Shattered Sight- Yay!!! Thank you so much for your reaction to such an amazing, funny, and beautiful episode!!!! Again... this episode is most definitely among my favorites from season four as well. I feel that this Frozen arc has the most number of episodes within a single arc that I consider to be among my favorite episodes and we still have one more to come. This Frozen arc is really quite beautiful. :) First... I really had hoped we would have seen a bit more darkness in everyone given how much this spell has been built up to be so vicious and cruel throughout the first half of this season. However, I suspect that the spell must take time to fully build up and for people to really see the darkness within themselves. Just like we saw with Belle back in the previous episode... Family Business, when she was staring into her reflection in the Snow Queen's mirror within her ice cave. Her inner darkness was really building up more and more the longer she was under the spell's trance. Had the spell over everyone remained over their minds, it would have eventually caused the worst of them all to come out and that's when they would have begun to kill one another, had Anna, Emma, and Elsa not found a way to remind Ingrid of her sisters' true love for her. And so because of this, we only get to see the build up with everyone simply picking on one another instead, and it's all prety funny. :) And second... I completely agree with you regarding Rumple and his darkness. He is annoying, but sadly... this is what you have to expect from Rumple, mostly because of the darkness within him. While yes... Rumple did manipulate Regina into casting the dark curse so that he could find his son in our world, the darkness is still very much a part of him and it's something he struggles very deeply with. Because while yes... Rumple does have love within him too... love for both Neal and for Belle, his darkness is still very much a problem for him. Because it isn't just his inner darkness, but a living entity taking up residence within his body, causing Rumple to lust deeply for power. Even if doing so causes him to hurt those he loves most. We see this throughout season one, as well as throughout seasons two and three. But even more so throughout this season so far too. Because at last, Rumple has found a way... a chance to supposedly have love with Belle and to keep his power. And this chance also gives him an opportunity to kill his oldest enemy on top of it all in order to gain both. Rumple loves Belle, but he also loves power. He lusts hungrily for power. And he absoutely hates Hook more than he hates anyone else, so he has absolutely no qualms with killing him in order to gain both. He's even all too excited to kill him, which is horrible. I really hope this explanation helps you to understand why Rumple is continuing to act as he is. I'm in no way making excuses for Rumple, Jessie. He annoys me a lot throughout this show, especially throughout this Frozen arc. I completely agree with you. And he's why Rumple and Belle are one of my least favorite True Love couples throughout this show. He and Belle just aren't always so good for one another. And it's mostly because of Rumple. Because he does hurt Belle more often than I'd like to see. However, she's far too blind to the pain he causes her and especially everyone else like Killian, and Emma too. At least... I think so. This is what bothers me the most about Belle as a character throughout this show. Because she allows for Rumple to get away with a lot. Too much for my liking. Now, with all this being said, my favorite moments throughout this episode... First... I absolutely love the final scene between Emma, Elsa, Anna, and of course Ingrid too, as Ingrid finally learns that her sisters loved her all along and that Gerda was so sorry for everything that happened between them, including taking all memories of Ingrid and Helga away from the people of Arendelle. I love how Ingrid sacrifices her life to reverse her Spell of Shattered Sight. What a beautiful and heartbreaking moment. It is a little rushed, as is the entire episode, but it's merely due to time constraints with having to fit the end of the Snow Queen's story within a single episode. It's beautiful overall. I've always loved the Snow Queen as a villain. She isn't my favorite by any means, but she is phenomenal. And I love that she also finds redemption so she too could have her happy ending, despite being a villain just moments earlier. Ingrid attacking Anna and then suddenly feeling such remorse may be a little strange, but then... Ingrid does pick up the crystals and comes to feel her sisters' love again at their touch. So I understand it as well. Overall... so beautiful. :) Second... I love, love, love both scenes between Killian and Gold inside his shop. I love Killian's lines and his banter as he struggles to remain strong while he's being forced to do Gold's bidding against his will, in spite of feeling so heartbroken knowing he's going to die soon once Gold gets around to crushing his heart. And third... I love the moment inside Town Hall between Killian and Henry, as Killian is there on Gold's orders to kidnap Henry for Gold. I love how Henry calls Killian a dirty pirate, to which Killian responds, "Dirty... I bathe quite frequently, thank you very much." Their banter continues when Killian is happy to hear that Emma used the word "together" upon hearing Henry talking about their relationship. One thing I love about Killian for within this scene... I think Killian focuses on the wrong words Henry says to him because Killian understands that Henry is under the spell's influence and therefore knows Henry doesn't mean any of the unkind words he's saying to him. And he cares very much about Henry, who he knows cares about him too. So I really appreciate this about him. Killian then finally gets inside through Regina's spell until he unfortunately falls hard on the marbles Henry put out on the floor in front of the door to try to slow down anyone who breaks inside much like Kevin in Home Alone, which is pretty hilarious too. And to make things worse... Killian then runs into Will Scarlet after he gets back up to his feet and attempts to chase after Henry. Will still has a quarrel with him due to when Killian gave him a black eye and attacked him under Gold's influence back in the episode... The Apprentice. It's a good thing Killian is able to defeat him pretty easily. Very funny and so good. :) Will really is simply a character who pops up every now and again for scenes such as this one, and I like his character for this reason. He is strangely listed as one of this season's main characters, which really makes no sense to me, because his character really has no real purpose for being here in this show, other to have scenes with certain characters like this one and others he has with Killian. And in truth... I am happy Will doesn't have a bigger role, because these surprise and funny moments for him are all that I like about his character.
Now, as for Ingrid's backstory with young Emma... while I feel they are the weaker scenes throughout the episode overall, I still really love this backstory that shows how Ingrid not only gets to know Emma when she's young, but also how the Snow Queen later comes to be in Storybrooke, and we see a scene between them just after Emma first arrives in Storybrooke herself inside Ingrid's ice cream parlor, known as Any Given Sundae. The only minor nitpick I have with this scene... is that back when Emma had just arrived in Storybrooke, and we know it's early on because the time that appears onscreen is 2011 just after Emma first arrives in Storybrooke with Henry, and Emma mentions she is going to call Graham for help upon seeing Ingrid is apparently stalking her... Ingrid swiftly uses magic to pull out Emma's memories of her and into the crystal, when magic didn't exist yet in Storybrooke. Maybe she was able to use magic because Emma is the Savior and we know that magic could come back at certain times because of her. But I'm not so sure. Maybe this was a misstep, or maybe Emma being there was what allowed Ingrid to use magic. Either way... I still enjoy this scene. What I love most about the past storyline is seeing how Ingrid makes the mistake of pushing young Emma, as well as Emma upon her arrival in Storybrooke... too far, much too fast. They're sad, even heartbreaking moments, especially upon seeing young Emma had almost been adopted and felt loved for such a brief time by someone, only for her to wind up getting hurt all over again. And you can also really see Ingrid's love for Emma too. Had she not attempted to push Emma into her powers, then perhaps she and Ingrid could have been happy together and Ingrid could have been able to let go of her plan. However, if this was so, then we wouldn't have this beautiful show that I love so much! Things had to happen as they did for us to get to the point in everyone's lives we're at now. As for present day Storybrooke under the influence of the Snow Queen's Spell of Shattered Sight... oh my gosh, these scenes between the characters are hilarious. I love seeing Regina become the Evil Queen again so briefly. I love the banter between her, Mary Margaret, and David, as well as between her, Emma, and Elsa too. I love the sword battle between Regina and Mary Margaret inside the sheriff's station while David is trapped still in the jail cell. And I love the overall banter back and forth between Mary Margaret, David, Anna, and Kristoff. So adorable and hilarious. I especially love the banter when David mocks Kristoff about being an ice man and how all of Arendelle is frozen... a fantastic nod to the Disney movie, Frozen. :) I love how Emma and Elsa work together to discover a way to destroy the ribbons around their wrists. And I love that they are quickly able to figure out they can use Regina's current hatred while under the spell to counteract Ingrid's love. Although... Emma really should have put up a new containment spell over Regina's vault in order to keep Regina inside once they did what they needed to do. Emma's lucky Regina didn't kill her parents or brother. And I love how Anna finally joins them upon finding hers and Elsa's parents' letter to them along with the memory stones containing the memories the rock trolls had taken from all of Arendelle of Ingrid and Helga. The moment between Anna and Ingrid is beautiful and heartbreaking. I love it! Also... I love the moment between Anna and Kristoff once again on the beach after Regina poofs them away, as Kristoff sadly continues to complain under the spell's influence. It's a sad moment, but I love how Kristoff's lines are still funny in Kristoff's way, because it's who he is. And he and Anna are just so adorable together. I love them! Sadly, Anna has to render Kristoff unconscious by striking him across the back of his head with the glass bottle, in order to save his life. Thankfully, this allows for Anna to find her parents' message in the bottle. Perfect! And lastly, to go along with one of my favorite moments... I absolutely love how Killian pleads with Gold to leave Emma and all of Storybrooke alone now that the Snow Queen's threat has been taken care of, as a last request. And I love how Gold eerily and darkly responds that so long as the heroes don't stand in his way, they have nothing to fear from him, yet he can't promise such for the rest of the world. This moment is so sad because Killian is so broken upon knowing he's going to die soon, yet so amazing because Gold is so sinister and cruel. I love, love, love this scene!!! I hate Gold for his continued plan to hurt so many people, especially Killian as he's been doing. But I cant help but still love his character. He's definitely a character everyone loves to hate. :) Overall... such a beautiful and phenomenal episode! I love seeing all of the townsfolk including Granny and the dwarfs fighting one another under the spell's influence, then seeing them hug one another as the snow begins to fall once the spell is finally broken. And I love, love, love seeing Regina, Mary Margaret, and David begin to laugh upon the spell breaking as well once they all see Regina dressed once again as the Evil Queen and remember how they were fighting one another, then seeing them join their loved ones outside along with Elsa and Anna too. Seeing them laughing with one another after all is said and done... it really does show just how far they've all come. Everything about this episode is brilliant! Thank you so much once more, for another phenomenal and fun reaction, Jessie!!! I'm so happy you enjoyed this episode so much!! :) I can't wait for the next episode!!! Until then, my friend... Sincerely, Heidi
In regards to there being no magic in Storybrooke, remember back in the penultimate episode of Season 1. Regina takes Jefferson to her vault and she uses some of her old trinkets from the Enchanted Forest to power the hat so they can recover the apple she needed for the turnover. Just because Storybrooke had no magic, didn't mean that magical objects completely lost their power. At least thats how i come to understand it, like they had their own magic baked into them so i'm assuming its the same with Ingrid's memory rocks too. Plus remember the Dragon, he had magic despite living in the Land Without Magic, so it is possible for magic to appear in our world just very likely in small bursts and under certain circumstances. Honestly i love Once Upon a Time, but much like Charmed it's continuity got a little wishy-washy later on. But for the most part allot of it can be explained away if you give it a bit of thought...in my case probably way more thought than necessary. 😅😅😅
Rumple and his relationship with magic is the supernatural version of an addict. This back and forth with power and greed and magic is like a real life alcoholic journey and battle. Rumple and Belle show us what it's like to love an addict. It is a very hard and difficult journey, and they portrayed it to a tee.
honestly belle annoys me more than rumple in this case. rumple's back and forth is understandable and entertaining both for his individual arc and overall plot progression. but her dilema doesn't even exist as someone who loves an addict. she immediately forgives nay DEFENDS his crimes and is soooo naive to his manipulations. like how is a person so smart yet so dumb???? my animated belle would NEVAH
I cried when this episode first aired. And i still cry now. I loved Ingrid's character. Also this is my favourite piece if music from the whole show too. Damn Mark Isham did a phenomenal job here. Edit: also agree about Rumple. I don't know how much i can say without spoiling it. But the way Rumple is written from this Season onwards feels like a completely different character to the first three Seasons. Like yeah, he still did some evil/dark stuff before, like he was not winning any 'Hero of the Week' awards, but it was all in service to find and reunite with Baelfire/Neal. And to finally become be the kind of man his son would look up to. Whereas now he is purely doing evil for evil's sake. I genuinely think the writers had no idea what to do with him now that he was back since he'd already achieved his endgame with Baelfire/Neal. So they fell back on the whole 'he's a villainous puppet master, it's what he does.' Problem is, now he's a puppet master without an end goal in mind, and everybody in town knows or suspects he is doing something evil now. Allot of his darker deeds in past Seasons they wete able to forgive (to an extent) because ultimately his endgame was he just wanted his son back, and he even willingly gave his life over that. But now, everybody knows or suspects he's doing something shady, and they all know he doesn't have anything good planned. Mild spoiler...only of you want it. Nothing plot related just a small hint... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...it takes a while, but they do eventually get him back on track. Season 7 is a very devisive Season but this is arguabley when he is truly back on track. I personally love Season 7 while the first half of the main narrative is definitely a bit weak it is saved by the supporting characters, and Rumple is ome of those saving graces. But in the meantime be prepared for him to get allot worse...he will legit piss you off in Season 5 my mum loved Rumple even at his worst but during Season 5 she flat out hated him.
his back and forth with good and bad is understandable but i do agree the lack of a proper motivation for him to keep indulging in the bad does make it a tinge harder to digest the story. and at this stage in the case its not even that bad like it gets so much worse (ik you've watched way ahead but i dont wanna majorly spoil still) making him plainly power hungry kinda diluted his character to a 1dimensional villain. his first attempt to seek dark magic came from pure intentions to protect his son then find him. later belle's love and losing her got added to the equation. his battle with pan is when we truly saw him use the dark magic for a good reason, to actively protect others putting his life on the line. being enslaved to zelena and losing his son for good really did the deal. being controlled by her for so long is what really made him want to break free from the dagger. all of that is undertaken. BUT what feels weird is why he is so power hungry. wanting to keep his powers is one thing cause ofcourse he's used to it now anyone would. but the need to dominate others and manipulate belle to this extent is regressing him in a boring way. s5 makes it worse. and after all of this seeing him on s7 is odd cause you wonder how he is suddenly like that and why hasnt he been like it if he was always capable of it.
Shattered Sight- Yay!!! Thank you so much for your reaction to such an amazing, funny, and beautiful episode!!!! Again... this episode is most definitely among my favorites from season four as well. I feel that this Frozen arc has the most number of episodes within a single arc that I consider to be among my favorite episodes and we still have one more to come. This Frozen arc is really quite beautiful. :)
First... I really had hoped we would have seen a bit more darkness in everyone given how much this spell has been built up to be so vicious and cruel throughout the first half of this season. However, I suspect that the spell must take time to fully build up and for people to really see the darkness within themselves. Just like we saw with Belle back in the previous episode... Family Business, when she was staring into her reflection in the Snow Queen's mirror within her ice cave. Her inner darkness was really building up more and more the longer she was under the spell's trance. Had the spell over everyone remained over their minds, it would have eventually caused the worst of them all to come out and that's when they would have begun to kill one another, had Anna, Emma, and Elsa not found a way to remind Ingrid of her sisters' true love for her. And so because of this, we only get to see the build up with everyone simply picking on one another instead, and it's all prety funny. :)
And second... I completely agree with you regarding Rumple and his darkness. He is annoying, but sadly... this is what you have to expect from Rumple, mostly because of the darkness within him. While yes... Rumple did manipulate Regina into casting the dark curse so that he could find his son in our world, the darkness is still very much a part of him and it's something he struggles very deeply with. Because while yes... Rumple does have love within him too... love for both Neal and for Belle, his darkness is still very much a problem for him. Because it isn't just his inner darkness, but a living entity taking up residence within his body, causing Rumple to lust deeply for power. Even if doing so causes him to hurt those he loves most. We see this throughout season one, as well as throughout seasons two and three. But even more so throughout this season so far too. Because at last, Rumple has found a way... a chance to supposedly have love with Belle and to keep his power. And this chance also gives him an opportunity to kill his oldest enemy on top of it all in order to gain both. Rumple loves Belle, but he also loves power. He lusts hungrily for power. And he absoutely hates Hook more than he hates anyone else, so he has absolutely no qualms with killing him in order to gain both. He's even all too excited to kill him, which is horrible.
I really hope this explanation helps you to understand why Rumple is continuing to act as he is. I'm in no way making excuses for Rumple, Jessie. He annoys me a lot throughout this show, especially throughout this Frozen arc. I completely agree with you. And he's why Rumple and Belle are one of my least favorite True Love couples throughout this show. He and Belle just aren't always so good for one another. And it's mostly because of Rumple. Because he does hurt Belle more often than I'd like to see. However, she's far too blind to the pain he causes her and especially everyone else like Killian, and Emma too. At least... I think so. This is what bothers me the most about Belle as a character throughout this show. Because she allows for Rumple to get away with a lot. Too much for my liking.
Now, with all this being said, my favorite moments throughout this episode...
First... I absolutely love the final scene between Emma, Elsa, Anna, and of course Ingrid too, as Ingrid finally learns that her sisters loved her all along and that Gerda was so sorry for everything that happened between them, including taking all memories of Ingrid and Helga away from the people of Arendelle. I love how Ingrid sacrifices her life to reverse her Spell of Shattered Sight. What a beautiful and heartbreaking moment. It is a little rushed, as is the entire episode, but it's merely due to time constraints with having to fit the end of the Snow Queen's story within a single episode. It's beautiful overall. I've always loved the Snow Queen as a villain. She isn't my favorite by any means, but she is phenomenal. And I love that she also finds redemption so she too could have her happy ending, despite being a villain just moments earlier. Ingrid attacking Anna and then suddenly feeling such remorse may be a little strange, but then... Ingrid does pick up the crystals and comes to feel her sisters' love again at their touch. So I understand it as well. Overall... so beautiful. :)
Second... I love, love, love both scenes between Killian and Gold inside his shop. I love Killian's lines and his banter as he struggles to remain strong while he's being forced to do Gold's bidding against his will, in spite of feeling so heartbroken knowing he's going to die soon once Gold gets around to crushing his heart.
And third... I love the moment inside Town Hall between Killian and Henry, as Killian is there on Gold's orders to kidnap Henry for Gold. I love how Henry calls Killian a dirty pirate, to which Killian responds, "Dirty... I bathe quite frequently, thank you very much." Their banter continues when Killian is happy to hear that Emma used the word "together" upon hearing Henry talking about their relationship.
One thing I love about Killian for within this scene... I think Killian focuses on the wrong words Henry says to him because Killian understands that Henry is under the spell's influence and therefore knows Henry doesn't mean any of the unkind words he's saying to him. And he cares very much about Henry, who he knows cares about him too. So I really appreciate this about him.
Killian then finally gets inside through Regina's spell until he unfortunately falls hard on the marbles Henry put out on the floor in front of the door to try to slow down anyone who breaks inside much like Kevin in Home Alone, which is pretty hilarious too. And to make things worse... Killian then runs into Will Scarlet after he gets back up to his feet and attempts to chase after Henry. Will still has a quarrel with him due to when Killian gave him a black eye and attacked him under Gold's influence back in the episode... The Apprentice. It's a good thing Killian is able to defeat him pretty easily. Very funny and so good. :)
Will really is simply a character who pops up every now and again for scenes such as this one, and I like his character for this reason. He is strangely listed as one of this season's main characters, which really makes no sense to me, because his character really has no real purpose for being here in this show, other to have scenes with certain characters like this one and others he has with Killian. And in truth... I am happy Will doesn't have a bigger role, because these surprise and funny moments for him are all that I like about his character.
Dont feel bad. I cry every time I see that part of the episode where Ingrid destroys herself...
Now, as for Ingrid's backstory with young Emma... while I feel they are the weaker scenes throughout the episode overall, I still really love this backstory that shows how Ingrid not only gets to know Emma when she's young, but also how the Snow Queen later comes to be in Storybrooke, and we see a scene between them just after Emma first arrives in Storybrooke herself inside Ingrid's ice cream parlor, known as Any Given Sundae.
The only minor nitpick I have with this scene... is that back when Emma had just arrived in Storybrooke, and we know it's early on because the time that appears onscreen is 2011 just after Emma first arrives in Storybrooke with Henry, and Emma mentions she is going to call Graham for help upon seeing Ingrid is apparently stalking her... Ingrid swiftly uses magic to pull out Emma's memories of her and into the crystal, when magic didn't exist yet in Storybrooke. Maybe she was able to use magic because Emma is the Savior and we know that magic could come back at certain times because of her. But I'm not so sure. Maybe this was a misstep, or maybe Emma being there was what allowed Ingrid to use magic. Either way... I still enjoy this scene.
What I love most about the past storyline is seeing how Ingrid makes the mistake of pushing young Emma, as well as Emma upon her arrival in Storybrooke... too far, much too fast. They're sad, even heartbreaking moments, especially upon seeing young Emma had almost been adopted and felt loved for such a brief time by someone, only for her to wind up getting hurt all over again. And you can also really see Ingrid's love for Emma too. Had she not attempted to push Emma into her powers, then perhaps she and Ingrid could have been happy together and Ingrid could have been able to let go of her plan. However, if this was so, then we wouldn't have this beautiful show that I love so much! Things had to happen as they did for us to get to the point in everyone's lives we're at now.
As for present day Storybrooke under the influence of the Snow Queen's Spell of Shattered Sight... oh my gosh, these scenes between the characters are hilarious. I love seeing Regina become the Evil Queen again so briefly. I love the banter between her, Mary Margaret, and David, as well as between her, Emma, and Elsa too. I love the sword battle between Regina and Mary Margaret inside the sheriff's station while David is trapped still in the jail cell. And I love the overall banter back and forth between Mary Margaret, David, Anna, and Kristoff. So adorable and hilarious. I especially love the banter when David mocks Kristoff about being an ice man and how all of Arendelle is frozen... a fantastic nod to the Disney movie, Frozen. :)
I love how Emma and Elsa work together to discover a way to destroy the ribbons around their wrists. And I love that they are quickly able to figure out they can use Regina's current hatred while under the spell to counteract Ingrid's love. Although... Emma really should have put up a new containment spell over Regina's vault in order to keep Regina inside once they did what they needed to do. Emma's lucky Regina didn't kill her parents or brother.
And I love how Anna finally joins them upon finding hers and Elsa's parents' letter to them along with the memory stones containing the memories the rock trolls had taken from all of Arendelle of Ingrid and Helga. The moment between Anna and Ingrid is beautiful and heartbreaking. I love it!
Also... I love the moment between Anna and Kristoff once again on the beach after Regina poofs them away, as Kristoff sadly continues to complain under the spell's influence. It's a sad moment, but I love how Kristoff's lines are still funny in Kristoff's way, because it's who he is. And he and Anna are just so adorable together. I love them! Sadly, Anna has to render Kristoff unconscious by striking him across the back of his head with the glass bottle, in order to save his life. Thankfully, this allows for Anna to find her parents' message in the bottle. Perfect!
And lastly, to go along with one of my favorite moments... I absolutely love how Killian pleads with Gold to leave Emma and all of Storybrooke alone now that the Snow Queen's threat has been taken care of, as a last request. And I love how Gold eerily and darkly responds that so long as the heroes don't stand in his way, they have nothing to fear from him, yet he can't promise such for the rest of the world. This moment is so sad because Killian is so broken upon knowing he's going to die soon, yet so amazing because Gold is so sinister and cruel. I love, love, love this scene!!! I hate Gold for his continued plan to hurt so many people, especially Killian as he's been doing. But I cant help but still love his character. He's definitely a character everyone loves to hate. :)
Overall... such a beautiful and phenomenal episode! I love seeing all of the townsfolk including Granny and the dwarfs fighting one another under the spell's influence, then seeing them hug one another as the snow begins to fall once the spell is finally broken. And I love, love, love seeing Regina, Mary Margaret, and David begin to laugh upon the spell breaking as well once they all see Regina dressed once again as the Evil Queen and remember how they were fighting one another, then seeing them join their loved ones outside along with Elsa and Anna too. Seeing them laughing with one another after all is said and done... it really does show just how far they've all come. Everything about this episode is brilliant!
Thank you so much once more, for another phenomenal and fun reaction, Jessie!!! I'm so happy you enjoyed this episode so much!! :) I can't wait for the next episode!!! Until then, my friend...
Sincerely,
Heidi
In regards to there being no magic in Storybrooke, remember back in the penultimate episode of Season 1. Regina takes Jefferson to her vault and she uses some of her old trinkets from the Enchanted Forest to power the hat so they can recover the apple she needed for the turnover.
Just because Storybrooke had no magic, didn't mean that magical objects completely lost their power. At least thats how i come to understand it, like they had their own magic baked into them so i'm assuming its the same with Ingrid's memory rocks too. Plus remember the Dragon, he had magic despite living in the Land Without Magic, so it is possible for magic to appear in our world just very likely in small bursts and under certain circumstances.
Honestly i love Once Upon a Time, but much like Charmed it's continuity got a little wishy-washy later on. But for the most part allot of it can be explained away if you give it a bit of thought...in my case probably way more thought than necessary. 😅😅😅
I was ten! - always cracks me up. Regina, Snow and David are comedy gold in this episode.
Rumple and his relationship with magic is the supernatural version of an addict. This back and forth with power and greed and magic is like a real life alcoholic journey and battle.
Rumple and Belle show us what it's like to love an addict. It is a very hard and difficult journey, and they portrayed it to a tee.
honestly belle annoys me more than rumple in this case. rumple's back and forth is understandable and entertaining both for his individual arc and overall plot progression. but her dilema doesn't even exist as someone who loves an addict. she immediately forgives nay DEFENDS his crimes and is soooo naive to his manipulations. like how is a person so smart yet so dumb???? my animated belle would NEVAH
I cried when this episode first aired. And i still cry now. I loved Ingrid's character. Also this is my favourite piece if music from the whole show too. Damn Mark Isham did a phenomenal job here.
Edit: also agree about Rumple. I don't know how much i can say without spoiling it. But the way Rumple is written from this Season onwards feels like a completely different character to the first three Seasons. Like yeah, he still did some evil/dark stuff before, like he was not winning any 'Hero of the Week' awards, but it was all in service to find and reunite with Baelfire/Neal. And to finally become be the kind of man his son would look up to. Whereas now he is purely doing evil for evil's sake. I genuinely think the writers had no idea what to do with him now that he was back since he'd already achieved his endgame with Baelfire/Neal. So they fell back on the whole 'he's a villainous puppet master, it's what he does.' Problem is, now he's a puppet master without an end goal in mind, and everybody in town knows or suspects he is doing something evil now. Allot of his darker deeds in past Seasons they wete able to forgive (to an extent) because ultimately his endgame was he just wanted his son back, and he even willingly gave his life over that.
But now, everybody knows or suspects he's doing something shady, and they all know he doesn't have anything good planned.
Mild spoiler...only of you want it. Nothing plot related just a small hint...
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...it takes a while, but they do eventually get him back on track. Season 7 is a very devisive Season but this is arguabley when he is truly back on track. I personally love Season 7 while the first half of the main narrative is definitely a bit weak it is saved by the supporting characters, and Rumple is ome of those saving graces. But in the meantime be prepared for him to get allot worse...he will legit piss you off in Season 5 my mum loved Rumple even at his worst but during Season 5 she flat out hated him.
for me ingrid has never been a villain, she wanted just a family like her
his back and forth with good and bad is understandable but i do agree the lack of a proper motivation for him to keep indulging in the bad does make it a tinge harder to digest the story. and at this stage in the case its not even that bad like it gets so much worse (ik you've watched way ahead but i dont wanna majorly spoil still) making him plainly power hungry kinda diluted his character to a 1dimensional villain. his first attempt to seek dark magic came from pure intentions to protect his son then find him. later belle's love and losing her got added to the equation. his battle with pan is when we truly saw him use the dark magic for a good reason, to actively protect others putting his life on the line. being enslaved to zelena and losing his son for good really did the deal. being controlled by her for so long is what really made him want to break free from the dagger. all of that is undertaken. BUT what feels weird is why he is so power hungry. wanting to keep his powers is one thing cause ofcourse he's used to it now anyone would. but the need to dominate others and manipulate belle to this extent is regressing him in a boring way. s5 makes it worse. and after all of this seeing him on s7 is odd cause you wonder how he is suddenly like that and why hasnt he been like it if he was always capable of it.
I agree with everything you said, you are right