Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: B+ | 397 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT Take Heart
By Cindy McLennan | Season 2 | Episode 16 | Aired on 2013.03.10
Rumpy tells her that spinning straw into gold is her way out, and he's just the fae, speckled, maniac to teach her how. As Cora mocks his claims, Rumpy proves his point. People who know more about spinning than I mock how this process works on screen, but come on. They're spinning straw into gold. I've already suspended my disbelief. It's not long before Rumpy presents Cora with one of his trademark contracts. He'll turn all the straw into gold by morning, if she will agree to surrender her firstborn child. Cora is surprised to learn said child will be a daughter, but Rumpy explains that away when he mentions he can see the future.
Cora will agree to the deal, provided Rumpy teaches her how to spin the gold, instead of doing it for her. Rumpy likes her gumption, so he bows and introduces himself using his name. At first, I didn't like that he gave her his name, since it is such a feature of the original fairy tale, but the more I think about it, I'm fine with it -- mostly because of how the rest of their story plays out, but also, his name is still a key feature of his story, since it appears on the dagger. We flash forward to...
Storybrooke. Gold's Shop. Back Room. At his instruction, Emma brings him an apparently empty glass jar. When she hears something clinking inside, she pulls out a piece of what Rumpy explains is invisible magic chalk. Really? That's what you came up with, Jane? You wrote for BtVS for how many years? Not that there's anything wrong with invisible magic chalk. I guess. Rumpy tells Emma to draw a line across the front doorway, and tells the rest of the gang to prepare for battle.
Charming, Neal and Emma beat Snow out of the room. Once Rumpy has her alone, he asks her to get a heavier blanket out of the cabinet. Inside, instead of a blanket, she finds the Life-for-a-Life candle. Snow recognizes it instantly. Holding it, she turns to Rumpy and asks, "Why do you have this?" Rumpy smiles through the pain. "For a rainy day."
Out in the front section of the shop, Jennifer Morrison gets down on her knees and thanks her Middle School acting teacher for making her practice miming all those years ago, and then in character as Emma, she starts drawing an invisible, magical chalk line across the doorway. As she scribbles, Neal teases that she missed a spot, then gets a little self-righteous as he sneers and says he didn't know she was magical. Emma calls him out on that. "Oh my. Are you being judge-y about this? 'Cause you're not allowed to have opinions about surprises, Mr. Son-of-Rumpelstiltskin." Oh Emma, you're choosing to shame him about his parentage, when you could still be giving him a ration for getting teenaged you imprisoned for his crimes? You are made of true love.