Reply To: Is Anyone Else Confused & Bothered With Rumple's Storyline?

I agree…and I had a whole bunch written here and lost it.

But basically, his taking that potion was the most OOC thing to ever happen in this show, and that’s including everything that happened in Quiet Minds (which was pretty OOC for both Neal & Rumple). His only investment in Emma’s future was her promise that Bae forgives him…and a man who spent centuries changing things so that he could get to Bae in the first place would trust himself to find a way to fix everything else.

Meanwhile, S4 Rumple’s compassionate side has been almost entirely invisible. We saw it in 401 and then it vanished into cut-scene world. We have zero reason to root for him because his motives (beyond Ultimate Power and the more understandable freedom from the dagger) are not even hinted at–it took four episodes before his desire for the hat made one bit of sense. They’ve done this with Rumple before–in S1, it took a long time before we could see any of his plans, but then we were right there with Emma trying to untangle whose side he was on, and it felt consistent even then.

Now it doesn’t feel consistent at all; even at the height of his powers, Rumple never wanted world domination in FTL. He was content to have his lonely little castle and make his deals and spin his straw–he had power and wealth and a goal, and he could leave the rest of the world alone as long as they weren’t pestering him or furthering his way to his son. What made us love him is that underneath, he just wanted love and his family. What made it possible to forgive him time and again was that he almost always gave his victims a choice, even when he knew what choice they’d make, and when he didn’t–it was clear that his lashing out was due to his own self-loathing. It all came back to his heart and his son.

Now, the few scenes where we see him loving his wife and grandson are cut, and instead we get shown how he’s willing to hurt the adorable puppy pirate and his sweet (but prickly) girlfriend…to…do what? We aren’t being reminded of how much Zelena hurt him, so even his desire to be free of the dagger (which makes sense in context of the series as a whole, but not S4) falls flat. We aren’t seeing how he could have a better life outside of Storybrooke, so his desire to leave with Belle & Henry (even to escape DQ’s curse, which is now no longer a threat) doesn’t make sense. Maybe nobody likes him, but they like his wife and grandson and the rulers of the town named their son after his son. He has a chance to be comfortable and happy there with Belle…and he doesn’t want that why?

I think it’s hard for the creators to realize just how unsympathetic they’ve made Rumple this season. In their heads, they’ve got all the backstory AND all the scenes they’ve written, filmed, and cut only at the last minute. In their heads, Rumple shows love for Belle (who appreciates it) by encouraging her to pursue her librarian career. In their heads, Rumple spends time talking to Henry about memories and pain. These aren’t just headcanons–they published these scenes after they were nearly included in the episodes. But if you don’t watch anything but what airs, there’s almost NO compassion or love being shown from Rumple.

His horrified reaction at Hook’s accusation that he’d let Henry be condemned with the rest of the town doesn’t make sense because all we got of his relationship with his grandson is two short scenes–operation mongoose and the furniture polish. There’s no love shown there and it doesn’t establish a relationship that overcomes what he’s willing to do to Henry’s family in the same scene. It matches my headcanon of how he’s always felt about Henry, but we’re not seeing it in the show and especially not in this arc where it seems to matter.

(On the note of cut scenes, aside from the fact that the majority they’ve shown us have been about half of Belle’s screen time hitting the cutting room floor, we’re not seeing Belle’s motivations either–or some of Hook’s that I think may become important soon. Why is Belle so devoted to him? Who knows! But I’m quite sure they cut a bit where she gives him the dagger in 409 because Hook’s assertion that Belle truly loves Rumple seems to come from that action…all we get is a hug. What? And then he’s got a dagger in front of her and it doesn’t make sense. Are they so desperate to cut all of Emilie’s scenes?)