On Once Upon a Time, Charming (or David in present-day Storybrooke) will be at the center of an unwelcome reunion, of sorts, when Anton the Giant (Jorge Garcia) makes his return to the ABC fairytale drama in this weekend’s return. But it’s much more complicated than meets the eye.
“Sunday’s episode is called ‘Tiny,’ but it is by no means small,” Josh Dallas told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s an epic Once Upon a Time with some rather large characters we’re going to see again.”
In a chat with THR, Dallas teased Anton and Charming/David’s first interaction, an unpleasant Captain Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) encounter and why David’s desperate to head back to fairytale land.
The Hollywood Reporter: What should we expect in this weekend’s episode, which features the return of Jorge Garcia?
Josh Dallas: Cora (Barbara Hershey) of course has come to Storybrooke along with Hook, and she has found a genius way of transporting the Giant onto the pirate ship. Upon seeing David, Anton has a case of mistaken identity and has an old score to settle with David, which David knows nothing about, and proceeds to unleash his vengeance and wreak havoc on the town of Storybrooke. It’s David and the Storybrooke crew’s jobs to try to get Anton [to see] what kind of people the town’s residents are and to get him to [to see] they’re not people he should fear.
We also go back into past fairytale land — we’ve seen present fairytale land which is not a very hospitable place — and we see Anton and his brother up in the clouds in Giant land. Against his brother’s wishes, Anton climbs down the beanstalk into the world to befriend some humans who aren’t especially nice and whose intentions aren’t wholly noble. He’s climbed down to find a different place to where he thinks he belongs a little better; he feels he’s out of place up there with his brother.
THR: Fair to say, a lot is happening.
Dallas: [Laughs] It’s a lot going on. Who knows? We might even find out what Charming/David/James … what his real name is, which is interesting. It’s interesting and obvious all at the same time.
THR: You mentioned that when Anton first sees David, he isn’t too happy about it. How would you describe their first interaction?
Dallas: It’s quick and it’s very violent. [Laughs] Anton doesn’t waste too much time in letting David know how he feels about seeing him again.
THR: How does David rectify the situation?
Dallas: His quest is to figure out why Anton is after him and once he figures that out, he has an idea of who might know, so he goes and he finds out, and of course, his suspicion is right. David/Charming, being the hero that he is, sets out on a quest to prove to Anton that he’s not that guy that he thinks he is, that not all humans are things to be feared by him and that Storybrooke very well could be a place that he could actually [live] in and thrive and feel safe.
THR: Is there a specific moment from “Tiny” that you can tease?
Dallas: There is a great moment at the end with Anton and a few of the other residents of Storybrooke where they’re breaking ground, where there is a sense of hope for these characters and a sense of a brighter future, particularly for David and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) in David’s mind.
THR: Let’s talk a little bit about their relationship. It’s obviously a key pairing for a lot of the fans and they’re not worlds away from each other anymore.
Dallas: It takes many, many twists and turns along the way. Right now we’re filming episode 17. They are trying to figure out where they belong. Now that they’re back together after all this time being separated straight away after realizing who they were, they’re trying to figure out what their relationship is now. Having that — not necessarily a curse — of true love, how does that work now in the context of where they are in Storybrooke? David, of course, is desperate to go back to fairytale land, even though Mary Margaret has said it’s not like it was. He’s so pure in a way, and I think out of all the characters, Charming has one of the purest hearts of them all because he only wants to do good. He’s desperate to reconnect with his beginnings and court, he wants his kingdom back, he wants his world back. That’s going to be an ongoing struggle in terms of how he’s going to get that.
THR: What are his thoughts on Captain Hook?
Dallas: Up until now, he hasn’t had a chance to interact with Hook, but in this Sunday’s episode, he will have a little bit to do with Hook. Charming is a guy who does not take kindly to people who are liars, manipulators, and I certainly think he sees Hook as one of those kinds of people. There is a little confrontation. If you’re going to insult Charming’s woman, he’s not going to take very kindly to it; that’s all I’m going to say. [Laughs]
THR.com
