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ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” is a show riddled with fairytale characters of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and plots, and often these various Grimm faces muddle up the plot—but the finale of the fourth season proves the show is taking a step in the right direction by pulling next season’s villain from its traditional hero lineup.

Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have created a world (several, actually) that allows television viewers to experience their favorite—and often, not-so-favorite—fairytale characters in an entirely new light.  They continually and cleverly add new characters to the lineup in imaginative ways (who’d have ever thought that Belle’s Beast could also be Rumplestiltskin?), but recently, in an effort to keep the main cast of heroes united as a family, this creativity in casting has been tossed aside somewhat.  Villains have come from outside the town of Storybrooke; Disney classics and newbies alike have become the baddies for the town to rally against.  In particular, both half-season arcs this year have proven to be convoluted.  The first half introduced the characters of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ recent smash-hit Frozen, and while the actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters with vivacity and accuracy, and the storyline did play well, it felt a bit as if the show was simply catering to the audience by using the most popular Disney gimmick at the time.  The second half of season four introduced not one, not two, but three new villainesses—Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil—who, while coming from obviously less-recent films than the previous arc’s intruders, served nonetheless to be even more boring.  So, the season four finale’s reveal of next season’s villain as none other than the show’s heroine, Emma Swan, is just about the greatest news any “Once” fan could be given.

Besides giving an enticing teaser for next season, “Operation Mongoose” proved to be a darn entertaining two hours of television.  The Author (Patrick Fischler), having been recruited by Rumplestiltskin, has rewritten the storybook into a volume in which the roles are all reversed.  This particular twist made for one of the show’s most compelling and engaging episodes yet—and one I’d like to have seen more of.  Ginnifer Goodwin was perhaps the most enjoyable in her turn as the Evil Queen-ified Snow White, and her twisted play on the cloying “I will always find you” phrase she shares with Charming (usually in the context of true love) made the entire exchange between the two that much more enjoyable.  Lana Parilla’s Regina was believable as the thief on the run, and Rumplestiltskin, portrayed by Robert Carlyle, was nothing short of hilarious in his turn as the Light One, Ogre Slayer.  Perhaps most convincing in this flip-flopped Enchanted Forest, however, was Colin O’Donoghue as Hook—the coward.  A character normally brimming with swagger and self-confidence, a self-proclaimed “dashing rapscallion”, Hook is completely believable as this meek, indefensible deckhand, thanks to O’Donoghue’s brilliant timing and delivery.

*P.S. Anti-Killian’s response when asked about rum is gold:

Jared Gilmore also stepped up to the plate in a big way for this episode—his character Henry is the only one to remain in Storybrooke after the new book is written, and he must travel alone to find the Author and reverse his work.  Both Gilmore and Henry have greatly matured since the show’s first season, and he demonstrates that beautifully here.  Traveling into the book itself to convince its characters what they’re supposed to be fighting for, Gilmore seems even more at home than he did on the streets of Storybrooke.

All this praise is not to say that the episode was without its faults.  The scene in which Hook decides to sacrifice himself so that Emma and Henry can escape seems completely irrelevant when they just stand there and watch, and the Author’s explanations of alternate versions of things that we already knew in the original Enchanted Forest did serve to trip up the pace a bit.  Additionally, in the final scenes of the alternate world, Regina waits so long to interrupt Robin Hood’s wedding to share her feelings that it becomes obsolete—and if it really is True Love’s Kiss, wouldn’t it have worked even after he was already married?

In the end, though, these minor issues pale in the light of one of the show’s strongest episodes to date, plot- and performance-wise.  The final scenes leave us both with a sense of closure—Henry is the author (who didn’t see that one coming?) and Regina, despite the recurring presence of her evil sister Zelena, has finally found her happy ending—and with a sense of tension.  The darkness that gave Rumplestiltskin his turn as the Dark One has been cast out of him in order to save his life, and while it seemed at first that it might attach itself to Regina, Emma sacrifices herself by taking it on.  

Season five promises to be an exciting one involving a search for Merlin, and the struggle the show most often places an emphasis on—the one between one’s own darkness and light.  Emma, the Savior, the product of true love, the possessor of ultimate light magic, will now become the Dark Swan, the human mantle for ultimate evil (and conversely, Rumplestiltskin will finally get the chance to be good).  How will she handle this internal struggle?  How will those close to her handle it?  While there are a few upcoming storylines that are decidedly less-than-compelling (Lily’s search for her dragon father, the introduction of Brave’s Merida), the finale left us with enough questions and enticing concepts to bring us back on the edge of our seats, hungry for answers.