Once Upon a Time: Our Decay (5x16)

Eh... I care very little about Zelena even on the best of days, so a Zelena-centric episode wasn't something I was looking forward to. And this one wasn't terrible or anything... but it wasn't great either. Let's get started.

Cons:

This episode primarily focused on Zelena and Hades and their strange past romance. In short, Hades traveled to Oz years ago to help Zelena figure out her time travel spell. He wanted to use the spell to go back in time and make sure that he bested his brother Zeus, instead of getting trapped ruling the Underworld. As Zelena and Hades work together to get the ingredients they needed for the spell, Hades falls in love with Zelena. He claims that only True Love's Kiss can free him from the Underworld, but before he can seal the deal, Zelena gets paranoid - what if Hades is just trying to free himself from the Underworld so he can take the time travel spell for his own gain, leaving her behind?

Years later, Hades forces Rumple to help him open a portal to Storybrooke to fetch Zelena's daughter. Belle and Zelena come with the baby and end up in the Underworld as well. Zelena realizes that she cannot protect her child from Hades, so she tearfully gives her over to Robin and Regina's care. Then, Hades shows up and tells her that he had no plans to use her child for a spell or indeed harm her in any way. Hades was trying to take the child for Zelena, so that the infant would be protected from Zelena's heroic enemies. Zelena vows to get her daughter back now that she knows Hades is not  a threat, but she still doesn't take Hades up on his offer of being with him. It's all too much - she can't find it in her heart to truly believe in Hades' love for her.

And honestly, neither can I. There wasn't enough time in the flashbacks to establish the Hades/Zelena romance, and so the whole thing felt very forced. Was Hades actually falling in love, or was he just trying to trick Zelena? It seems to be the former, especially since we later learn that the Underworld looks like Storybrooke because Hades made it so in order to please Zelena. Not sure why Zelena would want to live in an imitation Storybrooke, but whatever. I didn't buy the connection between the two of them. They're both such evil characters - I needed more than a few minutes to buy the idea of genuine feelings between the two of them. But in another vein I'm glad they didn't spend even more time on it, because I was getting sick of their romance by the time the episode ended.

Logistically, this doesn't make much sense either - why would Hades suddenly decide it was time to snatch Zelena's baby away? And what was he planning on doing with the little girl? Raising her on his own? Or pulling Zelena down as well? Hades' behavior has crossed firmly over into obsessive and creepy land. I know he's supposed to be a bad guy, but even for a villain his "love" for Zelena is extra-strength creepy.

Pros:

There were a few good things about this main plot, mostly centered on the fact that Greg Germann does such a phenomenal job as Hades. He toed the line between true feelings of love and perhaps more sinister motivations, so that I genuinely wasn't sure what way it was going to go until the end. I also liked little details like Hades blowing on the candles to light them, and Zelena reenacting the scene from The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy's evil neighbor rides a bike that turns into a broom. The design for the Scarecrow was interesting and unique, and I thought Dorothy was pretty bad ass. I wish we could have more of her.

Then there's the moment when Zelena gave up her baby to Robin and Regina. She realizes that her magic is volatile and that she could end up hurting her daughter in the effort to protect her. This is while she still thinks Hades is a threat to her, and so she makes the tough call. The scene where she tearfully hands over the baby is actually really emotionally affecting. Unfortunately it doesn't stick for very long, and we'll soon see Zelena back on the warpath.

What really kept me interested in this episode were the hints of two subplots, both of which seem eager to ripen into interesting stories in the weeks to come.

First of all, Belle and Rumple are reunited in the Underworld, since Belle came down with the baby and Zelena. Rumple cuts straight to the chase, telling Belle that she is pregnant, and all about the deal he made years ago that forfeits the baby to Hades. He also lets her know that he is the Dark One once again. Belle is properly horrified and upset, and says she can't decide what to do about all of this new information until Rumple finds a way to fix the situation.

I love the fact that we're not doing a "keep secrets from Belle" plot here. It matches with the idea that Rumple really is trying to have it all. He's not shamefully hiding that he's the Dark One - he has accepted it, and he wants Belle to love him for his power, not in spite of it. There was this really chilling moment when he said that Belle hadn't fallen in love with the man behind the beast - she had fallen in love with the beast. He is a better man because of her, but not a different one. I like the fact that Belle stood her ground in her anger. She was thrilled at the news that she was pregnant - how often does the father get to tell the mother, anyway? - but then immediately she was furious at the knowledge that Rumple had already sold their baby away. Her anger and grief were really palpable. I hope she never forgives him for this, honestly. I think Rumple has long since run out of second chances.

Snow and David are both missing baby Neal, and are getting anxious about how long they've been away from their home. They learn from the Blind Witch that there's a way to get through to the world above, basically a low-level haunting, and so they go and wait in line to talk to their son. They're not sure if it worked, until Henry informs them that it did - see, he's been getting in to being the Author, and he keeps writing stories without even knowing that he's doing it. So far, nothing on Hades has appeared, but he does write and illustrate a scene where baby Neal hears his parents' voices. Aww!

I loved the sweetness and simplicity of this plot. Snow and David are finally getting the chance to be parents in a way that they didn't with Emma, and they've been away from their new baby for a while now. The chance to talk to him came as such a relief, and such a selfless thing to do, too. They didn't know if it worked, but they wanted to try on the off-chance they could provide some comfort to Neal.

Exploring Henry's role as the Author is so much fun! I love the fact that he can't control what he writes, and so the group is impatiently reading details of what Snow and David had for breakfast, and not important information on Hades. Henry gets testy, storming off to his room after sniping at them all for butting in and pushing him. Teenagers, amirite? But it was so cute to learn that baby Neal did indeed hear his parents' voices. I can't wait for all the happy reunion stuff at the end of this season. It's going to be so touching and adorable!

That's all I've got. The main plot this week was not my favorite, but there were a lot of details here and there that I enjoyed, and the subplots promised some exciting future stories to tell.

7/10