Season 3, Episode 7:
Dark Hollow
Mr. Gold and Regina send Ariel back to Storybrooke with an item that will allow Belle to locate a hidden artifact that could help take down Pan. But unbeknownst to them, two men have broken into the town with the intent to stop them – at all costs.
Meanwhile, Emma, Neal and Hook attempt to find Dark Hollow, where Peter Pan’s shadow dwells, in order to capture it, and Mary Margaret is upset with David for keeping his poisoning a secret from her.
Tropes
- All for Nothing: Played with. The whole reason Gold gave Belle the spell to seal Storybrooke was so that no one from the outside, but especially more of Pan's agents, could get in. She casts it...but thanks to seeing the dome coming and gunning the accelerator, John and Michael make it across the town line Just in Time. However, anyone else is still sealed away, and thanks to Belle and Ariel, John and Michael end up changing sides.
- Arbitrary Skepticism:
- Belle read about Pandora's Box but hadn't realized it was real.
- Hook, as well:Hook: A coconut? Are you daft?
Neal: You came to Neverland on a pirate ship through a portal, but you draw the line at a magic coconut?
- Betty and Veronica: Neal and Hook, respectively, are quickly becoming this towards Emma.
- Couch Gag: The title card features Storybrooke's clock tower.
- Foreshadowing: When John and Michael first enter Storybrooke, the camera makes sure to focus on the keychain keepsake hanging on the rearview mirror—a teddy bear, referencing the one Michael carried as a little boy.
- Heel–Face Turn/Good All Along: John and Michael really had no choice but to do Pan's work to keep Wendy safe. It takes all of five seconds for them to switch sides once Belle gives them a better option.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Wendy pretends to have one.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Dark Hollow, lampshaded by Emma.
- I Have Your Sister: John and Michael Darling have been in Pan's service for over a century because he has had their sister Wendy as his prisoner for all that time. The trope also works in reverse, since Pan is able to convince Wendy to help him (via lying to Henry) by telling her he'll kill her brothers if she doesn't.
- Loophole Abuse: Numerous times it had been stated (whether by Tink, Hook, Felix, or Pan himself) that no one can leave Neverland without Pan's permission. So how does the gang plan to do it? Use Neal's coconut candle (which has the power as a source of light) to capture Pan's Shadow—because its ability to fly in and out of Neverland at will can enable the Jolly Roger to do the same. And since it is Pan's shadow, in a sense this is him giving permission.
- Tragic Keepsake: Once again the chipped teacup appears—this time as the item Gold keyed to the enchantment concealing Pandora's Box.
- Trick-and-Follow Ploy: Inverted—Pan pretends to send Felix out to check on and feed a supposedly sick Wendy, knowing that a distrustful Henry will follow to find out his "secret" and thus come around to his supposed plan to save magic (and Wendy).
- Weirdness Magnet: Lampshaded by Happy the dwarf; he's kind of glad Snow and Charming have gone away because nothing weird and magical has happened to Storybrooke in the five days since they left for Neverland. Cue Ariel's arrival...
- You Do NOT Want To Know: John and Michael to Ariel about what a gun is.
- You Just Told Me: Unintentional on Neal's part, but because Hook assumed he had heard his secret and that Emma had told him about their kiss, he ends up accidentally confessing about their "dalliance."
