OUAT: Something Bad

This episode opens with Prince Charming staring at what was supposed to be Emma’s nursery. But he notices it actually looks, you know, lived in. He says that it’s wrong. Emma says he’s right…but then says that it’s wrong that a princess of her age is still in her nursery. Charming spins around to see Emma in a pretty pretty princess dress and I must say Jennifer Morrison looks amazing. She asks her father to teach her to dance for the ball. He agrees and they start spinning around the nursery. Charming says she’s a natural, like her mother.

(Father-Daughter dance)

But then a vortex opens and starts sucking everything into it. Including Emma. She talks about Charming having to let her go and not being there for her blah blah blah.

It’s all a dream! Charming wakes up in bed as sunlight shines through a wedding. Snow is already up and she tells her husband that she’s pregnant. And already showing so she’s been waiting a while to tell him, I gather. Charming is happy but still looks nervous.

In Storybrooke, Zelena visits Rumplestilskin. He’s mad. Like in crazy, not like in anger. He talks about the voices in his head. This could be interesting. Zelena offers to shave him, using the Dark One’s dagger. So is she also Sweeney Todd? Anyway, she talks about her drunk father and how she would have to shave him because his hands shook too much from the drink. She shaves Rumple but nicks him in the process. She pretends it’s an accident, but we the viewers know better. Right?

(Fancy a shave?)

Zelena goes to Gold’s shop, which is being run by Belle. She asks for Gold, just to watch Belle tear up as she informs the Witch that Mr. Gold is dead. Zelena offers her condolences and then says she wants to get a gift. It’s her first official day as Mary Margaret’s midwife and she wants to give it to her for the baby. Belle is more than happy to help! She turns around and Zelena freezes her. She goes behind the counter to the safe. Using Rumple’s blood, she opens it and pulls something out.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Charming has a panic attack in the royal stables. He downs some rum he’s hidden in his saddle bag before being busted by Robin Hood, who is carrying some golden tipped arrows. He explains Regina gave them to him as a thank you for his assistance. Charming’s impressed. But Robin can tell he’s nervous. So Charming spills that he’s worried about becoming a father again because he’s had to abandon his firstborn twice now. Robin talks about a plant he’s heard of, one that removes any fear and makes the person who digests it brave. Charming decides to find it.

(Do I smell a bromance?)

In Storybrooke, our intrepid heroes—minus Mary Margaret—are searching the forest for the Witch’s hideout. They aren’t finding much. Meanwhile, Regina’s watching Henry. She buys him an ice cream cone and they take a walk around Storybrooke’s lake. It must kill her to be so close to the son who can’t remember her, but they get along well enough.

Meanwhile, David leaves his daughter alone with Hook as Mary Margaret wants him home for the midwife’s visit. Emma doesn’t have much of a problem with this and Hook continues to flirt. Though he does mention that Neal might be a flying monkey and I wouldn’t have blamed Emma if she wanted to deck him there and then. But she doesn’t. It’s probably easier to hope he’s a flying monkey rather than gone forever. Emma though asks if Hook is enjoying her broken heart. And Hook replies that if she’s heart broken, it means she still can love. It’s kinda romantic.

It’s night in the Enchanted Forest as Charming finds the plant he was looking for—nightshade. He takes some and ingests it. Just then, he remembers the woods are said to be haunted as he hears something on the air. But it’s not a ghost—it’s a damsel in distress! What’s a fairy tale prince to do? 

(Hark! There's a maiden in need of rescuing! Prince Charming, away!) 

Rescue her, of course! He comes across a tower with no door. So you know who our damsel is, right? None other than Rapunzel! Charming climbs a maze of vines and hair to reach the scared princess. She explains that she’s from Some Other Kingdom (No, Not That One. The OTHER One). Her brother was supposed to inherit the throne after her father and she was fine with that. She loved her brother and the people loved her brother. But he died and now she is to take the throne. And she’s scared she can’t live up to him. So she came to find the nightshade, hoping to gain the courage she lacks. Once she ingested the nightshade though, a witch appeared and locked her in the tower. 

Charming’s like “No problem. Vanquishing witches is in my job description.” He promises to rescue Rapunzel. But as they try to leave through the maze of hair and vines, the mood changes. Rapunzel announces that the witch comes. They can tell someone is climbing up. So here’s a test: What does Charming do?

A. Figure out a way to get Rapunzel out of the tower using the OTHER window.
B. Cut the rope before the witch reaches the top so she will plummet to her death.
C. Wait for the witch to come up and then try to attack her.

If you guessed A or B, you’re smarter than Charming! He goes with “C.” But the witch vanishes before Charming’s blade can pierce her. Hmm…

David arrives back home in time to meet Zelena, the new midwife. And like Mary Margaret, never suspects anything…wicked…about her. At all. He can’t use pregnancy brain as an excuse, so I don’t know what’s going on here. Zelena makes them tea, which these two drink because there’s nothing suspicious going on in town after all. After Zelena assures Mary Margaret that everything will be well, David decides to dash off. Little does he know that Zelena’s dropped some nightshade into his tea.

(You know, Mary Margaret can use pregnancy brain as an excuse. What's his?)

So he returns to the woods, trying to reunite with his daughter and her one handed suitor. But he’s not alone. A hooded figure attacks him and David pulls out his sword. It’s time for a fight!

Back in the Enchanted Forest, the Witch appears in the Tower. David tries to fight her but he is tossed aside easily. The Witch lowers the hood to reveal…Rapunzel. Everyone who bet it was Zelena probably has to pay no one because I’m sure everyone thought it was Zelena. Nice twist, Once. Nice twist. 

(Double trouble!)

Turns out nightshade takes away your fears by manifesting them into a duplicate of you. You have to conquer yourself to find your courage. Charming realizes this and tries to convince Rapunzel she needs to face her fears, her feelings of inadequacy. But Rapunzel is too scared to do so. Charming tries to fight the “Witch” but it’s useless as the only one who can defeat her is Rapunzel herself.

Rapunzel finally gathers her courage and confronts her Witch. She cuts her hair and the Witch disappears. The two are free.

In the Regular Forest, David comes across a hooded figure. He thinks this could be the Witch and it’s a reasonable assumption. We, of course, know better. It’s really the manifestation of his fears—about failing his unborn child like he failed Emma. But David manages to figure out how to defeat the specter and decides to be the best damn father he can be. And he stabs his doppelganger, vanquishing it as the cavalry arrives. The cavalry being Emma, Hook and Regina, of course. As they approach him, his sword disappears in a cloud of green smoke.

(The sword decides it's had enough and peaces out)

Once everyone is assured David is okay, he tells them about his sword. Regina believes the Witch—the real one—took it. When David vanquished his fears, his courage transferred into the hilt of his sword. For some reason, the Witch needed it. I think we can all see where this is going, right? 

Charming escorts Rapunzel back to Regina’s castle, where everyone is still living. Including her parents. So I guess Rapunzel went to get the nightshade before the curse, and then got trapped in the tower during the curse while her parents were whisked to Storybrooke. Anyway, they have a happy reunion while Charming tells Snow about his concerns. She assures him they’ll do it together and he agrees. All together now: Aww.

With David relatively unharmed, the quartet stumble across a farm house. With a storm cellar. Hmm, wonder who this belongs to? Is there a pair of legs sticking out from under the house? Anyway, they decide to investigate the storm cellar. They see a cage and realize the Witch has been keeping someone locked up. And seeing a spinning wheel as well as a lot of hay makes them realize who it is: 

(Quick--guess who?)

A very much alive Rumplestilskin.

So, I learned something this week. Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) was in The Class! It was a short lived sitcom that aired with “How I Met Your Mother” back during the 2006-2007 season and I loved it! It also starred Jason Ritter, Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Tyler Fergusen. The premise was that Ritter’s character decides to reunite with his third grade classmates as a surprise to his girlfriend, who was in the same class. She dumps him but he gains a new group of old friends. Including Maguire’s character, Kyle—a first grade teacher at a prestigious school. Who is also gay. Over the course of the episodes, Kyle became Ethan’s closest guy friend. How did I miss this? Then again, the show only had 19 episodes and no chance of syndication. It’s been years since I last saw an episode.

Anyway, good twist with the “Witch” in Rapunzel’s tale. I applaud that the writers didn’t go the obvious route. Can’t wait to see what Zelena does with that courage she gathered.

(Screencaps from here).