Once Upon a Time: Labor Pains

First Aired November 27th, 2016.

Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (played by Robert Carlyle) chases a fairy through a boiler room and uses magical powder to age her to an old woman. Belle (played by Emile de Ravin) realizes he plans to use the powder to accelerate her pregnancy and use the magical shears to steal their son.

Belle is met in her dreams by her unborn son (played by Giles Matthey), who begs her to save him from Gold. Hook (played by Colin O’Donoghue) realizes they can use squid ink to paralyze Gold and take the shears. The Evil Queen (played by Lana Parrilla) attempts to kill the Wicked Witch/Zelena (played by Rebecca Mader) for Gold, but is stopped by Regina, who threatens to crush their shared heart and forces her to leave. But Regina makes it clear she can never forgive Zelena for the role she played in Robin Hood’s (played by Sean Maguire) death. Emma (played by Jennifer Morrison) and Hook use the ink on Gold, but Emma has more visions that stun her, allowing Gold to escape. Flashbacks show Rumple stealing a baby and forcing Belle to take care of it while he prepares a ritual for it. While he’s gone, she attempts to find out what he’s up to by translating an incantation, but Rumple merely used her to translate it to complete his spell. In the present, Gold tracks down Belle to accelerate her pregnancy, but after an emotional exchange where she asks if it’s worth losing her forever, he leaves.

The Nightmare on Elm Street inspired opening was great and a fitting element since much of the episode dealt with dreams. Zelena has one sister who wants to kill her, and another who can’t forgive her: she’s run out of family. With all the focus on Gold and the Evil Queen, it seems the Land of Untold Stories plot is officially over. Gold and the Evil Queen are great villains, but the entire storyline with the Land of Untold Stories now feels like an afterthought. Half the season was invested in that story, and for it to not even get a proper ending feels like a waste of fan’s time. When compared with everything happening in the present, the flashbacks were boring. Sure they related to the main story, but not every episode needs flashbacks. Belle managed to get through to Gold at least briefly, but he’s too stubborn and tragic to ever come around. The only real question is how much worse can Gold make his already bad relationship with his family.

Jasmine (played by Karen David) uses a lamp, hoping to find Agrabah by wishing herself there, but finds there is no genie. Aladdin (played by Deniz Akdeniz) decides to trap himself in the lamp as a genie in order to help Jasmine. Flashbacks show the Blue Fairy (played by Keegan Connor Tracy) freeing Belle so she can save the baby before Rumple uses it to summon the evil Black Fairy (played by Jamie Murray). Rumple summons the Black Fairy and reveals he is her son and asks why she abandoned him. She claims it was for power before she leaves, and Belle returns the baby to its parents. In the present, while drinking tea in the diner, Belle’s pregnancy accelerates, and she realizes her drink was spiked with the potion. She gives birth in the convent and has the Blue Fairy take the baby away to keep him out of Gold’s reach, which her son requested in her dream just before his birth. Gold is devastated when he finds out and Belle refuses to even tell him his name (Gideon) and he vows to find their son.

The entire subplot with Aladdin and Jasmine felt like it was an afterthought while the episode was being written. Their story isn’t over since Jasmine didn’t wish themselves to Agrabah, but whether they play any role in the finale remains to be seen. Rumple is the son of the Black Fairy, because what’s another long-lost family member in this tangled family tree? Besides, if these characters keep getting multiple flashback episodes per season, there needs to be new material to cover. The average pregnancy in Storybrooke has only been about two months and that’s something women in real life would probably love. Belle made the tough choice to give up her son and now Gold is right back where he started in the series beginning; finding a son taken from him. Although Once generally faults itself by repeating storylines too often, the tragic course of Gold’s family life makes his journey all the more enjoyable to watch.

The Evil Queen visits Gold and admits she accelerated Belle’s pregnancy, and he swears revenge and trashes his shop in anger at losing another son. Emma and Hook go to the shop looking for answers to her visions, and find the sword used to kill her in the vision and resolve to find the person who will kill her. Gold has managed to push everyone close to him out of his life, even his evil allies, but somehow I have a feeling he’s going to sink lower. Now that Emma has the weapon that will kill her, she should just destroy it to stop the prophecy instead of hunting down a mystery person.

Quotes/Thoughts

“I play a very long game, and you, you’re nothing more than one of my pawns.”

Let’s be honest, there’s virtually no chance Emma is going to die. But without her “death” visions, she doesn’t have much else to show for this season.

“Why even bother saving me?” “Because that’s what heroes do Zelena. They save people, even the people who have hurt them in unimaginable ways.”

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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