Once Upon a Time: Family Business (4x06)

Wow, Rumple is the worst. Seriously. He's terrible. But... I'll get to that in a minute.

Let's start in the character's pasts. We start with Belle, back before she met Rumple. The Ogre Wars are raging, and Belle and her mother are in the library. An Ogre shows up, overturns a table where they are hiding, and - the next thing Belle knows, she is waking up, and her mother is dead. She cannot remember what happened. Her father refuses to fill her in on the details, so Belle decides she is going to travel to Arendelle, where she has heard there are rock trolls that can help restore memories.

Meanwhile, Anna returns from her journey and reunites with Elsa. She doesn't tell Elsa what she's learned about their parents' journey, not wanting to upset her older sister. Anna is surprised to see that Elsa has been learning to control her magic with the help of Ingrid, their aunt. Elsa seems happy, but Anna is suspicious - why didn't their mother ever tell them she had a sister? Anna decides to travel to the rock trolls and see if she can get some answers. Along the way, she meets Belle, on her way to the same location. The two decide to travel together.

On the way, Anna tells Belle a bit about her recent adventures, telling her about a powerful sorcerer (Rumple) and about the Sorcerer's Hat, which can take away magic. Anna and Belle arrive at the home of the rock trolls, where they speak with Grand Pabbie. He gives Belle a magic stone, that she must take back to the place where she lost her memories. Then, if she puts the stone in some tea and drinks it, her memories will come back. Grand Pabbie also has some answers for Anna: apparently, her mother Gerda actually had two sisters: Ingrid and Helga. One day, Ingrid and Helga both vanished, and nobody could find them. Grand Pabbie erased the memories of everyone in Arendelle, and the two sisters were expunged from the records. Anna wonders why Ingrid wouldn't tell the truth.

As Belle and Anna make their way back, they realize that Ingrid is following them - she wants to stop Anna from telling Elsa what she's learned! Anna has a plan to use the Sorcerer's Hat to take away Ingrid's magic. At this point, the special stone that Belle needs to restore her memories falls from her hand. Belle struggles to reach it on the cliffs, while Anna hangs precariously off the edge. Belle continues to reach for the stone as Anna calls for help. Belle accidentally sends the stone flying off the edge, and in her determination to retrieve it, she is too late to stop Anna from falling from the cliff. Anna lands on the ground, and Ingrid shows up, whisking Anna away.

Belle returns to her father. Maurice reveals that he knows what happened to Belle's mother, but he didn't want to tell her for fear of causing her more pain. Apparently, she stepped in front of Belle and protected her from the Ogres. The guards were able to get Belle to safety, but Belle's mother died. Belle says she knows of a way to help them win the Ogre Wars - she has learned of a powerful sorcerer who might help them. She resolves to summon Rumplestiltskin.

Ingrid puts Anna in a cell. Anna says that Elsa will never stand for it, but Ingrid says she'll just tell Elsa that Anna was going to take her magic away with the hat. Ingrid says that Anna doesn't fit in with their family, since Ingrid and Elsa both have their magic powers in common. Ingrid resolves to find someone else to be a part of her family.

In Storybrooke, everyone gathers around to watch the video that Emma discovered in the previous video. David suggests that they all split up and try to track down this Snow Queen. Henry is able to give them an idea of where to look - apparently, the Snow Queen has an ice cream truck. So, Hook, Emma, and Regina search the woods, with Robin as their guide. Regina tells Robin that she can't think of any way to save Marian. Robin's only chance to save his wife is to forget about Regina and try to fall in love with his wife again.

They find the ice cream truck, and Emma finds a folder inside with old school projects and a card from her to Sarah (the Snow Queen/Ingrid). Emma is disturbed to think that such a long stretch of her life, a full six months, could be erased from her mind like that.

Rumple and Ingrid have a clandestine meeting, where Rumple tries to make a deal with her to get her to stop what she's doing. Ingrid reveals that she wanted Emma to learn about their past together, and also that she can't make any promises about who will or won't get hurt when she puts her plan into action. Belle works with Elsa to try to find something about Anna and Arendelle in the library. Belle feels guilty for hiding the truth from Elsa, but she does not tell her what happened when she met Anna all those years ago. Belle decides she has to do something to help.

She wants to go find the Snow Queen's hideout and steal the Sorcerer's Hat, which she is convinced is still in Ingrid's possession. Rumple says he cannot allow her to do something so dangerous, so Belle is forced to use the dagger on him to get him to go along with her. (Belle, of course, doesn't know that the dagger is a fake, and Rumple has to go along with what she says in order to keep up the ruse). Belle enters Ingrid's snow cave while Rumple stays outside to keep watch, on Belle's orders.

Inside Ingrid's lair, Belle finds a mirror with an image of herself inside of it. the Mirror!Belle says all sorts of horrible things about how  Belle is a coward and how she let Anna down. Mirror!Belle also tells her that Rumple only married her so that he would have someone to control, and that the dagger is a fake. When Rumple comes in to warn Belle that Ingrid is coming, Belle lashes out at him. Rumple transports them back to the shop and manages to calm her down, convincing her that Belle has the real dagger after all. Belle apologizes to Rumple for hurting him, and for keeping a secret about her past experience with Anna. Rumple goes back to talk to Ingrid, revealing that he has the Sorcerer's Hat, so he does in fact have leverage over her.

Elsa and Emma discover a record of Arendelle's royal line, and Elsa realizes that the Snow Queen is her aunt Ingrid (she of course has no memory of ever knowing Ingrid). Elsa also reads something strange about a prophecy... apparently, Ingrid is looking for someone named "Emma" to replace her lost sister. Belle turns up and reveals the truth about her past with Anna, apologizing for hiding it from Elsa. Belle also tells them about the mirror, and about a spell called "The Spell of Shattered Sight," which will make everyone in Storybrooke turn on one another. The town will fall to itself. The only people that will be left? Emma and Elsa. Ingrid wants to have her perfect family.

I guess I only have one serious complaint about this episode: Belle goes very dark, very quickly. I'm not talking about when the mirror manipulated her - that wasn't in her control. I'm talking about when she used the dagger to control Rumple. Wow. It didn't quite make sense to me that she would do this. She didn't even attempt to explain what was going on, or try to get him to help her just by asking. Rumple says that it's too dangerous, so instead of reasoning with him, she just turns on him? Yikes. It felt a bit extreme, to me.

Oh wait, I thought of another one. Grand Pabbie is such a weird exposition cop-out. I'm sorry, but I'd like at least a token explanation as to how he knows all of these things. It's a bit too convenient to have this all-powerful and benevolent force just sitting there ready to answer any and all questions. Usually, magic is supposed to "come with a price," but what price is Grand Pabbie paying for his extraordinary power, exactly? I'd love to know. (Although, that's John Rhys-Davies doing the voice, so I can't complain too much).

This episode was actually fairly unique, and it pushed some boundaries I wasn't expecting it to push, so overall I really enjoyed it.

First, the Robin and Regina scene, though brief, was really lovely. I was so pissed at Regina last week, and I'm still not totally over it, but I can't help but be touched by the way she treats Robin. She's not mad at him; she understands what he has to do. She is giving up what she sees as her last chance for true happiness in order to save Marian's life. Very touching. You can just see how badly Robin wants to be with Regina, but at the same time, can you imagine the guilt he would feel if he succumbed to that wish?

Not a lot of Hook/Emma stuff in this episode, but I did love it when Regina accused them of "making eyes" at each other. Too funny. His constant support and presence in Emma's life is very sweet.

Lots of female friendships showcased in this episode! I love the fact that Belle and Emma are both so welcoming of Elsa. It seems like Elsa is starting to feel welcome in Storybrooke, and even as she despairs about Anna, she has actually found a place where she might fit in. Of course, there's also the back story with Belle and Anna, which showcased a really lovely, innocent female friendship. Anna and Belle are both very sweet and simple characters, and yet as the story progresses, we see Belle's selfishness, and Anna's plans to take magic away from Ingrid... these two young women have darkness within them.

Then there's Rumple. Wow, Rumple. You are a terrible person. I almost put this under my complaints section, but actually I'm starting to get interested in how truly awful he is. He must feel guilty for this, right? As Belle cries and apologizes and says that she doesn't deserve to be with him, Rumple is sitting there with this giant secret, holding Belle and telling her it's all going to be okay. What a jerk! I hope we get to see the full ramifications of this soon. Rumple better not get off without some form of punishment for this.

I was a bit skeptical of Ingrid's master plan when we saw the pieces start to come together last week, but I think ultimately I like it. Now, we're left with the mystery of the third sister... what ever happened to her? And what were Elsa and Anna's parents trying to tell them with the message in the bottle, just before they died? What's going to happen when the entire town is forced to turn on one another? Will True Love have any effect on the spell, or will David and Mary Margaret turn on each other? Belle and Rumple? Emma and Hook? This is gonna be good!

Also, I love the weird symmetry of Elsa, Emma, and Ingrid, with their two-syllable, vowel-starting names, their blonde hair, and their magic powers. They would make quite  trio, if it weren't for the fact that Ingrid is pretty darn evil!

7.5/10