Once Upon a Time: Ill-Boding Patterns (6x13)

In some ways, this title is very fitting, and not in a good way. Let's just dive right in, shall we?

Cons:

One of my biggest complaints about this show is how often it retreads familiar ground. In this episode, we have a subplot where Zelena is being shady and then backtracks, and one where Rumple struggles against the darkness within. We even have - shudder - a possible retread of the Belle/Rumple romance. There are new elements, of course, but it feels like we've been here before.

The one big piece of information that was added this week actually really, really pissed me off. In the flashbacks, we see Rumple and a young Bae back during the Ogre Wars. Beowulf is there, and he's angry because as the Dark One, Rumple ends the Ogre Wars, taking away Beowulf's glory. He concocts a plan to lure Rumple and Bae away, and then reveals that he's going to pin a bunch of murders on Rumple and then kill him, becoming a hero by killing the Dark One. So then what happens? Well, Rumple has given Bae the Dark One Dagger, telling him not to let Rumple use Dark Magic. Instead, Bae orders his father to kill Beowulf, as he is convinced this is the only way to protect them. Rumple later gives Bae a memory potion so he'll forget what he's done. Bae thinks Rumple killed Beowulf all on his own, and is horrified at his father's behavior.

This whole thing is used as a way to parallel Bae and Rumple in the past, with Gideon's current situation. He too is facing Darkness to get what he wants. This time, Rumple is determined to spare his son. Reasons I hate this? I can't believe they took Neal and just retconned his whole character arc. All for the sake of creating a parallel. This is why this show feels so stale a lot of the time. They just keep repeating old character beats, and exploring the same themes in the flashbacks. Only, every time, they're forced to find a new way to parallel it with the current story going on. It gets exhausting!

Belle and Rumple share a hug, as Belle is grateful to Rumple for darkening his own soul by stealing the Blue Fairy's magic, so that Gideon wouldn't have to. I guess I like the idea of Rumple trying to spare his son in this way, although it does rather seem like a point of semantics. Gideon wanted to hurt the Blue Fairy to get what he wanted, so the fact that Rumple is the one who physically does it seems almost incidental, doesn't it? But whatever. The fact that Belle sees this as an example of Rumple "doing the right thing," and gives him a big ol' hug, just makes my stomach churn. No, Belle! Run away! Run away and never look back!

Surprisingly, I rather liked the subplot with Zelena in it, but after the episode ended, I realized something: Zelena wasn't necessary. All of the same character beats could have been accomplished without her in the story. It's yet another example of how useless her character is.

Pros:

All that being said, I love exploring Rumple's past more so than any other character in the show. His quest to help his son is a lot more compelling than a lot of other elements this season, and it's mostly due to Robert Carlyle's performance. He's believable, as Gideon's concerned - yet still corrupt - father. I believe in this weird tension he has going on - he wants to help Gideon avoid Darkness, but he doesn't have it in himself to expel his own personal Darkness. There's a lot of meaty stuff to explore here, and I'm not opposed to exploring it.

Regina, Zelena, and Robin's subplot actually felt like a real turning point for Regina's character. Basically, Robin enlists Zelena's help to escape Storybrooke's protection spell, but they fail. Regina agrees to help find a way for Robin to leave - she owes him the chance to truly get a fresh start. Robin is appreciative, because he has no chance to get a fresh start in Storybrooke, where everything reminds him of a person he is not and can never be. Zelena and Regina talk about the situation, and Regina admits that she needs to take responsibility for her own past. She can't keep pinning all of her bad karma on the Evil Queen as a separate entity. Zelena and Regina are then horrified to discover that the Evil Queen, in snake form, has escaped her cage! She transforms herself back into a person by biting Robin, and she seems to have big plans to mess with him, even as he still wants to get out of Storybrooke.

Robin 2.0 is a lot more interesting than the original, and it's fun to see this actor get to stretch his acting legs a bit. He's not a super terrible person, or anything, but he's not the dashing hero we knew before. He wants to escape the expectations of this perfect stranger, Regina, who sees him only as a disappointing shadow of her True Love. And Regina, with all the good intentions in the world, just wants to help Robin adjust to this strange new reality. But how can she? I like his attitude about all of the crazy plot stuff happening in the show. When Zelena accuses him of wanting the baby, Robin just shrugs it off. When the Evil Queen appears and starts explaining that she and Regina are doubles, Robin says he doesn't care how many Regina copies there are, he just wants to get out. There's something so refreshing in that attitude. It almost reminds me of how Emma was when she first got to Storybrooke. Sure, she was intrigued... but she was also pretty determined not to get sucked in.

Zelena, as I mentioned, was practically useless here, although I did like that she went to apologize, and I did sort of appreciate her dilemma. How is she supposed to start a life with her daughter in a place with such antagonism surrounding her on all sides? (Although, as a side note, watching Zelena cradling baby Robin made me wonder what's going on with baby Neal nowadays. With one parent always asleep and the other off getting involved in the myth arc, who exactly watches the baby? Does Henry babysit?)

Regina actually takes responsibility for her actions. A part of me wants to be annoyed that this took so long, but at the same time, I am very happy that we've finally gotten to this moment. Ever since Regina split off the Evil Queen from herself, I've been waiting for her to contend with the fact that she's the person who did all of those evil things. She's the one who killed entire villages full of people, and sought vengeance on a poor pre-teen girl for an honest mistake. Up until now, she's seemed sad about the things she did in the past, but not sorry. Or at least not responsibly sorry, if that makes sense. What with everything going on with Hook, it seems this is the time for our reformed heroes to really own up to their past behaviors.

And then we've got the Hook and Emma subplot. It's very short, and very heartbreaking. Hook confides in Archie that he has a secret that, if Emma knew, would ruin his chances of being with her. And yet, he still wants to tell her. Archie encourages him, saying that the very fact he wants to share with her means that he's changed. Hook, after imbibing some liquid courage, goes home to tell Emma the truth. But Emma has found the ring, and misinterprets Hook's anxious expression as being about his impending proposal. Cornered, Hook takes the ring and proposes on the spot, and Emma joyfully accepts.

Hook made a mistake, in that moment. Obviously. But marrying Emma is something he's wanted for quite some time now, and there she was, the love of his life, looking at him with such joy and openness. Now that they're engaged, it changes everything. How can Hook tell Emma what happened? Ordinarily I would hate this plot, because I think drama fueled by secrets can be lazy and contrived. But this is a good way to actually get into the psychology of Hook. This is a true test of his resolve. I have faith that he'll tell Emma, even if it costs him his relationship.

In the end, this episode repeated a lot of elements, and I'm not too thrilled about how the Gideon situation is unfolding. I'm also disgusted at the thought of Belle falling back into Rumple's arms. All that being said, there were a lot of strong elements in this one, and I don't want to discount those. I'm surprisingly intrigued by Robin 2.0 now, and I'm really excited to see how this whole Hook situation shakes out.

7/10