'Once Upon a Time' Season 2, Episode 6: 'Tallahassee' Recap

As Emma, Hook, Snow, Mulan, and Aurora plan to scale the beanstalk, Emma asks about the situation. The magic beans, she learns, make portals, but there are no more beans. There was a war between humans and giants, and the beans were destroyed. Cora has the power to get back to their world but to find it she needs the compass. The beanstalk cannot be scaled without special enchantments. Hook has two wrist cuffs to do the job, so only two can go.

11 years ago in Portland. Emma in nerdy glasses breaks into a yellow VW Bug, clanks around, and takes off with it. As she drives, a man pops up in the back seat, scaring her. Rather than seeming alarmed, he invites her to get drinks. As she speeds, she gets pulled over. The man sticks a key in the ignition and jumps into the front seat, explaining to the officer he was teaching his girlfriend to drive stick. The officer lets them off, and Emma realizes this isn’t his car either. She stole a stolen car.

The ladies are arguing about who will go up the beanstalk. Emma finally wins. Mulan gives her a powder that will make the giant fall asleep if inhaled. Emma tells her if she’s not back in 10 hours to keep going onward without her. Mulan says Snow won’t like it, but Emma says that’s why she’s asking Mulan.

“Don’t think I’m taking my eyes off you for one second,” Emma warns Hook as they prepare to climb.

“I would despair if you did,” he retorts flirtatiously.

As they climb Emma is silent, which he teases her for. He tells her she’s an open book. She volunteered because she’s the most motivated—to save her son. He can see that she also was abandoned, and that love is too rare in her life. She has never been in love. Emma agrees.

Flashback to Emma, pregnant, and Neil in a gas station. Emma steals while Neil is getting directions, distracting the owner with a map. Someone coming in sees Neil grabbing things from around the counter and starts to yell, but Emma fakes labor and they rush out. She drops her fake baby/backpack as they run. In the car, Neil gives her the keychain he stole for her, and they kiss. As a family leaves they sneak into a hotel room.

Neil suggests maybe they should get a real place, retire from being on the road. He has Emma close her eyes and point to a map to pick their new home. She picks Tallahassee.

Below the beanstalk, Mulan draws line in sand to keep the time. Somewhere to be? Snow wants to know. They take shifts to sleep. Aurora admits she can’t sleep. Since the sleeping curse she has been having horrible nightmares. Snow says the same thing happened to her, for months. Prince Charming used to light a candle to capture the nightmares. She has her try to sleep.

Hook and Emma have reached the top, where it is nighttime. Everything is destitute. Emma’s hand is bleeding, and Hook administers to it despite her hesitation. He thinks they should wait for giant to fall asleep, and sneak past him to his treasure cave. Then run like hell. Emma notices the tattooed name of his old love on his arm, and puts two and two together, realizing why he hates Gold. She admits that maybe she was in love, once. She says they need to knock the giant out, rather than wait all night for him to sleep.

Back to Neil, who has found out his face on the wall at the post office from a theft at a jewelry store. He has to go to Canada. They argue about her going with him. Emma thinks she should go to get the watches he stole out of the subway locker. With the money they could change identities and go to Tallahassee.

Outside the giant’s door, Hook bangs a bone on fallen armor. The giant groans from within, and emerges. He is far too tall for Emma to reach from her perch. Hook distracts him, goading him, and the giant bends to grab him. Emma tosses the powder into his face and he falls.

Snow wakes Aurora, who is having a horrible dream. She was in a red room, trapped inside. There were curtains on fire, despite having no windows or doors. There was someone else in the room, but she could only see his eyes looking at her. Snow comforts her and assures her the nightmares will fade away. She offers to sit with Aurora until she falls back to sleep.

Hook and Emma make it to the treasure room. Hook gets distracted by the gold, but Emma reminds him they don’t know how long the powder will last.

Flashback to Emma at the locker. Security is everywhere, she notices as she passes down the line. She opens the locker and takes out the duffel, passing past the uniformed men as she leaves.

Hook wonders how much treasure they could take with him. Emma stumbles across a skeletal arm, clutching a sword engraved with the name “Jack.” As Hook makes to keep moving, Emma throws herself into his arms—to his delight. But it’s to keep him from hitting a trip wire and releasing a trap.

Emma has returned to the car with the duffel of watches Neil plans to sell. They arrange to meet, and he puts one on her wrist so she will know the time.

“We’re almost home,” he tells her.

He gets out of the car and heads off. A figure follows, and Neil starts to run. The man pursues, tackling him. It is August (Pinocchio!). He says he’s kind of like Emma’s guardian angel, and if Neil wants to do right by her he needs to let her go. She has a destiny, and he will keep her from it. He shows something (unseen) that makes Neil believe.

“There’s 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 you have to make a decision. Will you do the right thing, or not? So… are you ready?”

Emma awaits Neil, but the police appear, pointing a gun at her. Neil called in a tip and told them to look at the surveillance footage from near the locker. Emma is handcuffed and taken off.

In the giant’s home, Hook urges Emma to trust him. The floor begins to shake—they are too late. The giant bursts in, knocking stones from the roof which trap Hook. Emma runs.

It’s a little while after Emma’s arrest in the real world. Neil goes to see August. He wants to know about Emma, and can’t move on until she knows he’s okay. She got 11 months in jail but August assures him it’s for the best. Neil explains that he cleaned the car and made it legit. He wants August to give Emma money and the car for when she gets out. And when all the strangeness is cleared up and she’s fulfilled her duty, she’s free… August says he’ll send him a postcard.

Neil is the man who received the postcard from Storybrooke when the curse was broken.

The giant has Emma in his grip. To save her son, she begs, but the giant says humans killed his family so what does he care? Emma bites him and he drops her. He chases her as she runs, but she picks up Jack’s sword and swings at the trip wire. A cage falls, trapping him. She points the sword at him, knowing from his face it is dipped in poison and one scratch will kill him. The giant says the humans massacred them and stole their beans but Emma says it’s not the story she heard.

“That’s because the victors get to tell the story.”

The giant gives her the compass. He throws off the cage, but instead of killing her, unblocks a way out. He tells her to go, because she could have killed him and didn’t. He owes one favor. Emma says she needs two…

Emma pulls Hook out from under the blocks. Hook asks to see the compass. He holds out his hand for Emma, and she slips shackles on him.

“I can’t take a chance that I’m wrong about you.”

Emma tells him she’s not leaving him to die. She just needs a head start.

Mulan starts to cut down the beanstalk, the ten hours up, but Snow attacks her. Emma comes down and makes them stop. She tells Snow that it was her idea.

In an Arizona cell, Emma has mail. Her guard opens the mail. It is car keys on the keychain Neil stole for her. “You get a car when you get out. And a baby. Congratulations.”

Emma is holding a pregnancy test.

Henry wakes up with a scream. James hurries down to comfort him, lighting a candle and telling him it will keep the nightmares away. He asks about the nightmare.

Henry begins to explain… the red room… the curtains on fire… There was someone else there, and she was staring at him through the flames.