OUAT: Something There...

Last time on Once’s 1st season: In the aftermath of the storm, Henry’s beloved playground was torn down. Suspicious of Regina’s motives, Emma teemed up with Sidney to find dirt on the mayor. They thought they caught her stealing money to build a mansion for herself in the middle of the woods…but Regina revealed it was really to build a new playground to replace the one that was destroyed. Emma looked ridiculous and Regina looked good, just like she wanted when she had Sidney set Emma up.

We learn that in the Enchanted Forest, Sidney was the genie in the lamp. King Leopold found him and brought him back to his palace. There, the Genie fell in love with the queen and saw how lonely she was, how she was often ignored for Snow White. Regina asked him to kill the king for her so they could be together and the Genie did so. She then revealed it was all a trick and when the Genie used the wish Leopold granted him to wish to be with her always, he got trapped in her mirror. So Sidney is both the Genie of the Lamp and the Magic Mirror!

After Emma’s stunt, Regina banned her from seeing Henry. And it was revealed that August stole the storybook, though not why.

Hmm…

We open in a new place in the Enchanted Forest as several people are gathered around a map. Ogres are invading and the situation looks dire for this town. A young brunette in a familiar gold dress hovers, listening as the men wonder if “he” will come as promised. She tries to assure one of the men, her father, as knocking interrupts their meeting.

(Gee, wonder who this is?)

As everyone tenses up, the doors open to reveal...no one. The Dark One then laughs, sitting in Maurice's seat. He says he’s come to help them as the lord grouses that he’s late. Rumple, though, still offers to give them help. And in return, he wants to keep Lord Maurice’s daughter. I’m sure you can already see where this is going, right?

(The beast?)

His daughter, Belle, steps up and volunteers to go. Lord Maurice and Gaston, her fiancé, are against it. She says this is how she will be able to help their people. Rumple tells her that it will be forever but she still agrees, making a deal with him.

As we all know by now, Rumple is the beast from Beauty and the Beast. Let’s check out the beginnings of Rumbelle, hmm?


Maurice is Moe French in Storybrooke, the local florist. He loads a bunch of roses in his truck as Gold approaches. Gold tells him that he’s behind on his payment and Moe pleads for more time, saying he’ll have the money. But Gold orders his goons to repossess the truck. Moe yells that he has all his Valentine’s Day orders back there and if Gold takes it, he won’t have the money to pay him. Gold doesn’t care.

(Come back!)

Once the truck is driven away, Gold spots Regina watching him. She tries to have a conversation with him and he shuts her down. As he limps away, Regina looks ready to set something on fire.

(Madam Mayor is not pleased)

Inside Granny’s, Mary Margaret and David are trying to be inconspicuous and failing. Hard. They start talking about a book he’s reading and Ruby offers to push their tables together. Both say it’s not necessary, going back to pretending they aren’t undressing the other with their eyes.

(Oh yeah. You two aren't obvious at all. *Eye roll*)

Emma plops herself down and asks Mary Margaret about Henry. She tells her he’s good before backtracking, insisting that he is missing her. That he’s hurt. But she assures Emma that Regina won’t keep Henry from her forever. Emma doesn’t look so convinced.

Ashley joins their table, leaving her daughter with Granny. She says that she’s overwhelmed being a young mother and says that Sean is working all the time, trying to support them. Ashley confesses she thought being in love would make things easier. Now all she wants is a break. So Ruby suggests a girls’ night out. Emma is not so keen on the idea but Ashley’s for it, convincing Mary Margaret to go as well. They try to work on Emma but she is called into work.

(Ashley's ready for a party. David's ready for a nap)

Gold arrives home, finding his door open. Cautious, he starts to go through his house and notices that its been ransacked. He hears a noise and raises his cane, but it’s only Emma.

(Even his house looks creepy)

Rumple brings Belle to his palace and tells her that she will be his servant, in charge of cleaning Dark One Manor. He then tosses her into a cell.

Later, Belle brings him some tea. He is needling her and she’s pretty much on edge. She drops a cup when he says something startling. When he assures her he’s kidding, she goes to pick it up. Belle apologizes that it’s chipped but assures him it’s fine. He replies that it’s just a cup.

Oh, it’s much more than that.

Back in the present, Emma explains one of his neighbors thought something looked suspicious and called it in. Gold says he’ll get the person and she replies that she’ll catch whoever is responsible, warning him against taking the law in his own hands. His response isn’t very reassuring.

(Emma is suspicious)

Belle finally changes out of her pretty and expensive yellow gown into the familiar blue and white dress. She stands on a ladder as Rumple spins straw into gold. Belle asks why he does that when he has plenty of gold and he gives her a non-answer. She’s slightly amused.

(Wake up, Belle)

He approaches her, wondering what she’s doing. Belle explains that she’s trying to open the curtains to let the light into the place. But she struggles and manages to get one open…as she falls off the ladder. Rumple catches her and they have a Moment.

(See?)

In the span of the flashback, Emma has found Gold’s missing items. He says there’s something missing and she says that when they get Moe French, she’ll retrieve it. Gold, though, is determined to get to Moe first.

Uh oh.

Belle and Rumple continue to get closer. She hops on the table and asks him some questions, saying she wants to know more about him. Belle says she found some clothes upstairs that are too small to be his. She says they look like children’s clothes and ask if he had a child. Rumple balks, wondering if she’s trying to find the monster’s weakness. She gives him a look like “Come on, you’re being ridiculous.” She almost gets him to tell her more when knocking interrupts her. He tells her to wait and maybe he’ll tell her more when he gets back. Belle sits on the table and waits for him.

(She's not fooled)

So who’s at the door? It’s Gaston! He’s come to rescue Belle since he’s supposed to marry her. Rumple merely snaps his fingers and turns him into a rose. He picks it up and returns to Belle, telling her that it was a beggar woman selling flowers. He gives her the rose and she goes to put it in some water, cutting the stem. Poor Gaston.

(First a man)

(Now a rose)

Rumple asks Belle about herself, wondering why she was so willing to give up her freedom for her people. She admits that she always wanted to be a hero like in the books she read. Wanted to do something that saved everyone. It seemed like a small price to pay. Rumple asks her how being a heroine was suiting her. She says it’s fine, though she wished she had been able to travel the world first.

But she hasn’t forgotten that he promised her a story. He hesitates and she says she wants to get to know the only person she’ll be talking to for the rest of her life. Rumple then surprises her by revealing that he’s going to send her the next day to pick up more straw from him. Belle asks how he knows she’ll return and he reveals he expects her not to. But if she does, then he’ll tell her whatever she wants to know.

In Storybrooke, it’s Valentine’s Day and ladies’ night is in full swing. Ashley downs a shot…and isn’t she 19 or something? She’s not old enough to be drinking, right? I actually Googled the drinking age in Maine because of this. And guess what? It’s 21. She shouldn’t be drinking. And is she nursing? I’m pretty sure she shouldn’t be drinking then either. All this sums up to: PUT THE SHOT DOWN ASHLEY.

(SERIOUSLY!)

She says she’s needed this tonight, though, saying love wasn’t what she expected. Ashley admits she thought she and Sean would live happily ever after and always be happy. She didn’t know how much work it would be. Mary Margaret talks about how if two people are meant to be together, nothing should stand in their way. But she’s really talking about her and David.

Speaking of David, he’s at the pharmacy. Mr. Gold is there too, picking up some supplies. He notes that David has two Valentine’s Day cards and asks if he has two different Valentines. David lies and insists he just couldn’t pick between the two, so he’s getting both. Smooth, Charming, smooth. Gold isn’t convinced either and leaves.

(Those are two very different types of cards. Wonder who's getting what?)

He climbs into Moe’s truck and drives out of town. In the back, all tied up and gagged is Moe French. 

Uh oh.

Gold takes Moe to a cabin in the woods and forces him inside. He holds a weapon on the man and says they are going to have a little talk.

That’s not good either.

Belle walks a path through the woods when a carriage passes her. It comes to a stop and when the door opens, the Queen leans out. She asks if her carriage splashed Belle and Belle replies it didn’t. The Queen then gets out and says she’s going to stretch her legs, if Belle doesn’t mind some company. She doesn’t.

Regina asks if Belle is running away from a lover or a master. Belle gives her a look and she says “Ahh, lover and master.” Though Belle tries to deny she’s running away, she does reveal more about Rumple. Regina tells her that it sounds like he’s under a curse and that any curse can be broken with True Love’s Kiss. And thus the idea is planted in Belle’s head.

(You have to love the Queen's sense of style)

She hurries home with the straw and Rumple is surprised. He wonders if she wants her story now but she has other plans. Before he can brace himself, she kisses him. His skin starts to turn a normal color as he returns it.

(True Love's Kiss)

When they break the kiss, Belle is excited to see it is working. She tells him to kiss her again but he wants to know what she’s talking about. Belle says she’s breaking the curse, turning him human again. He panics and demands to know where she got the idea to do this. Then he figures it out, yelling into a mirror that he’s onto her. He then accuses Belle of working for the queen, but she has no clue who he’s talking about. Rumple doesn’t  believe her and tosses her into her cell again.

The show then returns to the cabin, where Gold lays a might beat down on Moe French. He yells that Moe was supposed to protect her and love her, that he was her father and everything was his fault. This is intercut with scenes of Rumple doing the same to his dining room. He destroys quite a bit of things…except the chipped teacup. He can’t bring himself to break that. It ends his rampage and Gold’s beat down ends when Emma stops him.

Ashley is now a melancholy drunk, saying that she thought she needed a girls’ night out but what she really needed was Sean. So she decides to call it a night, though Mary Margaret and Ruby plead with her to stay. But before Ashley could leave, Sean shows up with roses. He says he’s on a break from the cannery but he wanted to see her for Valentine’s Day. He apologizes for all the shifts he’s been working before dropping to one knee, proposing. Ashley accepts and everyone is happy.

(Congrats, you crazy kids!)

Except Mary Margaret.

She leaves the bar and runs into David. He says he overheard about ladies’ night out and figured they would be here. She asks why he’s there and David gives her her Valentine’s Day card. But when she opens it, it’s the one addressed to Kathryn. (I’d like to note she got the cute one which means Mary Margaret was probably going to get the mushy one with the prince and princess on it). He apologizes and tries to pull out the right card but she stops him. Mary Margaret tells him to go home to Kathryn, that maybe they weren’t meant to be. She walks away, leaving a heartbroken David behind her.

(Poor babies)

Emma asks Gold about why he was beating Moe up. He tries to pass it off as debt collections but she’s not fooled. She heard what he was saying and asks him who “her” was. Gold clams up and tries to leave, but she puts him under arrest for assaulting someone.

Rumple lets Belle out and tells her to go home, he doesn’t want her in his house anymore. She says that she did love him and that he’s afraid of that, afraid of being happy. Rumple replies that he loves his power more than her. Belle doesn’t believe that’s true, which continues to this day despite how many times he’s proven that to be the case.

With that, she leaves.

(You have no one to blame but yourself)

The next day, Regina brings Henry to the Sheriff’s office and agrees to let Emma have a few hours with him. She tells her to take Henry to get some ice cream and she’ll watch Gold for her. Emma is suspicious but eager to spend time with her son, so she accepts.

Once alone, Regina has a conversation with Gold. He says that she told Moe where to look and then asks where his missing item is. Regina pulls out a chipped teacup and dangles it before him. She asks if he’s looking for that. Pulling it away, Regina says she’ll only give it to him if he answers one question for her—What is his name? He replies that it’s Mr. Gold and she clarifies that she meant his real name. Gold’s demeanor changes and he replies, “Rumpelstiltskin.”

Satisfied, Regina wonders where they go from there but Gold doesn’t seem willing to play her game. So she leaves him alone with his chipped teacup.

(Madam Mayor on a mission)

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Regina pays Rumple a visit and taunts him about Belle. He tries to pretend that the name doesn’t affect her, but Regina knows better. When Rumple says that Belle is probably off living her life, Regina says that her father had her imprisoned in a tower as her fiancé was missing and he feared she had been tainted by the Dark One. Belle grew distraught and threw herself off the tower. Regina tells him she’s dead and he throws her out. The Queen leaves, giddy.

(That should be illegal)

In the hospital, Regina goes onto a lower floor and hands the nurse there a rose. She asks if anyone had been by and the nurse reveals that no one ever comes. As Regina walks past the creepy janitor/patient, she stops before one door. She opens the peep hole and peers inside. Sitting there is Belle, alive if not very well.

dun dun DUN!

So, that was Once’s take on “Beauty and the Beast.” And on its own, I liked it. I like that the Beast wanted both—to have his Beauty but still be a monster. Well, still want his power.

Rumbelle had a nice start. I’m sorry with what it’s become as I don’t think I can root for these two anymore.

Next time: David picks Kathryn but there are complications. 

Screen caps from here.