The Price Of Loving Rumpelstiltskin

Once Upon A Time, S02E16

Snow, Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Neal holed up in Gold's pawn shop to protect themselves from the upcoming attack from Cora and Regina.  Rumpelstiltskin told Snow that the only was for them to defeat Cora before she came to steal his powers was to use the black magic candle to kill Cora first.  In the past, Cora and Rumpelstiltskin's first meeting was revealed, as well as Cora's determination to rise to power and get revenge on those who had humiliated her.

It was amazing to me that with so little defense with Rump being indisposed that Cora and Regina weren't able to get Rump much faster.  Of course, that would be no fun for the viewers, so there was enough time for Rump to teach Emma some magical techniques before they were attacked.  I liked seeing Rump have to rely on Emma and him yelling at her when she was using magic in the wrong way (using her head too much).  It would be cool if he continued to teach her some things, even though I don't think her parents would much approve of her learning from the Dark One.

Then again, Snow herself decided to use the candle to save her family, so she shouldn't be able to judge.  I really liked when she told Rump that she should just let him die and then control Cora to make her do the right thing when she got her hidden heart.  That actually would have been the least evil thing for her to do, I guess, but Rump easily played the grandfather card.  How sneaky of him to only care about being Henry's grandfather when it could save his life.  Like he gives a damn about Henry right now.  I love that they have this bond to Rump that prevents them from getting rid of him out of convenience.

Undoubtedly, the best part of Rump edging closing to death while Regina and Cora loomed closer to the shop was when Rump called Belle.  I'm fairly sure it wasn't some kind of act because I doubt he would lie there and talk about his true feelings with an audience if he didn't have a choice about it.  I was starting to get worried that he would end up dying by Cora's hand any moment and got teary-eyed when he was telling Belle all about how wonderful of a person she was but didn't know it yet.  It got even more emotional when Neal was touched by Rump exposing his human side and the two of them embraced each other.  I know that Neal is still far from forgiving him, but I loved seeing the healing process start!  It was then that I felt like I wouldn't be able to keep watching if Rump did indeed meet his end in this episode.

Thankfully, Snow did the "wrong" thing and used the candle over Cora's heart and gave the heart back to Regina.  It did leave a bad taste in my mouth the way Snow had to tell Regina that she could get her mother's love if she put her heart back into her body, knowing that once she did Cora would die.  I never liked Cora, even after hearing her back story, but I felt for Regina when she had about a minute to enjoy her mother's loving gaze before she crumpled down to her death.  It was either her or Rump, and I'll choose her over Rump any day.

I'm worried about Snow, who made it very clear that she was the one who made Cora die by bursting in the room to warn Regina way too late.  I would say that they were sort of even, but it was Cora who killed Snow's mother, not Regina.  So it doesn't feel very much like justice in Regina's position anyway.  I'm just glad that Snow did regret her actions before she had to see Cora dead.  I would have hated her to be happy about Cora's death.  Regina's definitely going to go for her blood, which I'm not looking forward to. Maybe Rump, who's now part of the extended family, might lend a helping hand?  They're always getting flicked away in a second when faced against magic, so it would help to have someone magical on their side (if Emma's not going to be that person).

Cora's back story was certainly intriguing.  I never thought she would be that girl in the Rumpelstiltskin tale that we know.  It all started when Eva, Snow's mother, tripped and embarrassed her in front of several people.  That was a horrible moment for Cora, but to hold onto that grudge for so long that she would hurt every person along the way is insane.  However, you can't ignore that Rumpelstiltskin was mostly to blame for Cora turning into the monster she was.  He was the one that taught her magic and how to remove hearts.  He was a fool, for many reasons, for trusting and falling in love with her.

From that earlier scene when Cora first came to town and Rump and she kissed, it was evident that something had been between them once.  Still, I hoped that Rump was not going to get involved with her when I was watching the story in the past.  Frankly, I thought it was a little gross to see them kissing and such.  Ugh.  It's mainly because you know what kind of person Cora turned out to be.  It doesn't help that if it's not Belle, it seems wrong to me, even though what Cora and Rump had was many, many years before Belle even came into the picture.  I hated the momentary coupling between Cora and Rump even more when Cora easily chose power over her love for him.

Amazingly, Cora seems to be the only one who's ever bested Rump in one of his contracts.  She got him to revise the document to better serve herself and when she told him that she was leaving him, Cora reminded him that she didn't owe him a child or anything else now.  That was impressive.  She had taken out her own heart (instead of that hateful father-in-law of hers) and made sure that she would stick to her decision to keep climbing the ladder without her love for Rump getting in the way.  Wow.  It's amazing that she got away with it, that is until it came full circle when she tried to take Rump's power away.  It seemed kind of appropriate that after double-crossing him in the past and trying to take away his Dark One powers that Cora was the one who ended up dead.  She spent all of her life fighting to be on the top and finally it was her own undoing.  If only she had just lived happily with either Herny, who gave her Regina, or Rump, who would have given her true love.  Her demise would be a sad ending, if I liked Cora better.

It also caught my attention that Cora was once a queen.  I knew that she and Regina were sort of well-to-do in the past, but it never occurred to me that they were former royalty.  I guess eventually all that spinning straw into gold didn't allow the kingdom to thrive forever.  If not, I would wonder why Regina would have to marry that other king to become a queen.  She should have been able to become a queen in her own country.  Now I'm interested to know what went wrong after Cora married Henry.  It's obvious that she kept tabs on Eva so she could find a chance to get back at her, but not so clear what happened in the time between Snow and Regina meeting for the first time.  Her story introduced a lot of new questions for me.

Loved this episode.  There was a lot of suspense around whether we would see Rumpelstiltskin die and whether Snow would cross over to the dark side and kill Cora.  Since the latter happened, I'm concerned about the war between Regina and Snow that's started (or rekindled).  If Regina hated Snow before, she's going to increase that hatred my tenfold now that Snow was the one responsible for Cora's death.  I feel for Regina who never got her mother's love, but I also feel for Snow who won't be able erases that black mark on her conscience.  Hopefully, Snow won't let her guilt and regret make her more susceptible to Regina's attacks.  She can't afford to let her lapse in judgement make her vulnerable.  As for Rumpelstiltskin, it was unnerving to see him with Cora in the past, but I'm glad in the present he showed his love for Belle and it made an impression on Neal.  With Rumpelstiltskin still having a long life ahead of him, I want to see him continue to make progress with his son.  There's nothing more I'd love to see than the two of them repairing their father-son bond.

Giant Problems

Once Upon A Time, S02E13

Charming and Snow went on the look for Kora with Hook's help and accidentally sent a giant loose on the town who wanted revenge on Charming, thinking he was James.  In the past it was revealed why Anton hated James and how he ended up the sole giant left.  Emma, Henry, and Rumpelstiltskin set off for the airport to find his son  With her memory loss, Belle was treated as delusional when she claimed that she saw people using magic.

Of all things that would happen when Charming and Snow enlisted Hook's help to investigate Kora, I never thought they would find the giant that Emma had encountered.  It seemed to be random until it was revealed through his past that he held the last hope of growing another beanstalk again.  I was less surprised that he had been brought to Storybrooke for that purpose (and probably also to kill Charming too) and more surprised that after he was rescued he started to trust people so soon.  I thought it would take him more time to accept the townspeople, but I guess not killing him (as Emma had done) was enough to gain his trust to show them the beanstalk.

The most interesting part of Anton's past was that he was tricked by James and a female Jack.  Jack being a woman and a double-crossing thief was a refreshing alternative to the classic story.  Although I wasn't initially thrilled to see a back story about Anton, there were a lot of things we got to learn about James.  Besides him getting killed, we didn't know much about Charming's brother, but from Anton's story we could see that he was self-absorbed, greedy, and conniving.  I guess you could call him the "evil twin."  In contrast, it made Charming look like so much of a better guy, and made it look like a blessing for the kingdom that he was the ruler and not James.

It was a bit of a surprise to see that Henry was going with Rump and Emma on the son search.  I guess their journey isn't particularly dangerous, but I just think of danger whenever I think of Rump.  It wasn't a bad idea for her to take him along with Kora on the prowl with her daughter working as a secret agent.  Speaking of that, it was such a bad act that Regina put on when she spoke to Charming and Snow.  You would think after that intense showdown at her house some episodes back that when she was forgiven for her crimes that she would express more surprise or gratitude.  If I hadn't already known that she knew that Kora was responsible, I would have thought so with the way she acted to the "news."  Charming and Snow didn't think much about it and seemed most worried that she was upset that Henry was taken without her consent.  I'm sort of worried about that too because without Henry in town to plead her to stop acting crazy, she's surely going to terrorize the town again.  After all, she did mention that she needed Anton to be a distraction while she and her mother did something.  It's gotta be trouble.

Anyway, back to Rump and company.  My favorite part was watching them go through airport security.  Henry was pestering him with all these questions and Rump was acting so nervous and a little like his old self before he became the "Dark One."  I loved seeing him out in the real world and having to deal with regular people tasks like adbiding by security rules.  This man is used to throwing fireballs at problems, but if he tried some of that crap in a place like Logan Airport, he would surely get detained as a terrorist.  He had me a little worried, though, when he had to take off his shawl (God, I hate American airports) for inspection.  Rump looked like he was going to fall down without that magic item.  Good thing Emma was there for him and the magic didn't wear off.

I never considered that perhaps crossing the line wouldn't just erase your memory if you didn't have a talisman, but it might also remove your magic qualities.  It seems to be this way because Rump couldn't heal his hand after he banged it thoroughly on the toilet seat cover dispenser.  I don't think he'll have much use for his magic outside of Storybrooke, but I can see that it's shaking his confidence.  His powers have always been his crutch, caging his fears of being his old weak self again, I guess.  Perhaps on this journey to find his son as a normal man again he can see that he doesn't need to be a big, scary force to survive.  Also, I think his son will appreciate seeing him magic-less when they reunite.  Seeing his dad still acting like a monster after all this time surely wouldn't help them reconcile any better.

Oh, I was also amused by the fact that Charming requested, not threatened, Rump look after his family during their search.  I like that Charming did this despite Rump had come into their house, threatening their whole family for no damn reason.  Although Rump was never kind and pleasant to begin with, it makes him look like a bigger jerk for not just asking them politely to look after Belle.  I think even Rump felt a bit ashamed for demanding their help when Charming did the opposite.

It's pretty messed up that Belle is being sedated most of the time because of what she saw during her accident.  I realize that they can't afford to have her talking to strangers about magic when she doesn't remember who she is, but it feels a lot like what her life was like when Regina had her captive in that secret facility.  Worse than that, Craig heard her ramblings and looks like he's going to work with her.  Damn!  That's going to be bad for Belle and the town.  I'm pretty worried what's going to become of Belle.  If she gets into some trouble and Charming and Snow aren't there to keep her in one piece, they are going to end up missing one daughter and grandson.

Finally, on another note about Charming and Snow, it's pretty evident that Snow isn't excited about Anton's beanstalks or any method of getting them home.  She brought up a really good argument that home is where their family is, and if they did return home, it wasn't guaranteed that Emma and Henry would go with them (though I'm sure Henry would be dying to go).  Charming tried to debunk that idea by saying that Emma would be fine on her own.  Um, I'm pretty sure if they returned to that other world they would never be able to see her again.  Would that be okay with Charming?  I don't think Snow is down with that.  Geez, for not having spent much time in his daughter's life, Charming is sure complacent to not spend anymore time. 

This episode was good, but I'm really impatient to see more of Rump handling himself outside of Storybrooke.  I feel like the trio of him, Emma, and Henry are going to be great together.  I'm also curious to see if Rump is able to change for the better without hiding under his security blanket of magic.  I don't know what Kora and Regina are up to, but I find that I'm not too concerned with that as I was before.  My focus is more on what Rump and the others are up to.  However, depending on what next week's story is about, I might get invested again.  This will certainly be true if it turns out that Belle and Craig start working together to "uncover" the magic in Storybrooke.  That would draw my attention as much as the search for Bae.

Rump Saves Belle, But Wants Death For Others

Once Upon A Time, S02E12

Emma and the others tried to save the life of a mysterious newcomer to town, even though they were worried that he might have discovered Storybrooke's secret.  Dr. Whale deserted his duties at the hospital, still haunted by his past where he tried to bring his brother back to life.  Rumpelstiltskin tried to jumpstart Belle's memories in vain and received a gift from Cora to help him locate his son.  Cora found Regina and convinced her that her only goal was to repair their broken bound as mother and daughter.

I was pretty distracted by Hook getting run over and Belle getting shot and losing her memories to think too much about what problems a stranger could bring to their town until Rump very expertly laid it down to the group of Emma, her parents, Red, and Grumpy.  He not only let them know that this guy Greg could have seen him tossing fire around, but suggested they let him die.  I liked that they didn't immediately reject Rump's idea, as cruel as it might have seen.  I mean, the guy did run over a person, so it's not like Greg was completely innocent.  Although, not so guilty that he deserved to be killed by them.

Rump had instantly healed Belle, of course, but when Whale asked him to do the same for Hook who was suffering from internal bleeding, Rump did not give one damn.  I mean, why would he?  He kicked Hook's ass and was ready to choke him if Emma and Charming hadn't stopped him.  Still, it was funny that Whale thought Rump would be decent enough to save his enemy's life.  Um, did he just meet Rump yesterday or something?

Belle, with no memory, might as well have just met Rump because she has no emotional attachment  to him now.  It was sweet that he had kissed her while she was sleeping (perhaps in an attempt to cure her with true love?), but despite that I'm sad that Belle and Rump's romance has been put on hold, when she woke up from the kiss and screamed, I had to laugh.  He seemed like such a pervert!  Since I know it's not true, it was funnier than I expected.  Plus, he just hurried out of the room like he had done something really wrong.  Poor Rump.

The situation hit a sadness peak when Rump came back with the chipped cup that Belle had held dear.  I thought maybe he was onto something there, but Belle fought back against him so hard as if he was trying to inject her with poison or something.  You can't blame her when he's talking about him living in a castle and magic when none of those things make sense to her.  At that point, I knew that Rump was going to fail, but I didn't think Belle would throw the cup and shatter it!  Oh, no!  I felt like a piece of their relationship had been shattered.  It was pretty awful to see those shards on the floor and watch Rump leave defeated.  Thank God, I guess, that he's leaving town so he doesn't have to go through the torture of reminding Belle of a past that has been erased from her mind.

When Rump did decide to leave town, I thought it was going to be on pretty good terms.  Like him just packing his bags and disappearing before he killed himself over Belle or killed Hook for revenge.  Strange enough (or perhaps not so strange since she's not a prisoner to Storybrooke), he decided to not go alone and take Emma.  What?  Emma does specialize in finding people (family trait, I suppose), but why her?  Even if he had a favor to cash in, it seems sort of a waste to bring Emma when he has that globe from Cora to tell him Bae's location.  I mean, it seemed like before Belle got shot, he was going to leave on his own in the first place.  Maybe I misread what he was doing and he was only testing his talisman at that time.  I dunno.  But if taking Emma wasn't bad enough Rump also announced that he was going to kill the whole Charming family if Belle was hurt in his absence--damn!  To me, that came out of nowhere.  Since when did he need to threaten their family like they had done something to him (it should be the other way around)?  Maybe that was his way of asking them to watch over her for him, but it just looked like he was just so angry at them.  I'm actually pretty frightened for them all (although his threat did make me laugh).

We finally got to see Regina and thankfully she hadn't fallen into her mother's hands.  Or so I had thought.  Cora didn't have to do very much before she had Regina crying on her shoulder and taking her advice about how to get Henry back.  Regina, you freaking idiot!  Your mother doesn't even know what the word "sincere" means!  I was a little proud that Regina was just going to take her mother and make her explain how Regina was innocent, but then Cora used her feelings for Henry to make her into her puppet again.  Damnit!  Not looking forward to the "ideas" that Cora had mentioned. Regina's going to end up losing Henry for good with that old hag's help.

There's not much I wanted to say about Whale's past.  I really couldn't care less with all the other more dire things going on.  Who has time to worry about Frankenstein lamenting about turning his brother into a monster?  The only thing that was interesting was him meeting Rump.  Not really sure why Rump wanted to learn Whale's technique for rising the dead.  Maybe it was all just a ruse to get Whale to meet Regina and for Regina to see that reviving Daniel wasn't going to happen.  Not sure.  But anyway, I couldn't enjoy the look into the past when I was so worried about what was happening in the present.

In the end, it looks like everyone should have listened to Rump (as pretty much always) because Greg had indeed seen Rump's magic.  I really wonder what the consequences of that will be?  I mean, who the hell would believe what Greg had seen without proof?  I can't imagine what he saw being enough to convince anyone else.  Unless, as Henry had suggested, there are other people from other worlds in the Storybrooke world that they just don't know about and Greg is from one of them.  Who knows--the possibility is just endless.

This episode was a lot less sadder than I anticipated.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to watch Rump interact with Belle who has no memory of him or herself.  Their love problems were less pronounced by Emma's group trying to decide to kill or save Greg.  Unfortunately, they probably would have been better off killing him now that he knows what Rump can do.  There was also little time to worry about Belle when Regina was falling into her mother's hand again with hardly enough resistance.  I think when you consider Emma's going on a road trip with Rump and Regina's succumbing to her mother's ploy, Belle's memory lost doesn't seem so terrible.

You Don't Need Magic--You Just Need A Cane

Once Upon A Time, S02E11

Rumpelstiltskin had finally found a way to cross the line without losing his memories, but his plan to start searching for his son was stopped when Hook finally made a move on Belle.  After securing her safety, he found that the shawl he needed to cross the town line was stolen by Hook, and Belle went to retrieve it for him, despite Rumpelstiltskin asked her to stay out of it.  In the past, Belle joined a group of men to find a beast, but found herself doing the adventure alone until she finally teamed up with Mulan.

I was thrilled that this episode started off with Rump dragging Smee out to the town line and him slightly roughing him up with his cane as he tested out his potion.  I mean, it was great to see that he had found a way around that curse-lifting side effect, but I just loved seeing him smack around someone who may or may not deserved it.  I was actually hoping he had brought Smee out there to attack him for something he had done to upset him, but it turned out to be less about intimidation and more about discovery.  Boo.

Things started to pick up when Hook decided to show up at Belle's library and try to grab her.  I was so excited that he was finally making a move and that Belle might tell Rump about Hook before Hook could get the jump on Rump.  It actually started to look like some kind of horror movie when Belle was hiding in that elevator and Hook kept banging on the doors.  With Belle's phone not working and Rump being unable to get the message that Hook was after her, I was scared that when the doors did open it was going to be Hook.  Thank goodness it was Rump and she was safe.

I thought it was crazy that Rump gave Belle a gun and told her to hide in the library (because Hook couldn't possibly get her there again) until I realized that Belle is no coward and doesn't seem to shy away from danger.  I was sort of terrified when she found Hook's ship (which was impressive, but seemed rash on her own) and just walked on in as if there couldn't possibly be someone waiting on board to kidnap her ass.  It was commendable that she managed to save Archie, let Archie get away so that he could get Rump to come help her, and temporarily escaped from Hook with the stolen shawl in hand.  Wow.  Just when I thought Belle was just big-hearted girl with a pretty face, she showed that she is just as badass as the rest of the women on the show.

My favorite part was when Belle looked like she was way over her head with Hook and Rump showed up to save the day.  I was expecting more of a real fight between them, but it was pretty one-sided.  Still, watching Rump beat the hell out of Hook with his cane was so amazing.  I mean, it was horrible that Hook couldn't even return a blow, but I was laughing so hard at Rump letting out all of his fury upon Hook without using any magic.  That was what was so cool about it.  Rump could destroy Hook in a second, but he chose to fight him like a person and beat him with just his cane.  After a while, though, I was glad that Belle stepped in to stop it.  I wasn't ready to see Hook die just yet.  I mean, I at least wanted to see a more dramatic fight between the two of them first.

Belle's commitment to Rump is so endearing.  He straight up lied about killing his ex-wife and why Hook wants to get revenge on him so bad, and she still stood by his side.  I think any other woman would have jumped off that ship, especially when he was beating a man nearly to death and five seconds away from ripping his heart out of his chest.  I was really worried that the ugly side that Hook brought out in the usually calm and collected Rump would send Belle away, but she really showed that she's in this for the long run.  And you gotta love that sweet moment when she put the shawl around him and they held each other on opposite sides of the line.  It would have been even better if they had gotten that kiss, but alas Hook had just begun with his revenge.

I can't even begin to wonder who busted into town and took out Hook before Rump could turn him into ash because Belle not only got shot, but lost her memory as well!  No!  I figured that Hook wouldn't be swayed by Rump's threats or faux mercy, but I never would have imagined him shooting Belle in the back!  That was a good twist, even if it was sort of heartbreaking.  I wonder what Rump is going to do next?  Is he just gonna leave Belle there and hope he can get her memory back later or will he stay in Storybrooke and try to use some new magic to fix her (even though he said it couldn't be undone).

In the past, I was sort of confused why Belle would randomly go beast hunting, but I suppose she's always had a thirst for adventure and never thought to quench it until Dreamy encouraged her.  I liked that she was able to read like Chinese and find the Yoaguai on her own.  I didn't care too much for Mulan popping up and being as about as friendly as a rattlesnake poked with a hot stick.  She redeemed herself by acknowledging how smart Belle was to find the beast faster than anyone else, but I was still annoyed that she is always so abrasive with new people.  In the end, I loved that Belle managed to subdue the beast and find out that it wasn't really attacking people but was Prince Phillip just cursed.  It established Belle better as a character and explained how Phillip and Mulan met.  Check check.

With Regina not even being in the story really, I was happy to see her at the end of Belle's past story even if she was just throwing Belle into a cage.  I sort of missed her and yet I forgot about her because I was too busy delighting in seeing Rump get to use his cane as an ass-kicking tool so much.  I am really curious as to where she is and if she's bumped into her evil mother yet.  With Archie being alive and Emma knowing that Regina is innocent, I wonder if it's too late to apologize to her and pull her away from the dark side.

Lastly, it was interesting to see Snow and Charming discuss getting a home for themselves.  I liked how she was ready to settle down and be with her family, while the non-stop hero Charming wanted to go back home like the others and fight.  I have to side with Snow that they have been fighting for a damn long time.  It's about time that they freaking stopped and grabbed onto some freaking happiness and peace.  I mean, it sucks for those left back home like Mulan and Aurora, but it's not like Snow and the others were brought to the non-magic world by choice.  I do see where Charming's coming from, but I think he's a little addicted to fighting and saving people.  As for the other townspeople, they might just be homesick and worried about the rest of the world finding out about their magical and abnormal lives.  If Charming was arguing that angle, I might feel like siding with him.  I'm not sure that either of them, especially because they're stubborn, will come to agreement about that soon.  That's a bit of a shame because I'd love to see what their house might look like.

Fantastic episode.  There was finally some fighting going on between Hook and Rump, but it wasn't as intense as I was hoping, but with Rump dishing out so many cane lashings, I couldn't complain too much about that.  Rump had me worried that he was going to lose Belle with all the violence and deceit, but Belle proved that her love for him runs deep and her faith for him is unshakable.  However, that doesn't matter too much now that Hook has made her fall across the line of memory loss and she doesn't even know who Rump is anymore.  It's frustrating now that they've gotten so close again, but it does add some good drama to the mix.  There's also some good tension brewing between Snow and Charming concerning whether they should stay or go.  I can't tell who's going to give in that argument.  More than their issues, I have to know what's going on with Regina.  Cora was absent in this episode as was Regina (at least in Storybrooke).  It seems like a pretty bad sign that next time we see the Queen, she might be a lot like her old self and beyond returning to her new and improved self.

More Enemies Than You Can Shake A Hook At

Once Upon A Time, S02E04

Rumpelstiltskin went looking for Belle after she disappeared from his home.  Belle found her father after being "kidnapped."  Rumpelstiltskin's past was also revealed, concerning the fate of his ex-wife.

At first, I had no idea why they were showing us Rump's past because I hadn't really thought about his wife at all.  But it was incredibly interesting to see him as his former self, which was a man who was too cowardly to even fight (even though his opponent was a pirate captain) for his wife.  It all tied into his current self, who despite having so much power, was still too cowardly to be open with Belle to have a significant relationship with her.  They do a nice job of tying things together, for the most part, so I don't have to feel like they are throwing in extra stories for the sake of a story.

I was definitely very interested in Rump's past story when I found out that he had lost his wife not to some illness or something, but to an attractive and thrilling pirate his wife happened to meet.  And of course, when Rump met Hook again as "The Dark One" it was so good!  I mean, it was really unfair that he was fighting Hook with all that magic he had at his command, but I just loved him getting back at both Hook and his wife who didn't have the decency to tell him that she was leaving him for another man.  Even still, I never thought he would rip out her heart.  That was pretty badass.  Then he also chopped off Hook's hand, which was expected.  Even though I was rooting for Rump in this episode, it was poetic justic that the hand he had sliced off didn't contain the magic bean he had sought.  Can't win them all.

It's also interesting that Hook has teamed up with Regina's mother.  Wow.  Never saw that coming.  So not only will Storybrooke have to deal with that bitch, but they will also have Hook running about.  That's going to make things really heat up and possibly get Rump and Regina to stop playing the roles of the local villains.

Another thing that tickled me during this episode was when it was just so evident that Rump has a long list of enemies that goes way beyond Hook and those we've seen.  I just loved when Charming was helping Rump out and pointed out that few townspeople wanted to help him because he's made all of their lives unpleasant at one point or the other.  In particular, there was a butcher who was pissed at him because he had turned his father into a pig.  But Rump being Rump, he didn't have the slightest memory of him.  I doubt he'll be like that when he meets up with Hook again.  I don't know what tricks Hook might have learned in Neverland, but hopefully he has some kind of power that can give Rump a run for his money.

Speaking of Neverland, I am confused as to why Smee is in Storybrooke, but Hook is not.  How did that come about?  And I'm also weary of them bringing up Neverland, in fear that Peter Pan might pop up one day.  Ugh.  I'm tolerating Hook because they've worked him into the story so well, but I'm not going to be so keen if that little boy in tights shows up.  Haha.

Anyway, I'm a little happy that Rump was able to share his past a little bit with Belle and she seems willing to give his evil ass another chance.  He doesn't really deserve pity, but he did stop her from being mind wiped and gave her a place to work (and possibly live outside of his walls).  They are a weird couple, but most of the time I want to see them together because it's a rare chance to see Rump in a softer light.

Loved this episode.  It could be my favorite yet.  I'm definitely looking forward to just watching this episode again as much as I am to know what might develop next.  All I have to say is that I was so engaged in this story that I didn't give a damn that we didn't get to see Emma and Snow at all.  But they better get back to that story next time because I'm curious to know what their backup plan is to get home.

The Wraith

Once Upon A Time, S02E01

Although Emma, Snow, and Charming took a small group of friends to stop the rest of the town from killing Queen Regina, Rumpelstiltskin marked the Queen as a target for a wraith.  Emma and the others tried to honor Henry's wishes to keep her alive.  In the other world, Prince Phillip woke up Princess Aurora, but he was marked by a wraith and had to keep it from harming his princess and her friend Mulan.

It was nice to see everyone embracing each other after a whole season of being in the dark about their identities, but it didn't last for long because the town soon stormed Regina's "castle."  As much as Mayor Bitch was annoying, I wasn't ready to see her go for some reason, so I was glad that Henry respected her right to life.  I didn't think the town mob would be so easily swayed by Charming and Snow, but I guess that those people are used to listening to them (as if they were the supreme rulers of the other world).  My favorite part of that scene was when Regina coolly opened her door as if it were another day and asked "Can I help you?"  That, plus the time when she made a motion to subdue them with her failing magic, was pretty funny.

Rump was pretty funny, too, in this episode, getting to both confront the Queen about locking away Belle for all those years and setting off a wraith upon her despite telling Belle that he wouldn't kill her.  It's just funny that he explained that he hadn't lied to her because technically if the Queen died, the wraith would have done it, not him.  He's so bad.  But the best scene he had was when Emma and her parents came to complain about double-crossing them and question what the purple haze was.  I just loved when Emma, still angry that Rump had put Henry in danger threatened Rump:

Maybe I don't need answers.  Maybe I just need to punch you in the face.

That was quite a good line from Emma.  Of course, Rump tried to play himself off as a hero since he still made everything happen that she wanted:  Henry was saved, the curse was broken, and her parents were found.  Points for Rump for being able to spin the truth like that.  He is a master.  No surprise, though, that Belle heard his conversation and couldn't take him acting like the scum of the earth.  He was lucky that she came back in the end to save him from becoming a full-blown monster again (not sure if Rump can really change his ways).

In the other world, we were introduced to Prince Phillip, Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Mulan.  Mulan threw me for a loop because that was the last person I'd expect to pop up.  She just seemed so random, but whatever.  I couldn't understand why we were watching their story, nor why a wraith suddenly popped up to attack them until practically the end.  Apparently some parts of the magic world hadn't been destroyed by the curse and were frozen in time until Emma had broken it.  I don't care much for the death of Phillip (as his role was short-lived), but I wonder what Mulan and Aurora will do with Snow and Emma.  That part left me quite interested for the next episode.

I'm concerned about what Regina will do with her powers back--she already tried to kill Charming.  The thing I most wonder about is who was the man at the beginning of the episode.  I thought he was Phillip, but that can't be.  I just hope he's not someone stupid.

I waited for this premiere and I wasn't much disappointed!  Things are moving a little slower than I'd like, but I think they are off to a good start.  It'll be interesting to see Emma adapt to a magic world, and it'll be interesting to see how Charming and Henry get along together.  With Regina's magic back and Rump with his own, which of them will cause the most trouble in town while Emma and Snow are gone?  Can't wait for next week!

The Mastermind, Mr. Gold

Once Upon A Time, S01E22

Emma finally believed in magic once Henry was in a coma after eating the poisoned turnover.  She confronted the Queen about her actions and asked her to fix the situation, but Regina couldn't do anything without magic.  The two went to Mr. Gold for help, who gave Emma a sword and told her where to find the last bit of magic snuck into the Storybrooke world.  The magic was in an egg, which was hidden in the belly of a dragon held in secret underground  location by the Queen.  Emma managed to reduce the beast to ash and get the egg, but Mr. Gold tricked her into handing the egg over to him.  Emma and the Queen didn't have the time to take it back from him because the hospital called with news about Henry.  When it looked like Henry was dead, Emma gave him a kiss that cured him and removed the curse.  All around town, everyone remembered their original lives.  However, Gold used the last bit of magic in a well that can bring back lost things.  We also saw the story of how Charming saved Snow from her own poison apple and how they were engaged.

As much as I wanted Emma to believe in Henry, I was just a little disappointed in the way that she realized that the stories were true and who the Mayor really was.  It just seemed so simple that she would hold the fairy tale book once again and only at that moment would the truth be revealed to her.  Then again, August did say that Emma was only seeing what she wanted to see, so I guess if she had even the faintest desire to want to see past the illusion of the curse, that was when she would come to her "senses."  I got over this disappointment when Emma took the Mayor into a closet and was throwing her around.  It was funny and it was nice to see that after all the crap that the Mayor had pulled.  Most of all, it was nice to see the Mayor defeated by her own game and Emma the one calling the shots.  Of course, since Emma is new to the game, she had no idea what to do to help Henry (since the Queen was useless then), but I knew that Mr. Gold would be able to help.

You gotta love how Gold was putting the Queen in the corner when Emma went to him for help.  He basically told her to shut up and let Emma handle everything.  Made me laugh.  Gold wasn't surprised that Emma had realized the curse was real and already had her father's sword prepared for her to take.  This man really was just sitting around until things just fell into place for him.  It doesn't surprise me at all that he managed to hoard some magic into their current world, but it did surprise me that it was in a dragon that existed in both worlds.

The scene where Charming puts the egg into the dragon and Emma is trying to retrieve it were so similar that I got irritated that they kept switching back and forth.  I like when the stories from both worlds blend, but this was too much.  What was good about those scenes was seeing Kristin Bauer as Maleficent again.  She doesn't have much of a role on this show, but I think she plays a witch quite well.  It's too bad she had to be a dragon in both worlds.  How is it that she remained a beast in the other world as well?  I suppose that everyone was reborn in the way that the Queen saw fit and that was how she chose to keep her.  Still, Gold must have really been scheming well to know that the Queen would bring her to Storybrooke in that form so that he would have a way to get his egg back.

Unlike her father, Emma was not an impressive dragon slayer (not that he was there to kill it).  She thought it would be a better idea to shoot at the dragon before she used the sword that Gold (someone who freaking knows how the magic world works) gave her to use.  But I'll give Emma a break because it's not common knowledge on how one should defeat a dragon.  I wasn't too impressed that one random throw of the sword landed in the dragon's belly and destroyed it.  Emma basically ran around for a little bit and threw the sword one time and won.  I wanted her to work a little more for it.  It was supposed to be the cure for Henry's condition anyway.

I loved that Mr. Gold so easily stole the egg from Emma and had the Queen tied up.  Everything he does is so simple, yet it is very smart.  I mean, he didn't have to hide the egg himself in the magic world, nor did he have to do the work to get it back in the other world.  The Queen was a fool not to buddy up with Gold better; he's the one with the smarts to make everything move according to his own wishes.

Since a kiss worked on Snow before, it was not too surprising that Henry came back to life from Emma's kiss.  I expected more of a big reaction from the townspeople as they regained their memories and less of Regina's easy retreat back to her empty mansion.  I would have at least loved to see someone throw some old fruit at her for all the crap she's done!  But the biggest fireworks from the curse being lifted were Snow and Charming embracing each other in the middle of the street.  I wish that it moved me as much as it should.  I was still unable to forget about Charming as David, the weasel.  But I'm sure that Snow has no intentions of ever holding that against him.  At least "David" as we know it is gone.  I will miss, MM, though.

I think I was more moved by Belle finding Gold and their reunion.  It was even sweeter when Belle realized who she was and they both said that they loved each other.  Of course, that moment was diminished by the fact that Rump seemed to be bringing back magic to their world for nefarious reasons.  There was something very sinister about that purple smoke rolling over the town.  It looked more like a new curse than Rump simply bringing back magic to their lives.  However, it must have been just that because the Queen looked upon the fog with satisfaction.  Nothing good can come out of her having her powers back.

I wonder what will happen to Jefferson after he arranged for Belle to escape and sent word to Gold that the Queen was behind her being locked up (and seeming to be dead)?  The curse has been lifted, so he should go back to being with his daughter, but surely the Queen won't let him get away.  He also seemed to have something to do with Henry taking a turn for the worst before Emma saved him.  I hate that he needed to get at Henry to punish the Queen, but he is a little obligated after the way she used him as she did.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I expected a little more emotion when Charming awoke Snow from her kiss.  Snow woke up so casually, and Charming just as casually responded to her being alive again.  Neither of them knew that would happen!  Why weren't they more shocked??  And Charming should have shown a little more joy and appreciation, rather than be almost cocky about curing her curse.  Maybe it was just me, but I was bothered by that scene.

I wish that the season finale was twice as long because they were just starting to get into some new drama!  We knew that Henry would be saved, but it took nearly the whole episode to see him cured.  I wanted to know more about Rump's ultimate plan and what he has in store now that the curse is lifted.  He has Belle back at his side, but he surely doesn't look like a man who is going to kick back and enjoy his happily ever after.  There was little shown of everyone's reactions to their memories being returned, and I desperately wanted to see what they thought about how they had conducted their lives for the last 28 years.  And of course, I wanted to see the Queen pay more for her crimes beyond losing Henry.  I simply can't wait to see what Gold has up his sleeve and what the Queen will do to try to regain her position on top.  It was a good finale, but they left me wanting for a lot more!