Monday 13 February 2012

Once Upon A Time 1.12 - Skin Deep


It's no secret that my favourite fairytale is Beauty and the Beast. I mean, I named my daughter 'Belle'. 
So THIS was the week I've been looking forward to since day one.
I'm so glad, it didn't disappoint!

Written by the amazing Jane Espenson (Buffy, Torchwood, BSG), I knew this episode had to be a hit.

In Fairytale Land, we meet Belle, played wonderfully by Lost's Emilie de Ravin.
Belle's father's kingdom is threatened by the Ogre wars, and Belle suggests they bring in Rumpelstiltskin to help.
Of course, when Rumpel helps, a price must be paid. This time his price is Belle...and thus Rump becomes our Beast in this tale.

Rumpel takes Belle to his castle and, of course, like in the story, they start to fall in love.
They share a few very sweet moments, including Rumpel catching her in his arms when she falls from a height, and an adorable chipped teacup moment. (That was so awesome, right?!)



Rumpel allows Belle to take a trip to town and, sadly, here's where things go wrong.
Belle 'runs into' the Evil Queen. (Dun dun DUN!)
Belle confesses her love for Rumpel to the Queen, but she fears that he has a dark streak that she won't be able to break.
The Queen tells Belle that true love's kiss can break any spell...And Belle rushes home to Rumpel.

I LOVED Rumpel standing at the window, waiting for Belle. That small smile on his face when he sees her return...Beautiful.
Belle enters and kisses her Beast, who then begins to change into the man he once was. She's overjoyed and tries to kiss him again, but he stops. He gets angry and assumes Belle is working with the Queen. No one could possibly love him.
He locks Belle away in the dungeon.

He later releases her and tells her to get out of his sight forever. Before she leaves, she calls him a coward for not taking a chance. He replies that he's not a coward--his power just means more to him than she does. She doesn't believe it and tells him he doesn't believe she loves him and, in a wonderful parting line, Belle says, "All you'll ever have is an empty heart and a chipped cup."



Seemingly weeks later, The Queen pays Rumpel a visit. She tells him that when Belle went home, her father thought her in league with 'the beast', locked her in a tower and tortured her for information until she eventually jumped to her death.

Over in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold's shop has been broken into. Emma is on the case (and nothing appears to be stolen) but Gold finds the thief first.
The thief is none other than Mr. French...Belle's father's Storybrooke counterpart.
Gold beats Mr. French, asking him who sent him to steal 'the object', where is it...and then he seems to get confused when he shouts that 'she's never coming back and 'he was her father'.

Emma walks in and saves Mr. French...and arrests Mr. Gold.
Regina comes to the police station and offers Emma 30 minutes with Henry....because she wants to be alone with Gold.
Missing her son, Emma takes Regina up on her offer and then some wonderful things happen...

Regina demands Mr. Gold tell her his name. He plays dumb for awhile, until we learn that it was Regina who sent Mr. French to Gold's shop and she just happens to have 'the object' with her.
She promises to give it back...if he tells her his name.
"Rumpelstiltskin", is Gold's reply. *gasp!*
He then goes on to call Regina, "Your Majesty"...and Regina hands over the stolen object.
The chipped cup that Belle had broken in Rumpel's castle. *sniffle*


And, of course, this wouldn't be Once Upon A Time without a twist...so at the very end, we see Regina enter a mental hospital (and NICE nod to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, there!)...and in the basement, locked up in a tiny room, sitting in the corner on the floor...is Belle. 
Ahhhhhh, right?!

Oh, and as a little side plot, Ashley (Cinderella) and her boyfriend get engaged and David gives Mary Margaret the Valentine's day card meant for Kathryn.



So! What questions do we have this week?
-Regina and Gold both know the other remembers Fairytale Land. What happens next?!
-When will Gold find out about Belle?
-When will Katheryn find out about Mary and David?
-When will Gold cash in his 'favour' from Emma?

Highlights--
-Robert Carlisle's AMAZING performance! (one again!)
-Did you see the Buffy-scythe in Gold's shop?! And the sorting hat from Harry Potter?!
-The adorable nod to Chip!
-The name on Mr. French's flower van was "Game of Thorns'. Ha!
-Belle's beautiful (and perfect!) costumes.
-Gaston turns into a rose!

What did YOU think of Skin Deep? As always, comment are very welcome!

Until next week, Oncers!




7 comments:

  1. Another great review! I think this was my favourite episode so far! I absolutely love Robert Carlyle as Rumpelstiltskin, he is perfect. In this episode I loved Rumpel even more, and of course the Evil Queen was as awesomely evil as ever. I have to admit when all is said and done I hope Rumpel and Belle get to be together <3 Emilie de Ravin was wonderful. I'm going to have to watch this one again, I missed the items in Gold's shop!

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    1. Thanks, Laurie! I completely agree...This was also my favourite episode so far!

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  2. Hello! I am obsessed with "beauty and the beast" story arcs!! I was so happy to see Emile de Ravin play Belle! (I remember her from Roswell)!
    Dangit, I missed the scythe and the sorting hat!

    All in all, I thought it was a great episode. The episode is amply named since we see beyond Rumpleskilstin/Gold persona. More and more I am warming up to his character. Even though the evil queen is visually spectacular (Ahh! I want to make every single one of her costumes) she is just damn right evil! Belle.I was surprised that the mayor knew who Gold was. I wonder what tipped her to that idea? Had she always known she was the Queen? Are they the only characters who know? I thought it was it an evil council who made the spell. Are other members of the evil council present in storybrook and do they also know who they really are???

    AHHH! I love this show so much! Can't wait until I can collect a season so I spot all the details!!

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    1. I completely agree about the Queen's costumes! Did you see her umbrella this week? LOVED it!

      Regina knows who EVERYONE in Storybrooke is, yes. She had help with the spell, but she thought she was the ONLY person who would remember anything about Fairytale Land. The spell itself did come completely from her. The others just added their 'essence' (for lack of a better word) to it.
      She's always known she is the Queen, just like she knows Mary Margaret is Snow, David is Charming, Ruby is Red, etc.
      As far as we know (now), Regina and Gold are the only two who remember.

      I am assuming some of the evil council (great name for them! lol) are present in Storybrooke...but we have yet to see them, and I don't think they'll know who they are IF they're in Storybrooke.

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  3. I saw the sorting hat. But wondered if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had to remember long and hard about Belle's story. But thankfully we had gone to Disney Live not that long ago. So the Rose part wasn't totally "lost - no pun indented" on me. I like that you find all these clues each week. Thanks for that. where were you during Lost lol ;)

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    1. Ha! During Lost I was over on Nikki Stafford's blog, Nik at Nite, learning from the best! :P

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  4. This episode was hands down my favorite. I cried so much watching the end of it. I'm still tearing up thinking about it!

    I can't wait until they do more on these two characters. Belle was always my favorite Disney Princess (well, her and Jasmine) growing up and I dressed up as her on more than one Halloween.

    Thank you for reviewing this show every week. I saw your reviews and was reminded that when I had time, I actually wanted to sit down and watch this show. So I've been watching an episode or two each day the past week and this is the one I just saw.

    It's by far one of my favorite shows now. =)

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