Once Upon a Fangirl...: Firebird

In this episode, we see after Rumple & Pan kidnap Zelena. He makes a deal for Hades to rip up the contract in exchange for her, which he surprisingly easily does and his heart finally starts again after she gives him True Love's Kiss. As the portal to Storybrooke can now open, the others try to get half of Emma's heart into Hook. But since Hook has to being in the Underworld for too long, it doesn't work so the group look to find the Ambrosia Tree from the tale of Orpheus & Eurydice in Hades' lair. But before Emma & Hook can get into the room where it is, her heart must be tested to see if her love for Hook is pure, which it does. Once they find it however, they find the tree's been cut & Hades has set everyone up to stay trapped in the Underworld (which Cruella has decided to rule now) while he takes over Storybrooke with Zelena. And since the heart didn't work & there's no Ambrosia fruit left, Emma must leave Hook down in the Underworld while everyone else goes home (with a little help from Emma & Regina's magic). Meanwhile, Rumple & Pan make a deal for the latter to get a heart so he can go back to Storybrooke in exchange for Pandora's box to store Belle in so she can also get home. Once it looks like Rumple uses Robin's heart, it turns out he had actually returned it & had put a disguised pigskin of water from the River of Lost Souls into Pan, ultimately getting rid of him for good. The flashbacks reveal more about Emma's search for her family as she meets bailbondsperson Cleo Fox who has been tracking her since she stole from convenience stores in Phoenix. While they end up bonding, Emma tries to find more about her past at a government records office, only to come out empty handed. But after Emma breaks into another courthouse in Phoenix, the cops arrive and she & Cleo are forced to jump through a broken window to escape. But sadly, a shard of glass from the window stabs Cleo & before she dies, reveals a photo of a girl she kept in her wallet from earlier was the daughter she gave up, showing she understands Emma's struggle with finding more about herself. Around a year later, she tracks down Cleo's daughter, who works in a department store where Emma finds her iconic red leather jacket, taking a page out of Cleo's book using it as a symbol of her personal armor.
Given that the Underworld arc has admittedly been dragging on for a bit, it was a big relief for the group to finally return home. But given the setbacks of Hook being too long in the Underworld & Hades revealing to be lying to everyone (big shock), the way they have to is a bit mixed. While it was really interesting incorporating Greek mythology. But I will say that this is undeniably more of a character driven episode as we learn more about Emma's determination to find out about her family in the past and to protect them in the future. While yes, the flashbacks themselves may not have a full purpose in the story itself, I liked seeing Emma & Cleo bonding over the struggles of finding themselves, the origins of her career as a bail bondsperson along with what the red leather jacket symbolizes for her: armor. And Cleo was a pretty interesting character partly thanks to Ryha Kihlstedt's performance & past of giving up her daughter despite dying after one episode. But making Emma & Hook true love through a test involving her heart...really? It just felt like a stupid way to convince us they're 'true love' when past attempts of it failed & they really don't feel like they've really done anything worth falling in love over. And again, I really can't stand them dragging it on over Hook staying in the Underworld when it's still obvious they're going to find a way to bring him back to life.
Anyway, the reveal of Hades lying to everyone was pretty predictable & I thought it was a bit weird that his & Zelena's True Love's Kiss worked despite not really knowing each other, although I liked that they kind of made fun of how quickly some characters change their ways. With Rumple's little subplot with his father, I loved seeing his development doing things for the right reasons and not trusting his father up to the point the Follow the Lady trick ended up biting him in the ass. Although putting Belle in Pandora's Box...I get that he had to find a way to transport her there & for her to not be seen onscreen while still having a pretty vital role being pregnant,
So overall, this was really a mix. While some bits of Emma's past and development were interesting, I really enjoyed Rumple's development in his subplot &, with some predictability here and there, annoying CaptainSwan moments & Belle being stuck in Pandora's box, it's safe to say Operation Firebird ended on an OK note.

Surprised he's asking them of all people for help over Zelena! And no, he should rip up the contract to save a child's life, not just for the woman he loves, guys!

*Sighs* How I miss young adult Emma!

'Can I say one more thing based on my intuition?' 'Yeah, sure.' 'I look at you. Young, pretty.' 'OK.' 'And I see someone who, now, stop me if I'm wrong but someone who stole money from a couple of convenience stores in Phoenix, got arrested and took off on her bail.' Hmm, she's a VERY smart cookie! And seems Emma got that tactic from her in the Pilot...

Hmm, nice parallel with the Pilot! The only thing missing is Howlin For You in the background!

'You stand there and don't move except to rip up that contract and you get the witch.' Well, that was easily resolved after all the hell that contract caused for the soon-to-be dad!

Pretty surprised that actually worked!

Rather generous of Hades to wipe the names off the tombstones...and how the hell did the clock end up there?! And there's the pot calling the kettle black, Hook, over how fast Hades has changed considering your sudden 180!

Haha! Your plan didn't work! That's what you get for deciding to stay down there a little longer!

Uh...what are you doing, Emma?

Hmm, lucky that Cleo happened to be on a website & there's courthouse nearby which could help Emma track her family down!

Nice incorporation of the Orpheus & Euridyse myth & funny that the ambrosia was in his lair the whole time!

AWW! Bit sad it doesn't work, but bless him for having a go! And my biggest bet is it didn't work was cos he doesn't believe in himself, not that she doesn't in him! Keep in mind she said she loves him cos she's always known who he is!

Yeah, good idea & all Pan, but aren't ya forgetting the fact Pandora's Box contains THE WORLD'S DARKEST EVIL?!

Bit awkward for Robin over Regina trusting her sister given how the baby was conceived...

Rumple, what are you doing?!

Gotta feel a bit bad for Emma, but Cleo's got a point that she should go back to Phoenix for herself.

Sweet of Henry to think about everyone else's unfinished business! By the way, nice to see you again, Stealthy!

So Cruella & the Blind Witch now want to rule the Underworld despite the former wanting to be revived so badly...

Interesting concept of the scales to see if her heart is pure, but why does it specifically have to be about her love towards Hook?

So that qualifies them as True Love...SERIOUSLY?!

I get you're that determined to find out where you're from, Emma, but there has to be a limit given that you're committing a serious crime!

Pretty badass way to escape the cops!

Why am I not surprised Hades lied to them?

Don't trust him, Zelena!

Well, pretty surprised she died after one episode...

Why should I be upset when it's obvious they're gonna come up with a stupid loophole to bring him back to life?

Well, that explains the origins of her red leather jacket!

Good job Emma's magic is powerful enough to counteract Hades' spell!

'Villains don't get happy endings. And I'm here to make sure you never get yours. Goodbye, papa. For good this time.' BOOM! Well done Rumple for not giving into your father's lies! Nice use of Follow the Lady. And funny that he didn't refer to himself as a villain...