Season 2, Episode 6:
Tallahassee
Centric Characters: Emma Swan
Previous: The Doctor | Next: Child of the Moon
Emma Swan: I'm not what you think!
The Giant: You're a thief, and you poisoned me, so yeah, I'm pretty sure you're exactly what I think.
The Giant: You're a thief, and you poisoned me, so yeah, I'm pretty sure you're exactly what I think.
August Booth: Think of me as Emma's guardian angel.
Neal Cassidy: Guardian angel? I'd say you've been doing a pretty crap job.
Neal Cassidy: Guardian angel? I'd say you've been doing a pretty crap job.
As they approach the base of the beanstalk, Hook explains that the giants grew magic beans and used their Dimensional Traveler power to plunder other realms. The giants destroyed the beans when forces led by a man named Jack came to stop them, leaving only a single giant left alive. The magical compass, necessary for any portal they open to locate the proper destination, is among the hoards of treasure the giants amassed, and to stop anyone from reaching it the giants placed an enchantment on the beanstalk. Hook shows the others a pair of cuffs enchanted by Cora to allow the wearers to safely climb the beanstalk, and asks which one of them will join him.
FLASHBACK! In Portland, Oregon, seventeen-year-old Emma Swan breaks into a yellow Volkswagen bug parked in an alley and jams a screwdriver into the ignition to get it started. As she starts to drive, a man sits up in the backseat and nonchalantly compliments her on such a quick job. He introduces himself as Neal Cassidy as he tries to flirt, but he's interrupted by a police officer pulling them over for running a stop sign. They quickly swap the screwdriver out for the car's keys before the officer arrives at the window. Neal claims that he's teaching Emma how to drive stick, and the cop lets them off with a warning. Seeing Neal's relief as the cop leaves, Emma realizes that Neal stole the car first.
The women argue over who should go, and Emma brute forces her way into it. Before joining Hook, Emma privately makes plans with Mulan to cut down the beanstalk if she's not back in ten hours, and Mulan gives her a bag of poppy dust to put Hook to sleep should he backstab her. As they climb, Hook tells Emma that he can tell a lot about her, that she desperately wants to get back to her child so he won't be abandoned the way she was. When Emma asks why he thinks she was abandoned, he tells her that he recognizes a look in her eyes that he saw on the face of every Lost Boy he encountered in Neverland, and while their circumstances may be different "an orphan's an orphan". Hook wonders aloud if Emma has known love from her past, and she flatly denies it.
FLASHBACK! Emma and Neal enter a convenience store, Emma now very pregnant. Neal sends her on to pick some snacks while he gets directions from the clerk. Another customer sees Neal slipping some candy bars into his pocket and starts to alert the clerk, so Emma fakes contractions and Neal rushes them out to their car. Emma's baby bump turns out to just be a bag full of stolen goodies, and Neal gifts her a keychain he swiped from the counter. After sharing an excited kiss, they drive off to a motel where they slip into a room that was left unlocked. As they prepare to use the facilities, Emma spots a dreamcatcher left by the family staying there. Neal wants to take it with them but Emma declines since they don't have a place to put it. Neal suggests that they finally get a place of their own and settle down. Emma sarcastically asks where they would do such a thing, and Neal shows her a map of the United States and tells her to close her eyes and point to a spot. Emma's finger lands on Tallahassee, Florida.
Emma: Okay, then Tallahassee it is!
Neal: Tallahassee it is!
Emma: Are you sure? Is this what you really want?
Neal: What I really want is you.
Neal: Tallahassee it is!
Emma: Are you sure? Is this what you really want?
Neal: What I really want is you.
Back on the ground, Mulan makes a crude sundial and claims that she wants to use it to keep time for resting in shifts while the wait for Emma and Hook. Mary Margaret volunteers to take the first shift and Aurora decides to stay up with her, explaining that ever since she was freed from the sleeping curse, going back to sleep gives her awful nightmares. Mary Margaret tells Aurora that she experienced the same for months after Charming broke her sleeping curse, but he always kept her comforted by lighting a candle to keep the nightmares away, and offers to help Aurora in a similar way.
Emma and Hook reach the top of the beanstalk and find themselves in a ruined courtyard with giant bones strewn about. As Hook explains that this was the scene of the final battle, he sees a cut on Emma's hand and asks that she let him take care of it.
Emma: So now you're gonna be a gentleman?
Hook: Giants can smell blood. And I'm always a gentleman.
Hook pours rum over the wound to disinfect it and as he bandages her hand, he sets out their plan of action: once the giant falls asleep, they can sneak past into the treasury and take the compass. Emma doesn't want to wait that long and suggest they use the poppy powder to knock out the giant. Hook concedes to her, and she spots a tattoo with the name "Milah" on his forearm. Emma questions Hook about this and pieces together that Rumplestiltskin took more from Hook than just his hand.Hook: Giants can smell blood. And I'm always a gentleman.
Hook: For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?
Emma: Maybe I was, once.
Emma: Maybe I was, once.
FLASHBACK! Neal shows Emma a wanted poster for himself that he found in a post office, and tells her that when he lived in Phoenix he was caught on camera stealing watches from his employer. He ran away to Portland and left the watches in a train station locker to wait things out, but now that he knows he's still wanted he wants to cross the border to Canada, and asks Emma to let him go so she doesn't get in trouble if he's caught. Emma refuses and declares her love for Neal, and proposes that she go to the train station and get the watches since she's out of the heat so they can sell them and get what they need to secure their future.
Hook makes some noise to draw the giant out while Emma waits on top of a statue. The giant turns out to be a bit too tall for Emma to reach with the powder, so Hook runs around to get the giant to reach down for him, allowing Emma to hit the giant in the face with the poppy powder.
Mary Margaret sees Aurora shaking and gasping in her sleep and wakes her up. She asks Aurora to talk through her dreams to process it, and Aurora explains that she was in a burning room with no points of egress, and saw someone else trapped there too through the flames. Mary Margaret comforts Aurora and promises to watch over her as she falls asleep again.
Hook and Emma reach the treasury, and Emma has to remind Hook not to get distracted by all the shinies since they don't know how long the giant will be out for.
FLASHBACK! At the train station, Emma locates the correct locker and opens it using the key Neal gave her, taking out the bag of watches.
As they look for the compass, Hook and Emma find the remains of Jack. Seeing the normal-looking sword laying beside the old bones, Emma doubts Jack could have gotten far it with it but Hook assures her that the sword is deadlier than it looks. As Hook starts to move away, Emma stops him from walking into a tripwire keeping a giant-sized cage suspended in the air.
FLASHBACK! Emma gets back to Neal with the watches. He tells her to wait for him at a prearranged location at 9PM while he meets with his buyer, and gifts her one of the watches before he leaves. As he walks down an alley, Neal notices someone following him and starts to run, but he gets cornered and tackled.
Neal: You got the wrong guy, officer! I wasn't even jaywalking!
Man: It's not like that. You wanna protect Emma, come with me.
Neal: What?
Man: Get up?
Neal: How do you know Emma?!
Man: The name's August. And it's a long story, but trust me. You wanna hear it.
Neal: All right, August. You're not a cop; who are you? You got two minutes.
August: Think of me as Emma's guardian angel.
Neal: Guardian angel? I see you've been doing a pretty crap job.
August: I've been looking for her for the past two years. Now I finally find her, and she's robbing convenience stores with some deadbeat! Tell me again who's doing the crap job?
Neal: Let me tell you something, I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her! Two years, where were you the rest of her life?
August: I'm not perfect. This world? Full of temptations. Turns out I'm not that great at saying "no". Not built that way. But I'm here now.
Neal: So who are you?
August: We were in the same home as kids. And I thought she'd be safe inside the system but now that she's out… Back then, I promised I would take care of her.
Neal: Well, we promised to take care of each other.
August: You love her. Good. That means you have to do right by her.
Neal: That's all I'm trying to do.
August: Then leave her.
Neal: Never.
August: She has a destiny, and you? This life? You're gonna keep her from it. Okay, you believe in magic?
Neal: I take it you do?
August: So will you. Trust me. I'm gonna show you something. Something that's gonna make you look at everything differently. And when you see what I have in here, you're gonna listen. You're gonna believe every word I say.
August leads Neal to his motorcycle where a wooden case is strapped to the back. Neal is doubtful until August lifts the lid, and Neal is stunned by what he sees.Man: It's not like that. You wanna protect Emma, come with me.
Neal: What?
Man: Get up?
Neal: How do you know Emma?!
Man: The name's August. And it's a long story, but trust me. You wanna hear it.
Neal: All right, August. You're not a cop; who are you? You got two minutes.
August: Think of me as Emma's guardian angel.
Neal: Guardian angel? I see you've been doing a pretty crap job.
August: I've been looking for her for the past two years. Now I finally find her, and she's robbing convenience stores with some deadbeat! Tell me again who's doing the crap job?
Neal: Let me tell you something, I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her! Two years, where were you the rest of her life?
August: I'm not perfect. This world? Full of temptations. Turns out I'm not that great at saying "no". Not built that way. But I'm here now.
Neal: So who are you?
August: We were in the same home as kids. And I thought she'd be safe inside the system but now that she's out… Back then, I promised I would take care of her.
Neal: Well, we promised to take care of each other.
August: You love her. Good. That means you have to do right by her.
Neal: That's all I'm trying to do.
August: Then leave her.
Neal: Never.
August: She has a destiny, and you? This life? You're gonna keep her from it. Okay, you believe in magic?
Neal: I take it you do?
August: So will you. Trust me. I'm gonna show you something. Something that's gonna make you look at everything differently. And when you see what I have in here, you're gonna listen. You're gonna believe every word I say.
Neal: Okay, I'm listening.
August: There is a Curse, and it needs to be broken. Emma is the key. I was tasked with keeping her on track, and you, my friend, just got caught in the crossfire. Now I'm gonna tell you a story, and at the end of it you're gonna have to make a decision. Will you do the right thing… or not? So, are you ready?
August: There is a Curse, and it needs to be broken. Emma is the key. I was tasked with keeping her on track, and you, my friend, just got caught in the crossfire. Now I'm gonna tell you a story, and at the end of it you're gonna have to make a decision. Will you do the right thing… or not? So, are you ready?
Emma is confused when Neal doesn't show up, and when she tries to call him his number is deactivated. Suddenly, a cop appears and holds Emma at gunpoint, explaining that whoever left her waiting there sold her out and hightailed it.
Hook and Emma hear the giant approaching and as he bursts in, his rumbling footsteps cause part of the ceiling to crumble and the debris separates them.
FLASHBACK! Two months after leaving Emma to be arrested, Neal meets back with August in Vancouver, Canada.
August: Been a while. Where'd you go?
Neal: Tried to lose myself. It didn't work. I want to talk to you about Emma.
August: I hope you're not trying to reach out.
Neal: I just, I feel like if I knew that she was okay, I could move on. Is she?
August: She will be. She got eleven months.
Neal: <sighs> That should be me! I should be doing that time!
August: No. We went over this. It's good.
Neal: How's it good?!
August: It's a minimum-security place in Phoenix. And no, I am not going to tell you which one. She'll get out of there and she'll be fine. You keep your promise and steer clear, and she can have a good life. She can do what she's supposed to do.
Neal: I mean, if I can't be there for her, man, you gotta promise me that you will be.
August: I promise.
Neal: Then you should do something for me. <takes out bundles of money and the car keys> I was able to fence the watches. Don't judge, I'm giving it all to her. And the car. I got a clean VIN number for it so it's legit, and it just- It'll feel like I'm there with her, you know?
August: Money is not what she needs, not for what's ahead.
Neal: Can you just see that she gets it?
August: Sure.
Neal: And one more thing. If anything changes, like she does her job, this insanity ends, if she's free-
August: I'll send you a postcard.
Neal: Tried to lose myself. It didn't work. I want to talk to you about Emma.
August: I hope you're not trying to reach out.
Neal: I just, I feel like if I knew that she was okay, I could move on. Is she?
August: She will be. She got eleven months.
Neal: <sighs> That should be me! I should be doing that time!
August: No. We went over this. It's good.
Neal: How's it good?!
August: It's a minimum-security place in Phoenix. And no, I am not going to tell you which one. She'll get out of there and she'll be fine. You keep your promise and steer clear, and she can have a good life. She can do what she's supposed to do.
Neal: I mean, if I can't be there for her, man, you gotta promise me that you will be.
August: I promise.
Neal: Then you should do something for me. <takes out bundles of money and the car keys> I was able to fence the watches. Don't judge, I'm giving it all to her. And the car. I got a clean VIN number for it so it's legit, and it just- It'll feel like I'm there with her, you know?
August: Money is not what she needs, not for what's ahead.
Neal: Can you just see that she gets it?
August: Sure.
Neal: And one more thing. If anything changes, like she does her job, this insanity ends, if she's free-
August: I'll send you a postcard.
The giant grabs Emma and she pleads with him to let her go with the compass so she can save her family.
Emma: Don't you have a family?
Giant: No! Because humans killed them all!
As the giant starts to crush Emma, she bites his hand and he drops her. The giant chases Emma back to Jack's skeleton, where she grabs the sword and cuts the tripwire, dropping the cage on the giant. The giant tells her to finish the job, after the other humans wiped them out and destroyed their beans. As he hands over the compass, Emma sees that the giant is wearing a withered bean on a pendant, which he explains is a reminder of what humans did to him. Taking the compass, Emma lowers the sword and starts to walk away when the giant busts out of the cage. Emma tries to defend herself but instead of attacking, the giant clears a way out for and tells her it's a favor for not killing him. Emma asks for a second favor since she could have killed him earlier when he was knocked out, and they agree for the giant to temporarily keep Hook so Emma can get a headstart, as she still doesn't trust him.Giant: No! Because humans killed them all!
Mulan's sundial reaches the ten hour mark and she begins to hack at the beanstalk. Mary Margaret tries to fight her away, not caring that it was Emma's idea, but Emma arrives right then to break it up. Emma shows them the compass and explains that they have ten hours before Hook can start following them again. As they prepare to move, Mary Margaret tells Emma that she's not going home without her, so no more of these fall-behind-left-behind arrangements.
FLASHBACK! In her cell, a guard brings Emma a package that arrived for her, and opens it to find the car keys inside. As the guard leaves, she congratulates Emma on the new baby, as Emma sadly stares at the positive pregnancy test in her hand.
In the apartment, Henry wakes up screaming and David comes running to console him, lighting a candle like he did for Snow. Henry explains that he dreamed of being in a burning room, and there was a woman there with him.
Tropes
- Because Destiny Says So: Played with. The fact we'd already been prepped to believe the time Emma spent in Tallahassee was important because Regina stuck a pin in it early in the first season, and that this episode does concern her past with Henry's father, would make it seem there was some significance to where it all plays out. But it turns out Tallahassee was just a random place Emma chose from a map for her and Neal to try and start a life together and has no other meaning beyond that; what matters is, indeed, what happens there between them.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The fact Emma didn't kill the giant, either with poison in the sleeping powder or when she has him trapped in the cage, causes him to think she's not like other humans—so he gives her the compass, uncovers a way out for her, and agrees to keep Hook a prisoner long enough for her to get a head start.
- Call-Back: The flashbacks explore Emma's time in Tallahassee, which was first referenced back in "The Price of Gold".
- Chekhov's Gun: The dried-up bean the giant still possesses, considering what happens three episodes from now. And for that matter, Mulan's sword for that same episode, since there was no indication until Emma asked her about it that it was magic (though she did hold off Cora and her spells/fireball briefly in "Lady of the Lake").
- Conflict Ball: When Emma is about to climb the beanstalk, she tells Mulan to cut the beanstalk down if she's not back in ten hours. No clear reason is given for this arbitrary time limit (except perhaps to keep the giant from coming after them, or Hook from getting the compass to Cora if he betrays them); it serves only to set up a fight between Mulan and Snow about whether to follow through on Emma's instructions. Emma was already on her way down and within easy shouting distance when the fight occurs.
- Couch Gag: The title card features the beanstalk.
- Fake Pregnancy: Emma uses this during the flashbacks to explain the bulge of the hidden bag she's using to shoplift. Unsurprisingly, when they're about to get caught she uses going into labor for them to make their getaway. Becomes amusing Foreshadowing when she ends up really getting pregnant by Neal...and then heartbreaking when she doesn't learn this until she's been abandoned and is in jail.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: A bit more downplayed than most, but the minute David starts lighting a candle for Henry to keep the nightmares away the same as he did for Snow, the audience's significance sense should be tingling—and sure enough, he describes the same red room of fire as Aurora, explaining what she saw and revealing there's a link between the worlds.
- Freudian Excuse:
- The giant hates humans because they wiped out his family.
- Emma doesn't trust people, and isn't willing to take a chance on love or believe in herself, because she believes Neal betrayed her to run off with the rest of the stolen watches and the money they could bring. The fact it was an enforced Frameup (thanks to August convincing Neal Emma couldn't run away to start a life with him and still break the Dark Curse) doesn't really help matters.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Hook's leering enthusiasm for the possibility that Emma, Snow, Aurora and Mulan might fight over who climbs the beanstalk with him.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: An In-Universe example. Jack is remembered in the realms as a brave crusader against the terrifying giant forces in a war rather than a sociopath who murdered every member of a family but one by combining breaking-and-entering, theft, and the desire to excite herself by facing a giant. She's also remembered as a man for some reason.
- History Repeats: In flashback we learn how Neal (at August's behest) betrayed Emma so that she ended up in prison. In the present the lack of trust this engendered causes her to in turn betray and chain up Hook.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The giant ends up trapped in his own cage, after Emma lures him to the tripwire and cuts it with Jack's sword. Played with, however, in that he could have escaped at any time but doesn't until he gets a chance to test Emma's morality.
- Hypocrite: When August claims he is Emma's guardian angel, Neal points out that thanks to her life up to this point, he's done a pretty crappy job of it. But then August fires right back that being a thief and leading Emma herself into a life of petty crime is hardly doing any better by her.
- Innocuously Important Episode: Not only does this episode open up the plot about the giants, Jack, and James which will be further explored in "Tiny" (and even play out all the way into the Underworld plot of Season 5B), it sets up for the rest of the reveals regarding Neal in "Manhattan", and the moment when Emma betrays Hook (fully believing he intended to do the same to her) has repercussions which ripple across the entire season.* On a purely cosmetic note, it's also the source of the magical cuff which gets a lot of usage both in this and later seasons.
- Manipulative Bastard: His intentions are good (if coming rather late, and motivated by self-interest as we learned in "The Stranger"), but August getting Neal to leave Emma in the lurch all so she would one day be able to break the curse is pretty low. Particularly since a) he doesn't know for sure that having a happy life with Neal (albeit one based on thievery) would prevent her from fulfilling her destiny and b) while he does pass on the yellow VW to Emma, he steals the money Neal got from pawning the rest of the watches for his own uses.
- No One Gets Left Behind: When she has to climb the beanstalk with Hook, Emma makes sure Mulan will not only cut it down if she doesn't come back (so the giant can't come after them and Hook can't get to Cora), but makes her promise to get Snow to a portal so she won't be left unable to reach Henry. After the fight with Mulan when Snow learns about this, she berates Emma with this trope, saying either they all get back or no one does.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The way both Aurora and Henry describe the "red room of fire", particularly the part about the eyes of someone they can't see watching from the other corner. Becomes less scary once we find out who they're each seeing, but the room itself remains terrifying when finally shown to us next episode.
- Ostentatious Secret: The question of what's in August Booth's box comes up again. Booth uses its contents to convince Neal Cassidy to believe in magic so he'll stop interfering with Emma's destiny and it is treated like Marsellus Wallace's briefcase from Pulp Fiction — the audience sees characters' reactions but does not see inside.
- The Reveal:
- Although the full truth doesn't come out yet (i.e. who else he is), this episode finally tells us who the man who received the postcard in the season opener is (and for that matter, who sent the postcard and why), that he is Henry's father (alive, not dead as Emma lied about), why he left her, how Emma ended up pregnant in jail, and how all this tied to her "surprisingly long" time in Tallahassee. It's quite a lot to take in.
- Also we not only find out why Aurora doesn't want to sleep if she can help it (and what the terrifying aftereffects of the Sleeping Curse are), but that thanks to the apple turnover Henry is having the same nightmares—which will provide a link between the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke.
- Ship Tease: There’s a lot of it in the present day between Emma and Hook.
- Shout-Out: Henry's father, a nomadic petty crook, is named Neal Cassidy.
- Also related to him: He's a thief named Neal who plans to give up his life of crime for something more stable and comfortable. Where have we heard that before? To reinforce the Shout-Out, "Cassidy" even sounds a little like "Caffrey".
- A woman named Swan chains up a pirate while she escapes.
- The Unreveal: Since no backstory is ever gone into for Mulan, among the things never explained is how and why she ended up with a magic sword, but it's certainly useful for her both now and later on.
- Written by the Winners: The exact words used by the giant when Emma asks him why he didn't kill her if giants were all evil plunderers.
