015). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
    InstagramIcon Jordyn (@ouat7669) on Instagram: Did you guys know they use two different bugs? (December 13, 2014). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  16. InstagramIcon Tammy Fox (@tammythefox) on Instagram: Bug and stunt bug! #ouat #volkswagen #makeupartist #setlife #picturecars #film (March 28, 2018). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  17. Abrams, Natalie (May 1, 2018). Once Upon a Time bosses drop major detail about series finale. Entertainment Weekly. “Emma's VW Bug is a reference to Hurley's van, and even their former Lost bosses Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have done voiceovers as a weatherman and a DJ.”
  18. TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: @jopinionated it's also been on the back of Emma's bug since season 1 (April 26, 2015). (backup link)
    File:101Ridiculous2.png
  19. 19.0 19.1 Dove, Steve (October 24, 2011). Storybrooke Secrets: Pilot. ABC. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. “Emma's car has a Geronimo Jackson bumper sticker. That's a reference to a fictional band whose hit song "Dharma Lady" was featured on LOST.”
  20. File:612MotorcyclePullsUp.png
  21. Richmond, British Columbia. Google Maps (July 2015).
  22. File:204Photograph.png
  23. File:208HelpThemStop.png
  24. File:211Blueprints.png
  25. File:213CarryingASword.png
  26. File:214ThatDinnerWouldSuck.png
  27. File:217ReginaArrives2.png
  28. File:219ThoughtAboutGoingBack.png
  29. File:221Ready.png
  30. File:222TheHorror.png
  31. File:714WhatIsThis.png
  32. File:512LookLikeStorybrooke.png