'Once Upon A Time' season 5 spoilers, cast rumors: Neal Cassidy returns
With all the main characters heading out to the Underworld to rescue Hook from death at the end of the mid-season finale of "Once Upon A Time" season 5, Emma Swan might just see more than she expected to see, like her first love Neal Cassidy.
Actor Michael Raymond-James, who portrays Neal aka Baelfire, is confirmed to return. The extent of exposure of Neal is unknown, however, as it is carefully enveloped in extreme secrecy. From a TVLine report, the taping for Raymond-James' scenes were very much guarded. The scenes were shot indoors and the producers even tried to keep the actor's arrival in Vancouver a secret.
According to the report, the creators of "Once Upon A Time" travelled with Raymond-James with a group and he went incognito, and instead of staying in a hotel as usual, the star reportedly bunked with his friends outside of Vancouver. The only clue was a few deleted Instagram posts by Raymond-James' co-casts.
Neal might play a small part and just be one of the souls the characters meet as they descend into the Underworld. The production team, however, might play on the many angles of the character for conflict -- as Emma's first love and the father of her child or as Rumple's son or both.
Baelfire will return along with Cora (Regina's mom) and Peter Pan, and with new characters such as Hades set to be introduced, the comeback of "OUAT" has never been more exciting.
In other related news, the ABC fantasy series held a 100th episode celebration on Feb. 20 by having a VIP screening of season 5's new episode. TVLine shared a spoiler-free bulleted review, and said that it is somewhat centered on Regina, and Hades will also be revealed.
"Once Upon A Time" season 5 will return on air on March 6 with the episode titled "Souls of the Departed."