More support for the Pinnocchio theory – early on in the episode, when August was in bed, it looked like he was having some kind of fit. As if he wasn’t in control of his own body. As if he was on strings…
I agree–and if that man gets any hotter, my DVR is going to explode!
I said this earlier:
Furthering the number of (possible) coincidences: this show arguably began after a plan fell through for a TV version of the similarly-themed comic Fables, the primary villain of which was I’m told Geppetto. Booth-as-Pinocchio honestly doesn’t feel very compelling to me — nothing about his story seems to explain why Booth would be unaffected by major portions of the curse — but that’s not necessarily a good predictor of what they’ll do. Still find myself rather attached to the “writer/creator who found out about the secret somehow” theory.
From the phone call, somebody else is in on it. Who? I suppose it could be Geppetto.
Poor Sydney! Get a hold of yourself, man; it’s not going to work out; you really think she goes for the sniveling desperate suckup type? I really do hope he redeems himself at some point.
I forget what we know about it already, but I wonder if Pinocchio was made from wood from the same magical tree out of which Gepetto made the cupboard that protected Emma from the curse.
If there’s no magic in the Storybrooke world, as the blue fairy claims, how did Regina’s little hall of hearts dealy work? How’d she store the sheriff’s heart and then crush it, killing him, without some sort of magic.
Speaking of the blue fairy, the way August went to visit the nun lends credence to the Pinocchio theory. Only more blatant hint would be if he went to Doc Hopper too.
Maybe Clarke’s Third Law is in effect.
Well the little hall of hearts came over from HEAL with them, so maybe the lack of magic won’t allow her to add to it but destruction is okay? /wag
It occurs to me that, if the curse was devised solely as a method for Gold to find his son, it’s a clear instance of the affliction of suffering that drove Baelfire away in the first place. I can’t imagine he’ll be thrilled with this if at some point Gold does find him.
It could be that our world has no magic except for some portion specified by the curse itself, perhaps so that its invoker could maintain control. Clearly there must be some connection or conduit between the two worlds or there could be no travel between them; maybe the heart collection exists in two planes? It’s also possible that there exists some magic but that Gold bluffed when he realized Booth (likely) wasn’t his son.
I suppose I’m without in-depth knowledge of the Pinocchio story over its various incarnations, but why would that his visiting the convent be a hint? — Scratch that, I just looked it up; the Mother Superior is the Blue Fairy’s real-life counterpart. Combining this with the apparent fact that next week’s backstory focuses on Pinocchio or Geppetto, I suppose “Booth as Pinocchio” starts to look pretty likely.
Or maybe it only worked on the Huntsman because he was expecting it to? 
I thought the phone call was to Henry. They were on Operation Cobra in the next scene.
[Quote=TBG]
If there’s no magic in the Storybrooke world, as the blue fairy claims, how did Regina’s little hall of hearts dealy work? How’d she store the sheriff’s heart and then crush it, killing him, without some sort of magic.
[/QUOTE]
The vault of hearts was underground, as were some visible remnants of the old kingdom deep in the mineshaft. It’s possible that the earth itself provides a cover for the magical world, as when the Mad Hatter and Baelfire went through the earth to other worlds. Perhaps Regina can access the magic through the earth as well.
I’m glad August is not Rumplestiltskin’s son, the idea was brought up in this thread a few weeks ago and I thought it was too obvious. I do think Baelfire will show up in Storeybrook before the end of the series.
Rumplestiltskin’s “I will never love anyone or anything again” rant certainly explains his reaction to Belle’s love a few episodes ago.
I thought the phone call was to Henry at first as well, but on a second viewing, the tone of Booth’s voice was not him calling a ‘child’.
I was hoping it was Baelfire, but it would have wrapped up a much more interesting storyline too fast.
Ah, sympathetic magic. I rather like that idea, but I bet it’s too clever for the writers.
“oh, we’re going to need a new maid”
Hmm… not sure about the writers, but that is definitely not too clever for Jane. 
Who was credited as writer for the episode that the Huntsman died? checks IMDB
Okay, that episode, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” has all writing credits to Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the show’s co-creators… and it looks like they got their start in JJ Abrams’ posse, working on ‘Felicity’ and ‘Lost.’
Hmm… I haven’t watched enough Lost. Is sympathetic magic too clever an idea for people who wrote for Lost?
Oooh, not a spoiler but just a wild speculation, what if the real Balefire is Henry’s biodad?
I guess that settles it - August is Pinochio (sp?), and is turning back into wood.
How exacty is Emma supposed to stop the curse anyway? And how is there going to be a second season? Unless a new curse happens or something. If she doesn’t lift the curse, im not sure the storylines could be stretched much more.
Brian
Maybe I should start a new thread (maybe not, given my luck with threads), but I feel this show would have worked better as a mini-series. ( Do networks even do those anymore?) Seems I spend too much time worrying how they will stretch this out as a series without ruining it. Same thing with Revenge and Fringe - would have all worked better as mini-series with a beginning, middle, and end that as a continuing series that could go off the rails as Lost did.
That being said, Emma sure didn’t come off as very sympathetic tonight, nor did Pinocchio (except for the scenes with Geppetto, in both worlds).
I was assuming, based on the timing so far, that in the second season Emma and some of the other principals, (Mary Margaret, Robert, Ruby?) would believe in the curse, and they’d be working with Henry and Pinocchio (if he survives,) to break it, but that wouldn’t be a quick thing. Of course, the writers have confounded my expectations before.
A third season, contrarily, might be more of a stretch. I don’t really see how the ‘break the curse’ aspect could be stretched that far without jumping the shark.
One twist that might be really fun - in the second season finale, Storybrook is transported back into the realm of magic - but most of the characters retain their sensibilities from our world, and the good fairies etcetera lose most of their magic. Emma must thus find a way to defend the town against the monsters of the forest and anything else from the realm of magic that wasn’t targeted by the Queen’s Curse. 
Or once the curse is broken (people can again have happy and regina is again just a pissed off mayor) - they are not transported back to HEAL but instead have to figure out how to make things work in StoryBrooke with no magic and all of thier shared memories.