Welcome to Storybrooke

"Welcome to Storybrooke" is the 39th episode of Once Upon a Time.

Summary
Emma, David and Mr. Gold must protect Mary Margaret against Regina, who is out for revenge and has made it her mission to kill her old nemesis, and Henry, fed up with all of the feuding, devises a plan to put an end to magic. Meanwhile, Regina discovers that a father and son have somehow found their way into her allegedly undetectable town as she and the fairytale characters deal with the effects of the newly cast curse 28 years prior.

Teaser
We are treated to a heart-warming moment shared between father and son, as Kurt Flynn and his young boy, Owen, camp out in the woods at night. Sitting by a bonfire, listening to the radio, Kurt is teaching his son to make his own lanyards. Owen follows his father's instructions and is nearly done with his very first lanyard, and Kurt tells him that it doesn't look bad for his first one. Owen comments that he used the colors green and red, like the lightsabers used by Luke and Darth. Kurt then takes one lanyard from his coat's pocker and tells his son that it's for his collection, further explaining that his grandfather taught Kurt how to make those when he was his son's age. Owen asks if he is really giving it to him for keeps, and Kurt, after some willful hesitation, hands it over to the young man, who smiles as he accepts it. Owen examines the lanyard and comments, jokingly, that his father wasn't very good at it when he was his age, to which Kurt feigns a sarcastic chuckle. Owen laughs further, and Kurt checks his pocketwatch and sees that it's time to get dinner started. As they get up, they notice something is amiss, and the radio's transmission suddenly becomes erratic. Owen wonders what is happening, as the winds blow harder and some raindrops fall, and Kurt comments that it's probably an electric storm. He then tells his son to put the fire out, and they proceed to do this by using their shovels to cover it with dirt. Kurt then tells Owen to get in the tent, which he does, and Kurt soon follows after him. They then peek through the fabric and witness the arrival of an all too familiar massive cloud of dark smoke, which quickly covers the forest area, as Kurt shields his child inside the tent. The following morning, things have calmed down quite a bit, and father and son emerge from the tent to find that the "storm" made a mess of things, by breaking off the branches of the trees surrounding them. Their orange van has also fallen victim to a tipped over tree. The confused Owen asks what kind of storm that was, to which Kurt simply replies that it was a big one. Not long after, both of them are seen trekking through the woods, backpacking, and trying to follow a map. As Kurt tries to come up with a plan, Owen notices something in the near distance. He calls for his father's attention, and Kurt notices a town ahead of them. Once they've reached the town, Kurt, still confused, comments that this is impossible, because they drove through that place the day before, and there was nothing there. He looks at his map and says, "It's like... someone dropped a town... right on top of us." A police car parks right behind them, and Kurt and his son stare at the local library's tower clock. A man gets out of the car, and Kurt turns around to face him. The man is revealed to be Sheriff Graham. The authority figure asks them if they need some help, for they look lost. Kurt asks who he is, and what this place is as well, to which Graham moves up towards him and states his name and that he's the sheriff. Graham shakes Kurt's hand and says "Welcome to Storybrooke." ONCE UPON A TIME

Act I
Overview of Regina's closed eyes. She opens them up.

Storybrooke 1983

Mayor Regina Mills - otherwise known as the Evil Queen - wakes up in her bed, finding herself in her bedroom, inside her new house, in the quiet town of Storybrooke, Maine - the town created by the Dark Curse, which she cast upon the Enchanted Forest, that brought with it the residents of her previous land to a world without magic, entrapping them in a locale separated from the rest of the world, frozen in time and with no memories of their previous selves (see "Pilot"). Regina sits up on her bed and notices that her hair is now shorter. She gets up and looks outside through the window of her mansion, at the town surrounding her. "I did it," she says, with a smile, and then backs away from the window, "I won." Immediately afterwards, she is seen opening her closet and sorting through her newly-acquired collection of outfits. She picks a black dress and presses it up against her body in front of the mirror, feeling its fabric. Shortly afterwards, Regina is seen strolling down the main street, wearing her black outfit. On the other side of the road she can see Mr. Gold - the cursed version of Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One - walking with a cane and a stern look on his face. Gold passes by Marco (Geppetto), who is seen repairing a sign for a local store, on top of his ladder. He says to the sign "That should hold you", and then comes down the steps. As Regina takes in the new world around her, she keeps on walking and passes by Granny's Diner, where the owner, Granny herself, is putting up the "Open" sign. Her granddaughter Ruby (Red Riding Hood) is complaining about having been slated to work in the early shift, to which Granny replies that it's not her fault Ruby stayed out all night. Granny then gives her a judgmental look, based on her skimpy outfit, and comments that when she put "over-easy" she was talking about the eggs. Regina can't help but smirk as she overhears this, and then she spots Dr. Archie Hopper - the now very human Jiminy Cricket - crossing her path with his pet dalmatian, Pongo, and wishing her a good morning. Regina starts to say, "Good morning, cric...", and then stops herself on her path, and calls him "Dr. Hopper". "Beautiful day, isn't it?", Archie tells her, to which she replies, "Yes...", with a large grin, "Yes, it is."

We are shown a classroom at the local elementary school, where the kids are building treehouses. The teacher, Miss Blanchard, walks around the class, reminding the kids that what they are making is a home, not a cage. She is shown to be holding a blue bird in her hands as she walks across the room. She then turns around, saying that the birds are free and will do what they will... and we can now see she is the cursed version of Snow White. The treehouses are for them, not the kids. She then says they are loyal creatures, and she lets him out of her grasp through the opened window, and the bird flies off to rest on a blue treehouse already outside. The kids are amazed. Mary Margaret then tells them that if they love the birds and they love them back, the birds will always find them. The school bell rings, and the kids start getting up to leave. Mary Margaret says they'll pick this up after recess, and urges them not to run (see "Pilot"). As the kids leave, Regina makes her way into the classroom, walking past them, and up to the teacher, who is surprised to see her and asks what she's doing there. The Mayor asks her to refresh her memory by telling her how long she's been working there. Mary Margaret gives this some thought and the best she can come up with is that she's been there for as long as she can remember. Regina shows off a hint of a smile and asks Miss Blanchard to come with her. Some time later, Regina and Mary Margaret are seen in the local hospital. Mary Margaret asks why they're there, and Regina stops in front of a room where a comatose patient lies in his peaceful sleep. Regina asks the teacher if she knows this man - formerly the man known as Prince Charming - and Miss Blanchard looks at him with confusion, and ultimately answers that she doesn't, and asks who he is. Regina answers that he's a "John Doe", a coma patient claimed by no one. Ever the hopeful one, Mary Margaret tells her that maybe someday he'll wake up, maybe someone who loves him will find him. "That would be nice for him...", Regina says, "But I wouldn't count on it."

Over at Granny's Diner, someone sitting at the counter is reading the local newspaper, the Storybrooke Daily Mirror, and the front page tells us that Reagan said the marines will stay in Beirut. Granny brings a platter of apple pancakes to Mayor Mills, who is sitting in her usual spot, and looks at them with gusto. She then hears someone saying, "Good morning, Mayor", and turns to find Sheriff Graham (formerly the Huntsman) next to her. Actually seeing him for the first time since she inflicted the curse, Regina is delighted, and tells him that his uniform suits him nicely. Regina doesn't notice the two people that come into the diner as Graham asks her if she'd like him to come over to her place later that day. Before she can reply, she is distracted by young Owen Flynn, who asks her if she likes apple pancakes too. Regina looks at him with surprise and confusion, and asks who he is. Owen doesn't reply, and Regina asks out loud whose child this in, getting the attention of everyone in the bar, including Kurt. She turns to Marco, who's sitting at a table, and asks if the kid is his, to which the elderly carpenter replies negatively, adding that he was never so lucky. Kurt makes himself appear before the Mayor and answers that the young man is his, and tells her that Owen's manners are a little rough around the edges. He offers his hand to shake and introduces himself. Regina shakes his hand with little to no enthusiasm, and he apologizes for interrupting her breakfast, but they're looking to rent a hotel room for the night. Regina asks why they would need one, to which Kurt replies, "The same reason that most people need one." Regina smiles with feigned courtesy as he tells her that they need a place to sleep. Regina asks to be excused, and she takes Graham with her to the back of the diner, as Granny informs Kurt that she has a room for him. As the Flynns get comfortable by the counter, Regina asks Graham who they are, and the sheriff answers that he doesn't know, for they just showed up; they were camping in the woods near the Toll Bridge. He adds that he was just as surprised to see them as she is. Regina claims that she doesn't like surprises, she finds them threatening. "And do you know what happens when I feel threatened? Bad things." She then walks away from him.

Present Day

We are treated to a descending shot that focuses on the Mills family mausoleum at the local graveyard, and inside we see that Cora, Regina's recently departed mother, has been laid to rest on a coffin with an epitaph reading, "Cora Mills Beloved Mother". A tearful Regina puts a single red rose on top of the coffin and takes her time to mourn the passing of her mother, crying. Mr. Gold walks in, and comments that black always was her color. Regina says, "I'm here to bury my mother. So if you've come to gloat..."; Gold interrupts her, saying that he's merely there to pay his respects. He puts a single red rose on top of the coffin as well, over Regina's, facing the other way, and comments that he and Cora had their differences, but she will always have a place in his heart. Regina looks slightly offended by this, and reminds him that he killed her to save his own life. Gold tells her that desperate times call for desperate measures. "Like getting Mary Margaret to trick me into killing my own mother?", she asks. She then tells him that he may be able to hide behind his dagger, but Mary Margaret can't, and she's going to die for what she did. Gold scoffs at this and moves in closer, reminding her that killing Mary Margaret will cost her the one thing she wants most: Henry. He asks her why she doesn't just give up this obsession with vengeance; "You know it can never make you happy." Regina insists that it will, and he reminds her that she had a whole curse worth of vengeance, and all it did was get her a gaping hole in her heart. Regina reminds him that that was his curse, and he responds that she cast it, and yet she still hasn't learnt her lesson. She asks what lesson, and he says the same one her mother learned a long time ago: "You can't have everything." He recounts that Cora wanted power, ripped out her own heart to get it; if Regina wants vengeance, Henry is the price she'll pay. He tells her it's time to cut her losses, but Regina, not giving up, tells him "Never", frustrating him. "I will have my son," she says, "And I will have my vengeance. I will find a way to have everything." This said, she wipes a tear from her eye and he walks away.

Trivia

 * The title card of this episode features Kurt and Owen's car being hit over the hood by a falling tree.
 * Although credited, Emilie de Ravin (Belle) and Colin O'Donoghue (Captain Hook) are absent from this episode.
 * This episode features the final appearance in the season by regular castmember Meghan Ory (Ruby/Red Riding Hood), due to the actor's commitment to another television project. However, the character isn't officially written off of the series, and Ory retains her "starring" credit for the final five episodes of the season.

Production
The title of this episode was revealed by executive producer/co-creator Adam Horowitz, via his Twitter account, on January 31, 2013.

Gallery
Gallery of photographic stills released to promote the episode.