Once Upon a Time REACTION - S01E12 - Skin Deep

Beauty is "skin deep". A perfect phrase and title for a beautiful twist of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale here on Once Upon a Time. And what a beautiful episode overall as a whole it was. I really loved that we were introduced to Belle in this episode and that the creators chose to make the Dark One a different version of the Beast. It's brilliant and this episode was so well written and so well acted between both Robert Carlyle (like always) and Emilie De Ravin. Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite Disney movies, and I feel that Once Upon a Time created a beautiful and an amazing twist on its fairytale. I love it! This episode isn't one of my overall favorites throughout the season, but I really do love it. Also... I have seen Robert Carlyle in several other movies and for the most part, whether I have liked the movies or not, he's always brilliant just as he is as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold. And as for Emilie De Ravin... I never watched the show Lost because I really have no interest in the show, but I have seen her in a few other movies, as well as another old short lived TV series titled Beastmaster. And I really liked her in most of what I have seen with her as well. Oh... and she's actually Australian by the way. Not British like a number of the actors on this show are. Robert Carlyle is very Scottish and if you do watch him in other movies, you will see that he tames his accent quite a bit for his role in Once Upon a Time. Normally, his accent is so thick and heavy that he's sometimes hard to understand what he's saying. It's beautiful and I love the Scottish/Irish accents. You should look up a few interviews with Robert Carlyle to see what I mean. Ones that won't give away anything about what's to come on the show, but early interviews and you'll see what I mean. But back to my thoughts about the episode... I really enjoy how Belle comes to live with Rumple at his castle, in a deal he makes to save Belle's family and people from the ogres invading their kingdom. "No one determines my fate but me." A very powerful and beautiful quote from Belle and I love how brave she is to take on the burden of becoming the Dark One's servant. And yet... we learn throughout the episode that she didn't do it simply to save her family and people, but because she also hoped that doing so would bring about an adventure for a hero... someone she longs to be since there aren't many ways in that day or age for women to do so. Now... remaining Rumple's prisoner doesn't give her much of an opportunity for Belle to go out to see the world like she hoped, but she does discover that Rumplestiltskin isn't as much of a "beast" or monster like everyone fears. And for the first time in his life, someone sees beyond his skin and darkness, and she sees the good still inside of him, which allows for her to fall in love with him. And her love helps to bring out a little more of the goodness in him she sees. Throughout this episode, we see Belle and Rumple become friendly with one another. So much so, that Rumple even tells her a little of Baelfire and how he had lost his son and wife, to what still remains a mystery. And for him to even speak of his son to anyone... it shows just how much he really had come to care for Belle too. And I absolutely love, love, love the moment between them with the chipped cup and how this cup comes to be a precious keepsake for them both. That it becomes a special symbol of their love. So beautiful. And then... Rumple tests Belle to see if she would return from a trip into town for straw, and she meets the Evil Queen on her way. And unfortunately, or maybe not so unfortunately... she gets into Belle's head and uses Belle as a source to try to make Rumplestiltskin not so much of a threat to her so that she can become even more powerful than him, which we learn later on. It's brilliant, but I'll come back to that later. Regina tells Belle that True Love's Kiss is powerful enough to break any curse, including the "Dark One curse." To be honest... as beautiful of a scene as this moment is when they do share True Love's Kiss and Rumple's skin begins to transform, I find it mostly annoying because I've always seen the "Dark One curse" as more than any other curse and it is. The previous Dark One, Zoso, tells Rumple that the darkness can only be destroyed in a person through death upon being stabbed by someone else with the Dark One dagger, which in turn transforms the killer into the next Dark One. So this moment with their shared kiss kind of bends that law of the Dark One in a way that doesn't really work. However, I can understand what the writers and show's creators were trying to do and that's that they were trying to establish that Belle and Rumplestiltskin are this show's next True Love couple behind Snow White and Prince Charming. And I can appreciate that. So many fans of this show absolutely love Belle and Rumple together, and so do I. They're not my favorite True Love couple, but I do love them together for sure. For me... I believe that had Rumple given into love and let go of his lust for power in that moment instead of fighting against it, that Belle would have brought out the man buried within the beast that much sooner, even though the darkness would have still been buried within him as well, making it a constant struggle for him day by day to suppress the darkness. Sadly, the beautiful moment between them is shattered when Rumple realizes Belle had been talking to the Evil Queen and he suddenly goes into a dark rage and I feared he was about to really hurt her, if not even kill her. But then once he locks her back in her dungeon, he goes back into the grand hall of his castle and begins to smash everything in sight, until he once again holds the chipped teacup in his hands, which gets him to finally stop. As for the moment Rumple is yelling at the mirror in talking to the Evil Queen... earlier in the episode Belle believes that Rumple covered up all of his mirrors so that he wouldn't have to look at himself in them, believing he's just ashamed of his appearance. And while that is true too, I believe he also has done so, so that Regina can't use her Magic Mirror to spy on him through his own mirrors. Which Regina and Sidney can do, as we've from past episodes. Just like you mentioned too. Later in the episode, after Rumple had locked Belle back in the tower within a fit of rage until he eventually sets Belle free from her servitude... the Evil Queen comes to his castle and taunts him about Belle's tragedy. Now... we don't know how much of Regina's story is true, or if all of it is a lie she uses to taunt him, but Rumple absolutely believes it and is devastated upon learning Belle is dead and that she had been ruined thanks to her father's cruelty. Which at last brings us to the present day storyline in Storybrooke with Gold and Moe French. First... I love that his and Belle's last name from the curse is French, a nod once again to the Beauty and the Beast tale, because in the tale they live in a small French provincial town. I like that Moe in his cursed state breaks into Gold's home to steal the chipped cup thanks to Regina's meddling, and that Gold seeks Moe out to make him pay for what's happened to Belle, even if Moe himself doesn't understand why. We don't know in fact what Moe believes he might have done to his daughter. But then Gold goes hostile and starts to beat him with his cane in a dark rage and probably would have killed Moe had Emma not suddenly shown up to stop him. I also love how this moment flashes back and forth between Gold beating Moe, to Rumplestiltskin smashing everything in sight within his castle until he picks up the chipped cup and finds the will to stop before he breaks it. Then... Emma arrests Gold for his assault against Moe and this is when one of the best scenes within this episode occurs between Gold and Regina. I love that Regina finally gets Gold to admit he's awake by simply stating his true name. And this moment gives you a slight punch in the gut because it's just so perfectly acted and whoa... Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Lana Parrilla as Regina/the Evil Queen is phenomenal as well, especially when she's acting opposite of Robert Carlyle. I haven't really seen her in too much else, but in what I have seen her in, her roles aren't so nearly dominant like she is as Regina/the Evil Queen. In regards to why Regina confronts Gold about whether or not he's awake now... she's been testing him subtlety throughout the season so far, ever since their conversation at the very of the second episode, The Thing You Love Most, when Gold first uses the word please to get her to do what he wants her to do for him. And I really like this about their relationship a lot. Oh... and as far as how long they've been living cursed for and for how long time has been frozen for... it's been twenty-eight years. Emma is only twenty-eight years old and Henry is ten years old. And we know that Regina has been awake all along, as she's the one who cast the curse. But as for how long Rumple's been awake... it's only been since the moment Gold first heard Emma announce her name at the end of the Pilot episode when he comes to Granny's to collect her payment. Earlier in the Pilot... Rumple screams at the Charmings to give him their daughter's name in exchange for knowing the truth about the curse. This is why. Because Emma's name is the trigger word that would allow for him to wake up and become his true self. For all twenty-eight years... Rumple's been as cursed as everyone else. :) As for the whole timeline... it's most definitely complicated. Now... I really do like the small storyline with Ashley and Sean, and the whole girls night out scene. And I absolutely love that Sean comes to see Ashley on his break for Valentines Day and proposes to her. It's brief and simple, but so sweet. And this brings me to the cringe moment for me... with David and Mary Margaret when David gives Mary Margaret the wrong Valentines Day card. I don't like this scene at all, because they're not the Charming and Snow White we know and that I love. I don't like this moment and while I know and understand why they're drawn to one another, because they truly love each other. The scenes with them and their kiss shared in the episode 715 AM I still like despite it being wrong, and I even enjoy their flirting inside Granny's Diner at the beginning of this episode, but this scene with the mixed up cards makes David appear ridiculous, or incompetent. That's why I brought up my thoughts about how the curse works over everyone, as well as Josh Dallas's (David) comments from his interview I spoke of in my own comments for the last episode... Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. I wanted to try to explain why David appears to be so off in everything he says and does in regards to his love for Mary Margaret, and his feelings towards not telling Kathryn the truth and why he doesn't leave her like he should. And lastly... one final big reveal and that's when Regina walks down into the mental ward of the hospital to check on a patient... and we learn that Belle is alive after all and that no one knows so, including Gold. Not a word was spoken and there was no need for there to be. A brilliant scene and moment within the episode. Thank you again so much for another fun reaction! I always enjoy watching your reactions for every episode of my favorite show. So thank you! Until your next Once Upon a Time reaction... :)

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum