As most Once Upon a Time fans do, one must set aside all they know about the show in the past and live in the moment for this musical episode. But despite my previous notion that the musical episode would be a filler, “The Song in Your Heart” does move the story forward and Emma is finally closer to the final battle against the Black Fairy. Oh, yes, and Emma and Hook finally tie the knot too.
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All Alone
In 1991, when Emma is still in the group home, she gets a flier for a talent show. She brings out her tape recorder and starts humming. Another child in the home catches her and tells her that no one wants to hear her sing. She adds that Emma is all alone, just like everyone else there.
A Wish for Their Daughter
In the Enchanted Forest, Snow and Charming are reeling after a meeting with Rumple, fearing their daughter will never be safe. Snow wishes that they had the tools they need to help give their daughter a happy ending. The next morning, she wakes up singing. She and Charming realize that her wish put a singing spell over the kingdom and think that the power of love in song is enough to defeat the Evil Queen.
The Evil Queen is pretty annoyed at this new spell because she too has broken out into song. Despite the mirror telling her that the spell is strong and love will conquer, she sings about love being a weakness and not standing a chance. She goes to visit Rumple, and the spell hasn’t reached him so he doesn’t sing. She asks for his help. He says he’s tired of her whining and perhaps he picked the wrong sister to cast his curse on the kingdom. Then he tells her to figure it out.
The singing curse has reached Oz too. Zelena sings about how Rumple did pick the wrong sister and how she wants to show him that she’s better than Regina. I happen to like her song the most, as she sings about evil being powerful but wicked always winning. She then creates a spell to stop the singing curse and delivers it to Regina, in the hope that Rumple will see that she’s the better and stronger sister.
Meanwhile, Snow and Charming go to see the captain of the Jolly Roger, Hook, at a tavern. They ask for his help to bring them to the Evil Queen. He turns down their offer of money and jewels. And then he explains in song that he’s looking for revenge on the crocodile who stole his hand, the Dark One. They let him know that they have the Dark One locked up, and if he helps them, they will lead him to the Dark One’s cage. He agrees to the deal.
A Song in Her Heart
Snow and Charming make it to the Queen’s castle. And the three have a song battle about love defeating evil. Eventually, the Evil Queen takes out the box that Zelena left for her, though she doesn’t know where it came from, and uses it to stop the singing spell. She lets the Charmings know that nothing is stronger than her magic.
The Charmings are sent back to their own castle, where they feel defeated. The Blue Fairy shows up. She explains that the singing spell was never meant to defeat dark magic, but rather, it is to keep the songs full of love inside their unborn child’s heart. She explains that in the future, Emma will be in a battle and she’ll have to face it alone. But she will never be alone because of all the songs in her heart. She casts a spell so that everyone will forget the songs even existed and hopes that they will surface when the time is right.
A Curse is Brewing
In the present day, Emma is preparing for her wedding when the Black Fairy shows up. Everyone is surprised because they thought Rumple defeated her. She explains that they are destined to fight, as light and dark need their day of reckoning. She asks for Emma’s heart to get the battle over with. Then she tells Emma to go to the clock tower to see what’s brewing.
Everyone heads over; they see that a curse is brewing there, set to go off at 6pm, the time that she and Hook are to be married. Regina says the curse is set to separate Emma from her loved ones, so she’ll have to battle alone. Regina says she and Zelena will figure out a way to stop the curse.
Emma goes to tell Hook about the curse, and he fears she’ll saying goodbye, as she doesn’t want his help. Hook goes to see Rumple, annoyed that he betrayed everyone. Rumple says he was just doing what is necessary to keep his family together.
Henry goes to find Emma searching through her old belongings at the police station. The old tape player is there, but she doesn’t want to hear it. Later, she reveals that it reminds her of a time when she was alone and would run from things. But now she’s not running.
Regina and Zelena manage to find a way to stop time, in order to stop the curse from happening. However, Rumple takes it from them and freezes Snow, David, Hook, Zelena and Regina. The Black Fairy uses Emma’s frozen loved ones to taunt her. Emma believes that the only way to end this battle is to just give the Black Fairy her heart.
As Emma gets ready to hand over her heart, Henry gets angry at the storybook, wishing for another way to defeat the Black Fairy. Suddenly, a page appears in the book, of Blue explaining to the Charmings about Emma’s songs in her heart. He races to the mayor’s mansion, where Emma and the Black Fairy are. He sees that the Black Fairy has taken Emma’s heart, but she can’t destroy it. Henry explains that Emma’s heart is stronger than she thinks; it’s filled with the songs of her loved ones. He adds that song is her strength, not her weakness. So, of course, she breaks out into song, eventually waking up her family and taking her heart back. The Black Fairy warns that the curse is still coming and the final battle will be worse than they could possibly imagine.
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A Storybrooke Wedding
The wedding goes off as planned, despite the setback. Emma and Hook say their own vows before Archie pronounces them husband and wife. They then break out into song about their happy beginning and how they are ready to face whatever is coming. Soon, everyone is joining in the song and dance. But the fun is quickly over as the clock tower strikes 6pm and the Black Fairy’s curse is unleashed. Hook wonders where it will take them, but Emma says it doesn’t matter because she’s confident they will win.
Where Will They Go?
At this point, season 6 probably could have ended. Emma got her happy ending/beginning, and another curse has been cast on Storybrooke. That is usually how Once Upon a Time sets their finales. But, alas, hopefully we’ll find out who eventually wins the final battle in the season finale. Now that Emma has the confidence she needs and apparently a heart full of song, she should be good to defeat the Black Fairy. I do have to wonder if Rumple will intervene somehow to save his own family.
The musical episode wasn’t terrible. It was extremely cheesy, and I had to really listen to the lyrics to figure out the story, as most songs explained what was happening. Everyone has an impressive singing voice, but as I mentioned, I did like Zelena’s wicked song the best. I found it funny that Rumple refused to sing.
I do hope that this crazy season will wrap up nicely and answer any remaining questions that fans have.
What was your favorite song in “The Song in Your Heart”? Did you enjoy all of the singing? Do you think Emma has what it takes now to defeat the Black Fairy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Once Upon a Time season 6 finale airs Sunday, May 14 at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Like our Once Upon a Time Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
