ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” makes a thrilling return Sunday (at 8 p.m. on WCVB, Ch. 5) with one scary episode. (A recap special airs at 7 p.m.)
In “Magic is Coming,” the action picks up seconds after the season one finale. The purple fog dissipates, leaving everyone in Storybrooke confused.
But there are reunions to be had: The Seven Dwarfs, Red Riding Hood and Granny all get reacquainted.
But the most poignant moments come when Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Charming (Josh Dallas) are reunited with Emma (Jennifer Morrison). “You found us,” Snow says to her grown daughter.
Emma.
Is.
Freaked.
Of all the scenarios she imagined throughout her life as she looked for her parents, she never imagined they would turn out to be two fairy tale characters.
The cast is terrific in these scenes.
Belle begs Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) not to kill Regina (Lana Parrilla) for locking her up for 28 years.
“Promise me you won’t give into your hate. Promise me you won’t kill her. Promise we we can be together,” she says.
Of course, he promises her. And of course, he finds a loophole in that promise. He’ll let someone - something - else do the dirty deed.
And here is the Big Bad of the Night, a Wraith, a creature that could give kids of all ages nightmares.
The CGI is effective and unsettling here. I’d think twice about letting the wee ones watch this.
The wraith is a soul-sucker, as we see in a “flashback” to the magical realm. Sleeping Beauty (Sarah Bolger, “The Tudors”) is awakened but she, her prince and Mulan (yes, that Mulan) are stalked by the creature.
In Storybrooke, the Charmings prevent the town from lynching Regina and even team, reluctantly, to stop the wraith from killing Regina. This goes very badly for two members of this party – and that flashback I referred to? – maybe it’s not a flashback at all.
And what’s up with that stranger in New York who receives a Storybrooke postcard that simply reads, “Broken”?
By hour’s end, Regina has managed to regain some of her malevolent mojo. Two Storybrooke residents face unexpected peril.
The magic is back.
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