“Tiny” is a very good filler episode of Once Upon a Time. The plot is very thin in the episode. Instead, it focuses mostly on the characters. There’s lots of, well, tiny character vignettes that were very well done. They just didn’t seem to be particularly substantial.
There’s only a very little bit in the Enchanted Forest past. Anton, the giant, is too small to fit into the giant world but finds himself too big to fit into the human world. He is tricked by Prince James and his consort Jacqueline, better known as Jack, the Giant Slayer. It’s nice to get to fill in the pieces of the past, but none of it is particularly new information for the audience.
Elsewhere, Anton has been brought to Storybrooke present with Captain Hook and Cora. He’s stuck at human size and has a grudge against David, James’s twin brother. So, naturally, he’s also gullible enough to believe Regina, eat a magic mushroom like Jack gave him, and nearly destroys the town. But, he shrinks down and falls in a hole, forcing David and the rest of the town to save him. Everything is then pretty easily forgiven and he’s made an honorary dwarf. They set to work reviving the magic beans, making it possible to get back to the Enchanted Forest.
Elsewhere, Emma takes Henry on her trip with Mr. Gold to find his son. They don’t actually get out of the airport during the episode. There’s a few well-done pieces where Emma tries to balance Henry’s excitement with Mr. Gold’s nervousness about flying. Mr. Gold also seems to be losing his powers, though neither Emma nor Henry know.
There’s not that much else to the episode. Ruby visits Belle which ends badly. Belle is also visited by the driver. But none of that actually goes anywhere. That’s not a problem, per se. It just adds to the overall thinness of the plot in general.
“Tiny” just doesn’t feel like there’s much to it. All of the character work is superb. But there’s nothing else to hold it together. Also, with the very little of episode there is, and with Anton being moved to Storybrooke, it makes sense to do a little with Mulan and Aurora since they’re well and truly alone in the Enchanted Forest. Still the episode is good, though perhaps not the best to come back from a break.
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