Fairy Land Present
Snow, Mulan, Emma and Aurora trudge back to their island
fortress, worrying about telling people about Lancelot’s death – when they find
that the place is deserted. Except for the bodies many many bodies. They first
think of ogres – but then see that the hearts of the victims have been removed,
Cora killed them. Or nearly all of them – among the bodies is a man, Captain
Hook, pretending to be a survivor.
Mulan tells Emma she’s seen him around, he says he’s a
blacksmith who lost his hand in an ogre attack, but Emma is suspicious. As we
remember from the very first episode of the first season, it is very very hard
to lie to Emma and she is very very suspicious. So when they discuss leaving,
finding a portal and getting back to Storybrooke – Emma puts a knife to Hook’s
throat.
They tie him to a tree while he continues to protest his
innocence – Emma isn’t buying it and whistles for the ogres. He can tell the
truth or he can become lunch. He tries to lie some more so Emma is happy to
walk away and leave him tied up. He cracks, admits to being Captain Hook and tells
them he was left their by Cora to try and infiltrate their group, earn their
trust and find out everything they could about Storybrooke. To which Mulan says
it’s safest to leave him tied for the ogres – and Emma agrees (so do I, and
yes, I was cheering).
He protests they need him alive – out comes the knife again
and he quickly tells Emma that in addition to the wardrobe dust Cora has, she
also needs a magical compass to find her way to Storybrooke. And he’s willing
to make the same deal as he made with Cora – help him get to Storybrooke and he
will help them get the compass before Cora. Emma asks what he wants in
Storybrooke – to kill Rumplestiltskin. Everyone’s pretty much OK with that.
They follow Hook, with Mulan and Emma suspecting and
being ready for a trap when they see their destination – a giant bean stalk with
a giant up the top.
Fairy Land Past
Rumplestiltskin is teaching the naïve and innocent Regina
how to use her magic – starting by having her immobilise a unicorn. Once unable
to move he demands she remove it’s heart as Cora does – Regina refuses, it’s evil
and the unicorn is innocent (“No-one is innocent, dearie”). Rumple removes the heart himself – saying it
strengthens the heart and, if done right, doesn’t hurt the creature, unless you
want it to. Though it does control them. He gives it to Regina and demands she crush it.
He wants to know, if she truly wants power, why does she hold back, why does
she hesitate?
Later, in Rumple’s work shop he asks Regina what she
wants. She tells him power and he scoffs, saying she’s wasting his time. Regina
confesses she wants to bring back the dead, to bring back Daniel, her true
love, who Cora killed. Rumple dismisses her, bringing back the dead is
impossible – and they’re then interrupted by Jefferson the Mad Hatter arriving –
a much more fun, less angsty Mad Hatter at that. Wants to know why she’s there –
power, stop wasting time, bring back dead, impossible. He has an orb for Rumple
and is apparently in the business of acquiring things for him – but he doesn’t
have the objects Rumple wanted to use to reach another world. Jefferson mentions
his hat but the hat won’t go to a land without magic (to try and find his son).
While Jefferson collects his gold, Rumple tells Regina to
leave, there’s no point training her if her goal is impossible. Jefferson overhears
what he said and tells Regina that he does know someone, a wizard of sorts, who
may be able to do what she wants. In return he wants a passport for free travel
across the kingdom, since she’s queen. If the wizard he knows can’t do it then
Rumple is right, no-one can.
They go to Regina’s palace and, after much drama where Jefferson
warns Regina the “wizard” is unused to their form of magic, he introduces her to…
Dr. Whale. She takes him to the preserved body of Daniel and he marvels over
the state the body is in, perfectly preserved by Regina’s spell. And we learn
that his process hasn’t had success to date – it’s experimental – but it should
work so long as he gets a strong heart, a heart that doesn’t exist in his
realm. But he had heard that Fairy Land has hearts that are enhanced by magic –
so powerful that they glow. Regina is adamant that she will not use magic for
evil – and removing a heart is black magic. Jefferson suggests if she wants her
fiancé back she should find someone who will.
But she doesn’t need to, taking them to her mother’s fire
place, they can hear a heartbeat. Behind the fireplace is a vault in which are
stored dozens, if not hundreds of hearts, all beating away. Regina says she has
no idea who they are, Cora took so many it was impossible to keep track. She
reflects on what an utter monster her mother was and the pain she caused.
Outside a storm rages as they set up a tent for the
doctor. A lot of lightening, a lot of spooky atmosphere – he raises up the
heart above the inert body of Daniel and smashes it down – alas to no effect.
He comes out and tells Regina that the heart wasn’t strong enough and Jefferson
reiterated that if Dr. Whale can’t do it, no-one can. Regina grieves over
Daniel’s body
When next we see her, she’s in her evil Queen black
leather outfit and tracks down Rumple and his new apprentice. She rips out the
apprentice’s heart and crushes it – showing Rumple her renewed dedication.
Jefferson leads Dr. Whale through the forest, with the
doctor demanding to go home, he’s done what they ask. But Jefferson says the
deal was made by Rumple – and he’s the one who has to say he’s satisfied.
Rumple is happy – Regina’s heart is broken and he gives the unbroken heart to
Dr. Whale saying “I made my monster, now I do hope you’ll be able to make
yours.” Whale protests that he isn’t making a monster to which Rumple responds “sure
you’re not.” Dr. Whale scoffs at them, his science is far more powerful than
Rumple’s magic (which Rumple and Jefferson mock since his science required a
magic heart) but Whale is adamant – his science goes above and beyond the
limits of Rumple’s magic. Rumple merely says that he’s sure Whale will see it
his way, some day.
Storybrooke
Present
In the real world Charming takes the chance to punch Dr.
Whale for sleeping with Snow (rather unfair one feels). Dr. Whale has heard
that Charming is trying to build a portal to get back to Fairy Land and that their
world still exists…
Regina is taking therapy sessions with Jiminy Cricket to
try and hold to her promise to Henry not to use magic. It’s difficult and fraught
and the acting excellent –but they’re interrupted by Dr. Whale. He demands that
Regina send him back to his brother, she points him towards the missing person’s
board but he says he was never transported by the curse. Regina protests
inability and, also, not caring and Jiminy kicks him out. But Jiminy has his own
questions about the Curse, they know not everyone was transported and even dead
people were brought – since the grave of Regina’s father travelled to
Storybrooke. Regina says the curse brought who she wanted to bring and doesn’t
want to answer any more questions – despite Jiminy pushing her to trust him.
She cracks and tells Jiminy that she also brought Daniel’s body over, preserved
by a spell. He urges her to let go of the past or it’ll haunt you and she
leaves, close to tears.
But, as she drives home in the rain, she thinks she sees
Daniel through the window. She blinks and he’s gone. She goes to the mausoleum
and finds Daniel’s body is missing, the glass case empty.
Regina goes looking for Dr. Whale at the hospital and
finds is room has been badly trashed and, on a blooded gurney, there’s a
severed arm. Underneath the gurney is the not-very-well-at-all Dr. Whale.
Regina demands to know if Dr. Whale took Daniel’s body and one of her hearts,
asks if he brought Daniel back – he says he did, but he’s a monsters.
Charming catches up to Regina watching the unconscious
Dr. Whale in a hospital bed. Charming demands answers and she tells him about
Daniel, her fiancé and what Whale did with his “powers beyond magic” and one of
her hearts. Charming takes a step and asks why she has hearts – she says she
has them from their land and she doesn’t know whose they are, she took so many
it was impossible for her to keep track (why hello there not-too-subtle Cora
reference). Regina wants to go find him, alone, but Charming threatens her with
prison if she doesn’t tell him where Daniel is. She thinks that, with his
memories coming back, he will be like Charming was when leaving his amnesia –
and go to a place that stood out in his memory: The stables
Now this is a problem because Charming has just given Henry
his own horse and plans to teach him to ride. But first he has to clean out the
horse, care for it and form a bond with it until one day the horse tells him he’s
ready to ride. So he’s at the stables when the undead Daniel shows up
The horses panic with the monster there, his horse knocks
Henry over (which I think is horse for “no way are you climbing on me no matter
how much shit you shovel”) and Daniel traps him in a stall. When Henry reaches
out, he has a flashback to Cora removing his heart and he grabs Henry by the
neck. Regina appears and screams at him to let go – he drops Henry and tries to
attack Regina but Charming locks him in the stall – demanding Regina use her
magic to subdue Daniel. She refuses to
use magic on her fiancé and Charming draws a gun to put the monster down –
Regina cries and won’t let Charming hurt him – she sobs for a chance to reach
Daniel.
Regina goes into stall and Daniel starts to strangle her.
She manages to gasp “I love you,” and he backs off, saying her name. They hug,
but there’s no happy ever after here – he’s in enormous pain and begs her to
let him go, that he can’t come back to her. She begs him, pleads with him to
stay – but he monsters out again and tries to attack her. She freezes him with
magic – then dissolves him into dust (uh, Regina can turn people to dust… when
you think about it she has been REALLY patient with the Storybrooke people).
Then falls into tears.
She goes to see Jiminy crying about having used magic
Dr. Whale, meanwhile, with only one arm goes to see
Rumple/Gold carrying his severed arm in a cooler box. Rumple, naturally, makes
a joke about things not really costing “an arm and a leg”. Whale wants rumple
to put his arm back. Rumple wants to know why Whale did it, why bring back
Daniel. Whale says he thought if he could manage it, Regina would send him back
to his brother and he could try to bring him back again – his previous attempt
was unsuccessful. Rumple says he can restore the arm – but he won’t, not until
Whale says what he wants to hear. After all, why come to Rumple and not to a
hospital? Dr. Whale folds and says “I need magic” and his arm is back in a
blink of an eye. Rumple says it’s a pleasure doing business with him – and calls
him Victor
Yes, Rumplestiltskin always gets the last word.
Somewhere Else Entirely,
in the Past:
Dr. Whale returns to his esoteric lab with the heart. There’s
a classic assistant, storm, lightening, electricity covered shiny electronic
devices and, of course, a body on a slab. He puts the heart ion the body we get
the full stormy effects and a stitched-together hand moves… “it’s alive” Dr.
whale whispers. Except, of course, his assistant calls him Dr. Frankenstein.
It’s almost a shame they had to call him Frankenstein in
the end, I loved the hints – “Victor” is Dr. Frankenstein’s first name in the
book. And the 1931 Frankenstein film – the iconic Frankenstein film – was directed
by a James Whale.
Rumplestiltskin is just such a flawless character, he’s
behind absolutely everything and always 10 steps ahead. Has the evil
manipulator ever been done better? A completely flawless character
I also like Regina – we see more of her depth, more of
her descent to darkness, the parallels between her and her mother – and how
that troubles her – how she wants to come back from the edge with both genuine
regret and a genuine desire to seek redemption; all carried by some excellent
acting.
And Emma with hook? Yes, I am impressed. In fact can we
have Emma and Mulan without the lettuce accompliment (and give Mulan some more
actual lines. Don’t make me call her T-Dog.) More awesome, hold the lettuce.
