In this episode, Emma Swan, her parents, and Neal try to find a missing Regina, while flashbacks show Baelfire's past with the Darling family.
In the morning Wendy returns and tells them that although Neverland is wondrous, the children cry for their parents at night and the shadow prevents them from leaving.
As David places the tear in Mary Margaret's eye, she begins to feel Regina's pain and smell the scent of sardines, leading Emma and Neal to the Storybrooke cannery.
As the Charming family returns home, Emma is given comfort by David over losing Neal, while Regina, whose powers are restored by the Blue Fairy, learns that Mary Margaret saved her.
Tamara then tells Greg at the burial site of his father that the Home Office has given them orders to use the diamond to destroy the town immediately.
"Second Star to the Right" was co-written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian Goldberg, while Ralph Hemecker served as the episode's director.
The title refers to the directions Peter gives to Neverland when Wendy asks his address, which in the film are "Second star to the right and straight on till morning."
The clock on London's Big Ben in this episode is set at 8:15, marking another Lost recurring theme that has run throughout the series since the pilot.
During the commercial break, series star Lana Parrilla spoofed her character Regina Mills/the Evil Queen in a promotion for the Magic Kingdom Park in which she vowed to "take over" the area of New Fantasyland.
Hilary Busis from Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a positive review, noting how the producers put a new twist on the Peter Pan tale, "I dig how Kitsis and Horowitz are twisting this particular story, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it continues to play out in the finale (and season 3) – especially since we haven't even met Peter himself yet.