Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 15 review: Is Captain Hook home?
Let’s start here with Captain Hook’s quest, given that this ended up being far more challenging than he first thought. At first, it looked as though he was going to be able to find his way home through Kracken’s blood, though that didn’t quite work out. Instead, he ended up finding Aladdin and Jasmine, and the three realized that one of the ways to help all of them was going to be finding Jafar. They traveled far and wide, and eventually found themselves at some sort of mysterious “Tiki bar” (Hook’s words) looking for him. It turned out that this place belonged to Ariel on Hangman’s Island. We saw in the flashbacks that Jasmine and Ariel had a history together that dated back to Agrabah, where she did her part in order to help her on a mission. They worked together then, and the hope was that they could work together now.
(Side note: The story tonight was easily the best Alien / Jasmine one to date, given that we got a more authentic representation of the place to date.)
Aladdin and Jasmine’s search for Eric led them to Jafar in the past, and to a place where there was another big confrontation. Jafar demanded her hand in marriage, and while Jasmine resisted at first, she eventually accepted just to keep her people safe. Unfortunately, what Jasmine didn’t understand was that Jafar was a liar. He got a hold of the ring that Jasmine gave him in the “arrangement” for her hand in marriage, and he used that in order to begin the destruction of the city that so ostracized him.
In the present
Genie Jafar had found his way out on Hangman’s Island, and once Jasmine found him, she demanded to know where Agrabah was. This is where Jasmine learned that Jafar, as a result of her wish (kind of unfortunate that he was a genie, no?), has put her home basically within the confines of a ring. Still, she figured out a way to defeat him, and knew how to get her city back.
As for how this helped Captain Hook … well, Aladdin and Jasmine realized that it was true love that would bring them back to Agrabah, and allow Hook and Ariel to have some of their own dreams come true. The whole mechanics of the story were rather confusing, but Jasmine proved herself to be the hero of this tale even more than Aladdin. Hook was stranded in Agrabah, but with Ariel’s mermaid magic, he was able to send a message over to Emma.
Back in Storybrooke…
Emma was understandably struggling somewhat from the news that Hook had departed, and given that she didn’t quite understand the fact that his exit was not meant in the way it happened, she was ready to try and move on. Regina and Snow White got her a few drinks, and this eventually led to a drunken bar battle of darts where Snow was front and center.
Also, who knew that Aesop was a bartender? It was his advice in the midst of the drunken antics of Snow that got Emma to open up somewhat about her feelings. Emma was able to eventually receive Hook’s message, and that gives her some hope in the future that not everything was as terrible as it seemed.
Oh, and it turns out that Aesop was a traitor — and it wasn’t Aesop at all. It was Gideon in surprise! He actually has reversed course on wanting to kill Emma, mostly because he wants her to … kill the Black Fairy! That’s your cliffhanger.
Our overall take
This episode was fun, albeit a little all over the place. An episode we expected to be more about Hook ended up being one more about Aladdin and Jasmine. All of this was a tad muddy in between all of the stuff around genius and magic. Grade: B.
Next time on Once Upon a Time
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