Once Upon a Time recap: 'A Taste of the Heights' 

Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla

is that “there’s always a price,” but perhaps the rule of thumb should 

Tonight, we are reintroduced to Dr. Facilier a.k.a. Mr. Samdi, and, yes, he’s just as sneaky and loathsome and also weirdly intriguing as he’s ever been. Like Rumple, he’s on a mission to collect owages from those in need, but he’s surprisingly convincing with at least one of our Hyperion Heights natives.

Meanwhile, Sabine/Tiana meets her match, so to speak, in the form of Drew/Prince Naveen. It’s harder to get a read on what he’s after, but with Facilier/Samdi constantly tailing him around town and New Fairy Tale Land, it can’t be good news for our queen-to-be.

The episode begins with a sampling of Henry’s newest passion project: a podcast called “H Town” where he prattles off about how he’s still so suspicious about Victoria’s real estate acquisitions, even after her death. Much to Remy’s chagrin, the rest of the podcast seems entirely devoted to Jacinda, whose affection he’s still desperately hoping to earn.

Meanwhile, now that the food truck is fixed (thanks Henry!), Sabine is free to start cooking up some of her legendary beignets for all the world to enjoy. She’s got a lot riding on this adventure. So, it’s precarious timing indeed when her old cooking school pal Drew shows up with his own cajun-themed food truck whose dishes leave a lot to be desired. He’s completely flattering to her about her food, but when an officer shows up to shut Sabine down over a delayed permit, well, she’s got no one else to blame but her new-old rival here.

Drew swears it wasn’t him who turned her in, and, after a healthy tongue lashing about how he’s the spoiled rich kid who never had to work for anything, he nobly gives her the paperwork she’s missing so she can re-open up shop. Success! Trouble is, although he appears to be helping out his old friend with an ear-to-ear smile about him, as soon as he’s out of eye- and ear-shot, he’s approached by Samdi, who informs him he’s doing a mighty fine job of winning Sabine’s trust on his behalf.

At least Zelena can see through Samdi when he visits the bar offering to front the cash to make this a franchise. She and Regina put on their “Kelly” and “Roni” pseudonyms and then switch ’em up to see if they can tell whether Samdi is still under the magic curse or if he’s fully awake to his true form as Dr. Facilier.

Samdi gives no indication that he’s aware the women are tricking him, but Regina sees through his act like it’s old hat. Because to her it is; she knows him in the carnal sense, and she can tell that he’s fully awake. Now all she needs to know is what does he want from her. He can’t oblige her that just yet, apparently, but what he can do is invite her into his apartment, which she barely hesitates to accept… (Recap continues on Page 2.)