Once Upon a Fangirl...: Souls of the Departed

In the show's 100th episode, we see the Storybrookers begin their quest to find Hook in the Underworld (which is just another version of the town but with red skies & more twisted versions of the locations), a place where the dead souls have unfinished business. Reuniting with several characters including Cora, who tries to convince Regina to leave, otherwise her father will be sent to a worse place. However, Regina decides to stay & help her friends, revealing that Henry Sr's unfinished business was Regina being happy. With that, he's sent to a better place, but not before meeting his grandson and saying goodbye to his daughter. Meanwhile, Rumple meets up with his father Pan, who offers him a deal for the potion, which the group use to communicate with Hook, only to find that it's too weak for him. After discovering what Regina did for her father, the group; sans Rumple decide to help the souls move on to a better place, in Operation Firebird. And since Cora had failed to send Regina away, Hades (played by Greg Germann) God of the Underworld, punishes her by becoming a miller's daughter for eternity. In flashbacks, it's Regina's birthday and she plans to kill Snow White. However, her father intervenes after he switches Snow's heart (that Cora had ripped out) & ends up being shrunken by Regina to prevent him from messing up her plans again. However, Cora ends up taking Henry Sr with her back to Wonderland when Regina banishes her yet again so she can be truly alone.
Given that this is the milestone 100th episode, there were definitely high expectations going in. So how did it hold? Well, it was good, but not great per se. As an introduction to the Underworld arc, it was pretty decent with the set-up of it resembling the town and the souls having unfinished business (so it's kinda like purgatory) and the cliffhanger with Hades was pretty interesting & enjoyable, thanks to Greg's delightfully over the top performance while still having a threatening side. And although the main goal is to save Hook, at least he wasn't the main focus as this episode was more of a redemption arc for Regina after she reunites with her deceased parents. While the emotional stakes were more of a mix overall, there's no denying that the scenes between Regina & Henry Sr were the most heartwarming, thanks to Lana's heartbreaking yet hopeful performance. However, I must say that easily the highlight for me has to be the characters that returned, and they were on top form. Robbie Kay as the malicious Pan owning the Underworld's pawn shop, Cora as the mayor, the Blind Witch running Granny's, the list goes on! But easily my favourite return has to be Neal in the opening sending a message to Emma. While I wished that he could've played a bigger role in the arc, at least it was nice to know that he's in a better place now.
The flashbacks meanwhile, were more of a mix. It was pretty entertaining seeing Regina celebrating her birthday, but the plot itself felt a bit pointless. It went back to the whole 'Regina tries to kill Snow' formula like back in season 2 and it being pretty obvious she doesn't as they're both clearly still alive in the present scenes. Despite that though, it did answer one question that hasn't been brought up since season 1: how did Henry Sr end up in Wonderland with Cora? I'm glad the writers have acknowledged there were some small details left out, but maybe it was a bit too late for them to answer it now given that it's been 5 years since that episode. But still, it didn't ruin it for me and it was fun seeing Bandit!Snow return along with the Magic Mirror (and giving Cora her just desserts was satisfying to watch).
As the 100th episode, it could've been better, but for what it is, it was pretty good! With many beloved characters returning, an interesting set-up, more development for Regina & a more fun villain compared to the last arc, that's good enough for me!

Nice to see you again, Neal! GOD, I miss him so much...at least he's in a better place than the Underworld.

Wait, the Underworld is just Storybrooke but with red skies, smoke & broken clock tower...? How is that a fate worse than death?

Hmm, seems Cruella has unfinished business with Emma...

Oh, Happy Birthday Regina! Too bad the pie was blueberry, not apple...

*Sighs* How I've missed you Bandit!Snow!

Nice to see you again Henry Sr! And thank you for pointing out her mother was the one who killed Daniel to make her queen, not Snow!

Nice to see you again Cora...then again, she did get her heart back before she died!

Nice to see you again, Blind Witch, still sound like you're having an orgasm every time you open your mouth! Definitely didn't expect to see HER back!

Pretty gross kissing your sister in-law, James...by the way, nice to see you again you scumbag!

Aww, bless Henry looking for his dad!

Interesting version of 'loves me, loves me not' about how much she hates Snow...

Nice to see you again Magic Mirror!

So are magical mirrors like Skype...?

Why didn't she just do that when she was first banished?! Then again, she did become the Queen of Hearts & had all the power she desired...and the numerous ways of crossing realms is getting ridiculous when it season 1 it was near impossible & was implied the only was was via curse!