Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B+ | 460 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Hook, Line and Sinker
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2012.10.21
Wakes with a start. She sits up in bed and looks over to the empty place beside her, which is maybe a little more information than I wanted, Show. It's still dark when Belle makes her way downstairs and out to the yard. She's in her nightgown, which looks more like a slip, and Maine nights can get cold, so I shiver. Crouching down, she looks into the basement window, where she sees Rumpy spinning gold. He snips off a piece and drops it into a beaker that contains a dark blue liquid. With the addition of the gold, it bubbles up into pink and purple magiconium. Rumpy's expression is inscrutable as he observes the results through a magnifying glass. Title card.
The Enchanted Past. A pre-Dark-One Rumpy returns to his shack, calling for his wife Milah, but his young son Baelfire (Sebastian Wilkinson) is home alone. Rumpy makes excuses to the boy, claiming his Mum probably just lost track of time. He tells Bae to grab his cloak. They'll find her. We cut to a tavern, where Milah is whooping it up with a bunch of pirates, including the quite easy on the eyes Captain Killian Jones (Connor O'Donoghue). When Rumpy tells Milah it's time to go, she says, "Good. So go." Jones asks, "Who's this?" Milah: "Oh, it's no one." Her smile turns to a sneer. "It's just my husband." Rumpy averts his eyes. Jones: "Oh. He's a tad taller than you described." The pirates burst into raucous laughter that seems to imply Milah probably never mentioned her husband's height, but perhaps disclosed other measurements.
Rumpy winces, then covers with a smile. "Please. You have responsibilities." Milah belittles him for being an Ogre Wars deserter. She'd rather be a war widow than married to the village coward then adds, "Run home, Rumple. It's what you're good at." Just then, Bae enters. "Mama?" Rumpy gently reminds Bae that he was supposed to wait outside. When Milah catches sight of the boy, her smirk dissolves into a frown fraught with shame and guilt. She jumps up from her seat and hurries to the boy. Putting her arms on his shoulders, she hustles him out of the tavern. A grim-faced Rumpy silently follows.
Back home, Milah is already bundled up in bed, while Rumpy pours a cup of tea. "You don't really wish I'd died during...during the Ogre Wars, do you?" Milah: "I wish you'd fought. Don't you?" Rumpy: "Well, I'm alive. And I'm here with you. With Bae." Milah's voice is gentle as she says this isn't a life -- at least not for her. She suggests they leave and start over somewhere, where he doesn't have to be the village coward. They could see the whole world. Rumpy ignores her suggestion and says while he knows this isn't the life she wanted, it can be good. He asks her to try, if not for his sake, then at least for Bae's.