Once Upon a Time 1x12 Review

Skin Deep

It was Valentines Day in Storybrooke and love is in the air. Well, for some people anyway. This episode deals with a new classic fairy tales and Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. I really loved this episode and how they brought it into the main story arcs we've been seeing. Both the Fairy Tale Land, and Storybrooke plotlines this week are deep and further our understanding of several characters, and introduce us to a couple new ones. 

In Fairy Tale Land we meet Belle, one of the most loved Disney princesses of all time and she's played by Lost alum Emile de Ravin.  I was never a fan Claire, but I think she didn't a great job in this episode. This is a side note, but I like that they didn't have her do a French accent. Maybe Eddie and Adam remember everyone making fun of her Australian accent, and decided to go with the classic idea that a British accent simply means "not American" to us here in the States. Good call! I also loved that both Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen played a large role in the story. We usually get one of them, but rarely both being so vital to the episodes. I love their dynamic and chemistry so I hope we get more scenes of them together. 

All the references to Disney's Beauty and the Beast worked perfectly. The chipped cup, the mirrors being covered, the rose, and of course Gaston! I loved when Gaston shows up at the castle and looks like he's ready to battle Rumpelstiltskin(AKA the Beast), and he just snaps his fingers turning poor Gaston into a rose. I know in the movie the rose was connected to the Beast's curse and when all the petals fell off it would be permanent, but I liked it just as a homage. The chipped cup being to vital to the episode was a great touch. Chip in the movie is just a kid, but here it is a reminder to both Rumpelstiltskin and Mr. Gold that someone did love him once. For a while there I was thinking he had somehow protected her within the cup, but he would have to break his own curse to free her. Not sure how that would have worked out, but Mr. Gold was acting mighty protective of it. 

In the real world, Mr. Gold is robbed by Mr. French(who was Belle's father in Fairy Tale Land). The fact that he's "Mr. French" made me so happy I think I actually laughed out loud. Mr. Gold then goes all vigilante to try and get information out of him. He knows that the Mayor is behind it, and knows that she wants something from him but he needs French to admit it, and also wants to punish him for what he thinks he did to Belle. 

It was very interesting that the Evil Queen says that ANY curse can be broken with "true love's first kiss". Any curse? Now, we know that Queen loves to lie but she wasn't lying in regards to Rumpelstiltskin. I wonder if Emma has to kiss someone like that in order to break THE Curse. Could that be another reason that Regina eliminated the Huntsman in Storybrooke?  

My favorite scene of the episode though clearly was that last bit between Regina and Mr. Gold. One of those classic she knows that he knows that she knows that he knows scenes. She asks him his NAME, and finally he says it to her. Now she knows 100% that he remembers everything, and unlike everyone else in town he knows who SHE is. I loved that after this he called her "your majesty". Just to let her know that he does indeed know exactly who she is. So amazing acting in this scene by both Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle. Carlyle was amazing throughout the episode in fact. That's nothing new, but this was really a different side of Mr. Gold. He's always been so calm and sneaky. In this episode he showed weakness for the first time. I wonder if Emma saw it that way, and won't see him the same way. I'm pretty convinced that Regina will be treating him a little different from now on. 

Regina also had one more secret to reveal this episode. As Queen she told Rumpelstiltskin that Belle had jumped out of the tower and was dead. At the end of the episode though we see that Regina has Belle locked up in some hidden dungeon connected to the hospital. What a creepy place to keep a dungeon. We learn that Belle has been there for a long time, probably since Storybrooke came into existence, and you have to wonder if the Queen took her captive back before the curse was enacted. Having leverage against Rumpelstiltskin is always a good idea in their world, and now that she knows he knows all maybe she'll start to use that leverage. 

The last thing about this episode that I'll talk about is the "girls' night". I don't know about you, but seeing Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood go out for drinks together was a mixture of awesome, and creepy. We hadn't seen Cinderella since her episode where she gave birth, and I forgot most of her story other than she had a baby. In this episode we see her man propose to her, and of course he says "your carriage awaits". Things don't work out so well for Mary though. After making eyes at David all episode he makes the mistake of giving her the wrong Valentines Day card. Yeah, they teach that in Guy 101. The first day is, "If you're hooking up with two women, don't mix up the Valentines Day cards." I guess he missed that. Mary smartly then suggests maybe they shouldn't be doing this. She knows it can only end badly, and even though they might be meant to be, that doesn't meant they should be together now. 

Sad ending to a Valentines Day episode, but that's Once Upon a Time remember? No more Happy Ending.

I was really impressed this episode, and once again it figured out a way to do relationships, but not make it seem shippy. Very clever Eddie and Adam, very clever.