Once Upon a Time: Devil's Due (5x14)

Milah!!!! Gah. This episode. It wasn't perfect or anything, but it had another solid flashback plot and continued the Underworld story quite nicely.

Cons:

Regina had a subplot that I quite enjoyed for the most part, except for the fact that apparently her magic was on the fritz? There was something wrong with it and they didn't explain why she was having a hard time. Then, she and Snow quite randomly came across an injured horse, and Regina's magic was suddenly working fine again as she helped it. I felt like I was missing something. What was Regina's crisis that caused her magic to act strangely?

The main plot was awesome, but there is one unfortunate side effect of the story they're doing with Rumple right now - by the end of the episode, Rumple is working for Hades. Turns out, Hades has some serious leverage against him, so it makes sense, but still: Rumple and Hades working together is not nearly as interesting as having Rumple be the anti-hero, or play both sides, or literally anything else. Remember in Season One, when Rumple would sometimes help Regina, and sometimes help Emma, depending on what suited his greater mysterious purpose? That was awesome! I miss the days when we had really complex villains on this show. Nowadays, I understand exactly why Rumple is doing what he's doing. And Hades seems to be after nothing more complicated than souls. He's just greedy, I guess. I almost hope we get a Hades backstory so we can add some more meat to this character. Also, the blue hair is really distracting to me. The effect isn't even good!

One additional small complaint about Hades: by the end of this episode, he himself has chosen the three names to go on the gravestones that will apparently replace the souls that have moved on (Henry Sr,, Hercules, and Meg). That's fine, and I'm glad we're escalating that part of the story... but why even include the part where Hook was supposed to be forced to choose? He said no, and Hades said fine, and picked the names himself. I mean I guess I'm glad to see that Hook didn't turn on his friends... but is that really supposed to be surprising?

Pros:

I did like Regina's subplot quite a bit. Basically, she goes to Cruella to ask her for information about the gravestones in the Underworld. Cruella tells her that stones that are tipped over indicate that the person has moved on to a better place. Stones that are cracked mean that the person has moved on to a worse place. Any stone still standing unbroken indicates a person still in the Underworld. Snow goes with Regina to the graveyard and they find Daniel's stone, tipped over. Regina is happy to know that Daniel is in a better place, but laments that she didn't get to see him.

First of all, Cruella is hilarious and awesome. We didn't get any more of Henry helping her in this episode, but her brief appearance with Regina made me really excited for that to happen. Also, how sweet is it that Snow came with Regina to help her look for Daniel? It's the ultimate symbol of their healed relationship. Regina had always blamed Snow for Daniel's death, and now she'll allow Snow to comfort her as she contemplates the loss of her first love. That's some complex character growth right there!

The main story focused on Rumple. I was curious as to how they were going to keep him around in the Underworld, and I've got to say I'm pretty thrilled with the story we got here. I've been sort of ambivalent about Rumple's character for a while. Robert Carlyle gives an amazing performance, but it was getting a bit exhausting to be teased with redemption arcs and then have him fall off the wagon again and again. I've complained about this in the past several times. Here, for the first time I really understood the balance they've been trying to strike with Rumple.

So, the story is pretty basic: in flashback, we see that back when Rumple and Milah were still together, Bae was bitten by a venomous snake. They find a healer who has a cure, but it's very expensive. Milah tells Rumple to go and kill the healer and steal the cure, but Rumple can't bring himself to do it. He instead makes a deal with the healer: the cure for Bae, in exchange for Rumple's second-born child. Milah is horrified that Rumple would trade away their future like that, and she grows even more distant. Having recently met a certain dashing pirate at a bar, Milah realizes once and for all that her life with Rumple isn't what she wants.

In the Underworld, Rumple enlists Milah's help to save Killian. Milah helps, especially after Emma tells her that she saw Neal, and that he's in a better place. Emma gets in and rescues Hook, while Rumple has a chat with Hades: Hades agrees to let Rumple go so he can get back to Belle, but only if Rumple gets rid of Milah, and the boat that could have carried all the others out of the Underworld. Rumple does so, casting Milah into the river of lost souls and pretending that it was Hades who did it. We also learn why Rumple is willing to do such a despicable thing to Milah, just to get back to Belle. Turns out, Belle is pregnant, and even though Rumple later killed the healer with whom he had the deal, in the Underworld death doesn't void a contract. Hades buys the contract from the healer, meaning he now owns Rumple's unborn child, and can collect on that bet whenever he wants. Rumple will have to do whatever Hades wants.

Now that Hook has been rescued, Regina tries to split Emma's heart, but it won't work. Why? Well, Hades has chosen the three people who will be forced to stay in the Underworld: Snow, Regina, and Emma. This means that Emma's heart cannot be used to save Hook, and it means that the ladies are stuck in the Underworld - although this effectively means they're all stuck, since David, Robin, and Hook aren't exactly likely to leave without their true loves.

There are a lot of things to love about this plot thread. I hardly even know where to start!

Rumple's characterization is excellent - for all of his many, many evil deeds and serious flaws, we can see quite clearly that he wasn't always a bad man. Sure, he was a coward, but he genuinely didn't want to kill somebody, because he knew it would make him a monster. He made terrible choices back when he wasn't a villain, and he makes occasionally sympathetic choices as a bad guy, too. His love for his son, and his love for Belle, both make for a more nuanced character. He's trying to find a balance here: he wants to be the Dark One because he can't give up his power, but he did not want to cast Milah into the river of lost souls. He didn't want to betray her like that. He really does just want to get home to Belle, and figure out a way to protect their unborn child.

And that pregnancy twist was excellent! Early in the episode, you see Rumple ask a crystal ball device (that he created in his shop) to show him what he wishes to see. An image of Belle appears, and Rumple seems horrified. At first, it makes no sense. Even after we learn that Rumple once made a deal to give up his second-born child, it's hard to understand why the sight of Belle would be so horrifying to him... it's not like she looks pregnant or anything! Only at the very end do we get an explanation. He wasn't trying to see Belle in the crystal ball. He asked to see his child. He was looking for Bae, wanting to know that he had really moved on to a better place, and instead he was gifted with the sight of his second child, as yet unborn. Woah! Intense! Also, I must say: Belle does not deserve this crap. She should take that baby and get the hell away from Rumple for good. Although I don't really see how that's going to work at this point. This is a pregnancy twist I can get behind. Much better than the Marian/Zelena thing.

Milah's characterization got a good deal of focus here as well. When we see her in flashback, we see that she was actually quite cruel to her husband. Rumple made her unhappy, but she took it out on him in ways that might not have been called for. Her anger at him for making a deal with the healer was totally justified, but it was not justified of her to expect him to commit murder. And I loved how, when Milah and Rumple see each other again in the Underworld, Milah isn't really apologetic for leaving him - she wasn't happy in her marriage, and she found what she needed elsewhere. What she does regret, and what has kept her in the Underworld with unfinished business, was that in leaving Rumple she also abandoned her son. It's so tragic that she talks about moving on and finally being reunited with Bae - Rumple even assures her that Bae will forgive her as he forgave his father later in life. Instead of getting that reunion, Milah is cast into the river of lost souls. I hope that eventually they can find a way to save the people in there... but for the time being, it seems that this particular story ends in tragedy.

I expressed my annoyance at the idea of Rumple and Hades working together, but I do have to admit that getting these two actors in a room together brings out a lot of really excellent moments. Hades compliments Rumple on being a good "supplier" for Hades' trade in the souls of the dead. He points out that "Regina does okay, but you've been at it longer," and then laments that Regina hasn't been as murderous lately, and that he wants Rumple to be back upstairs continuing in his evil ways. Hades' sass is a thing wondrous to behold.

Then there's the awesomeness of Milah and Emma meeting - Rumple was having a little too much fun with all of this. Basically, Rumple tells Milah, quite gleefully, that Emma is not only Killian Jones' new flame... she also had a torrid affair with Milah and Rumple's son Baelfire, known to Emma as Neal. Milah, confused and a bit angry, asks Emma to confirm that she's been with both Killian (Milah's ex-lover) and Neal (Milah's son). Emma is appropriately flustered. Ha! But in the end, Emma and Milah have each other's backs. Milah still cares for Killian, and she craves a renewed relationship with her son. In some sense, Emma is the bridge that brings both of these men back to her.

Hook and Emma are reunited! Yay! Although the promo makes it look like things aren't going to be exactly smooth sailing, I'm still glad we're done with Hook being tortured by Hades. I loved their reunion. Great acting from Jennifer Morrison as Emma cradled the bleeding Hook in her arms. She's just so happy that he's okay that she doesn't even seem to notice the look of unease in his eyes when he learns that the plan is to split her heart so he can have half. Emma has had a one-track mind since Hook's death, and now that she's nearly reached her goal, the ramifications of what she's done to herself and to her entire family might start to catch up with her. She's now gotten herself, her mother, and the other mother of her son trapped in the Underworld. Yikes.

I loved Hook in this episode. The small moment when he realized that Milah had been close by and he hadn't gotten to see her... that really tugged at the heartstrings. And there was no weird jealousy angle going on here. Milah and Emma both knew that the relationship between Milah and Killian was long over, but that doesn't mean there wasn't still a connection between Milah and Killian, one that survived even death. Also, I loved that Hook told Rumple that they were even now, since Rumple had helped get him out of Hades' grasp. But just because Hook isn't actively trying to kill Rumple, that doesn't mean he forgives Rumple for negating his sacrifice. Rumple used Hook's death to get his own power back, and thus Hook's noble death was stolen from him. I'd love to see more of Hook's anger over this develop.

The thing I'm really enjoying about this story arc so far is that there's a good, solid reason for all of these people to be where they're at. Now that we've got Emma, Snow, and Regina stuck in the Underworld, that means that David and Robin can't go anywhere either. Hook can't even if he wanted to leave Emma, since he's still dead. Rumple has his job to do for Hades, whatever it is. And Henry can't exactly get out on his own, especially with the lingering Cruella subplot to finish up. All of these characters have interesting and complex motivations for where they are and what they're doing. I'm excited for all of it.

8/10