‘Once Upon a Time’: ‘Good Form’ delves into Hook’s past

Captain Hook gets the spotlight in the “Good Form” episode of this week’s “Once Upon a Time.” The mysterious bad boy pirate has never seemed like a cut-throat ne’er-do-well, just a regular ne’er-do-well, and we get to see that despite his “me first” attitude, he does have some compassion. And maybe a bit more for Emma Swan.

This week, everything is basically in Neverland -- and that’s where we start. The Lost Boys are going a bit wild and Henry gets caught up in it, stick fighting with a challenger. Peter Pan gets Henry to believe that he’s holding a real sword, not a wooden stick .. and suddenly he is. He slashes at his opponent, drawing blood. Yes, it’s a real sword. The heart of a true believer apparently has a lot of power.

Elsewhere, Emma figures out that Neal lost hope while on the island, and that Henry might be losing hope as well. They need to send him a sign to let him know they’re on their way. Snow White wants to set a trap and capture one of the Lost Boys. As they prepare, Prince Charming does the dad thing, telling Hook to stay away from his daughter Emma. Problem is, he passes out due to the poison in his system. Guess there’s no more hiding the secret. As Hook thinks on what to do, we go back in the past.

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Hook’s back story! He was a proper soldier, a lieutenant in the British military, and second in command to his brother, the captain. They are on a secret mission for the king and queen to a secret locale when they are fired upon. A sail made from the feathers of the flying horse Pegasus helps Hook and his brother and their crew escape by flying away from their pursuers. Strange, since this is set in the real world, not the Enchanted Forest or Neverland or even Storybrook. Anyway, they set course for the second star to the right.

Killian is Hook’s real name. We find this out after he and his brother make their way into Neverland. They meet Peter Pan, and find that their journey to locate a cure-all plant (the secret mission) was actually an assignment to find the poisonous Dreamshade -- an early form of germ-warfare. Hook’s brother infects himself accidentally by scratching a large amount of the poison onto his arm to show that it is harmless. Pan knows of a cure, though. Hook gets healing water and brings his brother back from the brink of death. His brother, though, dies when they’re off of the island -- a side effect of the cure. This was the event that led Killian to become a Captain, and a pirate.

Hook brings this knowledge with him into the future, and fools Charming into going off on a side mission to find a way off of the island. They climb a mountain, and despite a not-so-secret offer from Peter Pan, Hook is able to save Charming with the water. Charming knows that now he can’t leave the island, “but it’s a small price to pay.” Maybe it is for now ...

Snow, Emma and Regina have captured a Lost Boy. Emma lets Regina take out the heart of their captive, over the objection of Snow White, to force his obedience. Regina gets the Lost Boy to go back to the camp and take a message to Henry: His family is on the island mounting a rescue -- and they love him. Henry gets the message, and will no doubt use the knowledge to resist Pan’s influence. Right?

There seemed to be a lot of speculation as to why Emma would’ve kissed Hook on the show promos; and now we know. Though the rest of the group doesn’t know the truth -- that David is now condemned to stay in Neverland -- it’s still not a lie that Hook saved him with the island’s drinking water. The kiss was for gratitude -- though there did seem to be a bit more behind it.

Their new relationship, a “onetime” kiss, says Emma, is immediately tested when Pan tells Hook that Neal, his old buddy Baelfire, is on the island. Will Hook even tell the group -- the group who thinks he’s dead? And speaking of Neal, we see the Lost Boys putting his cage up next to another. You have to wonder who else does Pan have prisoner on the island?

We thought this week was the “Ariel” episode, but no. The undersea adventure is next week!

-- Jevon Phillips

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