"The Return" is the 19th episode of the American fairy tale/drama television series Once Upon a Time, which aired in the United States on ABC on April 22, 2012.
Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin's backstory continues to be revealed along with his attempt to transform back into a human and resume living a normal life with his son.
In the Enchanted Forest, Baelfire (Dylan Schmid) plays with his ball until it rolls in front of a cart which knocks him down.
August (Eion Bailey) wakes up with awful pain in his leg so he makes a call and tells the person on the other end that they must accelerate the plan.
The person turns out to be Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) who helps August with a mission at Mr. Gold's (Carlyle) shop.
Henry keeps Mr. Gold busy looking for a gift for Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) while August searches the office in back.
Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) visits Kathryn (Anastasia Griffith) to ask what she remembers after her accident.
Mayor Regina Mills (Lana Parrilla) confronts Mr. Gold about breaking their deal to frame Mary Margaret for Kathryn's murder which is now impossible.
The next day Emma continues her investigation by confronting Sidney (Giancarlo Esposito) with the bug she found in his flowers.
David finally catches up with Mary Margaret and apologizes profusely for doubting her innocence, but she is still hurt deeply by it.
Mr. Gold threatens to kill him and asks August why he is willing to risk such an encounter with him if he is aware of his true identity.
The next morning, Emma arrives at her office and finds Regina prepared to offer a confession from Sidney.
"The Return" was written by consulting producer Jane Espenson, while Lost veteran, Paul Edwards, directed the episode.
"[3] Being "perpetually fascinated" with the character, she explained that he is someone "who has his memories and yet the form of menace that emanates out of him as Mr. Gold is do [sic] different, so contained and snake-y as opposed to the broad, theatrical nature of Rumpelstiltskin."
The best thing this episode does is explicitly discuss fairy tale business in Storybrooke, which instills faith that the two storylines will intersect at some point.
"[9] IGN columnist Amy Ratcliffe graded the episode 7 out of 10, and called Baelfire's quest to rid his father of powers "heartwarming," as she liked "knowing there was a point where Rumplestiltskin could have changed his fate."
Ratcliffe was disappointed with the revelation of August not being Rumpelstiltskin's son, commenting that it "should have delivered a big punch, but it swung and missed."
She was "impressed" with Robert Carlyle's "stellar" performance, and concluded her review by noting the episode was "entertaining, but it's not riveting as often as I hope it will be.
I give points to this episode for some quality scenes and genuine emotion, but that can't carry the plot.