['Once Upon a Time' - 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter']

A kiss can be a very powerful thing in the world of 'Once Upon a Time' -- we've seen kisses bestow memories, save lives and this week (however inadvertently), even end them.

We were warned that death would strike during the midseason finale, but I was curious to see how someone might get away with murder in Storybrooke while presumably being able to avoid punishment.

This week's episode gave us a suitably fantastical answer to that quandary, utilizing the magic of fairytale land without needing to implicate anyone in the crime.

['Once Upon a Time' - 'The Shepherd']

Well, no-one said that it was going to be easy. The course of true love never did run smooth, as Shakespeare wisely wrote, and for those of us hoping that Snow White and Prince Charming might find their happily ever after six episodes into the show's first season, this week's installment of 'Once Upon a Time' certainly had its share of emotional ups and downs.

We were treated to a little of Snow and Charming's backstory in episode three, but 'The Shepherd,' written by genre mainstays Andrew Chambliss ('The Vampire Diaries,' 'Dollhouse' and 'Heroes') and Ian Goldberg ('FlashForward' and 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles') proved to be a perfect companion piece to 'Snow Falls,' bringing us right up to the events of that episode while also providing some surprising revelations about "Prince James."