The panel for Once Upon a Time at PaleyFest was all the things you could want from a panel. The weather was beautiful, the celebrities were gorgeous and delightful, and the auditorium was filled with excitement and joviality.

First I just have to say that this was my very FIRST red carpet event EVER, which was both exhilarating and horrifying. At moments it was all I could do to keep words coming out of my mouth intelligibly. But with men as beautiful as Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook) in front of me, can you really blame me? And you know how they say people aren’t as pretty in real life? Not so with this cast. To see such beautiful people living and breathing is unreal.

Everyone who came up to talk to us- which was EVERYONE- was so friendly and enchanting. Personally, Robert Carlyle, as Rumplestiltskin, is my favorite character on television right now (let alone the show), so when he came over to us- which I thought he wouldn’t have time to do- it was all I could do to keep my brain online and not just stare blankly.

Fans and press alike swooned over Colin O’Donoghue. It took a bit of fortitude not to drool on his shoes. And Josh Dallas (Prince Charming) looked more charming in real life, if you can imagine. And I hope Lana Parrilla (The Evil Queen) didn’t think I was a weirdo staring at her, but it’s just hard to reconcile that such a pretty person exists.

It was cool that I got to see the latest episode before anyone else, but even cooler to see the sneak peak for next week’s episode. If you want to just skip straight to the spoilery part, click here. Otherwise, let’s talk about the panel.

The cast of the show related to each other as their characters. It was fun seeing Lana Parrilla act affronted when something bad was said about the queen and holding up her hands in devil horns to the audience. And seeing Josh Dallas giving a fatherly hug to Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan). What I can say without giving spoilers was that the whimsical Disney bosses aren’t censoring how dark the show can get, so we’ll be seeing our villains do plenty of despicable things. Which, personally, thrills me. Also, we’re going to be seeing more of the fairytale worlds. Which ones or how many, the producers won’t say. What they will say is that this show was always meant to be a show about the most dysfunctional family ever, and they will continue adding corruption and malcontent to the disorder.

Now for the spoilery bits that make me all tingly!

We are getting the back story for Cora in next week’s episode! (March 10th) Basically, Cora is the girl from the Rumplestiltskin story. You know? The one he spins straw into gold for, then makes her promise her first born child to him and won’t break the deal unless she can guess his name. I’m wondering how close they’re going to stay to the original tale. Wouldn’t that be something if Regina had been originally promised to Rumple?

As with all panels, there was the obligatory mums-the-wordery, but a few secrets were revealed. Two reveals from the panel stood out to me: 1) Peter Pan storyline 2) We’re getting an episode with The Huntsman!!!! Did you see the excessive exclamation points? I sincerely mean every one of them from my heart.

Producer Edward Kitsis revealed the titles to the last two episodes of the season which were, “The Second Star to the Right” and “Straight on Till Morning”. If that doesn’t mean we’ll be getting Peter Pan storyline, I don’t know what does. And after watching tonight’s episode, I’m guessing Baelfire (Ya know? Rumple’s son and Emma’s baby-daddy.) is either Peter Pan or a lost boy.

After the panel, most of the audience surged to the stage. It was a little bit frightening to witness so many people move like that, and I’ve been to Comic-Con. But the cast wasn’t frightened and began signing autographs, Robert Carlyle and Lana Parrilla (The Evil Queen) staying the longest. Jane Espenson, a writer and producer for the show, was sitting in the audience and a line formed in the aisle with fans who wanted to meet her. And after signing on stage, Emilie de Ravin (Belle) and Colin O’Donoghue signed for fans in the parking lot.

Make sure to check back here or follow us on twitter so you don’t miss when we post the red carpet interviews over the next few days.