Network Blurb: While Dr. Whale treats the outsider, the townspeople decide what to do with the man who may know Storybrooke’s secret. Meanwhile, Cora meets with her daughter and Gold tries to meet with Belle. In another world, Victor tries to convince his father Alphonse that he can bring back the dead.

My Recap: This is what we have been dreading, the outside world treading on land of Storybrooke. Yet, that was not the focus of the episode. That was on Dr. Whale and why he was struggling so much with his life in Storybrooke. We actually ended up seeing what is making Dr. Whale tick and that a lot of emotional baggage stemming from his Dr. Frankenstein days. We see that Viktor was not the favorite of his father. His father was a man that considered the work that Viktor was conducting to be not of any importance. The only support he got was from his much beloved brother, Gerhardt, who was in the military. When Gerhardt dies after catching Viktor attempt grave robbing, Vicktor uses his brother as a test subject. However, Gerhardt does not come to life so easily, until Viktor gets a heart with the help of the Mad Hatter and Regina. This abomination is brought back to life, but is not accepted by their father. The father dies by Gerhardt’s hands and when Viktor decides to kill his monster, he cannot. He vows to save his brother. There are two questions about this continual origin story: 1. Where is Gerhardt and 2. Henry is right. Frankenstein is not a fairy tale and if Rumple can reach out to stories outside of fairy tales, than who know what or who will be showing up in town? Mind you, does anyone remember Lancelot? The best bit of Whale’s arc in this episode was him making a connection with Ruby.There’s a romance there.

Btw, this all started because someone from the outside world is in Storybrooke and after Whale patched him up, the stranger told Emma that he was texting while he was driving and therefore saw nothing. This was a lie of course. He called his someone he cared about and said that he/she would not believe what he saw. Now we have to wonder who else is coming to Storybrooke and what trouble they will bring.

One of the saddest parts of the episode revolved around Gold and Belle. Gold tried to fix Belle, but she was not having it. Even after he brought the charmed “chip” to her, but she was too scared of the man she had no recollection of. Feeling lost, he decides that he should spend all his time looking for his son. So, he decides to go to Emma and call in his favor. Now, these two are off on the hunt.

Yes, Cora and Regina were in the episode, but we knew Cora was going to get in Regina’s good graces the only way she could and that was to promise to help her get back Henry…

Overall, a decent set-up to what we believe will be an action packed race to May sweeps.

Synopsis of S2:Ep.13 – Tiny: While Gold, Emma, and Henry leave Storybrooke to find Bae, Anton the Giant goes on a rampage and Greg asks Belle what happened to him on the night of the accident. Meanwhile, in the fairytale world Anton climbs down to meet humans, only to discover that they’re not all as friendly as Emma.

Synopsis:  Gold conducts an experiment to see if he can find a way across the town border without losing his memory. Meanwhile, Mary Margaret and David go house-hunting and Belle finds Hook in Storybrooke. In the fairytale world, Belle and Mulan meet for the first time as they try to stop a beast ravaging the land.

Recap: While the residents of Storybrooke mourn the loss of Jiminy and the want to return to the magical land (major case of homesickness)… the majority of the episode centered on Belle, Gold and Hook. We see that Belle (in the magical land) went from a bookworm to a warrior with a heart of gold that with her help saves Prince Philip, Mulan and a town, but Regina captures her. In our world, Belle assists Gold with reclaiming a shawl that his son owned which would enable him to track him down once he crossed the dreaded line. The shawl was taken by Hook, who just wants revenge for what his crocodile has done to him and by crocodile… I mean Gold. Just when Gold crosses the line Hook pops up and shoots Belle and forces her to fall into our world and losing her memory. But that was not the clever bit… someone drove into town and hit hook.

Dun, dun, dun…

On the upside, Emma and Henry learn that Archie is alive, but they will keep that bit of info under wraps until they figure out what to do.

As the season marches on in its second half, I have to admit that the show has perked up quite a bit. The first and second episodes have been far more entertaining than the first half of the season and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Next week: “In the Name of the Brother” — Dr. Whale is tasked with mending Hook’s wounds and performing surgery on the stranger whose car crashed upon entering Storybrooke. But some of the townspeople fear that the stranger may have seen magic — which could expose their true identities to the world — and think that leaving him to die would be the best solution. Meanwhile, as Mr. Gold tries to reunite with a despondent Belle, Cora attempts to reunite with daughter Regina; and in the land that was, Victor desperately wants to prove to his disapproving father that he can, indeed, bring back the dead.

“In the Name of the Brother” — Dr. Whale is tasked with mending Hook’s wounds and performing surgery on the stranger whose car crashed upon entering Storybrooke. But some of the townspeople fear that the stranger may have seen magic — which could expose their true identities to the world — and think that leaving him to die would be the best solution. Meanwhile, as Mr. Gold tries to reunite with a despondent Belle, Cora attempts to reunite with daughter Regina; and in the land that was, Victor desperately wants to prove to his disapproving father that he can, indeed, bring back the dead.

PRESS RELEASE – AFRAID THAT THE STRANGER MAY HAVE SEEN MAGIC BEFORE HIS ACCIDENT,SOME OF THE STORYBROOKE RESIDENTS WANT DR. WHALE TO LET HIM DIE SO THAT HE CANNOT EXPOSE THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES TO THE WORLD, AND VICTOR TRIES TO PROVE TO HIS FATHER THAT HE CAN BRING BACK THE DEAD, ON ABC’S “ONCE UPON A TIME”

“In the Name of the Brother” – Dr. Whale is tasked with mending Hook’s wounds and performing surgery on the stranger whose car crashed upon entering Storybrooke. But some of the townspeople fear that the stranger may have seen magic — which could expose their true identities to the world — and think that leaving him to die would be the best solution. Meanwhile, as Mr. Gold tries to reunite with a despondent Belle, Cora attempts to reunite with daughter Regina; and in the land that was, Victor desperately wants to prove to his disapproving father that he can, indeed, bring back the dead,on “Once Upon a Time,” SUNDAY, JANUARY 20 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.