Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: A- | 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Rumpy's Choice
By Tippi Blevins | Season 1 | Episode 19 | Aired on 04.22.2012
Fairy Tale Land. Rumplestiltskin is spinning up some gold when Baelfire returns home with the good news. "Papa, I found a way for things to be like they were!" Rumpy grimaces and keeps on spinning right up until Bae mentions the Reul Ghorm. Rumpy recognizes that as the Blue Star, also known as the Blue Fairy. Bae says she can send them to a place without magic. Rumpy gets up and paces. "I'd be powerless! Weak." Bae reminds him they have a deal. "Are you backing out?" he asks. Rumpy thinks for a bit and then finally: "No."
Storybrooke. Mr. Gold knocks twice on Archie's office door, then thinks better of it and walks away. The door opens and Archie peers out, surprised to see him. "Mr. Gold? Are you here for the rent?" he asks. "Why does everyone always ask that?" Gold wonders. Archie gawks at him for a bit and then realizes Gold is there to talk. He invites him inside.
Next thing you know, they're already in mid-conversation. "A son?" Archie asks in response to the revelation we didn't witness. Everything about this meeting is a surprise to Archie, starting with the fact that they're even having it. He shakes himself out a bit. "I didn't know you had a son. How old is he?" Gold bypasses that: "Let's start with something easier." Gold confesses that his son may have come to town looking for him, but that he hasn't yet been approached. Gold doesn't know if this is actually his son or wishful thinking. He explains there was "conflict" between them, which Archie takes to mean Gold is angry at his son. Gold says it's the other way around. "Anger between a parent and a child is the most natural thing in the world," Archie says. "I think he might be here to try to kill me," Gold says. Archie: "That's... not." Heh. Gold tells him about letting go of his son and trying to fix things ever since and admits he doesn't know what to do now that his son might be here. Archie advises him to be honest and ask for forgiveness.
Gold confronts August in the dark and misty woods. "I know who you are, and I know what you're looking for," he says. August, who'd been skulking around a bit in the shadows, comes out to face him. "Well, then, I guess all the lying can stop, Papa."
But not before a commercial break and another trip to Fairy Tale Land, where Baelfire is leading Rumplestiltskin through the woods. Rumpy is having second thoughts about going to a world without magic. Bae tosses the bean to the ground. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, before Bae can run off to find some Miracle-Gro, the bean begins to glitter. A vortex of green light opens up in the soil. Rumpy freaks out. "My Gods, boy! It's like a tornado!" He backs away, stuttering about how it's a trick that will tear them apart. Bae takes his hand and pulls him toward the edge of the vortex. The ground starts to crumble beneath them. Bae slips. He dangles over the swirling chasm, his father's grip on his arm the only thing keeping him from falling through. Rumpy digs his knife into the earth to anchor himself. Bae pleads with him, but he just keeps saying "I can't, I can't." Bae screams at him, pleads with him not to break their deal, but Rumplestiltskin says he has to, and lets go of Bae's arm to get a better hold of his anchoring knife.